resplendent chaos

Skyscrapers and Owls

A company called Alphabird recently hired me to design their logo.  They told me they wanted it "to look like an owl, but also a city...but not too much like an owl, but then not too much like a city either." They also wanted it to "have the feel of the movie Metropolis" and to look "somewhat industrial, but not too industrial."  After that, they went into great detail about the hidden meaning of the owl and sent me all sorts of links concerning historical owl mythology and symbolism. I don't know if it helped me in designing the logo, but I certainly learned a lot about owls.  

The Painting That Ended My Marketing Career

Back before I decided to toss the security of a steady paycheck out the window to become an artist, I used to work in the field of marketing. I'm not afraid to boast about my skill in the art of sales and marketing - I could sell anything to anyone. It doesn't take an MBA to figure out how to motivate people to buy useless things, all you really need is a sharp observation of human behavior and a little dash of predatory charm. Because it came naturally to me, my eyes would often glaze over while imprisoned in long and pointless product marketing meetings. While the team debated whether consumers preferred the red box or the blue box, I'd tune out and doodle in my sketchbook while blurting out "great idea!!" every 15 minutes to appear alert and give the impression I was listening. One such day, I stealthily sketched these images from news photos found in a Newsweek magazine lying on the floor next to me:

Something about the gesture of the subjects captivated me, so I began sketching line drawings and messing around with composition:

Unable to stop thinking of my sketches, I went home that evening, poured myself a glass of wine, and began making color studies of the images.

In a Bacchanalian frenzy, I drank the entire bottle of wine, dragged an empty canvas out of storage, and began painting late into the night. Never had I felt so alive. It was approximately 4:30 am when I decided there was no other choice but to quit my job. The finished painting is at the top of this post. Medium: acrylic on canvas.

Cryptic Message Regarding Human Evolution

Medium: Ink, acrylic on vintage paper.

One Day The Easter Island Statues Came to Life

1.61803 39887 49894 84820 45868 34365 63811 77203 09179 80576 28621 35448 62270 52604 62818 90244 97072 07204 18939 11374 84754 08807 53868 91752 12663 38622 23536 93179 31800 60766 72635 44333 89086 59593 95829 05638 32266 13199 28290 26788 06752 08766 89250 17116 96207 03222 10432 16269 54862 62963 13614 43814 97587 01220 34080 58879 54454 74924 61856 95364 86444 92410 44320 77134 49470 49565 84678 85098 74339 44221 25448 77066 47809 15884 60749 98871 24007 65217 05751 79788 34166 25624 94075 89069 70400 02812 10427 62177 11177 78053 15317 14101 17046 66599 14669 79873 17613 56006 70874 80710 Medium: ink on paper.