ABC has picked up a pilot that has Edgar Allan Poe playing detective. Now before I go any further I have to say the concept is not as far fetched as it sounds. After all Poe is recognized not only as the father of the short story but also detective fiction. C. Auguste Dupin first appeared in Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue and later appears in The Mystery of Marie Roget and the Purloined Letter. Dupin even predated Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and it has been speculated that he was inspiration for the Victorian Sleuth.
But even with that clout behind him, can television effectively depict Poe with his addiction to opium and alcohol? Will they even touch upon his marriage to his cousin Virginia Eliza Clemm? I am a huge fan of Poe's work but I will be the first to admit that Poe's life was complex and disturbed and is hardly prime time fare. Yet even with my doubts I will tune in. Perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised.
I have recently finished digitally coloring the piece below. It is another Warhammer inspired piece of the Witch Hunter. An interesting note is that the Witch Hunter was actually based on Robert E. Howard's character Solomon Kane, a Puritan demon slayer. Howard is also known for his more famous creation, Conan.
Howard lived a very robust but in the end tragic life than ceased with his suicide. Athletic and much like his characters, Howard was a self made man that made a meager living writing pulps in the '30's as did his close correspondent friend, H.P. Lovecraft. Both writers created a mythology all their own and Howard's world that Conan dwelt is almost as expansive as Tolkien's. Sadly though most of Howard's vision of Conan in the public eye is that of Arnold wielding a sword against a giant rubber snake. In truth, Howard's world was much more elaborate with wizards, mystics, dreaming gods and forgotten races.
The Conan legacy was rescued from obscurity by Lancer Books in the '60's with primal covers by Frank Frazetta, the master of fantasy. Soon after Marvel would bring Conan to more attention with stories by Roy Thomas and artwork by Barry Windsor-Smith who grew with each story changing mere comic layout to masterful graphic story telling. In fact it was Barry Windsor-Smith's art that inspired much of my style, he, like Frazetta, were my childhood idols.
I went for an old world theme inspired by one of my other idols, Durer. I hope you enjoy.
On another note and perhaps a tad self promotion...
I have opened a zazzle account to promote a line of greeting cards and postcards with my artwork. I will expand this line soon with more art, mostly black and white Gothic themed art.
I apologize for my absence of late. Due to holiday mayhem, numerous projects in the fire and also a bought of melancholy that led to some creative blockage I am now on the mend and am eager to get back to work creatively.
I do have some surprises that will appear in the next couple of weeks as well as more subjects to blog about.
The Price, by Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite short stories that the author has penned is actually being made into an independent film by Christopher Salmon. This apparently is a one man show, Salmon is doing all the production of this CGI short.
Mr. Salmon has the full support of Neil Gaiman on this project and is asking for fan support since this is a private project and does not have the backing of any studios. The material, the short story The Price (which I have mentioned in a blog before) is one of my favorite short stories and if you get the chance I recommend it as well as the graphic novel, Creatures of the Night, done by Gaiman and one of my personal favorite artists, Michael Zulli.
The Price is a story of the devotion of an animal, a black cat (which I have extreme fondness for the inky alien four legged slinky things)and how guardians can come in the most unexpected forms. I highly recommend it.
You can follow Mr. Salmon's progress here on his production blog.
Neil Gaiman has also given his blessing to this project and talks a little more in depth about it here on his blog.
I am still learning my way about digital painting and digital coloring. Digital coloring is when I take a pencil or pen drawing and color it in Adobe, digital painting is when I do a painting usually from scratch or a rough sketch as I did with The Mortician.
I decided to do this piece in black and white, working with only grays as I would a pencil drawing. I wanted to create a type of vignette almost like one of the old daguerreotype photographs. The border I created by combining symbols that come with Adobe and decided to go with the oval because it lent to that antique feel I was looking for.
I suppose there is a story in this picture, as soon as it tells it to me I am sure that I will include it and the picture in The October Book which has become my year long project.
Much of the ceremonies include enticing the spirits of the departed back for a day so the souls can hear the prayers and stories their relatives offer them in remembrance and often these tales take a humorous tone as stories about the departed are shared. Often shrines are built in homes in memorandum with pictures of the deceased and these shrines often appear at local schools and government buildings. It is obvious that Mexican culture has a deep respect for mortality as mirrored in their parades on the Day of the Dead and their iconography.
When one considers that Fall, which brings about the deep sleep and death of nature with the coming of winter as well as harvest that it would follow that it be linked to human mortality and the spirit realm as echoed in our own holiday Halloween and religious days such as All Saint's Day, All Soul's Day and the Day of the Dead.
I find much of the artwork and iconography of this heritage very fascinating and often mirrored in work by artists such as Daniel Martin Diaz and Madame Talbot. Diaz incorporates much of his Latin American heritage with Catholic imagery that forms a sort of esoteric vision while Madame Talbot's death dolls and her posters with the various renditions of death conjure an otherworldliness with a macabre sense of humor. Both are artists I respect, not only because they are traditionalists in their medium but also their creative imagination. Both artists seem to dance in between worlds and their works seem to bring about a sense of the surreal and that everyday occurrences maybe rooted in some deeper meaning or purpose whether it be with a morbid tongue in cheek or Jungarian images that drift below the subconscious. I would hesitate to lump these two artists together because their approaches are miles apart, one with almost prophetic vision and the other in a humorous danse macabre. But to be sure, both are inspiring and both deal with mortality.
Here's hoping that you are enjoying this most macabre holiday. I personally am glutting myself on junk food and cheesey B rate Horror Movies.
Ever wonder about special effects before CGI, Rick Baker or Stan Winston? Back in the silver era of silent film, Chaney of course reigned as the king of makeup but have you ever seen the artistry of John Barrymore in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? In one single take before the jump cut, Barrymore makes the transition from Jekyll to Hyde without the aid of any makeup simply but contorting his face. The result was rather eerie.
John Barrymore, the great grandfather of Drew Barrymore and brother to Lionel Barrymore was considered in his time to the king of actors yet his addiction to alcohol brought him to ruins and late in his career he was often given over to ridicule, yet his early legacy was only surpassed in later decades by actors like Laurence Oliver.
Carmilla
I have finally finished Carmilla. I learned many lessons from this piece, one being to detail out the sketch before digitally coloring it and another on how to create brushes for Adobe.
I really struggled with this piece, that doesn't mean it hasn't been fun, but at times I ran into so many corners that I had to work out of that I wasn't sure I would finish it at all. Now that it is completed I can move on to the next and I am happy with how it did come out. The words Micalla and Camilla are anagrams for her original name which was Countess Mircalla Karnstein.
Amazon has Carmilla if you are interested in reading the story here.
If you would like to purchase a print of Carmilla, you can do so here. I may offer it soon with a different border.
Happy Birthday Poe
Poe came to live with me in October seven years ago, since then every October I celebrate his birthday on Halloween. This ink pig, who in the beginning could fit in the palm of my hand, has grown huge and has been a constant source of comedy, irritation, manipulation and also affection. I have never owned a male cat before Poe, females are rather demure, well behaved and love attention, the male species however are dramatists, court jesters, highly inquisitive and manipulative.
Poe also has his own vocabulary, a chorus of mews, coos and many other verbs but he can't seem to master consonants but he has little issue getting his point across whether it be food, attention or something he wants. He has also learned how to open doors and many times I have come home to see cat food poured on the floor and Poe sitting in the cupboard with an innocent look. I have since switched to canned food not only because it is healthier for him but also because he hasn't learned to use a can opener yet.
Here is hoping he will be here to celebrate 7 or even more birthdays.
