The King on his Throne (WIP)

king on his throne wip 72

I like to see ‘work in progress’ from other people so try to remember to post some of my own. This is about 1/2 done, what you see so far was drawn with a fine tip ‘sharpie’ magic marker on a large (11×14) sketchbook. The paper of the sketchbook is a little too thin for my taste but maybe I just need to get used to it. I haven’t decided if this big guy is made of vines or wood or veins or some other substance — this is just one of those ‘figure it out as I go along’ drawings. Unfortunately, as I was scanning this, my scanner made a horrible noise and I had to unplug it. Hopefully when I plug it back in, the scanner will decide that it is OK and go back to working.


The Psychopath Test

think%20different%20mansonI’ve been reading some books by Jon Ronson and listening to audiobooks like ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ on my long daily commute — hearing about weird military experiments in the supernatural is oddly calming when you are stuck in traffic. I recently heard that one of the books I enjoyed, ‘The Psychopath Test,’ was being made into a film. Although several of Ronson’s books have already been made into films (Frank and The Men who Stare at Goats), I haven’t seen any of them (even though they sound like movies I would enjoy). From what I know from the internet, these films are fictions based on the non-fiction sources… if you are unfamiliar with Ronson’s books, he writes in a ‘gonzo journalist’ manner which has been compared to Hunter S. Thompson. For ‘Goats,’ Ronson became interested in various projects carried out by the US Military to employ paranormal techniques and new age philosophy over several decades. The title refers to a man who was said to have killed a goat by staring at it in an experiment on behalf of US Special Forces. It’s a strange and often hilarious (and tragic) book that both amused and depressed me. As far as I can tell, Ronson’s technique is to interview absolutely everyone he can get to talk to him who might be connected to a subject he is interested in and then reports the results of these conversations with humorous, self-depreciating asides and frequent references to his personal life that create the impression that he considers himself to be an unreliable narrator.

The Psychopath Test (the book) deals with Ronson’s investigation of psychopathy — what it is, how it is diagnosed and defined and how people deal with it (either as those who are accused of being psychopaths or those who claim to be victims of it). One of my favorite interviews from the book was read by Ronson on ‘This American Life’ (the audio is here). I have no clue how the book will translate into a narrative.


Secret Rulers of the World!

Fletcher Hanks reveals the machinations of The Bilderburg Group!

the Bilderburg Group


Astronaut and Moon Lizard

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I’ve been looking at some old Basil Wolverton sci-fi comics lately… which helped serve as inspiration in this case… although I think Wolverton would have turned the weird up to 12 and beyond and I’m not even hitting 3. I can always endeavor to do better I guess.


Cyclops

cyclops


Mutual Benefit

mutual benefit 72

I was originally going to call this “Mutual Admiration Society” but when I was drawing it I wrote “Mutual Benefit” instead. I don’t ask for these ideas; they just come to me.

Funny and true story: I was drawing this and Annie walked into the room and looked over my shoulder at the drawing. She said, “Ugh!” Then she asked, “Is that for (name of client redacted)?”

Me: “No.” (Laugh) “I can’t imagine (name of client redacted) paying me to draw this.”

Annie: “I can’t imagine anyone paying you to draw that.”

I could almost hear the ‘bu-dump-bump-tish.’


Pope Rudy

Rudy Guliani screaming:

guiliani

Screaming pope by Francis Bacon:

28007169_bacon_pope

I’m not claiming these two pictures have anything to do with each other nor have I ever seen Guliani sitting on a throne made of meat. I’m just noticing.


Wizard Duel

Here is a recent comission I completed for Goodman. The book in the lower RH corner and the cabinet in the upper LH corner have space for type.

wizards label 72l


Goodman Games ‘Monster Alphabet’ Kickstarter!

Goodman Games has just announced the kickstarter for a ‘Monster Alphabet’ book by Jobe Bittman  – a companion book to Michael Curtis’ very popular ‘Dungeon Alphabet.’  It has random tables and ideas for monsters, much like ‘Dungeon Alphabet’ had random tables and ideas for dungeons.

I’m pleased to be a contributing artist on this project along with a lot of the same people who worked on ‘Dungeon Alphabet.’ Here is one of my illustrations:

e is for extraplanar full page 72


Human Sacrifice!

human_sacrifice 72dpi

I have been listening to Jon Ronson’s THEM as an audio book and just heard his account of sneaking into ‘Bohemian Grove’ to witness either a bunch of rich assholes getting drunk or a symbolic human sacrifice, depending on whom you ask… which helped me finish up this drawing of ritual sacrifice and mayhem for Venger Satanis’ Kickstarter book project. There are still 5 days left to get in on it as a sponsor.  The final product will include 11 B&W drawings by me in various sizes (including this one).