Celestial Artist

Celestial Artist

Digital Render/Procreate

August 2025

She Knows the Devil (...and the Devil Knows Me)

She Knows the Devil (...and the Devil Knows Me)

May 2025, digital render

The Painter, Jamie Adams

The Painter, Jamie Adams

April 2025, Digital Render

My inspiration for this artist portrait of Jamie Adams was a diorama featured in his recent show, surrounded by colored lights, from which he could study light and shadow while painting. In Jamie's canvas, the models are standing in water, so I put Jamie and his easel in water for my illustration.

#digitalart #procreateillustration #procreateart #procreate #ipadpro #thepainter #stlartist

Die Mutter des Künstlers

"Die Mutter des Künstlers", Jan. 2025

digital render/Procreate

#procreateart #krafttone #truegrittexturesupply #cmyk

#fourcolor #fourcolorprocess #ipadpro 

#procreateillustration #digitalillustration 

#digitalart #theartistsmother

Werewolf Mask

I don't talk much about being a performing/recording musician on this blog, but a project I both played drums on, and did artwork for, was recently released on both streaming platforms as well as limited edition vinyl- a first among the numerous recordings I've performed on in the last three decades. Truman Kennedy is a fantastic songwriter- I signed on to the "Werewolf Mask" immediately upon hearing the bare bones demo. This singular group of Americana tunes has a ton of style as well as a sense of humor anyone could enjoy.

Of course I could have a free copy, but I couldn't resist picking up a copy literally around the corner from my apartment at Planet Score Records in Maplewood, MO! In a cosmic twist, the shop was across the street from where I performed my first recording sessions 34 years ago, in the building that used to house Smith Lee Productions. What a trip!

Shaw Home at Christmas

Shaw Home at Christmas, Dec. 2023

Digital Render/Procreate

Many family Christmas memories of the folks' place back home in Crawford County, Perry Como on the record player, the fireplace crackling... about as idyllic as you could hope for. When a blanket of snow lay over the historic century old home and surrounding acre lot, it could be downright magical to a small town, midwestern boy. 

The Night Watchman Returns

 I'm not the first to spoof Frank Miller's iconic drawing of Batman and Robin swinging across Gotham City's skyline, but I am the first to add a wolfman, one of my own characters from The Night Watchman. Mick Shaw's female sidekick has yet to be named, but she will be an S & T University student studying the nighttime ecology of the spring & surrounding park, overlapping Mick's shift as Night Watchman. I gave her Robin/Carrie Kelly's slingshot from Dark Knight Returns and drew bats in the background to further my homage, replacing Gotham's skyline in the background with chimneys from the old Meramec Ironworks which stand to this day in Meramec State Park.

#TheNightWatchman #werewolf #meramecsprings #meramecstatepark #wolfman #cartooning #superheropinup #makemorecomics #cartoonistkayfabe #indiecomics #outlawcomics #darkknightreturns #frankmiller #carriekelley #carriekellyrobin #characterdevelopment #sidekick #sheblindedmewithscience #fourcolorprocess #fourcolorcomics #cmyk #truegrittexturesupply #procreatedrawing #procreateart #procreatecomics

The Dark Knight Returns, F. Miller, K. Janson, L. Varley (1986)

Sam Dog

 

Sam Dog, August 2023

Digital Render/Procreate

#petportrait  #cartooning #digitaldoodle  #procreateart #procreateillustration #truegritkrafttone #truegrittexturesupply  #iPadArt 

The Night Watchman: Morning Mick...

The Night Watchman: Morning Mick

Digital Reder/Procreate, August 2023

A spontaneous cover idea for The Night Watchman: Morning Mick at Eichelmann's. Certainly, premature for an idea I’ve only been working on for a few months, but the image was so vivid in my mind after those recent interior sketches that I felt compelled to draw it immediately. I’ve explored no possible thread from the narrative that would produce such a situation as of yet, and I’m not sure I’d even have to- the image is kind of its own thing. I like the idea of a mystery, a vein of uncertainty. What horror at the Springs overnight could bring our hero to this ragged state ...?!

If you aren't following my new Substack, you are missing out on some of the backstory to my Night Watchman project! Subscribe to get updates when I post!

