Showing posts with label comics online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comics online. Show all posts

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Weird Drawings Alternative Comics



Another long day at the drawing board, here's one of several panels I worked on today, must sleep, will post the rest tomorrow., I was trying to draw  an opening shot for my imagination cartoon series when suddenly I had a 7 panel montage explaining the city and it's tribulations. One day turns into two then three, multiplying uncontrollably, and so do the drawings.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Weird Stories Weekly Webcomics!

HEY APATHY! Free Webcomics

After a grueling battle and brief moment’s recuperation, the two weird assistants finally replace the dreaded banker. Really late finishing last week’s comic for various reasons that I need not share. At any rate, I went ahead and finished the next few pages to make up for it, promising to be on time for the next few weeks at least. More Comic Book Art

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Alternative Comics Commissioned Editorial Cartoons


The team from before time … Artworks for Rajeev Mullick’s hockey website. I don’t do much commissioned work and never do commercial gigs but when I met Rajeev he asked me if I could draw some cosmic hockey players and some weird stuff for his site that is not only a celebration of, but a warning against, the massive monster known as sports. Rajeev does all sorts of weird stuff from interviews with NHL players and legends to random poetic musings about the psychological effects of the game. It is turning into an interesting project. See some of my other commissioned artworks here.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Weird Tales and Online Comics




A monstrous plant, an elevated city, the amorphous glob macroverse all merely precursors to the penultimate alien invasion!!! Read the 13 Stories, Forbidden tales of the impending apocalypse! Or at least enjoy the illustrations. I still haven’t edited the stories yet and things are pretty messy over there. Nevertheless it was necessary, as part of my new years website clean-up, to make some adjustments and take the stories out of the NEW WORKS section and give them a page of there own. As if I didn’t already have enough on my plate as it is. Well you just go wherever the inspiration takes you and I really enjoyed re-presenting these weird tales online over the past few days, plus I’m not one to leave things unfinished. Feeling a little bit of computer-burn out after hours of posting put was really digging the new calligraphy and illuminated text so I figured I’d share it here too. New WebcomicsTomorrow

Thursday, January 13, 2011

If only I needn't sleep, Alternative Comics and Animations in progress ...


Spent the better part of today working on the webcomic, probably the most fulfilling of all my chores. I I don’t know but there is something really fun and rewarding in creating panel to panel narrations. I also did a bit of work on the “Faces” ink drawings (above). These are just quick studies I’ve been doing when I haven’t got much time for other projects. This usually occurs in the time between meetings and at the end of the day when I want to wind down after concentrating on the bigger projects for extended durations. It is the end of one such duration that I am approaching now. Although I still have some scripting for the kids cartoon, and piles of hand-drawn animation to get done,  I am exhausted and am going to scribble only a little more before I call it a night.  MORE DRAWINGS 


Thursday, January 6, 2011

Fast Food, High Speed, Low Life


Slouching over my drawing table with a grumbling stomach I worked through all the ink I’d poured out before noticing the late hour. It had been nearly ten hours since I’d boiled the first pot of coffee and a conglomeration of little lines was amassing on the page. The creative process can often be addictive and even more so under the duress of deadlines. I stood up for a stretch and was thinking about pouring more ink when the hunger manifested tenfold. There was no point to continue, I had to have food.



The dishes were done and the kitchen was prepared, I even had almost everything that I’d need for a good meal. However I felt rather put off when inspecting the cupboard. It wasn’t the metallic tinge of the canned goods, or even the stern warnings from the media against milk. No I simply didn’t feel inclined to the task of making up the food. Suddenly, as though the theatre had just darkened, I was struck by a loud flashing neon advertisement and a head full of loud noise. I recalled seeing my neighbors carrying home take-away sandwiches and knew that the counter was open late at night.



I’d only ten dollars in cash, meant for tomorrow’s grocery, but I figured on treating myself justifying the act knowing the sandwich would get me back to work. I left the house quietly so as to not awake Julii and was out and back with the goods within a matter of minutes. Standing on the front porch I reached casually in my pockets when I noticed that I’d forgotten my key.



