Showing posts with label Dark Arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dark Arts. Show all posts

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Versus

During the month of December 2011, it felt as though there was no escape from everything that was wrong with my life...no shelter, no respite, no answers.  I had just moved all my belongings into a space half the size of my previous abode, after a year of job hunting I was still unemployed, and my new housemate's mother passed the second week of December.  By New Years Eve, I felt as though I was losing my mind. 

Monday, March 26, 2012

What's that behind you?

This is thing that you always feel staring at you when your back is turned.  That creepy tingly feeling are its hairs on the back of your neck.  It always zips away when you turn your head around, though.  I aimed my camera over my shoulder and caught this quick snapshot.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Friday, March 16, 2012

Baphomet


I was worried upon my first viewing of this piece that it was too muddy and obscure, but the more I view this piece, the more it reveals.  Learn more about Baphomet here.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Thee Prison of Flesh

A friend of mine is in prison.  Thinking of the life he is forced to lead within those walls has made me think a great deal on freedom and what that word truly means.  I wonder at the pressurizing effects of that kind of incarceration on human consciousness. When natural movement is forbidden by physical restraint and social strictures, the feedback creates extreme intensity and behavior that otherwise might not exist within an individual. I wonder sometimes if there is a better way.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Mandala Cross of the Mothmen

Once again a mandala has found its way over from Trail of Breadcrumbs.  This one isn't so much gruesome as the last one, but it's dark air of mystery was what felt more appropriate to Zombie Bites...that and the Mothmen.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

From the Sketchbook Archives: Ghost

This piece was created very shortly after Sharpie premiered their new fine tip writing pens.  Needless to say I was VERY excited by the mark making possibilities.  Straight to paper here with no graphite sketching before the pen.  I was playing with the new fine point and this little guy emerged.

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Astaroth


I had some confusion initially as to who this was a depiction of.  My first thought was of Baal, but upon checking other source materials, I feel that the crowned prince of hell, Astaroth, maybe be more accurate.  Also, this is not to be confused with the butt kicking axe wielder from the game Soul Calibur.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

The Guardian


Blocked and bound at the wall of forbidden passage. This is another one of those pieces that doesn't want to give up its information.  There seems to be a diffusion around it.  My attempts at revealing its inner nature seem to be pushed away each time I try to analyze it.

Interesting that there is a Venus symbol in the structure of the piece and what appears to be the head of a large bull hidden in there as well.  If we follow the structure of the Crux Ansata and apply it to the Kabbalah, the guardian head emerging from the circle would be in the placement of the Daath level which is associated with Choronzon.   Choronzon is often considered to be the dweller at the threshold, the demon of dispersion, the guardian at the gate.  So now my difficulty in analyzing this piece becomes clearer.

Alan Moore and J. H. Williams III give a very interesting depiction of this level of consciousness in the 20th issue of Promethea.

Recommended Listening:
Moderat
Seamonkey
from Moderat


{Digital images manipulated in Photoshop}

Thursday, January 12, 2012

I Raise Up My Light

It burns in my heart like an ingot of molten metal. Sometimes it moves to the forefront from the far reaches of my mind and boils over my view until I cannot see past this driving force.  There is no reason, just the scream, only the scream.

It will be free.  If I do not find a way to release it, it will seek its own purchase in the world.  It will strike like lightning, burning and breaking until it is spent.  The surge of blood.  The great red sea.  The Odin force.  The Kundalini.  The opening of the great eye. The life death scream of the hawk.  When it wakes, the world trembles.

There is an older piece I created in graphite that is a sister piece to this one.  I will get a photo of that one soon.  It is larger than my normal work.  Also, It was packed away during the move and will need to be extracted.


Recommended Listening:

{Digital images manipulated in Photoshop}

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Gestation Mandala

I usually save my mandalas for Trail of Bread Crumbs, but this one was so gory and dark I figured it would be more at home here on here on Zombie Bites.  I don't have much for you on this one, other than it makes me think of raw steak bits or a wounded heart.

