Personal Deities

Really love this pen and ink.  Reminds me of etching.  That hard black line.  Did some drawings, inked, hand tinted, and then finished with some digital colorization.

Interested in this idea of a magical book called the "Sutra of Tranquility."  Apparently this book appears to those ready to study out of thin air when summoned.  Filled with abstract patterns, complex diagrams, strange characters, and indecipherable text, the reader comes away with a sense of calm they can call upon the rest of their life.  A fantasy object I can't tear my mind away from.

Working with sketches of the "Demons and Deities" series, I studied these more closely and did the ancient pen and ink ritual on them.  Quadrix, Alchemix, and Digitix.  Names end in "ix," it's a noun.  Noun to me, pronoun to you.

My common theme is a full spectrum gradient in the eyes.  To me, this is a symbol of an all seeing soul.  Any figure with a face; mess with the eyes, you mess with it's total meaning.  On train platforms in Chicago, I noticed the behind-the-bench billboard ads (usually 8ft by 4ft) and how people would take a knife and cut the paper around the eyes and tear it away as if stealing the soul.  White, blank eyes starring back at you.

Quadrix
There is a horny, doll-like, kitty kat, transexual, disco, stardust, mesmerizing, strobe light meaning to this.  If all art is an expression of an inner self, yes, part of me wants to dress up in silver glitter covered platform shoes... and you don't really need to know the rest.  "Quad" because a second layer of eyes sees another plane of existence.  Cat because it's cute and doll parts because that's kiddo mondo anime sexy... and artificial.  I'm talking about a sexual attraction void of the act itself:  tiny penis.

Alchemix
Thinking about Magick and it's fear effect.  This is a witch.  Western, Christian, Angelic symbols create a halo.  Alchemical symbols floating about the head of a veiled (possibly) Muslim woman.  I see power in the veil like a mask just as confrontational as the naked body.  Magick mystery is the confusion of being confronted with something that you can't put a face to or link an emotion to.  This figure comes to you raw and concealed at the same time, open to your own interpretation.

Digitix
I wondered what was so alarming about this figure.  The robot is a child.  Not only that, the head resembles a "Peanuts" cartoon head.  An amped up evil Linus.  There is a projected psychic wave of communication broadcast from it's head (Twitter!)  The robots are in constant conspiratorial communication.  I put him in a Moonscape to amplify the robots' superiority to mammals and it's ability to thrive in desolate environments and it's loneliness from doing so.  In my own life, I do a lot of communing with this one.