insane brother twins

     Thought I'd have myself a Monday-Palooza-Ganza and post two images at once!  Aw yeah!  This crazy train is flyin' right off the fuckin' rails, man!!  I'm outta control!!!

     Seriously though, this is vaguely special in the regard that you wouldn't normally see these two images side by side, as they are each painted on the opposite side of the same piece of watercolor paper.  However, through the magic of technology, here they are; a couple of dirty, bloody, twisted brother skulls in a kind of metaphysical emotional turmoil and insanity.  They share the same plane of existence, the same space, no doubt some of the same pigments, yet they've never seen each other face to face.  A pair of conjoined twins who are strangers to each other.

old school neck leak

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     Here's some recent sketchbook work.  This has a decidedly old school, Sharpie craze feel to it.  Not strictly Sharpie craze but pretty damned close.  When I started on it I had dickhead on the brain and tried to model the torso in a similar fashion, attempting to recreate the look of the muscle fiber type stuff in the abdomen.  Not sure what the bloody, volcano-backed, chicken neck thing intruding into the scene is supposed to be but that strange appendage sure adds some spunky character to this mad view!

allies amidst the bleakness

     The background on this one turned out much more pale and bleak than most of my other Red Eye paintings.  Bleakness seems to be in the air lately.  It's almost as if everyone unconsciously believes the world will end this year.  I hope it does.  Humanity could use a big death and rebirth right about now.  A casting away of old habits, a blowing off of steam and a time to relax and get reacquainted with our true selves.  Just one big time-out to rest and reflect.

     Anyway, musings on humanity aside, the more I look at this painting the more I think it's a self-portrait.  I identify and sympathize with this guy's general state of emotion.  I can't put my finger on it exactly, but I'm right there with him.  I'm his comrade and ally.

crawling skitter nom

(clicky)
     Here's my latest dry erase effort.  He seems to be crawling across the floor like a cheap special effect.  He's all like, "skitter skitter skitter nom nom nom" until the the batteries in the remote control car underneath him run out of juice.

     Meh, kinda in a low key mood tonight.  Looking forward to having the next two weekends off.  A little rest and normality is a good thing.  Take it easy peeps, you guys rule.

feathery anger

     This guy really stopped me today when I was trying to figure out what I was going to post next.  His eyes ended up being pretty dramatic.  That combined with the overall fuzzy/feathery look seemed like a bit of a departure from what I normally end up creating with a black marker.  In fact, this almost crossed the line from fuzzy to feathery skeletonian.  I think that was mainly due to the fact I was using my india ink brush pens.  They have much less friction with the paper than a Sharpie and I end up with softer lines.

     In other news, I found myself getting into a shouting match with a co-worker last week.  I won't bore you with the details but I guess I should have seen something like this coming.  The source material for my new header image was created before the incident and should've served as a warning to me to watch my temper but I figured it was all a part of my artistic expression of late and I thought nothing of it.  What a way to start the year : P  Oh well, live and learn I guess.

emergence

     This is actually the flip side of stalactite rain.  I've often been using both sides of my paper lately to make the most of my materials and maximizing opportunities to practice technique.  Anyway, this guy seems to be emerging from some sort of bloody or fiery vortex.  The original is noticeably darker and bloodier, it makes me wonder where I'm going with my artwork.  Do I want to do it for art's sake?  Do I want to do it for myself only?  Do I want to make money at this?  It's quite an issue to wrestle with.  Hopefully, I'll emerge from this murk with some clarity soon.

stalactite rain

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     Here's another shadow of the previously mentioned cave skellie idea.  This image also spawned a further development in the story:

     He's spotted me and now his confusion seems lessened by having someone to focus on.  His erection wanes a little and now starts to drip blood as he advances directly towards me.  I continue to retreat, weaving in and out of the stalactites, stalagmites and columns, attempting to outmaneuver him.  His arms are outstretched wide as he continues pursuit, there's no way around.  Behind him I can see daylight diminishing as he forces me deeper and deeper into the cave.

