(comic) of Joe 2 part 2

And now the exciting conclusion to Cup of Joe 2!

(comic) Cup of Joe 2

Here is the super epic sequel to Cup of Joe. The Evil Tim has been defeated, what challenges face our hero in this 15 page coffee cup comic.

to be continued...

(painting,drawing) Christmas Finally Ends Just In Time For The Next One

It was only last week that I was finally rid of all of the Christmas presents from last year. Here your thinking but the fuck its September, Christmas is only a few months away. That's true and I realize that. It wasn't my fault that I still had one kicking around. I had tried to give it to my friend through out the year but she wouldn't take it for various reasons; the weather was bad, she was in the middle of moving and didn't want to lose it, she didn't have mine with her so she didn't want to be a dick or some such. either way it has finally made it's way into her home.

Coffee Cup of Sin
acrylic on paper

This is that last present. She wanted something I would paint with a bit of her flair. I painted an unlabeled Tim Hortons coffee cup, crumpled and defeated in the street. I then overlayed some graphic content which consisted of nudity, skulls, fisting, gas mask bondage, shemales, killers, pissing, served heads of all ages, and some masturbation. She loved it.

I Can't Be Home For Christmas, So Tell Me Mum I Love 'er
acrylic on paper

It was my friend from works 1st Christmas in Canada. Although he said he was fine being away from his family, I could tell he was missing them over the holiday season. We had spoken earlier about how he would love to have one of my paintings to bring back to Ireland, so I surprised him with this painting. While painting I had double checked to the order of the colours on the flag, so I didn't paint the Ivory Coast instead. In spite of that effort I had painted the wrong flag and was forced to paint over all of the snowflakes.

The Lorma
ink on paper

This sketch was based on a picture taken after my roommates paint balling birthday. We stood at the bus stop, adrenaline still pumping through our veins. We talked over the various matches discussing who shot who and what not. It was a good night.

Irish Setter, Not a Sweater
ink on paper

This was a housewarming/Christmas present for 2 of my coworkers. The one really, really loves dogs of any shape or size. The other was the Irish chap from the painting above. Naturally through mashing them together and Irish setter was the perfect choice.

(comic) Meet Joe

Before you say anything, yes, I know there are a bunch of spelling mistakes but what ever. It's all good no? That was the 1st installment of Cup of Joe. In this first issue I wanted to cheese the hell out of it making fun of the fact they are coffee cups on a quest.
I started by drawing a series of mouths for each cup to wear at different parts of the story. Then I set up a diorama for each panel and photographed the cups. After that I imported the pictures into Photoshop and created the backgrounds. I then slapped it all together and there you have it. Just in case you were wondering.
You may have noticed that Joe strikes an impeccable resemblance to the Coffee Cup Monsters. Good job you get a gold star. Joe and the other cups were a spin off of the Coffee Cup Monsters.

(painting,photography) Coffee Cup Monsters 101

Those delightful little critters are what I like to call Coffee Cup Monsters. Some consider this piece to be of a still life nature, but they are wrong. This was painted en plein air when I was lucky enough to catch not one but two of these elusive creatures. It was much like a painter going out to the woods to paint the forest but then finding a deer hanging around long enough to paint. That's good times as long as that deer isn't being hunted.
After I had finished my painting, one of the critters followed me home. My roommate at the time wasn't into having a Coffee Cup Monster as a pet so I set it free and we parted ways. After a couple of days I noticed the Coffee Cup Monster outside the window so I let it in to play. It brought a Friend which i thought was alright, but they couldn't stay too long. The next day they were back and they had a couple of other cups with them. I was cool with them chilling but all they wanted to do was hang out on the ceiling, and I can't do that. Trust me I tried.
It soon became apparent that they were building some sort of nest for their female. She was the only one without the blue markings. I had had enough of their shenanigans and told them to leave. I flung open the window and shouted for them to get out. But they didn't listen. I went to get the broom to shoo them away as if they were a squirrel or neighborhood cat. When I returned their numbers had grown. I forgot to close the window, shit.
My plan hadn't changed. I used my broom to the best of my ability, swinging it around while shouting like a girl. Wouldn't you know you, those little fuckers wouldn't budge an inch. They protected their queen at all costs. At least they put up a good effort. I struck a blow right to the queens lid causing the cups to go into a frenzy. They shaked and shivered sounding as if a fresh pot was on the go. I was a tad freaked out to say the least. I set the broom aside and tried to make peace. They wouldn't listen to anything I had to say. Their minds were made up, I was their enemy. The shaking intensified to the point where they were nothing but blurs in my vision. That's when I felt dizzy and passed out. When I woke up they were gone, along with my broom.
Weeks later as I climbed the stairs on my way to my locker I found a broom handle with all of the bristles removed from it's head. I thought nothing of it, having seen much stranger things in the hallways of the art school. I arrived at my locker and began dialing in the combo. The lock clicked, the door creaked, and then my jaw crashed on the floor. Everything that was suppose to be in my locker was not. Instead I found a herd of Coffee Cup Monsters, or maybe they were a battalion. Either way I thought I would be under attack at any moment. I pulled out my sharpest pencil and prepared for the upcoming battle.
It was as if my life had become an episode of Dragon Ball Z, or a months worth of episodes. Time seemed to stand still and yet at the same time drag on for eternity. I kept thinking to my self Come on cups just make a move. As if I know any sort of self defense when it comes to dealing with a gang of Coffee Cup Monsters.
Anyway nothing ended up happening in regards to that.

