An ink wash painting over an ink drawing of a one-story red brick house and detached garage on a grassy hill beneath some green trees
Day 22 of #repostyourart : Paint
I rarely paint, but when I do, it's usually some form of ink wash--which is basically watercoloring. Here's about as basic as it gets with a commissioned painting I did in 2021. #artsky #traditionalart #painting #inkwash
I hope the people of St. Louis respond to this with the volume of opposition I know they’re capable of and get it quashed
The stupidity of it all, though—wildly underestimated that element
I first conceptualized The Unforgiven in 2004, as a dystopian cautionary tale, and wrote the whole thing in 2010. I’ve made script adjustments over the years, but most of what I wrote as fictional fascist insanity has already been normalized and eclipsed by the daily insanity of reality. Not great!
Almost everything we argue about is a substitute for the thing we should be arguing about: the immense wealth & power of an oligarchic class, which captures governments, ruins lives and wrecks the living planet.
This class redirects our rage at scapegoats. To resist its lies is to resist its power.
A mixed media ink wash + charcoal painting from 2016 in purple hues of Jessica Jones (seated, cross-legged, in blue jeans, gray jacket, black boots, white tank top, shoulder-length black hair) enveloped by a purple cloud of smoke trailing her name from the mouth of the background figure, The Purple Man, seen only from the shoulders up to the bottom of his eyelids. He's smiling; and, y'know, purple.
Day 21 of #repostyourart : Cloud
Different use of the word here, from this 2016 painting #comicart #watercolor #inkwash #traditionalart
A hand-cut collage of a large cat peering into a stone building where tiny people are gathered
Day 20 of #repostyourart : Critter
Hand-cut #collage, 2020
#collageart #cat
A glowing, full-color peach hanging from a bare, snow-covered tree limb as four gray hands (or the same hand, moving up from the bottom of the page, and aging as it does so--depending on how you want to read it) reach(es) up to grab the fruit.
Day 19 of #repostyourart : Fruit
Okay, I'm admittedly cheating a bit on this one: this isn't old work. It's the brand-new, never-before-seen cover to the upcoming issue #18 of The Unforgiven. I didn't really have anything older to fit the theme, and I knew this was in the pipeline, so--voila!
A black and white/grayscale comic book page. A man walks down the street toward the viewer/reader, hands in his pockets. He wears a jean jacket with the hood up, jeans, and a t-shirt with the Unforgiven flame logo on it. Other people mill about. A repeated sequence of six panels makes up the background behind him: A man sleeping in bed. Adjusting his tie. angrily driving to work. Suffering in a cubicle at work. Angrily driving home. Watching TV and eating dinner. Sleeping in bed.
Day 18 of #repostyourart : Everyday Life
From The Unforgiven #9: Civil Disobedience (2017) #comics #comicbooks #comicart #traditionalart
The expressions on that frog are hilarious. Love it
Updated my bluetooth headphones app the other day to find they'd added an AI chatbot to it. Why in the big blue fuck is that necessary? I need my headphones to 1.) play sound I want 2.) block sound I don't want 3.) NOT talk to me. I'm so sick of this bs shoved into everything without want or ask
A pencil sketch of Aaron Burr in the margin of a notebook page with the caption "Oh No, it's Aaron Burr!" He wears a collared jacket and cravat, with his hair slicked back. He holds a vengeful fist in the air and points a gun at the viewer, and looks particularly deranged and enraged.
Day 17 of #repostyourart : Doodle
Here, have this doodle of Aaron Burr I did in my AP American History notebook like 20 years ago as I turn into dust
Here it is again but with all the lettering and digital effects they added for the promo, now that Bluesky is done exploding (maybe?)
A colorful comic book cover featuring the silhouette of a wolf man with long, bushy hair and glowing eyes, wearing a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He grips a struggling victim by the shirt, and we can only see the victim's rumpled clothes and his hand thrown up to protect himself. The wolf man is framed in the glow of a fire behind him, which we can only see by the light it casts and the smoke it emits. A woman in a rumpled shirt and jeans lies on the ground in the distance behind the wolf man, shrinking back in fear. Behind her, in front of a tent, three scruffy-bearded men in rural garb also look on in terror. A wheat field is in the far background, framed by a deep blue sky filled with ominous purple clouds. The title, "LOOM," adorns the top in a bright seafoam. The corner box at the left features a more well-lit head of the wolf man in front of evergreen silhouettes and a starry sky. Three circular vignettes align in a column at left, in the style of old horror comics, each with a yellow banner identifying the characters. A lone yellow banner above says "Featuring..." The first vignette is Adam, a man in a red flannel shirt and wide-rimmed glasses with longish, sideswept blonde hair. The second viginette is Shelly, A woman with long brown hair and mouth open in a hiss to reveal vampire teeth. The third vignette is "Fishman," a green, bug-eyed monster with a large, wide mouth in the style of a bass fish.
