Prophecy 01 : VERECIDE

(blue biro on a 125mm x 75mm post-it note)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

With the introduction of total mind immersion virtual reality will come a secondary option for the suicidal. Rather than killing themselves, they may choose to commit "verecide" (or vericide). A word that simply means to kill reality. And in doing so, they'll be able to exchange their miserable lives in the real world in favour of their own personal heaven in a safe, booby-trapped, virtual one.

Blasphemy # 5 : HITCHHIKER'S

(2B pencil on a 176mm x 102mm book title page)

 

Burning has always been a favourite pastime of the would-be blasphemer and so I thought it would be best to represent it here on this final piece in the project.

The reason why I chose The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for this project was because it tells the story of two men who bounce around the galaxy, getting into one extreme situation after another, whilst relying on a guidebook that's completely useless to them.



Blasphemy # 4 : MIDDLE-EARTH

(2B pencil on a 196mm x 120mm book title page)

 

I chose The Lord of the Rings because it's THE template fantasy novel that is constantly referenced, borrowed from and blatantly plagiarised by other writers, film and game makers (funnily enough, religion has the tendency to do that too!). It's a book which is responsible for giving birth to the whole fantasy genre that we see today.


Blasphemy # 3 : DISCWORLD

(2B pencil on a 176mm x 101mm book title page)

 

I had thought of including a few used hypodermic needles in this image to add to the squaller of it, but a used condom pretty much does it on it's own. You could be in the most idyllic place in the world, happy and content with where you are for that moment, but as soon as you see a used condom on the ground, or floating past in a stream, then it all suddenly changes for the worst. It's the kind of cruel reality-slap that many people hate and which makes their blood boil for the disregard they perceive in others.

And the reason why I've used it here.

I could've gone for any of the Discworld books for this piece, as it's the idea of the Discworld itself that's being focused on here. A strange world that rests on the back of four elephants, who in turn, stand on the back of a great turtle flying through space, and is populated by equally strange characters. Yet it's a world many wish could exist just because it's so unusual. Probably one of the reasons why the Discworld books are so popular.

Blasphemy # 2 : NARNIA

(2B pencil on a 198mm x 124mm book title page)

 

For this second image, I decided on the use of profanity, which is a common weapon for blasphemy. In this case, instead of just scrawling the words on, I chose to write each word down as an individual font that I made up. It's inspired by the old Letraset catalogues that I remember from college, which were once an essential purchase for all graphic design students and studios. The names of the fonts would be indexed in the catalogue in their own typeface, or bunched together as they are here in some design image.

 

Most of these swear-words are quite common. There's probably more I could've added, but I didn't want to cover the entire page in them. I've added words like clitconker, necrofelch, wankpiss and twatshite (have some fun by trying to work out what those words mean!) I've also re-introduced the word fadge as well, because nobody says it now, and it was such a good swear-word to use.

 

This example of the Narnia books was used here mainly because they're generally regarded as fairy tales. It may have been better to have gone for The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, but that would've been too obvious and would've focused on that one book alone, when it was the Narnia series as a whole that I was aiming at, so I chose Prince Caspian instead. Although, the story within this book of a magical land deciding to stick to it's old ways rather than that of the Telmarines, driving them back out to where they came from, is much more apt.

Blasphemy # 1 : HARRY POTTER

(2B pencil on a 195mm x 123mm book title page)

 

This is the first image of a small project I've recently done using the title pages of various books. They're the largest pieces that I've ever done and are closer to the A5 limit of skav art rather than the A6 size which I'm more comfortable working with. Blasphemy is the theme which ties them all together. As you can see, this one depicts an individual vomiting over the page.

 

The reason why I chose this particular book's title page was because the story tells of how a young boy is destined from birth to be a wizard. He lives an oppressed life in the real world at the hands of his abusive relatives until his life is changed when he's introduced to the secret fantasy world of magic which has it's own unusual culture, people and education system, and one which uses the term "muggles" to describe those that aren't like them.

