The Faerie Folk

As my last post before taking a holiday break, I figured I'd put up the latest of my paint splashes on paper.  Inspired in thought if not in execution by the images of wee ones and fairie folks by the likes of Henry Fuseli and Sir Joseph Paton, here's my take on tiny nature spirit.  Not very natural, eh?  Happy Holidays everyone.

The Fire Set Off By Franz...

This quickie was based on an interesting photo I saw of two Austrian soldiers sitting on a giant piece of artillery from the first World War.

[Insert Provocative Italian Thriller Title Here]

With titles like Twitch of the Death Nerve, Black Belly of the Tarantula, and The Bloodstained Butterfly, Italian thrillers of the late 60's and early 70's provide a bevy of beautiful women and shocking images.  Anyhow, this attempt at a stylish quickie again features crowd favorite Edwige Fenech...and again, I got Romero's run of Modesty Blaise at the back of my mind. Oh, and since I brought it up...I believe this was from a film titled Strip Nude for Your Killer (which wasn't nearly as stripped nude as the title implies...still not a good one to put on for Mom & Dad...)

Five in One...One in Five

Today's sketch is from a marred statue believed to be of the Roman emperor, Pertinax.  Pertinax was a high-ranking military and senatorial figure when he took the purple, but when he tried to reign in the excesses of the Praetorian guard following the crazed and destructive reign of Commodus...they, uh...had him killed.  This sparked off a power play that saw five emperors come and go in a single year until things finally settled down under Septimius Severus.  It was during some research that I came across the image on which this is based and loved the Jonah Hex-esque maiming of the marble figure's features.

Works on Paper...

I was having such a good time with a painted collaboration I did on this paper with Jason Shawn Alexander (he's gotta new book coming...read about it here!) that I decided to do another quick painting on it.  The choice of imagery corresponds to a new writing project I'm playing around with and who knows, this might come out as the cover some day in the future.  Anyhow, figured since I was 2 for 3 on paint, I'd just finish out the week the same way.

Concerned...

A second recently finished portrait that was a further experiment in the various chemicals and mediums one can mix into the paint.

The USS Whiskey-Vodka....

The subject of this portrait finally got to see himself painted, and so now, I felt it fair to present it to the public. While I wasn't trying to imitate some of the classics painters of portrait art (ie. Sargent, et al.), I'll admit that I gave them a fair combing over before I got started on this one.  I also employed some of the more traditional techniques...and well...there's a reason they're traditional, they work. My only regret is that some of the light iridescence I mixed in the paint doesn't show up in photos. I must also thank fantastic artist-illustrator Dave Crosland for some helpful hints on the chemicals I could add to get more of what I wanted out of the paint.

The Dapper Mr. Hyde...

I feel a bit bad about this quickie...this gentleman, who I believe might be royal family from way back when, became a hair more grotesque with my rendering.  Now, I could've just hidden that fact, and driven straight to Robert Louis Stevenson Tribute City...but, I believe in honesty.  Anyhow, he's not half bad I don't think.