Merry Christmas 2016 - Elf Made



(HB pencil on a 138mm x 87mm postcard)

- NOT AVAILABLE -

A Christmas elf is not born, they are made,

From one who lives their life in the shade.

 

As with the previous two years, I put this artwork on some Christmas cards that I printed out, which I then gave to various people. I re-used the idea of the strange, foul-mouthed elves that I'd previously used for the 2014 card. The story within the card tells of how Santa's elves are created, which you can view below by clicking on them (click on one and you should be able to easily scroll through them all):

 



 

On a scroll of vellum, with ink of blue,

For your letter to Santa is what you must do,

Tied and bound with a feather found,

Then cast into fire when there's no-one around.

FLAMES OF IGNORANCE

(2B pencil on 75mm x 125mm notecard)

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The EU referendum (brexit) and the election of Trump seems to have marked the rise of a far-right mentality that hasn't been seen on such a scale since the 1930s. But this is what happens during austere and uncertain times. Rabble-rousers, who only have their own interests at heart, take advantage of desperate people and whip them up into a mindless frenzy. They blur the lines between truth and lies, offering easy answers to difficult problems, whilst creating convenient scapegoats in the process. Instead of looking to the future, they look to a past which never was.

 

It is for this reason that I chose the old Greek saying of "A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in" to use in this piece. It may well be ancient in origin, but it still resonates today. The last line I added myself.

Numen-Deus TREASURE : THE FATEFUL PEN

(HB pencil on 85mm x 50mm card)

- NOT AVAILABLE-

 

Using the ink of your own blood, this pen allows you to write your own destiny. Anything that you write for yourself will come to pass, no matter how obscure or strange it may be.

Even in the hands of the mindful, it has the power to corrupt. For the author who dictates their own life story has no life at all, and no story to tell. In the end, they become nothing but victims of their own deep, dark, perversions.

We should remember what Numen-Deus tries to tell us:

 

"ALL DESIRES DEMAND THEIR OWN PRICE"

Hammered

(Black biro on a 125mm x 75mm notecard)

- NOT AVAILABLE - 

Another image of an everyday phrase juxtaposed onto a comic-book style frame. In this case it's the kind of phrase that you hear on a bus when someone's on their phone. That's if they're not texting it.

If you're the type of person that does receive calls on buses in which you know you're going to have to say something like: "I'm on the bus...I'll be about ten minutes" and you hate doing that, then please feel free to attach the above image as a response to your annoying little caller to save you the humiliation of saying it out loud.

WIZBANG! The Triplejack Gun

(2B pencil on A6 card)

 - NOT AVAILABLE - 

Anything that remotely hinted at some kind of weapon which could be use on others was siezed upon with the old comic-book ads. Things like airguns tended to be seen in the much older Boys' Own papers and you rarely saw such things in comics.

 

This piece shows the kind of thing that kids would have loved. What nasty little child wouldn't want something that made others pewk, piss and shit themselves at the same time?

WIZBANG! Pocket Atom Bomb

(2B pencil on a 139mm x 87mm postcard)

 

One of the better products you were able to get from comic book ads was the Exploding Army Hand Grenade. It wasn't a full-sized one and was a bit crude looking (nothing like the picture) but it was pretty good in the way you could load caps into it. In this Wizbang! advert, I've spoofed that by having it as a pocket atom bomb that kids can have fun totally destroying their neighbourhoods with.

WIZBANG! Pet Demon

(2B pencil on a 139mm x 87mm postcard)

- NOT AVAILABLE - 

Even pets were not immune to comic-book ads and there were quite a few different ones, whether it was the now infamous sea monkeys, or even squirrel monkeys (which were a real con, because you actually did get nothing for your money). As with other items that were advertised, they were sold as something wonderful and exotic, when they were really very mundane (sea monkeys were just brine shrimp).

 

With these Wizbang ads, I decided to reference them with an advert selling everything you could possibly need to grow your own little pet demon. A strange DIY kit that would probably sell well if it was advertised.

WIZBANG! Death-Ray Specs

(2B pencil on a 139mm x 87mm postcard)

 

Of all the comic-book ads which existed, the one that most tend to remember are the iconic "X-Ray Specs" ones. The original adverts tended to show the same character looking at the bones in their hand, or looking through the dress of a woman. It was responsible for many a child parting with their pocket money and was something of a catalyst in introducing them to this strange world of bullshit comic-book ads. I chose to spoof it here and kept the artwork for it very basic.