Psychiatry Album

A Farewell to Borders

2011-09-18T20:42:00.002-04:00

When I walked into my first Borders store in 1996 I immediately recognized what set it apart from the only other store of its kind in the area, Barnes & Noble- the wide and eclectic selection of titles. As my wife and year-old daughter wandered off to the colorful corner of childrens' books, I sought out the horror section, if they indeed separated it from Science Fiction and Literature. To my surprise, it not only had its own section, it was stocked by someone who must've been a Lovecraftian scholar! Chaosium's Cthulhu cycle sat next to Delta Green novels, and Arkham House hardcovers shared space with Fedogan and Bremer titles. In the days before the internet, these books could only be mail ordered from collectors and the publishers themselves, and I was so taken by this store I vowed to come back often.

Over the years, I saw the variety of titles that made Borders unique dwindle- I knew Arkham Houses on the shelf were too good to be true! Still, I found some surprises, "discovering" authors and titles that made me look at the world differently long after I closed the book. In hindsight, this diminishment of selection was an early indication of what was going on with Borders. I was concerned when they struggled with debt last year, but hey, it was a national trend. When Mike Edwards, the CEO of the company, sent an email to every Borders customer two months ago to announce the company was throwing in the towel, I was heartbroken.

Anytime there is one less place for people to experience the serendipitous discovery of a book, it's a cause to mourn. Brick and mortar stores may not be able to beat Amazon's prices, but gone is the joy of browsing, of cracking open the book to the table of contents or flipping to the pictures or reading the first few sentences to see if the author's voice resounds in your head.

Here's two photos of my local Borders, the first taken at the beginning of summer, the second taken last weekend. It was sad to see the store change into something strange, a shell of itself.

2011-05-18T21:34:00.000-04:00

Experiment: turning Prismacolor marker sketch into cutouts.

2011-05-17T21:36:00.000-04:00

Undead Legionnaires

2011-05-14T14:33:00.000-04:00

2011-05-08T21:11:00.000-04:00

My Warlord Wednesday

2011-05-04T20:50:00.002-04:00

Reading Warlord Wednesday each week over at From the Sorcerer's Skull gets me nostalgic for Mike Grell's dynamic art, even more so this week as Trey begins to cover the run where Grell gave up his art chores. DC's several attempts to revive the book have all failed, I believe mainly because Grell never returned to both writing and illustrating the adventures of Travis Morgan. My own attempt at the Warlord and his sex kitten Shakira (see above) looks back to their glory days of 1981; but if I were to do a version of the book, I'd put more clothes on him... and less on her!

My pen and ink illustration was scanned and ineptly colored in Photoshop.

The Blue Obelisk as Rune-Encrypted Monolith

2011-05-01T16:54:00.001-04:00

When Beedo told me about the Blue Obelisk, I first imagined it as Arthur C. Clarke's monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, particularly in its ability to transform an individual that encounters it. Upon comparing their definitions, however, I found them to be two different things- a monolith is often a geological feature made of a single massive stone, whereas an obelisk is a constructed monument, or in this case, a prison for alien intelligence. Here's my initial drawing; the final version, posted today on Dreams in the Lich House, is done in color.

Remorhaz II

2011-04-30T23:52:00.001-04:00

While the first drawing of Remorhaz may have relied upon photo reference, I didn't think the composition was particularly strong, and I wanted to make the cobra-like hood more of the wings that could be used to keep the front body aloft. I like this second version better.

Also, this is the first time I haven't used my Prismacolor markers to add graytones- I used Photoshop to add values instead. Much of the lighter grays are lost in scanning markers, a problem I didn't have here. Now if I can get used to using a stylus on my Wacom pad...

Remorhaz

2011-04-29T23:40:00.001-04:00

Another creature on Thule's random encounter table, this giant centipede waits under the arctic permafrost for its prey to approach before bursting forth for the attack. Purists will note I didn't give it wings, but fins that resemble a cobra's hood. I used reference photos to draw a convincing centipede, but it looks more like something Bill Watterson would put in his Calvin and Hobbes strip- the next panel might show Calvin tormenting classmates or insects... damn, I miss that strip.

