Pirate Beard

P is for pun.

Only in the Morning...

The Urban Jungle

So much on my mind I just can't recline

Blastin' holes in the night till she bled sunshine

Breathe in, inhale vapors from bright stars that shine

Breathe out, weed smoke retrace the skyline

Yo how the bass ride out like an ancient mating call

I can't take it y'all, I can feel the city breathing

Chest heavin', against the flesh of the evening

- "Respiration," BlackStar

Before and After

Each of my pieces starts out as a pen and ink.

They are always very shape-heavy.

This tree was fun because I wanted to make it

look a little more natural than I normally do.

The background is concrete.

The green in the tree is some tagging that I messed with.

Writerz Tree

There is an undercurrent

of organic energy 

to the concrete jungle.

It is alive.

It is color.

It is chaos.

12 Reasons to Die...

Ghostface's newest album, 

12 Reasons to Die,

is simply outstanding.

Adrian Younge is on point.

Picked up the special edition with 

the instrumental, a comic book, and a cassette tape.

The image has little to do with the content of the album,

but I was listening to it the entire time I was painting.

Beware of the Stare.

Hey Bey Beh

Rusted Leaf

Comb-Over Carl

Quick digital painting of "Comb-Over Carl"...

The ladies LOVE the comb-over.

4.10.13 - Morning Sketch - Bucktooth Frankenbilly with a Rockin' Buttchin

Creativity...

During medical school, I needed to find an outlet for my creativity. Growing up, I was drawing all the time. There are boxes of drawings, mostly cartoons, at my parents' place. In high school, I was the cartoonist for the school newspaper. Later, while studying history in college, I had a strip called The Perfect Paradigm that was also published in the school newspaper. I found the humdrum of medical school didn't satisfy my need for creativity, so eventually I approached the undergrad paper and got the job. I ran a strip 5x/week for the paper while also doing medical school and dealing with the onset of what has been a nasty neurological condition. I took third place two years in a row in the annual national SPJ Mark of Excellence awards. I look at the art in it now and just laugh. I had very little time to draw and was trying to balance too much stuff in my life. But, I really enjoy looking back at that time and being reminded that creativity is just a big part of who I am.

This is just a smattering of some of my favorites from that time. Perhaps I will redraw some of them.

Never go to a blind beard barber...