Shores of Arcade

Hey again! I wanted to do a couple of landscape pieces. I don't know if this really is one, as I think I might look up some more refs. This was done from scratch. Anyhow, I amalgamated a few old stories in my head today, and decided to do a little drawing towards them. It's amazing how good this new pencil holder makes me feel :) Anyhow, I had this old idea, for a world that exists outside the material plane we all know and love, and another idea, taking place in a world just beyond the borders of Hell (see my entry on The Vile Child). Anyhow, I thought of combining the two, and exploring them further.
Here we see the shores of the distant city of Arcade, which exists half on the edge of Hell and on the farthest border of the sea of dreams. Here we see the harbor; a dilapidated shanty-town, cobbled together from old ruins and beached ships, every building an idol to the art of scavenging. Pieced together from fallen ships, or cobbled into new life by the locust-like inhabitants from older structures, Arcade is a parasitic city, subsisting on architecture long since abandoned. Here, on the shores, we see where the filthy locust children of Arcade gather the resources for their shanty-towns, and the paths into the darker city-heart, littered with the foreboding arches that overshadow ever flit of movement in these filthy warrens. How much of Arcade is old and how much is new is known only to the brutal children who inhabit the cities' dark corridors.
I'm thinking about actually painting this. I think I will...

Some new Freaks

Hey again!
So, last night was the night of my little show in downtown Montreal with several of my closest friends. It was a really good experience. Sure, we didn't see a big turnout, but it wasn't a big venue. And we've certainly learned some lessons from this one. I completed two new paintings which, as soon as they're varnished, will no doubt find their way to this humble blog.
Anyhow, we have another show coming up on October 29th. For that, I'll be sure to have more new stuff set up, and more advertising taken care of. Will these new images be somehow associated with that new show? Probably now, but just the same, I was just today.Here we have an afternoon's worth of artwork. After I put my ugly monster (top right) over a backdrop of London bridge, I remembered and old idea I'd had about doing a group of creatures under a bridge. Here, on the top right, we see those creatures as creatures no longer. This underbridge oracle may yet see its way to another form of life. The bottom two are just concepts that went through my head. Considering the date of our next show is so close to Halloween, I wanted to come up with some more monstrous concepts. More to come very shortly.
Also, I just got myself a set of pencil holders, which are absolutely marvelous.

Self Portrait with Minion

Hey all! In the midst of something kinda big. In the meantime, here's a quite, one-hour sketch I did of my my cat and myself. Trying out some new mark marking stuff, and I really enjoy it. My pencil's shaved to have about an inch of lead bared like a tiny black lance. Strangely, it's freeing. Also, once these current little projects are done, I'll be starting up something new. I had an idea for a series (and a technique) I want to try, so I'll be exploring that soon.
I the meantime, anyone fortunate or lost enough to read this, you are both corgially and forcefully invited to my (and several of my friend's) second vernissage. It'll be held this Thursday night, August 26th, at Bistro Etranger. Come stare at pretty pictures and listen to free music, you adoring public, you!

Devilish Sketchdump

Hey everyone! Once again, I've begun work, and I've been trying to keep my artwork going as much as possible. Part of my regime to, after every shift at work, I got to a local coffee shop/bookstore and draw for at least an hour. To that end, I've decided to include a couple of sketches to mitigate the fact that I haven't really updated recently. I've been drawing, rest assured, but nothing that I'd consider posting here. We're always out own toughest critics.
Above is something I devised just yesterday, and have decided to render in oils. Below is just a couple of sketches that I may have to keep working on, but they show some degree of promise. I like where they're going, I'm just not sure where that is yet. I've always enjoyed a kind of Halloween aesthetic, and I've been trying to figure out the best means of working it into some paintings. This is my first stab at it. If I felt like it, I'd be photographing my drawing table to show you, my public, my various new paintings which are in the works. But I really don't, so you'll just have to imagine them. For now...

The Vile Child

Hey all! Sorry it's been so long since my last update. Things have changed quite significantly on my end. I'm back to work, at long last. Though it's not an art job, it seems like it'll be a lot of fun, a real challenge, and I'm really looking forward to learning more there. Also, one of the biggest perks is that it's very flexible, so I'm still able to pursue my true interests. To that end, I've decided to dredge up an old character of mine and breathe some new life into him.
I had this story, years ago, about a caste of demons living in the suburbs of Hell. See, my idea was that the 9 nine circles of Hell we know and love. Think of the circles as the industrial section of Hell, and this story would take place in the residential part of the netherworld. This is Stray. He belongs to a caste of demon who spend their entire existences looking like children. They're viciously carnivorous and frighteningly pretty. The largest population live in the Hell ghetto of Arcade: a vast, bleak warren of twisting alleys and filthy tenements, packed suffocatingly-close together. The entire district is in a constant state of revelry, caught up in endless childrens games that lie uneasily between merriment and warfare. The streets are littered with trampled candy and soiled bandages, and forever patrolled by hungry packs of razor-toothed children, their eyes gleaming with predatory coldness.
I still think this idea's fun. I should try and rework some of the other characters I had from this.
More to follow shortly...

The Brucolac

I'm trying out something a little different in terms of technique. I found it in a book from James Gurney (which I really need to buy) where he goes over his painting and drawing techniques. That, and I'm really enjoying using my new brush pen.
I've been reading The Scar from China Mieville for the past little while. I loved Perdido Street Station, and I really love this one. This man had a masterful imagination at work. I just read about the city/state of High Cromlech, and I was fascinated! In tribute of that, I drew one of the books more interesting characters; The Brucolac, vampiric leader of the Dry Falls riding of the pirate city of Armada. There's something really deeply interesting about this character, and I'm eager to see what further role he plays in the book. I may do a larger series of drawings from the book. Mieville's works is very inspiring.