dark

An older piece, which was where I was left off with full coloured dark backgrounds.

It was a random sketch in my files piling up. I just finished it and rendered it. Didn't think of design-wise besides a character that may fit an 80s anime mainly a dark fantasy.

I used soft charcoal and a large sheet of newprint to depict this model in a life drawing class. He exuded a deep sadness and his poses seemed natural to his countenance. He was also very thin. “The bright side of the planet moves toward darkness And the cities are falling asleep, each in its hour, And for me, now as then, it is too much. There is too much world.” ― Czesław Miłosz, The Separate Notebooks

The concept for this painting started as a design for a pumpkin carving contest. I felt the message of the design is so important for people to hear, I decided to make it into a painting. The original design, done in pen and ink. The design only shows the two doors of the entrance to a fortress. I tried to keep the design simple, because the carving event is both timed and live. You must create your masterpiece on the pumpkin they provide, on their location, Infront of live spectators. The evolution of the design? I added a wall on each side of the entrance, with matching pillars. Explaining the design of the pillars The triangle top: the triune God. Representing three persons of God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The cross shape opening in the pillars: The cross is the only path to God, to have the debt of sin satisfied. To reconcile humankind back to himself. To be released from being a slave to the Devil. To be a new creation empowered by God Spirit. Explaining the design of the entrance way(gate) The top of the entrance is in the shape of a heart, represents the seat of human passion, ambition, and allegiance. The cultic three petal flower is used to represent God in three persons united. The symbol inside the flower: God’s ministry toward humankind. Crown: Highest authority Cross: God’s loving salvation and restoration plan. The dove: Spiritualty made alive, fellowship with God, empowerment to weather the storm of life, and equip for service to God. Change in the design of the door. In the original design, one door had roses carved on it. The pattern took up the whole door. The other door had a grape vine carved on it. The pattern took up the whole door. I modified the emblem on the doors by making them smaller and simplified, so I could place them inside heart shapes, so the new images would more clearly communicate what they are meant to represent. I also added color to the emblems (color pencil) to make them clear of what they are, because of their size and the ink medium ,they were hard to interpret. Understanding the symbol of the two doors. The door with the rose inside the heart emblem represents a heart whose passions, ambitiousness, allegiance are focused on the cares, worries, and abstaining riches of the world. Only giving God lip service. I chose the rose to represent the heart of spiritual allegiance to the world, because roses are pretty, but you can’t eat them to nourish your body. They also have thorns that can cause injury to the body. So, the parallel point is, just as flower fade and turn to dust, so will the person who chases the thing of the world and has no time for God. For life is very short, we know not which will be our last breath on this side of eternity. But if a person leaves this earth without excepting the gift God offered them which is salvation from penalty of sin and given enteral life through the work that was done on the cross by God’s son. Then that soul will appear before Jesus, and just as they did not know him in their life on earth, He will tell them he knows them not. Into the lake of fire, they will spend eternity. The door with the grape vine in the heart emblem represents a heart whose passions, ambitiousness, allegiance are for God. To know Him intimately, to obey His teachings, to serve his will. I chose the grapevine to represent the heart of spiritual allegiance to God, because grapes are nourishing to the body. Jesus also used a grape vine in one of his parables. He paralleled the spiritual relationship he had with his disciples and the grapevine. He told them just as branches of a vine must depend on the base of the vine to live and bare fruit, so they must abide him to have abundant life. Abiding in Christ is not a religious act. It is outside of religion. It is an intimate relationship. Example: you can belong to a fan club of Paul McCartney and know a lot of things you have heard about him, but he doesn’t even know you exist. Where, if Paul is your father, and you have a good parent to child relationship, then you know him intimately. So, abiding in God, we commune with him through read his word and living by its teachings. It is spending time in prayer. Sharing our hearts with God and spending time listing to him. Trusting in him as our provider and giving thanks for his provision. Living our lives, with the purpose of pleasing him with the work of our hand and loving our neighbors in the workplace as well as in the community. Just as a healthy grapevine continues to grow and produce much fruit. Having an imitate relationship with God should be more and more evident in the way we live our lives. So, when the angel of death pays you an unexpected visit, he escorts you to Jesus’s throne, you know for certain he going to welcome you with loving arms and said welcome home my faithful servant. Now to which door I chose for my life? It’s the one that is open. This bible verse one of a couple that inspired me to design this illustration. 1 Corinthians 3:12-13 King James Version 12 Now if any man builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. This verse is not referring to the rebellious people who have rejected God, this is referring to people who are children of God, who failed to serve God faithful. Written by Stephen J. Vattimo. 3 Jan 2024 Evolution of the design of this painting. I believe God through His Holy Spirit guided me to change the crosses on the two pillars, one on each side of the doors. Instead of these windows being fill with darkness, which would represent death by crucifixion, which Jesus endured for humanity, that who so ever is willing may be delivered from the power of sin and be adopted by God to become a member of His family. I was inspired to put light in both cross windows. The cross window on the side the open door, with the grape vines on it, the light matches the color of the light that is coming out the windows of Icons shapes representing the ministry of tri union God. The color I used is a bright firry orang yellowing color. For the bible says God is a consuming fire. The cross windows on the side of door with the flower on it, I used the color greenish yellow lite; to represent a false light, the bible call it a form of Godliness without power. Who so ever tries to approach God another way, than the path God has ordained. They will not be received. The Devil distorts the truth, to lead many to their demise. The only way to know the difference between truth and fallacy, is to study God’s word. Written by Stephen J. Vattimo August 7,2024