These things happen when you are starving at 3 in the morning; nevertheless the doorman would let me in. Much to my surprise he was not at his post. I pondered my next step for a moment before the attendant returned. My sigh of relief was cut short by a moments terror for the face was unrecognizable, this was a new night watchman! My courtesy thwarted I had no choice but to call up Julii. I picked the cell phone from my coats lining and turned the it on.



Beep. The battery died so I walked over to the buzzer. All the codes and names on the directory were either faded or out of date. For the first time I realized that I didn’t know our own code. Not to worry, I thought, there is a payphone around the corner.Though it was working, and I had some quarters I drew a blank at the dial. I did not know the number. On my cell the number is programmed and I always just press 1.



By now I was starving so I sat on the bench by the entrance and devoured my sandwich. Although well seasoned and relatively delicious, I felt full but hardly revived or re-nourished. The empty card board calories and seeping sweet sauces did little or nothing to improve my famished state. There was nothing left to do but to wait and hope that someone I know passes in or out of the building. At three o’clock on a Wednesday the chances were slim.



The night was getting colder and the snow was blowing around when I finally notice a car pulling up. Finally an opportunity, I’ll follow them in. I no longer cared if I knew the tenants or not I would casually stroll up and follow them politely back in. Sure I looked a little rough after wandering around in the cold, but I had every right to be in the building and would hardly arouse any suspicion. The lights of the car beamed brightly on the drive so I sat patiently in order to time the move well.



It would be vital that I approached at exactly the right moment in order to catch the door. If I arrived too early I’d appear odd without keys, and if I was too late, well then back to the snow. The lights grew closer and I took a deep calming breath. In my mind I was already inside, nothing could go wrong.



The car lights flashed across the entrance window and the vehicle began to slow. It pulled right up to the door and I stood up timely ready for the approach. Then the most dreaded thing happened as the car neglected to stop. The lights moved passed the entrance and shone luminescent on the wall. They appeared like the eyes of an owl scowling the area in search of prey. The car turned slowly until the lights hit my face. Nearly blinded and completely surprised I stood frozen by the bench. The lights stopped dead in my direction a the doors of the car swung open. “Freeze, this is the Police, please identify yourself.” It appeared as though the new security guard had taken notice of my presence and was very nearly likely as bit of a go-getter. The last thing I remember was a spine tinkling shock-like sensation which turned my joints into jelly and set me into a fit hysterical laughter. In my mind I could visual my identification papers sitting on the desk upstairs just beside the door. My keys are probably there too but that is of little consequence, at least I won’t be sleeping out side tonight!  HEYAPATHY pen and ink artworks.


Sunday, January 2, 2011

Surreal Artist Pen & Ink, Comics And Animation

HEY APATHY! Free Comics Online

Like most people living similar lives to my own, the past few weeks have been extremely busy. The Christmas holidays have come and gone and the New Year began without any notable incidents. I have remained as productive as one might while flinging myself from dinner to dinner at all ends of the city. I do not like shopping or travelling during the busiest time of the year but I really enjoy getting together with family and had the most delightful time seeing my new niece and playing with my 2 year old nephew. There are some troubles at home with my aging ailing uncle but otherwise all is well and everybody else was happy and healthy. Nevertheless, as an avid workaholic, I am excited to get into some uninterrupted time drawing in the studio.



During the festive frenzy I managed to finish last weeks webcomic ( on time for once!) and I went on ahead and finished next weeks installment as well. I also got some concept sketches done for a kid’s cartoon show and a few of these surreal face pen and ink illustrations (above). The animation, on the other hand, got put aside before Christmas because it requires too much concentration and I didn’t want to botch it. Tomorrow I have a couple of business meetings so I think I have to wait until Tuesday before the cartoon gets going again. I finally got a camera (thanks Dad!) so I’ll add some animation process shots to here when I start production again. SEE MORE ART HEY APATHY

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Android Apps Maximize Real Estate.


A modern portrait of a romantic robotic serenade taking place on an invisible couch in an invisible room. Despite the apparently barren interior the all of life’s little pleasures and necessities are available with the aid three small devices: A nourishment technology, a communication and business notebook and the socializer machine. While all of this is amazing, the MAKING TECH PERFECT corp. has plans for including not only all of the aforementioned applications, but the user him/herself into a thumbnail sized cellular phone in time for next years holiday boom.

