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.