Day 16 of #repostyourart : Colorful
Here's a comic book cover I did in 2020 to promo a friend's indie short film by the same title. All the drawing traditional, as usual--colors digital. Check out the film if you get a chance, it's a blast! #comics #comicbooks #horror
A colorful comic book cover featuring the silhouette of a wolf man with long, bushy hair and glowing eyes, wearing a red flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He grips a struggling victim by the shirt, and we can only see the victim's rumpled clothes and his hand thrown up to protect himself. The wolf man is framed in the glow of a fire behind him, which we can only see by the light it casts and the smoke it emits. A woman in a rumpled shirt and jeans lies on the ground in the distance behind the wolf man, shrinking back in fear. Behind her, in front of a tent, three scruffy-bearded men in rural garb also look on in terror. A wheat field is in the far background, framed by a deep blue sky filled with ominous purple clouds. The title, "LOOM," adorns the top in a bright seafoam. The corner box at the left features a more well-lit head of the wolf man in front of evergreen silhouettes and a starry sky. Three circular vignettes align in a column at left, in the style of old horror comics, each with a yellow banner identifying the characters. A lone yellow banner above says "Featuring..." The first vignette is Adam, a man in a red flannel shirt and wide-rimmed glasses with longish, sideswept blonde hair. The second viginette is Shelly, A woman with long brown hair and mouth open in a hiss to reveal vampire teeth. The third vignette is "Fishman," a green, bug-eyed monster with a large, wide mouth in the style of a bass fish.
Day 16 of #repostyourart : Colorful
Here's a comic book cover I did in 2020 to promo a friend's indie short film by the same title. All the drawing traditional, as usual--colors digital. Check out the film if you get a chance, it's a blast! #comics #comicbooks #horror
A black and white/grayscale crop of a comic book page. Panel 1: a girl with a ponytail and freckled shoulders, wearing a tank top, is seen from the chest to the chin, lifting a small golden retriever puppy from a cage. Panel 2: a profile view of the girl holding the puppy up to her face
Day 15 of #repostyourart : Soft
From The Unforgiven: Strays, Pt. 2 (2020) #comicart #traditionalart #comics #comicbooks
A photo collage with a whole bunch of drawings of characters from the comic book series The Unforgiven as though they are photographs taken of them. They are spread out on a brown wooden table. A blueprint, two diamond playing cards, and two childhood drawings underlay the photos. Arranged around and amid the "photos" are a coffee mug, creamer, a pack of cigarettes, a plate with two sunny side up eggs and two pieces of toast with a fork, a cloth napkin, a spilled ketchup bottle, a German textbook, an arrow for use with a bow, a miniature metal Titanic, a miniature metal bicycle, a plastic army man, a wooden pencil, three glow-in-the-dark stars, and a small metal globe.
Day 14 of #repostyourart : Yummy
In 2019, I created a series of "from life" photos, magazine clippings, and even a cigarette box to use in a photo spread to be cut into fourths for The Uunforgiven's four-part "Strays" story arc covers. Here's the uncut photo, with breakfast. #comics #comicart
Two gloved hands holding a friendly baby squirrel
Update: the squirrel made it though the night and is now with the local wildlife rehabber!
A self-portrait in pencil of a bearded man with dark hair looking at the viewer with skepticism
Day 13 of #repostyourart : Artist
Self-portrait (2019) in pencil. #traditionalart #drawing
A baby squirrel squats on a teal outdoor rug between two human feet in gray shoes and black socks.
No no. No no no. I cannot become a squirrel parent today.
A black and white/grayscale comic book page, traditionally illustrated. Three panels. In the first panel, from the neck down, a woman is seated on the left, a man on the right, and a bottle of mostly empty gin sits on the floor between them. The woman on the left (Sara) wears a slouchy turtleneck, leggings, and tall socks. The man on the right (Caine) wears a wrinkled tee beneath an open robe, and pajama pants. Sara says: "...I don't even remember where I heard it, but something about the context must have given me the impression it might be a 'bad' word. But it was also a *hilarious* word to me, so I had to find out if I could say it without getting in trouble. So I wrote 'fuck Tammy' on this piece of paper, and I had Andrea go and give it to her while I stood in the back room, listening. And from down the hall, I heard Tammy scream, 'DO YOU WANT ME TO SHOW THIS TO YOUR MOTHER??!'" Caine laughs. Panel 2: Sara, on the left, her blonde hair in a messy bun, smiles as she continues the story; Caine, long, blonde, disheveled hair, wipes away his tears as he responds. Sara: "So yeah. That's how eight-year-old Sara learned she probably shouldn't say 'fuck' to adults." Caine: I always wondered why the babysitter didn't like Andrea." Sara: "My bad." Caine: "Whew. That's amazing. I don't think I've laughed, since..." Panel 3: Caine and Sara, their smiles fading slightly, look down toward the floor. Caine: "I'm glad you came." Sara: "I could stay." Caine: "Hah. If only." Sara: "Really. Honestly, whatever I have to do to keep Ben from atomizing me again. I've already lost my lunch. I'd like to keep my *dinner* down, at least."
