A Walk in the Park (preview) 48" x 36"

She's evolving in to something new and AWESOME!! Loving this direction it's going in.


And here we have the final sketch before I begin painting this lovely young woman. I'm not completely pleased with the style of umbrella so I left it out. Have I mentioned how much I hate my small @ss scanner by the way?







One of the newer pieces I'm working on for the Marvelous & Co. show next month in SOHO.
She gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Junk in the trunk"

Business Card

That's an actual illustration of my brain. I had to use four different mirrors at nine different angles to draw it.
Turns out, my brain is big enough to fit in a light bulb.
Guess I'm just a pretty face after all. --ack!

Scumbag Alum

The boys from Scumbag College and a detail of Rick.

"I gotta stop sniffing this Ajax."

I don't know if any of you watched this show, but The Young Ones was one of my favorite shows when I was younger. This is a preview of the art I'm doing for my new Young Ones tee shirt. I'll post Neil, Mike and Rick as soon as they're done.

Samhain

Samhain Skinny Bones ©
by Jean Michel

Samhain Skinny Bones,
Samhain Skinny Bones,
Why do you wail and crow

You call your jester
From a bail of hay
To watch him cleave and sow

Samhain Skinny Bones,
Samhain Skinny Bones,
Dancing through the stalks

Find a child that is pink and round
Gobble him bottom to top

The Trouble With Miss Switch - Continued

Just trying to flesh out the composition a bit more before I tighten up the sketches. I think I need to make Rupert's face a might bit friendlier and Amelia's face a hair less manly.

The Trouble With Miss Switch

I don't know if any of you remember, but in 1980 there was something called the ABC Weekend Special and it was a Saturday morning cartoon showcase. Every week they would play a new story and two of my favorites when I was a kid were called "The Trouble With Miss Switch" and the sequel "Miss Switch to the Rescue"

They were about this little girl and boy who realize one day that their substitute teacher is a witch.

This is a sketch of Miss Switch in her day time school marm gear and her night time sexy witch duds.

You can watch the cartoons here if you want,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5CkBTH5l30
but just realize they do not hold up very well. Love the music though.

Midget Boy Mechanic

So, this is the main character of my giant robo story. I still don't have a name that's stuck yet, but I've been kicking around the name David, but I thought that might be a bit cliche. David and Goliath and all that.

He's twelve years old and he's a midget or dwarf or little person. I'm not too sure what the appropriate nomenclature is these days.

Giant Robo Knight

So this is another story that I came up with back in '99 or 2000. It's a giant robo story that takes place in the future when wars are fought in a monumental sized arena between the nations of the world by each countries giant robot warriors. It's kinda like the Olympics, but instead of just glory and gold medals, the prizes are political spoils.

This particular image is of the UK's bot which is a centaur knight. The main character of the story is the pilot of this bot.

The Great American Steampunk Novel

These are characters from a steampunk story I'm writing. The girl is a maniacal and sadistic princess in the story. The Beast is an empathic aqua/terra type beast.

They're Coming!!!

I've finally begun the inks for the Zombie Baby Parade. You can read the poem and find the initial sketches in ye olde blog archives.

A Weird Illo

This is an illustration I keep coming back to and tweaking and working on. Think I may start playing around with it again.

Takin' A Chance on the Q Train

Tancho

A portrait of my friend Luke. (in progress)

Angela et Alain

A gift for two friends restaurant grand opening in Brooklyn.


This is the restaurant. Go. Drink. Eat. Yeah.

Diego's World

New painting I'm working on for my son. I may write a story to go along with it. It's going to be a boy riding a giant, stuffed, patchwork dinosaur.

Oh, my doG! - March 2008

18" x 14" Acrylic on canvas
One of the newer ones I'm working on. Still kicking this drip-dry expressionisty type of thing around.

I should have mentioned; this is a portrait of our dog, May. She died before Diego was born. I wrote this for her the next day,

A Death in the Family

At the end of the day, we are merely what we are. Human.

In our inevitable course we are all the same; going towards a destination we can't avoid, but sometimes, sometimes there is someone along for the ride with us.

Someone who accents and punctuates our lives and actions with something along the lines of mirth and solemnity.

They are sentinels of our hearts and privy to our most vulnerable moments.

They are our friends.


-Dedicated to Roxy and May

Acrylic Stardust - March 2008

A quickie of Ziggy. Also a study in a different technique.

