Darkovan heroes fanzine cover

This heroic trio comes from Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Darkover" saga, "The Sword of Aldones," in which the characters must wield a godlike flaming sword against a coalition of villains. It was created for a fan magazine, "Moon Phases," which flourished in the heyday (what's a "heyday" anyway?) of Darkover's popularity in the mid-1980s. I used to squander my time creating illustrations for these 'zines for little or no money, while other artists were busy building real illustration careers.

"Moon Phases" cover is ink on illustration board, 8" x 10", fall 1983, published 1985.

Jedi Jawa color final

It's not in the films, but in the wider world of the Star Wars universe, where the gamers play, a Jawa can become a Jedi. Jawas, as you may recall from the original "Star Wars" film now called "Episode 4," are little rat-like humanoids who collect junk and live in the desert. If one of them became a Jedi, able to use the magical "Force" and wield a lightsaber, he would probably still collect junk and tinker with whatever came his way. Here, a "Jedi Jawa" brandishes his lightsaber, holding a rather unhappy robot head under his left paw. This character was described to me by my game-playing co-worker, with some image suggestions; the rest of the concept was up to me. I posted the original drawing for this, here in late August.

I hope to add this to my portfolio and eventually have enough modern fantasy, s.f. and game related art to begin looking for illustration work.

"Jedi Jawa" is Photoshop, 7" x 10", 300 dpi, August-September 2011. Click on the pic for a larger image.

Lurid Bible Character

Judith of Bethulia is a Biblical heroine who proves (as if proof were necessary) that Jewish women can be bad-ass if the need arises. There's a whole short book in the Bible devoted to her story, the "Book of Judith" (the Jewish and Protestant Bibles leave this book out). The lurid tale takes place during a war between the Jews and the Assyrians. The main character Judith, a beautiful young widow, does her part to win the war by seducing the enemy leader, Holofernes, and then beheading him while he is lying in a drunken stupor on her bed. Many artists over the years have portrayed this scene, which gives them a chance to combine sex and gore and still remain properly religious.

I did this small rendition of Judith using a model photograph from a girly mag. The costume and weaponry is Hollywood, not historical. I jazzed it up further by putting a shiny gold mat border on the piece. I then sent it to "Iguanacon," the World Science Fiction Convention, which was held in Phoenix, Arizona in 1978. Though I was not there to promote it, I heard that the picture caused quite a stir. And the bloody sword inspired another explanation for the picture, which I hadn't intended. Some of the fans called it "Get it up or I'll cut it off."

"Judith of Bethulia" is watercolor on Arches paper, 4" x 8", July 1978.

Frank Lloyd Wright at Dollar City

I drew this in the parking lot where my hairdresser's shop is located. The whole shopping complex was rebuilt last year and this roofline is from the new design. Whoever designed it was well-influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright; note the flat overhanging rooftops, the chunky geometric buttresses, and the parallel lines and stucco planes. "Prairie" architecture comes to urban Northern Virginia, so that Dollar City can have a classy home.

Drawing is about 6" x 3", ink on sketchbook page, parking lot plein air.

Alchemical Teen Titans

Some of you who know superhero comics from decades past will remember the "Teen Titans," a team of youthful heroes who banded together to fight demons and villains and other bad guys. This was just before comics got "dark" and "realistic" and full of brutality. These graceful boys and girls still wore bright costumes, drawn by the master George Perez and later by the equally masterful Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. (My huge admiration to Wikipedia for having such highly detailed articles on these "insignificant" pop figures and artists.)

I had a friend who was not only a big comics fan but esoterically minded. At one point she conceived of an alchemical correspondence between the traditional "Four Elements" and four of the main team of Teen Titans. "Cyborg" the steel machine man was Earth, "Starfire" the alien babe was Fire, "Nightwing" the former sidekick of Batman was Water, and "Wonder Girl," the young sister of the Amazon Wonder Woman, was Air.

My friend told me about this piece of comic book esoterica and asked for a rendering of the characters with their respective Elemental symbols. I did this and gave it to her for a Christmas present.

"Teen Titans as Four Elements" is watercolor on illustration board, 14" x 11", December 1990.

Cambridge Cosmos

Cambridge, Mass. has got a lot of large and oddly shaped houses. I used to wander around my neighborhood drawing them. This was one of them, with a fanciful curved wrap-around porch and a tall conical turret. It was only a matter of moments until I saw it as a rocket taking off into space. So Cambridge's houses became spaceships.

"Cambridge Cosmos" is gouache on illustration board, about 6" x 6", March 1986.

Note: You are seeing a lot of vintage art here because I am working on something digital which is a portfolio piece and not my usual subject; it's game-related. Please stay tuned.

Loosestrife Landscape

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is a beautiful but invasive plant which infests swamps and wet areas all over the USA. It is especially aggressive in New England where it crowds out native plants and environments in wetlands. It blooms in August and September, in general late summer. The trouble with it is, it's so beautiful that people don't want to destroy it, even if it is destroying wetlands and native ecosystems. 


A friend of mine loved the look of the purple blossoms infesting the wetlands, as well as my landscape art, and she commissioned me to do a painting featuring this scene. This is the result. The scene is the marshes of the Sudbury River.  It was done from a photograph and from memory, rather than on site, which was impossible given that the scene was visible only from a busy highway. Note my use of grey-purple clouds in the sky, and an evening pink sky tint matching the flowers. 


"Loosestrife Landscape" is watercolor and gouache on Fabriano paper, 19" x 13", August 1985.