 

There's no denying that the Harry Potter books have been hugely popular, along with the later movies and merchandising. Securing it a strong (and almost religious) following from people from all around the world.



Numen-Deus TREASURE : THE CHRONOS WATCH



(HB pencil on 85mm x 50mm card)

 - NOT AVAILABLE -

 

This silver timepiece, created by an unknown maker in the 19th century, has the power to take you back and forth through time. You can even slow time down, or stop it altogether if you wish.

The pages of history and the future that is yet unwritten are wide open to you, but many dangers come with the gift of time travel. It's not meant for the unprepared fool or those with high expectations.

Numen-Deus always tries to remind us:

 

"ALL DESIRES DEMAND THEIR OWN PRICE"



Numen-Deus TREASURE : PET WORLD

(HB pencil on 85mm x 50mm card)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

 

Play God with the amazing Numen-Deus Pet World!

Create your world and alter it through millions of years of evolution. You can even walk on your world in your very own virtual body! Then, when you've indulged all of your sick fantasies and destroyed your world in an act of pure madness, you'll then learn the true, horrific, nature of the game.

That it's actually a powerful temporal device which creates your world for real, billions of years in the past, on the other side of the galaxy. Which explains why there are no save points, rewinds, or second goes with this game. You're left to live with the guilt of all your actions.

Either that or the inhabitants of your world reach a level of technological advancement that they set out from their planet to give you and your world a good kicking!

Numen-Deus does try and warn us:

 

"ALL DESIRES DEMAND THEIR OWN PRICE"



Numen-Deus TREASURE : BUBBLEPOPS

(HB pencil on 85mm x 50mm card)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

 Blow a bubble and wish into it your perfect world. When the bubble pops, your reality will instantly come into being.

A very unusual, yet powerful, treasure that should never be misjudged by it's innocent looking appearance. It is the simplest of things that can cause the greatest problems. For what is the perfect world when one man's heaven can be another man's hell?

"Serenity" and "Wisdom" is the caution a previous owner has scratched into the clay of the bottle. Numen-Deus have their own:

 "ALL DESIRES DEMAND THEIR OWN PRICE"



Numen-Deus TREASURE : ITCHIGON

(HB pencil on 85mm x 50mm card)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

For his crimes against her, Itchigon was damned by the goddess Fortuna to remain as an amulet to ward off all other curses and misfortune. Those who possess it will have nothing but incredible good luck, but others will begin to notice this after a while and regard you with envy and suspicion. You may even become lazy with your luck, for how can you appreciate good fortune if you never have any bad?

As Numen-Deus says:

"ALL DESIRES DEMAND THEIR OWN PRICE"



Numen-Deus TREASURE : EKCHUAH'S STONE

(HB pencil on 85mm x 50mm card)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

 

An ancient Mayan talisman that's capable of teleporting the bearer anywhere in the world.

The benefits of such a treasure are obvious to the eager traveller, but the dangers may be less so. For when the world suddenly becomes so small, it can seem a less significant place, eroding any sense of belonging. The bearer risks turning into a lost, cold soul, forever a lonely nomad in a world without wonder. But Numen-Deus tries to point out:

"ALL DESIRES DEMAND THEIR OWN PRICE"

Numen Deus TREASURE : THE SHADOW MASK

(HB pencil on 85mm x 50mm card)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

It bestows the power of invisibility onto those who wear it and is a treasure many would be eager to use.

They'd use it to spy, to steal and to kill, driving themselves insane with the power it gives. But it's losing all sense of the self that is the true danger here. Lose that and you risk vanishing into nothing.

Numen-Deus tries to remind us:

"ALL DESIRES DEMAND THEIR OWN PRICE"

Numen-Deus TREASURE : THE LEGACY DEVICE

(HB pencil on 85mm x 50mm card)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

Such devices come in all shapes and sizes and can be millions of years old. The vast knowledge contained within them are the lasting legacy of once great alien civilizations.

