PK: CHRISTMAS 2013

Parallel Kingdom winter cheer.

PM: HALLOWEEN 2013

Parallel Mafia had a zombie event for Halloween.

SPITPAINT

I joined this great facebook group my co-worker recommended called Daily Spitpaint, where you get a few words each day to prompt you, and then are challenged to speed paint something in 30 minutes. The deadline is strictly enforced. I am not a very fast painter, but I really want to learn how to speed paint. I'll be posting these to this art blog whenever I make them. Since they are 30 min. speed paints I can't imagine any of them will be masterpieces but hey, this art blog is more like a diary or sketchbook than a portfolio anyway. My first couple of paintings are more character-centered because that's what I'm more comfortable with, but in time I want to do more groups of figures and landscapes, to build up those skills.

"fetus"

"plant human"

"living doll"

PK: HALLOWEEN 2013

Creepy spider armor and new monsters for Parallel Kingdom.

PK: LEGENDARY TREASURES

Something different with this Parallel Kingdom update, you can now buy treasure chests and find random swag items inside.

PM: THE SURGEONS

Some creepy cyber surgeon swag for Parallel Mafia.

PK: TORESTI, CERBERUS SWAG

Some new items based on two new Parallel Kingdom bosses.

RETURN TO GREY GARDENS POSTER

Very honored to have been asked to help out with a poster illustration to promote Return to Grey Gardens, starring Peaches Christ and Jinkx Monsoon. I handled the background illustration for the very talented Alex Dakoulas, of Dance Party Massacre. You can see here my drawing on its own, as well as placed into Alex's completed poster. Fun! Additionally, I was not familiar with the story of Grey Gardens before this, so it was a great experience doing research (which included watching the great HBO film starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange).

JREF EDUCATIONAL MODULES

It was my great honor to once again work with the James Randi Educational Foundation, to help with the creation of two of their newest "JREF in The Classroom" lessons. Head on over to the JREF website to learn more about these great, free resources for teachers and students! I'll just touch briefly on my role as the artist here. The basic template elements, such as the headers, had already been established; I was of course beholden to an official style guide; and I was given a few of the images to work with. My role was to arrange the copy, create the layout, and fill in the gaps with images of my own. I don't like using generic stock imagery, so I created all the images I wasn't given from scratch, including both covers. Aside from illustrations, some of the photos were also taken by me, in locations surrounding Madison where I live (the house that looks like a face, and the tree featured in the brain diagram, are in our local arboretum, for example).

PM: NEW CLASS GEAR

We added three new character classes to Parallel Mafia, voted on and chosen by the player community. They each get their own specialized gear. I mostly handled the new Juggernaut class's armor and weapons.

PK: IMPRISONED RELIC EVENT

Some new flag and buoy decorations, and a helmet that changes colors, for this Parallel Kingdom update.

PM: TUXEDO MAFIOSO

More dapper gangster swag for Parallel Mafia.

PM: NEW PARALLEL MAFIA ICON

I got to redesign the icon for Parallel Mafia. My model friend Katie Fulton was kind enough to pose for the painting. Thanks Katie!

PK: TORESTI AIR BATTLES

I got to draw a huge goddess-like boss character called Toresti, very large compared to other sprites made for Parallel Kingdom. She slowly transforms into a corrupt demon creature as you fight her.

PM: PINSTRIPE MAFIOSO

Some classy new gangster swag for Parallel Mafia.

PM: CYBER PIRATE

A throwing knife for a futuristic buccaneer in Parallel Mafia.

PK: TWISTED PRISON

Whole lot of new enemies including "deathsoars" (these are like corrupted Valkyries), nagas, and large Centurion and Cerberus bosses, for the new Twisted Prison dungeon in Parallel Kingdom.

PK: PLAYER DESIGNED SWAG

We held a voting contest in the Parallel Kingdom forum, players came up with fun ideas for new items, and the community's favorites were added to the game across a couple updates.

For comparison, here is the original art for the mushroom house created by a talented fan, who goes by the name {M•A•S}Dimples. Great job Dimples, and thanks for the collaboration! It was a very fun design and I tried to be as faithful as I could while bringing it into the PK universe. :)

THE AMAZ!NG MEETING 2013

I went to TAM this year! The Amaz!ng Meeting is an annual skeptics conference sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation. What's a skeptic you ask? The short version is that we are concerned with promoting evidence-based, rational thinking. I won't get too much into that here, but suffice it to say, I had an absolutely fantastic time; met lots of wonderful people; listened to some great, thought-provoking talks and panels; and had a blast with the entertainment. The energy throughout the week was positive and friendly and I left with a very strong sense of pride and optimism. Newsweek had what I think is a fairly accurate write-up of the event, for those interested.

