AfrikanAmericanVamp(animated preview).wmv

Roxie Chambers. She's got everything going for her. Great looks, even "sultry", as she was described as in her high school yearbook! Intelligent. She graduated at the top of her class from Howard University! Great job, top exec at the TV station! About to move into her dream house, financially set, a great parent, great fiance' (the man of her dreams!), life couldn't be better....until, one unexplainable night she becomes a vampire, goes on a killing spree, awakens the next morning thinking its all been a crazy dream until the morning news comes on......Now what???? "AfrikanAmericanVamp is an engaging new vampire story written by horror writers Andre Causey and Steve Farr (myself) that combines the elements of horror, romance, and suspense in this soon to be released graphic novel or if you prefer, comic book, that is a preview to a soon to follow movie! 

Well, this was a project that I began about three, count'em, three years ago. At present, this project has yet to see its completion it pains me to say! Rewind to about 5 to 6 years ago when vampires were white hot!! Around the time "Twilight" was just a book, before "True Blood" or "The Vampire Diaries" came to television! I am always seeking originality, a new angle on an old idea, because it annoys me to see the same old soup warmed over, unless of course there's some new ingredients added! To be honest, as farr as I'm concerned, this on-taking is in limbo as I type this! However, AAV is not a "dead in the water", just on hiatus. Yes, "hiatus"! That sounds a little better to me! LoL! With that being said, here is an animation I created of the graphic novel. The music I used is called "Dracula's Wedding" by Outkast. Listening to the words of this song  leads one to believe that this song could be deemed quite appropriate!

"Vine Ripe Pipes"

If you follow my work, you know that pipes paintings are a constant theme in my artist portfolio. "Pipes" were a negative subject ingrained in my childhood memories, so painting them in a different light is almost therapeutic for me. When I was a kid, there were instances when I would have to go with my Mother down into a damp, dark basement to reach the fuse box whenever the power went out in the house. This process involved treading past these old rusty, spider-web covered water pipes!! To this day, I can still see this frightening imagery as it left such vivid memories!!! Now I can paint those pipes in such a more positive light!! Hence my inspiration!

"Chocolate, Sweet....Like Honey"

It wasn't until I had completed this painting, that I realized that the idea wasn't completely original. It was similar to a image that I had recalled from childhood, of a famous album cover by The Ohio Players called "Honey". As I remember, my older cousin had it displayed on his wall (can't do that now of course with CD covers, LOL). The image was the distinctive profile of a naked woman with a large spoon, holding a jar of honey against a black background. Here is a link: http://wfnk.com/ohioplayers/images/cv_honey.jpg  That album, was from the seventies. Its amazing how images can lay dormant in our sub-conscious for all those years! I was initially going to name the painting "Chocolate", so hence "Chocolate, Sweet....Like Honey".