SYZYGY

SYZYGY:
A Continuation of AP Art and Design, 2020

My sustained investigation was guided by an inquiry into the human mind. Originally an exploration of human nature, but over time my investigation evolved into a study of our most basic fears, desires and instincts.

My background in paleoart and landscape painting was very useful to me. The sustained investigation allowed me to combine these two practices together, something I’d never imagine doing.

Science fiction has been my source of inspiration. After reading or watching, I would always start with the sketchbook, where I would jot down several ideas and work out morphology. To me, the best way to communicate my message was through the re-contextualization of monsters (commonly used in the sci fi genre) by altering their anatomy, the setting or time.

SYZYGY
B&W Bestiary

It Smiled Back at Me

It Smiled Back at Me. Procreate for iPad. May 7, 2021

Walpurgisnachtmare

Walpurgisnachtmare. Procreate for iPad. April 30, 2021

Captain Calamari. Pen & ink (gels, brushmarkers). August 2, 2020

A god incarnate. A city doomed.

Shin Godzilla Portrait. Procreate for iPad. March 6, 2021

Shin Godzilla Study. Pen & ink (gels, brushmarkers). July 2, 2020

Answer Our Prayers

As it is Written. Oil on white panel. December 16, 2020

Height: 12 in.
Width: 9 in.

Materials: Drawing pencils, pen & ink (brushmarkers, gel pens), oil paints, linseed oil, digital tools.

Perish Gaze. Pen & ink (gels, brushmarkers). August 22, 2020

Circle of Stones. Oil on white canvas. July 25, 2020

"When the gods wish to punish us,
they answer our prayers."

-Toby Ziegler, The West Wing (2002)

"As it is written... [the] harbingers of the end-times, primordial forces of chaos and destruction."

-The Codex, Doom Eternal (2020)

Dream Quietly Away

Once in a Blue Moon. Oil on white panel. October 31, 2020

"If ever I should wish for a retreat wither I might steal from the world and its distractions, and dream quietly away the remnant of a troubled life, I know of none more promising than this little valley."

-Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820)

The Devil's Reaper. Pen & ink (gels, brushmarkers). October 17, 2020

Height: 24 in.
Width: 18 in.

Materials: Drawing pencils, pen & ink (brushmarkers, gel pens), oil paints, linseed oil.

The Wrath of Walpurgis. Pen & ink (gels, brushmarkers). October 10, 2020

The End Will Eat Everything

Veiled in Darkness/Nameless Rites and Deeds. Pen & ink (gels, brushmarkers). September 6, 2020

"We have come upon the end of the world, and I've stared into its expanse. It has whispered into my ear, and I am enlightened. Death is coming and it has made me its herald. The end will eat everything."

-"DLXXIX," The Chronicon, Destiny 2: Forsaken (2019)

Height: 8 in.
Width: 8 in.

Materials: Drawing pencils, pen & ink (brushmarkers, gel pens), oil paints, linseed oil.

The Throne of Chaos. Oil on white panel. September 13, 2020

"[T]he allegorical figure of Azathoth, the primal monster who had given birth to the stars at the beginning of time, and who, according to an obscure tradition, would devour them at its end."

-Han, The Last Night on Earth (1995)

A Pull Towards a Point in the Sky

Interstellar Convergence. Oil on white canvas. September 8, 2020

"Fever- wild dreams- somnambulism- illusions of sounds- a pull towards a point in the sky- and now a suspicion of insane sleep-talking!"

-H.P. Lovecraft, The Dreams in the Witch House (1932)

Primal Pentaptych. Oil on white canvas. September 8, 2020

Height: 12 in.
Width: 12 in.

Materials: Oil paints, linseed oil.

To Us Unseen

Touch of Malice. Oil on white canvas. July 18, 2020

"The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth."

-H.P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror (1928)

Heartbeat of Hell. Pen & ink (gels, brushmarkers). October 29, 2020

Height: 24 in.
Width: 18 in.

Materials: Drawing pencils, pen & ink (brushmarkers, gel pens), oil paints, linseed oil.

The True and Only Divination

Concept I. Pen & ink. June 4, 2020

"Existence is the first and truest proof of the right to exist. Those who cannot claim and hold existence do not deserve it. This is the true and only divination, a game whose losers are not just forgotten but are never born at all."

-"The Wager," Unveiling, Destiny 2: Shadowkeep (2019)

Behind the Teeth:

Harbinger of the Heat Death. Oil on white canvas. June 15, 2020

Height: 16 in.
Width: 12 in.

Materials: Drawing pencils, pen & ink, oil paints, linseed oil.

1) Pre-Concept I Ideation: Dominion of the Orbweavers. May 19, 2020

2) Underpainting Layer. June 4, 2020

3) First Color Layer. June 8, 2020

4) "Overpainting" Layer. June 15, 2020

Surviving Nightmares

The Iridescent Maw. Oil on white canvas. May 17, 2020

"It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth’s dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be let alone; lest sleeping abnormalities wake to resurgent life, and blasphemously surviving nightmares squirm and splash out of their black lairs to newer and wider conquests."

-H.P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness (1931)