If you follow your imagination and some ink into deep space who knows what you’ll see.
Alien spacecraft approaching… Mechanica… Organica… and a Z.
We’re doomed!
I can’t forget the original ink. It could be an artifact of a bygone era by 3030.
Related Mechanical Organical Spacecraft:
“For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast.” ~ Lord Byron
This is another spacecraft hybridization of the mechanic and the organic and what I call a mechanical organical. The triangular cluster of dots to the left of the craft echoes my own encounter with a genuine UFO. Those three dots used to appear in a lot of my drawings, sort of a signature of mine. I’ll tell you the whole story another time.
The piece was also inspired in part by one of my favorite anime series: Neon Genesis Evangelion. Some of those Angels look almost like spaceships.
I was pretty blatant in establishing the mechanic-organic duality. I tried to use organic shapes on the left of the ship and more mechanic one’s on the right. There are even branches, veins and even leaf-like structures growing out of the left side and trailing arm tentacles like a jelly fish’s ready to stun anything foolish enough to drift in its wake.
One of my process drawings gave off more of a Death Angel Baby than a fully matured Angel of Death.
I continued to experiment and so developed its darker and more sinister Papa.
You might remember the old Passover story about the Angel of Death “passing over” the first born children of the Israelites thanks to the blood of a lamb painted across their doors. I’ll tell you one thing, this one ain’t passing over no one. An indiscriminate executioner!
Related Mechanical Organical Spacecraft:
“I’ve tasted the maggots of the mind of the universe. I was not offended…” ~ Funkadelic
So what is today’s sketch all about? Hmmmmm……. Should I tell them the truth? It’s a Hummingbird. Yup , a hummingbird, tick, maggot brain burrowing through the crevices of hyper-dimensional surfaces in the all mysterious holographic infinity of the multiverse. It’s actually a spaceship: a mechanical organical. This spaceship can and has traversed through the Alpha and Omega…. It’s seen the Yin and the Yang, the bang at the beginning and the crunch at the end, the event at the horizon, Buddha’s fingertips like dark matter monoliths holding up the universe…..the place that tongue can’t tell.
The spaceship has also burrowed trans-dimensionally through each and every pocket and layer of the under and over worlds. Hummmmmed through every spectrum of frequencies, leisurely crossed an Einstein-Rosen bridge and seen that cool spiraling light show in galactic time. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve hopped hyperdemensionally through pockets bounded with surfaces of time. Jay’s SPaceShip travels through what I would like to call the bleed and it has taken notes….and some doodles….
Sci-fi enough for y’ah? Are you entangled in this quantum state? I’m sure you could figure out what I’m talking about if you’re willing to go there……. Anyway, I want to to talk you people out there….. Who is watching Lost?…. Love that show!
What’s the deal? Can we start a discussion on my website? Can we find some cyberpunks, anybody on the web to throw some comments out there? This corner of the cyberspace is waiting already. What the F#@%k?….. What does it all mean?…… Say whatever you want, just comment. Say something cool. Have fun. Say something that’ll inspire me, you, or anybody to draw or paint something…..Talk about whatever you want. Are you ready to jump on this rocket ship?! We’re all going interstellar…… If you’re ready……. it’s time to Be Free Create and Grow Roots. I have a secret plan tentatively called the Community Art Project 1.0. Watch out for details.
Your neighborhood friendly artist Jay Zuckerman signing off till next time and leaving you with one of my favorite songs of all time….. Maggot Brain!
Interstellar Posts:
“Space flights are merely an escape, a fleeing away from oneself, because it is easier to go to Mars or to the moon than it is to penetrate one’s own being” ~ Carl Jung
What reminds you the most of home? Maybe it’s smell? Anybody by chance, know what Mars smells like?
The fact is that once you leave home, often there is no going back. It is funny how far the heart drifts in the great expanse. You gotta be that rollin’ stone and put on that smilin’ face. Like the Joker said, “Why so serious?” Speaking of which where did I put my happy face pin? I think I lost mine in the theaters watching the Watchmen.
Ralph’s happy face emblazoned on his suit, I envisioned as a kind of an overly optimistic and happy A.I. that always puts a positive spin on any dire event in a hostile universe. I was thinking along the lines of a high-tech version of Wilson from the movie Cast Away. Pardon me on my third popular movie reference, but I still got one more for y’ah.
They say Forest Gump invented the smiley face or so Robert Zemeckis would have you believe, but it is totally intergalactic and yes, I just threw that out there. Come to think of it, Carl Jung must have totally taken over a small corner of my brain since he also said something about explaining the “symbol” (i.e. retro smiley face) as if you were a man from Mars.
