The Last Bites of 2012 Part I: Janus Tunnel

I find myself in a strange emotional space as 2012 winds down to a close.  This past year has been incredibly turbulent and in many ways disheartening, but as I look across the work I created during this year, I feel uplifted.  If anything else fell to the wayside or was destroyed by the chaotic forces unleashed in 2012, at least this body of work came through me.  This year has tested me in ways I never imagined possible, but at least amidst the waves of tumult, I managed to keep the art flowing.

Dance of the Cat and the Moth

A moment of revelation feeds their understanding of each other.
...and the chase continues.

Featured Creature UPDATE: Bathroom Floor Zombie

Here is the toned version of the Bathroom Floor Zombie.  Check out the original post to compare it to the original sketch.

{Sharpie and Uni-ball Vision Elite Pen with tones added in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: Emptiness

A creepy sharpie sketch from some time ago.  This was a developmental sketch for a painting.  After scanning the image, I did a little tweaking around the edges in Photoshop to cover up the white.  The white made the cloaked figure a little hard to see.  I was trying to achieve a subtle ambiguity with the darkly cloaked figure in night darkness. Where does the shadow begin and the figure end?  It still needs more work, but a solid idea.

Featured Creature: Snake Demon

Here we have a raging horned snake demon.  This creepy crawly was created using the Purple / Yellow technique.  At first I was a little trepidatious of adding tones to this piece.  The stark black and white wanted to remain so, but as I began working on it, I tried a bit of hand toning with the airbrush tool in Photoshop and it all made sense.  The more detailed shading added a quality to it that reminded me of graphite drawing. As always, a nod here to the genius of H. R. Giger.

He Fills the Space

"I have not come to tell you what it is.
I have come to ask you the question."

Boat of the Prince of Cups

He hangs midair like a ghost,
hovering amongst labyrinthine structures.
His secret, the unseen movement of a great wind.
He disturbs not the waters.
His deep understanding of that element allows it.

From the Archives: H. P. Lovecraft

Here's a touched up portrait of H. P. Lovecraft I created to hang in my space.  I wanted a portrait of the horror master to inspire me when I was working, but I didn't want something plain.  I ran the standard image of him through several photoshop filters and voila, H.P. visits Silent Hill!

{Digital Images manipulated in Adobe Photoshop}

Featured Creature: Bathroom Floor Zombie

Here we have another zombie from the ongoing outbreak.  This one seems pretty harmless, but beware the unguarded ankle!  That's why you have to check everywhere and under everything when cleaning out spaces for Z.  You never know where a half eaten corpse might be animating.  All it takes is one bite.

The Gestation Pits

Beneath my skin I drown,
The world has become incompatible,
toxic to my very essence.
I struggle against this precipice of change,
this pit of transformation. 
I gulp for air
as my lungs fill with water.
Inside me, the sleeping thing gurgles
I don't want it,
I don't want to,
I do not want this.

Featured Creature UPDATE: Autumn Winds Original Scan

After this week's mention on my process with the purple and yellow sharpies, I wanted to share the original color scan for Autumn Winds.  I actually enjoy this piece a lot in its original form.  I spend so much time looking at black ink on top of grey pencil that the variation is very refreshing.  It's like artwork from some weird other world where the light is odd and the laws of physics are different, or the color green doesn't exist.  Check out the original post to compare it to the finished piece.

 
{Sharpie}

Apparation

What form is this?
What lesson?
What karmic vision?
In the gloaming a figure emerges.

Fuzzy Skeletonians in my Closet: A Summer Commission

I've been meaning to post this for literally months and plans have just not turned out in any corner of my life, but finally here we are... 

This summer, just before things went completely mad in my corner of the world, I commissioned a drawing from Vincent over at Fuzzy Skeletonian.  I'm a big fan of Vincent's work and style and wanted to show my support by commissioning a piece.  When the package arrived I was treated to an added bonus of two extra fuzzy skeletonians on the cardboard packaging.  That's them in hanging in my closet with my other skeletons, they all keep me humble when I'm getting dressed by screaming and laughing at me.  :-P 

My request was a bit specific and explicit, but Vincent was nice enough to work with me. Just to give you a bit of a heads up for those that might be offended by such things, the content that follows the break is more sexually explicit than my regular fare.  Be warned.