cyclops

(ADULT CONTENT BELOW)


     This is one of my more uninhibited works from the previously mentioned Sharpie marker craze in my 30's.  Some have said the style and content of this particular phase of my drawing was something that they had to come to terms with.  I think that's a pretty fair assessment.  Personally, I did feel a little uneasiness myself when I was preparing this post but I decided to go ahead with it.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say.

the visible human skull

     Here's a more recent example of what my drawing style has evolved into.  Originally done in my 30's, this is simply black Sharpie markers on some 65 lb. sketchbook paper.  After scanning it, I reduced the colors and edited the values to create a more dramatic contrast (the white is pure white and the black pure black).  The model for this composition was the late Joseph Paul Jernigan, the man who agreed to donate his body to science and was chosen for The Visible Human Project in 1993.  I worked from the image of his skull in the New Atlas of Human Anatomy based on the aforementioned project.  Naturally, I took some artistic liberties.

      This was in the midst of a creative burst I got simply from using brand new black markers on some brand new white paper.  Funny how inspiration can be so simple.  Like a little kid with a new toy, I was a man in my 30's going nuts with my markers.  I think I sensed that at the time and sat myself down in front of Jernigan's skull to prove to myself that I could create a composition based on a concrete, real image.  So much of what I was doing at the time was relatively wild, uninhibited stuff, conceptually different from what you see here (although the fuzzy hairs and other embellishments are the same).  Anyway, I've rambled on long enough.  Just thought I'd post something from my adult years instead of dwelling on my past so much.

skully

     This one always makes me pause.  I remember first getting into drawing skulls and skeletons in high school.  I once asked a guest psychology teacher in my English class what they meant and he said it was generally considered to be a fear of the future.  At the time, what he said didn't mean much to me.  Over the years I've come to realize that there's a lot of truth to that answer.

     Honestly, though, it is a bit more complicated than that.  I've always loved books about the human body, skulls and skeletons have always been symbols of hardcore coolness and rebellion to me and the best test score I ever got in Advanced Biology in high school was the human skeleton test.  Feh, it's never simple, is it?

sickness

     Ack!  I'm sick.  I must've caught the cold my wife had all last week.  Here's an image appropriate to my current state of health.

     Originally drawn in pencil in my teens and digitally fiddled with in my 30's, this is one of a small group of images that represents my first attempts at computer editing/modification.  At the time I first attempted this project my patience ran out, as it was taking more time than I wanted to put into it.  I was going for quantity not quality.  Now that I'm revisiting my past works I may end up doing more of these.  I like the vivid effects you can get by messing with the number of colors and editing the image palette.  I'm no expert at it but I do love fiddling with images on the computer.

dad, KISS and childhood

     More high school stuff.  I'm not sure if this one is a self-portrait.  It's definitely not all me.  My dad is in there (note the one good eye) along with some KISS makeup.  I was a really into KISS as a child.  Ran around with the makeup on and two belts crisscrossed on my bare chest.  Even had the KISS colorforms set!  Man, those were the days.

awkward flower

     Here's a self-portrait from my high school years that I keep coming back to.  I'd say it captures my awkward teenage years pretty well.  The half-closed eye and bared teeth are interesting to me.  I think they show both the depression and hostility I was grappling with at the time.

     I know this may seem self-indulgent but I've always found I can never know what I'm going to end up drawing until it is done.  Furthermore, the actual meaning of my artwork often eludes me since it undoubtedly dwells in my subconscious somewhere.  Nevertheless, I like to attempt to examine where I've been in keeping with the whole "know thyself" thing.