Another Day

I Defy You - Pen/Brush and Ink on paper, 9 x 12

I don't have much to say about this piece except "it's done." Now it can get busy collecting dust! Seriously folks, artists who don't prolifically sell, but prolifically create are immensely wasteful.

This morning I was listening to my local NPR station's weekly what's going on in the local world of art segment, and was slightly annoyed by how passive and self-important the guests sounded. Do we all sound like this? The public does not want art that says something, art that contains beauty and depth, art that pushes the boundaries. The consuming public in fact does not know what they/we want. So the marketplace is flooded with "art" of all kinds trinkets and masterpieces resting side by side...and somewhere, all meaning is lost, washed way in the flood until those who have stood the test of time are left waving their fists at the world of men screaming "is that all?"


Happy slushy Thursday!

God Is Sleeping

God Is Sleeping, Page 9 - penciled lay out

Two weeks ago I began work on Issue #2 of God Is Sleeping - formerly Little Uglies. The story begins where issue #1 left off, in the cellar of the mad hatter-like "Sinister Terrance, and his man servant Rutherford putting a controllable head on the "headless one." Now known only as "The Creature," the deviant Terrance takes The Creature out for a little experiment in obedience. The test: kill a crazy street preacher on command. At first The Creature hesitates...but with the help of a little physical pleasure The Creature complies.

God Is Sleeping, Page 9 - Final Inked page

For this sequence I knew that I wanted to visually exaggerate everything slightly. It wasn't until page 10 that the Point of View pay off came in to play with The Creature bent over the dead body.

God Is Sleeping, Page 10 - penciled lay out

In the Penciled drawing I had a good idea as to how to manipulate that point of view. It wasn't until I began to ink the drawing that the point of view began to really take shape. I wanted the corpse to be almost respectively larger then The Creature because it represents the scale of the evil act he just committed.

God Is Sleeping, Page 10 - Final Inked Page

Matt

The First

This is the first post for a site that will - I hope - be a weekly blog of works in progress, short stories, and some preview images. In know way is this a process recess - which is the godfather of all art blogs -, rather consider This Black Ink a slightly demented idiot savant of a blog without the savant. My hope is to give all four of you who are interested in the creative process of writing/illustrating a little glimpse into the dark and wonderful world of story telling.