From the Archives: Chained

From long ago, an image of anxiety and fear.  Looking back, I'm not sure what all the odd patterning is about.  I recognize the symbolism of some of it, but from this end it seems more visually disruptive than effective.  At the time, I do recall being very preoccupied with neon Prismacolor pencils because of the intensity they brought.  I'm sure that was part of this.

{Sharpie and Prismacolor pencils}

Exhumed and Staurday Sketch are growing up!

Exhumed and Saturday Sketch are growing up!  The Other Features gallery has dissolved into individual Exhumed and Saturday Sketch galleries.  The two galleries have finally gotten large enough to become their own pages and stand on their own.  Thanks for viewing and reading!  I hope you enjoy!

Psyche Delectus: Viceroy

He is the guard dog of ruling power.

Saturday Sketch: Classic Soulsword

Here is a second object of power for the Saturday Sketches, the Soulsword.  I hadn't planned on drawing this as a Saturday Sketch or next week's piece either.  However, after missing one Saturday Sketch, I just couldn't bring myself to leave another Saturday empty during the hiatus.  Also, these two pieces were fun to draw.

From the Archives: Baba Yaga's Gift

Two different sharpie sketches from long ago of the flaming skull from a Russian folktale about Vasilisa and Baba Yaga.  I first read a version of this story in Women Who Run with the Wolves.

{8.5x11,  Sharpie}

Psyche Delectus: Singular Focus

It burns.

Spring Hiatus

I need to offer an apology.  Things have gotten a little sloppy here of late.  I've missed the final edits on several posts and they've gone to post with text attached that should have been deleted.  This is just one of the reasons why I'm choosing to take some time off.

I've been running at a hard pace with Zombie Bites since December adding new features and giving the entire site a fresh coat of paint and new support structures.  I've also had some reoccurring medical issues plaguing me for the past month that have held me back.  I'm exhausted. I'm going to take some time off to replenish my batteries and heal.  

There won't be any new Featured Creature posts for a couple of weeks, maybe three. When I get back, all other features will pick up where they leave off.  However, if I have some thing already set to go, I'll set it to post during the down time regardless.  I apologize that the Featured Creature Reunion at the Merrimon Library story still remains incomplete, but that will be part of what I'll be working on during the hiatus.  I'm going to take at least two weeks, possibly more, to crawl back into my grave before I come back refreshed and ready to eat the living.  Thanks for viewing and reading!  See you soon.

Exhumed: Strange Eye

Here is a simple sketch of a nonhuman eye.  As I was working on it, I wanted to do more than just add color to it.  That's where the shading and bubbles came in.  I tried to give a subtle sense of structure to the "head" that houses this eye.  Obviously a larger creature but it's exact nature we cannot tell.  You can bet though that there are tentacles involved!

{8x6.533,  Graphite with color added in Adobe Photoshop}

Featured Creature: Reunion at the Merrimon Library Part VI, Towards the Circle

Reunion at the 

Merrimon Library:
Part VI, Towards the Circle

~ Continued from Part V ~

Alan crawled slowly towards the corner.  He held on tightly to the copy of Die Tür Des Bösen with his good hand and angled the wrist of his wounded hand to keep from putting too much pressure on it.  It had swollen up in an ugly way, the fingers grown to twice their size.  Luckily the intense pain had faded into a dull throb.  Small favors, he thought.  In short hobbled movements, he slithered towards the corner.

From what Alan could see in the dim light, most of circle that Tim had created was still intact.  One of the piles closest to him had been knocked over when Tim rushed from the circle.  The books had not scattered but merely lay down like a sliced loaf of bread.  They could easily be stacked again in their original positions.  He would need them to be as exact as possible to attune the energies so that he might close the gate Tim had opened, if he could close it at all.  He clung to that hope as he crawled, eying the shapes that moved beneath the skin of the walls.

From the Archives: Devil and Angel

Here is a sharpie sketch exploring ideas for a flyer advertising a heaven and hell themed party.

{8.5x11,  Sharpie}

Featured Creature: Everything's Fine

"Samantha!  Oh My God!  You disappeared!  Where where you?"  I rushed to hug her.  "Are you okay?"

"Everything's fine."  She smiled at me.  she was stiff in my embrace, her breathing shallow.

"Thank Goodness."  I pulled back but kept a comforting hand on her shoulder.  "I was worried."  She continued to smile.

Psyche Delectus: Angel

His countenance reveals the within.

Saturday Sketch: Limbo Storm

Here we have the next character in the set from the Magik limited series from Marvel Comics.  This image is of the elderly Storm trapped in Limbo.  Her powers waning from age, Ororo used her powers as sorceress to combat the corruption of Belasco's influence.

{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. 

Exhumed: Dead Wolf

This piece was orginally posted within the Featured Creature weekly posts.  I updated the black and white with a greyscale version shortly after.  The Exhumed color piece here isn't too far away from the tonal version due to the muted nighttime lighting, but I feel the texture and depth here are much stronger.  Actually, getting the colors muted was a bit of a challenge for me with this piece.  No matter what combinations I used, everything seemed too intense for moonlight.  It wasn't until I began bringing in the fog textures that the colors finally calmed into what you see here.

