Finished Ink Emperor

At long last, the finish of the inktober piece I’d done previously. Although there are a lot of things I like about the simpler version, I was interested in trying it out with much more dramatic lighting and greater realism overall. It’s possible that I might come back to this one to add color so it looks more like a classic painting, but for now, I’m eager to move on to the next thing.

I don’t normally make my sketches this polished, but it made sense to plan out the lighting as well as possible, and it felt a little odd posting it to social media without the rest being just as finished.

The Emperor

I tend to only do works fully on paper when they’re the sort of smaller portraits that I did for 2018’s Inktober. Although it doesn’t usually produce anything worthy of the front page of my website, it’s a fun exercise and can sometimes result in something redoing more elaborately later on- like this one! I’m currently experimenting with angles and more dramatic lighting. More to come on that one!

The Good Death

I don't love thinking about my own mortality. But I do think it's important to face that reality every once and awhile to at least put thought toward the aspects of death I do have control over- like what would be done with my body. 

This one was originally for a show awhile back, and is more or less representative of my discomfort surrounding traditional burials, and how it feels like they tie people, or what we remember about them to their plot in the ground. 

I don't have any particular belief about what happens after death, but I prefer the idea that whatever we are or what's left of us goes somewhere else, becomes something else.