Crown of Thorns

When they ask how...

You livin'

You tell 'em

You livin' like

Something important died hissin'

- Aesop Rock

Seeing...

Bank Robbery...

Sex and "sexy" is ALL about the mystery.

I love Coles Phillips. Obvious, right?

I love him because of the mystery.

What is up with her arms?

Is she an amputee or is she wearing

sexy long black gloves from a bygone era?

Why are her arms positioned like they are?
And what the hell is up with the blue paint?

Is it paint?

Are they tattoos?

When I look at her, I like to think she is in

the middle of a bank robbery.

She is the perp.

In her right hand she's holding

the bag full of looted cash.

Her left arm is pointed to the sky,

holding a gun and putting two into

the ceiling while threatening everyone

menacingly.

But, does that explain the tears?

Why the tears?

LOCALIZED

This is the poster I did for January's SLUG LOCALIZED.

Jimmy Johns...

Here is this month's illustration for SLUG magazine.

I love working for SLUG because it introduces

me to all kinds of new people and places.

I owe a lot to SLUG and just really enjoy 

working with the people down there. 

This piece was a blast to create, from working with

Carl Acheson to interviewing the Jimmy Johns guys.

I learned a lot painting this up.

Here's the link to the illustration in the mag:

http://www.slugmag.com/articles/5091/Jimmy-Johns.html

I think the designers did an awesome job with the diagram.

Self Portrait

Pigalle

Fractals

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...

And Orthrus Smiled...

I typically find drawing from life to be less fun

than drawing the messed up stuff in my head.

But, the lessons to be learned from just drawing

what you see are unparalleled. 

So, I've decided to

start painting skulls.

An excellent resource is the book:

SKULLS

An Exploration of Alan Dudley's Curious Collection

by

Simon Winchester

Headmount

I like to do quick, simple pen and inks for 

warm-up sketches and brainstorming every morning.

Buh Gok!!!

I just finished reading Ted McKeever's MONDO. 

It is a phenomenal book.

The art in it is fantastic.

Buh GOK!

Fall

The most beautiful gems

Fall from trees in Autumn.

Red.

Yellow.

Orange.

Green.