This will be a short post.
I just wanted to share another quick doodle.
It might be a little early, but I figured you could use a whole thing of candy beans to brighten your day.
That’s all for now.
Hoppy Holidays!
illustration
I am notoriously anti-viral
First thing’s first:
How’s everyone holding up in the days of the coronavirus? I hope you’re all staying safe.
I am currently working from my shoe box-sized home, my anxiety levels are off the charts, and I have been neglecting all of my creative outlets.
I figured I would share some of the things I’ve actually accomplished since the start of our current global crisis. The graphic above was something I thought I could send out into the world as a sort of PSA. A reminder for people.
I don’t know if it helped.
You might not know that I love science fiction. But I do! Beep. Bop. Boop. I am a robot from Mars.
Right now, living in NYC, I’ve been going a little crazy, dreaming of more space, and that led me to create the image above. You can see the full image over in my portfolio.
Aside from that, I haven’t really been able to focus. Social media (mostly Twitter) has been creeping back, distracting me again and again. The news doesn’t help either. Does anyone else have these issues?
I should really get back to work.
If you happen to find yourself bored at home for some reason, my e-book is available for FREE on Kindle Unlimited.
Check it out and let me know what you think!
Art, Updates, and the Dangers of Eggnog
Firstly, I want to say HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It’s been a while since my last post.
As you may have noticed, I went a little overboard with the Christmas spirit. You know how it goes, one mug of eggnog leads to a second, and a third, and before you know it, I’ve quit my day job and run off to become a Candy Cane Stilt-Walker.
But I digress.
It’s a new year and I have some new toys…er…tools, I mean tools. This is all very serious business.
I am now the proud owner a Wacom digital drawing tablet, something I’ve dreamed about for over a decade. And I’m having way too much fun over here.
I’ve been taking some time to really learn the ins and outs of my new tablet and software. I’ve just completed my first major illustration using the Wacom. Take a look at my process video below and then head over to my portfolio page to see the artwork in full.
I’ve also got some exciting new projects up ahead which I hope to share with you all very soon.
Stay tuned.
Until then, I’m off to work…
Eggnog is a hell of a drug.
Christmas is Coming and I am not a Grinch
In the spirit of the season, I’ve decided to create some silly holiday doodles. Hopefully they amuse you as much as they amuse me.
This is also an effort to prove to my wife that I am not a Grinch.
I’ll be the first to admit that in the past decade I have displayed some Grinchy tendencies; Complaining about Christmas music in October, avoiding being trampled on Black Fridays like the plague, insisting that Diehard is a Christmas movie, stealing all the toys and decorations and roast beast from Whoville.
But I’m working on it.
The past few years have seen our Christmas playlists expand like my waistline after feasting on a bacon-wrapped, Yuletide Turducken.
Below is my current favorite. And yes, it is a polka.
My wife and I drive through suburban neighborhoods admiring the decorations whilst listening to holiday tunes and sipping hot cocoa.
I own an ironically ugly Christmas sweater. Need I say more? Yes?
Well, bah humbug!
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that we visited London earlier in the year and I acquired a reproduction of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I’m terribly excited to read it. I should probably go start that now.
I will be posting more doodles as they come to me throughout the month on here and through various other social media. Let me know what you think!
By the way, do you have a favorite Christmas song?
I’m always looking to augment and expand those playlists. I’d love some new suggestions. The weirder the better too.
Okay, talk to you later, I’m off to meet my friend Scrooge.
Always Feed The Hand That Bites You
Lowbrow like an Eyeball Mustache
A cool breeze tickles
The eyeball mustache bristles
And summer is done
Some Art and Updates
Forgive me followers, I have sinned, it’s been about six months since my last blog post.
I set myself some ambitious goals at the start of the year. But then I promptly forgot them, made some new goals, gave up on those, circled back to the first ones, fell into a creative slump, told myself that I need to just read more, got a second creative wind, decided to study French (pas pour la première fois), thought more about the original goals, binge-watched the second season of Mindhunter on Netflix, I had a turkey sandwich, and now I am here. Maybe just a quick nap first…
I’m not going to lie, the past six months haven’t been completely devoid of creative work, but I always feel like I should be doing more.
I’d like to share some stuff I’ve been working on recently. That hideous scene of eldritch horrors above is one of a handful of things added to my portfolio page. If anyone is in need of any Lovecraftian artwork for a book cover or to accompany any short stories, please let me know. I’d love to find some creative people to collaborate with!
I go through periods in which I focus on one medium to the detriment of all others. You could say I become obsessed. I recently decided again to work on this polymer clay maquette above, which I had started about three years ago. This is one of my latest goals, to finish this vulture goddess sculpt soon. We’ll see what happens.
The video above is my most recent work-in-progress, a follow up to probably my favorite piece from last year. Definitely the spiciest from last year. This is one of the last steps after the ink and watercolors have dried, the removal of the masking fluid. I should probably start the time-lapse recording a bit earlier next time, I’m just never confident enough that the piece will be successful.
Stay tuned for the finished piece and hopefully some other new weirdness.
À bientôt!
The Return of Pumpkinspice!
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the coffee shop…
I’ve been mulling this one over for a few years now and I’m very happy to finally bring this creepy guy to life while it’s still a viable flavor profile. I had some trouble settling on a tagline for this imaginary horror movie.
“Revenge is a dish best served spiced!”
“In spice, no one can hear you scream.”
You guys have any suggestions?
It Came from the Basement!
Forgive me if you’ve seen it already, but I nearly forgot to mention this here on my own blog. I have a new book available! Below is the description from Amazon:
” It Came from the Basement is an illustrated, inky homage to monsters and monster movies accompanied by a collection of thirty-one ridiculous rhymes to make you laugh uncomfortably in the night.
Darkly humorous, M. R. Kessell’s It Came from the Basement lies somewhere between Edward Gorey’s The Gashleycrumb Tinies and Tim Burton’s The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy.
Intended for the monster kid in all of us.”
Available in print and Kindle format on Amazon.com
You may have seen here on my blog that I published a new creepy illustration and rhyme each day of October 2017 in celebration of my love of Halloween. I’ve spent the past few months cleaning up and compiling all of it into this weird little book.
I am self-published and totally independent. Please check it out or pass it along if you or someone you know is a Monster Kid too!
M. R. KESSELL 