Nocturnals

In continuing celebration of Halloween month, here is a back cover pin-up I once did for a comic called Nocturnals. Nocturnals is created by talented storyteller, painter Dan Brereton with stories that follow a noirish collection of Halloween themed characters.
Pen and Ink with digital paint from color guides.

--Starchie

Frankenstein Week! - Friday

Frankenstein is blue because this is the last official Frankenstein Week posting.
More Halloween posts coming soon. Anybody care about Phantom of the Opera? I mean the cool old Lon Chaney rotting skull head looking guy, not the cheesy half-masked Broadway ballad-singing sad sack.

--Starchie

Frankenstein Week! - Thursday

I'm on the road today, driving from LA to San Francisco so today's Frankenstein is rambling as well.
I added a sepia tone for no particular reason. Happy Frankenstein Week.

--Starchie

Frankenstein Week! - Wednesday

Sometimes these things creep ME out.

--Starchie

Frankenstein Week! - Tuesday

Oooh, he's a beefy one.

-- Starchie

Frankenstein Week! - Monday

Another lovingly rendered Frankenstein for your perusal.

--Starchie

Frankenstein Week! - Sunday

My Frankenstein offering for today.

--Starchie

Frankenstein Week! - Saturday

I've drawn hundreds of Frankensteins, Devils, Skulls, Phantoms of the Opera and Gorillas. It's sort of a nervous habit like cracking the knuckles or binge drinking. In honor of Halloween month I'll post a Frankenstein sketch a day for the next week.
How could you not enjoy?!

--Starchie

Taste

An odd little painting from a couple of years ago.
Probably the start of the red ground idea that I tend to revisit over and over. This one is extra red which makes the eyes itch and plunges viewers into an inexplicable blind rage.
6x9 Acrylic.

--Starchie

Battle Zoe

Here's a self-rejected piece that I did not submit to the I-Am 8 Bit show this year. I just wanted to paint a cute girl and she's somewhat halfheartedly incorporated into a broad interpretation of the classic Battle Zone game environment. It's not really a painting, more of a painted sketch but I post because I sort of like the colors and the girl. It was fun to do but ultimately not something I envisioned hanging in a gallery.
Acrylic - 8x12

--Starchie

High School Confidential - The End...

Okay, I'll admit I've been fairly kind to myself with these posts. 

There are many dustier, more gruesome skeletons in the closet than these. Even so I'll be glad to get back to the new stuff. This one was a sample illustration for a manuscript written by my older brother Lee. I can't remember the title but I sort of recall that the bird can whistle through his beak like an ocarina.
Watercolor on textured board.

--Starchie

High School Confidential Part 2...

In high school I read those Chariots of the Gods kinda books by Erich Von Daniken and others who made the bombastic claims that every damned thing ancient people ever created was inspired by visiting aliens. I guess I was not altogether convinced as here is a little painting based on my version of that idea.

--Starchie

High School Confidential Part 1...

...That means don't tell anybody. I painted this crap in high school. Some folks were curious after I had made an idle threat to post some vintage offerings. Just a couple more and we'll call it a day, okay?

--Starchie

Harold in Repose

Acrylic piece done for a group show called Crazy 4 Cult 2 at Gallery 1988 in LA. 100 artists have done works inspired by classic cult films. Opening reception is tonight from 7 - 11 and is hosted by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. Stop in if you're in the neighborhood:

7020 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038
(South East corner of Melrose & LaBrea)

http://crazy4cult.com/

I promised a high school piece but the one I pulled onto my flash card today vanished. I'll find it again and post it this weekend.

--Starchie

A Little Process

In a halfhearted effort to answer those who asked that I demonstrate my process here are roughs for the two pieces posted down the page.

They were done digitally in low res on a Cintiq tablet. I printed them out to the size of the illustrations, then roughly transferred the sketches to the final board loosely by flipping them like animation paper and roughing out the paintings with a blue Colorase and then black Prismacolor. I did a little clean-up to the line drawing but worked from a fairly loose sketch for both.

High school "art" coming next! BEWARE!

--Starchie

Totoro Forest Project Tickets

Tickets went on sale this morning for the Totoro benefit auction which I wrote about in a previous post below.
Check out the link as some of the levels of participation are still available which include the bound catalog of all the paintings.

https://totoro.spotlightboxoffice.com/purchase/step4?ticketID=1

--Starchie

Sam and Max X Two

It's been awhile and the San Diego Comic Con was quite the distraction. At the show Telltale Games was offering the disc release of Season Two with my new painting which is also available as a print. Also, included here is the cover art for a new Sam & Max game soundtrack from Season Two. The music is by Jared Emerson-Johnson. It invokes the old Touch of Evil era crime flicks with smart, effortless nods to other genres.

Based on a reckless threat on my part to post some of my high school artwork I've had some requests to actually see that through. I've dug some out and I'll post them shortly if only to remind you to "Be careful what you wish."

--Starchie

Totoro Forest Project

My piece for an upcoming benefit show called the Totoro Forest Project.
The proceeds will go to preserve a threatened slice of forest in urban Japan. The very same forest that inspired director Hayao Miyazaki to create the animated film, "Totoro". The pieces have been donated by a wide range of artists and the art will be auctioned. A book of all the works is being assembled so if you can't attend the show you can at least purchase the book and know that the proceeds will do some good.

Read all about it and browse the many amazing pieces:

http://totoroforestproject.org/

--Starchie

Carol

Another installment in the wedding gift series. The couple has a dog that's more cute and less cartooney than the one in the painting and they spent their honeymoon in Kauai. I guess you could sense a pattern in how these paintings develop.
Acrylic on board.

--Starchie

Pidgeons

It's wedding season so this week I'll post a couple of past wedding presents. This one is for a couple who honeymooned in Venice -- the real place, not the one in Vegas.
Acrylic with a little colored pencil.

