Postcards: Elementary Gunnery Chapter 45

Just your standard rhino, Vietnam, Navy training manual postcard.

Ok, maybe it's a copy of Durer's Rhinoceros, perhaps the most famous image of a rhino.

A striking image of shelling.

I wanted to make sure the shell arced over the rhino.

For me, this image is very evocative of kaiju, which I love.

Postcards: Strawberry Tree Froggo

As I mentioned in the previous post, Westen suggested I draw a frog or the Jabberwock.  It has been a goal of mine to explore more intermingling of my drawings and collage.  With the Jabberwock, I mimicked collage by writing first, and then drawing over it.  For the frog, I decided to draw on an envelope and then tear the frog out, thinking the tears and the printing on the envelope would add some depth beyond my ability to draw.

This time, instead of writing, I stole words from Lovecraft.  He's good for weird atmospheric snippets.

Then a bit of map that I had from a collage grab bag.  The map gives me an element for the frog to overlap, while at the same time breaking up the text, making it harder to just read and recognize the story. 

Finally a stamp, to make this postcard feel a little more traveled.

Postcards: The Jabberwock

I was stuck for ideas when Westen suggested a frog or the Jabberwock.  Guess what appeared on the next two postcards?

Postcards: Reader Submissions

There's something wrong with my phone syncing right now;  none of my process photos have made it to my laptop!  Until it gets sorted, here are some of the more recent postcards I have received.

Postcards: Some Things

Postcards: The High House of Kadath on the Island of Doctor Moreau

Ok, I've fallen way behind on the text on these guys.  Let's see what I can rush through.

Step 1:  Old cigarette ads often evoked fresh air, which is crazy.  Just look at this.

In those clothes, holding a cigarette, using a water pump in the country. Whut?

Let's grab a crazy bird.

Put them together!

Excellent!  Let's make this feel more like an ad for a crazy science land.

Eh.  I wouldn't use that blue text on black again for this style.  I wanted it to feel more like a vintage ad.  Maybe more text?  Some sort of "Come to Rapture" text.

Thank you, Lovecraft, for Kadath.  Perhaps it's time for a little Popular Science?

Postcards: Pretend This Is Normal

Sometimes I stare at my art supplies, and hope that they make something of themselves.  This time, though, inspiration hit me via text.  Maggie and I were chatting and bam!

I knew I had to make a "pretend this is normal" postcard.  I looked around for a while to find a good Maggie, and settled on this dinosaur.

Who should this dinosaur try to blend in with?  Post-dinosaur-dinosaurs!

Time to over and over again practice the composition.  Not at all a tedious exercise in layering... not at all.

Let's create a setting, shall we?

Okay, why don't I just layer it all again?

Oh god, I've glued my face to the table.

Once again, with feeling!  And glue.

So much glue.

Postcards: Erin's Firebreathing Rooster

Erin sent me a wonderful watercolor of a barn quilt.  I couldn't think of a suitably related reply, so I went with a fire breathing rooster. Seems like a natural place to go, right?

First I inked and then cut out the rooster I have from one of Dover's wonderful books of clip art.

Then I glued the rooster down and played around with water and ink.

Voila!