Kasa Obake: Umbrella Attack, 2016.

I made my first Kasa Obake drawing in 2015, and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to make another. Click this link to see last year's Kasa Obake, and to learn more about the history of this character from Japanese folklore. Here is the 2016 reboot:

Photoshoot: There, I Fixed it.

My dad tried to reconstruct the face of one of my childhood My Little Pony dolls that got chewed by a rat. He says he thinks it turned out good as new, but I dunno …



This toy was brand new in the 80's or early '90's. When it was new, I'm sure it was very cute. Nowadays it reminds me of that old horror movie, Eyes Without a Face.



Only one of its eyes is still capable of blinking, the other is stuck in a half-open position.



As damaged as it is, I really like this faceless pony ghoul. It has personality.

Skeleton riding a coffin skateboard: Part 2

In the earlier version, the skeleton sort of looked like he was flying... instead of doing an ollie. Now that the crucial banana peel has been added below his board, he appears to be skating on a road and not flying through the cosmos.

Kasa "Umbrellaman" Obake

Kasa-Obake is a strange type of mischievous spirit from Japanese folklore called a Tsukumogami.

It's said that a Tsukumogami is born from a useful household object when it reaches its 100th year of existence. The object receives the gift of self-awareness in payment for its many years of helpful service. 

Geisha Smoking A Joint

I tried to draw the pot smoking Geisha in a simple and clean style like in the old Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. The color palette is Mœbius inspired.

Skeleton riding a coffin skateboard

I originally tried to draw this in 2008, but I left my sketchbook containing the first skateboarding skeleton image on top of my car, and then drove off. I didn't know it at the time, but all of my art flew into the road when I hit the first curve. Several hours later I realized what happened and hunted down my roadkill artwork. There wasn't much left of it.

About a year ago I saw the scrap of paper that had my first skateboarding skeleton rough sketch, and I decided that I still liked the idea and was finally ready to take another shot at finishing it.

Here is my most recent drawing:

...And here is the first drawing that got run over by traffic (oops!):

 

I used to love to skate, but after several years, I fell really hard and I realized (for the first time ever) that skating was dangerous and I was not invincible. 

Thanks to all the people who went skating with me back in SB. Those were some good times.

A Familiar Face"

I've been working on this one since January. It has been sitting around for over a month now while I've been deciding whether or not to declare it as finished work. Finally, yes, I can say for certain that it is finished.

There's nothing too profound to say about the concept. The idea just kind of came to me one night:

Disappointment

This image is from a dream of mine from all the way back in 2007 or 2008.

Here's what happened:
The moon floated down from the sky and hovered in front of me. The moon was really crazy looking in this dream. It was full of weird crystals and patterns and it was glowing in a really odd way. I tried to make a grab at it while it was near, but it floated away as soon as I began to show any interest in it. I chased that moon all over dreamland and was eventually able to catch it, but as soon as the moon touched my hands, it began to melt. I felt incredibly sad that I had ruined the moon; I really wished that I had never even tried to pursue it in the first place.

Since dreaming this up, I've always interpreted the moon (this dream only) to be a metaphor for failure, or at very least it represented something similar to a goal that was never achieved.

 On the brighter side, the painting itself is no disappointment. Finally, after seven or eight years, I can cross this off my list of things I've been meaning to paint.

Liquid Light Show 1

I started doing liquid light show experiments a few months ago, and last night performed my first show. Here are some photos:

It was unfortunate that the walls of the venue were black. The projected colors did not show up all that well unless the color blobs fell over the band members, or on the random light colored things behind them. What is pictured here is my clock-face mixture over the projector, not the actual projected image.

This was a real traditional 60's light show with the basic ingredients: water, oil, alcohol, and dye. I have been hearing complaints online that mineral oil is sometimes hard to find. At first I couldn't find it either, but I eventually found it at a food co-op.

TSA 3000 - Final Draft

With many big projects on the horizon, I really wanted to wrap up my work on the TSA drawing, which has been an ongoing struggle for the last year.

When I first set out to color this picture, I had in mind a dramatic/limited nighttime color pallet of dark blueish gray with a yellow or chartreuse highlight. Things didn't quite pan out the way I expected (they usually don't), and suddenly deep red became the only background color that made sense.

This design will eventually be printed on American Apparel t-shirts and sold through our website ThoughtLion.com. A few high-quality art prints will also be made from this design during the next few months.

TSA 3000

In the distant future, it's up to the Transportation Security Administration to exterminate any alien monster-beasts that sneak onboard aircrafts! As always, passenger safety is top priority.

This scene was directly inspired from a dream of mine several years ago, right around the time when the TSA started installing the full-body scanners in airports. I would've begun drawing this picture immediately after I had the dream, but did not feel quite ready to tackle such a technically difficult and absorbing project until just a few months ago. Note the honest try at near 4-point linear perspective, cast shadows, and absurd attention to detail.

(Click image for a larger view.)

I am waffling between using this image as a t-shirt design or a large art print, or maybe it will be both.   

