By Katey Khaos

Haven’t you ever wondered what you’d look like as a zombie? Sean Gardner and Nick Mitchell will gladly show you.

Sean and Nick have taken the art of caricatures and transformed it into a whole new realm of creepy cool. “Zombie Caricatures began as nothing more than something fun and challenging to do during the Halloween season at work while I was working as a caricature artist at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida,” Sean explains. Shortly after seeing the interest in these zombie caricatures, fellow artist and close friend Nick joined in, and together they starting creating caricatures like no other. “[We] teamed up and worked a local horror convention and found that other people saw something cool and original in what we were doing.” From there, their Zombie Caricatures took off, and since then, their work has been shown at various events including the Mass Tattoo Convention and Rock ‘n’ Shock in Worcester.

Between the two of them, they share over twenty years of caricature experience ~ and it certainly shows in their ghoulish work. “Every Zombie Caricature we create is 100% unique, original and tailored to that particular person. Some people’s faces requires more attention or offer more possibilities as a zombie, so sometimes a Zombie Caricature can take only 15 minutes, while others can take up to 30 just depends on how much [our] sick imaginations take [us].”

How does one go about Zombie-fying an everyday human? “Each Zombie Caricature starts with being a caricature FIRST!  Once we’re happy with how the general caricature is laid out we then see which features or areas of the face would be better for flesh to be ripped away, blasted by a shotgun or perhaps an ax would fit nicely. The trick is to make sure that the likeness of the individual is still retained. Sure, we would love the tear away half the face, expose brains and have eye popping out everywhere…but if it doesn’t look like the person then the drawing fails as a caricature,” they joke.

As Sean puts it, “It’s like getting away with artistic murder.”

“I can totally ruin someone’s day and make them cry with just one line. Or make them laugh. No matter if it’s a good or bad reaction, I want them all,” Nick laughs.

The guys are currently working on Zombie Caricatures the Book, which they’re hoping will be released by Halloween. The book is a compilation of over one hundred pages of horrifyingly awesome zombie caricatures along with various sketches, tutorials and more!

If you’d like your own zombie caricature, you can order one via their website at www.zombiecaricatures.com.