A character concept drawing of a pirate vampire character I created for a collab writing project that died. His clothing and even his hair borrowed aspects from various jelly fish as inspiration. " The snap of inky sails catching the wind punctuated the subtle wooden creaks of the Sea Nettle as it slid over glossy black waves. The night was oppressive. With the moon obscured by clouds, the ship, with its doused lamps and its dark wood was nearly invisible as she crept closer to her prize. Tallis stood on the forecastle, one foot propped against the railing, his hands supporting a spyglass. He drifted the lens between the lights below deck, counting each of them and making note of any movement on the upper deck and in the rigging. A single sailor was at the helm. Another was lazily standing beside him, possibly engaged in conversation that distracted him from his watch. This was to be expected, not many would dare to disturb such a well-equipped vessel of the Luthen royal fleet. Nettie's crew was lesser in numbers, but they were experts in what few on the high seas could manage. Tonight, would be a quiet strike. Open combat spelled unnecessary danger for his crew."

They say Prometheus brought fire from the sun concealed in a hollow fennel stalk. They say tarragon came to be when a flax seed was pushed into the pierced root of a sea onion and planted after dark. The Minotaur simply likes the smell of chopped herbs.” - Steven Sherrill For some reason out of all of my drawings, this one went viral on Tumblr. So when I got to the Minotaur on the list of hybrid creatures, I had to (re)make this one. The sentence is from “Minotaur takes a cigarette break” by Steven Sherrill. It’s wonderful.

Anubis and his box of threads. I am going through the wiki list of mythological hybrid creatures and imagining their lives and what they might be like and what they might like to do. It's been fun - sometimes; some of the myths are dark and sad.

Available original painting and prints at https://razorberries.com

“What’s Up?” Original Watercolor and ink with hand sculpted Cosclay Snail. 5” x 7” framed to 8” x 10”

Soo...This was actually supposed to be alot more happier and brighter. But I accidentally made a mistake with her face, and since I was using a pen, I couldn't fix it...so I decided to go with it fully and make the background behind her dark as well to fit the mood. I'm still happy with how it came out :) it's just...way different then how I planned it in my head.