This trip was a big deal for me in two ways, it was very much business and pleasure. T-shirts I had designed were on sale at the JREF table, and I had worked on the graphic design for two of their new free educational modules for students and teachers (Pareidolia and Power Balance).

The Skeptic Ink blog network was there with materials carrying the logo I designed for them (pictured here with an interesting little souvenir I bought: a chunk of ulexite, a mineral that naturally behaves like optic fibers).

I also met many great people in person whom I had, until then, only known on-line; as well as all new friends and connections. In between official events we would meet in one of the hotel's lounges for drinks, chats and Cards Against Humanity.

I am so very thankful to have gotten to work with the JREF, and to have had the pleasure of meeting all of these fine folks. I'll treasure these memories, and here's to making more at future TAM's!

PM: BACKROOM DEALS

A new bounty hunter pistol and techy briefcase for Parallel Mafia.

PM: EXTINCTION EVENT

The cybernetic dinosaurs' reign over Parallel Mafia appears to be over, for now.

PK: SAMURAI GOLEMS

Added some banner golems and new Samurai golem skins to Parallel Kingdom. I got to play with some very simple 3D for those catapults.

PK: THE MONKEY KING

New items for Parallel Kingdom inspired by the great Chinese classical novel, Journey to the West. Plus, some new spider pets. Adorable.

PM: DINOS PART 3

T-Rex joins the final rampage of dinosaurs in Parallel Mafia.

PK: GOLD AND ONYX

Lots of new images for Parallel Kingdom, and more ways to customize the players' avatars, territories and airships.

PM: MORE DINOSAURS

I am really enjoying drawing these cybernetically enhanced dinos for Parallel Mafia. Also there are bees.

PK: ANIMAL SWAG

New animal themed swag, some new golem types and a new airship upgrade icon for Parallel Kingdom.

PM: JURASSIC ARK

The pop culture reference is obvious, but I tried to make the dinosaurs in our new update for Parallel Mafia unique, and more scientifically up-to-date. I think they may be among the most accurate depictions of dinosaurs with laser beams attached to their heads in modern fiction.

PK: ANGELS AND DEMONS

We added some heavenly and hellish new swag to Parallel Kingdom. I love medieval illustration and I had always wanted to draw a hellmouth.

PM: ROBO RAMPAGE

Lots of new robot parts for Parallel Mafia. I tried to think outside the box a bit with the gun and buzzsaw arm attachments, it was a bit tricky since in the game the 2D pixel art gets applied in layers on top of the players' avatar, and weapons layer on top of armor; as a result I had to nix the red arm muscle tissues attaching the buzzsaw to the player's shoulder, as it would have overlapped any armor with shoulder pads and looked wrong. This is all just part of the challenge of making art for a 2D game though, ultimately I find these issues informative, and the solutions rewarding.

PK: POTIONS AND TREES

New potions, trees and shrubs for Parallel Kingdom.

PM: PEDDLER

We added a shifty character to Parallel Mafia. I'm quite pleased with how much character I was able to give him, even at the mobile resolution. He looks like he's up to some things.

PK: ASSASSINS' ISLANDS

I was tasked with creating assassins' swag for Parallel Kingdom so I came up with the idea of an infamous assassin known as the Viper; which in turn was expanded by the other developers into a "Duo Serpents" theme involving two assassins, and their ominous warnings that they leave on floating islands scattered throughout the realm.

PM: THE SHERIFF

The Sheriff is in town. My new character design for Parallel Mafia, and some other items.

PK: DRAGONRIDER

For this Parallel Kingdom "dragon rider" swag, I took inspiration from the great 1981 film Dragonslayer. Like Return to Oz, Dragonslayer is much darker than usual for a Disney production. It's streaming on the Netflix so check it out if you get a chance.

PM: HOSTILE TAKEOVER

The evil Apex Corporation is gaining ground in Parallel Mafia, but we added some new items for the players to resist the oppression!

DROPFOX LOGO

I had the opportunity to create a logo for a really cool guy, Trent Brusky of DropFox. Trent creates music for secular shows and podcasts. Definitely give his site a look, this project has been on fire, and if you or anyone you know would be interested in this service, drop him a line. And for that matter, the music he makes sounds great so give it a listen even if you aren't involved in skepticism or secularism. Trent was also kind enough to plug me during his interview on The Skeptic Zone podcast (thanks bud!!).