     I'm even more curious now to see where this will all lead.  I'll keep you posted as best I can.

faces in the background

     This is one of the reasons I love creating random backgrounds first.  Sometimes the faces just appear out of nowhere.  All I did was follow the red spots with the black and it all came into focus.  Fun stuff : )

sharing the fear

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(klik)
     Here's something I've been meaning to show you all for a while and one of the reasons I am so into painting right now.  Just look at that dark, murky blackness!  The first time I laid down some thick wet lines like this it really got to me but now it's something that I've grown to love.  There's just something so mesmerizing about the light reflecting off the wet paint and the fact that all it would take would be just one false move, one sneeze, one over-excited cat jumping up on my table and all of this beautiful liquid fragility would be completely ruined.  Of course, all of this gets lost once it dries and that's why I finally decided to take a quick snap shot for the sharing and stuff...

     No, I'm not just stalling because I'm afraid of starting on the head and potentially fucking this whole thing up, so don't even go there!  I'm sharing with you the beauty of creation and you should be grateful for this glimpse into my process...  You know what?  I don't CARE what you think!  I"M SHARING DAMMIT!!1!

blood bursting crazy

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(clicka)
     I've been feeling stressed lately.  Stressed and a little crazy.  October was an amazing month.  Not only did I have three day weekends all month, not only did I complete my Octoberween-Palooza-Ganza without a hitch but I also got inspired to paint a buncha shit.  I got spoiled during October.  Got a taste of what it's like to have plenty of free time and energy for my artistic pursuits.  Furthermore, my brain has switched over.  I'm an artist now, not a fucking factory worker.  I'm getting really pissed off at having to work, having to put up with all those assholes.  The only thing that keeps me on a fairly even keel is the fact that suffering makes for good artistic content.  Okay, okay, enough venting.

     Not sure what this was supposed to be.  A flexing arm with a bulging bicep or some disembodied genitalia.  Either way, it's bursting and releasing pressure, which is nice to see.  The crazy has got to get out one way or another.

robust face

     Here's some pencil from my 30's.  This is from the same sketchbook as tribal mask and defending angel.  As you may recall, tribal mask marked an artistic rebirth for me of sorts and I think that momentum continued to grow with what you see above.  The thick neck, robust features and fierce eyes I think shows my confidence increasing as I worked my way back from complete artistic inactivity.

retreating into the darkness

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     This is just a shadow of the vivid image I can imagine of what will hopefully become a full-fledged fuzzy skeletonian.  I can see him in my mind, a fascinating waking nightmare:

     I'm backed into a cave and he's shambling towards me, a wild look in his eyes, blood spraying and dripping from his mouth as he shakes his head in a frenzy of uncontrollable rage, lust and a kind of disoriented confusion.  He's fully erect and ejaculating freely as he approaches.  The fuzzy, furry connective tissue between his bones is matted and filthy with an obscene offal of blood, semen, grease and who knows what else.  It's day time and behind him I can see golden sunlight pouring into the mouth of the cave but I'm retreating into the darkness behind me, trying to be inconspicuous, banking on his confusion to give me an opportunity to slip by undetected and make my escape.

     That's as far as this scene has progressed in my mind.  I hope to be able to post updates about this developing morbid fantasy as it hopefully continues to evolve into what I hope will be an extremely vivid horrific painting.

red eye and the tao of painting

     This one is a personal favorite.  It is one of the first Red Eye pieces I completed last month (although his red eyes are a tad muted in color compared to most).  The little bird-like thing up on the branch was a total accident.  I guess it's more accurate to say that it wasn't consciously planned.  I often find (despite my deliberate lack of planning) I already know what I'm going to create even before I know it, if that makes any sense.  I mean, seriously, his eyes even seem to look upward, curiously, at the bird but I certainly don't recall any clear thoughts about making that happen while I was painting.  I guess it's true what they say, "I do not do it.  It is not done.  It merely happens through me."

precious energy

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(click)
     Well, work is slammin' me again.  I'm in the middle of a 13 day week and it SUUUUUUUCKS!  You know, I don't ask for too much from life.  I mean, seriously, is having my weekends free without having to burn valuable vacation days that hard to achieve!?

     Anyway, I apologize if I've been aloof, flat, absent or otherwise not my usual self lately.  Hopefully, I'll be back to my usual shenanigans as the holiday breaks restore my precious precious energy.