**COFFEE CUP MONSTERS ARE NOT REAL**

The coffee cup monsters were first created when I started going to OCAD. I would buy my coffee from Cafe Art Bagel for a buck then head to class. Halfway through the class the cup would be empty so to pass the time I would punch a hole in the side of the cup with my thumb, and then draw an eye on the lid. I then hid these cups around OCAD, mainly in the first year building. I would check in with them every so often usually finding them missing. The cleaning staff was top notch. The tradition of making monsters out of my Styrofoam coffee cups continued throughout my OCAD career.

(painting) We Made A Deal With The Devil

We Made a Deal with The Devil was a traveling art show presented by an artist group called Methinks. For the show I painted the two pieces below, which have nothing to do with each other in the slightest bit.

Into The Hell Fire
12 x 12
acrylic on paper

First we have a view into the fiery pits of hell. This ginger (whom many believe wouldn't have a soul to trade to begin with) is not only comfortable in the hot world of eternal torture, but is actually on the chilly side having to dress in a snowsuit and scarf down some quickly melting ice cream.










Psst... Hey You
12 x 12
acrylic on paper
Here we see down into an alley way, any alley way where it is possible to make a "drug" deal. The featureless peddler of forbidden wares sets up shop behind a dumpster and presents his goods to the viewer. Shall you pick some green smokables to gain cash? Maybe pop some red pills for an unmatched sex drive? Perhaps you'll shoot up some nice yellow juice to give you power over your fellow man? The choice is yours and all it'll cost you is your immortal soul.

more information about this art show can be found here:

http://www.methinkspresents.org/expedition/

(painting) The Squirrel Uprising... Watch Out

As I worked on my thesis I used one of my classes as a way to relieve stress. Instead of working on some crazy, meaningful, monumental, painting epic I decided to create a narrative that was so outrageous you couldn't help but laugh. I present to you Squirrel Uprising.

I decided later to switch the order of paintings 3 and 4 because i thought it added more flow to the series. originally painting 4 was placed in the bottom left corner so the pigeon's wing would bring the viewers eye down then the wrapped around neck sends the eye along the rest of the paintings.

I was told by my painting prof that I should have painted a text panel for each painting telling the story as it went along. I considered that idea rubbish because I think the average viewer of art has enough brains to figure out the story for themselves. In fact I had a random friend of my roommate, freshly woken up from a horrible couch sleep, look at the series and and ask me "are these paintings about..." he went from painting to painting telling me the story missing out only minor details like the fact that the squirrels standing in front of the row of pigeons are part of "the Flying Acorns" as denoted by the winged acorn on their arm bands. but who would have gotten that at first glance? I was thinkng of jotting down the story for you down here now that you have had time to look at the paintings, now though I think I'll leave it up to your imagination.

(painting) Coffee? Coffee!

Along with the abstract studies on paper towel, I also made paintings using ground coffee on paper towel. These started after a coffee spill covered a paper towel had dried leading lighter and darker spots. I mixed the used coffee with some gel medium then applied it liberally to the paper towel following the spill pattern. This is what was made.

I also based paintings on coffee. For some coffee stopped being subject matter and became a medium to paint with.

Diner waitress deconstructs reality with free refills of delicious poison (left)

Dinner waitress inverts reality with platters of confectionery goodness (right)