Winona & Vampires

Movie Meltdown - Episode 484

This week we welcome artist Winona Nelson. Winona studied classical realism and art for the entertainment industry at the Safehouse Atelier in San Francisco, then worked as a concept artist at Flagship Studios and Planet Moon Studios. She now works as a freelance in illustration, concept art, comics and fine art. Her work has been seen in gallery exhibitions in Connecticut, Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York City.

As usual, the Meltdown perspective looks at how our guest was inspired and influenced by film and other media. And what we learn is Winona didn't begin the way most of our movie geek guests... her path starts a little differently... but of course still leads to crossovers into movie fandom - and eventually her own terrific art. Then Winona sits-in for this week's Sofa Theater discussion of Interview with the Vampire. The book was instrumental in her youth, so what does she think of the often maligned movie?

And as we realize sometimes playing with magnets - can be destructive, we also bring up… Magic: The Gathering, Xenogears, Akira, VHS intro, Lord Byron, RoboCop, Primitivism, Kirsten Dunst, take a piece all the way to finish, Anne Rice, Rutger Hauer, freelance indie comic book coloring, this lust-driven disgusting man, it changed me, abstract art, we are monsters, John Travolta, family drama, it's been to my benefit to have a diverse skill-set, Neil Jordan, drawing before I even have conscious memories, Daniel Day-Lewis, oblivious to the world, John Boorman, having more physical strength, Alexander Godunov, Ghost in the Shell, a crotchety old man, Brad Pitt, the carnal ideas, Jon Voight, it feels like being possessed, Tom Hanks, online resources for getting into doing art for comics, Antonio Banderas, the dreamiest being mortal or immortal that has ever existed, Christian Slater, having a diverse skill-set, the one monster who seems to have control, John Malkovich, Photoshop Elements, Final Fantasy VII, Johnny Depp, art and baristas, YouTube… where all of the horrible secrets come out, going through puberty, his personal physician, bloodlust, Peter Weller, Cubism, Tom Cruise, drowning in hormones, learning everything about how the world works… and all it’s ugliness, the old cathode-ray tube and talking around the fangs.

“So I think like, the whole genesis of vampires comes from that kind of… that sort of fight that we all have between how do you respect yourself when you can get taken away by this passion and what even is sexual drive...and how much it controls our behavior.”

For more on Winona’s art, go to: http://www.winonanelson.com/