AC

AC, 8.5" × 11" Acrylic. 

 

I did this one in the mid '90s, around the time that a friend was getting me to produce art for a Vampire: The Masquerade fanzine that he was hoping to produce. I was reading a lot of occult stuff at the time for inspiration. The stuff I was doing was mostly black and white ink drawings, but I wanted to do something darker.  The only way I knew to do that at the time was via the medium of acrylic painting. 

Anyway, this is a painting that I'm not sure why I did it, I was just compelled to do so. About a week after I finished the painting, while reading through a series of books that collected old Fortean Times articles, I came across some interesting writings about Aleister Crowley and the Golden Dawn. Fascinating stuff. Now, Crowley had a wider/jowelly face than this chap and a heavier brow, but never-the-less, the photo him showed him wearing  a smoking jacket like this... coincidence? Perhaps?

This painting used to creep me out. I had it displayed on my easel in my bedroom for a long time, and would wake up with this evil bastard looking at me.

I still like this a lot (although that crooked window still bothers me). I'm still satisfied with the overall work almost 30 years later. I wonder what an updated version of this would be like? Sure my understanding of clothing folds and shadow maybe better, but can I still catch the same vibe? I may have to take this challenge some day. 

Presto

Presto, Acrylics, 11''x17'' canvas, 2014.

This is the painting we used to announce the pending arrival of our first child. Ultrasound pics are usually grainy (at best) and somewhat obscure, so we didn't want to share those images to the world. My solution was this painting. Using the ultrasound pics as reference along with an online image search on embryos, I was able to come up with image. It's got a Michael Whelan 2010 Starchild crossed with Alex Gray vibe to it which appealed to me. I called this painting 'Presto' at the time as the lyrics* from the Rush song Presto kept popping into my head as I was adding in the cosmic stuff. 

Well, the painting worked and all who saw the initial announcement were quite thrilled with the both the painting and the news it brought. A process we need to repeat in the next little while before time runs out... 😉

Here is a work in progress shot, with a light source shining directly on it. It really kicks up the brightness and intensifies the light, and is a bit closer in brilliance to seeing it in person.

Work in progress shot.

* "I am made from the dust of the stars, and the oceans flow in my veins."