An epic memorial to the great Magic wars of ‘09.
Oil on canvas. 24x36”
Below: George ponders the complexities of his winning strategies.
Below: Matt bristles at Fate.
Below: Andy observes while tinkering with Ableton Live.
This was prompted by a request for a cow robot from months ago. I decided to try oils again, and was pretty happy with the way the oil paint behaved compared to the acrylics I’ve been using.
As a companion piece to the other WoW druid painting, I present to you, Caturday Nite is All Rite for Fite.
The chief inspiration again is Alamo’s guide, somehow combined with Elton John for no real reason. The Alamo is in the background on the left.
There are a few other details alluding to some other things. The cat in the left corner is inspired by this video. The robot references Keith Kadera’s main complaint about WoW: not enough robots. Pilot Mountain looms in the background as a reminder of my native region.
I found an awesome frame for it at the flea market.
I finished this painting a month or two ago, but I’ve been busy with a lot of other things that have prevented me from updating the blog.
A while back, Lauren was singing this nursury song :
In the leafy treetops, the birds sing “Good morning.”
They’re first to see the sun. They must tell everyone.
In the leafy treetops, the birds sing “Good morning.”
In my pretty garden, the flowers are nodding.
“How do you do?” they say. “How do you do today?”
In my pretty garden, the flowers are nodding.
But she was changing the words a bit. In her version, one of our cats named Max was saying “Good Morning.” I was amused by the idea of our bright eyed fluffy cat cheerfully greeting terrified birds in the morning.
There’s also a tiny tribute to Q*bert in this one.
When I was about 16 I was pondering centralized control of media, especially TV, and the fact that most people didn’t seem to mind the pablum they were fed. Possibly inspired by the Macintosh commercial of 1984, I drew this pen and ink drawing of a mohawk festooned punk rocker jabbing an oversized needle into the glassy eye of the idiot box.
I started a new painting late last year as a 20 year re-visitation of the theme. A lot has changed in the realm of media outlets, distribution and the offerings available to anyone anywhere. Between the Internet and Tivo, I’ve been able to jab my own sharp needle into the baleful eye of the thing I really hated about TV, the commercials.
So I thought it would be a good time to revisit the theme.
The painting is 24x30 on hard board, and was larger than anything I’ve attempted recently. So it took me forever to finish it. It has the recurring one eyed monsters and lizard men I’ve been painting and drawing reecently, but there are a few other noteworthy cameos.
Here is the punk from the original drawing, 20 years later. Now he’s married and is trying to figure out how to plug the TV in. The original tv is also there, on its side, obsolete and useless.
Here’s my mom and dad riding around in my dad’s a-model hot rod project car.
Here we can see David Rose, Tommy Long, and Doctor Who peeking out of the Tardis. He’s not sure he wants to get involved with this mess, because it’s a tangle that can’t be solved without guns, face punching and biting. Dave on the other hand, is in his element, gleefully chasing a monster with a broken beer bottle. Tommy is putting his hockey equipment to good use as well.
Matt Turner is wearing part of his Spartan costume while George uses his MTG cards to cast some sort of spell. Behind them is a LARPer, casting a level 1 Lightning Bolt.
Finally, there’s Lauren, reloading her Beretta, while my brother Jon lines up a shot. The Time Bandits are making a quick getaway. The item they were after has already been stolen . . .
This painting is taking longer than I planned, so I’m posting a little update to hold over until I can finish the thing.
Robert Frost once began a poem with these timeless lines :
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
Perhaps Mr. Frost was foreseeing the worldwide commotion portrayed in this epic illustration.
Behold the hordes of Lizard Men, bursting forth from their cthonic strongholds. Nixiebots and giant kin obey Saurian masters above and below to completely disrupt human society.
Here’s one of the Saurian masters. Mysterious electronic devices transmit lizard-mind impulses to robotic slaves.
What hope does the human race have? Surely they’re overwhelmed?
Not if Mr. T has anything to say about it.
And who are these mysterious diminutive anachronisms?
They seem to be studying a map of some sort. Are they here for the fight, or perhaps to loot a few treasures while everyone is occupied with more urgent matters?
Until these questions are answered, keep a wary eye open for anyone expressing sympathy for lizards and snakes. They might be fellow travelers with Saurian forces! You might also consider purchasing robot insurance.
Here’s another groundbreaking collaboration with Tommy Long. Behold, the friendly carnivorous giraffe ridden by a dead eyed koala with arms reminiscent of Plastic Man.
Tommy’s Original:
My Painted Version:
Below the black eyed gaze of the sharp toothed giraffe a multiple amputee hippopotamus is further victimized by the fierce attack of a mythical Rainbow Turkey.
16x20” Acrylic on Masonite.
Behold Tommy’s original. The pig on the right is using the wolf’s vain huffing and puffing to fly his kite. But the lupine wind cannot penetrate the brick house, so the pig on the left delights in building a house of cards, which he could never do in his other drafty houses.
Using a combination of Illustrator, Photoshop and ArtRage, I attempted to capture the fury of the wolf and the tranquil security of the pigs from Tommy’s original dramatic masterpiece.
Here are a few details of the characters.
