The ABC's of Pro Wrestling - B is for Bodyslam

Hiya kids!

It's Bill Main here with another installment of your favorite Rat Fink-y, weirdo, pro wrestling, t-shirty, ABC booky fantastic-ness!

Whew...that was a mouthful.

When thinking about what piece of wrestling terminology or move might best encapsulate the letter B, I wanted to go super classic. Even people with a passing knowledge of pro wrestling will be aware of the friggin' BODY SLAM! Say it with me now folks, "Baaaaaaahhhhhhdeeeeee Slllllllaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmm!"

Ahhhhhh. Thanks for indulging me in that. What are these illustrations gonna end up as? Definitely a book, hopefully some t-shirts. Got any other ideas for things you might like to see these bad boys and girls as? Let me know in the comment section!

Check out my illustration for the letter A here

ABC's of Pro Wrestling - A is for Atomic Drop

Hey there everybody!

   I'm hoping today finds you feeling good in your respective neighborhoods. Respect to Applebee's. I think that's an Applebee's slogan- maybe not. Either way, even though the answer is literally a few finger presses away- that will have to stay the way it is. Time is of the essence here folks.

   All Applebee's aside, I started a new project! I'm making a children's book (of sorts). I probably won't be reading this to my kid till he's able to decide not to pile drive his schoolmates for fun buuuuuuut maybe your kid has more self control than I perceive mine will have. I digress.

   The project is a collection of illustrations in the style of an alphabet book! Ultimately, I'd like to have it printed and bound and hopefully, have T-shirts made as well.
 
   I loved going to the Pomona Swap Meet with my dad as a kid. When we'd go, I'd walk up and down the aisles of used car parts, checking out old carburetors, beat up fenders and lenses for headlights that no one makes anymore. Yet by far, my favorite thing about going would be when we would turn a corner and see good ol' Bert "The Shirt" Grimm slangin' Ed Roth's Rat Fink T-shirts! My dad would always buy me one (they were really fairly priced and Bert is an awesome salesman) and it started my love and obsession for all things Roth.

   I bring you the first illustration from The ABC's of Pro Wrestling.

Click here for the letter B!

Jake the Snake Roberts

Here is another of my favorite wrestlers from childhood. Jake "the Snake" Roberts is the creator of the DDT (essentially, you grab a dude's head like you would for a suplex, and then proceed to plow it through the mat by dropping onto your own back while still holding said dude's head). He was always kind of scary and mysterious to me but not necessarily because of his snake Damien.

Finished up an old sketch

Cleaned up that Undertaker sketch I posted a little while ago. I've decided I'd like to put together a character design portfolio. I'm not sure where that'll be hosted. Any ideas? I'm leaning toward my Behance portfolio but am open to suggestions.

Undertaker sketch

Here's a quick little sketch of the pro wrestler, the Undertaker. I hope to tune this and a few more of his "friends" up and update again soon.

the Undertaker is ©WWE

Some Etsy custom orders

I recently had a pretty cool Etsy order from a very cool girlfriend who has a very lucky boyfriend. She wanted to surprise her man for his birthday and she had seen an old wooden cutout of Randy Savage that I made long ago. Asking if I could make another AND a Ric Flair was like asking a if I'd like like another cinnamon roll cake for my birthday....yes I would like that very much thank you. 

If you're wanting to order some custom wrestlers, why don't you head over to my Etsy and send me a conversation?

Process shots:

These are hand cut, hand painted, ready to be hung on the wall original pieces of art. They are painted on 1/4" birch panels and they're fun to have staring at you. Albeit, I only get to see them staring at me for a couple days before I send them off. 

Giant Robot Post-It Show 8 preview

It’s that time of year again…

The time of year where you struggle to find the perfect gift for your weirdo brother or sister. Well look no further because the Giant Robot annual Post-It Show is here again!!

Curated by the lovely and talented pair of Mark Todd & Esther Pearl Watson, the Post-It Show is now in it’s eighth incarnation. Post-Its are $25 each- cash and carry- for original artwork from world renowned artists!

Stop by Giant Robot 2 in Los Angeles on December 8th from 6pm-10pm and you’ll be able to rub elbows with the masters. Most art sells on opening night so get there early!

For my theme this year, I decided to go with some of my favorite deceased professional wrestlers. Come buy them.

Ravishing Rick Rude
December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999

Road Warrior Hawk
September 12, 1957 – October 19, 2003

Big Boss Man
May 2, 1962 – September 22, 2004

Mr. Perfect
March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003

Macho Man Randy Savage
November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011

Bam Bam Bigelow
September 1, 1961 – January 19, 2007

Thanks to deadwrestlers.net for the information.