Featured Creature: The North Ridge Fence

The day had started overcast and temperate, but a heavy wind had blown in from the west around lunchtime.  The trees shook and swayed all afternoon as the cold air had settled in.  By evening, the sky was mostly clear except for a thicket of clouds to the north.  Now the last vestiges of clouds struggled to maintain their forms against the harsh cold gusts.  Glen watched several smaller puffs just above the horizon dissipate as they slid across the sky.  The sun had begun to set, but he had one more task before heading back to the house.  He turned his Jeep onto the dirt road that led to the north ridge pasture.

UPDATE: Writing Gallery

A quick note to let you know that I've just uploaded a fresh set of links to the Writing gallery.  I have also added several new sections: Short Stories, World Building, and Poetry.  Check it out and let me know what you think!

Psyche Delectus: Intention Quagmire

Thrones of control
present themselves as gifts
but crowns, though gilded,
are their own kind of prison.

Saturday Sketch: Classic Cloak

Here's one of my all time favorite Marvel Comics characters, Cloak.  Though generally inseparable from his partner, Dagger, I always like it when they present the occasional one off Cloak on his own story.  Although the surface gist of his powers is cool, I've always enjoyed the underlying supernatural quality to his abilities.  Also for superhero drama, what's more dramatic than a giant shadow filled cloak that blows around in the wind all the time and sucks you into a shadow dimension?

{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 purposes only.

Exhumed: Identity

I was excited to dig into this piece with color.  Originally I had imagined the energy surrounding the mask as a warm set of colors.  However, as soon as I began working with color I knew that it had to be cool blues.  I added the muted background because I wanted to develop the space within the piece more without detracting from the focus on the foreground entity.  Looking at this now, I think this may be in the same reality, the same underworld as an earlier piece.

{8x7.84,  Sharpie with color added in Adobe Photoshop}

New Gallery: Writing

As part of the face lift I've been giving Zombie Bites lately, I've begun to collate all the links to the flash fiction, short stories, serials, and poetry I've been posting into a single gallery.  Currently the Writing gallery holds only a small selection of my flash fiction links, but I'll be expanding and posting to this gallery very regularly.  Check it out and let me know what you think.  Thanks for reading and viewing!

From the Archives: Kirby Crackles and Alien

Here's a quick sketch with some Kirby crackles, a strange alien, and a hand study.

{8.5 x 11, Ball Point Pen}

Featured Creature: The Room Under the Bridge

Ken had been struggling with the key for several minutes.  The metal door and lock were very old and a patch of rust had accumulated around the keyhole.  He wiped the sweat away from his eyes and scraped at the rust again with his screwdriver.  He tried the key once more. Finally the blockage gave way and the key slid in with a loud click.

He had to press hard to get the key to turn at all.  It felt as though it were going to break off in the lock, but the inertia within the lock slowly relented and the key turned.  Once the lock released he tugged at the door and it opened with an audible gust.  The air within was stagnant and musty.

"Finally!"  He took a swig from his water bottle and placed his tools back in his belt.  Ken returned quickly to his truck to get a flashlight and double check the paperwork for the site: #PDOTA13  Tertiary Water Interchange under South Highway Fourteen and Old Mason road bridge.  The commission director wanted an inventory of all the older pump sites in the county before funding could be approved for the new waterworks construction next year.  Everyone in site management was working extra shifts until all the pump sites had been checked and cataloged.  This particular interchange was the oldest on his list: it had not been accessed in over seven years.  He clipped his flashlight onto his belt and pocketed a filter face mask just in case the air was worse inside.  Clipboard under one arm, he returned to the door.

Psyche Delectus: Within the Soul Smithy

Old roles, emptied of potency,
are revealed as the masks
for the truth of actions.

UPDATE: Psyche Delectus Tenebrarum

I just completed an update to the Psyche Delectus Tenebrarum gallery. Thumbnails for 2011 through 2005 posts are now up in their entirety as well as the full year of 2013.  After going over the thumbnails several times, I realized that the page gets rather monotonous after a bit, so I've also added some year markers to break up the thumbnails a little.  let me know if that helps in viewing.  I hope you enjoy!

Saturday Sketch: Classic Etrigan

I've always been fond of DC Comics Demon, Etrigan.  I was first introduced to him in Matt Wagner's limited series in the early 80's. It wasn't until much later that I read some of the Kirby stories.  It is always a dark treat whenever Etrigan shows up.  He's nothing but trouble.


{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 purposes only.

Exhumed: DC Comics Manhunter

I'm angling more and more of work towards comic book themes and imagery with the Saturday Sketch and other future posts.  Although this piece does not specifically have a horror theme or imagery, I wanted to share it for the coloring aspect.  I promise next time we will return to our previously scheduled horror.  :-)

{8x6.2,  Sharpie with zippotone and color added in Adobe Photoshop}

I claim no copyright to this DC Comics character.  This is presented for portfolio purposes and appreciation only.

From the Archives: Zombie Meat King Sketch

A preparatory graphite sketch for a color zombie image from long ago. 

