"the Oracle of July " -traditional media on paper approx. 30"x14"

This is a drawing done with a white colored pencil and a collection of grayscale markers on an olive-green colored illustration board. The paper color provides the mid-tone value. The above photo was taken with the work framed under glass, so there is some color distortion and a slight reflection at the top of the image.

It is a portrait of my wife Kate (her birthday is in July). The four gauges on the bottom are labeled with the four Humours of historic medicine: phlegmatic, choleric, sanguine, and melancholic. Historically, the combinations of these four bodily fluid states will derive any and all personality conditions. The gauge on the forehead indicates the menstruation cycle.

So, in essence, a careful read of all five gauges will indicate the mood of the woman ensconced in the wall.

"Aperture" -traditional media on paper approx. 18"x32"

This is a drawing done with a white colored pencil and a collection of grayscale markers on a dark green colored illustration board. The paper color provides the mid-tone value.

This is the third drawing using this technique, and as I was still developing/exploring the breadth of the mediums potential it is still rather coarse in it's execution.

"Distill My Soul" -traditional media on paper approx. 14"x36"

This is a drawing done with a white colored pencil and a collection of grayscale markers on a dark red colored illustration board. The paper color provides the mid-tone value. The above photo was taken with the work framed under glass, so there is some color distortion and a slight reflection at the top of the image.

This piece was completed beginning of 2010. I attempted to loosen up in the detail work: to not be so refined in the white highlights with a more painterly feel within the shadows. I also introduced an orange colored marker to further manipulate the red color of the illustration board. Acetone was also used to soften the marker work.

It is basically a machine that renders a human heart down to its basic elements, complete with the requisite distilling centrifuge and associated gauges.

"the Nothing Pump" -traditional media on paper approx. 12"x28"

This is a drawing done with a white colored pencil and a collection of grayscale markers on a green colored illustration board. The paper color provides the mid-tone value.

"Manifold" -marker on board approx. 10"x20"

This drawing was the result of a late evenings doodlings. It is grayscale marker on a piece of bare masonite. No pencil layout was done, simply straight markers working from the highlights down into the shadows. Very unforgiving....

"Stiction" -traditional media on paper approx. 28 "x28"

This work was an evenings labor, and was the first time I mixed marker work with a white colored pencil- not revolutionary, but it was a first for me, and has become the medium of my choice for the last few years. It was done on the salmon-colored masking paper used by construction workers to cover floors (because I had a roll in my work truck toolbox). The round format was to match a beautiful circular wood frame I had found at a garage sale.

The pressure wheels are a result of being in a hurry and not wanting to render gear teeth.

"Eyeful of Grapes " -traditional media on paper approx. 30 "x12"

This drawing was done with a white, dark blue, and dark purple colored pencils on black canson paper, done back in early college. From a distance, it looks like a classic still-life study of a hand holding a large bunch of grapes, but upon closer inspection, one sees it is actually a cluster of eyeballs...

"Migraine" -digital painting

This painting is sourced from several photos of various motorcycle engines, and a photo of a human skull found on the web. Over the top of this very disjointed photomontage is around thirty hours of painting in Photoshop with a wacom tablet.

"Muzzle" -digital painting

This painting is sourced from photos of an armored tank fuel cap, an offroad motorcycle exhaust pipe, some various other bits and bobs, and a photo of a human skull found on the web. Over the top of this photomontage is around forty hours of painting in Photoshop with a wacom tablet.

The vent holes on the cheek pipes were modeled in 3D Studio Max to create a channel mask to be used in Photoshop.

"Fetus" -digital painting

This painting is photomontaged with a variety of motorcycle engine parts scanned from a coffee-table book. Over the top of this is around fifteen hours of painting in Photoshop with a wacom tablet.

This is the second piece done using this technique from back in my college days, and is rather rudimentary in its execution.

"Influence" -digital painting

This painting is photomontaged with a variety of motorcycle engine parts scanned from a coffee-table book. The skull image is from the Cranial Image Database online. Over the top of this is around twenty hours of painting in Photoshop with a wacom tablet.

"Parasitic" -digital painting

This painting is photomontaged with some skull images from the Cranial Image Database online. The mechanicals are referenced from some photos I took at a salvage yard. Over the top of this is around forty hours of painting in Photoshop with a wacom tablet.

"the Tabernacle" -digital painting

This painting was done back in my college days, created in Photoshop 3 with a wacom tablet. The source elements are from some photos of an old steam train I took at a local park.

It is the beginning of the illustration techniques I developed and utilized in the above newer works. As a result, it is rather coarse in its overall finish: pixel densities and brushwork are inconsistent, and an obvious mirrored symmetry is very evident.

Never-the-less, it is a beginning....

This painting is a portrait of my newborn daughter Tessa, done as a surprise Christmas present for my wife in 1999. It is a result of Kate wanting an "Ann Geddes" style piece with all the happy butterfly wings, babies, and flower pots, etc. Obviously it didn't finish that way...

It symbolizes (again the title is the key in) newness being brought forth from the chaos of the old. The source photos are of my daughter laying on a pink blanket, and of a rotting steel pier found on the beach at Half Moon Bay in CA. The photo of the steel had an element that was placental shaped, and thusly was the initial inspiration for the final direction.

The painting required around thirty hours of work.

"You See What You Think" -digital painting

This painting was done back in my college days, created in Photoshop 3 with a wacom tablet. It essentially illustrates an organic feedback loop.