Swoon

 

The Haring Eaters II

 

Where are the others?

 

Nature boy

 

Mycelium

 

The discreet charm of the countryside

 

New Abandoncy (of North America) Graphic

 a new shirt for Abandoncy @ abandoncy.bandcamp.com

Some additional type done on the side for stickers

Cover Twin Paradox

 NO.

YES.

Some minor changes in typography and colour scheme can be expected, but YES.

Sculpting Pola's head

Work in progress. It must have been since 2003 since I stopped sculpting figurines of my Troglodytes, but it's fun to do and it gives you a better understanding of the shapes. However, this will be more of an áfter-study'. 

Staatsbier

'Staatsbier'. Remember, in my version of the year 1913, there has been a sweetwater communist takeover. As a side note, I often refer to Heineken as state's beer for its ubiquitousness.

The first version of this (bottom) is from one of my sketchbooks. I added a few elements to achieve a narrative. It won't feature in my upcoming graphic novel The Twin Paradox however. It's just a possible situation.

 

Labyrinth

The cover of sketchbook #79. Pleased/surprised with the panoramic effect bc of the added flaps. A labyrinth full of characters looking for the exit, while I am looking for the way in. 

Field trip

The Smut Critics Union on a field trip to Arcadia. (After Poussin)

New Scanner / Pile CD Release Show Poster

I waited a month for my new scanner and just got it. I got a Epsonv600, can also scan negatives for film as well for any potential show poster collaborations, if you got any film you want scanned email me barnaclebrain@myhandsarebleeding.com or any raw film negatives of live shows. 

Also here is the album release show artwork for the Pile NA/EU Tour that happened a few years ago. 

That was for the album, your better than this. https://pile.bandcamp.com/album/youre-better-than-this

Go for a ride

No-one understands my hangover

This was inspired by the Phineas Gage and Gregor Baci medical cases ( a quick image search will do) and a crude grafitti in the town where I grew up. A town so sleepy, grafitti would stay for years and fade before removed.

This Week's Inkings

everything was inked on 7 by 10 canson mixed media rough paper. 

also getting a new scanner, probably a Epson V600. Been using a DSLR for far too long.

Cafe Fruytmand

From my sketchbook. In search of new characters.

Stomach Pain

Inked doodle from today, I always love doing biological horror.

The Union of Smut Critics

From my latest sketchbook, after a picture of Gustav Klimt and friends.

Howdy

I'm new here at EBD, I go by Barnacle Brain. I do a lot of show posters and graphic tees here in the states. I'm completely self taught, however I did study graphic design at Kendall College in Grand Rapids, MI. I'm looking forward to posting on here!

Cartoon: Disney

Sketchbook #77

A new sketchbook cover. Number 77. Mostly white ink on black paper.

KUTLUL #11 is out

Don't believe everything you read, but the new issue of Kutlul is out! Wild and trashy underground comics from the Rotterdam-Berlin axis. Only 5 Eypo + postage. Send a message to info@joosthalbertsma.nl to order.

Sweetwater communism

Holland's battle with the sea imagined under a communist flag. The revolutionary year 1913 will have to be repeated forever.

Tropes versus Lovecraft - Part 4: A Pale Blue Dot

I’ve named this fourth trope (Part 1, 2, 3) of lovecraftian iconography „A Pale Blue Dot“, referencing the title of the famous book by Carl Sagan, as it draws heavily on the sense of isolation and fragility evoked by the image of planet Earth seen from space.
The internal mechanism of this trope is actually very similar to „Under the Surface“(UTS) and „Eye of the Beholder“(EOTB) in that scale, knowledge and perception are crucial factors in it. Obviously, when it comes to the scale difference between humans and the otherworldly entities in the images, here they it is pushed more or less to the limit. We don’t actually see any single human beings but of course we don’t need to, since Earth after all encompasses not only one or a group of individuals, but all of them. While we definitely know what situation humanity is in here, it’s not quite clear wether it itself remains ignorant of the threat (as in UTS) or is aware of it (as in EOTB). Even if it is, it will probably not be able to perceive it as clearly as we can in from our outer space vantage point.

To summarize, this trope and the two before it use very much the same elements to convey the basic lovecraftian philosophical worldview: human existence is threatened by outside cosmic forces next to which they are completely insignificant and which they can only perceive or understand to a very limited degree. Conceptually I think the ones where humans/humanity is not about to be eaten or willfully destroyed are more in line with this outlook because that undermines the entities’ indifference towards us.

I'll start off with one of my own drawings. It’s the cover for a HPL themed comic collection I put out for the CthulhuCon Portland in 2015. At the time I thought that it was a fairly original idea. Only afterwards I noticed other older versions of the same motif, and I 'm seeing newer ones popping up on a regular basis ever since.

 

Like with the other tropes, I'm not saying any of these are swipes (although some may very well be), I do however wonder if it shouldn’t be our goal not to replicate the same ideas again and again until they’ve lost all impact.
On the other hand I find it interesting how a quasi-religious iconography has emerged for Lovecraft’s (or Derleth’s if you will) Mythos, with all its spiritual/philosophical underpinnings. But that’s a topic for another day.

Here's another example of how a trope can become so overused that its ironic version is inevitable.

And a few fun bonus ones.

Final bonus! This is the final scene of the first Men In Black movie... seem familiar?

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