A Mirthful Solstice.

From the family Christmas Card, which I'm hopin' has made its appointed rounds by now. Amidst all the frenzied consumerism, it's good to remember the real reason for the season is hypothermic warfare.

Hellion

Gnostic

I made this in acrylics. Who knew painting also occured in analog space?

Old priest, young priest

I'm definitely on a chthonic streak lately.

Halloween is a state of mind.

Most recent round of experiments has been producing some pretty out there results. I'm surprised at how much faster this method is, and it gives a much more 'real media' feel. I may very well be reworking my whole process in response.

But seriously.

I apologize heartily for everything I just posted.

Please, go vote, but for the love of all that's holy, study the candidates, the nation, and the issues first.

Salem

Messin' with Photoshop again, trying to replicate more organic painting techniques. The trick is going to be combining a bunch of strains of painting I've done in the past into the structural discipline I've recently acquired. Could fall flat entirely, but in the meantime, should be good fun.

Michelin Star

My entry for 'A Feast for the Eyes.' My internet capabilities are fully restored, so look for a blitz of content here soon.

A Feast for the Eyes

My former professor, Barry Fitzgerald, is throwin' an art show for his wife's business. You should go in check it out. There's contributions from a lot of cool folks, like my good friend the very talented Julia Icenogle and yours truly. Opening reception is tonight from 6:00-8:00. (Sorry for the late notice. Been in moving flux for a bit). Otherwise, the display runs for a full month. So go check it out. It's good art, food, and probably karma.

6th and Wakarusa
4931 W. 6th Street
Lawrence, KS 66049
785-856-2656
blueplatedinners.com

On Transigence

Enough. Life is entirely too short and precious to spend any more of it putting scale texture on imaginary bugs.

I am, for once, not being sardonic, sarcastic, or purposely obtuse. 11:40 PM. A Saturday night. Somewhere in the eighteenth hour of my ever lengthening quest for the perfect carapace, I officially had enough of the bizarre hyper-realist fit I'd nursed on and off for the last several years. At what point, I wonder, did I conflate 'goodness' with 'detail'? I'm not really certain. But, it's weird, kind of unhealthy, and not nearly as satisfying as it once was.

I'm going to be making a turn towards efficiency: the most psycho-symbolically accurate, purposeful use of each form. More planning, less muddled execution. That way, maybe I can get back to enjoying the things I enjoy, leave the house on occasion, and let nature handle the exoskeletons.

Website Again

I updated my official website to include the absent multimedia topic and correct an odd rollover error. Somewhere along the way it turned into a pretty comprehensive redesign.

Check it out at: www.brianiswells.com

Creative Quarterly

As I mentioned earlier, I had the good fortune to land a couple pieces in Creative Quarterly Journal #12. It's out on theoretical news stands everywhere and actual news stands somewhere as well.  

Skullbie

I had a dog named Skullbie once.








No, I didn't.

Vanity.

Last one for a long, long time, I swear.

Tornado Warning

Having been raised in Kansas for all my memorable life, I know that the appropriate reaction when one is menaced by whirling debris is to eat dinner, laze slowly to the basement, and then screw around on the Internet until Nature's Wrath has made its appointed rounds. So here I am now, and I figure I may as well toss these up here. The first is another random head of the kind that happens _continuously_ when I'm not really thinking. The second is a brush/tone/value test related vaguely to Maxfield Parrish.

Liquidity

Water is a pretty complicated problem. I've got probably two dozen 'wave' brushes, none of which actually work, which means ever river, stream, gully, and ocean is a unique issue unto itself. On the other hand, even a modicum of success is worth some jubilation.

Quick! Make something up!

Ignatius Rourke only caused people happiness in life. In death, he must now endure eternity chained to super euphoric glow balls.

ERZ Olympia

More about Paris, 1863, than Beijing, 2008. Olympia, Dirge's 'daughter,' gets only a single scene in the entire story.

Golden Arches

I keep shoving ridiculous self portraits off on you guys. I feel like Chairman Mao. And, in this case, Geordi La Forge.

Sometimes I just post things here so I'll quit working on them. I could really use to not be painting this one anymore.

So be it, then.

Since the last one was so melodramatic, I went for slightly ridiculous this time. May have overcompensated a smidge.

Good Morning, Planet Earth

It is always reassuring to wake up and discover the planet is still there.

Sorry, all, for my recent bout of reclusion. I haven't gotten much painting done while I've been job searching, but let these images serve as proof that I, too, still exist.

Website Up

My portofolio site is up and running (and this place has been remodeled a bit to match).

Check out the new site:

http://www.brianiswells.com/

Happiness

Creative Quarterly, a national magazine for emerging artists/illustrators/designers what have you, came out with its list of winners today, and it looks like I got some pieces in. Huzzah! The website is apparently still under construction, but when it's ready, I'll let you guys know.

Dimensional Hyper Gnat

Trying to keep up a steady diet of Photoshop sketching, which isn't so difficult sans employ.

Sturm, Drang, Gradient Filters

Couple of newbies. I'm working with lower contrast/less color for  a while. Hopefully, that'll make it easier to nitpick subtle details when called upon to do so. The bottom one is a wonkish self portrait I like anyway.

Axial Symmetry

I fear I am repeating myself, which is apt to happen when I just noodle in Photoshop for a while. So, after this, something _completely_ different. 

This guy is from the early days of Archetype. His name is Graen, after a municipality in Austria. Yes, my naming strategies are precisely that random.

Timing

I painted this today for a contest that apparently ended a month ago. It's June, Brian. June. Temporal displacement aside, I'm trying to soften the 'black cutout' appearance from my promo pieces.

Crowd Surfing

 

Crowd control is an interesting problem. Complex pieces have to be handled as fractals, more or less, applying the same compositional thought to each portion while monitoring the whole. Still, managing complex imagery is necessary for convincing world building. It's easy to tell when someone's gone through conniptions to avoid acknowledging their setting. I'll be doing some more complex studies for a while to see about tackling the issue.

For those who are wondering about how Archetype is actually coming alone (and for those aren't, but are compelled unreasonably to finish reading to the end of sentences), I'm pleased to say I'm working pretty steadily on a draft of the first volume. Having huge stockpiles of even the most trivial data on the story is proving rather helpful. Characters and settings can volunteer solutions of their own accord. 

Diversionary Tactics.

Honestly, I think that robot would hit its own antenna every time it fires its old-timey revolver. Still, I hear the NRA is interested in further development.
Been trying to replace that self-portrait in the upper corner for a while now. This is about as good it's gettin', folks.
Virot, like Hitchcock, prefers to stand in slightly aloof profile.
Toot.
The one on the left was drawn a meager fifteen seconds before the one on the right. During that brief moment, all my volumes went to pot.
Drawing my left hand is much easier than drawing my right.
Whenever my paintings get particularly complex, my sketches tend to get pretty simple.
Using Staedler Calligraph Pen here. Rather like the hair.
My London Guide, an English Professor, called this 'interesting.' She pronounced the quotation marks. I think she just wishes she had a robot.

Final Fourteen