Yeti

Did this for Pictoplasma's missing link project/exhibition. It was rejected. Whatever, I don't need the approval of the shadowy Pictoplasma committee. The Yeti doesn't need approval. Look at him. Look into his eyes. He will never stop haunting you.

Gratuitous self-portrait

The colors turned out alright, though I still think I lost something when I inked it. Always had a soft spot for the rough pencil drawings.

Melancholia

The new Lars Von Trier film, Melancholia, is amazing, maybe my favorite of his. This is unrelated, but something about it felt like it had a similar sentiment.

Something recent

*The one I settled on
*My first inclination
*raw pencils

Finished this a couple of months back when I got inspired by some Tatsayuki Tanaka drawing to pick up the analog pencil again and use it as more than just a base for inks. Pose is a little weird but the hands came out alright.

You had my hand in your hand, you had my lip in your teeth, you had my heart on your sleeve...

I like the way the colors turned out on this. I think the first is better, just because it's so garish that it complements the melodrama of the whole piece. That jarring color scheme goes for it more and pushes it over the edge. Well, it's not like it was subtle before the colors anway. Words from La Dispute.

Trying my hand at painting again

First tiem I've painted anything in ages. The idea I had for this ended up requiring a much cleaner aesthetic than something I would have normally chosen to use paints for, the stencils (stars) and cleaner lines on the figure made it a very meticulous process near the end but it was so much more rewarding to get there. I love working digital but nothing seems to beat the feeling of physical materials in your hands. The personal satisfaction achieved from going through that process just feels so much better, even if it takes longer and isn't inherently "better". There was something very satisfying about coming home to my easel set up and waiting for me, and having this unfinished piece greeting/glaring at me every morning. I haven't felt so connected to my work in a while. This made me happy.

Political art on paper bags

Yep.

The devil loves you

Demon stigmata. Inks, markers and some digital.

U.S.A.!

This is the original idea...

...And here's a more festive one!


Inks, markers, a bit of digital treatment, and a lot of post-adolescent politically-tinged angst.

Poster For Tomorrow

I did this poster for the Death is Not Justice campaign/competition put on by Poster for Tomorrow. This entry didn't make the initial cut, but it is published under a creative commons license and was recently used for the January-February 2017 issue of The National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers' magazine, The Champion.

Words from crust-punk band, Behind Enemy Lines.

Hunky Jesus With Snake

Used a ton of reference for this one and did a lot more sketching than usual before attempting the final piece.

Clovis

Just a little cathartic piece for my hometown. I've been trying to do something with this illustration forever and this seemed like a good enough fit. Thanks to one of the bay area's best hardcore bands for the words.

More tentacles less jesus

More work from the collection of abandoned drawings, I'm starting to think I was just being lazy and not lacking inspiration. I'm pretty happy with this one in any case. Words are stolen from one of the best (politcal) punk bands ever.

Sharpie + digital + cynicism

What was that I was saying before about unnecessary blasphemy? I need to start playing with different themes...

Digital collage and other indulgences

Seems like half my work lately has been salvaging lost pieces. This one is the original octo-christ, I actually started it long before the illustration I posted, but abandoned it at some point when I couldn't figure out how to finish it in an interesting way. It's all digital collage with some heavy cleanup. Growing up with religion in my family has left me semi-obsessed with Christian iconography, and I'm a sucker for the apocalyptic aesthetics.

More apocalypse monkeys

I drew these monkeys like 2 years ago and was just never satisfied with a final composition/treatment for them. After a lot of indecision and finally some good advice from Lookah, this is how it turned out. It's just slightly more derivative of a certain popular artist than I would like, but whatever, it's fun to indulge sometimes.

...and behold the octo-christ

Almost entirely analog this time, with a little bit of texture added digitally.

Sweet zombie jesus!

The simple things

Some freehand sketches with a sharpie; something about working with sharpies is really freeing. Its like the materials are so cheap and "low-end" that I'm not as worried about making mistakes and just have more fun with it.






The words are from a Tom Waits song (Cemetery Polka). I think it's a good fit, but that line was stuck in my head for a week so probably everything I drew was starting to seem like a good fit for it.

Inkz yo

More fun with the brush pen. I started this out with a random line and just built up whatever came to mind around it. Kinda feels more like painting in that sense.