[Sketch #16 - The Stuff of My Dreams is Probably Your Nightmare]

So, a few weeks ago, I had the most amazing, bizarre, wonderful dream. Many people may think I'm making this up, but believe me when I say, I totally experienced this... in my head.

I was a vampire (ew in general, but they're everywhere now, right?) and I lived in this huge ass mansion with a coven who believed we should 'hunt' and dispatch of people in the same manner as the great Dexter Morgan. In other words, we would sneak up on our victims, tranquilize them, drain them of blood, and cut them up into little pieces. My coven was at war with a rival coven who collected animals (kind of kept this weird zoo, right?) and killed people outright instead of 'humanely'. They had also recently stolen a castle from us... Well, while the rest of my coven was out fighting these other vampires, I was left behind, being a younger vamp myself. How did I fill my time you ask? Why playing hide and seek with our Guardian Zombie Giraffe. :D


That's right. Zombie Giraffe. Totally awesome, and you know you wish you could have one too. Our awesome pet came with interchangeable heads! He was a big sweetie too... Is it weird for me to say I miss him? There was more to the dream, Maggie (my dog) got taken away to be put in our rivals weird ass zoo and I had to go save her (choke out a few vampire bi*ches in the process), but Mr. Giraffe stuck with me the clearest. I've been meaning to draw him for some time now and I finally got around to it at work of all places. So there you go. Bet you never thought you'd see the day. I might have to incorporate this into a story at some point. My brother seems to think it would make an awesome kids show, which I question.

Need to get more art done. Working on it.

More to come.

"Like stars burning holes right through the dark
Flicking fire like saltwater into my eyes
You were one inch from the edge of this bed
I dragged you back a sleepyhead, sleepyhead. "
- Passion Pit (Sleepyhead)

[Sketch #15 - '81]

"I found a little plot of land,
In the garden of Eden.
It was dirt and dirt is all the same.
I tilled it with my two hands,
And I called it my very own;
There was no-one to dispute my claim.

Well, you'd be shocked
At the state of things-
The whole place has just cleared right out.
It was hotter than Hell,
So I laid me by a spring, for a spell,
As naked as a trout.

The wandering eye that I have caught
Is as hot as a wandering sun.
But I will want for nothing more,
In my garden;
Start again,
In my hardening to every heart but one.

Meet me in the garden of Eden,
Bring a friend.
We are going to have ourselves a time.
We are going to have a garden party.
It's on me!
No, sirree, it's my dime.

We broke our hearts
In the war between,
St. George and the dragon,
But both in equal parts
Are welcome to come along.
I'm inviting everyone.

Farewell to loves that I have known.
Even muddiest waters run.
Tell me, what is meant by sin or none
In a garden seceded
From the Union in the year of A.D. 1?

The unending amends you've made,
Are enough for one life,
Be done.
I believe in innocence, little darlin',
Start again.
I believe in everyone.
I believe, regardless,
I believe in everyone."
-Joanna Newsom ('81)

[Sketch #14 - The Vampire Hunter and the Fashionesta]

Finally got the designs done for Ryan Besiani and Jacqueline Desmarais, two of Clarity's best friends in Devour Them. Ryan is from Albania, has a very thick accent and a very bad attitude. Couple that with the fact she's incredibly attractive, and much shorter than either Clair, or Jackie, and you get a really fun person to play with in the story line. Jacqueline is French/African, a SCAD graduate, model, and in love with anything trendy or cute. It's a sketch, they still need tweaking, but I really, really like these two a lot >_< <3

So this is my post for the day. I don't feel like rambling. I'm actually sitting at work at the moment so I should probably do something... more work related. But hey, I posted something, yay productivity!

More to come.

"On the back of a motorbike
With your arms outstretched trying to take flight
Leaving everything behind
But even at our swiftest speed
We couldn't break from the concrete
In the city where we still reside."
-Death Cab for Cutie (Brothers on a Hotel Bed)

[Sketch #13 - Poseidon Progress]

It's been a while since I've posted (again) and I figured the perfect come back piece would be to post the progress of the painting I was working on last time. I've decided to go ahead with my plans to make it into a series about the Greek Gods, reversing their genders. This is going to be Poseidon. It's still not really close to being finished, but working on it has been relaxing and insightful. I think this picture is much better than the last one, but I do really want to get a larger scanner for these things...

