Balloon Head

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sangue ed Amore: "La serva celata"

From Luigi Pozzo's 1782 comedy, "La serva celata." The caption reads: "Act II Finale. Madame X, concealed behind the curtain, awaits the arrival of Sir Reginald that she may learn the fate of her nephew's military career. Sir Reginald, concealed behind the Japanese screen, awaits the arrival of Alison the maid, in order to secretly test her constancy. Alison the maid, concealed beneath the rug, awaits the arrival of her lover, Hyperion Ringwell, to learn whether he is faithful to her. Hyperion Ringwell, concealed within the armoire, awaits the arrival of Michaela, that he may observe her dealings with Francesco. Michaela, concealed in a secret compartment in the ceiling, awaits the arrival of Francesco, that she may overhear his amorous advances upon Alison the maid. Francesco, concealed within the chest, awaits the arrival of his aunt and lover, Madame X, to observe whether she keep her secret promise. Elliott the butler, concealed behind the arras, waits for everyone to leave so that he may get back to work." -- Another installment in my series of opera spoofs, "Sangue ed Amore."

Catalogue d'Oiseaux

These images were created for the Barn Swallow Gallery, which is representing my work. These should hopefully be available in their online store at some point. There will also be postcards, notecards and suchlike available in the future.

Tug of War Turtle

This is a series I did for a story about an opinionated turtle who resents the social standing of the elephant and hippopotamus, then works to bring about their downfall.

Sangue ed Amore: "Gerbiglio"

"Act III. Teresa drops a pellet of poison into the Madeira, having been told that the masked stranger with whom she has recently pledged eternal troth is in fact none other than the depraved Duke of Alvarez who, years ago, had murdered her gerbil (however, the stranger is actually her father, secretly returned from his twenty-year exile)." From the dramatic third act of Beniamino Tornatelli's 1861 opera, Gerbiglio. - --I've been doing a little series of opera spoofs recently, just for fun. I'll post more later.--

Pretend

Mr. Golden Sun

This is an experiment I did in Adobe Illustrator a few months ago. Lots of dots.

The Tempest

The wise Prospero from Shakespeare's The Tempest. "Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes; Nothing of him that does fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding-dong, Hark! Now I hear them – Ding-dong, bell."

HOPE

Mad Cow

Bovines are excruciatingly irritating to draw. Their anatomy is boxy and odd and makes little sense. Sadly, I have been forced to draw many cows in my young life, as a result of several illustration assignments. So now I draw them from time to time as a form of practice/self-flagellation. I like G. K. Chesterton's solution for drawing cows--draw something else: "Do not, for heaven's sake, imagine I was going to sketch from Nature. I was going to draw devils and seraphim, and blind old gods that men worshipped before the dawn of right, and saints in robes of angry crimson, and seas of strange green, and all the sacred or monstrous symbols that look so well in bright colors on brown paper. They are much better worth drawing than Nature; also they are much easier to draw. When a cow came slouching by in the field next to me, a mere artist might have drawn it; but I always get wrong in the hind legs of quadrupeds. So I drew the soul of a cow; which I saw there plainly walking before me in the sunlight; and the soul was all purple and silver, and had seven horns and the mystery that belongs to all beasts."

Shoemaker & the Elves

I made three of these last year, and this year added six more. It's for an educational publisher. The elves' faces are modeled after Haydn and Mozart for some reason.