Lich Legionnaires

2011-04-28T22:20:00.000-04:00

Inspired by Dreams in the Lich House. What is it in the Black City that has brought the lost legion back from the dead? They'll prove even more formidable in death than in life, for the dead show no mercy to the living.

Prismacolor markers and microns. I'm psyched to have gotten so much use out of the Osprey books I picked up!

The Ape-Men of Thule

2011-04-26T16:19:00.002-04:00

Taer are the bestial white fur covered ape-men that inhabit Beedo's Thule Archipelago, and according to his encounter tables, are more bountiful further north in the glaciers.

Thule Snake

2011-04-25T07:00:00.009-04:00

My idea of Beedo's Thule Snake, one of the beasties that roam the coast of his Black City island.

The Finder of Lost Things

2011-04-24T19:21:00.003-04:00

It being Easter Sunday, I figured I'd steer away from murder and mayhem in favor of the religious.

Widely believed to be responsible for miracles, St. Anthony of Padua is venerated for his ability to find that which is lost, whether it be a lost job or simply misplaced keys. His knowledge of scripture earned him the rank of a Doctor of the Church and so persuasive was his power of conversion, he earned the much cooler title "Hammer of Heretics."

MP3 of "Holy Saturday" by Psychiatry Album:

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More on the Roman Scutum

2011-04-23T18:53:00.001-04:00

Since the weakness of wooden shields could leave them reduced to splinters under the relentless blows of an adversary's slashing sword, the Roman legionnaire was trained to receive strikes upon the shield's rim, which was bound with iron.

Gladius and Scutum

2011-04-22T07:00:00.009-04:00

Along with learning how to draw authentic arms and armor, I'm picking up some tactics the Roman Legion employed. Rather than the hack-and-slash of a typical dungeon crawler, a Roman soldier used his sword mainly to thrust since a slash would seldom kill a foe. The shield, too, was used for offense as well as defense: "the standard drill for the imperial legionary was to punch the enemy in the face with the shield-boss and then stab him in the belly with the razor-sharp point of the sword." (Fields, Roman Battle Tactics 390-110 BC. p.45)

I began the drawing below as a stepped example- the top soldier is butting his enemy with his scutum, or shield, while the bottom soldier demonstrates the thrust of the gladius- but as I progressed I combined the figures into a single image.

65 profiles

2011-04-21T14:18:00.003-04:00

Gil Kane, the artist and co-creator of DC Comics' The Green Lantern and The Atom who also went on to illustrate Conan the Barbarian and John Carter of Mars, drew human anatomy flawlessly. He began each work day by drawing one hundred heads. With such a regimen it's little wonder he was a master of the form.

I make no pretense of being anywhere close to Kane's ability, but putting his work habits to practice can only help the aspiring artist. Here, then, are some faces drawn over this morning's coffee:

And some Gil Kane awesomeness, scanned from Marvel's Savage Sword of Conan # 70 and 71:

2011-04-20T22:28:00.001-04:00

2011-04-15T21:17:00.001-04:00

I love the immediacy of sketching with a ballpoint pen, and when I came across Larry MacDougall's exercises, I decided to try it out myself. The idea: draw a frame and populate it without a plan beforehand yet remaining conscious of design. I stuck with the Romans I'm currently reading about.

Looking at them afterward, I see a sort of continuity in the images.

2011-04-14T21:33:00.004-04:00

I didn't use any reference to draw Roman armor on the skeletons last month, and it shows. When John Bingham mentioned he keeps Osprey Press books handy to help him design arms and armor, I remembered I had a few books from their Men-at-Arms series somewhere in my room, and also searched for their editions on Roman armor in my local bookstore. I managed to locate "Roman Legionary, 58 BC- AD 69," complete with full color plates by Angus McBride. McBride was renown for his historical illustration, but I recently learned on Akratic Wizardry he also did some Tolkien material.

I'll be filling my sketchbook with Roman legionnaires for the near future, as Beedo thinks undead Romans might be lurking somewhere on the Thule Archipelago of his Black City megadungeon.

