LMC: Have you done commissioned pieces?

JL: Recently, I've been getting requests for mask sculpts from different companies And in the past, I’ve done quite a number of commissioned pieces for other kinds of companies, but it seams that my style really lends itself to good ol’ rubber monsters, and it really is my first love. As of this writing, I’ve got a piece in the works for Darkside Studio, and another for them I’ll be starting soon.

LMC: What’s your favorite piece you’ve done and why?

JL:  Well, we’re here to talk about monsters, but I’ve got to say in all honesty that my favorites of my own work are the realistic sculptures, like the Indian, and the Mark Twain, because those are the ones that Dick Smith liked best. That means the most to me.

LMC: What is it about the realistic sculptures that you like? What different challenges do they present?

JL: Well, first of all, getting a likeness is not something for the faint of heart.  It’s a major challenge.  Even getting something to look like a real human with life in it is sometimes a thing to test ones abilities.  But when you’re done, and it works, it really impresses people more than the monsters.  It’s almost as if you’ve created life.  Also, people know exactly what other people look like, instinctively.  If you get it wrong, it’s immediately obvious.  You can get away with a lot more with a fantasy character.

LMC: What’s your favorite mask done by someone else and why?

JL: Could I possibly pin it down it to one? Let’s see…… “Slythis” by Steve Wang. Or “Crusher” by Steve Wang. OK, that’s two. Sorry. I guess it’s a tie. Of course there’s a lot of others that could tie for first place, too. Steve has an innate sense of how organic masses grow that I’ve not seen equaled in anyone else’s work.. He can blend wildly different organic patterns into one coherent character and make you believe that it could really live. He can go from a mammal like a man to an insect in the same face, and make it look like it really was born somewhere and grew in a real world. His work is a constant inspiration.

Also, just for sentimental reasons, I’ve always liked “Danny the Bastard” by Doug Goins. It’s one of those pieces I used to look at in the Death Studios ads and really appreciate because of it’s sense of humor and fun character. It was an early inspiration to get back into doing monsters again, because it reminded me that it wasn’t all just blood n’ guts. The name is great, too.

LMC: What’s your favorite sculpture done by someone else and why? Doesn’t have to be a mask.

JL: Greg Polutanovich has had some pieces reproduced as large resin kits instead of rubber, but a couple of them are absolutely outstanding. His devil, his zombie gunfighter, and some others, well it’s just kind of scary how good they are.  This guy can throw stuff into a character that would NEVER happen in nature, but he really makes it work. He has made things that are highly stylized, but oddly believable at the same time. I don’t know how he does it.

LMC: Do you collect masks?              

JL: The weird thing is that my mask collection consists entirely of a copy of “Slappy” the clown that Pete Infelise (Devil’s Workshop) gave me. I’ve never been a big collector of artwork. I don’t know why. I love collecting pictures of masks, but I’ve never accumulated masks and resin kits like others have. But I still highly appreciate them. I have started to collect lifemasks of actors, though. It’s great reference, and a good way to learn facial anatomy.

LMC: Which lifemasks do you have? Any favorites?     

JL:  I’ve got the young Vincent Price, and am looking forward to getting the aged Vincent price.  He’s just got an amazing amount of character in his face.  Plus, looking at the more elderly faces really teaches what happens when a person’s face ages, which is a complicated series of processes.  If you try old age prosthetics, this is a must.  Another guy with a great face is Peter Cushing.  It doesn’t get much more gaunt than that.   Christopher Lee is just a classic, and I had to get that one.  Elizabeth Taylor is in there somewhere, and one of my favorites has got to be Gary Oldman.  Not only is it an interesting face by itself, but his head has been the recipient of some of the greatest (and most innovative) makeup jobs in film history, from all the different forms of “Dracula” to Mason Verger in “Hannibal”.  It’s nice to be able to look at that plain lifecast just as they did when they started to sculpt.

LMC: Talk about your website and the work you sell there. 

JL: If you go to www.theimageworks.homestead.com you’ll see two different areas. One is the Imageworks FX, which is basically a sampling of images from my portfolio. If you click on the other side, that’s The Imageworks Store, where there are items for sale. At this time, they’re mostly fantasy and/or humorous horror sculptures available as props and statuary. I can’t fill really large orders, since it’s just me making them, but stop by and take a look. It’s a constant work in progress, so if some of the pictures aren’t there yet, they will be soon.

LMC: You have a lot of varied work, what typically sells the best?

JL: The stuff that gets the most attention is the humorous stuff, like the Pumpkins and the Sins, I’ve found.  It’s a different audience than that for pure monsters.   I like doing monsters more than anything else, but the horror fans are a much more focused, smaller, audience.  I’d like to appeal to fellow horror fans, but also to the more mainstream crowd, who might not look further if everything they saw was scary.  Of course, I don’t think I could ever really get TOO mainstream with my art.  The end of that road leads to Hummel Figurines, and Precious Moments, and well, I would never contain my vomit. 

LMC: Talk about the Jester mask you did for Darkside

JL: Years ago, I sculpted a small maquette bust of a sinister Jester which I ended liking so much that I reproduced it and used to give it out as a calling card, with my business info on it’s base. I did it up in a faux bronze finish, and it looked pretty nifty. Design Toscano even used to carry the little guy as a product in their catalog.

A few years later, I painted up a copy of him in full Jester colors, and I think there’s a shot of that at my site. Paul Daniels saw it, and thought it would make a nice full size mask, and I thought that was an interesting idea. So I resculpted him at full life size over a lifecast bust, trying to keep all the personality from the maquette, and maybe giving him an even more mischievous attitude. I’m glad Paul offered me the opportunity to do this character as a mask. It was a very interesting project.

LMC: Any plans for future masks that you want to discuss?

JL: I’m going to be revisiting another of my character creations, this time as a mask. I’ve done a series of eight sculptures of odd and funny caricatures “carved” into pumpkins, called “The Pumpkin Patch”. The flagship character, named “Split” has always got a good response from people, and I’m about to start sculpting the larger-than-life mask version of him, also from Darkside. I’ve got just a bunch of other ideas swarming around, and if I sense that there’s enough interest out there, I’ll see what I can do about allowing them to see the light of day! Also, if anybody has any ideas, or wants me to do something for them, let me know.