The Wendigo

The Wendigo is an Algonquin Indian myth based on the idea of the spirit of this beast taking over peoples bodies. Those who engaged in cannibalism were believed to be especially at risk.
Marvel comics has appropriated the idea and this is their concept of the way the flesh eater would look.
He's a classic character in the Marvel line up and I wish they would use him more often. I have been thinking for a while now he would make for a great lead character in his own more adult oriented horror comic.
This is another splash page (dual page layout) I am including in my comic portfolio.

The Divide

These are a series of mixed media pieces where I incorporated mono type printmaking with silkscreen.
The work itself is intended as a representation of the gap between nature and urban life with man caught conspicuously in the middle.
I made 7 or 8 of these in total. I find the third of these to be the weakest of the three I have chosen to post here. The mono type element is a ghost print (a secondary print pulled off the plexi after the primary had already been printed) and as such the washed out look of the element of urban life becomes an interpretable commentary I didn't intend. What I do like about it is the heavier outline of the buildings that was created after I removed the stencil that masked out the sky and pulled the second print.
These are elements and ideas I intend to work with further as I begin considering graduate school.

Dain Bramage

I was sitting around thinking about people who dont think for themselves. I happened to have my little 5x8 sketchbook on me and this is what came out.
Again I had no intention of how I wanted it to look - this was just the free-flowing result.
I want to do a larger piece mixing painting and drawing elements in together with this same theme. I think this one is cool - but it could be a lot better...

Spiderman and The Hobgoblin

The Hobgoblin is a classic Spidey foe - this is a large splash page I did for my comic book portfolio.
I think I want to add just a touch more detail tho...

As Stan Lee would say...
"...'nuff said..."

No Brakes

This is a bit of a mixed media piece incorporating a digital scan of an old experimental print of mine and some drawing elements. It's meaning isn't too difficult to understand. I like the textural nature of the background and the visceral response I get from it.
It screams tragedy and with the drawing elements added implies impending danger.

The Pod

So much of the work I have been doing lately has been rather strange.
While the colors are indicative of a logical aquatic environment the construction of it lends to differing interpretations.
The original version of this one had the whales swimming in outer space out in front of the moon [CLICK HERE] but There was something about the execution of that one I didn't like. This one strikes me as more enjoyable while still retaining the idea of the sperm whales being out of their normal environment.
Displaced animal parts are becoming displaced animals...

Cough Please

I've taken to digitally manipulating some of my abstract work and using the textures for different applications.
The background for this one is one such manipulation. It came off very organic - very much like a microscopically enlarged cross section of flesh. I liked the way that reflected the nature of the displaced lungs and eyes in this image.
The drawing of the lungs themselves was actually inspired by some of the work of Rosalie Lopez - a fellow student and printmaker (as well as a graphic designer) at Long Beach State University. Her work is pretty nice and if you ever have a chance to check it out I say go ahead - it's worth the time...

Schieles Madman

Egon Schiele was big into the displaces body parts. Of course he was dealing with the displacement of human body parts. Never the less I feel thats what I must have been thinking of as a lay in bed drawing this.
It's strange and unusual and I have no earthly idea what my brain must have been trying to tell me.
But its fun trying to figure it all out!
Elephant heads on stalks! Whatta blast!

Very Odd

Yes, Very Odd indeed. Another in a string of stream of consciousness style drawings I've done over the last week or so. I lay down a few lines and then just start to draw whatever pops into my mind.
Someone asked me what I was feeling when I drew this. I had no real answer for him. Though I had to admit that since I am graduating with my BFA in the next couple of days I would be hard pressed to deny that didnt manipulate my subconsciousness somehow...
Additionally I can admit to being influenced by Nick the Artistic Freaks drawings lately on Deviant Art. See my After the Artist Freak post for links.

Heart Condition

Ive been drawing some rather odd things lately.
I'm hesitant to call them surreal, but they sure are odd.
They have been drawn in an almost stream of consciousness style. With no real meaning to them at the outset they become manifestations of where my brain may be taking me at the time...

While I'm at it...

I figure while I'm at it (posting drawings of Spidey villains that is) I may as well upload a drawing of Spidey himself.
This one is from late '07. I hadn't really drawn him in a while, and just wanted to do something fun.
When I was a little kid the first time someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up I said Spider-Man. When they told me that I really couldnt be Spider-Man when I grew up I just figured that was because the job would already be filled.
In retrospect, if I give it some more work I suppose I could be Spider-Man, after a fashion...

Dr. Connors I Presume

Dr. Curt Connors, a.k.a. The Lizard was a staple Marvel villain for Spider-man way back in the day.
He rarely if ever appears anymore and I think thats a cryin shame - hes such a cool monster and I think he holds up as a fairly versatile character...
Additionally I think he's just damn fun to draw.

