Fu Dog

To accompany a series of 'Stories from Ancient China' in the Epoch Times, London newspaper.

Lucifer

Latest piece for the Poetry analysis column. Published in the Epoch Times London edition, 01/07/09.

A Reading of “Lucifer In Starlight” by George Meredith

Lucifer in Starlight

'On a starred night Prince Lucifer uprose.
Tired of his dark dominion swung the fiend
Above the rolling ball in cloud part screened,
Where sinners hugged their specter of repose.
Poor prey to his hot fit of pride were those.
And now upon his western wing he leaned,
Now his huge bulk o'er Afric's sands careened,
Now the black planet shadowed Arctic snows.
Soaring through wider zones that pricked his scars
With memory of the old revolt from Awe,
He reached a middle height, and at the stars,
Which are the brain of heaven, he looked, and sank.
Around the ancient track marched, rank on rank,
The army of unalterable law.'

I really admire this poem and would advise you give the analysis a read (click the link above). The poet shows great insight and a deep reflection on perhaps the true situation and feelings of the fallen archangel Lucifer.

A few friends have asked if I felt weird drawing the devil. In this context where he is not glamourized but contemplated in a different light, I felt there was no problem. It's always nice to depict something with a classical feel to it also, there is lots of reference material for this kind of character in renaissance art. Gustave Dore's illustrations for Miltons Paradise Lost are the classic example.



I really liked the look of the shading layer for this piece, a nice image alone.



The rough painted sketch I also found quite effective. On reflection it reminds me of Gollum in the Two Towers movie poster. D'yu reckon?

P.S Camera Obscura :)

SD Drawings - Last 2

Both drawn from La Jolla Cove, SanDiego.

I've been busying about a lot recently, travelling to and from London to talk to potential agents and join mass Bike ride processions. Im skint now, so more drawing and work seeking is the order of the day.

SD Drawings 5 - Cove Chiller

Parades

Looks like this illustration will be used regularly :D
Photo from a parade/rally through London on Saturday 13th june.
From Edward Stephens Flickr.

P.S - 100th Post, woot!

Pigeon Pop - Up!

On Sale in Smash Skates Beccles, as of Tomorrow, with Clock parts fitted in the centre. £70, kid.

Sticks Mag

I nearly forgot to mention that Mr Keables website City and Sticks gets made into a little mag every so often. Issue 2 was released last week containing a snippet of the interview with myself. Full interview HERE.

The magazine is available from Drift in Norwich and Smash Skates in Beccles.

Pigeon Pop

A mock up of the latest Skateboard Wall Clock design.
To be lovingly rendered with Acrylic paints (colour!!) and Indian Ink.
Available for sale (£70), as soon as I've actually made it.

Voice

Latest Illustration for the Epoch Times UK, poetry column. Published 03/06/09.

'Upon Julia’s Voice' by Robert Herrick

So smooth, so sweet, so silv'ry is thy voice
As, could they hear, the Damned would make no noise,
But listen to thee (walking in thy chamber)
Melting melodious words to lutes of amber.

^^^^(thats it! a shorty)^^^^

The chinese symbol on her pendant means 'poetry'(see what I did there?).
This picture took loads of retouching to make the colour version look pleasing. After I had sent off the initial Black and White image to the Paper for publishing, I noticed lots of little errors and not-quite-right bits. But I guess thats what happens when you have a tight deadline (and have had a long break beforehand).

I learnt a lot from making this Illustration.

Full original article viewable HERE.

SD Drawings 3 - La Jolla Cove

A super nice place to hang out.
These are all coloured (rather hastily) in Photoshop btw.

SD Drawings 2 - Pilot Waiting

Another from Houston Airport, where 3 hours were spent waiting and only 1 man with a Cowboy hat on was spotted. Disappointing.



These will get a little more interesting, promise.

Gardening is all the rage

Just put up a new piece, finally completed on my online portfolio (my most ambitious yet, it turns out).

It began looking like this...



...and to see the finished version, you'll have to go look for it.

www.joelbenjamin.co.uk

SD Drawings 1 - Airport Wagon

Sketched with a very leaky inkpen at Houston Airport. If only one of these had been available when my travel buddy and I had to run across 2 terminals in 10 mins to reach our connecting flight on the way home, not fun.

Returned

Just getting back into the the swing of normal living after being on an epic holiday for two weeks. Will post illustration bits soon.

To see some of my better photos from Yosemite National Park click HERE.

San Diego...

..is where I'm going very early tomorrow morning. I'll be gone for 2 weeks and will return around 16th-17th May, hopefully with a sketchbook full of wonder.

Ta ta.