Aries - First sign of the Western Zodiac - Cartoon Version

Happy astrological new year! I'm actually almost a day late, as the sun's 1st degree of our symbolic astrological year occurred at approximately 6:45 PM last night, at least on my side of the world. But most popular sources mark Aries, first sign of the Western zodiac, as commencing on the 21st, and we still have another 29° to go, so I'm still on schedule, methinks. I have been working on several illustration and design projects simultaneously, including one that will probably take me another year to complete. So this new series of astrological signs, in this cartoon fashion, is a nice respite for right now. In the background are Taurus and Gemini.

Just call me old Grandma Changes, Pencil drawing

Krytios Soto

Just call me Old Grandma Changes

Pencil on paper

8 x 10 inches

October 2013

I needed a break from my cartoon-styled illustrations. I've been working on a children's storybook for over a year and a half now (a totally independent project, so there's no rush) for which I've made about 40 sketches that have been further developed into about 24 full color illustrations. I may not use all 40 but either way, it's the biggest project I've ever done. So I really, really needed a break not just from the book itself, but from the large-headed simple cartoon figures. Obviously something like "Old Grandma Changes still retains some of that. It's made by the same person and my style always stays within the realm of illustration. I'm quite aware of that. But she still felt like a departure when I made her. 

I drew her back in October of 2013. The first thing that comes to mind when I try to look at her from an outsider's perspective, is that she reminds me of Bjork and her Biophilia project. I won't deny that Bjork is probably my favorite musician. I've even drawn Bjork before. But masked figures with gigantic hair and macrocosmic elements have been a recurring motif of mine since 2004, seven years before Biophilia. There is a belief among some that the Jungian collective unconscious can be seen in the works of creative people, famous or unknown. It happens all the time.

Sorpho the Atlantian

I went back to my fantastical treatment of Plato's account of Atlantis. I had made this particular character and similar ones before in pencil and now he's on canvas. Personally, I'm a big Atlantis aficionado. And there have been recent trends in archaeology that are suggesting it was a very real place. These findings point to Thera and Crete, home of the mysterious Minoan culture. 

There's a really interesting documentary on the subject hosted by historian Bettany Hughes. You can catch it here on Youtube. Her shows are hard to find here in the U.S. They're quite informative. 

And she's so cultured and knowledgable.

For Sorpho

Acrylic on Canvas

March 2014

Pallas Athena

I've been making a lot of images depicting gods and heroes from ancient Greek mythology lately. I've published close to none of them so far as I want this series completed and I don't feel it's time to let the cat out of the bag just yet. They are mostly an attempt at a Mycenaean or Minoan interpretation, style-wise, as most of these stories were said to take place in the late bronze age. This image of Athena, one of my favorite Goddesses of all time, is an exception. She's fully a familiar figure from classical Greece. I needed a new business card and web banner so I put her on it. Obviously this isn't the finished card. 

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Ornaments of Gold

I really love this song from Siouxsie's Peepshow album from 1988. It's hard to find music with such a visual narrative evoked in it's lyrics. I was actually torn between this song and "Cities in Dust" from Tinderbox of 1985. This is why there's references to antiquity, like Anubis and the Sumerian Lamassu. But in the end, the idea of the allure gold, which looks terrible on my complexion btw, or precious metals (she mentions silver a lot in the song) was what seduced me visually. I switched to a 5-fingered, more proportionate style than my usual 4-fingered cartoon figures for this one. The preview is reduced to 20% of the original, which is vinyl album-frame sized.

Ornaments of Gold

Pencil, Computer

26 September 2013

Ornaments of Gold (Minimal Version)

I've been reading T.E. Lawrence's translation of Homer's Odyssey and it's got me on a Greek mythology kick again. I'm not sure this meeting between Odysseus (Ulysses) and Poseidon (Neptune) is in the book, since I'm not finished with it. I was influenced really by the movie with Isabella Rossellini and Armand Assante that came out a few years ago. Although they never really showed Poseidon in that adaption. I started making the sea god with white hair, but I don't like Zeus or Poseidon as grandfathers. Proteus and Cronus seem more like gods that would be depicted as aged. Half way thru I considered making the god's skin scaly. But the ancient Greeks saw their gods as being a lot like people. I also wanted him titanic in size to reinforce this man-vs-nature contrast.

Poseidon's Warning

Pencil, Photoshop

May 2013

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