Short-Fingered Septuagenarian

The temptation to keep reducing the size of those hands is pretty great, but I have reasonable standards even when my portrait subject doesn't.

Do Randroids Dream of Sarcastic Tweets?

Acolytes of Ayn will be displeased to know I created this portrait for the good of my fellow man and not for money.

Young Carl Jung

My favorite Carl Jung story - and goodness knows we all have a favorite - is from his intriguing autobiography, Memories, Dreams and Reflections. Young Carl has become plagued with a "forbidden" thought: He imagines God rising up from the roof of his local church on a golden throne, floating into the sky. Carl is terrified of completing the thought. He forces himself, time and again, to think of something else before this internal vision turns nasty.

Finally, he can fight it no longer. He must see how this vision turns out. He pictures God on the golden throne, rising over the church into the sky. Suddenly, the bottom of the throne opens, and God's most holy backside releases a giant turd, which falls, smashing the roof of the church.

The Revolution Will Not Be Teletubbied

     While rifling through my Thrdgll publication stash I happened to re-read the introduction to the Mr. Product collection, a book of antique comic strips I drew in the '90s. What struck me is that a piece of writing examining what has or hasn't become obsolete in the culture is full of references that have become obsolete since I wrote it four years ago. (Does anyone know what Farmville is anymore?) At any rate, it seemed more appropriate to post this screed condemning online media on the infotainment electrobeast itself rather than the outmoded pamphlet for which it was intended. So I've shared it below.

     But that doesn't mean you shouldn't order the book. It's print-tastic!  http://thrdgll.tripod.com/mrproductbook.htm

oBey eBay

Just a few days left on my eBay print closeout sale. Farrah! Beatniks! Forry! Yma! Many of the old favorites are still available. And of course, lots of generic super hero guys smacking each other around. Take a look!

Thrdgll eBay sale!

The Glory of Yma

Creative Director Rose Jackson of New Zealand's Glory Days magazine requested my popular Yma Sumac portrait for their spring issue. (Spring?! Maybe in New Zealand!) They included a nice little profile of the man with the girl's name inside, too. A beautifully designed periodical, full of the sort of classic exotica and mid-century styling that makes this horrible world more bearable. Check them out at www.glorydaysmagazine.com. 

Cleaning Up the Roughs

I scanned these doodles before tossing them in the dumpster because they reveal the evolutionary process of my artwork. Specifically, they reveal that, for each and every illustration I create, my work evolves from the level of a pre-kindergarten ignoramus all the way through my decades of supposed artistic development. The first preliminary scrawl for any drawing I do today looks identical to what I might have drawn as an infant. Then I slowly remind myself of the expensive art school and other art training I've had, like the amnesiac who starts to recall the wife, kids and jailhouse lover he left behind.

Regardless of how many times I go through this, it always starts the same: I completely forget that I know how to draw until moving the pen around reminds me. It's exhausting and embarrassing, and it makes people sorry they asked to look at my sketchbook.

But look! A little digital magic to polish up the finished piece and no one's the wiser! It's like I knew what I was doing all along!

Read the true-life tale of horror that inspired this illo here.