The Dark Art Society Podcast with Chet Zar

This week I interview my old makeup effect buddy, Tim Gore. Tim is a legendary painter in the FX industry and has worked on TONS of movies. We discuss his 35+ year career, his childhood model making years, his various horror novelty items, working on tour with Skinny Puppy, getting stabbed nearly to death at a club, the state of makeup effects shops these days, working on Hellboy 2 in Budapest (an...

This week I interview artist Lara Dann. We have shown together a few times over the years and I’m a big fan of her ghostly portrait work. We discuss her early life, living all over the United States, dealing with childhood trauma, art school, birthing babies(!), acrylics vs oils, painting techniques, and all kinds of other stuff! This is an extra long interview clocking in at almost 2 1/2 hours! I...

This week I interview my pal Dave Sherman. Dave is an addictions professional/life coach and we thought it might be a good idea to do a show this week on some quarantine coping strategies during these freaky times from an expert in the field of self care. As a Dark Art collector himself, he comes from a place of understanding when it comes to weird folks like us. Dave is the official mental health...

This week we have the incredible creature designer/sculptor Aris Kolokontes. We speak about life in Greece, being a monster kid, being a creature designer in Greece, working on The Hobbit, his dissatisfaction with the film industry (sound familiar?) and the satisfaction of creating for himself, tons of technical sculpting tips and much more. This show is a must for people who love to hear about th...

This week I interview artist Pamela Wilson. I have been a huge fan of her work since I first discovered it. We talk about: Pamela’s painting technique, knowing she was an artist from an early age, overcoming a recent creative block, the relevance of Dark Art in the days of coronavirus, dealing with instagram, working with galleries, self doubt and painting with confidence, honesty in art and a ton...

This week I interview my old art pal, David Stoupakis. David is an incredible and accomplished painter and one of the main inspirations behind Mike and I starting the Dark Art Society podcast. We talk about: oil painting mediums, his early attempts to get into the comic book field, avoiding the coronavirus while living in Queens, designing book covers for Joe Hill and Jack Ketchum, the DAS Friday...

This week I interview sculptor Jason Hite. We talk about his work in the Halloween industry, his interest as a kid on monsters and makeup effects, going to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh...but then get on the subject of out of body experiences, magick, spirits, art as dimensional portals and all kinds of other cosmic and supernatural topics. Really enjoyed this one! These are my favorite kinds of...

This week I interview my old pal from my makeup effects days, Steve Wang. Steve is a legend in the business and it was really fun chatting about the old days as well as his stories about designing and creating the Predator, working at Stan Winston's, directing his first feature film, creating life sized sculptures for Blizzard entertainment, getting started in the MUFX biz, working at Rick Baker's...

Another great one this week! Paul Komoda speaks to me for his long awaited Part 2 episode and he does not disappoint! We discuss art, magick, psychedelics and a ton more! This is an intense interview, over 2 hours long and packed full of info so I will just let it speak for itself! Interview starts around 9:03 Also: the Art Life update. Please help "Chet Zar: I Like To Paint Monsters" get on to Ne...

This week I interview artist Mikey Carrasco. This is one of the most ‘real’ episodes yet and Mikey has bravely allowed me to post the full interview unedited. We also cover many other topics: growing up in an extremely religious household, overcoming hardships and being grateful for them, becoming a tattooer, learning to paint from painting workshops and seminars, meditation, psychedelics, Magick,...

This week I interview artist John Cebollero. We talk about Creepy and Eerie horror comics, going to an art high school, the subversion of Mad Magazine, Mort Drucker, Richard Corben and his stocky figures, Heavy Metal magazine, trying to get a job with Tim Burton, working on Garbage Pail Kids and Mars Attacks for Topps, old horror movies on TV, Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, the strange wome...

This week I interview Dark Artist Jody Fallon. We talk about life in coal country, being a Marine, leaving his job as a nuclear security guard to become an artist, IX Arts, painting intuitively, studying at the Frank Frazetta museum, building an art career, teaching yourself how to paint, the courage it takes to be an artist, working at night vs. day, the honor of being a collected artist, and lot...

