A New Hope

Acrylic on canvas

May 2nd 2013

For this year's May the Fourth festivities I made a 2 by 4 foot tall painting of one of my favorite movies of all time. An homage to posters, book and comic book covers, A New Hope is one of those "kitchen sink" pieces where you cram in as much as possible to tell a story.  

Star Trek Art: The Sensor

The Sensor 

Pencil, Photoshop

June 2012

I've decided to upload bigger previews of my Star Trek inspired art. Reduced to 25% of the print. My first image in a series that pays homage to the Star Trek universe but in my cartoon style. "The Sensor" is an interpretation of one of the more memorable scenes from 1979's Star Trek The Motion Picture in which Mr. Spock encounters a gigantic copy of the Deltan Ilia that overwhelms him as he attempts a mind meld with it. While most Star Trek fans count Wrath of Khan as their favorite from the original movies, I have a nostalgic place in my heart for this first movie. The effects are fantastic and there's enough camp and overacting in some scenes to keep you awake even through the long V'ger sequences.

Thor, Defender of Midgard

Thor, god of lightning and storms, rescues a child from a Jötunn (giant). The giants in Norse myth are beings that at times are at odds with the gods, even though both races sometimes marry and even have children together. Not all are monstrous in appearance and Thor himself is half giant. There is a fairly typical pattern in many cultures in which the thunder god is an ally of mortals. Anyhow, I didn't want Thor to strike the giant directly in this rendition but rather scare him off. While some of my very favorite movies are very violent and I'm not exactly the nicest person on Midgard, there's already enough over-exposure of violent images on TV and in contemporary art. Not to mention I do have pieces that actually deal with violence, so a bit of balance is needed. 

As usual, the zoomed preview is reduced to 25% of the original print.

Defender of Midgard

Pencil, Photoshop

April 2013

Odin Spies the Runes

Nine long nights I hung from the windy tree

Pierced by my spear

A sacrifice to my own self

On that tree whose roots run 

To places of which no man can tell

Starved I was of food or drink

Staring down I saw them and took them 

The Runes

And screaming 

I fell back

-Adapted from the Hávamál

To a painter or illustrator, nudity, referring to the true form we all have under our clothes, is normal, healthy and natural. This statement is not the at all the point of this piece. However I've decided to post this "censored" version for now due to certain social attitudes in the "free" society in which I live.

Anyhow, I would like to give many thanks to Freya Aswynn, who has been an enormous source of inspiration and motivation in the crafting of these cartoon gods and worlds.

Odin Spies the Runes

Pencil, Photoshop

April 2013

Yemaya: Great Mother Ocean

While taking a break from science fiction themed images for the moment, I'm continuing with my cartoon-styled gods and goddesses from both ancient myths and present day world religions. "The Mother of Fishes", as some sources say is the translation for the name of the West African ocean goddess, Yemaya is my newest creation in this series. This particular deity has become increasingly popular around the world over but has her greatest following in Latin America and the Caribbean, mainly among the practitioners of Brazilian Candomblé and Umbanda and Cuban Lucumí (Santería). Yemaya is the embodiment of maternity, protector of children and is believed to dwell in the vast oceans that wrap around our planet and thus is also called "Mother of the World" by followers.

Mother of Fishes

Pencil, Photoshop

March 2013

La Caridad del Cobre

The patroness of Cuba, La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre has her origins dating back to roughly 1608, where three men gathering salt in the bay of Nipe were caught in a violent storm. It is said that one of them, a slave, wore an image of the virgin Mary as an amulet. As the men prayed, the storm quickly subsided and in the clear sky the Virgin holding a baby appeared to them. 'Our Lady of Charity' as she is also known, has been syncretized in Cuban Santería with the Orisha 'Ochun'. Ochun (Oshun, Oxum) is a fertility deity originally from Nigeria and has been referred to as an African Aphrodite by some. The slaves that came to the New World were ingenious in preserving their beliefs via the art of Syncretism. Like the Stella Maris in the prior post, both zoomed images are still  25% of the original larger print size.

Caridad del Cobre

Pencil, Photoshop

March 2013

Iemanja

This is my version of a widely popular image that is identified by some as Stella Maris (Mary of the Stars), as the West African Ocean Goddess Iemanja in Brazil (Yemaya in Cuba), and as the mysterious water deity Olokun in Cuba (also West African originally). The true origin of this figure is obscure. She can be found in botanicas all over Miami where I live and the aforementioned deities she is associated with have massive amounts of followers in Latin America and the caribbean.

Iemanja

Pencil, photoshop

March 2013

Blade Runner, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

My tribute to one of my favorite films "of all time". Some friends of mine were opening a club night with a minimalist/cold-wave music theme and they asked me if I wanted to bring any art with me. Being the only person exhibiting, of course I was honored and it motivated me to make this painting I had been imagining for months! Being a Blade Runner FANATIC I cranked it out in 3 hours. It's 4 foot by 2. Wouldn't a cartoon of this movie and novel be great?

Blade Runner Blues

Acrylic on Canvas

October 2012

Krytios Soto flyer

My current flyer.