Hey guys and gals in nerd world, Antonio here and this past weekend I once again got to attend Monsterpalooza The Art of Monsters. For those of you who don’t know, Monsterpalooza is a convention where you can see the makeup and concept artists who work on various movies, television shows and other works. You can see them do demos of original and T.V. show makeup. Some of the guests this year include Bill Corso (The Amazing Spider-Man, Deadpool), Eryn Krueger and Mike Mekash (American Horror Story series, American Crime Story), Greg Cannom (Lost Boys, The Howling, Bram Stoker’s Dracula) and so many others. Along with them there are artists from all over who come with their art and knowledge for fans as well.
Monsterpalooza is owned and put on by Eliot Brodsky and is normally held at the Burbank Marriott center, but the show has grown so much that the venue was moved to the Pasadena Convention Center this year. It is a much bigger venue compared to the Marriott Center and this venue for the most part seemed to be well received by the vendors and artists. One of the great things about the show being at the Pasadena Center is there was a lot more breathing room as the Burbank Center can get pretty shoulder-to-shoulder. Another was there was so much more to see this year from others vendor who I haven’t seen at the show before amongst them were Ironhead Studios (who were there with a display of superhero movie helmets), Sideshow Collectibles and so many others.
One thing fan come to see are the demos put on by makeup artists. It is really something to see them applying makeup on a model in person and even better when the model and makeup are the one and the same from a movie or tv show you have seen. There are also displays of art pieces from such artists as Mike Hill, Casey Love, Chet Zar, Jordu Schell, Steve Wang and so many others. Another cool thing is seeing actors from all sorts of horror movies you had seen as a kid, for example Linda Blair (The Exorcist), David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London), Doug Bradley (Hellraiser), The Chaney Family and that is just a few who are there. It also wouldn’t be a convention without panels, an example of which were panels such as one celebrating 75th anniversary of The Wolfman (1941) and another one for longtime Hollywood makeup artist Greg Cannom. You also never know who will just randomly show up, such as actors Ryan Kelly (Teen Wolf), Tom Payne (The Walking Dead), and Melissa Ponzio (Teen Wolf), movie directors like J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pacific Rim, The Strain book and tv series), after all actors and directors love monsters just like everyone else.
This is only just a little bit that is there to see at Monsterpalooz, if you are a fan of artistry, monsters or anything related you should check out Monsterpalooza. It is usually held in April and there is always something new to see every year. However if you missed the main show there is also Son of Monsterpalooza which is the Halloween show where you can expect to see lots of awesome stuff!