The Book of Magic & Mayhem

 

(HB pencil on 110mm x 78mm paper)

Odd characters and weird objects do tend to come to the fore when doing dreamscape pieces. This elf-like wizard, with even stranger looking ears than normal, reading a chaotic looking book of magic, is no exception.

WIZBANG! Star Portal

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

  - NOT AVAILABLE -

As I remember, the original small-ads were very crude in their appearance, so the rough nature you see in the ones I've done do match that. This is helped by doing them with a simple 2B pencil, which gives them that rough "letterpress" feel that the original adverts once had. So it's fortunate that I didn't choose a fineliner, because I don't think they would have looked as good.

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 # 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.