I Have Been Absent of Late

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.

Thanks for your patience. =)

Neil Gaiman's Price coming to film

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.

"The Price" Kickstarter project pitch from Christopher Salmon on Vimeo.

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.

---

Recommendations:

Creatures of the Night by Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli




Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman

The Mortician

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.

Prints are of course for sale on Deviantart here.

The Elegant Skull

La Calavera Catrina (the elegant skull) was popularized in 1913 with an etching done by artist José Guadalupe Posada. Since then, Catrina has been the rendition for the Mexican Day of the Dead, symbolizing the goddess Lady of the Dead, that dates back to the ancient Aztecs. Catrinas are very popular during the Mexican Day of the Dead which in fact is two days, not one. One day to honor and remember infants and the following to honor and remember adults. During these days the spirits of dead loved ones are lured by items such as flowers of the dead, usually marigolds, sugar skulls, tequila for adults, toys for children and religious icons such as crosses and Madonnas.

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.

Happy Halloween, Carmilla and Special Effects Before CGI and Poe's Birthday

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.

A Quick Note...

After my car broke down on the interstate about a month ago I decided that I would finally break down and get a cell phone. My car's alternator decided to give up its ghost and I had to walk two miles to a Homeland to used their payphone which upon arriving, there was none. The clerk informed me since cell phones had become so popular they had removed their payphones but I was allowed to use the store's phone. It was at that point I became resolved to get one.

Being the nerd/geek that I am I shopped about and finally decided on the HTC Evo. The Evo, running on the Android platform, is very customizable so I decided to create a couple of quick wallpapers, not animated, that may come later, because I always like to personalize my stuff. Below are a couple of wallpapers that I created rather quickly. I created brushes in Adobe using Alchemy symbols and a dragon's eye I created sometime ago for a comic book shop that commissioned me to do their web site. The gears are a brush set called SS gears, no I did not created them. The clock face on the second image is one I am working on for a steampunk clock for cafepress. It was a project that I set aside for awhile and may finish soon.






Both images are in the Evo size format if you have an Evo or an android phone, feel free to use them.

Note: I am still hard at work on Carmilla and have learned somethings and ran into a few snags. I am taking a 6 day Sabbatical from work starting this Wed. and hopefully will have something to show as well as more blogs since Halloween is quickly approaching.

Ponderings, Musings and Flattery...

Musings and Ponderings

October for me is not only a month of hollowed eyed ghosts and howling, shapeless masses that cling close to the shadows, but also a month of reflection and reassessment creatively. Soon in the next few weeks I intend to revamp my cafepress site, Through a Glass Darkly and rework some of the border work as well as organize it so that items and prints are more easily found. I have neglected the site for over two years and it shows. I am not happy with some of the prints and items, either I have grown a bit more artistically or I feel that my work needs more respect than I have given it and thus needs to presented with more care. I have decided I would rather offer a few good pieces than just fill the site with things I am no longer happy with. It will be a slow process and many pieces will be reworked. I will update as I do changes to the site.

Flattery

Almost a year ago I finished a piece with pencil on bristol based on the Norse god Odin. I decided to depict him in his hermit guise which he would adopt when walking about humanity and not the typical warrior god on his throne. This aspect of Odin always interested me, with his one eye given up for wisdom and his cronies of ravens that acted as his messengers. Here is the original pencil.



I decided to try my hand at digital coloring and used earth tones primarily creating an almost sepia effect. I use Adobe Photoshop for digital coloring and used a "leaf" brush that comes with the Wacom tablet I have to create a vignette about the central figure. I was pleased with the results and it was one of my better attempts at coloring a piece. Here is the colored version below.




Now I admit that this was one piece that I did on the fly, I liked it well enough for what it was but really never considered it one of my better works and it never fails to surprise me that sometimes people will like works I have done that I myself don't consider as one of my best pieces. Goes to show perhaps an artists is his worst judge. The real surprise came in my email, a young lady, I suspect who abides in France, sent me an email with a picture of the Odin piece that she had tattooed on her back. Now whatever your stance is on tattoos is a personal matter, but I found myself extremely flattered that this young lady would put this piece on her flesh. I mean it is one thing to buy a print or an item like shirt with an image on it, but to put it permanently on your skin for me was the highest form of flattery. So I thought I would share the picture she sent me.




I thought the tattoo artist did justice to the image and retained aspects of my style. I know that had to hurt the young lady as she lay under the needle and I am flattered that she not only chose my piece to adorn her back but also took the time to send me the picture of the results.

Note: Halloween will be here soon, I will blog more creepiness soon. =)