 
This drawing was actually inspired by a more positive and interesting occurrence from my daily life. For years now I’ve been taking part in weekly jam sessions with a group off avant-garde musicians. Although primarily recreational, we have been able to incorporate some of our musical experimentations into my animations and live performance art. One of the musicians, Hunter Vaughan, has been carrying this huge bag of percussive instruments, flutes and calimba’s to every practice. However a week or two ago he showed up with nothing but a couple of iphones with all sorts of new music apps. With the exception of the flute, almost every sound he once made with shakers, blocks and vibes, were now coming out of the phone. Surprisingly it worked really well and  Hunter doesn’t have to deal with 60 pounds worth of gear. Still I don’t see a total replacement of acoustic instruments happening in our jams but the combination is certainly worth exploring. At any rate the new phone apps got me thinking about space and scribbling about robots in this weird post-Bradbury ink stained nightmare. See more Pen and Ink Drawings.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Pen and Ink Illustration "Holiday Crowds"



Stomping feet dressed in red and black casually filled the downtown core on this fine Boxing Day 2010. The bright sun and absent winds helped to combat the brisk winter temperatures and the city came sort of alive with tones of bargain hunting suburbanites. I am not really a shopper, and tend to avoid crowds unless I’m performing, so I had no reason to partake in the bizarre commercial energies flowing through out the city. However the seasonably beautiful weather compelled me to take a stroll and since I’d no personal involvement, I thought it might be interesting to observe the crowds. It’s a lot less stressful when you aren’t worried about you dream product being out of stock or wondering if you have spent enough money in order to save on the deals.



The majority of the city was as quiet as any cold winter Sunday. Kensington was almost closed and Chinatown was barren. Nevertheless when I got down to the main strip there were people in every direction, even some line-ups in front of stores. The crowds consisted mostly of young people all giggling and struggled with hands full of purchases. There was some family activity but mostly teen shopping. Luckily it was cold enough to slow things compared to years gone by, but nice enough to pack the streets to a comfortable capacity.There was a free and friendly stream of pedestrian traffic. Oddly enough I saw  a great deal of festive red colors popping out from all the drab black and dark browns Toronto is accustomed to. It was a joyful and courteous mob, and I was very pleased to see so many happy humans. The sun in our faces and not in front of computer screens, in fact I don’t even recall seeing any cell phones, the peoples were shopping in groups.


The majority of the city was as quiet as any cold winter Sunday. Kensington was almost closed and Chinatown was barren. Nevertheless when I got down to the main strip there were people in every direction, even some line-ups in front of stores. The crowds consisted mostly of young people all giggling and struggled with hands full of purchases. There was some family activity but mostly teen shopping. Luckily it was cold enough to slow things compared to years gone by, but nice enough to pack the streets to a comfortable capacity.There was a free and friendly stream of pedestrian traffic. Oddly enough I saw a great deal of festive red colors popping out from all the drab black and dark browns Toronto is accustomed to. It was a joyful and courteous mob, and I was very pleased to see so many happy humans. The sun in our faces and not in front of computer screens, in fact I don’t even recall seeing any cell phones, the jolly peoples were shopping in groups.




It made me temporarily hopeful to see such kind human spirits. It’s a shame it is only a euphoric reaction to their gluttonous expenditures and pre-programmed inclinations towards fulfilling manufactured desires through the perpetual purchasing of useless, damaging and utterly ridiculous things. The quick sketch above was inspired by my anthropological wanderings and born out of guilt because I didn’t actually do any real work today. Read the Webcomics!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Free Weekly Comics Online! Page 11


Two unusual character’s dressed in surgical garments have been sneaking around replacing denizens with laboratory-made duplicates. In this segment, “The Banker” the strange assistants face their fiercest foe to date. Follow the surreal art misadventures every week as both the  audience and the author try to figure out what the hell is going on. READ THE WEBCOMIC!


I drew some of this pen and ink comic page on the train while travelling to my parents for the holidays. Not the most ideal place for a perspective interior rendering, or really any kind of drawing at all, so the page ended up kind of muddled. I really wanted to pay more attention to the line work, hoping to improve on last week’s image but kind of ruined my chances with the rush job on the bumpy track. I doubt anyone would even notice if I didn't mention it, but the dark planter on the right hade side, second panel, used to have all sorts of little details until I smudged the whole thing suddenly at a railway stop. Oh well there is always next week! HEY APATHY!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

The City of Gears Kids Comics Online

HEY APATHY! Comics Online!

