Dissolution

Another step on the pathway of the initiate.

The Forest of Doubt

The air bleeds with the ichor of dismay.
No shelter as the light fades to a dwindling.

This is the forest of doubt,
the darkening plain,
the house of no.

A call to the sky is met with dreadful stolidity.
Even the winds refuse to blow.

Featured Creature: Krampus Head

I know I said I had nothing for Krampusnacht this year, but this little guy kept bugging me until I broke out the paper and pen.  Gruss Vom Krampus!

From the Archives: Portfolio Cover 2002

The cover to my printed portfolio for 2002.  During 1999-2004 I printed giveaway portfolios to leave with possible employers.  I was doing a lot of showing at the sci-fi convention extravaganza in Atalanta, DragonCon.

Recommended Listening:
Cocteau Twins
When Mama Was Moth
from Head over Heels

{Digital Images manipulated in Adobe Photoshop}

Featured Creature: The Devil in the Moon

Here we a Devil Man in the Moon and the first color piece for the Featured Creature.  I have always been fond of man in the moon images.  Here I'm combining that with a little Coop devil flavoring.

Suspicion

Darkness and ignorance lend the credence of fact to speculation and fear.

Recommended Listening:

Brighter Death Now

Consumers

from The Slaughterhouse

{Digital Images manipulated in Adobe Photoshop}

Depths

Lost in the structures of calamity, the mind struggles for resolution.

Recommended Listening:
Darkwood

Wintermärchen

from Notwendfeuer

{Digital Images manipulated in Adobe Photoshop}

Delays and Acute Bronchitis

I went to the emergency room on Wednesday to get treatment for what has turned out to be Acute Bronchitis.  I've been struggling with an upper respiratory infection since the first week of this month and with the Sarcoidosis, respiratory issues can be tricky at best.  Since Thanksgiving it had taken a dramatic turn for the worse and I spent the first part of the week looking for a free clinic to assist me and found none.  I'm on the mend (I hope) and resting, but in the meantime, I've gotten behind here at Zombie Bites.  I'll try to get things caught up in the next few weeks but I ask that you bear with me in the meantime.  Thanks.

Featured Creature: Werewolf

This on is a little cartoony, but that was all I had in me at the time.  It does hearken to the kind of werewolf from the first Howling movie and the issues of Moon Knight that had Werewolf by Night in them.  I'll draw another one full figure at some point and loosen up the style.  I've always been fond of / afraid of werewolves.  This was the kind of thing lurking beneath the back porch steps waiting to grab my ankle.

 

Mirror of the Minotaur

Near the palace at Gnosis,
birthed of union and godly misfortune,
I keep myself at bay with a confusion of corridors.
I build a labyrinthine meander to house my savagery,
my monstrous child self.

Featured Creature UPDATE: Reaching Zombie Guy

Here is the promised toned version of the reaching zombie guy.  Please 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}

Featured Creature UPDATE: Overalls Zombie Tones

Here is the promised toned version of Overalls Zombie.  Please 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}

Featured Creature UPDATE: Long Haired Female Zombie Tones

Here is the promised tone version of this Long Haired Female Zombie.  Please 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}

INVISIBLES DAY

This day becomes a hallmark to me of the re-ignition of failing light.  Forces beyond mundane reality cross the gulfs of spacetime and rekindle the light of life once more.  This piece is in celebration of the comic series The Invisibles and my introduction to the worlds of Magick.

From the Sketchbook Archives: Hopeless

Another sketch from the Sarcoidosis / Prednisone period.  If I receall correctly, I think this was the last of that set of sketches.  This piece encompassed my feelings at that time.

I was lost in a miasma of grief, fear, sorrow, powerlessness and hopelessness.  My life was irrevocably changed and many avenues of action and choice were forever lost to me.  I am still recovering from the events of this time period.

{Sharpie}

Featured Creature: Jumper Demon

I seem to be angling this month toward creepy otherworldly creatures, From Beyond and now this monstrosity.  Topping the list of things you never want to see on the end of your flashlight beam, here we have a hungry Jumper Demon.  This creature pays homage to two of my all time favorite horror sci-fi movies, Alien and Aliens.  Those movies gave me nightmares for years. Thanks Ridley Scott and James Cameron!