{8x5.57,  Sharpie with color added in Adobe Photoshop}

Skin Crawling Comics February Update

The Skin Crawling Comics website began in January and will be posting pages to the individual stories of the anthology every Tuesday and Thursday.  I'll be doing an update at least once a month with links to the newest pages.  Check out the latest updates!

The Basement Page 6

The Basement Page 7

The Basement Page 8

The Basement Page 9

The Basement Page 10

Proposed Print cover for SCC

Night Terror Page 1

Night Terror Page 2

If you haven't already, check out last month's pages.  Also visit Skin Crawling Comics at Twitter and Facebook!

From the Archives: Body of Wounds

Here we have a study for some future piece.  A digital sketch painting from Photoshop of a skinless body.  I have to admit a certain level of pure play here because I have fallen in love with the painting brushes in Photoshop.

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Featured Creature: Reunion at the Merrimon Library Part V, Illumination

Reunion at the 

Merrimon Library:
Part V, Illumination

~ Continued from Part IV ~

Alan sat for several long moments with his back against one of the bookshelves for support.  He slumped to a sitting position and watched the jellyfish creatures, trying not to look at Tim.  The vibrating light from the creatures pulsed in a slow rhythm, casting odd patterns on the walls.  The fearsome shapes that Alan had seen earlier beyond the egg were appearing now on the wall above where the circle had been.  He watched as massive shapes slithered beneath the surface of the wall.  His throat closed up with rising panic.   He took deep slow breaths to quiet the quivering fear within him.

When Alan had moved out of range of the creatures he realized that he still clutched the copy of Die Tür Des Bösen in his good hand.  Alan scoured the book.  He struggled to see in the momentary flashes from passing cars, but could not read in the quickly fading light.  The sleet ticked against the window incessantly, rising and falling with the wind. 

Featured Creature: In the Fields

"Its arms rose and fell like a carnival ride as it moved around the fields.  It twisted back on itself like a slow moving tornado.  A thin cloud of dust danced behind it.  There was a whining noise coming from the thing, like the howl of wind inside a drafty house.  It was covered in baleful red eyes and no matter where I walked they seemed to always face towards me.

Psyche Delectus: Entrance

A pause of reflection proceeds the movement into mystery.

Saturday Sketch: Limbo Nightcrawler

I've decided to do an entire set around the characters involved in the Magik limited series from Marvel Comics.  Here we have the Nightcrawler left in Limbo who was corrupted by Belasco's influence and became his evil slave.

 {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. 

Exhumed: Nightboy

Here I've exhumed a portrait of the Nightboy.  With this reinvestigation, I chose to remove the black sketchy blot in the background and replace it with some scenery to give the image greater depth.  I also chose a very dark muted palette to reflect nighttime lighting.  I tried to soften the image a bit with the muted colors. However, my original drawing is so stiff I never quite got beyond it.

{8x6.02,  Sharpie with color added in Adobe Photoshop}

From the Archives: Host of the Dead

This piece was part of the development for the Night of the Cauldron event, but it never become more than this interesting sketch of lurking spirits.  I wanted some kind of fantastic fiction to go with it, but nothing ever developed.  I really enjoy the ominous feeling here.  I may still make a story from it eventually.

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

Bristol

Featured Creature: Eye of the Dead

"It is said that all succumb to the light of the Oculi Mortui save the wielder of the lantern.  A favored artifact of thieves and assassins, those exposed to it's light are drained of vitality and fall into a state of paralytic torpidity.  After the lantern's passing, they wake at the next sunrise exhausted and disoriented.  Horrible dreams have been recorded by those who have been exposed to it.  Sleepers are assailed by visions of terrible lifeless vistas where the wind ceaselessly howls."

{8x5.33,  created in Adobe Photoshop}

9 Years

Happy Birthday to Zombie Bites!

It has only been nine years since I began posting, but it seems like a lifetime ago.  To commemorate the occasion, I've created this image including a combination of elements from The Moon and The Hermit cards of the major arcana of the Tarot.  I included the Hermit as card nine of the major arcana and the Moon due to its correspondences with the ninth sephirah of the Kabbalah, Yesod.

Psyche Delectus: Shadow Priest

He seeks truth in forgotten spaces.

Saturday Sketch: Classic Bloodstone Medallion

Here is my first object of power for the Saturday Sketches, the bloodstone medallion. Belasco used the bloodstones to bind Illyana Rasputin to his evil intentions.  I've rendered it as it appeared at the end of the Marvel Comics limited series, Magik, with three of the five bloodtsones in place.

{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. 

Exhumed: Grahtennas

Here is the color version of a previous sketch of the demonic arch duke Grahtennas.  In the first portrait of Grahtennas I posted the intensity of color was much greater, but that piece was more of a depiction of the essence of Grahtennas.  Here, I toned down the intensity of the color to lend it a more atmospheric sense of space. 

{8x5.33,  Sharpie with color added in Adobe Photoshop}