Spock's Pickled Brain

In fantasy and urban fantasy we often see mages, wizards, and all manner of magic-users casting protective wards or investing energy in amulets, talismans, and charmed objects. Either by description in novels or depicted on screen, you often see a brand burning over a doorway to prevent evil from entering, or a symbol glowing over the mantle to instill good fortune. It's such wonderful imagery that I wanted to find a way to recreate that idea with more mundane methods. One such way would be to use electronics, but I thought glow-in-the-dark paint might work even better, be simpler, and be low-maintenance. Here's how I transformed a simple wooden plaque into a charm of good luck, protection, etc. that glows with just a hint of magic. Materials -Wood plaque -Wood stain -Epoxy spray -Art N Glow paint Tools -Pencil -Sandpaper -Wood-burner -Large brush for stain -Small paintbrush for paint Inspirations  Angel wards in Supernatural Wards in The Magici...

So, as a fun and easy way to celebrate urban fantasy, the Loonatic and I decided to make up some simple Winchester costumes.   I admit, Supernatural has been one of my favorite TV series since I was a kid. I'm not saying that it runs on Emmy-winning acting and writing, or that it has a great relationship with women, people of color, etc., but it is a fun show that has some remarkably poignant moments. There's a lot of these kind of moments Anyway, the costume aesthetic of Supernatural is pretty much flannel and jeans, so having specific character details or a costumed group is kind of key to being recognized. Hence, I would not be a Dean without my Sam (so check out the Loonatic's Sam costume build for more funtimes). Specifically, I decided to build a costume around one of Dean's most iconic looks from the first couple seasons, consisting of a black t-shirt, a green overshirt, his classic leather jacket, and, of course, the god-finding amulet. I swear, ...

I think another aspect of urban fantasy is to bend ordinary objects into things that look like they've been touched by magic and nature gone wild. This project was inspired by the aesthetic of nature-in-the-urban-landscape in The Last Witch Hunter (2015), in particular the character Cloe's apartment. I decided to adapt this wooden wine rack into an urban fantasy display complete with fairy lights, faux airplants, and crystals. Besides being a neat place to store wine and liquor bottles, this also provided me with another opportunity to display some of the odds and ends of stones and crystals collected from years of sifting through rock shops. So if you're curious how I put this together, read on! And with LED lights on, ambient light dimmed: Reference Images These are all gorgeous set pieces in The Last Witch Hunter (2015). There's a great interview with production designer Julie Berghoff by Kirill Grouchnikov for the blog Pushing Pixels that explains ...

1. The Last Witch Hunter (2015) In the distant unnamed past, humankind was brought to the brink of destruction by the Witch Queen and her kindred. The man Kaulder was able to destroy her plague, and through a side effect of her magics he became immortal. Since then he has played enforcer for the Axe and Cross, hunting down law-breaking witches and upholding the peace between witches and humans. But when his handler is mysteriously killed with black magic, the peace is threatened. With the aid of a new priest and a young witch he must track down the killer and unravel their greater agenda. A lot of people put this movie down as a Vin Diesel hack-and-slash action movie. And don't get me wrong, it is. But even if the plot is a little basic, The Last Witch Hunter makes a great urban fantasy. Peel back the façade of Manhattan and we get to see a wickedly beautiful underworld of ancient councils and modern speakeasies. The aesthetic of the world of witches is very naturalistic ...

In the modern world it can be hard to translate the magic and ideas we read in books and watch in movies into touchstones we can carry with us in our daily lives. I love crafting, and I don't really stick to a particular type, but I thought about this a lot when I was doing more beading. I liked the idea of making an amulet, talisman, or other spiritual object, taking intangible ideas and making them material. And I think that's often what the genre of urban fantasy is all about: bringing the magical and spiritual into our daily lives. So here are some of my attempts to create a sort of modern-day amulet. It's not intended as a religious meaning (though you could create something with that in mind), but more generally as a way to carry around an idea.  Materials -Beading wire -Ceramic, wood, metal beads -Semi-precious stones -Found objects (figurines, old jewelry, stones, shells, etc.) -Crimp beads Tools -Scissors -Wire cutters -Needlenose pliers -Crimping...

Time for some more urban fantasy books, huzzah! 1. American Gods (Neil Gaiman) If you write an urban fantasy book list without including any Neil Gaiman, have you really written an urban fantasy list? Well, yeah, sure, but it's way harder not to include any Gaiman. Gritty urban noir with a side of magic and mayhem is kind of his main wheelhouse. Of the Gaiman works I've read (a smattering, though certainly not all of them), my favorite remains American Gods . It is perhaps the best story about gods being diminished through loss of faith or rebellion that I have read/seen (and I've read/seen a lot, it's one of my favorite themes, from Wrath of the Titans and Percy Jackson to Scar Night and His Dark Materials ). In the story, recent widower Shadow ends up working for a modern version of Odin as a war between the old gods (including Odin and his friends Anansi, Thoth, etc) and the new god-like representations of pop culture, the internet, and globalization. As a k...

Because the Winchesters of Supernatural live in the modern day, finding clothes to match is as easy as walking into a thrift store. Unlike a movie or superhero comic, characters of a TV series generally do not have a single outfit that defines them. But they do have a general style or look, which can be emulated by picking clothes similar to pieces seen on screen. Working on a costume like this can be difficult because finding the pieces is easy, the hard part is making it look like cosplay. These are normal clothes, so to make it something more it's about the little details, context, and attitude. Details are in the choices and accessories. Context is teaming up with a Dean Winchester, Castiel, etc. And of course attitude will turn a costume into a character. Reference Images 1. Shirt Although what the characters wear in Supernatural changes over the seasons, Sam seems to settle into a trend of long-sleeved plaid shirts. Sometimes this is paired with a so...