This short ghost story by Tom Hood tells of a young spinster whose lover dies on an expedition to Antarctica. His murderer returns to propose marriage to the greiving lady. But he is instead greeted by a haunted portrait of his victim and a moth that secretes bloody red drops. And then there's that extra shadow he casts, which bares no resemblance to his own.
I have a number of these black and white images from ghost stories I'll be posting. I love the macabre--especially simple quiet moments when 'something just isn't quite right'. The image doesn't make as much sense until you know the story--the beauty of illustration.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Reflections on a Hippo
Early next month I will be having a show at Wax Poetic Gallery in Burbank titled 'Animals in Clothing'. I think this image cuts to the heart of the matter. It's composed so that the viewer is actually looking at their own reflection in a mirror. So I guess I'm telling you how to feel. Or I'm telling you how I feel? Probably not exactly. I recently made a trip to the LA zoo with a friend and we happened to arrive just in time to watch the hippos getting fed. I'm sure that's why I chose the animal. The titles 'hippopotamumu' and 'square of the hippopotomus' were both considered.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Rain Rabbit
Tut tut. I'm not sure if the rain is clearing up or gearing up. In any case, there are only a few drops at present. I think that the farmer seems to be looking upward, extending a paw as if to say 'take this' ...or maybe it's 'gimme'. I composed it like a stained glass window. Some friends saw a little mouse in the wheelbarrow, which I did not intend at first, but then decided to work him up. The crop, to me, looks rotten and reminded another friend of Courbet's 'The Stone Breakers'. We'll just call it an homage in fluff, fur and funny.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Polarbear Pirates
Sometimes I think I know what I'm painting about before I start. Sometimes I finish and get surprised. Last week's piece held no cynicism for me, so I must have added a double dosage to this image. Looks innocent enough at first glance, but then I noticed that the discs I've built this world out of are a reflection of the gold bits in the treasure chest at the bottom right.
Everyone in this image is motivated by money. Even the sun itself, which I thought to be a compass or a steering wheel as I was painting it, may be a dabloon--pieces of eight. Seven pirates and a wench. The dolphins are free.
Everyone in this image is motivated by money. Even the sun itself, which I thought to be a compass or a steering wheel as I was painting it, may be a dabloon--pieces of eight. Seven pirates and a wench. The dolphins are free.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Eagle
I don't have much to say about this one. It's a tiny painting, only about 4x6, for an upcoming show at Nucleus Gallery in Alhambra. It's less cynical than much of my work, but still absurd. They are bird people, afterall.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Cappuccino's Daughter
This may be a little small to view as a thumbnail (click to enlarge). Earlier I did a painting from Rappaccini's Daughter--the story about a man who's fallen in love with the poisonous feminine creation of an evil botonist. For silliness' sake, this time I drew the daughter of an evil coffee shop owner whose daughter is caffeinated to the touch. That's a distillery on the table and a mad Daddy Starbucks in the corner.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
The house at top the Slippery Slope
I posted this image as the splash page on my website, but I like to post explanations, so I'll tack it up here too. I originally had little squirrels sitting on the porch, but thought better of it and changed them to cats...well, a cat. The second cat came by request from a friend of mine who thought there was more intrigue with two. I thought about putting silhouettes in the windows, but for me it left too many questions. Somehow, like a puzzle, I prefer having all the elements visible, and then it's just a matter of locking them into place. That said, there probably is someone inside.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Pea & Princess
I went to visit an unfamiliar branch of the public library earlier this week and they were having a sale. I bought the craziest little book of popular princess stories for a dime and it started off with Hans Christian Anderson's well known tale of the pea, the test and the mattresses. I had a spare remnant of illustration board left at this size, so I drew an image. I may explore more princesses from the book, but for now I'm still focusing mostly on animals in clothing...as one will.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Rappaccini's Daughter
It's a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. A young man falls in love with the daughter of an evil botonist. It's a form of romantic, victorian horror, but read today I think it has the slight edge of humor. The woman is poisonous and is kept from the world. The man is lured in and turned poisonous too. It all ends badly. I added an extra scientist and a glass house.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Heave! ho.
I'm designing postcards for a mailing and I needed an image for the backside of the earlier 'Sheep in the Jungle'. I'd wondered how the Mrs. was going to climb that mountain to her husband. Her casual attitude in the first image made me think she'd be difficult to faze. I gave her a sandwich 'cause I figured--being hoisted is as good a time as any to eat.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Space Monkeys
This is vaguely Flash Gordon meets Planet of the Apes. The little martians started out as simple green bugs, but I decided they worked better as the more complex green *monkey* bugs. This piece was produced to go on auction. I often get attached to my work and have a difficult time letting go. The monkey at the far left is either booster rocketing to save the tiny little monkey in the upper right or saying goodbye after the cord snapped.
I may yet explore more with the phases of the moon. Somebody's moon. And the colors of the space scene were inspired by Fozzie's newly painted Studebaker in the Muppet Movie. Yeesh.
I may yet explore more with the phases of the moon. Somebody's moon. And the colors of the space scene were inspired by Fozzie's newly painted Studebaker in the Muppet Movie. Yeesh.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Old Pease Porridge.
Nine days old Pease Porridge, in fact. I don't think I'm getting the rhyme quite right. They're lions in the kitchen.
My dad used to make us toast and rolled oats growing up ('porridge' in laymen's terms). I think I used to believe that was about all he knew how to make. But these days, since retiring, he shares cooking duties with my mom and likes to get experimental. I, on the other hand, am a master at putting things in the toaster. Toaster pastries = dinner in my world. Feel free to join me but bring a bag lunch.
My dad used to make us toast and rolled oats growing up ('porridge' in laymen's terms). I think I used to believe that was about all he knew how to make. But these days, since retiring, he shares cooking duties with my mom and likes to get experimental. I, on the other hand, am a master at putting things in the toaster. Toaster pastries = dinner in my world. Feel free to join me but bring a bag lunch.
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