It's been an awfully long time since I last posted something, so let's change that quickly! Here's another Cthulhu, this time a commission. The customer has kept me waiting for quite a while now, so if want to have this piece, drop me a line. It's huge and was a truckload of work, though, so it won't be cheap. But there's always the possibility to make a nice, high-quality poster print:

"Cthulhu V", 100 x 70 cm, acrylics on canvas

And here's another commisioned piece, this one is already sold and gone. The customer asked for "something bizarre and end-timey", so, grateful for such a loose desciption, I let my imagination loose:

"Trilobite Jesus at the dawn of time"
50 x 70 cm, acrylics on canvas

This bio-mechanic aesthetic turned up during the work on "Cthulhu V", and struck a chord with me. I think I'll explore it some more. Right now, I'm working on a piece that combines this theme with the nude paintings you saw in earlier posts, and can also be seen as a nod to Beksinsky, who I regard as one of the greatest painters of the 20th century. I am, of course, not insane and try to compare my work with his, but I can't deny that he's left an impression on me. If you're not familiar with the guy, google his name for a dose of highest quality heebie-jeebies and a true sense of melancholia. Powerful stuff.

Oh, and I've also treated myself to a pretty decent camera lately (mostly to take pictures of my pictures, and other work-related purposes), and although I haven't had much opportunity to get accustomed with all the fancy gadgetry that comes with such a high tech machine, I jumped right into it and discovered that I have a weak spot for the microcosm around us. So here's a bunch of pics of very small things from my parents' garden:


These two show a variety of lichen. The individual "trumpets" are about one centimeter high. I've always loved them for their otherworldly shape, and often imagined what it would be like to wander among them as through a forest. My low-grade fancy gadgetry and non-existent understanding of photography of course limit my capability to put them in scene like that, but I think these images get the point across: just one order of magnitude below us, the world begins to look really weird.
I might get deeper into the matter and maybe buy the necessary lenses and stuff and become a hobby microphotograpoher some day. That would be fun.

Oh, and the above images are, of course, altered in Photoshop to stress the alien nature of the habitat. It wasn't that dark there, and the light wasn't quite as dramatic.


Here's the smallest flower I could find. The individual blossoms are about as big as a pinhead. I found that these photos make for good desktops, so if you want to use them for that purpose (or any other, really), just go ahead and do so! It would be nice to hear some feedback, though.

And one other item of news: Zoofights has started again! I haven't made any super duper kickass paintings yet, so that will have to wait for a while.

More Zoofights

Alrighty,

after about 20 (twenty!) weeks, this tournament is now over. It was the best thing, and I'm glad I was a part of it. It will, of course, happen again next year, and besides drawing fights and portraits again when the time comes, I'll do my best to help the guys with anything they plan in the meantime. Zoofights is seriously among the best things mankind has invented, right up there with fire, the wheel, electricity, and sliced bread.
So, 'nuff sed, here's some bizarrity:


Here we've got Punchules the Magnificient, wielding the Shiellelagh of O'Batahan, and offering us a sip of what is probably the hardest drink in the post-nuclear world.



This is Aggronaut, not-so-stupid elite fighter in the war agains Seanet, about to face his deadliest foe.



Australian competitor Banebarramundi relies on a constant drug-poisoning, in order to survive the wound Sting Kong dealt him in Round One.



The Snapture just arrived back from a good few weeks of bus-hunting and cactus tripping out in what was once the Arizona deserts. He's quite relaxed, as you can see.



And finally, the Seal of Disapproval, President of the United States of America, and greatest Beachmaster that ever was, proclaims his goals of brutal sexual world domination.

This stuff gives you just a tiny glimpse into the sheer awesomeness of what awaits you at zoofights.co.uk - so don't waste your time but go there and read the stuff!

All credits for character design, names and such go to Major Failure and the London Squad, developers of the best ideas ever. Stay tuned, I'll post more of this stuff later on!

Zoofights- RAWR!

Yay world,

today I happily announce that I'm once again participating in the world's most over-the-top display of nonsense and violence, Major Failure's Zoofights. If you've never heard about it, Zoofights is a kind of forum RPG that focuses on hypothetical fights between made-up monstrosities. Every few days two of 16 monsters are introduced, and the audience makes bets on the outcome of a fight to the death. The fight itself is decided largely by popularity, and is displayed in comic book fashion, alongside Major Failure's hilarious commentary.

In the last few years, every tournament has ended in some cataclysmic disaster, as the winning monsters get beefed up more and more with each surviving round, up to the point where the last encounter is a giant threat to everyone involved.

