From the Archives: From Above

A previous header of a celestial leviathan consuming the earthly ego.

{13.33x4.68, Digital Images manipulated in Adobe Photoshop}

 

From the Archives: Variations on Balance and Darkness

The Door opens for both.

{8x8, Digital Images manipulated in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: Lapine Interior

A musing on interiors with a lapine theme.  My goal is to hang this in the hallway leading to my bedroom.  Originally I had thought for this image to be a small dog's skull, but a hare seems more appropriate.
  

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

From The Archives: Seaside

"Sudd ott emm gos ett tos shuggwa 'net tannish k'tawl lin sud og shet en rugma!"

Like the passing of a long train at night, out of the great depths, it rose and rose and rose.  The rain and ocean spray glittered about it like falling coins.  The thing itself was dark grey and black, revealed only by the shining highlights upon its gargantuan form.  It made a noise like thick wood creaking under strain.  The protuberances at the bottom of its face parted and it bellowed like a claxon.  Its voice shook the shoreline.  

The robed figure smiled in the torrent of rain.  The ritual had taken a complete toll upon him.  He quivered with exertion and excitement.  He was a mad wanton thing.  He raised his arms and brayed into the roaring crash of the tide.
 

"SUDD OTT EMM SUUUUDD OOOOOTT RUUUUGMAAAAAAA-"

The Leviathan twisted in the shallows, sending walls of water in all directions.  The robed figure screamed as he disappeared under one rail car sized appendage. 

~

This is the last of the headers from 2015.  I had never drawn (in any detail) a cyclopean Cthulhuian behemoth.  The seaside seemed like the best place for hat level of horror.  I do have a deep fear of opaque bodies of water... that and behemoth indescribable insect cephalopod Gods.

 

For 2015, I wanted to take the headers in a different direction than the work I had been producing.  I chose to adopt a looser style.  Although the 2014 pieces all had some underlying element of dark humor or social commentary, the 2015 headers have all moved back towards the essence of the work I want to create: horror.

{13.33x4.68,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

 

From the Archives: Haunted

With the header for November 2015 I opted for a bit photo manipulation instead of a drawing - I ran out of time.  I was working with an older photo of myself for a different piece and it became this header.  I've gotten a good bit of mileage out of this image of me with a sheet wrapped around me as a hood.  It has been a creepy gif, the deadly sin of pride, a white wizard, and here a somber figure in the blood soaked bounds of the haunted forest.

For 2015, I wanted to take the headers in a different direction than the work I had been producing.  I chose to adopt a looser style.  Although the 2014 pieces all had some underlying element of dark humor or social commentary, the 2015 headers have all moved back towards the essence of the work I want to create: horror.

{13.33x4.68,  Digital Images manipulated in Adobe Photoshop}
 

From the Archives: The Light Within

Here we have the header from October 2015 of a crowd burned through with jack-o'-lantern faces.  I wanted to do a piece for the dark season to evoke that feeling of Halloween without simply repeating the traditional imagery.   I wanted something that would give the aura of the unusual that jack-o'-lanterns posses minus the happy go lucky feeling even scary jack-o'-lanterns seem to have.  I also wanted to access that unsettling feeling when a large crowd is looking at you and only you....zombie fears activate!

For 2015, I wanted to take the headers in a different direction than the work I had been producing.  I chose to adopt a looser style.  Although the 2014 pieces all had some underlying element of dark humor or social commentary, the 2015 headers have all moved back towards the essence of the work I want to create: horror.

{13.33x4.68,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: New Perspective

It changes everything.

Recommended Listening:

Sembler Deah

Helen Leven Lang

from Kaessariah. Heel Een Leven Lang

{6.99x8,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

From The Archives: In the Alleyway

I always come back to werewolves.  They have been a terror and a sensual draw since I was very young.  With this piece I tried to explore what made a werewolf different than merely an aggressive canine.  After some introspection and some mood swings thanks to the summer heat, I decided that there is something in werewolves that is, for lack of a better term, "crazy".

The aggression of a werewolf is at toxic levels.  They are rabid.  There is only one solution for them, only one avenue of egress, and that is bloody terrible violence.  In this scenario, I am thinking of lycanthropy as a curse and the werewolf as a doomed soul.  After their transformation and summary consumption of human flesh, the only succor they are able to find is in death. This is after all about the horror.