2011-04-13T21:57:00.001-04:00

2011-04-12T20:30:00.002-04:00

2011-04-11T20:48:00.000-04:00

I've Got People Out of Service Here!

2011-04-09T21:21:00.000-04:00

This appeared in a Bell Atlantic human resources publication in 1999. I was trying to capture a humorous and accessible Peter Bagge style for the piece.

A Boot on the Neck

2011-04-05T22:24:00.001-04:00

Increased discipline does not necessarily lead to increased productivity. How is one expected to move with a boot on their neck?

This is one of several variations- I kept changing the man's face to make it more aggressive. Changes were erased in Photoshop and inked with Microns and brush on the printed copy. I understand the big complaint about Microns now- they sorta turn gray when pencils are erased.

National Day of Solidarity

2011-04-04T22:15:00.002-04:00

To celebrate the national day of solidarity, labor organizations across the country participated in concerted activities such as rallies, picket lines, and wearing red. My own union, IBEW Local 827, set up informational pickets in the morning, followed by a five hour rally in front of the company's headquarters after work.

At one time, over one-third of America's workforce was unionized; today, the number has fallen to 6%. Is it any surprise that company pensions are a thing of the past, that over 90% of workers are responsible to pay into healthcare plans, wages have not kept up with inflation and job security is a thing of the past? Wisconsin isn't the only place that has put unions under seige; a current bill going through NJ legislation will strip the state Board of Public Utility's ability to protect both consumers and workers through deregulation of the telco and cable industries.

I wrote a letter of protest to my local congressman and assemblymen, complete with cartoon.

And yes, that's what I do for a living. ^^^

Towers

2011-04-03T20:33:00.004-04:00

Spent the day drawing various towers that Beedo might use; here's a couple of surplus designs. I wanted the second one to show the influence of sleeping Cthulhu upon the ancient architects, hence the tentacles and squid-like head. It's anyone's guess what's flying around its spire...

The Black City

2011-04-02T21:11:00.002-04:00

I've been helping my buddy Beedo design his Black City megadungeon by providing some concept art; here's two drawings that didn't make the cut because they were too human. It's going to be a challenge to put together a city built by Elder Gods!

Go on over to Beedo's blog Dreams in the Lich House to see the art I've been contributing to his take on horror in fantasy role-playing games. His ideas are fueling my imagination and pushing me to draw things I wouldn't have otherwise ventured.

The drawings below were inked with Microns. I liked how I made the foreground pop out with bolder lines by using a brush pen, reserving the finer markers for the background.

Back to The Bronx Zoo With You!

2011-03-29T22:03:00.003-04:00

Dragons

2011-03-28T22:03:00.001-04:00

Ballpoint pen, markers, colored pencils, and some digital editing via Photoshop.

2011-03-27T21:03:00.001-04:00

Found the animals dozing in the sun in my daughter's room; after I finished, I drew some furniture, just for the heck of it. Inked with Sakura Microns and Brush pen.

2011-03-26T08:53:00.000-04:00

My cheap scanner doesn't pick up pencil very well, so I had to convert the scan to greytones and adjust the contrast in order for it to read.

2011-03-25T08:50:00.000-04:00

A new Moleskine sketchbook

2011-03-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

I've been addicted to my new Moleskine pocket sketchbook. I feel compelled to take it out at any spare moment to scratch out a drawing of my surroundings.

Skeletal Woe

2011-03-08T22:10:00.001-05:00

Current Events

2011-03-06T22:12:00.002-05:00

Versus Chthonian

2011-03-04T20:32:00.001-05:00

Part 1: pen and ink

2011-03-03T22:08:00.002-05:00

Mayan Mythos

2011-03-01T20:55:00.000-05:00

2011-02-28T21:09:00.001-05:00

Viking

2011-02-24T21:38:00.001-05:00

2011-02-21T16:12:00.001-05:00

2011-02-20T09:46:00.001-05:00

2011-02-19T21:47:00.001-05:00

My daughter playing World of Warcraft

2011-02-18T19:49:00.010-05:00

2011-02-06T21:37:00.001-05:00

Using sculptures as reference presents ideas on how to lend depth to drawings.

