HEAD ISLAND

I've been VERY busy working on my new game Stacking but I had to finish at least one non-work related painting this year. 

This little ditty is called Head Island, and is another in my pirate series. It's a gouache painting on print making paper.

Hanzel and Gretel Stove

I managed to get a bit of time to do some non-work art this last weekend. I did a ink and watercolor drawing of a Hanzel and Gretel stove. Not sure exactly where its going; its connected in someway to some of the fairy tale hell pieces I'm working on. I think there's some unspoken crime in the original fairy tale. Hanzel and Gretel were pretty obnoxious, wind up murdering the witch, and get away with it. Perhaps this is their punishment.

Pettland Creature - Priest

Been real busy at work, so not much going on here. I did sneak in another Pettyland card, though. This is a creature - a "priest". What's not to love about crucifix teeth adorning a mouth that is spitting MX missiles below a cluster of anus-like nostrils?

Surely I will burn.

Peasant Burning, Part Deux

After getting some feedback, I've decided to go with the "A Clockwork Orange" style cards for the upcoming 20th Anniversary Edition of Pettyland. I've also decided to increase the card size to 3"x3" (from the original 2"x2") after printing out the other prototypes and seeing how TINY they were. I must be over compensating for something.

I also redid the Peasant Burning illustration. I'm not used to working in such a small format, and I have to keep reminding myself to keep them simple. So, this version is simpler and reads better when printed out. Plus, it has a mushroom cloud of sorts, which was clearly missing from the last version.

More PettyLand Cards!

I've decided to stick with the 2"x2" format, because otherwise the board would be huge. For the moment, I'm sticking with the AC/DC card theme. Here are a few more card illustrations. Also worth noting is that the "Mangeboy" companion card (sorry, Jordan) below is a genderless companion, which is to say, he is both male and female. In addition to being rather humorous, this has specific gameplay implications. I decided to use the transgender symbol to indicate that (since I'm using the male and female symbols on the more more standard genders).

New Fairy Hell Series

Two posts in one day? WTF! I must be on vacation.

This painting is the first in a new set called "Fairy Hell". This piece is called "Little Red Riding Dog", featuring Humpty Dumpty as one of the ring leaders of Hell.

This is an acrylic painting on board. Probably the first 100% acrylic painting I've done in about a decade. My brushes had practically turned to dust.

PettyLand Card Style

I mocked up two PettyLand card styles, each with a different influence of mine from the late '80's (and as found throughout the game). One is based on kind of an AC/DC feel, the other modeled a bit after the movie A Clockwork Orange. I'm trying to keep them pretty simple and graphic, as each card is only 2"x2".

What do you think? Which one do you like better?

More Vikings and CalTrain Peeps

Some more sketches on the train. Viking sketches were done with colored pencil in a little notebook. Caltrain peeps were done on my tablet pc in Sketchbook Pro.

I'm off work for a few weeks, so hopefully I can do something of more substance and without my drawing surface bouncing around.

Pettyland: The Confederacy of Grotesques

Another little sketch of a Pettyland Creature Card. This creature is a member of C.O.G. - The Confederacy of Grotesques. A charming group of individuals born from the threat of nuclear holocaust, Reganomics, and my affinity for Orwell and Huxley. This one has a crucifix spine!

Pettyland Illustrations

A long time ago, between '89 and '91, I created an eight player board game called Pettyland. It was a satirical little snapshot on my real and imagined life at the time. In the game, you play one of eight fragments of Petty's brain attempting to gain dominance over the unfortunate sod and steer him towards the correct path in life.

I haven't played the game in almost ten years, until a long time friend requested it at his birthday a number of weeks ago. Playing it made me think about illustrating the game's hundreds of cards, which is something I never got around to. Here are some doodles along those lines, showing some of the type of cards from the game.

I haven't settled on a look for the game yet, but it would be some combination of my late '80's interests - namely Heavy Metal, A Clockwork Orange, genital references, and the subconscious mind.