{8.5x11, Graphite}

Featured Creature Delay

Apologies for the delay on this weeks Featured Creature.  Holiday scheduling has kind of caught up with me like a snowball rolling downhill...at me.  :-O  I tried really hard to get it all finished, but I've just run out of juice.  I promise it will be worth the wait though.  I'm really excited about this upcoming image.  It's very creepy.  Happy New Year and I'll see you next week!

New Gallery: OTHER FEATURES

I've added a new gallery, Other Features, to give a clearer pathway to viewing my older work in From the Archives and to put a spotlight on my new features Exhumed and Saturday Sketch.  Each section has selected pieces as examples of style and content as well as a main link to all my artwork under those individual headers.  Check it out and let me know what you think.  Enjoy!

UPDATE: Psyche Delectus Tenebrarum

I just completed another update to the Psyche Delectus Tenebrarum gallery. Thumbnails for all 2012 posts are now up in their entirety.  I hope you enjoy!

Psyche Delectus: Church of the Burden

Minds shut tight like maidens of iron,
their bodies were only ever formed
to service the dissolution
of their God's hunger.

Saturday Sketch: Classic Hellcat

Marvel Comics Hellcat, Patsy (Walker) Hellstrom, was one of the first female heroines I read as a kid.  There was something about her simple design and bright primary colored costume that called to me.  Her later marriage to the Son of Satan and connection to demonic forces also made her very intriguing.

{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 purposes only.  

Exhumed: Dark Magus

This piece was originally posted on EXP3 back when I was still posting artwork there.  In the original sketch the character was a villain from a fantasy story.  In the color rework, I feel like he has taken on a more mythic quality.  Now he seems more like the dark magus of the plains of sorrow or some such title.  For this rework, I added elements from another older sketch that this seemed to echo in tone. 

{8x5.33,  Graphite with Color added in Adobe Photoshop}

From The Archives: Loose Zombie Head Sketch

Here we have the last of loose zombie sketches.  Because of the size of this sketch, I had to piece it together from multiple scans.  It came through mostly okay, but there are a few patches of variation between the scans.  This piece is the last of the loose zombie sketches.

{11x17,  Graphite}

Featured Creature: Gift of the Pyxis

Sigurd and Donna were fighting again.  Behind me, at the second table of artifacts, they stood over the ancient box that had been found at the new dig site and all but spat in each others faces.  An inscription translation was the item of contention this time.  I tried to concentrate on translating the runes on the sword in front of me, but they continued to escalate.

Professor Lincoln wasn't at camp today and in his absence they always went after each other.  They had not liked each other from the moment they had met.  A week in the cramped quarters of the base camp had not helped their temperaments at all.  Any professional courtesy had quickly withered until only venomous disagreement remained.  All common ground was lost.

"The inscription clearly calls this chest the Pyxis of Union!"  Sigurd said with derision.  Donna sighed heavily and flipped several pages in her notebook.  She read from her notes and glared back at Sigurd.

"The rune for death and transfiguration is clearly displayed at several key points on the chest.  It is the Pyxis of Death!"

Psyche Delectus: Red Wizard in the Grey Temple

In that forgotten place,
he became the flickering flame
at the heart of the lantern.

Saturday Sketch: Classic Mephisto

I always found something very unsettling about Mephisto whenever he'd show up in a classic Marvel Comics story.  Beyond the fact that the implication was that he was THE Devil, his presentation was always creepy.  All these years I've never been able to put my finger on it exactly.  

UPDATE: Psyche Delectus Tenebrarum

Just a quick heads up from the Psyche Delectus Tenebrarum.  I've added more links for posts from September 2012 - December 2012 at the bottom of the thumbnail gallery and more images to the slideshow.  I hope you enjoy!

Exhumed: Searching The Stars

This piece was always about vastness and immensity, so with the color, I tried to push the depth of the space within the piece further.  Also I feel that with the color I was able to give the figure in the foreground a bit more substance and form as opposed to the heavily designed shapes in the black and white version.  I apologize for the lack of darkness or horror here.  Exhumed is about previous posts and as much as I try to keep Zombie Bites completely dark, sometimes the light just slips in.

{11x14,  Ink and white acrylic with color added in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: Loose Chunky Zombie

Here's another loose zombie sketch with a chunky undead emerging from some bloody chamber of horrors.  With this one I had a bit of trouble getting it scanned.  The original drawing was fairly light and on a heavier stock paper.  This sketch had been folded like several other pieces from this month and the creases were very dramatic in the scan.  I had to play around in Photoshop a bit to erase the creases.

{11x17,  Graphite}

Featured Creature: The Shard

"Nick.  I've found something, something amazing."

Tony looked ill.  His skin was very pale and his eyes had dark circles beneath them.  His hair was disheveled and he had obviously been wearing his wrinkled tee shirt and jeans for several days.  As we walked across campus, he developed a slick sheen of sweat on his face and neck.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"That doesn't matter.  What I found is gonna change everything!"  He raised his arms up as danced around euphorically.

We turned the corner of the mathematics building and moved around the backside, a shortcut through the faculty parking lot to the cafeteria.  The building butted up against a large grassy field at the edge of the university property.  Birds chirped and danced in the sunlit grass. I enjoyed the warm afternoon air despite Tony's cryptic euphoria.