Find out more about Zoofights here: zoofights.co.uk
Or follow the actual fighting, betting and roleplaying here.

Here are some of the pictures I've contributed, descriptive text courtesy of that magnificient bastard Major Failure:

"Smash Gordon is a controversial attempt by England to circumvent our "no human competitors" rule: a cloned Neanderthal entered into the tournament as an animal. As dense in stature as he is in mind, this brutish thug is the culmination to years of experiments by the propaganda wing of the British police state, aimed at creating an unstoppable terror weapon for Scotland Yard. In fact, he is so colossally challenged that he needs to be guided through non-violent life by his trusty bulldog, Nelson. Nonetheless, he retains a brute cunning, which is truly deadly when backed up by hubcap-sized fists."

"The tattered remnants of Russia's army forgot who they were fighting, but never who led them. Under the forbidding bellow of The Sturgeon General they marched, driven onwards by the hated fish on its ancient tank tracks. When they stumbled through hunger, cold or radiation sickness it urged them forward, and any who disobeyed were transfixed with a mighty shout, then mangled under its treads. The General never let discipline slip, not even when the last man in the legion died under its wheels. Therefore, in admiration of its leadership talent, we have given it an army of devlish antigrav stingrays."


"But he barely has time to clear his throat before a new threat emerges.

Unbelievably, in the 30 seconds that Nelson has been fighting his desperate battle, Smash Gordon has risen to his feet and begun lumbering across the arena sand.

Grunting with the lungs of an actual ox, he launches himself up onto Sturge's stalled tracks and begins a gristly, bone-grating climb up the behemoth.

Cable-like sinews tear around shattered bone, but a chemical rage beyond the comprehension of frail Homo Sapiens drives Smash on.

His axe grinds through armour and scales, and he tears great bales of innard from the exposed body of the arch-anadrome.

As he plants an iron boot on the head of a roller-skate and pistons up toward the face of Sturge, he propels himself into range for a killing blow..."

The Sturgeon General is easily the most absurd thing I've drawn in a long while, but it's fascinating how even such a bizarre creation comes to life with the speculation of a blood-thirsty audience!

This will do for now, as I just want to direct interest towards ZF, not leech fame from it. If devastating battles, monsters, apocalyptic settings and a witty commentary that does the silliness of it all justice might be something for you, you should definetely go check it out!

Fine Prints!

Yo everyone,

I've finally managed to get in touch with a great photographer who can take pictures of my paintings detailed enough to reproduce them. So there will be gorgesous, poster-sized prints now! They are limited to 20 pieces each, and you can buy them here: http://de.dawanda.com/shop/Brezelburg

Here are some previews:





Go ahead and enhance your place with some affordable tentacle goodness!

Yay me!

'sup everyone? Already posting something new today! I haven't done a self portrait in years, so it was about time.

Self portrait 2010
digital painting, 489 x 647 px, PS

Took me about three hours, with no reference (I looked in the mirror like once). As you can see, the photo isn't quite accurate anymore, there's more and more hair growing out of my face. I don't know why, but I feel like keeping it :) Also, I realize that I enjoy acquiring more wrinkles as time goes by. I think growing older is cool.

My favourite villain

Well, I don't know if it's my favourite villain ever, of all times (Cthulhu is one, too), but Bowser is a pretty good bad guy, or isn't he? I love the weird combination of animal features. It's not easy to throw something together like that and come up with an identifiable "person".

"Your Princess is in this guy's castle"
Digital Painting, 1200 x 800 px
Photoshop

So yeah, I finally started to practice some digital painting. We'll have more of that in the future. Take care!

Yo everyone!

2010 already, seems like I didn't post in quite a while. So let's make up for that with two new pieces:

"R'lyeh"
60 x 50 cm, Acrylics on Canvas

The sunken city of R'lyeh, finally rising again now that the stars are right. Comissioned Piece for a Lovecraft fan, sold.

"Nudes with Tentacles, green"
70 x 100 cm, Acrylics on Canvas

Yes, two of them ladies this time :D
I love the colours, which are of coure much more vibrant in reality. That blueish green is pretty much the exact opposite of the warm skin tones, and the overall appeal of that colour situation is very relaxing when you sit in front of it.

And now for some old stuff! I changed some details in this one and got a photographer friend to take some proper pictures. Unfortunately, getting the colors right doesn't seem to be a matter of a good or bad camera, as there are some parts in here that look absolutely not the same IRL. Strange.

And here's a preview of what a print of one of these looks like. This is the first one that was sold. Each print (Poster size/A1, numbered and signed) costs 50,- Euros, drop me a line if you want one!


Alrighty, that's it for now. Take care!