--Starchie

Who Are You?

From the ancient flat file strata, character sketches from some long-forgotten development project.
Some sharp little spud might be able to guess the property.
Pencil and smudge stick on bond paper.

--Starchie

SAM & MAX

My obscure bookplate, lovingly painted and aged to perfection for the Sam & Max Surfin' the Highway Limited Edition Hardcover. The plates are signed and numbered and the book is currently shipping from Telltale Games. Also available for the budget-minded consumer of addle-brained cartoon mayhem is the soft and supple Sam & Max trade paperback. Either volume will bring hours of quiet befuddlement. Enjoy!

--Starchie

http://www.telltalegames.com/store/samandmax-highway

Photos by Jake Rodkin

A God in the World He Once Knew

Submission for the annual I AM 8-Bit show a couple of installments ago. The paintings are inspired by classic videogame imagery and Chronicle has published a book from the first year of the show. A weird style for me with chunky acrylic strokes on black board, and some white colored pencil as well. The show returns this August so I'll be pulling something together for it soon.

--Starchie

Ernie Suda and Hellboy

This was painted just for fun but then sometime later was included in a Hellboy anthology comic called Weird Tales. Acrylic on canvas. I usually paint on board but canvas sometimes makes things seem more "paintery" and less "illustratey" if you'll excuse the technical jargon.

--Starchie

Mirth

At one point I thought it might be fun to paint hideous clowns on cardboard. And by God I was right! Believe it or not this is the more charming of the few I actually did. I recently picked up the painting from storage at a gallery where it's presumably been scaring the mice away for about a year.

--Starchie

Burns

The Scottish poet Robert Burns. Sort of a caricature off of the few existing portraits I could find. My version makes him look a bit like a gangly teen. Was fun to scumble and glaze and chop in cloudy shapes. Every painting feels like it's a tiny step toward the next one.
Maybe I'll try him again someday.

--Starchie

It Felt Like This...

Would have posted sooner but recovering from either a sinus infection or someone abandoning a sick cat behind my left eye socket. I kept waiting for something unpleasant to boil out of all the holes in my aching skull. The sketch above illustrates the sensation fairly accurately.

The office auction went well. Wake 2 (the mermaid) went to a respected colleague as did Kanutu/Mugato. Of my own pieces Mr Snips was the contested one and made a good showing at the front end of the live bidding. But then pieces by Bill Presing, Ronnie DelCarmen, Nick Sung and Teddy Newton threw the attendees into a bidding frenzy as expected. The auction brought in all that we think we need for creating our space so it's only a matter of time before the cartoon thrones and Victorian animal costumes start arriving in bulk.

--Starchie

Wake 2 / Family Portrait

Two more pieces for the company auction. It's been on for an hour and the place is hopping. There are about 100 pieces. At six tonight the five or so hottest items go up for live bidding. I'll post again soon about how it turns out.

--Starchie

Mister Snips

Last minute auction submission. Quick, thin acrylic washes. The art show is hanging and Friday the pieces will be sold. I have my eye on many of my co-workers paintings. A lot of amazing work has been submitted. I got the title for this one from my 7 year old.

--Starchie

You say Kanutu, I say Mugato

A goofy little painting for an art auction to be held at the office. Proceeds from the mounting contributions will bring high backed-leather chairs, overstuffed humidors and skull-shaped grog steins to an otherwise stark work pod.
Quick and dirty acrylic and Prismacolor.

--Starchie

Uncle Blue

Was out of town and delinquent in my posting. Hunted for something to post that might reference Yosemite, where I was last week. Saw a lot of ravens on the trip, heavy, muscley looking - my favorite birds. I'd like to paint some. Here's a little dip in that pool from a ways back.

--Starchie

Eggsucker

My version of a character created by super-talented Concept/Story Artist/Monster Aficionado, Derek Thompson.

--Starchie

The Black Tree

Another black tree. Fairly small acrylic painting on a red ground.

--Starchie

More Suda

Here's another. Both characters fairly different looking than the last post. I sort of liked trying the stylized background with the stretchy stars. Everything is angles and choppy strokes. These black trees turn up in my stuff from time to time. I'm not quite done with the black trees.

--Starchie

Suda

My favorite Suda painting so far. Washy acrylic over a barely there pencil sketch. Done a couple of years ago and made its way into one of the Spectrum annuals. I like doing this character though I sometimes have trouble capturing the version I have in my head. This one is as close as I get.

--Starchie

Bud Luckey

Tribute piece for the recently retired Bud Luckey. Acrylic over Prismacolor and vice versa. If you think you haven't heard of Bud's contributions to animation, go and Google him and you'll find that you already know his work very well.

--Starchie

Ivan

A character design/illustration for an audio book called "Ivan the Not So Terrible" written by author, musician, legal mind Rich Stim. Was fun to lay textures over simplified volumes. Tried to keep a lid on the color in order to help define the character.

--Starchie

Hey, Look! Pirates!

A few more character paintings from the dusty depths.

--Starchie

"They Meet"

My weird little painting (acrylic, 4X6 inches) for a group Valentine's day art show at Boomerang Gallery located at: HeebeJeebe 46 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, CA. The show, called First Love, opens on the 8th of February and hangs until the 27th.

--Starchie

More Pirates

A few more of these character paintings.
They are built up in washy layers of acrylic over a very rough pencil sketch xeroxed onto bristol board. Sounds convoluted but actually pretty simple in practice. This style was developed while doing these paintings years ago and is the way I've painted ever since. Maybe something will shake it up one of these days.
In the meantime I still enjoy working this way.

Thinking I may jump over to something else for the next post but will return to more of these soon.

--Starchie