Art Contests, 2013-2014

Part of the fun of an art contest is the thought of winning. Another part is being inspired to make something that I normally would not think to create. Below are entries from the two art contests I've entered in the past year:

Print Radio Contest w/Capital Public Radio:

This one surprised me by actually winning! There were over 100 entries for the Capital Public Radio print/radio contest in Sacramento, and mine landed one of the top three prizes. The drawing was inspired by the word information.

 

 

 Atlas Tone-Lord Showdown:

Above is a picture of the titan Atlas holding up sound equipment instead of the earth or heavens. The artwork is meant to communicate the idea of sound worship, as well as say something about the brand that hosted the artistic competition (Atlas Cabinets). This nice drawing made it as a finalist, but was not chosen as the winner. The good news is that my husband 'Archradish' won!

Medusa Drawing & Print, 2008

Here is another favorite of mine. I made this in 2008 after taking a long break from drawing... about 2 years! This work was strongly influenced by the time I spent at UCSB, and particularly recalls to my mind a certain Italian art history class I took, where we briefly studied Medusa as she appears in artwork.

My favorite aspects of this drawing are her forked tongue and the many different types of snakes in her hair. If you look closely, there are also a few snakes that have been severed and are falling away in mid-air. This was the moment immediately following her beheading!
 
I consider this drawing to be one of my best ever, right after "Et In Arcadia Ego." The only failure in it is that I think it is a bit too similar to Caravaggio's Medusa. Both are very similar in their poses, and both are meant to be worn in some way -- mine was printed on a t-shirt, his was painted on a shield. The shirt can be purchased at our website thoughtlion.com.

Yes Bones About It!

Still Life With Bones Workshop

Coming soon to Bows and Arrows in Sacramento
Thursday, October 24th 6-10pm: 5$

This event is a workshop focusing solely on sketching/studying various animal and human bones, as well as a life-sized model of a human skeleton. The primary focus of this event will be to bring art enthusiasts a one-night resource for studying the anatomy of human and animal skeletons — all within a wonderful spooky near-Halloween atmosphere. The bones will be set in interesting arrangements, possibly with themes such as serious memento mori or perhaps something slightly more lighthearted. Everyone is welcome to join!

I will be working with a fantastic local artist named Grey Cat on this. Grey Cat will be vending his bone jewelry during the event, which will give those interested a great opportunity to own their own bones.



Don't forget to bring your drawing materials!

Tren Fantasma: The Exciting Conclusion

After much thought, I decided to turn this drawing into a shirt design... and then maybe take a little break from designing t-shirts until my sales* catch up.

*Following the links for DuderManor.com or ThoughtLion.com will now lead you to the same place: our awesome store. We have a few designs that have not yet been listed (including this one), but hopefully we will find some time to photograph our merchandise soon. Please stand by...

Tren Fantasma: Train of Thought, 2013

I've been working on this drawing since mid-February. I could give a long-winded description of why I decided to draw every little weird thing in this picture, but it could most easily be described as a long solo game of exquisite corpse based around a central theme. 

I have been considering turning this design into a t-shirt for the Thought Lion/Duder Manor project, but am unable to come to a solid decision. I would certainly love to wear this design, but I'm not sure I could convince others to buy something so strange... as clothing. I have also been considering the idea of a colored art print.

The artwork is loosely based off the Tren Fantasma (Ghost Train) ride located in Montevideo, Uruguay. I regret to say that I was unable to go on the ride when I visited a few years back. 

orchids 2013

I thought I'd take a break from the art once again to bring you more photos of my orchids. These flowers are currently blooming at our residence:

Miniature Phalaenopsis:

 

Gastrochilus Somai:

This Gastrochilus Somai seems to like partially sunny conditions, so I usually hang it off a tree and it gets patchy sunlight throughout the day. It's extremely easy-going, and has unique flowers.

The flowers are about 1/2" and the leaves are about 1 1/2" - 3" long. Colors in photos around the web may vary a bit, but mine are white, yellow, and green with reddish-purple spots. Orchid is native to Japan.

Et In Arcadia Ego, 2009

This may be the best drawing I've ever made, so I am surprised at myself for forgetting to post it for so long. This artwork was inspired by the classical theme "Et In Arcadia Ego" (I too am in Arcadia). Works of this nature suggest that death can be found even in the most idyllic of places. 

This artwork was used for our t-shirt line at DuderManor.com. Check it out.

The Slaughter Place

Cover of the soon-to-be-published Hooks and Slaughterhouse novel by Alana I. Capria. Artwork was featured in my 2012 art show "Dance of Death" at Bows and Arrows, and in the October 2012 edition of Submerge Magazine.

Skeleton's Playing Poker 2012

The "Skeleton's Playing Poker" design is finally completed after a full year in on-again /off-again production. The plan is to print this design on a dark "asphalt" colored American Apparel t-shirt. The caramel color I was considering earlier looked a little too goofy.

 

(Archradish and I are working on combining our labels, so this design will not print until our new logo is completed.)