[Intro] (D-D-Dark side) [Verse 1: Tomine Harket] We're not in love We share no stories Just somethin' in your eyes Don't be afraid The shadows know me Let's leave the world behind [Chorus: Tomine Harket] Take me through the night Fall into the dark side We don't need the light We'll live on the dark side I see it, let's feel it While we're still young and fearless Let go of the light Fall into the dark side [Post-Chorus: Tomine Harket] Fall into the dark side Give in to the dark side Let go of the light Fall into the dark side[Verse 2: Au/Ra] Beneath the sky As black as diamonds We're runnin' out of time (Time, time) Don't wait for truth To come and blind us Let's just believe their lies [Pre-Chorus: Au/Ra] Believe it, I see it I know that you can feel it No secrets worth keepin' So fool me like I'm dreamin' [Chorus: Tomine Harket & Au/Ra] Take me through the night Fall into the dark side We don't need the light We'll live on the dark side I see it, let's feel it While we're still young and fearless Let go of the light Fall into the dark side [Post-Chorus: Tomine Harket & Au/Ra] Fall into the dark side Give in to the dark side Let go of the light Fall into the dark side[Bridge] (D-D-Dark side) (Dark side) (Dark side) (Dark side) [Chorus: Tomine Harket & Au/Ra] Take me through the night Fall into the dark side We don't need the light We'll live on the dark side I see it, let's feel it While we're still young and fearless Let go of the light Fall into the dark side

I bought a set of 3 Bic multi-color ballpoint pens, a total of 10 colors including black, and a new sketchbook. Playing around with what colors and effects are possible, I'm excited to do more stuff with these pens. The colors didn't perfectly reproduce between the photo and JPEG compression. But I love how the upper left section is all done with the one dark blue, green, and red pen.

Fine liner, 8.5" x 11". This one is pretty dark but still amuses me years later.

Sketch of a joke Dark Crystal OC, "SkekKaren". Someone pointed out that ALL of the Skeksis are "Karens" and okay, point taken! Haha. Based her look on Queen Victoria and a Patoo.

Some more Dark Crystal (Age of Resistance) fanart- SkekMal was a new fave! Broke out my alcohol markers and colored pencils.

It's a perfect day to read a book written by your friend. My friends book right now is "Projections" by S. Porter. Her book is so good! It is dark and fascinating and so well researched. I am really enjoying it. https://www.instagram.com/p/C4QrZoSO96u/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Color version of the previously uploaded sketch! Design for an OC Skeksis from the Dark Crystal.

The day slowly gos to a end while seeing the lovely pink sky and the seagull.

Sketch today, cleanup and color tomorrow? Translating Jim Henson's crazy detailed puppets from the Dark Crystal into what I feel would be an appropriate illustrative style for 2D was a lot of fun, and I might fiddle around more with it. Character is an OC Skeksis with the title of Therapist/Psychologist, so the little designs on his jacket are supposed to represent neuron synapses and the back... thing (which you can't see from this angle) would look like a brain.

Drawing made using multiple colored pencils and black fineliners. The inspiration came from spilling ink over a page. This way I imagined something dark covering colors bit by bit.

Suddenly the light goes out and staying in the dark is a test of resistance, but when everything seems lost, it turns on again, so simply: sometimes a single attempt isn't enough, there are many moments to spend without light, but you don't have to be afraid of it, because sooner or later we will succeed in the undertaking and it will make you smile as the thing that seemed so difficult came spontaneously, it was enough not to force the process. I hate the darkness because it shows me a version of myself that I would never want to meet, yet if I accept that the punches of life in some periods are stronger than others, sometimes leaving bruises and burns, but that life itself has granted me caresses like this sweets that I would not have appreciated without going through pain, then everything around me will seem golden. I can only appreciate the hatred and wonder of it. I can feel those caresses, I can savor them with the same intensity with which I feel the pain of the punches, because ultimately they give so much: the strength to take another step, to not give up right now, right now that I am so close to feeling them in my heart those precious caresses.

This is an oil painting of an African American couple. They’re sharing an intimate moment with each other. Some maybe would say that they’re the epitome of “Black Love”. His skin is dark tones as compared to her lighter shade. The two skin tones wrapped together in sheets gives life to what I call “The Happy Couple”.

Here’s a charcoal drawing of a design. Of course, I have a plethora of curvatures that range from narrow to wide in some areas. The curvatures are mirror images when comparing the left from the right. They come together to form the shape of a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Some may even view the drawing as being similar to the pelvic area of a female. A dark blue is highlighted on the drawing to add more charm. Finally, the background is a lattice style with a light smear.

Pencil + Gimp