Neon Lich

2011-01-31T20:06:00.002-05:00

2011-01-30T21:51:00.001-05:00

2010-02-19T20:52:00.003-05:00

Sent to Stuart David Schiff, editor and publisher of Whispers magazine, long after it ceased publication. I bought a postcard written by Arkham House author H.R. Wakefield that Stuart had put on eBay. Prismacolor grey is a recent addition to this pen and ink piece.

Tales of Lovecraftian Horror

2010-02-18T20:31:00.003-05:00

Most of the time, editors didn't respond to the drawings I sent along with requests for back issues or catalogs. It's not like I was looking for work, merely a fan doing some drawings for like-minded people. Imagine my surprise, then, when I ordered issues of Tales of Lovecraftian Horror from Cryptic Publications and found an illustration of mine in issue #5! I was shocked and elated! Apparently, Bob Price, longtime publisher of Crypt of Cthulhu, had put a previous letter of mine aside and found use for it in another of his Lovecraftian fan fiction publications. My drawing of a crocgirl- more R.E. Howard than HPL- is misattributed to Daryl Hutchinson, artist of The Lovecraftian Tarot, but that in itself was a form of flattery. For this blog, I've shaded the ink drawing with Prismacolor grey markers. Thanks, Bob Price! Loved your press!

2010-02-16T17:10:00.003-05:00

Sent this grisly amphibian to Tsathoggua Press, named after Lovecraft's toad-like old god. Pen and ink on bristol.

Cthulhu Rising

2010-02-15T08:25:00.005-05:00

Cthulhu greets a Gaelic warrior. Mailed to James Van Hise, editor of "The Fantastic Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft" and similar books on Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs, all great collections of essays and art. Below, a recent addition of grey, which covers much of the delicate linework of the original.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T14:02:00.004-05:00

This Valentine's Day, my wife and I have been married for 15 years, traditionally the crystal anniversary. When asked, however, she said she didn't need crystal wine glasses, vases, picture frames, or jewelry, so I wanted to at least use crystals in the card I made her. I'm the knight in shining armor, of course, and my wife still the bride after all these years, and no family portrait would be complete without our daughter, boston terrier, and chinchilla, as well.

The drawing process was a new experience: I drew entirely with Prismacolor markers, working from the lightest shade of grey to the darkest, then added outlines with fine-tipped Faber Castell pens only after all the shading was finished. The heavyweight bristol paper I chose was not the ideal surface for markers- it sucked the ink up too quickly to blend shades while wet. (Illustration forums recommend using Prismacolor markers on photocopy paper, much less absorbant and easier to mix colors upon.) The scan above reduced the size and cropped the personalized greeting, and also lost some of the subtle greys in the process.

2010-02-13T09:31:00.004-05:00

Drawn for PDW Books, another mail-order dealer that specialized in horror. I used M.C Escher to depict the sunken city of R'lyeh, where the angles are all wrong.

2010-02-12T10:06:00.003-05:00

Accompanied inquiry letter to Mythos Books, publisher of Lovecraftian fan fiction.

2010-02-11T12:57:00.005-05:00

Sent to Nicholas Certo, a book dealer who specialized in horror. (I bought some Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood from him.) I recently added tone with Prismacolor grey markers to emphisize the open grave as a light source- there's a whole other world below!

2010-02-10T16:14:00.001-05:00

Illustrated Letters

2010-02-09T15:46:00.003-05:00

In the days of snail mail, I used to add drawings with correspondance I sent out. I kept photocopies of the more elaborate drawings to remember where my head was at. This girl-with-dragon was included in a note to a California-based self-publisher I met through the Comics Buyer Guide ads.

2010-02-07T21:29:00.001-05:00

2010-02-06T21:34:00.001-05:00

2010-02-05T21:36:00.001-05:00

2010-01-25T22:34:00.001-05:00

2010-01-22T23:32:00.001-05:00

2010-01-21T16:40:00.000-05:00

2010-01-20T22:37:00.001-05:00

Cinema

2010-01-18T21:20:00.005-05:00

The bassist from Realm went on to form a heavy metal cover band, Cinema. He was later fired from his own band for launching into bass solos in the middle of Iron Maiden songs.