For 2015, I wanted to take the headers in a different direction than the work I had been producing.  I chose to adopt a looser style.  Although the 2014 pieces all had some underlying element of dark humor or social commentary, the 2015 headers have all moved back towards the essence of the work I want to create: horror.

{13.33x4.68,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: The Burning Dead

This isn't the first time that the burning dead have been a focus for me.  They've shown up just before the summer solstice for the past couple of years.  I'm not sure what they're all about, but I'll keep coming back to them until I figure it out or rather, they will keep finding me until...

For 2015, I wanted to take the headers in a different direction than the work I had been producing.  I chose to adopt a looser style.  Although the 2014 pieces all had some underlying element of dark humor or social commentary, the 2015 headers have all moved back towards the essence of the work I want to create: horror.

{13.33 x 4.68,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Halloween From the Archives: Take One

In the spring of 2015 I created a set of Halloween themed pieces as submissions to a fiction print anthology focusing on Halloween.  The anthology was set for a juvenile reading level.  I toned down my usual gore and darkness and tried to shift my imagery a little towards the lighter side.  You will see as the pieces progress that the darkness began creeping through regardless.  Although my submissions were rejected, I ended up with six lovely pieces that I will be sharing between now and All Hallow's Eve.  I hope you enjoy them.

This final piece is where my usual darkness finally breaks through.  This image almost ended up gritty and blood splattered, but I pulled back.  This could easily be a piece from one of my Halloween Outbreaks.  It may yet be.

I kept thinking about this piece until I finally decided to do a blood splattered version.  Here is your dark treat a day early!  Happy Halloween!

I only just realized that so many of the pieces in this set feature doorways.  hmph.  What is so fear filling about doorways?  What comes through them?  What might come through them?  What dread gatekeepers guard them?  What have they been enclosing, holding back and is it now loose?  Oh Doorways, you open and you close.

By the way, The big day is tomorrow.  It's almost time.  Don't forget to wear your masks.

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Halloween From the Archives: Dead End

In the spring of 2015 I created a set of Halloween themed pieces as submissions to a fiction print anthology focusing on Halloween.  The anthology was set for a juvenile reading level.  I toned down my usual gore and darkness and tried to shift my imagery a little towards the lighter side.  You will see as the pieces progress that the darkness began creeping through regardless.  Although my submissions were rejected, I ended up with six lovely pieces that I will be sharing between now and All Hallow's Eve.  I hope you enjoy them.

This one is mostly a mood piece.  However, there is something inherently creepy about a single child standing alone, not seeking out the care of an adult.  The skeleton costume helps with the creepy, of course.

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Halloween From the Archives: Subway

In the spring of 2015 I created a set of Halloween themed pieces as submissions to a fiction print anthology focusing on Halloween.  The anthology was set for a juvenile reading level.  I toned down my usual gore and darkness and tried to shift my imagery a little towards the lighter side.  You will see as the pieces progress that the darkness began creeping through regardless.  Although my submissions were rejected, I ended up with six lovely pieces that I will be sharing between now and All Hallow's Eve.  I hope you enjoy them.

I haven't done a lot of work focused on fear in a city setting.  For this piece I chose a subway late at night.  I also wanted to highlight that moment of horror where the protagonist narrowly escapes whomever or whatever is chasing them with only a thin barrier of protection keeping their pursuer at bay.

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Halloween From the Archives: Ghost in the Doorway

In the spring of 2015 I created a set of Halloween themed pieces as submissions to a fiction print anthology focusing on Halloween.  The anthology was set for a juvenile reading level.  I toned down my usual gore and darkness and tried to shift my imagery a little towards the lighter side.  You will see as the pieces progress that the darkness began creeping through regardless.  Although my submissions were rejected, I ended up with six lovely pieces that I will be sharing between now and All Hallow's Eve.  I hope you enjoy them.

For this piece I wanted to create an uncomplicated image.  I wanted the image to be mostly darkness to focus on the ghostly glow.  I did not want any details to be lost in the darkness so I adopted a clean and simple style.

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: Beyond the Mountains

With this header, I wanted to evoke a creepy foreboding without any direct confrontational horror.  The monstrous thing is  far away, but it's big and could be close in heartbeat, especially if it should NOTICE you.  eep.  ...and worse, there is more than one.
 
For 2015, I wanted to take the headers in a different direction than the work I had been producing.  I chose to adopt a looser style.  Although the 2014 pieces all had some underlying element of dark humor or social commentary, the 2015 headers have all moved back towards the essence of the work I want to create: horror.

