Half-Sick of Shadows by Graham Masterton

Gaffa · **Posted:** Sun Dec 28, 2008 7:09 pm

The second release from Sideshow Press, Graham Masterton's HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS, is now up for pre-order at the horror mall. Our Editor-in Chief, Tom Moran, has long been a fan of Masterton's work, so it's a special treat for him to be able to publish (and illustrate) this collection of three tales (one written specifically for this collection) inspired by Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem The Lady of Shalott. Signed by Masterton, and limited to 100 copies, the limited will included 12 full-page illustrations, a full-color frontispiece, and fully illustrated signature page. The lettered edition (offered first to those who purchased the DIFFERENT SEASONS lettered) will be hand-bound and will include a traycase, the poem The Lady of Shalott fully illustrated, and very special piece of original artwork. Each lettered will include an original etched glass sketch on a mirror. I'll be posting pictures of the first few mirrors, as well as some of the completed artwork, very soon.

My thanks to all who pick up a copy!

Gaffa · **Posted:** Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:14 pm

HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS
ORIGINAL ETCHED GLASS MIRRORS

Quoted from Tom Moran, HSOS artist!

"Okay, I was finally able to get some decent pics of these. While I'm posting them, I figured that I might as well summarize the process.

First, I create a pencil sketch of the image. Due to the fact that these will have to cut out, I treat them the same way I would when designing a foil. When that's done, I copy the image onto the stencil material. Then comes the fun part...

At this point, I use an X-acto knife to cut out the stencilled design. (See those fat, sausage-like fingers? Let me tell you, it's a minor miracle that I'm able to do the detail I do). In this picture, the stencil film is already adhered to the mirror.

The mirrors are then chemically treated to create the "etched" glass effect. The stencil is removed (and, for the most part, ruined in the process) and the glass is cleaned. When done, they look like this.

Yes, these have fingerprints all over them. While trying repeatedly to arrange them for photographing, I managed to get my fat fingers all over them (and, I almost dropped all four of them). When cleaned up, they look very sharp.

And here is a look at the stencils:

They are stretched and distorted so much during the removal process, that they really couldn't be used again. In some instances, the tiny pieces (like that woman's nipples!) are lost. This means that each and every mirror will be a different, original design.

Well, there they are. I hope that those of you eyeing the lettered (or those of you who have already pre-ordered it) will appreciate this unique piece of art. They take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours start to finish, so they go beyond a traditional sketch. Plus, I may also include the original pencil sketch in the package.

Back to work!

Tom"

Scott Tyson · **Posted:** Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:32 pm

Yep, I've pre-ordered the limited.

I was very happy with SSP's first offering and can't wait for the next chapter.

Half-Sick of Shadows by Graham Masterton

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