Maybe today was one for dreaming, but something about the holiday season, and in particular my 2year old nephew, has got me thinking a little more about comics for kids. As a public performer I have been interested in communicating to both the intellectual and younger viewers. Prior to my street and festival interventions, the artwork had a tendency towards a bleakness and horror much more nihilistic than the playful monstrosities I draw today. The last time I made something that was really geared towards younger audiences would have to be HEY APATHY! Book Two. While Book One, using superhero type imagery to tell a silent and symbolic parable, is vary borderline and can likely be appreciated by all audiences, Book Two was modeled after kid’s comics and cartoons. This sort of story telling might alienate “artsy” audiences (one artbook publisher laughed at me for making kid’s books) but they are not nearly as interesting or exciting as kids are anyways.



A little time before making the Samurai Comic (Book 2), I scripted and sketched out a children’s book entitled “The Sound of the City” based on one of my ink drawings of the same name. Although I haven’t gotten around to working on it yet, the script keeps making its way to the top of my pile of things to do and is really tempting. I think this book will happen soon.



Yesterday I did some drawings for my nephew. He likes to tell me what the pictures are,” Fish! Truck! Mommy!” and so on. It is really fun. These scribbles got me thinking and I decided to give a quick whirl at designing a “HEY APATHY!” kids cartoon. I did the sketch (above) in about a half an hour during which time I pretty much sorted out all the details. To make a long story short, these superheroes are basically vigilante law enforcement in the over-industrialized imaginary City of Gears. The city is on the brink of annihilation, though the denizens don’t realize it and the team has to fight various evils villains trying to destroy the metropolis. Sounds dull I know, but I was inclined to approach this as though it were a real show. This means within a set of rules and formulae. The fun will be in the symbolic narratives which I are festering in my sick mind.



The team consists of two kids, an artist and a book-worm computer whiz, a superhero, the old wise one, a female adult with musical magic, Audu & Jungle Cat (from Book Two). They have a giant robot which, once a diabolical business drone, has been reprogrammed for the better of mankind. The Robot is a key representation of the necessity to use, and not combat, technology despite all the inappropriate programming. The MachineHead corporate villain is continually trying to over-do consumption frequently threatening the well being of the city. Lastly the heroes know that they can not disturb the flow of the city for fear of chaos and must work entirely in secret. Blah Blah. Anyways I’m having fun with this today. I think I’ll flesh it out with some more drawings the next time I have free time. I think it would be cool ( and likely wise) to have a whole television series worked out. You never know when  opportunity might arrive and more importantly this is  just something I always wanted to do. READ WEBCOMICS!



Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Comic Drawings for Kids


HEY APATHY! COMICS ONLINE

Another busy day at the animation stand. Strange week this is leading up to the holidays. I’ve had a bit of human things to do, such as brunch with the family, some gift making and a small amount of shopping. The drawings posted here are for my 2 year old nephew Darroch.  He get’s a kick out of identifying the things in the pictures. These will get cut out and scattered throughout his gifts. Nevertheless I maintained a solid work schedule and should get a lot more done before I start touring dinner parties for the festive season. So far I made 110 animation stills as well as  a bit of drawing done with the goal of making it to 150 and finishing the weekly webcomic before Christmas. Otherwise the primordial vascular and clawed limbs protruding from beneath my bed at night have not been able to find me when I am under the covers and I think the cat has figured out a way to get rid of them. Life is good. VISIT HEY APATHY.COM

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Android Man -Comics Online

HEY APATHY! COMICS ONLINE

This may sound odd to many people, especially to younger audiences, not that I’m old or anything it just happens. Suddenly most of your hair is gone and what is left is grey, you get tired and can’t move so well on rainy days. Without warning all the new music and movies seem stupid but it doesn’t matter because you can’t remember them anyways. You also begin noticing that supernal luster of life and vitality in the skin of the young though you’ve no memory of such a glow in your own youth. But here I go jabbering like the old fool I’d sworn never to be! What I meant to say is most of you might find this strange, being accustomed to such things, but I have finally become an android.




