Guardian of the Valley

Hmmm... the png version is lacking oomph, unfortunately... Looks like I'm going to have to figure out how to navigate Blogger's color settings...

Nothing but Lies and Pictures of Also Lies.

As part of my General Life Over-Complication Plan, I refuse to post actual photos of myself on Facebook–I paint these instead. For those of you wondering, I actually look like Kermit the Frog. Flippers and everything. 

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.

Skullbie

I had a dog named Skullbie once.








No, I didn't.

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.

Angnor-ance and the Doomsday Clock.

I did these, like, a long time ago, but they needed some help. 

 

The first three are from my cryptically named, oddly violent, and sporadically verbomaniacal "children's" book "The Knights of Angnor." It's about trolls, knights, bridges, ferrets, and the upside of deforestation.

 

The last is a black and white take on the Man, Woman, Bird, Dog, and Banana in a room assignment, which is about exactly what you would think. I have no idea what the story actually is in this scene. I just know that he hates that fire so, so much.

 

In other news, it's four days until the Senior Show, which promises to be a tapestry thrillingly interwoven with failure and delight. With almost four years over, it's time to take stock. And print. One must always be printing.

The Big Ben.

Following the London pilgrimage, the group is making a book. As the Resident Illustration Buddy, I volunteered to paint the cover. It's done in Painter, a program that allows me to paint when I don't feel like moving four feet to my left to my actual work desk.

Green Headache

I don't know. I really don't.

That which is this blog.

In short, it's two things: 

1) Classwork

2) Archetype

What classwork means is pretty obvious, the other probably less so.

Many already know I've been working on a series of graphic novels for half a decade or so. That's Archetype. Thus far, after the ill-fated but "educational" draft way back in high school, it hasn't been anything but planning.

But it's been long enough, and I think I may finally have the experience and structure to make it work. I'm sketching out the first issue right now, with an ETA of--well, we'll see. I'll toss out some images from the character primer and some work in progress as it goes along.

Anyway, please, feel free to comment and share. Part of the reason I'm doing this is get ideas on how to improve, so, please, let me know what you think.