Realm

2010-01-18T21:09:00.002-05:00

Realm was another band formed by two friends I'd known since grade school. This idea is an obvious hybrid between a Steve Ditko Doctor Strange comicbook and an Aldo Nova music video.

2010-01-08T21:42:00.001-05:00

2010-01-07T20:08:00.000-05:00

2010-01-06T17:58:00.000-05:00

2010-01-05T22:08:00.000-05:00

Boathouse Blues

2010-01-04T20:34:00.003-05:00

Mike had been lead guitarist in our band Rhombus, and he continued his musical pursuits while studying engineering at the University of Notre Dame, playing gigs with The Boathouse Blues Band. I decorated mailed envelopes with art to please the postman and the recipient, drawing a series of underwater guitarists.

A pirate skeleton with his sunken treasure- a Stratocaster.

Deep sea divers playing Fender Telecasters and an astronaut playing a Gibson Les Paul, while cuties share the page.

Mike enjoyed the art and thought the deep sea axeman would compliment his band's name. I traced the image onto a sheet of acetate with a marker and mailed it to him, which allowed him to reverse and reuse the image on future band flyers. He mailed me one that had been posted on campus, dated April 1990.

Twenty years later, Mike is still passionate about music and is enjoying the Minneapolis music scene with his band Atomic Flea, who recently released their fourth album. Follow the links below to find out more about them:
http://www.atomicflea.com/
http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/AtomicFlea

Our Story, part 3 (1993)

2010-01-03T08:18:00.017-05:00

Mike's dorm address changed and so did Rich's as he moved with Mark into a basement apartment in Elmwood Park, a place so seedy we called it 'the opium den.' Working similar entry level jobs as myself, we shared the same nocturnal hours and as Rich and Mark plotted to overthrow the government, my sketchbook became my primary outlet of expression; I brought it with me nearly everywhere I went and at the very least, my sketchbook was an icebreaker, a conversation piece.

During this time, I left "Our Story" unfinished, putting together a portfolio of comicbook pages to shop around at conventions, pages which, in all honestly, weren't very good. Within a few years, I recognized my linework had grown stronger and stylized, and since Marvel and DC weren't knocking on my door I turned my attention back to the unfinished story. Matt, Rich, and I planned to make a road trip out west to visit Mike in Nebraska the spring of 1993, and I wanted to mail a few letters to Mike before we arrived. In a flurry of activity, I cranked out Rhombus' continued trek through hell.

The most notable improvement in my art was the placement of heavy line and black.

My knowledge of anatomy had also improved from evening life drawing classes with Robert Glaisek at The Art Center of Northern New Jersey and by studying the detailed art of X-Men artist and fan favorite, Jim Lee.

This is my favorite page of the strip. I impressed myself with the detailed rendering of dripping vomit! I thought it very European, very Heavy Metal.

These six pages were sent to Mike prior to our two week road trip through Nebraska to Boulder, Colorado, and back to New Jersey. Upon our return, other projects captured my interest that had the potential for publication and I never got around to officially finishing "Our Story." There was only one page left undone, explaining how the four of us were pushed back up the entrance tunnel by the river of vomit and back into Matt's room. Nothing profound, just fun to draw. I recently found small sketches of further adventures, one of which had us being pursued by harpies. Just as the first story was based on Dante, I think I must've planned the second story to be based on Homer's The Odyssey.

Our Story, part 2 (1989)

2010-01-02T14:37:00.006-05:00

Here's part two of the comic "Our Story," written and mailed to Mike Senkovich at Notre Dame, telling him of the exploits the friends he left in New Jersey were having in his absence. Sharing the pages were also a way to reestablish connections with Matt and Rich, who were increasingly involved in school and work, respectively.

These two nursery rhyme pages were drawn at the NJ Bell desk I worked at. Being a telephone operator on the midnight shift was slow and boring, but it did afford me the time to do some drawing.