Recommended Listening:
The White Birch
Breathe
from Star is just a Sun

{Digital images manipulated in Photoshop}

Sunday, January 08, 2012

5x5 Issue Four Cover: The Mask of Fire

This was the image I created for the fourth issue cover of 5x5 fiction.  I had two 5x5 stories accepted to this issue.  Please check out the fourth issue!  I have also had two pieces accepted to issue four!

Recommended Listening:
Vibrasphere
Floating Free (Krama Remix)

{Digital images manipulated in Photoshop}

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Io Pan!


I spent a good bit of time trying to truncate this image once it reached this state, but I finally chose to accept it as it is.  There are so many elements that are important to the meaning of this piece and every time I tried to crop it or manipulate it further, something important disappeared.

Here is Crowley's Hymn to Pan.  An interesting symbol to start the new year off with. Also, there are some elements hiding in this piece that remind me of some of the strange artwork associated with Alchemy.

Recommended Listening:
Access to Arasaka
Nostromo
from Oppidan

{Digital images manipulated in Photoshop}


UPDATE 011515:

This piece is now available as a tshirt or other paraphernalia at my Neatoshop.  Drop by and check it out!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

From the Sketchbook Archives: Face of Darkness

This is from one of my sketchbooks. It was inspired by an image of Randall Flagg from the television miniseries for The Stand. There is a scene where Stu is dreaming of Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg is standing in the corn.  Flagg opens his eyes and they are all red and glowing - VERY Creepy!  I was trying to capture that same feeling that the image from the show gave me - Creepy half light with demon fire within.  Once again I must apologize for the glare.   Heavy sharpie just does not photograph well at all.  :-(

{Sharpie}

UPDATE:

Another update from the Rescans.  This is one that benefits greatly from the rescan.  When photographing the original post, I discovered to my chagrin, that heavy sharpie reflects a flash like polished silver.  No matter what position I placed the image in, I couldn't get a shot without some kind of glare.  Here that issue is completely resolved.  Also, the color on this one is just fantastic.  It looks exactly like the page.  Have I mentioned that I love my scanner?!?

Sunday, December 25, 2011

No Peeking

Katie woke with a start.  She grinned.  Was it time yet?  Was it time?  The room was still dark but for the safe warmth of her night light.  She listened for Bobby to see if he'd beat her downstairs.  The house was silent.  The street light outside cast a lightning thin slit between the curtains and across to the door opposite.  Mom and Dad said not to get out of bed until morning.  NO PEEKING! Katie frowned and fidgeted under the covers.  What if she needed a drink of water?  What if she had to potty?  She wouldn't peek.  She'd promised.

Katie closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but suddenly her insides were all tingly and excited and she knew she had to go potty.  She pushed the covers back and huffed at the ceiling. She wouldn't peek. She wouldn't even look down the stairs.  She would just potty and come right back to bed. Santa knew she was a good girl. She wouldn't peek.

She slipped out from under the comforter and tiptoed to her bedroom door.  It creaked loudly as she opened it and her eyes went wide.  She kept still and waited.  Did mom hear? She held her breath, one foot carefully balanced on tip toe for her next step.  She exhaled and placed her foot flat on the floor.  Maggie, the family Chihuahua, leapt through the open door and onto her foot.  She squealed and fell backward.

Maggie was on Katie's face in a flash, licking her repeatedly and making her giggle.  Katie held the dog back with both hands and whispered fervently, "Maggie no!  We have to be quiet!"  She managed to push the eager dog back enough to get on her feet.  "Ssssh!"  Katie dusted herself off and glared at Maggie.  Maggie looked up intently and wagged her tail.

Katie pushed the door all the way open and stepped out into the hallway.  The tingling was growing worse.  The hall was almost completely black, but she could see the nightlight in the bathroom at the far end.  She faced the wall as she moved.  Halfway to the bathroom the hall became a landing that looked over the living room and if she wasn't careful she'd be looking right at the Christmas tree.  She was pretty sure that would count as peeking.  She took quick steps and was on the toilet in no time.  Maggie whined as Katie closed the door.  The dog whimpered and scratched at the base of the door, trying to get in.  "Maggie, No!"  Katie whispered as loud as she could.  The dog whimpered and then Katie heard the familiar kathump kathump of Maggie descending the stairs.    