#TheNightWatchman #indiecomics #cartooning #digitaldoodle #scificomics #horrorcomics #visualstorytelling #timetomakethedonuts #procreateart #procreateillustration #truegritkrafttone #truegrittexturesupply  #iPadArt  #makemorecomics  #cartooning

Dollhouse

Dollhouse

Digital Render/Procreate, July 2023

Halloween isn’t far off now really, but this was more inspired by an idea I had floating around in my head earlier this summer. There’s a seed of an idea for a possible story maybe, if not then it’s just a spooky little drawing that will likely be framed to show this autumn. Print quotes available per request.

#dollhouse #cmyk #4colorcomics #4colorprocess #truegritkrafttone #iPadArt #procreateillustration #procreateart #procreateartist #makemorecomics #cartoonist #cartoonistkayfabe #indiecomics #cartooning #digitaldoodle #horrorcomics #halloweenillustration #visualstorytelling

Night Watchman: Flashback at the Springs

Night Watchman: Flashback at the Springs

Procreate/Digital Render, July 2023

I've drawn at least five more pages for my Night Watchman project in the last couple months- that rate would produce 30 pages in a year, but I've sped up slightly as ideas start to flow. I initially colored this flashback page in sepia, but recolored it in rose which was a huge improvement. I recently took a scouting trip to get some reference photography for use when sketching backgrounds and scenery for my Night Watchman drawings- it's important for me to give the story a grounded setting.

Digital Sketch for Springs Flashback Page

#makemorecomics #thenightwatchman #meramecspringspark 

#procreatedrawing #trugrittexturesupply #ipadart

 

G.H.O.S.T. Agents in Space!

G.H.O.S.T. Agents in Space!

Digital Render, 2022

G.H.O.S.T. Agents Donna Printiss, Oleg Ivanoff and Tybalt Cross fighting a man-eating Space Cephalopod! This pinup was inspired by fellow G.H.O.S.T. Agents artist Dave Praetorius, and not originally intended for publication, but author Rocko Jerome decided to use it in addition to my Donna Printiss at the Whisky a Go-Go. 

 G.H.O.S.T.  Agents: Crimson Reckoning, a spy-fi anthology series by author Rocko Jerome, made up of short, self-contained pieces where every story exists in the same world and characters reoccur throughout the centuries-spanning narrative.  The oversized Treasury Edition format in which this will be produced, printed on newsprint like the Bronze-Age comics of my youth! This will fit both character pinup images I produced for the project perfectly! 

The roster of other talented artists that also worked on this project include Barry Tan, Sean Luke, Dave Grom, Todd Fox, John Burkett, Caspar Schumann, Miguel Galindo, Nathan Grixti, Jamie Jones, and Sam J. Royale.

Join us on the G.H.O.S.T.  Agents: Crimson Reckoning Kickstarter running until July 8th! We quickly received Kickstarter's Projects We Love badge of approval! Bleeding Cool and Comic Book Resources, two of the leading online comics news sites have covered the project- high visibility outlets that gave us a head start! There is ZERO risk- you don't pay until the goal is met, and all the work on our end is already done!

 #makemorecomics #supportindiecomics #indiecomics 

#cartoonistkayfabe #ghostagents #cosmiclion

Donna Printiss Undercover at the Whisky a Go-Go

Donna Printiss Undercover at the Whisky a Go-Go
Digital Render, 2022

Above, one of the full-page pinups I contributed to the forthcoming issue of Cosmic Lion Productions' G.H.O.S.T.  Agents: Crimson Reckoning, a spy-fi anthology series by author Rocko Jerome, made up of short, self-contained pieces where every story exists in the same world and characters reoccur throughout the centuries-spanning narrative.  The oversized Treasury Edition format in which this will be produced, printed on newsprint like the Bronze-Age comics of my youth! This will fit both character pinup images I produced for the project perfectly! 

The roster of other talented artists that also worked on this project include Barry Tan, Sean Luke, Dave Grom, Todd Fox, John Burkett, Caspar Schumann, Miguel Galindo, Nathan Grixti, Jamie Jones, and Sam J. Royale.

Join us on the G.H.O.S.T.  Agents: Crimson Reckoning Kickstarter running until July 8th! We quickly received Kickstarter's Projects We Love badge of approval! Bleeding Cool and Comic Book Resources, two of the leading online comics news sites have covered the project- high visibility outlets that gave us a head start! There is ZERO risk- you don't pay until the goal is met, and all the work on our end is already done!

Check out my video, featuring the G.H.O.S.T. Agents Theme Song by the Bellfuries, offered as a 45 RPM Flexi-Disc as part of the campaign:

 #makemorecomics #supportindiecomics #indiecomics 

#cartoonistkayfabe #ghostagents #cosmiclion