For the better part of my long life I have earned an honest living as landscape painter. As you can imagine most of my time was spent outdoors. I passed hours messing with thick paints on some of the world’s most striking hillsides. Many of these subjects were quite isolated but frequent trips to towns and cities kept me satisfied for both supplies and socialization. One of my favorite excursions was to the artist’s district where I used to have professional slide photography taken while I mingled with the creative denizens of the west side lofts.



After the travel friendly season of sketching and experimentation was completed I’d return to the metropolis to hold up in studio for the winter. In the middle of the city it was easy to get around regardless of weather and the frequent trips about kept me in touch with reality until the bright spring time sun returned. This lifestyle suited me for a long time and the probabilities of anything else seemed nil.



Again, sounds silly doesn’t it? I mean we all know there aren’t any landscapes anymore. Nevertheless after the forests were all gone business actually improved rather drastically. People longed for nature scenes and even though I couldn’t actually visit them anymore, I didn’t really have the time anyways. The paintings sold for what ever I asked and as often as I felt inspired. Soon the business was at such a pace that I started having my supplies and groceries delivered. With seldom a break nearly six months had past and I never set foot outside my building.



After the extended period I completed enough of the work for an exhibition. I got very excited about the event because it meant going down to the old artist district for some slides and a few pints. However when I called in for an appointment I was told the lofts had all closed. My art dealer told me it didn’t matter and sent me a small camera to do the shots myself. He said he’d come around to gather him but on the date he was expected I received a package from him instead. Inside was a computer and instructions on how to email him the photos. So I did and that was that.



Some time passed and I continued working alone and indoors when one day I received a phone call. It was an automated message from my dealer requesting that I mail him a signed copy of certain form I’d find in my email. I then realized that I didn’t have a printer and finally had an excuse to leave the house. I got dressed and strolled down to the nearest internet café. I thought about how this would be a nice part of my routine. I’ll go for a walk and a coffee any time that I need something printed. When I got to the café it was closing, they said business wasn’t any good. The movers handed me a free printer and continued to clean out the shop.



Some more time passed before I received further news from my agent. This time he’d struck a deal to mass produce prints of the art. I was instructed to do away with my painterly materials and given a state of the art drawing tablet in their place. All of the work is now done directly in the machine.



Still business is booming and all I ever have to do is paint. There was a time when this would have been a dream come true but the repetition and isolation is growing wearisome. I thought that maybe I’d go seem a movie or peruse the local book shop. I might entertainment shipped me another device. This time it was a smaller computer designed exclusively for reading books. While I examined the thin and foreign object, he set up a “stream” on my desktop (from his remote location) which endlessly plays movies. Now I never have to go out.



It is absolutely incredible all these machine around my chair. I can access anything I want or need to within a 3 foot squared space. All my business, all my pleasures, all my necessities, available in this tiny room. I know it all seem so normal to most, but to me it has been sudden and strange. One minute I was standing in nature’s open valley and the next in an electronic world. I realize I am now an android; a prisoner … at least the landscape business has never been so damn profitable.


Monday, December 13, 2010

Strange Stories - The Deceptive Window


HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics & Art

My miniscule and angular apartment boasts no luxurious features and has only one small window overlooking the outside world. The window is exactly 2 feet 8 inches wide by 3 feet and 6 inches tall except for when it is not. Sometimes the window is much smaller though it has never been any larger than it appears. The varying size of the portal is however manageable and of little concern. The truly disconcerting qualities, the sensations of uneasiness and disorientation, are coming from the things I see on the other side.


The view is a clear and basic one, facing an empty skyline with few buildings or really anything at all. Oddly enough I am located in the heart of the big city, surrounded by corporate skyscrapers, condominiums, clubs, restaurants and malls, yet the placement and dimensions of the window have left me staring at an empty sky. There is however the top of a maple and a grouping of electric wires. At night the moon sits in the corner but the sun herself never passes me by. As such the scenery offers little more in it’s usefulness than a representation of seasons and possibly the weather.

The particular alignment of the buildings facade in conjunction with the sloped major road ways and metropolitan tower labyrinths has obscured not only my vision by the ability to listen too. With one of the few open passages amidst the entire urban landscape, the window sits directly in the center of a strange wind tunnel. The gusts travel to and from all ends of the city carrying unusual signals in uncertain waves. The sounds, combined with the rumbling from traffic below, sing through the apartment but bear no semblance to sense. It may sound like a massive parade going on but when I’d inspected, the street were all bare. Sometimes crystal clear conversations take place in this room and on other occasions I could’ve sworn my neighbors were partying excessively. Of course in each of these cases, the noisy culprits were only riding the winds.


