The Monster Art of Paul Spatola, A Short Interview!

THE MONSTER ART OF PAUL SPATOLA

BY GENE STEVENS MONSTERS AFTER MIDNIGHT

Frankenstein’s Monster by Paul Spatola

 

When I started writing and editing Monsters After Midnight Magazine, it required me to be embark on a mission to find writers and artists who would be willing to contribute to the magazine. During my journey I discovered two great truths about the classic monster genre. First, the genre was alive and well and secondly, I came to realize that the classic monster genre had many followers, fans and talented people who were doing their damn best to keep the genre alive.

Over the year or so that the magazine ran in print, I spoke to and met so many dedicated people who helped me by contributing both written material and artwork. One of those contributors is an Artist by the name of Paul Spatola.

I was quickly captured by Paul’s drawings. He had a keen eye for detail and presented drawings in a black and white format that was (and still is) stunning. I got to know Paul and bit through social media and featured some of his works in Monsters After Midnight. Paul is particularly accomplished where the execution of Lon Chaney Jr.s (Creighton Chaney) image is concerned. Paul has successfully drawn many images of Chaney in various roles and the detail that he brings out is nothing short of astounding. I am a huge fan of both Lon Chaney Sr. And Lon Chaney Jr. so Paul’s renderings have a special place in my heart.

                                                                                                                      

     

Lon Chaney Jr. as “The Wolfman” by Paul Spatola    

And Lon Chaney Jr in “The Wolfman” Universal Studios. (right)                      

I asked Paul to do a short interview online via social media and found out a lot about Paul that I did not know.

The interview;

Me. Paul so where are you originally from?

P.S.  Originally from Vineland, NJ.

Me. How long have you been drawing monster pictures?

P.S. Been drawing monsters since I could hold a pencil.

Me. What is your favorite subject to draw?

P.S. Any classic horror movie character.

Me. I understand that the family of Lon Chaney may have some of your art work in their personal collection?

P.S. The Chaney Family has many pieces of my art and sells a series of 5 prints on their website, lonchaney.com

Me. Is your artwork on display in a public places?

P.S.  I do a lot of work for two European film magazines, Multitude of Movies and We Belong Dead

Me. Where do you spend your Halloweens?

P.S. Been Working Haunted Attractions my whole life, started at 14 at a summer haunt The Brigantine Castle as an actor and makeup artist for 6 years, when that closed I moved to Castle Dracula for a year, ran a Haunted Hayride for several years and various haunts and hayrides as manager, makeup artist and actor over the course of 35 years, this is actually my first year off by choice.

Me. Where can people buy your art?

P.S. I sell a lot of work on Ebay and through my Facebook Art page https://www.facebook.com/paulspatolaart

Me. And lastly Paul, who is your favorite monster artist.

P.s. My all time favorite artist is Frank Frazetta and I also really love Basil Gogos’ Classic monster art.

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