Day 12 of #repostyourart : Cozy
This is about as close to that as I can get in the mishmash of dystopia sci-fi horror that encapsulates most of my body of work. #comics #comicbooks #comicart #traditionalart
A black-and-white, six-paneled comic book page, "colored" in gray Copic marker. Panel 1: A little redheaded girl in jeans and a dark t-shirt and an old bearded man in a cabbie hat, jacket, and jeans kneel on a tiled floor while one State enforcer in riot gear points a gun at them and another holds the girl's hands behind her back. The old man is tapping his wooden staff on the floor, as a third State enforcer in the foreground, facing the reader, shouts "Three, motherf--" Panel 2: A close-up of the top of the old man's staff as it lights up and throws sparks, or, the closest I've got for "sparkles," with a "FWAAASSSH" Panel 3: Close-up of the shouting enforcer's face as he squints and says "WHAT--?!" Panel 4: A close up of a previously seen character's obfuscation mask flickering with the EM pulse from the old man's staff, as he smirks Panel 5: The locks on cages holding stray cats and dogs click open. Panel 6: The cats and dogs burst from their confines, about to cause havoc (and a distraction for our heroes)
Day 11 of #repostyourart : Sparkles
From The Unforgiven #11: Strays (Part 2 of 4) (2021) #comicart
The Sprocket store staff could really use the help after their short notice layoffs!
Pencil work for a comic book page from The Atonement Bell, six panels. Panel 1: the outside of the St. Louis Public Library downtown, seen from the front. Snow is piled up on the ground. Panel 2: three teenage characters in winter attire (two boys, Jake and Baby Al, and one girl, Sara) move through an interior of room of the library, dwarfed by its lavish architecture. Panel 3: Sara and Jake are seated in front of a computer, set to the task at hand, while Baby Al continues to take in the intricate details of the library's decor. Panel 4: All three teenagers, facing front, are engrossed with something on the computer's screen (off-panel). Panel 5: Jake points at something on the computer screen. Panel 6: A close-up of the computer screen displays an illustration in an old manuscript of a robed woman in a horned skull mask holding her hand over a kneeling woman with her hands together in prayer position.
Day 10 of #repostyourart : Pencil
Showcasing the downtown St. Louis Public Library's gorgeous architecture in The Atonement Bell with these pencils from 2022.
A six-panel comic book page, rendered in grayscale, with a slight hint of orange light emanating from the flames in all panels containing them. Panel 1: a pair of hands holds a matchbook in the left while the right strikes a held match alight. Panel 2: the hand holding the match lights a gathered pile of kindling. Panel 3: a shadowed figure, seen from behind, watches the pile of kindling and brush go up in flames, and we're pulled back enough now to see that the pyre is collected and lit atop the torch of the Statue of Liberty. Panel 4: A different scene, concurrent, interjected: A white, middle-aged man in a suit jacket and collared white shirt enters a office where a woman, seen from the waist to the neck (suit jacket, white collared shirt, painted fingernails), is gathering her things in the familiar "pack up your stuff, you're fired" brown file box. The man says "Dana, there's a man here from the Chancellor's office. They want you to retract The Unforgiven story. It's...not a *request*." Panel 5: The woman (Hispanic, chin-length straight black hair), seen from the shoulders up, smiles silently as the hint of orange from the previous scene's flames symbolically bleeds into her panel. Panel 6: Back to the fire starter (Black, thick-rimmed square-frame glasses, scant facial hair along the jawline and upper and lower lip, bandaged cheek, hooded jacket, hair shaved along the sides and tall on top) seen from the shoulders up, smiles hopefully in the orange glow of the fire of revolution.
#repostyourart Day 9: Light
The first hint of color bleeds into The Unforgiven, with the striking of a match. 2017
Have we tried *opening* the Overton Window, and tossing both mainstream, right-wing political parties out of it? How many floors up are we?
*sigh*
If your Kickstarter video/image is AI, I won't back it.
If your book has an AI cover, I won't read it.
If you're a public supporter of AI use for creative work, I will unfollow you.
I cannot stress enough how offensive I find AI use in the arts. It is outright theft, it is lazy, it is gross.
A collage of images: A page from an anatomy book with a spine and skull atop shown in profile as the backdrop on the left-hand side; some sheet music atop that, on the right-hand side; in the center, a photograph from a book of autumn leaves in reds, yellows, and oranges; an image of a bird (I THINK a swallow, but I'm not great at bird identification) at the end of a cascade of black and white leaves; a black and white ink drawing of a tree; and, atop that, a black and white image of a woman in profile with feathered, shoulder-length hair, looking down, wearing a tank top and striped shorts, with the legs cut out at the hem line to make it look like she's growing from the tree in the image beneath.
Day 8: Autumn. Hand-cut collage, 2019 #repostyourart
A collage of images: A page from an anatomy book with a spine and skull atop shown in profile as the backdrop on the left-hand side; some sheet music atop that, on the right-hand side; in the center, a photograph from a book of autumn leaves in reds, yellows, and oranges; an image of a bird (I THINK a swallow, but I'm not great at bird identification) at the end of a cascade of black and white leaves; a black and white ink drawing of a tree; and, atop that, a black and white image of a woman in profile with feathered, shoulder-length hair, looking down, wearing a tank top and striped shorts, with the legs cut out at the hem line to make it look like she's growing from the tree in the image beneath.
Day 8: Autumn. Hand-cut collage, 2019 #repostyourart