Like the sonics it carries, the winds also move deceptively around. Often dancing with the tree just outside as well as stomping throughout my room. The patterns are so erratic that once with a swoosh I’d been blown off my chair. In another instant I battled with a pounding rainfall only to find a mere drizzle occurring outdoors. The opposite is also quite ordinary and days that appear still and beautiful turn out to be frozen by storms. Occasionally the window properly predicted the true conditions, but only often enough to keep me confused.


Even at this very moment things appear quite and the sun is shining. There is little noise and no winds blowing, even the tips of the tree are standing still. No, I won’t be fooled this time, I can see that misty stream of smoke. It is almost invisibly faded, yet most certainly there. That opaque smoke is from a furnace, and the speed with which it vanished must mean angry northern currents. I’ll stay here where it’s warm and cozy, but what if I’m wrong? What if it is s beautiful day? Maybe the streets are paved with music or spring blossoms and I am in here, trapped indoors? You never really can tell from this window. At least there is one thing certain in all this trickery and that is that the window always wins. No matter how I examine or analyze the situation, it incites in me an inspiration to get up, dressed, and outside to gaze firsthand into a world in which one never knows.


Don't forget your weekly dose of surreal art comics! New webcomics every week!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Eyes in the Sky - Diaries of a Dead Man






Though my limbs continue to sway, it is only the conglomeration of larvae and vermin scurrying beneath my flesh which keep this body in motion. Once a young and hope filled enthusiast, I threw myself into a world of optimistic activism. In this world every action, thought and deed was designed to satisfy an overwhelming concern and impulsive revolt which had permeated throughout my logic. I couldn’t understand existence but could see how a few simple changes, like a strategic twist of a rubix’s cube, would bring the whole thing together. So I fought the good fight in every respect. From the simplest of gestures to the most elaborate of affairs every move I ever made was a plea for change and an educated attempt to incite such occurrences.


For years my struggles went unimpeded. Each new season brought new success and the movement I’d become a part of grew stronger. Although at this point I see little reason in preaching of the various methods and means through which we’d achieved such successes, I will mention that the numerous enterprises involved had assimilated many of the techniques invented by our consumerist opponents. We had discovered a means of production and promotion equally as profitable yet completely void of all the manipulative and damaging aspects associated with commercial ventures. Absolutely no hazardous materials, inhumane labor conditions or corrosive advertising were ever implemented yet still our products flourished. As a result the project began to attract attention from a multitude of investor’s, producers, agents, Hollywood stars, writers and critics. A mainstream breakthrough was undoubtedly on our horizon. However time and again, the outside interests proved detrimental, forcing us to abandon seemingly endless avenues of opportunity to avoid the risk of turning into the very thing we despised.


All of this, of course, was to be expected and frustrated us little. We’d been fortunate enough to find smaller opportunities in abundance and were never truly tempted by manufactured success. Do not misunderstand this, for our mission depends on mass communication and every possibility was examined to the fullest. However at the first hint of corruption all negotiations ceased. It was through this process that we were able to discover many people in favorable positions who were not only willing to assist, but truly believed in the cause. So it stood that, around the winter of my fifth year in the organization, things were going according to both or plans and ambitions.


It was a late November evening that I decided to go for a stroll. I had completed a lucrative summer schedule and was nearly prepared for the upcoming winter event. This “event” through not necessarily crucial, was definitely a pinnacle accomplishment in the progression of my work. I was confident and pleased, knowing full well the potential advancements that this particular project might incite. It was by far the most intricate and intelligibly developed of all our attempts. I felt a plausibly invincible and had little fear of any complications. As I wandered the streets filled with decorative lights and shopping hordes, a sudden tingling inspiration struck me not unlike a mild euphoric shock. .All of the hairs on my neck stood up in attention as I stood on the walkway in unexplicable awe and excitement.




