"Xibalba"

 "Xibalba" / 14 x 17" / watercolor, acrylic & ink on paper 

Howdy, all! With the New Year comes new artwork. And that includes the long-awaited conclusion of Alphabet Attack - Series 3!

Today's illustration is "Xibalba." That was the name the Mayans gave to their brutal version of the underworld, ruled by 12 merciless Death Gods. Honestly, how could I not make a painting of this? It fits so well with the insanely-creepy theme I've been running wild with, on this blog.

"Hush me, touch me. Champaign, your hair in the breeze.
Hush me, touch me. Lipstick, a slap on my cheek."

- David C.

"Questionable Quiche'

I'm not totally sure what the inspiration was for this one. But as soon as I got to the letter "Q," the title "Questionable Quiche" just popped in my head. So I ran with it! Perhaps this is all rooted in my deep-seeded fear of being eaten by my own food.


"Will you shoot the blue Earth down, in the space station, polishing the raygun? You say correlation is not causation."
- David C.

"Perilous Position"

This unfortunate scene -- well, unfortunate for the diminutive human in the image -- was created during C2E2, at the Nerd City booth. It was my first painting of the weekend, just meant to warm up the ol' painting arm. But when I got home, I realized it was the perfect scene for what I wanted to do with The Letter P.

"Perilous Position" / 9 x 12" / watercolors, gouache & ink on bristol

Who knows? The little guy might find a way out of this... somehow.


"What's growin' like grass with the mass appeal?"
- King Gum Crosland

"Necromancy"

"Necromancy" / 9x12" / acrylics & gouache on paper

I thought I'd wrap up this week's illustration run on a creepy note. Nothing says, "TGIF," quite like the gaping maw of an ungodly resurrection.


I hope you've all been getting as big a kick out of the new Alphabet Attack! as I have. Stay tuned, as there are about to be some developments with the series, beyond the digital constraints of The Interweb.


And, por supuesto, you can count on having your eyeballs rocked by a whole new run of pieces, next week.


"I'm cranky like nobody understands me. White tee, dagger in the back, nothing fancy."
- King Gum Crosland

"Mephistopheles"

"Mephistopheles" / 12x15" / gouache & ink on paper

I don't think there's a corner of mankind that doesn't recognize some form of The Devil... a creature of pure evil, who's aim is to pull the whole of humanity into the bowels of Perdition.


"So grab your eight-plus-one! Start flippin' and trippin'!
Niggas is jettin'! I'm lickin' off, son!"
- King Gum 

"Lunar Levitation"

"Lunar Levitation" / 12x18" / acrylics & collage on canvas board

Growing up in a PBS-positive household has given me a keen appreciation for shows on history, politics, global affairs and Muppets. But what's really been turning my nerd screw, lately, are programs about space! Hence, today's intergalactic-themed illustration.


"We're all gonna burn in hell! Because we do what we gotta do real well, and we've got the fever to tell!"
- King Gum

"Killer King"

"Killer King" / 9x12" / acrylics on paper

Continuing with the Shakespearean theme of "Iago," the above illustration for The Letter K refers to Macbeth. He's a rather brutal character, who becomes a king by extremely murderous means. Macbeth was one of the very first plays of Shakespeare's that I read, while in high school and remains a favorite story of mine, to this day.

"By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes."

- David C.

"Iago"

"Iago" / 12x15" / watercolors & ink on paper

The Letter I is for "Iago," the serpent-tongued villain in Shakespeare's Othello. And with that, comes the end of yet another fantastic five days of Alphabet Attack! Have a great weekend, and tune in on Monday for more illustrative mayhem!

"Talons fly as a last disguise. But no return... the time has come."
- David C.

"Gargantuan"

"Below the streets that steam and hiss, The Devil's in his hole."
- King Gum 

"Feral"

This one's been locked up in my imagination for quite some time. Nearly two years now, in fact. I kept imagining this brutal queen, stroking the pelt of some wild beast she'd conquered. Luckily, The Letter F ended up providing the perfect opportunity to put her vicious puss on paper.

"Feral" / 9x12" / watercolors & acrylics on paper

"We are the revenants, and we will rise up from the dead."

- David C.

"Elysium"

Hello and happy Daylight Savings! Even with the loss of an hour, I was able to churn out this exciting new piece for The Letter E. This image just about exploded from my imagination, as soon as the word "Elysium" came to mind. Originally, it wasn't going to be so spooky. But once the brushes started moving, I simply couldn't help myself.


"Tore open a package, it was an empty box. No meaning to me, just an empty box. Sender was a woman..."
- King Gum

"Doggone"

This marks the end of my first week back on the daily illustration wagon. I hope you've enjoyed Letters A through D. Have a swell weekend, and be sure to check back on Monday for more Alphabet Attack!


"Clan in the front, let'cha feet stomp."
- David

"Cabeza Con Carne"

And the beats keep rolling with this new run of Alphabet Attack! I'm having a blast with these, so far. And I have a feeling they're only going to get weirder. Er, I mean, better.


Stay tuned for The Letter D, tomorrow!


"I looked at every fiesta, for you I wanted to greet. Maybe I'd sell you a chicken, with poison interlaced with the meat."
- David C. 

Alphabet Attack! Returns In 2012

Hello, fine followers of Alphabet Attack!