A favorite trick of mine is to break the comic panel to imitate three dimensions, as I did with the smoke and the demon's horns.

Another musical homage, this time to Queen.

"Sea Monkeys" was Rhombus' thrash metal song. It was written as a farce, but soon became one of our favorites to play. Mark "Splooch" Pavlovich was a friend of ours who later became Rich's roommate and co-conspirator against world order, notorious for his Marlboros and salty language, as spoofed here.

Our Story, part 1 (1988)

2010-01-02T13:36:00.012-05:00

In 1988, my circle of friends- who had been enormously influential on me throughout high school- had begun to fragment. School and jobs became demanding, leaving less time to collaborate musically and artistically, much less socially. When Mike Senkovich, who had been the lead guitarist in our band Rhombus, left NJ for Notre Dame, I began drawing him letters that evolved into a comic strip. The story began as a satire on how little I saw Matt and Rich, but soon became a riff on Dante's Inferno. I've added some commentary to explain references and inside jokes only Mike would get, after all, it was written to him.

Matt is wearing an Outland t-shirt, which was the band he had just joined. "Too Much" was the last song our band wrote.

I make a reference to how a car had run off the road and crashed into Matt's house, cracking the very walls of his bedroom. I give Matt Han Solo's line, an appropriate Star Wars nod.

Roy Rogers was the place we ate after Rhombus jam sessions.

I got the most favorable feedback from this page from Rich's coworkers at BJ's Warehouse, who thought I had perfectly captured Rich's facial expression in the first panel. I had gone from the square-jawed faces of page one to a more realistic style as I got more comfortable drawing friends.

Pink Floyd's "Run Like Hell" was a song Rhombus had planned to cover for Elmwood Park High's talent show.

Namor, the Submariner

2010-01-01T21:55:00.002-05:00

A New Year's Resolution

2009-12-31T23:06:00.002-05:00

It's New Year's Eve and everyone is mulling over potential resolutions to break over the next twelve months, and the sooner, the better. My plate is pretty full working full-time, raising a family, and going back to school at night, and without any frivolous resolutions, my main goal for 2010 is to graduate college by the end of the year. Working in Kest's sketchbook, though, got the old juices flowing, and soon I was digging out my own sketchbooks from my past, seeing what I did wrong (a lot) and what I did right. Then I thought, "Man, I wish I had kept up with this."

If I have a resolution this year, it's to get back into drawing. It doesn't take much time, really- I used to carry a sketchbook with me everywhere to draw whenever- and whoever- possible. So this resolution is possible, as long as it doesn't get in the way of my homework. And just to keep me honest, I thought I'd post work online as a record of progress. This virtual sketchbook will also allow friends the opportunity to look through my drawing just as they used to.

My fourteen year old daughter and I are on vacation this week, playing World of Warcraft in the morning with cousins online. You know, that's the game from the Mister T commercial. I named my character "Angrymidget," a gnome with a sword bigger than he is. As other players pass me, they pat me on the head and go, "Hey there, little guy..." Man, those are fighting words!

"Who you calling little?!"

Insomnia

2009-12-30T22:46:00.003-05:00

Waking up late during Christmas vacation, it's tough to get to sleep at night, so I sketch as my daughter watches the George Lopez Show on Nickelodeon.

Kest Komix

2009-12-30T14:41:00.000-05:00

I was flattered when Newark graffiti artist Kest invited me to draw a few pages in his sketchbook. Sketchbooks have always been a private place for me and I've been loathe to part with my own for any amount of time. Wanting to maintain the standards set in Kest's book without monopolizing space, I composed a single page that featured sketchbook favorites: warriors, skulls, and naked women. On a page I entitled "Kest Komix," a holy man transcends the duality of desire and fear, and remains unswayed even in the face of death.

Kest's tags are playful and colorful. He obsesses over pen types and palettes of colored markers, and was surprised when I told him I concentrated on black and white work, usually in pen and ink. For his sketchbook, however, I went out and bought a cheap collection of colored pencils so Red Sonja could live up to her name.