long time no see.....

Hi chaps, I got a bit dissalusioned with EBD for awhile but decided to join in the fun again, I guess 'cause of the cool stuff on it lately.

This is a colour version of a drawing for a 'voida voida' zine I'm working on.

Something From The Cave

I've been without a scanner for awhile so I won't be able to post any new stuff until next week. For now here is the 3rd panel of a triptych I did the other week for an L.A artshow called "Mutation Nation" at the DIY Gallery. I've got a stack of new small paintings that I've been working on the past week that I look forward to putting examples of on here. It's been a crazy week as I've gone to a hospital for my brother's child being born and a few days later a funeral showing for someone I've known half my life that died of a heroin overdose. And I was recently surprised to find out that I'm apparently a nominee in the International Horror Guild for the category of art works from 2006 at the World Fantasy Convention next month in New York? I was really impressed with who I was stacked against, scroll to the bottom of this list to see... http://www.lastsfa.org/wfc2007/program.php

Moebius is apparently the guest of honor so I really wish I could go to this if only to shake his hand. If anyone around here is going I need to find someone to accept my award in the event that I actually win as I won't be able to go. I also got an amazing spot in an upcoming art book, I'll explain more as the details are finalized.

I've also been working on a full novel for my Land Of The Moth project which I'll be illustrating in incredible detail and hopefully publishing in several beautiful and giant art books some years down the road. Work for my epic graphic novel code named "Hob Bob" is slowly moving along as well, so we'll see which gets done first! Staring at a dead person you get a real sense of urgency with the work you have left before you, so I really need to push these projects along.

Halloween Tee Design Pt. 1

Well, I just sent off this sketch of a tee design for A Better Tomorrow. I was asked after I assume they saw Medusa Tless Select. So far, so good. I'm really liking the rough sans a few wonky chest-meet-arm issues.

I like to drop in approximations of color schemes pretty early when working with limited color and spots. These colors tend to change by the end of a project, but it really helps when vetting a possible design against a client. I may have a clear idea of where the piece can go, but you really can't ask an art director to make that leap of faith.

Even the best art directors aren't mind readers, heh! Alex Wald, a recent acquaintance and all around nice chap (in addition to a swell artist, art director, colorist, etc) left me a bit of advice in regards to keeping a well rounded portfolio.

Expecting a potential client to extrapolate that, due to the level of skill of the pieces shown in your portfolio, you can do things that aren't explicitly spelled out isn't a good idea.

IE, you probably can do great retro-style cartoons, but that life drawing isn't going to help you convince anyone.

A man such as this...

Swing You Sinners

Knight of Wands Color!

Page of Wands Color!

Also, Swing You Sinners

& a classic banned Terrytoon. "Chop Suey"

In The Lovecraft Land

More of my Lovecraft picture. I'm working on another triptych right now, a painting inspired by the title of my art blog "The Mutated Skeleton Cave" for the Mutation Nation show in LA going on later this month. I'll post pics from it sometime next week.

Goblinko Tarot Deck

I've been toying with the idea of making a tarot deck for about 11 years now... my obsession with cards of all kinds has increased lately, so i figured that i should knock this sucker out. Here are the first two cards... the finals will be in color.
Page of Wands

Knight of Wands

I've been wanting to expand my characters into a world along the lines of the Wizard of Oz books, but a bit more nasty & scary.
Here's a bit about the Suit of Wands. The wand reference isn't to "magic wands", but it relates to the suit of clubs in a regular card deck. The suit of Wands corresponds to the South direction or wind; the Fire element & the color, Red; the Summer season; the Divine world of the Kaballah; the yellow bile humor, & the Jungian function of intuition. In my world of characters, the suit of wands will be represented by the Salsiccians, who are essentially sausage men or flesh golems. Their colors were already red & yellow, they favor using the baton or club to beat people into submission. I suppose their empire can be southern now.

Some more from that new series of drawings...

Three Cthulhus

30 years long childhood trauma

Zombie Hand Video Part 1

This video is the first in a two part series showing me pencil, ink, and color a zombie's hand. By the end of this video you'll see the piece progress from pencils, to inks, to sketchy value work (in preparation for the spot color added in the next video).

More at my sketchblog / portfolio!

My First Moleskine

I go to a monthly artist meetup at the Blick Art Store in Wheaton, IL. On my second visit, this past weekend, I was graciously given a free Moleskine and assorted other supplies by the owner, and a talented bloke in his own right, Kevin.