Their purpose is their enigma, for many worlds have been enriched by them, whilst many others have been completely and utterly destroyed.

As Numen-Deus reminds us:

"ALL DESIRES DEMAND THEIR OWN PRICE"

Numen-Deus TREASURE : THE EYE OF HADES

(HB pencil on 85mm x 50mm card)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

The disembodied spirits of the dead are all around us, but only by peering through the Eye Of Hades can one truly see and hear them.

And to see them is for them to see you.

Communion with the dead was not meant for the living, but to use such a treasure can be far too tempting for the curious. However, use it too much and you'll reach a point where you'll no longer need it. As Numen-Deus warns:

"ALL DESIRES DEMAND THEIR OWN PRICE"

Numen-Deus TREASURE : THE MIDAS GLOVE

(HB pencil on 85mm x 50mm card)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

Fortune is truly at hand within a glove sewn from the very skin of King Midas himself. Once worn, it gives you the power to turn anything you touch to purest gold.

A treasure many would long to own, if only for a moment. However, Numen-Deus leaves you these wise words of warning:

"ALL DESIRES DEMAND THEIR OWN PRICE"

Deadly Silence

(Black biro on 125mm x 75mm note card)

 

As long as he keeps on talking, the balloon will keep him out of reach. Luckily for him, he can arse on about that bollocks forever.

TOON TORN - 29th February







(HB pencil on a 139mm x 87mm postcard)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

 

Once every four years, on the 29th of February, everything in Toonworld changes. On this day of days all toons suddenly become mortal. There are no spinning stars or tweeting birds when one of them is hit. Bones can be easily broken, blood can be shed, and all face the horror of a real and painful death. Most run and hide until it's all over, whilst those who remain indulge themselves like they never could before and settle old scores in the most brutal way possible.

They swear like fucking bastards,

They fuck like fucking whores,

But mostly, they like to kill like fucking psychos.

It's hard to believe that those funny cartoon characters we all enjoyed watching as kids could ever be so nasty. But the ones you least expect tend to be the worst of all.

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A good transmorphic piece (meaning it grew as I was drawing it). Just a shame that I didn't manage to post it on the 29th of February!

Our Billy (Giant Family Robot)

(HB pencil on 125mm x 75mm note card)

 - NOT AVAILABLE -

 Th'z nowt wrong wi' our Billy. Everyone likes him 'round here. It's only sutherners that have a problem wi'him. We had one not s'long since. A Mister Shanks from 'Home Office. Daft bugger dint know wharri were on abaht and got himsen wound up abaht nowt.

 "He's not normal, Mister Ackroyd!" he says to me. "Can't you see that he's made of metal?"

 "Probably from Sheffield," I says. "Th've all got steel in their blood ovver there. So they say anyway." Then this Shanks feller turned right nasty.

 "Are you completely stupid?!" the cheeky bleeder says to me! In m'own house, and in front o' wife 'n' kids 'n' all! "He's not human," he says. "He's some unearthly freak!" Well, I just snapped dint I? After I gently ushered wife 'n' kids out o' room and closed 'door behind them.

 "Now you listen to me, y'pin-striped pillock!" I says, not wanting t'raise m'voice 'coz o' neighbours like. "Just 'coz our Billy dunt drink or smoke dunt make him different. I'm sure that's homophobic, or summat, I dunno. He's a proper man's man. Works his shift at pit and pays his way. He even looks after his pigeons well, and they're 'only ones that shite all ovver him. If you can't accept 'im for wharri is, then y'can just bugger off back down sahth, because y'not welcome 'round here!" And I sent him on his way with a flea in his ear.

 "BLOODY SUTHERNERS, EH PHIL?" Billy said to me later on.

Aye, bloody sutherners. None of 'em know what's reet.

 

Conspiracy Of Silence

(Black biro on a 75mm x 75mm post-it note)

  - NOT AVAILABLE -

As you can see, I've based this idea on the three wise monkeys, which works well for the mad world of alien conspiracies..