Hope you like the new sketch. I drew it back at my old home. It kept me company on a real late night contemplating how things are never the same and yet there’s no place like home. Ohmmmmmmm…… why don’t you meditate on a little Bob Dylan now……
E.T. Phone Home:
You still here? Bless your heart! I’ve been thinking about tweeting or putting out facebook status updates with little iPhone snap shots of process work. I was even meaning to put this up to tease this post. Here’s the test and don’t forget to connect with me on twitter @SimianZ for future peaks of Martians and otherwise.
This creature is an alien in the spirit of that benevolent trickster spirit of Celtic tradition. He bellows that alien musical language and dares us lesser beings to understand his wise harmony. I know you all remember the melody from Close Encounter of the Third Kind.
I got sick over the weekend and in half delirious state watched a series movies including Harvey. Yes, I know this isn’t exactly Jimmy Stewart’s 6 foot 3 and 1/2 inch white rabbit Harvey, but then again who knows? The Pooka is a shape-shifter after all: to some a white rabbit and to others a trans-dimensional hopping goblin. Maybe we should check a dictionary…
Alien Art Invasion:
It’s lonely out there drifting in deep space at least until your remember to embrace the void.
Related Space Art:
This is the direction I am going in for the final character design of the Fear and Loathing Lounge Lizard. It’s pretty crazy how many iterations I have been through and what I have posted is just a sampling of the insanity.
I know what you are thinking. How could it be Jay? You’ve shown us 1,2,3,… what 7 lizards now and counting? How many of these things did you draw?
Well, I drew a tweaked lizard…
A small lizard…
A BIG lizard…
A devious lizard…. You know, the guy who would screw over everyone cause he’s hungry…
A debonair lizard…
That’s not to mention the cute but deadly, dazed and confused, and aristocratic lizards. Even still my sketchbook has not revealed all its secrets.
It happens to the best of us, but all of this character design had me feeling a little like I was plain out of my mind. I could feel that lizard insanity taking over…
And finally, this was all that’s left (at least mostly)…
The character design and sketching continues for the lizard people. I have had some feedback which is starting to narrow my focus, but I am still trying to find that tweaked Fear and Loathing vibe.
Anyway, the brainstorming is an on going process and if you feel like offering some additional feedback go for it. Any favorites so far?
I also want to take a second to refer you to a prior post which I have updated and offered a foundational statement for the website. It answers some basic questions I have received on occasion and I hope will help you understand what I am trying to do here at Jay Zuck’s Sketch of the Day.
I hope this tour through my process has given some insight to how I develop a character design. It is dirty work and not for the faint of heart, but when the final comes around, I hope it gives some new perspective. I await your comments…
“We’re right in the middle of a fucking reptile zoo ! And somebody’s giving booze to these goddamn things! It won’t be long before they tear us to shreds.” ~ Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Just to recap, I am continuing to work on the character designs based on the Hunter S. Thomspon story Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I wanted to discuss tonight why I am bothering to show you all these lizard people process sketches. I would also like to explain what these types of process sketches mean to me in my creative process and I hope this might shed some light on what meaning you might derive from my rougher work.
Art is more than just a finished product. I could sit here and only show off finished work, but while that might be the level art is typically consumed it is not the level at which it is made.
I have found that most people enjoy seeing and experiencing the process of art with me. At the same time, I understand a culture of instant gratification which wants something amazing right now or else don’t waste my time.
I am going to lay down a foundational statement for Jay Zuck’s Sketch of the Day so take moment to and tell your friends if need be. At Jay Zuck’s Sketch of the Day, I am as concerned about the process as I am about the finished product. This is not a portfolio page, but it is a record of my artistic journey and process. I desire the people who follow this website to find themselves engaged in the journey of creation and maybe draw some lessons about the direction of their own creative destiny.
What I am showing off today is one sketch out of a couple of dozen I have created to establish the basic look and shape of the Fear and Loathing lizard people. It is a brainstorming and fleshing out process you are sharing with me. Is this the best thing I have ever sketched?… Well, no and that’s ok for me.
When I start a character design it is really about figuring out form and proportion and playing around with as many ideas as possible. I want your feedback, but I want you to understand the goal. There is a widdling process where I begin to focus on the designs that I like before I render out the details. I want you thinking character, shape, and proportion along with me.
I know that a pretty cool finished product will come out of all these trials and tribulations so please consider this an open invitation to come along with me on a continuing exploration of the creative process.