Now before I continue it is important to understand a little more about my personal beliefs. I am not a spiritual or religious person in any right. I do not believe in the supernatural, fate, unicorns, honest politicians, Santa Claus or pop music. In fact it has been a particular devotion to logic and reason which has propelled this mission to unfathomable heights. Yes, the things I have been striving for are not unlike those taught with such emptiness by people who claim to be godly (or in the service of deities by any other name). However those of us involved are motivated only by the world we live in, the quality of life and our children, not by any other worldly rewards or punishments.



So there I was a devout atheist, anti-spiritualist, ultimate-realist with little imagination for intangible apparitions, standing in the middle of a glistening windy metropolitan street. Struck by this inspiration, I looked up to the sky and impulsively posed a question unlike any I’d ever considered before. My thoughts ran as thus “If there is something out there watching over us, whatever you are, I wanted to say that this place is a real mess. I’ve done my best to fix things down here and well if you give me a voice I will use it to help.”




I didn’t have time to analyze the absurdity of my thoughts before the sky opened up strange above me. There, as if superimposed between the opaque clouds and glossy sky, appeared two giant red eyes. They were not those of a feline or serpent, but they were not human either. The eyes closed and faded instantly, almost as if I never saw them. Yet in that brief second the mocking glance had, like all eyes do everywhere, told me a story. The eyes were laughing and had said something like ‘boy have you got it wrong, this is not a world for those who’d help, this is the playground of evil. As long as you follow the subservient laws, you are destined to a life of suffering and torture.” I couldn’t hear, nor visualize the castrating cachinnation bellowed by the beast but believe me I felt it. Beyond embarrassment, beyond humiliation, beyond hope, it was like starring in the mirror only to realize that you don’t look anything like you did in any of your dreams or memories.




I tried to put the experience aside and thought very little of it at the time. Even to this day I believe the vision was nothing more than an idle thought which found it’s profanity in my excited exhaustion. Not even for a moment have I accepted the hallucination for anything more than that, yet something terrible has been growing inside me ever since that weird walk. At first it manifested quite slowly like some terribly acidic consumption easily mistakable as some physical ailment. However this repulsive hollowness thwarting my innards soon spread throughout my veins. The perpetually evolving sensation now inhibits my entire being.





A record snowstorm hit the city shortly after the aforementioned incident. This terrible storm hit hard annihilating our winter event. Not only did the snow shun our attendance and shut our doors, but an accident involving several of our transport trucks all but destroyed any hope quick recovery. The winter that followed was plagued by destitution and the mission failed to progress until late the next spring. By that time I was able to recoup to some extent, but had become restrictively ill after a long and poverty stricken winter.



To make matters worse another company moved in on our market, only they were not doing it right. Though they had plagiarized our public appearance and boasted our ideologies for promotional purposes, the competitors were still producing products in an unredeemable fashion. In essence they had staked a claim to all of our innovations but were in fact still selling cheap sweatshop plastics. Before long that company started exploiting the corporate and media relations we had been forced to reject. Within a matter of minutes they had risen to international acclaim using our titles and image whilst belittling all our ideals. Broken by fatigue and corrupted by a despairing stomach I began to lose initiative and shortly thereafter resigned from the revolt.





I’ve spent years now wandering and the world seems perpetually worse. All of the different old buildings are gone and the new ones appearing are organized. I can no longer stomach the sound of new music and even in starvation I can’t find anything of value to eat. Sometimes I muster enough energy to read, but here there is nothing that can rekindle my once passionate pursuits. No, despite all my efforts and foremost ideas, the wound inflicted upon me that November night was a fatal one. My life ended there and then. Still the maggots and rats push me about and around; feeding on meats and seasoned remorse, but do not let these movements fool you, I am merely a staggering carcass. These routines, my remains, all the ruins, are nothing except fitting, for this is truly the world of dead men.





more stories

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Hey Apathy! T-Shirts

Hey Apathy! T-Shirts for $20. Just a reminder that everyone should probably buy a surreal decapitation for their loved ones this holiday season.