I sincerely apologize for my lack of posts, this past month. To be honest, I simply haven't had time to commit to the blog and the list of illustrations I have in store for it. With new commercial work on my plate, plus a glut of travel between my last post and the end of 2011, something had to give. For better or worse, Alphabet Attack! has become that "something."


But don't run into the hills, screaming, just yet. The Attack! will return. It's just on hold for now, while I handle my business and keep the lights on in the studio.


Though she'll be hibernating for the start of winter, Alphabet Attack! will return in January 2012, bigger, badder and stronger than ever. I'll be continuing with the current, creepy-ass series that started with "Almost Anonymous" and "Bigot Brutality." We'll pick things back up with the completion of "Coral Carnivore," and plow ahead from there.


In the meantime, you can keep up on my art exploits, release announcements and Holiday merchandise sales via my art blog, On The Slate.


Take care and I'll see you on the other side of New Years!


"Here comes Susie Snowflake, dressed in her snow white gown. Tap-tap-tapping at your window pane to tell you she's in town!"
- David C.

"Coral Carnivore" Early Glazes

Here's a peek at the early stages of my opaque painting process. While these colors are still fairly transparent, they're thicker and more purposeful than what I did in the under painting.


I prefer to determine my darkest areas in a painting early on, so that's where I tend to start my attack. Once I'd gotten the base bright pink color placed in the sky, I started darkening up the stone archway around our evil siren.



While the arch will be pretty dark both above and below the water, I still want to maintain a difference in warmth and coolness between each side of the surface. To do this, I've used a dark brown for the stone above the water (warm) and a dark blue for the stone below it (cool).


Lastly for today, I've begun laying in the darkest parts of the hidden sea beastie. Along with the gaping maw of his hungry mouth and his eerie pupils, I've also started to darken the linework on him. I'll do this throughout the piece, in a manner that's similar to inking with a brush. This process helps me keep my drawing strong, while I build up layers of paint.


From here on out, I really just have to dive in and paint like a fiend. A lot of thought and consideration goes into taking the piece from this to its completion. But with the right music and mood, those conscious thoughts will fall into the background. When I'm really on a roll, I'll detach myself from the process... almost like I'm watching myself paint. And that's the Jedi trance action I'm aiming for.

That's all for this week! Tune in on Monday for more Alphabet Attack!

"What I do? I called up the Geto Boys crew, 'cause my mind's playing tricks on me too!"
- Dave

"Coral Carnivore" Step Three

The next stage of "Coral Carnivore" is one of my personal favorites -- the under painting! This is the point where I really begin developing the chroma (color) and value (light & dark) tones of a painting. With this piece, I went about this using thin layers of paint and a spoonful of spontaneity.




Under painting is like live art for me, in that I rely mostly on creative instinct -- I let the beast take hold and attack the canvas in a flurry. By doing so, I'm able to accomplish a lot of spontaneous, bold mark-making. Since this layer will inevitably be glazed over with more opaque layers of paint, there's a lot of freedom in how I apply the color. I've found that this helps me create bold marks that I wouldn't have made otherwise, especially during the more tedious painting steps to come.



Now that I'm beyond the drawing stage, I've also begun working out the puzzle of painting coral. Coral itself is an otherworldly, colorful sea creature. And it comes in all shapes and sizes. Rather than draw it first, I'm relying totally on texture and brush strokes to bring it to life. The spontaneity here is extremely helpful in conveying the alien landscape look of coral. But I'll have to maintain my sense of design & draftsmanship as I take it to completion. I'm not out of the woods yet....


Keep an eye out for the more developed painting stages of "Coral Carnivore," at the end of this week!

"You bring the ladies and I'll bring the brew! Oh shit, anotha' barbeque!"
- King Gum

"Coral Carnivore" Step Two

As you can see, Step Two of "Coral Carnivore" involved going from the initial sketch to a finished drawing. At first, I was reluctant to do a complete redraw for this piece. Maybe it was a pang of laziness, but I was so in love with the sketch (see last Thursday's post), that I almost didn't see the point in recreating that image from scratch. But in the end, I harnessed my weekend work ethic and channeled it into this finalized drawing.


The core elements here are essentially the same as in the sketch. I've tweaked the devilish siren a bit, and added some extra details to her toothy lower half.


I also added a stone archway to the scene, further emphasizing the fact that this beastie is lurking in a shallow cove. I've actually been to places like this, along the California coast. They are truly gorgeous, awe-inspiring scenes. I highly recommend visiting the ocean, as often as possible. There's nothing like standing next to a force of nature that's loaded with mystery, unseen creatures and corpses. It's beautiful and frightening, all at the same time.


Lastly, I found a strange satisfaction in taking the time to redraw this piece. A lot of Classical painters and 20th Century illustrators whose work I admire would endure the rigorous task of creating preliminary drawings, before ever touching the canvas. Some would even create whole paintings, just to work out the kinks in their plan for what would be the real finished piece.

That's something I've always wanted to incorporate in my work. I know it doesn't really jive with our push-button, instant gratification society. But it felt amazing taking the extra time to push myself from an already satisfactory drawing, and on to something that reached for even higher ground.

Stay tuned this week for the next steps of "Coral Carnivore!"

"I'm in the cube & I'm deep in the toilet! Way down deep where no good shit gets started!"
- Dave