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Skullcrow Laughs - Final

Skullcrow Laughs

So I finally bring you the finished skullcrow piece! I had to wait for that last little bit of inspiration so lend itself to me. Enjoy!

Kelp Dragon - Work in Progress

Hey everyone! I've been busy working on a new piece:

Kelp Dragon

Took lots of inspiration from seahorses and their ability to blend into the various flora and fauna in the oceans. The main species of kelp I'm using as reference in this piece are the Giant Kelp which grows vigorously in the waters off California's coast and Bull Kelp which can form colonies up to 4 meters long. Amazing stuff. Both species are endangered by warming ocean waters and the increase in sediment brought by melt waters and construction up stream. I'd like to think this little dragon would be a kelp gardener of sorts and tend to the kelp forests, helping them thrive and grow.

More to come on this piece later. I'm working several times a week on my Livestream channel. Please come and watch me create and chat with me a little if you want. 

http://www.livestream.com/keymonsterart

Skullcrow WIP - 5.21

Still working on Skullcrow, but I'm really enjoying the color turn it took in the last few days. Orange has got to be one of my favorite accent colors.

Skullcrow - WIP 4.25

Some more work on the skullcrow. More next week!

Skullcrow WIP - 4.19

Skullcrow

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Sprained my knee last week so I couldn't even make it up the stairs to my studio. So I'm now just catching up with work on this piece. 

Lots of texturing and flat colors so far. Decided to go with an aspen tree for the branch this Skullcrow is resting on. The aspen is in the poplar family, a large group that has many native species all over North America. One tree in the poplar family that had significant spiritual meaning to the Lakota Sioux was the cottonwood tree (Populus deltiodes). The wood from this tree is considered sacred and was the central piece in the Sun Dance. Read up on Lakota Culture HERE. 

Because of the significance of the cottonwood to a culture I greatly respect, and because I grew up with two large quaking aspens (Populus tremuloides) in my backyard and huge cottonwoods all over my hometown, I felt a connection that needed to be expressed with the Skullcrow. 

As I said in my last post, the Skullcrow is neither living or dead, but just goes on in existence as a guide to those who need it. Similarly, one of the oldest living things in North America is a grove of male quaking aspens, collectively called Pando. They are connected together through a massive root system that continually creates new, genetically identical trees; thus keeping this "tree" alive for what some believe is close to 10,000 years. Aspens and the Skullcrows go on through the ages. 

Thats my blerb for the day. Thanks for reading Check back for more progress shots!

Works in progress

A couple of sketches for recent projects:

Skullcrow makes its return!

Skullcrows are not animals, rather they are spirits of creatures meant to guide those who lost. They are not of the living and not of the dead so their methods as guides are sometimes misunderstood as mockery and cruel humor. But if the guided looks close enough they will see what these tricky spirits are trying to tell them.

Sumatran Tiger

I've recently watched numerous tiger documentaries and read a few books and articles about their decline. What struck me as most interesting is how the tiger in most if not all of its natural ranges is the building block for the food chain. It is often the only large predator and only control for the larger herbivores.  Once a tiger population is removed or brought to such low numbers their impact on the forest is measurable. 

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Look for more work in progress shots as I work on these pieces! Thanks for looking!

Walk the Line

Walk the Line - January 2013

Co-opting the Coop - First Published Piece!

I've been waiting to post about this for a while! A few months ago I was contacted by one of my former professors, Kristin Rogers-Brown, about doing some illustrations for the winter issue of BITCH magazine. And finally it is now published! I present to you, the hipster chicken!

This was for an article called "Co-opting the Coop". You can read it online HERE. This is really exciting for me as an artist because it is my first published work! And the project was super fun and interesting to work on. I also did some of the smaller spots around the page, which you can see if you buy the issue. Which you should. 

Six Months and Counting

ANNOUNCEMENT

It has been almost 6 months exactly since I graduated from college. And this blog, which was started while I was in the process of completing my senior thesis hasn't gotten much love since the end of school. But now that my mind is pretty much decompressed from school and all the stresses involved with thesis I feel I'm ready to get back on the proverbial horse.

Symbiotic Planet will now act as my art blog, as well as fulfilling its original purpose of being a record for the Animal Saints Project. As I work on various projects and pieces I will being posting photos and sketches of my work. As of right now there will be no specific schedule for my postings, but I'm going to be shooting for twice a month at minimum.

Another addition will be small written posts to be used for research, musings and reflections on art, human relations with the planet and my place within the world. I am no writer, but sometimes it just helps to get things down in front of you.
Until the next post, thank you for watching!