Monday, November 8, 2010

HEY APATHY! a brief article about comics, kids and the apocalypse ( my life's work)

HEY APATHY! SURREAL ART

“HEY APATHY!” is an ongoing artistic investigation into the city , people, nature, technology and the overall mechanics of being. In the initial ink drawings the metropolis is revealed as an ominous gear propelled by an endless sea of faceless denizens. In more recent artworks, the city remains a giant gear, only now it is all the different kinds of people, not anonymous cogs, who fuel the machine. In order to achieve such realisations I developed a particular artists process involving public interventions, gallery exhibitions, street performances and ultimately new media installations. Through this combination of fine artworks, interventions, merchandising, and multi-media technology, I have created an extended narrative analysis of life in the city in the hopes of inciting dialogue and initiating change. For my next project I intend to express the unique findings of my anthropological experiments through the creation of a multi-screen, hand drawn animation designed for installation at the Urban Space Gallery, (401 Richmond Street. Toronto Ont.) The importance of this artwork will be examined through a brief analysis of my overall artistic initiatives, the technical relevance, and cultural significance of the proposed artwork.




In pursuit of edification, “HEY APATHY!“ aims to develop artworks of social importance as a vehicle for instigating mass dialogue. When I started the project (2001) I used to represent the city as a lifeless entity corrupted by alienation, anonymity, and misdirected commercial ideologies.. At this time I was working out of the seclusion of a suburban basement studio and came to the conclusion that in order to best understand the phenomena in question it would be necessary to externalize my inquires. The plan being to immerse both the artworks and myself publicly in an attempt to answer the questions: “WHAT IS THE CITY?” , “WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE?” and “WHERE DO I FIT IN?“. I have since executed this “Unconventional Interview” through numerous public exhibitions, street art performances, outdoor projections, and wall murals. These interventions have permitted me to meet and converse with thousands of people from all over the world, and of all walks of life. As a result the investigation has led to increasingly intricate discoveries about architecture and others, and ultimately more accessible artworks such as comics, merchandising and animations. Today the experiment is primarily concerned with the creation of drawings that are simultaneously intellectually provocative as well as accessible to younger audiences.





Throughout the entire project, a trend of increasingly accessible, public , and multi-media presentations has evolved. In order to communicate to on a broad scale my investigation consists of live performances, print publications, and new media projects with an emphasis on public interventions and exhibitions.
For the proposed media arts installation I intend to extend my combination of art and popular culture, by creating a unique and socially significant animated artwork. The hand-drawn animation will be presented as loop or “Living Painting” on a large format flat-screen , exclusively designed for exhibition at the Urban Space Public Gallery (see C2 for details). The technical process will differ drastically from the “Cell” or “After-Effects” industry standard. Using the research, craftsmanship, and methods of presentation associated with fine artworks, I will assimilate the popular technology necessary to discuss humanist topics of great concern by means of an abstract , yet accessible, animated language.





A fine balance of global issues and playful optimism is apparent in all of my artworks, an invaluable technique in the alchemy of connecting with both the public and the intellectual. In this constituently technological age, it has become second nature for the artist to adopt, infiltrate and subvert the mainstream. To an artist interested in mass communication, the probabilities of new media exploration facilitate necessity. The proposed animation will critique and subvert popular media, compare, contrast, and combine classical and commercial art forms, and most importantly, invite younger audiences into an alternative stream of communication. Potentially a pinnacle achievement in my aggressive attempt to reconfigure pop, art, technology, and self.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Alternative Comics Halloween Masks ...


 WHEN THE MASKS COME OFF

It's almost time for all the witches,
wolves and creeps to show their faces.
With each rising and racing moon,
more and more people are revealed as ghastly ghouls,
Come the Sabbath, 
and all it's holy praises.
 Landing late in the week this year,
 the gathering has excuse to begin early,
so the streets are half transformed with fear
 and will be worse for the better in mourning.
 After a full and busy and proper life,
 suffocating behind masks,
we finally have a call to breath,
for the children have all crashed.
 Fallen from sweet toxins
they are all out like the light,
 so no one will be the wiser
when the masks come off tonight.

Also check out the latest WEEKLY WEBCOMICS! (which are not written in ryhme, sorry can't explain?) 

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Alternative WEBCOMICS The Improbably Shrinking Woman ...



An unassuming office working's daily routines incite a perpetual reduction in her size and psyche! Part of the Surreal Comics Chapter 1 "The Replacements!" in which a group of people of various sociological positions are strategically and systematically replaced. New pages every Friday! You can also read Book 1 and 2 in the  online comics section of my site.