SYZYGY

SYZYGY:
A Continuation of AP Art and Design, 2019-2020

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.

Benthic Embrace

"I don't know what it wants, or if it wants, but it will grow until it encompasses everything. Our bodies and our minds will be fragmented into their smallest parts, until not one part remains... Annihilation"

-Dr. Ventress, Annihilation (2018)

Materials: Digital media (Procreate for iPad)

Benthic Embrace. April 4, 2022. Procreate for iPad.

Long Forgotten

Underpainting. Procreate for iPad. January 10, 2022

Long Forgotten. Procreate for iPad. January 16, 2021

Materials: Digital media (Procreate for iPad)

"And so we all die alike. No matter into which house we are born. No matter which gown. Whether we grace the earth briefly or for a long time. I alone tie my bonds. Whether I have extended hands or slapped them. We all face the same end. Those above have long forgotten us. They do not judge us. In death, I am all alone. And my only judge is me."

-Martha, Dark (2019)

All That Remains

All That Remains. Procraeate for iPad. November 20, 2021

"I must not fear. I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that bring obliteration. I will face my fear, and I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

-Lady Jessica Atreides, Dune (2021)

Materials: Digital media (Procreate for iPad)

Messages from the Deep

"Dreams are messages from the deep."

-Inaudible voice, Dune (2021)

Materials: Digital media (Procreate for iPad)

Messages from the Deep. Procreate for iPad. October 22, 2021

Of Vile Drums...Of Accursed Flutes

Of Vile Drums...Of Accursed Flutes. Procreate for iPad. September 6, 2021

"[O]utside the ordered universe [is] that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes."
-H.P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1943)

Materials: Digital media (Procreate for iPad), drawing pencils, pen & ink (brushmarkers, gel pens), oil paints, linseed oil.

The End Will Eat Everything. 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)

Nameless Rites and Deeds, Veiled in Darkness. 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)

The Great Shroud of the Sea

The Great Shroud of the Sea. Procreate for iPad. August 1, 2021

"Now small fowls flew screaming over the yet yawning gulf; a sullen white surf beat against its steep sides; then all collapsed, and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago."

-Herman Melville, Moby Dick; or, The Whale (1851)

Materials: Digital media (Procreate for iPad)

Dream Quietly Away

Dream Quietly Away. Procreate for iPad. June 30, 2021

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

It Smiled Back at Me

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

"The stalk ended in only a human mouth, full of flesh and blood, and it smiled back at me as I gazed upon it..."

-William Hooker, In the Mouth of Madness (2021)

Materials: Digital media (Procreate for iPad)

Of Shrieking and Immemorial Lunacy

Walpurgisnachtmare. Procreate for iPad. April 30, 2021

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

"The Thing cannot be described - there is no language for such abysms of shrieking and immemorial lunacy, such eldritch contradictions of all matter, force, and cosmic order. A mountain walked or stumbled."

-H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu (1926)

Materials: Drawing pencils, pen & ink (brushmarkers, gel pens), digital media (Procreate for iPad)

A God Incarnate

A God Incarnate. Procreate for iPad. March 6, 2021

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

Materials: Drawing pencils, pen & ink (brushmarkers, gel pens), digital media (Procreate for iPad)

"A god incarnate. A city doomed."

-Shin Gojira (2016)

As it is Written

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

Answer Our Prayers. Oil on white canvas. July 25, 2020

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

-The Codex, Doom Eternal (2020)

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

-Toby Ziegler, The West Wing (2002)

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.

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.

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)

Watcher: Underpainting. Oil on white canvas. May 10, 2020

Wraith Covenant. Pen & ink (gels, brushmarkers). August 10, 2020

Height: 12 in.
Width: 9 in.

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

Concept I (and references). Pen & ink. May 9, 2020

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: