Just trying to get the hang of this.........

Ah, that seemed to work OK if a tad pixellated

A piece of work from a while back.

Very nice. Had no idea you were artistic. What media is that?

Yes, professional artist for about ten years now - so dirt poor!

Its a collage of various photos all heavily adjusted/filtered in Photoshop.
Very popular image with my female friends for some reason...

Nice!

More!

A bit of work in progress - I haven't got the look right yet but its coming along.

I see you call your stuff "stuff" too, John.

Wow. I like good photo manipulation. This is some good stuff.

Thank you. Its a dificult call - too much manipulation and you may as well draw it - too little and it can look like a cheesy photo story. This piece isn't quite there yet - maybe it never will be, but hey we struggle we learn...

Very Interesting work.

Those would do good covers for Vertigo books.

Agreed.


I've got tons of stuff that will never see the light of day, but I've learned valuable lessons from doing them.

Agreed.

Do you work a lot with this type of animal/human hybrid imagery? Is this a major theme in your work?

Thanks Stephane and Matthew. I'm not familiar with Vertigo books so I shall have to check them out - you never know..

We are all animals Ian...
No (lol) I can see why you might think that though so lets just say not consciously. Old folk/fairy tales often inform my work though so that is probably where it is coming from.

Cool - I realized that was probably a silly thing to ask after only having seen a couple of pictures of yours, but what the heck

You say you are a working professional - what kind of clients do you work for predominately? i.e. book publishers, private commissions, that sorta thing

Not at all, I would probably have thought the same.
Anyone who will pay me basically, as long as I can still respect myself in the morning I'm not proud!
Back in the day I used to do cartoons for various magazines (mostly folded now but no connection I hope) then I went to Art School and got ideas above my station...
I do the occasional private commission work (including a few murals) but my digital work mostly gets sold through galleries and exhibitions.
The work I'll be posting here will be the more personal stuff that I enjoy doing but don't have an outlet for - yet.

Jo, I have always picked up a theme in your posts (and now your work) that men display a sex drive that causes them to make inscrutable choices. Do you see that? Or is it just me?

It's demonstrably true, mind you. Just wondered if there's a story there or any validity to what I'm seeing.

Sorry Jay, I don't quite understand your question, what kind of choices do you mean? Can you just expand just a little further as it sounds very interesting.

By choices I just mean their behavoir, their conduct. The sex-driven animal theme. It's unmistakably there as a recurring theme of yours, in my view. I just wondered if it was conscious, and there's a story, or if it's just the normal fare. (After all, it's not an unusual idea).

Ahhhhhh! Now I think I understand (LOL)

Well, to put both images into context:
The Herne the Hatstand character was making a guest appearance in a story dealing with what you might call "the dark side" of masculinity and specifically concerning that adversarial "tribal" scene (i.e. rival gangs football teams etc) that so many (especially young) men get into. Not about sex at all.

The other piece is from a mildly erotic werewolf story inspired by "O fortuna" (from Carmina Burana - the bit they used for the old spice ad) and dealing with ideas of fate, foreknowledge, predestination and karma. So far as I am concerned the sexual nature of both images is (co-)incidental to the story and is probably more of a comment on my own sexuality than anyone elses.

For the record although I am often (naively) surprised at the extent to which men allow their nether regions to do their thinking for them. I actively oppose the idea that men are just slaves to their own sexual impulses - such a convenient (and socially endorsed ) excuse for doing what you want to regardless.

Does that make sense to you?

Completely, and I agree wholeheartedly, both with the descriptive and normative aspects of the observation.

"Rutting stags," nothing to do with sex, eh? I must need to elevate my mind a bit.

I believe the sex drive is the line that best delineates and highlights our two natures -- that which is predestined "cause and effect" (the mere interactions of many molecules) and that which suggests something else, something which transcends chemistry and can be self-causing.

I felt impelled to dust off and put on my drawing head today.
Just a scrappy little sketch - but - another human/animal hybrid ?!

I'm beginning to think Ian may have a point!

Cool - I like the intensity in the face