This one was drawn in a 5 x 8 sketchbook. I felt it came out pretty well so I added the background to reinforce his ties to Spider-man and to balance out the composition a little better.
Being that I'm a week away from graduation at Long Beach State I get the feeling I'll be posting a lot more items here that were done for no reason other than that they were fun.

After the Artist Freak

This drawing is after a member of deviant art who goes by the name NicktheArtisticFreak. His profile can be found here: Nicks Deviant Profile.
The particular work in question can be found at this link: Bang.
His image just struck me as so whimsical and fun. I was sitting in the print lab one day last week killing some time and thought of his drawing. So I got out my little sketch book and drew this. I liked the way it turned out so I inked it and added a little color...
He asks for you to find your own meaning - and I concur. But dont look to hard or you may just miss the point...

When The Storm Comes Down...

Entitled The Storm this piece is a mono type print off plexiglas. It has appeared as a background for one of my drawings. It is also the piece I chose for my header design at the top of the page here.
Done at a time when I was mostly just experimenting with texture it came late in the process. As a result I was able to do a piece that reflected my experimentation as well as my mood at the time.
Angry and driven to distraction over a few issues in my personal life I began to think of events as a never ending storm from which I could never find shelter.

Abstraction?

Entitled The Red Spider Nebula this piece is a posterised silk screen print of the actual red spider nebula (also known as NGC 6537) located approximately 3000 light years away in the constellation Sagittarius.
It is a planetary nebula meaning that it is the remnant of a star much like our own sun, that had exited the red giant phase of its life. Having thrown off its outermost gases the star itself collapses back into a white dwarf star.
I chose to do a piece like this for several reasons. Firstly I am a total nerd when it comes to astronomy. Secondly while I am not particularly a fan of landscapes I figure that if I am going to go for the grandiose I may as well go for the grandest view there is: our galactic neighborhood. And thirdly while it is an image of an actual thing it plays a bit like an abstract piece of art.
I have been finding things like this lately and playing with them a bit. The idea of taking something real and abstracting it is intresting, but I have found a newer and more profound interest in taking something that is real and already abstracted as well as being formalisticly sound. The Idea is one I am currently exploring in my art.
This is not the best photograph of this piece - I'll upload a better photo soon (or perhaps a high quality digital scan).

Roots

Roots is a piece I did specifically for my BFA show at Long Beach State. The opening was this last weekend (The 20th of April, 2008) and went swimmingly.
The piece is a mixed media of mono type and linoleum cut. The idea behind it (aside from 'hey, how cool can I make this look??) is about how people get wrapped up in their upbringing and their environment. Little skin heads become who they are because mommy and daddy hated this or that. But they don't really know why. Religious extremists (of any denomination) become so by virtue of these roots.
Pick an extremely myopic behavior and it can probably be traced back to their roots as they fail to embrace differences while hating the different.
These roots bind people into behavior they may otherwise break free of on the path to thinking for themselves. But bound into their little box they tend to loose themselves amidst the chaos of their limited world view.

Graphic Novel Test Page

This is a test page done to work on a look, experiment with atmosphere or just getting the lay out or what-have-you, for a graphic novel I am working on. I think I may have mentioned it before. To reiterate it revolves around the Zodiac killer and his series of as yet unsolved homicides.

As mentioned this is a test page - while the finished page may look fairly similar it will be completely re-drawn when the time comes...

Children of the Gods

I am quite the comic book imagery oriented guy so I thought I would add another line drawing in for your enjoyment.
This drawing is based on the television show Stargate SG-1. Though not intended to be reflective of the shows pilot movie/episode under the same title, I always liked the idea of these aliens posing as gods to transplanted humans across the galaxy.
This particular piece is in the coloring and lettering stage.
I have already digitally generated the "event horizon" of the worm hole glowing from the face of the stargate and will add it in when the coloring is complete. The reason being is that depending on how I color the figures and their uniforms and what i do for the background I may adjust the hue of the wormhole so it in not quite as stark in contrast to the rest of the piece.

"I feel... threatened..."

This piece entitled Do I Frighten You was done in response to my work The Grass is Always Greener. It felt like a natural progression based on how I felt at the time.
In critique the head of the department commented that the work made her feel threatened. Not in a bad way mind you. Just that the tone of the piece, despite the vibrant color housed an underlying aggression.
Up to that pont it had been untitled but soon afterwards I gave it the title it had now.

Whoever Said it Was About Bloody Distraction?

This piece is a combination silk screen and monotype.
Because of the monotype element there are others that are similar, but with varying color schemes. I'll post one of those soon for comparison/contrast.
Tho a bit pedantic in its presentation I enjoy the effect of this one. A work about ones dream state the stylized figure is a distortion of himself in his color scheme as his unconscious ponders ... whatever.