{13.33x4.68,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Halloween From the Archives: Three Sisters

In the spring of 2015 I created a set of Halloween themed pieces as submissions to a fiction print anthology focusing on Halloween.  The anthology was set for a juvenile reading level.  I toned down my usual gore and darkness and tried to shift my imagery a little towards the lighter side.  You will see as the pieces progress that the darkness began creeping through regardless.  Although my submissions were rejected, I ended up with six lovely pieces that I will be sharing between now and All Hallow's Eve.  I hope you enjoy them.

Here we have three antebellum ghost sisters.  Are they merely ghosts or something more substantial and horrific?

{11.11x7.4,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Halloween From the Archives: It's Right Behind You

In the spring of 2015 I created a set of Halloween themed pieces as submissions to a fiction print anthology focusing on Halloween.  The anthology was set for a juvenile reading level.  I toned down my usual gore and darkness and tried to shift my imagery a little towards the lighter side.  You will see as the pieces progress that the darkness began creeping through regardless.  Although my submissions were rejected, I ended up with six lovely pieces that I will be sharing between now and All Hallow's Eve.  I hope you enjoy them.

With each piece in this set I tried to tell some kind of story even it was only a simple one.  This piece shows one of the greatest fears I had as a kid: the nearby but unseen monster.

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Halloween From the Archives: Jack-O-Lantern

In the spring of 2015 I created a set of Halloween themed pieces as submissions to a fiction print anthology focusing on Halloween.  The anthology was set for a juvenile reading level.  I toned down my usual gore and darkness and tried to shift my imagery a little towards the lighter side.  You will see as the pieces progress that the darkness began creeping through regardless.  Although my submissions were rejected, I ended up with six lovely pieces that I will be sharing between now and All Hallow's Eve.  I hope you enjoy them.

Here we have a Jack-O-Lantern painted in a watercolor style.  This was initially only a warm up piece, but I ended up including it in my submission.

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: See

It seems each year that February always brings about a rebirth of direction for me artistically, at least with the Zombie Bites headers.  Above is the first header from early 2015.   After the unsettling events in America during the latter half of 2014, I wanted to find a way to express those feelings of deep seated group intensity, sharpened awareness, and fear filled paranoia.

For 2015, I wanted to take the headers in a different direction than the work I had been producing.  I chose to adopt a looser style.  It is not as apparent in this piece as I was overcoming the tension of the 2014 year end.  Although the 2014 pieces all had some underlying element of dark humor or social commentary, the 2015 headers have all moved back towards the essence of the work I want to create: horror.

{13.33x4.68, created in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: Trick or Treat

Here we have the Zombie Bites header from October 2014, Trick or Treat.   Trick or Treaters can be a surly bunch if they don't get the candy they want.  Who knows what calamity might happen on Halloween night if a Zombie outbreak should occur.

~

During 2014, I began creating a new header each month depicting a scene associated with the dominate holiday for that month but with a zombie twist.  I'll be posting the headers here in From the Archives to give them a nice dark corner to fester in.  I'll also be posting the images with and without the logo so you can see the parts of the background image that were covered by the logo.  Thanks for viewing and reading!

If you like what you see here, be sure to check out Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, The Horde of July, and Back to School.

{8x2.81,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: Back to School

Here we have the Zombie Bites header from August 2014, Back to School. As everyone knows, those first few days of the school year can be very challenging.  All those young minds hungry for...uhm...knowledge.  With fresh hosts all lined up in their seats, a school bus ride would be an ideal set of conditions for the zombie infection to take root.  Before the bus driver could realize what all the noise and screaming was about, it would be far too late for everyone.  The bus would quickly become a cairn for the living dead.

~

During 2014, I began creating a new header each month depicting a scene associated with the dominate holiday for that month but with a zombie twist.  I'll be posting the headers here in From the Archives to give them a nice dark corner to fester in.  I'll also be posting the images with and without the logo so you can see the parts of the background image that were covered by the logo.  Thanks for viewing and reading! 

I apologize that I am unable to post the header without the logo.  I had a computer crash back in August of 2014 and lost access to some of my files and data.  I do not currently have access to the logo-less version of this image, but as soon as I do, I will post it here. 

If you like what you see here, be sure to check out Valentine's Day, Saint Patrick's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and The Horde of July.

{8x2.81,  created in Adobe Photoshop}