"Xylon"

"Xylon" / 9 x 12" / acrylic & ink on paper

I'm closing out this week's illustrations with a hanging gone terribly wrong. At least, it's gone wrong for the executioners. Apparently, the evil our five heroes have captured and hanged is far from dead.

Have an excellent weekend, and tune in next week for the final two drawings of Alphabet Attack! Series 4. I can hardly believe how close we are to the end!

- Dave C.

"Unseen"

"Unseen" / 9 x 12" / acrylic & ink on paper

Strange creatures and a forbidden alleyway kick off this week's run of drawings. I'm particularly stoked for this leg of the trip, as it's my last full week of Monday through Friday illustrations. If all goes according to schedule, Series 4 will be completed a week from today.

Here's to hoping for a strong finish!

- Dave C.

"Tracker"

"Tracker" / 9 x 12" / acrylic & ink on paper

I'm closing out this week's drawings with a Dangerous Woman & Creepy Monster combo piece! As I've said before, I'm an absolute sucker for drawing a well-armed woman, stalking through the woods after some ungodly creature. Of course, who's to say that the beast is stalking her, and not the other way around?

Have a great weekend, everyone. And join me on Monday for the start of the last full week of Alphabet Attack! Series 4.

- Dave C.

"Sensei"

"Sensei" / 8.5 x 11" / acrylic & ink on paper

Who doesn't appreciate a mild-mannered, buff, old guy who can disarm & subdue an enemy using only his pinkie?! Maybe there was too much Karate Kid in my childhood diet. But the mysteriously dangerous teacher character gets me EVERY time!

Today's drawing literally grew outward, from the central figure. I drew out the martial arts master in mid-kata, without any of the surrounding elements... no background or anything! Of course, I couldn't skimp on creating a scene/telling a story. Hence, the bewildered students in the background and magical butterflies were born!

- Dave c.

"Rampage"

"Rampage" / 5.5 x 8.5" / acrylic & ink on paper

And, just like that, I'm back to drawing monsters! This one was a lot of fun to create. It's actually a rough sketch, seen through to completion (hence the smaller size of the drawing).

Once I realized how much movement & gesture I'd already captured in the loose sketch stage, I didn't want to waste time trying to redraw it on a whole new sheet of paper. Some days, you could draw for hours, and still never recapture the raw energy that you stumbled upon in a 30 second sketch.

- Dave C.

"Prostration"

"Prostration" / 8.5 x 11" / acrylic & ink on paper

Nothing says, "Monday," quite like a drawing of a lone warrior being attacked by a portal-hopping demon!

As bad as I feel for our frightfully exhausted (and now shield-less) hero, they may still make it out of this. Who knows what the scent of death-from-another-dimension will inspire them to do?

- Dave C.

"Outnumbered"

"Outnumbered" / 9 x 12" / acrylic & ink on paper

I'm closing out this week with a man fending off a couple foul beasts (instead of my usual Warrior Women). Our protagonist looks worse for the wear, but he's obviously drawn blood. Perhaps from one of the creatures who has fallen, and isn't viewed here.

But even if he defeats these two before him, what other dangers remain unseen? What else could be lurking in the woods, or in that tall grass?

- Dave C.

"Nimble"

"Nimble" / 14 x 17" / acrylic & ink on paper

No time for a proper write-up, today. I'm on the go! But I do hope you enjoy the piece.

- Dave C.

"Liftoff"

"Liftoff" / 8.5 x 11" / acrylic & ink on paper

Today's drawing is another stream of consciousness piece. Something sprung to mind and brought with it images of children taking flight and transforming into strange birds.

But who is this horn-headed stranger, stepping out of the water. Is he dangerous? Or a benevolent creature, encouraging -- or even causing -- the children's metamorphosis. I suppose that remains to be seen....

- Dave C.

"Incantation"

"Incantation" / 9 x 12" / ink on paper

How appropriate that on the 13th day of June, I throw some witchcraft into the mix! What surrealistic spell is this young woman casting? What's that maw-faced, knife-wielding creature lurking behind her? And is that silhouetted man in the foreground approaching for good or for ill??

This piece was created purely by stream of consciousness. It's fun to do that, sometimes... letting go so the image can draw itself... so it can tell its own story.

Dave C.

"Headless"

"Headless" / 9 x 12" / acrylic & ink on paper

Today's illustration features yet another Dangerous Woman. And much like the heroine of "Cestus," this deadly dame is dealing buckets full of pain to a much larger opponent. What can I say? I'm a sucker for an underdog. Even when said underdog is armed with razor-sharp blades capable of removing a man's noggin in one powerful slash!

- Dave C.

"Cestus"

"Cestus" / 9 x 12" / acrylic & ink on paper

The cestus (kes-tuss) is an ancient ancestor of the modern day boxing glove. Used by The Greeks & The Romans, it was battle glove, typically tricked out with such brutal accoutrements as metal plates, spikes & blades. Yeesh... and you thought MMA fights were rough. Imagine Kimbo Slice coming down on somebody with one of these!

When I knew I was doing "Cestus" for The Letter C, this image immediately sprung to mind. I'm always stoked to illustrate a strong female going ballistic on a larger, monstrous opponent. Especially, when the chump is getting a bit too grabby for her taste.

- Dave C.

"Balustrade"

"Balustrade" / 9 x 12" / acrylic & ink on paper 

I don't know what it is about it, but I'm especially fond of the word "balustrade." And I'm even more fond of swashbuckling sword fights, where heroes leap atop a balustrade & deal razor-sharp vengeance upon their enemies!

- Dave C.

"Sublime Spectacle"

"Sublime Spectacle" / 14 x 17" 

watercolors, acrylics, gouache & ink on paper

This piece started as a quick ink sketch. But once I began layering colors & mediums on it, things just went bonkers. Of course, bonkers is my speciality.

"Nothing's impossible, I have found. For when my chin is on the ground, I pick myself up, dust myself off & start over again."
- King Gum

"Rivals"

 

 

"Rivals" / 14x17" / watercolors, gouache, acrylics & ink on paper 

Eight more letters to go....

"And that's why they say I'm different... and that's why they say I'm strange."

- King Gum

"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

"Gargantuan"

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

"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