The Sock Puppet Portraits

In 2021 Marty successfully re-booted the Sock Puppet Portraits with a best-of series of nine characters featuring eight greatest hits and one new portrait, presented as SERIES 1, Volume 2.

Marty's Kickstarter was funded for over $13,000 and paved the way for him to re-launch his brand featuring new back-tags, painted frames, and packaging all in support of the goal of making the portraits available for wholesale.

SERIES 5's characters were all based off of cultural masks and were premiered in over-sized 20"x30" commercial packages (and matching small, limited edition 5"x7" packaged pieces) as a collaboration with artist Leopold Masterson.

Series 5 premiered in September of 2014 as a solo exhibition at Brooklyn's Emerson.

Pictured here a selection of 20"x30" packaged pieces from the Emerson premiere.

Created in 2012-2013, Series 4 consists entirely of characters from the world and story of the still-in-progress novel, 'Theodore and the Seven Layers of Space' [Update: the novel was released in 2022-23]

Their production was successfully funded via Kickstarter in 2012.

Theodore & the 7 Layers of Space tells the tale of one boy traversing the world that surrounds and integrates most of Marty's artwork, The 7 Layers of Space.

Pictured: G'zort Bleep

Released throughout 2010-2011, Series 3.5 consisted of three sets of three related characters, like the two "decimal-based" series before it. 

This series is made up of: "Three Noteworthy Kansans" (designed for Wonderfair, Kansas), " Three Lava Men" (tied to the release of Uncle Monsterface's album, "Rise of the Lava Men"), and "Three More from Manor," three extra characters from Series 3's "Sock Puppet Manor."

Pictured here: Amelia Earhart (Three Noteworthy Kansans)

Created in 2010-2011, Series 3 consist of the cast of the Monsterface Industries Sock Puppet Soap Opera, "Sock Puppet Manor."

Watch the first three episodes on Youtube.

The Series consists of all of the members of the two opposing pickle-canning families, The Lollybottoms and The Durtlingers.

Pictured: Lillith Lollybottom

Released around 2008-2009, Series 2.5 consisted of three sets of three related characters, like the two other "decimal-based" series.

Series 2.5 is made up of: "The Old Timey Moustache Society Brigade", "The New Champions of Tomorrow," and "Three Guys Named Charles (Darwin, Dickens, and 'In Charge').

Released around 2007, Series 2 consists of nine characters who all have songs that they wrote themselves. Six of the songs were composed by me, and three were composed by or with guest artists.

Pictured here: Spot the Elusive Dinosaur

Released around 2006, Series 1.5 consisted of three sets of three related characters, the first of the "decimal-based" series. All nine characters were created for a group exhibition in Chicago, "Under Five Feet."

Series 1.5 is made up of: "The Fabulous Flying Zambinis," "Three US Presidents," and "The Super Speculex Brothers."

Pictured: Plim Zambini (of the Fabulous Flying Zambinis)

At some point, Marty started making a few real people or other people's fictional people as Puppet Portraits. Some of whom are incorporated into a few of the regular Series, but some are stand-alones. As such, Marty started grouping a few of them together as his only of my open-ended series.

Stand-alone characters have included the likes of Freddie Mercury, Captain America, Joss Whedon, and Cthulhu, while Marty also considers characters like the "Three US Presidents" and the "Kansans" as kinds of cousins to this set.

Pictured: Bill Murray (as Steve Zissou)

The original series of Sock Puppet Portraits was born slowly between approximately 2003-2006. 

When Marty first sold Sock Puppet Portraits in galleries and in the earliest days as a NYC Street Artist, they were something of an informal pile. After a few months, as Marty talked with folks and got to know the puppets, they began to form personalities.

In or around 2006, Marty eventually narrowed the number down to nine of them, giving them all Myspace Profiles (!?!), and cementing the foundation of many more to come.

Coming eventually: a list of all of the Series 1 characters.

Pictured: Uncle Monsterface

From 2004-2012 the smallest (2"x3") and most common portraits were presented in "mini-Victorians.” Then they mostly ran out. This style is still what Marty considers to be the original and most valuable.

There were several odd variants during the interim, including a large number of plain, sanded wood portraits.

Around 2011 Marty also began presenting portraits as stretched canvases, most often with a printed "faux frame" on the piece. These are most commonly found as 8"x10". They have also had major runs of 5"x7" and 3"x4", along with large-scale 20"x30" and 18"x24" pieces.

From 2012-2016 Marty first and primarily sold the the mini-baroques (pictured in trunk) in black and white frames.

In 2016 Marty presented a limited edition run of packaged 5"x7" canvas pieces for the Series 5 portraits (as a collaboration with Lee Masterson).

From 2017-2020 Marty sold fewer portraits, occasionally experimenting with new styles, painted frames, hand-altered frames, and re-releasing a small number of the original mini-Victorians.

In 2021, tied to Marty's re-boot of the Sock Puppet Portrtaits and their associated Kickstarter, Marty revisited the baroque portraits, but began painting frames in solid, bold colors, and these have remained the standard through 2024.

In 2022 Marty began sourcing large, unique frames from vintage and second-hand stores, restoring and painting them, and printing custom portraits to match them.