A Mystery

Point of view changes the nature of all things.

Cloak of the Traveller

Dreaming, although nightmares tempt ergot.
Forest rowdies yearn my vortex,
all underground with green hair.

Danger almost never tries everything.
Forensics reads your mind, Voyeur.
Armored umbrage withers, gambling harder.

Don't always neglect this entryway.
Fearful reason you might venerate,
although universally we go here.

From the Sketchbook Archives: Sorrow

Here is another sketch from the period immediately following my sarcoidosis diagnosis and after the four months I took prednisone.

{Graphite and Sharpie}

Featured Creature: From Beyond

Here we have some slithery dreadful thing from beyond.  Special thanks as always to good ol' H.P.L. for showing us the way.  My initial thought after finishing this was that it would make a great dark tattoo design, but I couldn't get this one done on myself.  I can't be creeped out by my own skin.  Nope, not gonna do it!

Arrival

A new force arrives amidst the chaos.

The Price

We silence or martyr those who seek to tell us the truth.

From the Sketchbook Archives: Darkness Unleashed

This piece is from the period of time following my four month use of Prednisone.  It took me years to get over the damage.  This is where the door of darkness opened that eventually became Zombie Bites.

{Sharpie}

Featured Creature: For You

Love is a sweeting fruit
of a tender given nature.
Love leads us
into the gentler afternoon sunlight.
Love leads us
into lush valleys greening with spring.
Love asks of us only that we follow,
only follow.

Revelation

The thought gives birth to the action and the action gives birth to the thought.

Featured Creature UPDATE: Dead Wolf Tones

Here is the promised toned version of the Dead Wolf.  Please check out the original post and compare it to the original.

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

On the Styx

This piece brings us more visions of a journey through the Underworld.  Here we have statuary on the riverbanks in Hades.

Featured Creature: Reaching Zombie Guy

Here we have the last of the fill-in zombies to round out the HZO.  This will probably be my last zombie drawing for a little while.  I'm going to stick to non-zombie creatures for a bit until my self-inflicted PTSD wears off.  I am also in the process of rethinking on how I plan to present the Featured Creatures and what my goals are with these pieces.

I'm going to include the link here for the site that caused my dramatic change of heart.  I feel like I need to share this link because of the intensity of its images and its effect upon me.  PLEASE BE WARNED: if you choose to hit the link below that this is harsh material.  If you have the stomach for it, the site that broke me is called Charon Boat.

Thanks for bearing with me and I hope you enjoyed the HZO.  I'll post a toned version of this piece soon.

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

UPDATE 112512:

Here is the toned version for this piece.  This has been a long haul to get the fill ins for the HZO all completed.  The end of October and the whole month of November haven't taken any prisoners.  One of my housemates had surgery to have a tumor removed, my other housemate has been sick, my truck is having some kind of catastrophic failure at the moment, and I've been battling the flu for almost 3 weeks.  It turned nasty this weekend, pneumonia like, so I may be headed to the hospital soon.  You'd think by now I'd learn to respect the evil power of November.  It always kicks my butt.  Enough bemoaning my fate, eh.  Hey everybody - ZOMBIES!

From the Sketchbook Archives: Halloween Poster Pieces

Here are some unused sketches and color elements for a Halloween poster from several years ago.  Much of the imagery here is inspired by early twentieth century Halloween paraphernalia.

Featured Creature: Overalls Zombie

Here we have a good ol' boy who didn't get away quite fast enough.  I'll post a toned version of this soon.

Featured Creature: Long Haired Female Zombie

I didn't notice when I was drawing but someone I showed this to noticed that she looked a good bit like Laura Croft. An unintentional likeness as I've never played much Tomb Raider.  I'll get a tone version of this up soon.

 

Dysphorian Altar

In the blindness of ignorant action we build a home for all the things we deny.

Featured Creature: Dead Wolf

Here we have an undead wolf.  I forget exactly what inspired this piece.  I think I'd read something or other about the legend of an otherworldly black dog.  I'll update this piece with a toned version at some point later.