As she wiped herself clean she heard a thump on the roof.  Oh No Santa!  She zipped her jammies up fast and rushed to the door.  She opened it a crack and looked down the stairs.  No lights on.  She quickly tiptoed out.  Halfway back to her room, She heard another thump, downstairs this  time, followed by a yelp from Maggie.  Katie stopped without thinking and looked directly through the railing at the Christmas tree.


There was a sound like wrapping paper tearing, then  someone was chewing loudly with their mouth open. Katie could see someone moving at the base of the tree.  She stepped up to the railing.  "Bobby!  Bobby!  Mom said we were supposed to wait until morning!  I'm gonna tell!  I'm gonn-"  The thing that wasn't Bobby turned its head to look directly at her.  In the dim colored light it looked like a Christmas elf, but some thing was wrong with it.  Its clothes were spotted with something dark and its eyes were empty like a closed down store. Beyond the creature, Katie saw a dark spot in the carpet and something that looked like a chicken leg.  The Elf thing stood and turned toward her, its face a tight rictus.  Its mouth was covered in something shiny and dark.

Katie wanted to scream, but all the air was gone. She turned to run back to her room and tripped over a present lying in the hallway.  It collapsed under her weight and spilled its contents onto the hardwood floor, a thick dark liquid that was warm and sticky.  Katie scrambled to stand, her breath coming in short quick gasps.  Her arms and legs fumbled beneath her like a cartoon character slipping in oil.  Tears poured down her face.  The thing from downstairs was at the end of the hallway. It twitched and giggled and slowly stepped towards her, its fingers jerking like it was playing piano.  I didn't mean to peek, she thought.  It was too late, the Chrsitmas elf has seen her.

{Images created in Adobe Illustrator}

The Child

"My flashlight battery finally died as I stepped into the darkened alcove, but there was a dense red light emanating from the machinery nearby that allowed me to see. Ozone burned my nostrils. I covered my mouth with a portion of my shirt and stepped over several large cords to get closer to the cylindrical pod within the alcove.

In the halflight, the strange pod glistened as though it were coated with strawberry jam. I brushed my fingers across it. It was warm and thick like the refuse of chicken boiled too long. When I removed my hand, a thin string of it pulled away like snot. I jerked my hand quickly and it splattered somewhere in the darkness.

My touch seemed to activate something with the pod.  It jerked like a water balloon.  When I moved in, I heard a cry like a cat. It was muffled though, as if it were on the other side of a very thick wall.  I leaned in closer.  Through the jelly, something moved.  I gasped when I saw the thing.  It was staring back at me from within the cocoon..."

Recommended Listening:
Empusae
Tenebris For The Unborn
Ritual Decay

{Digital images manipulated in Photoshop}

Friday, December 23, 2011

Sketch: Father Christmas

This is the original sketch for the Seasons Greetings piece I just posted. I may still do another piece that is closer to this one. I like the lantern and the fact that he is dragging the bag.  If I do this one, I may eliminate the violent bits and just make him ominous.  Truly anyone who can tell if you've been bad or good and see when you're asleep or awake has got to be a little creepy in person.  I'm just sayin'.

Recommended Listening:
Northaunt
Pain is Better
The Ominous Silence

{Created in Adobe Photoshop}

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Seasons Greetings

There is a reason that Santa Claus wears red, or maybe this isn't so much Santa as what the Big Bad Wolf did after Granny and Little Red were gone. LOL. Maybe a little of both, but I did draw initially as Santa.

A little bit of tribute here to Mike Mignola to say the least.  His strong chiaroscuro style and his penchant for antique and ancient artistic elements have always been a strong influence on me.  If you haven't read any Hellboy, you are really missing out!

My initial idea behind this piece involved a much more elaborate set up, but as I began working on the piece, simple seemed the way to go. This is a functional christmas card. It is already the correct size for printing on 8.5x11 paper - justify to the right. I couldn't decide on Color or Black and White, so I provided both. Enjoy!

Recommended Listening:
Northaunt
Night Alone
Horizons


{Images created in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop}
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