This week I interview my old friend Nathan Cartwright. We talk about Bacon the Pitbull, coming up together in the underground LA art scene of the early 2000's, showing at Cannibal Flower, Hangar 1018, the perils of living in a loading dock, dead rats in the oven, creating The Hive gallery, the craziness of living in downtown LA, being a gallerist vs. being an artist, advice for young artists and l...

This week I interview artist Jeremy Hush. We talk about creating artwork for his friend’s bands when he was young, traveling with bands and being a roadie, using ball point pens in his artwork, the importance of having a day job, high end woodworking, The Philly Dark Art scene/community, renovating, curating and managing The Convent Philly, sculpting, how to create your own art scene in your town...

This episode I interview artist Mia Araujo. We discuss: her twin and their non psychic relationship, getting a degree from Otis Parsons, getting her start as a fine artist, Patreon, her big Alice in Wonderland book project, being an artist with a non art related day job, her big solo show at Corey Helford Gallery, the dangers of starting an art career without a plan and much more! Also: the Art Li...

This episode I interview Nathan Reidt. Nathan was a video game and digital FX artist for the film industry and (like me) got sick of it all and quit to focus on his own original artwork. We discuss having panic attacks on “Iron Man” and leaving the industry, being a skate punk, following your own art, drawing and oil paint techniques, painting from your head, painting monsters, the ills of social...

This episode I interview my old Dark Art pal Jeremy Cross. We cover his early days as a trouble making punk rocker, his wandering restless impulse, his old job as a corporate store manager, becoming an artist, becoming a curator and working behind the scenes at an art gallery, finding his home in Long Beach and the fortuitous synchronicity of the Dark Art Emporium opening up in Long Beach, and lot...

Happy New Year! In this first episode of 2020 I interview artist Christopher Ulrich about his journey to sobriety, the parallels between art and magick, building the dark art community, goals for the coming year, the difficulty of the art life, building an art career, reaching out to other artists and more! Also: the Art Life update and I answer The 5 Questions. Interview starts at about 23:07 Chr...

In episode 144 I interview artist Jason Limon about his unique artwork. We discuss: building his own studio, studying graphic design, getting his start in art, developing his own artistic voice, living in Texas, growing up in a big family, watching documentaries while painting, expressing emotions through art and a lot more! Also: the Art Life update and I answer The 5 Questions. Interview starts...

In episode 143 I interview artist/illustrator/painter/teacher Erik Gist. We cover his career as an illustrator and teacher, his involvement with Watts Atelier, being a monster/horror geek, working with Guillermo del Toro, breaking into and working on comics, art reps, working in gaming, blurring the line between fine art and illustration, makeup effects, his thoughts on the motivations of dark art...

In episode 142 I interview painter/art director for video games Adam McCarthy. We talk about his career in the gaming industry, his recent excursions showing the gallery scene, his painting process, his days as a singer of the symphonic black metal band Sothis, moving from video game artist to art director at a big video game company, managing artists vs. being an artist, and more! Also: the Art L...

In episode 141 I interview another digital artist- the super talented Terry Wolfinger. We discuss having tons in common, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, his origins as an artist, being a metal head artist kid, going to CalArts, working on an early Amiga computer, getting his first animation job, being an art director for one of the first video game magazines, the early days of photoshop and pa...

In episode 140 I interview my old friend, digital artist Meats Meier. We discuss the origins of his name, growing up amongst Mormons in Utah, being an art kid in that environment, getting into digital, getting his first big break in the gaming industry, working with Tool and Puscifer and lots more! Meats doesn't really do interviews so I was lucky that he granted us this! I am a huge fan of his wo...

This week I interview another Aussie!!! Dark artist and tattooer Tony Champ joins me for the interview. We discuss our love of Frazetta, Tony's work in martial arts, his career in illustration prior to becoming an art teacher, tattooing, acrylic VS oils, the virtues of painting monsters and more! Also: the Art Life update and I answer The 5 Questions. Interview starts at about 22:22 Tony Champ Fac...

This week I interview Australian artist Mow Skwoz. We discuss being an art kid and artist in Perth, Australia, moving to America, meeting and marrying Kevin Rutmanis from The Cows/Melvins/Tomahawk, serial killers, the beauty of viscera, mutual friend Mackie Osborne, the weirdness of LA and lots more! Also: the Art Life update and I answer The 5 Questions. Interview starts at about 22:58 Mow Skwoz...