Stinging to the Front

Keith, whom I've known since the 6th grade, works at a bank. I drew this for him after I had the idea to draw a giant bee with a tiny handbag.

He did much to make sure that my wedding day went smoothly. My thanks goes to him (and many, many others).

Rattlesnake Hotrod

Greg's the man! Seriously: he helped my wife and I move our things last month, then, he stood with me at our wedding after paying out the wazoo for a tuxedo.

He is one of my brother's best friends, and I hope I can call him my friend, too.

He's into snakes and old cars. I can't draw things with wheels for the life of me, so the hotrod seen here is done heavily after a cartoonist named Richard Wright. The snakes are supposed to be red diamond rattlers.

And that kid is supposed to have turned to stone.

Death by Condensed Matter

Eli is a great friend of mine. He studies condensed matter physics. I drew this for him.

After drawing it, I called him to ask whether he'd been a GRA (graduate research assistant) or a GTA (teaching assistant), so I could write the caption appropriately.

He was at a chalkboard, writing equations.

Jets are the Enemy

*coughs, picks up megaphone*
I AM A F*ING SHARK. JOIN THE SHARK ARMY. ~seph-hunter AND *MyNameIsMad ARE YOUR LEADERS. FIND ENROLLMENT PAPERS AT http://shark-army.deviantart.com/.
*drops megaphone*

I dunno how I get myself into these things ...

Ripening II

I enjoy doodling items like this. Saves me the trouble of drawing whole bodies.

Respect the Sign (to love or hate a clown)

To love or hate a clown is a given in our culture. They intend to produce laughter, rudimentary sleights of hand, and other merriment. But the clown has an ambiguous history.

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I have heard, courtesy of old teacher of mine, that clowns date back to Roman times, and that their then-purpose was to smash the heads of almost-dead gladiators with mallets. He was, I think, being fanciful or lying.

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I suppose their equal parts delight and fright may have something to do with the theatrical donning of make-up for tragic roles, as with the film adaptation of Hugo's The Man Who Laughs, whose protagonist with a permanent smile did more than a little to inspire the villain we know as the Joker.

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Do I have to mention Pennywise, and the portrayal of him/it by Tim Curry (which has rightfully obtained cult status)?

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The more I think it over, the more I believe that clowns and clown-dom frighten people because to look at a clown is to look at a man or woman--be he/she wrinkled, stubbled, or with bags around his/her eyes--who attempts to assume an identity that is a physical charicature. We watch one attempt to be a living cartoon, attempt to transform his/her face, with all of its detailed features, into something as iconic and endearing as Mickey Mouse ... and the juxtaposition of the real and iconic cannot help but be a little bit disturbing.

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If the clown celebrates, in some fashion, the insane and irrational (as many other types of performers and artists do), then perhaps those who perform as clowns frighten people because when enacting this celebration--however innocently--they obscure our ability to discern whether the performer is assuming an identity which enables the irrational (i.e. our laughter), or if they are in fact irrationality manifested (insane for real). The Joker is again a handy cornerstone to this line of thought: he is Batman's arch rival because he is the most extreme expression/embodiment of what the clown is supposed to provide in small doses.

Writer's Block

I've been "doing" art history for ... awhile, but never had to put together a PowerPoint slide-show until last Thursday. For a study skills class (!).

This was a sketch for the first slide.

Rabid Vincent Price

Who doesn't love (this) Vincent Price (-ish character)? Dogs, apparently. Ones that didn't like old "Poe pictures."

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Drawn in '06, inked today.