Now, it's pretty common knowledge that I draw digitally. I've done a scant amount of traditional work, mostly relegated to doodles with ballpoint pens and the like. Going to this forum and talking with guys like Alex Wald, Dave Dorman, and Charlie Athanas had me curious, though. Might I be missing out on a lot?

So, I was really happy to get the little package of goodies from Kevin. It left me no excuse to avoid something new (I'd often balked at the $10+ price of Moleskines in the past - but have no problem saving up for a new Cintiq, heh!). I went about making a sketch or two with a 5mm mechanical pencil, but decided that I wanted to try for lots of value changes, and I suspect that wasn't the right tool for the job.

I stopped back into the store a few days later, and Kevin fielded some painfully stupid questions. "What's a 2H pencil and why do I want it?," probably was the worst. He directed me to a few things, I bought a couple pencils, and continued home, the pencils burning a hole in my pocket for the next hour and half of driving.

These images are the first attempts with graphite or, really, any traditional value work. Only a few minutes a piece, half mechanical pencil, half 2H regular (regular?) pencil.

The Moleskine's paper quality was really great. I even got one with predetermined panels for storyboarding/comic roughs. I was a bit trepidatious to jump into traditional work (I'm so back asswards), but I'm really glad I gave it a go. It's exciting to get to draw everywhere I go, and I can't afford a portable tablet laptop while saving for the Cintiq, so this fits that niche nicely.

Is it wrong that the prevailing thought while working with pencil was, "This works just like the pressure sensitive, flat variant of the pencil tool in Painter!" heh?

hello goodbye

So fellas many apologies for having been away from this place for so long. It never looks like a lot when you've got them in your hands but I've been trying to finish three books before I go away:

http://bonehousebooks.co.uk/shop.html

And on top of that I just held an exhibition at the Art-Holes favourite London hangout of Brick Lane as a kind of book launch and going away event:

http://flickr.com/photos/mr_boobytrap

some new stuff

I do not consider myself an artist, i'm an illustrator of my own ideas. The ideas are intended for intrusion into reality in some way or another. Ultimately, i'm an aspiring city state ruler, i used to be interested in global domination, but i think the smaller, more homogeneous population allows for more exciting, stranger cultural explorations. If you rule the world, you have to contend with every kind of person, if it's just a city state, you've got less to manage. Anyhow, i got my start with all this designing worlds for old fashioned pen & paper role playing games. The guys who did the art for the old Dungeons & Dragons & Games Workshop products were my first inspirations as an artist, & remain my principal inspirations. Their styles are generally unpolished & obviously home-grown, not directed by the theoretical trappings of art school or the high-art world. I like old Punk Rock & Heavy Metal art for the same reason. So, my latest series of black & white drawings go straight back to those foundations. I've got a show of stuff i've done for the last year or so, along with work from my wife & Goblinko partner Katie at the Museum of Unfine Art, here in Eugene, Oregon.

Lovecraft's Monster Hop

First two of five drawings i'm contributing to the Maison d'Ailleurs Lovecraft show, the quote all drawings illustrate ( in a loose sequence ) is #42:" Fear of mirrors-memory of dream in which scene is altered and climax is hideous surprise at seeing oneself in the water or a mirror. (Identity?) [Outsider?]"

Thanks to Aeron for tipping me up to it in the first place.

More Lovecraft Abominations!

Here's a small fragment from my contribution to the Lovecraft exhibit Fufu previously mentioned. This bit is taken from the lower left corner of the center panel. The full triptych will be on display in printed form this Halloween at the Maison d'Ailleurs in Switzerland and the center panel will be published in the art catalogue for the Lovecraft show coming out around the time of the exhibit. I'm still working out how I'm going to do it but I will be selling prints of this triptych at a later date.

HPL Expo Contribution

Boy, things have been going awfully slow on our Blog, haven't they. I for my part was really busy with moving, renovating, and last but not least I did a short 5-page comic for the Lovecraft exposition in Switzerland, which I believe Aeron and Noah are also participating in. The comic kind of ties into my Molluskhead chronology, and I've based each page on one entry from the "Commonplace Book" (which is basically the concept of the expo), but the book itself also plays a part in the story.
Here are the first two pages:

This is something...

I'm re-drawing this because the character models are off (whatever that means), but...here it is anyway

Primordial

Here's a small chunk of a digital collage I'm working on. The white blobs floating around in the upper left were originally going to be place holder for something else but I think it looks good as it is. Has a weird drifting abstract vibe.

That whole "life" "art" "imitate" business

BEFORE -



AFTER -











Best $12,000 I ever spent.