2nd Annual Asheville Tattoo Festival, March 14-17

Later next week, the city of Asheville, North Carolina will be celebrating it's Second Annual Tattoo Festival.  Check out their website for a full listing of the festivities and information on the cool guests coming.

Featured Creature: Krampus Head

I know I said I had nothing for Krampusnacht this year, but this little guy kept bugging me until I broke out the paper and pen.  Gruss Vom Krampus!

Featured Creature: The Devil in the Moon

Here we a Devil Man in the Moon and the first color piece for the Featured Creature.  I have always been fond of man in the moon images.  Here I'm combining that with a little Coop devil flavoring.

From the Sketchbook Archives: Halloween Poster Pieces

Here are some unused sketches and color elements for a Halloween poster from several years ago.  Much of the imagery here is inspired by early twentieth century Halloween paraphernalia.

Engine and Entourage

Having passed through the gates of Halloweenland and following Persephone's Descent deeper into the seasonal Underworld, we are greeted by a flaming visceral engine and its unsettling entourage.

Featured Creature: Devil's Head

Another horned headed monster this week for the second installment of Featured Creature, but a few more steps towards a darker demonic tone.  Somewhere between a satyr and a werewolf I think.  Once again, the background tone was added in photoshop post scanning to give give the image a little more punch.


{Sharpie and Uni-ball Vision Elite Pen, tone added in Adobe Photoshop}

He Waits for Me at the Threshold

He waits for me at the threshold of rebirth,
at the cup of the phoenix.
Together, we will shed our skins
to discover the truth between us.
Soon there will be nothing left to separate,
no misgivings,
no deception,
no fear,
Only an endless tunnel
vibrating and shifting,
moving closer and closer
to the threshold.

In the Pools of Fevered Disappointment, He Waits

I find this piece a little difficult to write about.  I am observing an exterior structure becoming transparent, revealing a previously hidden intent.  Chaos and Toxicity, that's all I have right now.

Devil's Head III: My Daemon

This piece was simultaneously disturbing and satisfying as I completed it because I realized I was looking at a part of myself.  It is actually kind of a relief to see this darkness and recognize it as my own.  The feeling here for me was very similar to what I felt upon the completion of The Fear.

Devil's Head II: The Unquiet Dead

In the dark caves of Hell, trapped and hungry, forgotten desires map out the cursed gift of their continuance.  Their garbled chanting wears the air thin with obscenities.  They stretch free of the underworld like separating meat.  Toothless and eager and undead, they seek us out for one last wet embrace.

Devils Head I: Dilemma of the Dark Votive

This is the beginning of a series of four pieces all of which were created from the same source material.  Each had its own voice and message, so I've chosen to give them each separate posts.

This piece struck me as the revelation of a dark device.  Some votive to an ancient devil suddenly discovered in your possession, its raspy voice whispering from the half light of a candle lit room.  What if the Monkey's Paw whispered to you in the night?

Sketchbook: Demon

A bat-winged demon guy lit by flames.  The sketch started as just a satyr, but as I continued, it turned into something much more.  I think when I drew him I was at odds with the capriciousness of the universe in my life at the time.  I was just beginning to feel the effects of the Mars Retrograde cycle from earlier this year.

I am also working on a color version of this.  I will update here once it is complete.

{Sharpie}

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.

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}

SEES YOU WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING. KNOWS WHEN YOU'RE AWAKE.

Need I say more?

{Drawn in Sharpie, Color added in Photoshop}

GRUSS VOM KRAMPUS!

Sorry for the delay on this one. We had a power outtage in my neighborhood and I lost several hours of drawing time. Probably Uranus getting ready to go Direct on the 10th.  We also have an Eclipse / Full Moon on the 10th, so expect a bit of Chaos. All this during a Mercury retrograde (Nov. 24th - Dec. 14th). I guess Krampus is in full effect this year!

Regardless, Happy Krampusnacht! I hope you've all been good this year!  I hope that your 2012 is much better!

{Created in the Adobe Creative Suite}

Krampus is on his way!

I'm not sure why I feel the need to jump on the Krampus bandwagon this year.  I found out about him two years ago and haven't really had the opportunity to work on any pieces involving him until now.  This year has been such a roller coaster through crap I figure it might be nice to believe a little in some cosmic force of justice.

Of course the assumption there is that Krampus won't be coming for me.  If he were coming for me, that might not be all bad though.  Cover your ears kids!  A hairy horny devil with a ridiculously long tongue kidnaps me and drags me away to do with me as he pleases.  All because I've been bad.  Hmmm...I say let the punishment fit the crime, eh!

I guess in the end, I just like the idea of Krampus.  He's a little taste of punishment to help us appreciate the good in life.  I wonder perhaps if he is some seed idea left over from Saturnalia?  Perhaps he is the last Lord of Misrule from the lost tradition of the Feast of Fools.  Perhaps not completely lost, Halloween / Samhain has taken on many of the qualities of Saturnalia and the Feast of Fools. Considering how much our calendars have changed since those times, Halloween may be closer to the correct timeframe.

I am intrigued that these kinds of festivals seems to emerge from the human psyche regardless of repression or taboo or dogma or fiat.  Close one door and the urge will find its way out through a window.  This is the cord that Krampus strikes with me. Aha! there's the reason: The repressed urge given its day in the sun.

I think we need more of that...at least here in the United States we certainly do.  Too many natural urges are repressed and criminalized.  We need to find healthy outlets instead of shoving it all in a box...or a prison.  I feel Krampus is part of that.  A little comedic S & M for the whole family!  Be good kids for goodness sake!  Only one more day until Krampusnacht!

{Image created in Adobe Illustrator}

Only two more days...

Another fun filled Krampus portrait to celebrate the imminent arrival of that precious Christmas Devil!  Be good for goodness sake kids, Krampus is coming!

{Images created in Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop}

UPDATE 091014:  This piece is now available on a tshirt design or other cool paraphernalia at my Neatoshop!  Drop by and check it out!

Krampus is Coming!

Here is a Krampus Card to celebrate the season!  If you would like to steal and print this, feel free.  All you naughty children better be good for goodness sake!  Krampus is Coming!  Only three more days!

{Image created using the Adobe Creative Suite}

Not Exactly Krampus...

Not exactly Krampus, but I think devilish enough to fit the season.  Be good for goodness sake, Krampus is coming!

{Digital images manipulated in Photoshop}

UPDATE 010413:

I discovered recently that this piece had some visual issues that I hadn't noticed before.  I've gone through several computer upgrades since this was originally created so I'm chalking it up to the better system I'm using.  Regardless, I noticed the hard black edge within the piece that I had not seen before.  Here is an updated version of how I intended the piece to look.  It's a subtle trade, but I had not intended that hard line in the original.