Emperor and Hierophant

Here's another pair from my "CorelDraw Tarot." These are the symbols of masculine power and leadership: the Emperor and the Hierophant, or High Priest...or Pope. My view of the Emperor puts him in a business suit and tie, rather than old-style imperial regalia. The "ankh," the ancient Egyptian sign for eternal life found on more traditional Tarot versions, becomes his lapel insignia. The High Priest holds the symbol of imperial religion, a Holy Book with ruling laws and scriptures.

From my "CorelDraw Tarot," digital compositions from 1991-92.

Nebular Dawn Wind

When a new star forms and really gets going, the "pressure" of its radiance pouring forth particles forms a cosmic analogue to wind. This wind acts on the nebular gases which have up until now shrouded the new star in a cloudy cocoon. The bright new star blows away the gases around it, leaving a relatively empty space where it has cleared out the nebular material. In this illustration, a new star not only illuminates its surrounding nebula with reflected light but is causing filaments of gas to fluoresce, thus providing the would-be observer with a shining dawnscape.

The original painting of this had no glowing filaments of gas. I added them in using my newly updated Photoshop CS4. The newest photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal complex networks of gas and dust within nebulae which up until a few years ago were only diffuse glows in a telescope view.

"Nebular Dawn" is acrylic on illustration board, 7" x 10", February 1988. More detail added in Photoshop, December 2009.

German Bubbly

I haven't posted anything from Trader Joe's in a while so here's an end-cap (large "billboard" behind a big display of something). As always at the end of the year, TJ's offers bubbly wines for all budgets, so everyone who wants to can toast the new year. Only stuff from Champagne, France can be truly called "champagne," and that's expensive. Other countries have other names for similar beverages, just as tasty but far cheaper. German bubbly wine of this type is called "Sekt." I added ribbons in the red and yellow colors of the German flag, with white confetti on the bottom. 2009's almost out of here, and not too many people I know will miss it. Drink up!

Gaslights

Another space picture, airbrush and hand brushwork on my usual black background. The title, "Gaslights," refers to the shining gas of an emission nebula. I sent this piece to "Conclave," a convention in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where it won a prize in the Amateur division. I forgot to tell them that I was a professional.

"Gaslights," acrylic on illustration board, 10" x 7", October 1987

Friendly Interior

I spent the day at some friends' house, eating many good things and drinking wine. Just right for a dripping, icy rainy wet winter's day. There was an indoor and an outdoor fireplace. I sat by the fire and drew this sketch of their home interior. People went here and there but I didn't put them in the drawing. Food was abundant and I took home some leftovers.

Drawing is ink on sketchbook paper, about 8" x 8".

Glacial Drifts in the Parking Lot

I searched through my archives for something reverent and pretty to put up here for Christmas, and found nothing that I felt was just right. Nor did I want to concoct some tacky toss-off in Photoshop. So here's today's drawing, or what a white Christmas looks like here in the DC area. Great big heaps of crumbly snow are everywhere, pushed up into dirty drifts by the plows. Many parking spaces are lost under these heaps while people frantically try to find a place to put their enormous SUV's and vans. I was one of those consumers myself. I took the time to make this sketch while sitting on the tailgate of my not-so-enormous van. The people were vicious today. It is one of the ironies of this whole holiday period that it brings out the worst in people, when it is supposed to bring out the best. I might ask what is wrong, but there is no simple answer and I'm not going to volunteer my thoughts about it. I wish you all a very happy Christmas holiday, or at least a winter weekend without too much torment.

Three Blue Stars Rise on the Hill

Here I am again with star-forming nebulas and space gravel. There's a lot of crunchy stuff floating around in space, not big enough to be asteroids. It's left over from blown-up stars. It's kind of like demolition debris that might be re-used in building new stars.

In the later years of the '80s I was a fan of the Grateful Dead and went to some concerts. I never got into the smoky lifestyle or the hippie culture. But I liked the songs and the words. One song, "Built to Last," has a line: "Three Blue Stars/Rise on a hill." I have no idea what the lyrics mean, but it sounds good and here are the three blue stars, freshly formed from the remains of the Dead.

"Crosswinds," acrylic on illustration board, 7" x 10", February 1988.