Raccoon-ish Critter

It may be a raccoon, or some other creature related to it in this world. The critter's expression is rather like how I'm feeling these days. You can find real raccoons guarding and plundering the neighborhood dumpsters all year round. In the winter you can see the prints of their tiny human-like hands in the snow. 

Black tech pen ink with Photoshop corrections, 3 1/2" x 4", October 6, 2017.

Roman roof features

Most older Roman buildings aren't very tall. They top out at around 3 or 4 stories, just like the imperial Roman apartment buildings whose foundations they are built over. If you're on a higher floor,  you get a view over the roofs of the adjacent buildings, with interesting architectural features. This view has the typical clay roof tiles of the Eternal City, along with chimneys and an old TV antenna. The church steeple in the background probably belongs to a foreign congregation such as Germans or French, as the Romans don't build things like that for their own. They preferred the more ancient dome form. 

Watercolor on Fabriano paper, 7" x 5", 1976.

Internetville 1993

In 1993 the Internet was just getting started, and was mostly in the hands of scientists, military, and tech-minded bulletin board users and science fiction fans. That year I was commissioned by a client who ran a tech magazine to illustrate his upcoming book, "The Internet Guide for New Users." This was one of the full-page pieces I did for the series (other smaller ones have been published here on this Blog). I was instructed to list and depict all the possible uses for this upcoming world-changer: university teaching, high-speed communications, entertainment, information sharing. It was a happy utopian vision which, like others, did not foresee some of the most important consequences of "Internetville." What really came to Internetville? The infinite Mall of Cyberspace Shopping, the tyranny of Big Data, the destruction of the recorded music industry, outsourcing of technical and other labor, the degradation of information into "fake news" and sinister propaganda, and of course, porn.

Original art is black ink with computer graphics stuck on, 8 1/4" x 10 1/4", May 1993. Please click on image for a larger view.

Elric on the Road

I know little or nothing about motorcycles, other than that they make a lot of noise and look great and shiny when well-maintained. I know more about Elric, the albino fantasy king who loses his kingdom and wanders through the world having dreadful adventures. Elric's author, Michael Moorcock, set his Elric fantasy in an elaborate Gothic-late medieval world populated with alternate human races and plenty of monsters, but what if Elric had lived in our modern world? Instead of riding a horse, he'd ride a big bike like this one. I don't know what part of a motorcycle does which, but I can copy from a photograph, no problem. Some bike enthusiast could tell me just where I went wrong on the machine, but Elric, with sunglasses, demon-sword, and smoking joint, is all mine to design.

I have no idea why I did this piece. I think I drew it purely to attract buyers at a convention. And I also don't remember when I did it or which convention I did it for. If I ever find out I will be glad to tell you.

Original is black ink on illustration board, around 8" x 8", possibly 1980s.

K-17 Cerulean Crystal Sky

Digital art allows me to make any sort of shape and color and layer it over other colors which would melt if I were using real paint. I can take a whole "page" full of my favorite cerulean blue and overlay it with crystalline planes in whatever color I want, even pink. This is a color experiment sketch restricting my color choices to light pastels over the bright blue. The "K" designation is for a series of geometric abstractions done in digital media, most of which have been published on this By-Product. "K" stands for "Kandinsky," a 20th century pioneer in geometric abstract art. 

Photoshop, October 3, 2017. Click for larger view.

Character in a Cluttered Room

Here's another one from my game illustration days. The description of the non-player character says, "A courtesan in a cluttered room." The courtesan business in the city of Haven is perennially profitable but this practitioner seems rather demure, even spinsterish in her room full of cluttery things. You never know, maybe that sort of character would appeal to the milder, older but lonely customer, who might pay her just for the pleasantry of an afternoon without the effort of bedding her. It's a game, it's up to you.

Black ink on illustration board, 5 1/2" x 6 1/2", July 1984.

Return to Rappahannock Cellars

Autumn is just beginning, and "Wine Saturday" took me again to Rappahannock Cellars, where the leaves of trees and vines are turning that special green-gold of the season. Here's another view from the salon window over one of their many vineyards. Evening sunlight washes the scene in fall color. On the viewing and sipping deck outside, a sunshade sails in the breeze.

Sepia brown tech pen ink and colored pencil on sketchbook page, about 5" x 8". Click on image for larger view.