Work is starting to pick up, which is a double-edged sword. I won't be able to work on art as much as people start opening their pools for the season, but maybe I can start making some nice commission sales. Need to get a paypal account and start submitting to 99designs as well. Hopefully, I can get my ass in gear soon. I've been writing more and drawing less for Devour Them, and I want to switch that trend. Also if you couldn't tell, my thoughts are wandering pretty much beyond the point of cohesion lately ._. So forgive me for the rambling.

Been watching a lot of Dexter. Expect to see the impact it's having on me in my work. I already have a piece in mind. Should be interesting.

More to come.

"You say I'm foolish
For pushing this aside
But burn down our home
I won't leave alive."
-The XX (Crystallized)

[Sketch #12 - Watercolor Test]

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so I decided to post more "in progress" pieces. Taking a brief hiatus on Devour Them to work more on a painting I started a month ago. I'm going to try and finish this sometime before I go back to work next Tuesday. Initially this piece was just another 'test' inspired by the Bezentine heads of Alphonse Mucha. But, like many of the things I start working on, it's developing a life of it's own. I'm considering doing a series of these pieces now. I love water color, but I work really slowly with the medium, and I'm always worried I'll over work some areas and under work others. Won't know if I don't keep at it eh?

Taking a short vacation has been refreshing, but I feel like I'm not getting as much artwork done as I wanted. I blame my desire to read (next on the list being Pride and Prejudice And Zombies)... and play video games >_<. It's good to relax though.

More to come.

"Sea and the rock below
Cocked to the undertow
Bones, blood, and teeth erode, with every crashing node.
Wings wouldn't help you
Wings wouldn't help you... down
Down fills the ground, gravity's proud."
-Bon Iver feat. St. Vincent (Roslyn)

[Sketch #11 - Clarity Color Test In Progress]

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up an art book featuring the works of Alphonse Mucha. I've always really liked his style of illustration, the intricately detailed backgrounds, the flowing fabric, the voluptuous female figures with their heavy black outlines, etc. So I decided to do an experiment of sorts with Clarity and draw a picture inspired by that style, but still keeping it my own. This is the result... in progress.

There are issues, like her left hand being way too effing big, and she looks very young in my opinion (granted she's only 21), but still I'm having a good time working on this. I'm dubbing it a color test because I wanted to do a more definite version of Clair's color scheme and this is my vehicle for that idea. While I've been working on this, I've also been working on a pastel drawing of the circulatory system. It's a close up of the heart and major arteries in particular. I think I'm going to lay the ribcage over top, but I'm going to photograph the first stage, because something about the way veins branch out reminds me of tree limbs and roots. It's been very calming to work on. It's also a bigger piece than I've done for a while, 24"x18".

A lot of things have come up lately and I find I stay the most positive when I continue working. Art is really starting to see me through again. And although I never made any new years resolutions this year, I think I've decided that the only resolution I need is this.

"See it through."

More to come.

"I'm working on drawing a straight line
And I'll draw until I get one right
It's bold and dark, girl, can't you see?
I done drawn a line between you and me."
-Frightened Rabbit (My Backwards Walk)

[Sketch #10 - The Woman with the Skull]

Okay, I lied about the next post being Devour Them related. This is a sketch I'm working on for my deviant ID (Also Dangerous-Roots for those curious, although there's nothing posted there... yet). It's still a work in progress but I'm pretty happy with how it's going so far. I'm contemplating doing this one in watercolor. I hesitate calling this a self-portrait as it doesn't really look anything like me, other than the fact my hair is getting ridiculously long, and is now about halfway back to my natural auburn instead of black. For those not aware, I'm in love with the TV series, Bones, and recently when I'm not working on comic stuff I draw a lot of skeletal things. The bird skull two posts ago was a great blue heron. A friend of mine renovating a house downtown also found two large mammal skeletons (probably raccoon or opossum) in her attic I should be receiving soon. It's healthy to be excited about that, right?

More to come.

"I've crossed the last line
From where I can't return
Where ever step I took in faith,
Betrayed me."
-Sarah McLachlan (Sweet Surrender)