Today we’d like to introduce you to Rod Zirkle.
Hi Rod, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Every kid struggles with what they want to be when they grow up… an archaeologist-adventurer, astronaut, secret agent, super hero, or alternatively, a comic book artist creating super heroes. It seemed to me that working in the movie industry would be the only opportunity to be (or pretend to be) any and all of those things. Like most kids, I drew a lot. I got a lot of positive feedback from family, friends, teachers. For lack of a better word, it was intoxicating. I decided to pursue an education in art, majoring in Graphic Design at Northwest Missouri State for a year. I had a life drawing class. Regardless of whatever the lesson was for the day, the teacher told us to work a little on one additional drawing at the end of each session. The intent was to apply whatever it is we’d most recently learned, and that drawing was to signify the culmination of everything we’d learned that semester – the “best” drawing we’d done up to that point in our lives. At the end of the semester he made us all put our drawings up for us to critique one another. Then, we were instructed to destroy that drawing… the single most detailed and time consuming piece most of us had ever worked on. It infuriated some of the students. He assured us if we didn’t destroy it, we’d fail the class. He said it was to remind us that we’re students, not masters. To remind us that everything is temporary. That definitely left and impression, as I’m sure was their intent. I decided to transfer to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh because they were the only school advertising a special effects program at that point in time. I treasure that time and the opportunity to learn things I couldn’t have learned anywhere else, and made lifelong friends with similar interests. Special effects artist and director Tom Savini was one of the advisers to the Industrial Design program. Jim Martin taught a puppetry class, he shared home movies behind the scenes working on Labyrinth. Several other instructors worked in the animation and toy industries. I got to touch Ash’s severed, stop-motion hand from Evil Dead 2. Several classmates were lucky enough to work on Stephen King’s The Dark Half, Savini’s Night of the Living Dead remake, and vampire flick Innocent Blood. It was a golden age of practical effects in Pittsburgh, PA. I learned quickly from the stories our instructors shared that the movie industry isn’t easy. None of them had long-term, lucrative careers or stable family lives. Following Savini’s advice of living somewhere inexpensive to be able to afford to build your portfolio, I returned home to the Kansas City area. I had a few jobs drawing screen printed t-shirts – for clients like Annheuser-Busch, Disney and Universal Studios (my Alfred Hitchcock “Psycho” shirt sells pretty high on eBay, after all these years). I worked for a comic book distributor during Marvel’s bankruptcy. I moved on to ad specialties (if you’ve ever gotten junk mail, you’ve probably seen some of my work!). Kansas City is blessed to be the home of some of the oldest haunted attractions in the country. I was able to moonlight and keep my skills active as a haunt actor and makeup artist in the West Bottoms for many, many years. Sometime around 2009 I started dabbling with airbrush makeup as a way to supplement my income. I’ve joked that my autobiography will be titled “Zombies Paid My Bills.” I’ve been lucky to find several ways to use my skills to keep Kansas City colorful. I’ve done makeup for several shows for Shawnee Mission Theater in the Park, I was lucky enough to work a season for the Kansas City Ballet. I’ve done a few low budget movies filmed in and around Kansas City. I did the makeup for a locally-produced, nationally-syndicated, old school horror host show called Drive-In Movie Maniacs. I’ve done temporary airbrush tattoos, face and body painting at hundreds of private events, parties, professional sporting events, photoshoots, comic book and horror conventions. The Covid-19 pandemic was pretty hard on the industry. It’s taken some time for business to pick back up – but that’s one of the reasons I prefer airbrush makeup. It’s alcohol-based and I’m not re-using a sponge or brush on more than one person. Airbrush makeup isn’t as popular in the winter months (it feels quite cold) but I have at least one, recurring, corporate Christmas event. On any given weekend, I’m booked somewhere, painting for private events – usually while the weather is nice, culminating with the Halloween season. I’m always looking for new models and photographers to collaborate with! On October 29th I’ll be offering makeup at Elmwood Cemetery’s Graveyard 5K! Feel free to stop by for a fresh coat or to take a tattoo for a test drive!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We’re blessed to be in a golden age of companies offering a wide variety of quality airbrush makeup. Sadly, there are fewer and fewer local outlets carrying it – so budgeting both for the makeup (easily costing up to $20 per ounce), the cost of shipping and the time it takes to arrive for a scheduled event. A quality brush costs about $150. Having multiple brushes is a time saver for switching to another color, saving time flushing and attaching a different bottle. The brushes require frequent cleaning and maintenance. An air source is also required – the investment of an air compressor and access to electricity or a remote source like a CO2 tank – which is heavy to transport and requires refilling. Barring the financial burden of consumables, the Covid-19 pandemic put a large dent in both public gatherings and the public’s willingness to interact close enough to be airbrushed. Kansas City has a small, friendly group of not only airbrush artists, makeup artists and face painters, but entertainers like balloon twisters and caricature artists. We will share gigs with one another despite being “competition.” One of my current obstacles is self promotion and educating the general public of the advantages of airbrush makeup in terms of being safe, more sanitary and faster than traditional sponge and brush face painting.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m competent in many forms of visual art – drawing, painting, sculpting, casting. I’d always envisioned art as a timeless thing, from cave paintings to marble sculptures, windows into our social evolution. Somewhere in the back of my mind, “temporary” forms of art always seemed like a waste of time. I remembered the lesson from life drawing class, that everything is temporary. I began to embrace every time I touched the airbrush as a learning experience. Locally, I’m most known for airbrush makeup. I put in many seasons at the Beast and Edge of Hell, nationally recognized haunted attractions including a few seasons as the makeup lead and department manager. I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to educate others and share airbrush skills and techniques. I’ve offered presentations and seminars at US Toy’s costume shop. I’ve done several, public body painting demonstrations at local conventions and trade shows. I was thrilled to have done makeup for the Kansas City Ballet’s performances of The Wizard of Oz and The Nutcracker during their 2021 season. I’ve got a few makeup and special effects credits on the Internet Movie Data Base. I’m most proud of my time working on Drive-In Movie Maniacs. When we received national syndication in 2018, it was a pretty big deal. I often wonder how much further we could have gone. Sadly, cast member Troy Ferguson (acting under the stage name Blade Braxton, the Midnight Rose) passed away in 2021. It just didn’t feel right to continue the show without him.
I was contacted by some football fans from Detroit, coming to town for the Chiefs’ home opener in 2023. They wanted to know if I could paint them like Lions. Monday Night Football ended up using footage of them in the stands as part of their opening for the rest of the season.
I continue to do photoshoots and private events. I’d say what sets me apart is my flexibility. I recall one Halloween season I painted two dancers for a private party and airbrushed a dog for a promotional event at Kauffman Stadium on the same day. One day, maybe I’ll retire from painting people and just stick to painting dogs.
How do you think about luck?
I think I’m on the planet at the right point in time. I often wonder how things might have been different if I’d have tried to go to Hollywood – but computer graphics seem to have eclipsed practical effects, so I feel like I would have ended up right where I am now – and wouldn’t have the wonderful memories I share with my wife and kids and the Kansas City art community. I was at the right place and time to see the growth of airbrush makeup as an accessible industry. I feel very lucky with the network I’ve found both of other local creatives, and companies that see the value in my skillset.
Pricing:
- extremely negotiable!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://redcircl6.wixsite.com/rodzirkle
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/red_zirkle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedCircleAirbrush
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rod-zirkle-a3502649/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/BwHdSCrUEug