Tree Of Knowledge - 2008

36" x 66" Acrylic on canvas

Inspired by many quotes by Frank Zappa in regards to Adam, Eve and The Apple.
I'm not happy with the bottom right corner of the piece, so I think I'll be going in soon to revise it.

"Boy" - March 2008

This is one of my newer pieces that I'm working on. Should be finished soon so I can start on the companion piece, "Girl"

Commuter Art

When two of the hours in your day to day life are spent on a train, your mind tends to wander. My pen just happens to go along for the ride on those wanderings a lot of the time.

New ZBP page sketch...

So, I've got to apologize to anyone looking at this for the poor quality of the imagery. I currently am without scanner, so I've been using my digital camera to snap these pics. Hopefully that lil' problem will be remedied soon.

THEY CRAWL FROM THEIR PRAMS, AND DROP FROM THEIR CRIBS, THEY WRIGGLE OUT OF THEIR BEDS...

A lot of people that I've shown these images to and who've read the story tend to give me a look that makes me suspect that they've just had a sip of some rather chunky milk.

I'm very surprised at how many people find anything that could be geared towards children that is less than whimsical or has any hints of the morbid or odd to be distasteful.

Listen people; most kids are a bit odd and morbid to begin with. Childhood is a fucked up time magnified by a young boy or girls schewed perspective on everything around them...no, that's not even right.
The world is a fucked up place and kids haven't had years of scars and walls built up around their eyes from shitty jobs and horrible relationships to numb it all, so they tend to see the world around them in vivid, grotesque technicolor.

To be honest, looking back on my childhood and the television, literature and music that I was privvy to; it was all completely bent in some form or another.

Some examples:

The Tom & Jerry episode that pays homage to The Three Musketeers- At the end of the episode, Tom is brought to the guilotine (sp?) and you clearly see him executed from afar

The Original (un-Disneyfied) Little Mermaid story- Ariel dies at the end by the hand of the sea witch I believe

Hansel and Gretal- Roast the witch in her own oven (after vandalising her home by the way)

And let us not forget The Smurfs- Every episode you are reminded that Gargamel wants nothing more than to nosh on some tender Smurf flesh

and the list goes on and 90% of that list would probably be from The Loony Tunes alone. God, I love those screwy animals. One day I'm gonna get me the "Pipe Full of Fun Kit #7" and then the world will quake from my wrath.

Feel free to add your own twisted childhood memories to the list folks.

It's late and I should go to bed. Till next time.

New ZBP Sketch...

... AND MEET IN THE CEMETARY GROVE TO DANCE AND WAKE THE DEAD.

Random Creepy Things...

Everyone Loves Zombie Babies ...

My latest pet project is a children's book inspired by Edward Gorey, HP Lovecraft, EA Poe, Tim Burton and Hellboy (the comic books, not the movie)

Give it a read and check out the preliminary sketches at the bottom.
Too bad it won't be ready for Halloween.

-------------------------------

The Zombie Baby Parade by Jean Michel ©2007

LATE AT NIGHT WHILST ZOMBIE PARENTS
ARE SNUGGLED IN THEIR BEDS,

THEIR ZOMBIE BABIES HAVE VISIONS
OF DANCING AND SINGING
IN THEIR HEADS.

THEY CRAWL FROM THEIR PRAMS
AND DROP FROM THEIR CRIBS,
THEY WRIGGLE OUT OF THEIR BEDS,

AND MEET WITHIN THE CEMETERY GROVE
TO DANCE AND WAKE THE DEAD.

THEY BRING HORNS AND DRUMS,
CYMBALS AND FLUTES,
ALL MANNER OF MUSICAL FARE.

THEY EVEN BRING SOME ROTTING BONES
TO WEAR MERRILY IN THEIR HAIR.

THEY SCREAM AT THE COFFINS,
AND CROON TO THE DEAD
GIVING THEIR TOMBS A GOOD RAPPING

THEY BEAT THEIR ZOMBIE BABY TUNE
ON THE SKULLS WITH A
TAPPITY
TAP
TAP
TAPPING

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT THEY DANCE AND SING
WENDING THEIR WAY THROUGH THE GRAVES.

WHO KNOWS, ONE NIGHT YOU JUST MIGHT SEE
THE ZOMBIE BABY PARADE!