Premiering November 2nd on IFC is a brand new comedy from Writer/Comedian Dana Gould called “Stan Against Evil”. It tells the tale of recently retired Sheriff Stan Miller (John C. McGinley) and newly appointed Sheriff Evie Barrett (Janet Varney) as they battle the 172 Demons that have descended upon their little town of Willard’s Mill, New Hampshire. I had the pleasure of seeing the first two episodes at a recent screening and the whole thing is quite funny! There are a number of references that could only have come from the mind of Dana Gould. It is fair to say that it occupies some of the same territory as “Ash VS. Evil Dead” but that’s okay. There is plenty of room there for everyone, AND it’s free!
My connection to the whole thing came about recently. I have been fortunate to work with Dana on a number of posters for his recent Stand-up gigs around the country. We share a lot of the same geek sensibilities which makes the assignments a true pleasure to work on. Having been aware of the painting I did of the cast of “Justified”, Dana inquired about the possibility of my doing a painting as a wrap gift for his cast. How could I say no? With “Justified”, I had seven seasons of material with which I was very familiar. “Stan” hadn’t even premiered yet. All I had was a reference shot of lead John McGinley. So, Dana gave me access to rough cuts of the first two episodes. It’s good to be the Executive Producer! After reviewing those, I had a good idea of the tone. I then set to work sketching a few ideas. Dana’s main requirement was for the setting to be the Witch’s Graveyard from the show. In addition to the videos, he also gave me some nice photo reference of the cast and the location. Armed with all of that, a design was agreed upon and I set to work on the painting. This was what emerged a short time later.
Dana and I both referenced Al Jaffee’s “Fold-In” illustrations in the back of every MAD Magazine as a style reference for this painting. I hope I managed to capture some of that essence here!
I highly recommend checking out the show. Head over to IFC for details by clicking this LINK!
Thanks for looking!