Peek inside my brain with sketches and experiments

Greetings out there in internet land.
I am in the mood to post.
Much of my daily work now is either a commission, or a painting I'm going to post everywhere else so
I decided that my experiments and sketches can find a good home here for now.


Students and doodles, on break at work. Blue BIC Pen <3


FLAME BRAIN! Inspired after a late night internet chat about fire and Leos and brains. of course, what else?!


 
More sketches, possibly a few weeks ago. I love the horned figure in the center. 
Those are dreams at the bottom. Tis where I write my dreams if I remember them.What was in these
particular dreams? Theme parks, vampires, trees, and the emotion of excitement over an artist's art and music.


trees, hand studies. and an awkward woman beast thing. 


COLOR in the sketchbook. When I have excess paint from other projects, if it doesn't end up getting slapped on a wooden panel it goes in my sketchbook. 




Experimenting with shapes and colors and textures in Photoshop. 

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Stay tuned folks, till next time!
I'd write more but I'm sleepy!

The Weird Alphabet and recent inspirations

The Weird Alphabet!
I have started a new series, spinning off from my other new series!
The weird alphabet! This idea has given me an artistic boundary to work within, and allows me to explore my long dormant love of RESEARCH! Thinking about letters, I also wrote a very naughty alphabet poem, but I will keep that secret for now.

The most recent of the new alphabet series is C = Cacophony



"A = Ambiguity" and "B = Blissful" as well as the rest of the new series (sans alphabetical meaning) can be seen on my website under "Sketch-Panel Series"
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Recent Happenings and Inspirations

As its December, I will express my love of my favorite Rankin/Bass Christmas special. "The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause". Its one of the most bizarre and beautiful and somewhat pagan Rankin/Bass special, and it RARELY gets played on television. I watched the whole thing on youtube a few days ago - but alas, I checked today to show someone else and it has been removed due to copyright issues. I believe this special should be available somewhere, as it is so rare and most of the people I talk to have never heard of it! Do not be fooled by the animated version (ok, but not as hauntingly interesting) - find the CLAYMATION Rankin/Bass version. I own the movie, and the book - I just realized I have not read the book yet. Check it on IMDB. By the way, even though that is my one true favorite special, I am a fan of all rankin/bass productions (that I've seen so far) - including the wonderful "The Last Unicorn"

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Fine art: last Thursday, when I lectured about contemporary art, I realized that I hardly own any books or magazines about 'fine art' - I mainly collect fantasy and horror illustrative art - including periods of art history usually gleamed over quickly in general art history books, if mentioned at all (symbolism, romanticism, pre-raphaelites and sentimental Victorian art, and going further back to Bosch, Bruegel, and any artist that focused on darker and fantastic themes). I am hoping to expand my art book collection now to be more inclusive. (Like I need any more books. for the past year, I have had piles on the floor because I ran out of bookshelf space.) Speaking of books, I recently picked up one of my favorite books that I had never finished previously : "Color: A natural history of the Palette" by Victoria Finlay -written as a travel journal, a woman's quest to find the meaning behind colors.

That is all for now. As usual, I am desperately available for commissions, etc.
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Happenings:
This Friday: I will be vending some art at a club event called "Sanctuary" at the Melody Inn Reception Hall, Indianapolis, IN.
This Thursday will be the last day of my very first university teaching job. Its been a tough start, but I think I like it. If I can keep up with the grading.