Featured Creature: The Rathbone Assignment: Part III, Derrick Comes Home

The Rathbone Assignment: 

Part III, Derrick Comes Home

~ Continued from Part II, 
Instructions in the Dark ~

Erica closed her eyes against the sorrow that gripped her.  She felt as if the ground beneath her had suddenly opened up and that instead of being buried, she had fallen into empty space.  There was no land to break her fall, no release, just an endless descent.  She pushed her hand against the back of the recliner to feel something solid.  She ran her fingers across it but it was only a thick cloth wrapped tightly over the frame of the chair and gave unpleasantly under her touch.  She retracted her hand and scooted herself closer against the wall.

Erica reached out instead with her mind for something solid to latch onto.  She thought of the locked doors and windows and the remains of the duct tape on the kitchen counter.  These held no comfort, no safety.  She thought of the trees on her drive home and the air as she drove.  This offered her a moments refuge but then she remembered the steaks and asparagus growing warm on the kitchen counter, the soda bottles in the driveway, and the bag with the test in it still sitting in the passenger seat of the minivan.  She clenched her teeth to try and contain the sob that threatened to erupt from her throat.  She held her legs against herself in the darkness and rocked herself gently until her tears subsided.  

Saturday Sketch: Golden Age Fate's Tower

Returning my focus to DC Comics, I figured I would pick up where I left off with Classic Doctor Fate and explore some of the people, places, and artifacts from the beginning of his mythos.  Here we have the classic version of Fate's Tower.  I've always been fascinated by the Doctor's tower especially in more modern versions with its Escher like mystical landscapes within.  I'd never read the older Doctor Fate stories from More Fun Comics until I began working on these pieces.  They have a Sunday newspaper comic strip quality to them.

{2.5x3.5,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only.

Featured Creature: The Rathbone Assignment Part II, Instructions in the Dark

The Rathbone Assignment: 
Part II, Instructions in the Dark

~ Continued from Part I, Erica's Test ~

Erica's knees gave way.  Her elbow hit the kitchen counter and her right arm went into the sink, breaking her fall.  The pain was excruciating and she nearly lost her grip on the phone, but it prevented her from collapsing completely.

"Mrs. Wilson!  Are you Alright?!" 

"I'm Okay, I'm Okay.  I just slipped...just- just gimme a second."  She pushed her breath out hard.  She lifted herself up, using the counter for support.  She had not realized that her vision had blacked out until she began to see the dim light from the kitchen window reappear.  She slowly pulled herself up to a standing position.  She held herself there for several moments, focusing on the rise and fall of her breathing.

"Hold on, I dropped the flashlight."  She used the light of her phone to scan the floor and quickly found the flashlight in a corner.  She picked it up and twisted the head.  It shone with a dull yellowed light, creating a small halo around her feet. 

"Okay.  I've got it." 

From the Archives: Dueling Self

An older sketch about when your internal dialogue is a fight.  I think this sketch comes from the same thematic realms as the tornado of self...an echo as it were.

{Graphite}

Skin Crawling Comics Update: Buried Begins!

Today the first story that I colored for Skin Crawling Comics, Buried, begins posting.  I previewed a couple of pages recently for my SPARTANCON table.  There are eleven pages including the title page so they will be posting the every Tuesday and Thursday for the rest of this month and all of June.  Please drop by Skin Crawling Comics and let me know what you think!  I hope you enjoy!

If you haven't already, please check out Skin Crawling Comics on Twitter and Facebook! 

Psyche Delectus: Darkened Doorways

In the corners of the world 
it gathers into itself.
Within the dust and the trash,
unseen by mundane daylight,
the emptiness waits.

R.I.P. H.R. Giger 1940-2014

This week the world lost a genius.  H. R. Giger died this past Tuesday.  

Saturday Sketch: Original Magik / Illyana Rasputin

Here is the final sketch from the Magik set: Illyana Rasputin as she appears at the end of the Magik limited series and the beginning of New Mutants #14.  Illyana has always been one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe and this re-examination of her origin story has just made me love her more.

I'll admit to putting a bit more of extra time into this piece than the others.  It was the final piece in the set and...it's Illyana.  There's more Illyana to come when I explore the New Mutants later on, but with the Magik set complete, I'm going to give Marvel characters a break and focus on DC for a while.

{2.5x3.5,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright for the properties represented in the Saturday Sketches.  All copyrights and trademarks are retained by their respective owners.  I make no money from what I am presenting here.  It is presented for portfolio and appreciation purposes only. 

Featured Creature: The Rathbone Assignment Part I, Erica's Test

The Rathbone Assignment Part I:

Erica's Test

Erica grabbed the plastic grocery bag with the toothpaste and toiletries in it to keep in the front seat with her.  She placed the rest of the grocery bags in the back of her minivan and closed the hatch.  She reached down into the bag of toiletries and gently took out the plain pink box.  Such a simple design, she thought, for something so complex.

Birds at the edge of the parking lot took flight.  She paused to watch the them as they scattered and reorganized into a flock in the air.  They formed a soft edged triangle as they flew behind the far end of the grocery store.  Beyond them, behind a purple bank of clouds, the sun was burning the horizon a deep orange.  She dropped the box back into the bag and tossed the bag into the passenger seat with her purse.  

She exited the parking lot onto Hwy 130 south and headed home.  It was a long drive to the house but Erica always enjoyed the forest and farmland she passed along the way.  Except for the Army base, Rathbone was just a small country town. Erica didn't mind, she enjoyed the solitude.  In fact, when she found out that Derrick had gotten the assignment at the Rathbone base, she was ecstatic.  She had grown up in this exact kind of landscape and it always made her feel like home.  It was something that she had always wanted her children to experience and to understand.  

SpartanCon Post Con Part III: Tables and Acrylic Designs

Between this week's Scorpio Full Moon on Wednesday and the next week's upcoming Mars Retrograde going Direct it has been a huge pain in the butt to get anything done!  I've been treading water all week.  I'm hoping that since the Full Moon has passed, it might be a little easier to get things completed.  In that light, here finally, are the last of the SPARTANCON photos. The first is the view from my table,  followed by my friendly neighbor Brad Parton whose Alpha-Sketch work is amazing and you need to check him out and show some appreciation for his trailblazing work, and lastly here is a picture of me at my table.

From the Archives: Tornado of Self

Ahhh, stress!  I had been struggling for years to get this idea down on paper.  When I drew this, I felt at the time that I had finally correctly displayed what my stress felt like.

{8.5x11,  Sharpie}

Featured Creature Delay

Sorry for the delay on the Featured Creature this week.  I'm running a bit behind.  It is in process, just trying to find time to write.  In the meantime, please enjoy the extra posts from SPARTANCON.

 

Soon.

SpartCon Post Con Part II: Zombie Bite Con Sketches

In addition to the flyers for SPARTANCON, I decided to create sketches for those who wanted them.  Here are some of the freebie zombie bite sketch business cards I was doing at the con.  I didn't have the time or cash to get printed cards so I figured I would try these to have something to give out.  There are a few missing though.  I didn't think to take photos of them until about 4 or 5 were gone.  I figured these would be a cool way to get the Zombie Bites name out there and to offer a piece of art to go with it.  Enjoy!