The Raven: In-progress sketch

Working on a raven papercut, based on the Noah story in Bereshit: "And he sent forth a Raven, and it went forth and to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth." The rabbis have a lot of fun with what "to and fro" could really be about -- is it about the raven arguing back and forth with Noah? Is it related to the idea that the raven found a fresh corpse to alight upon and never returned to the ark, hence requiring Noah to release another bird -- the dove? The raven is a tricky bird...

The look of the raven is being driven by Native American representations of the trickster-god Raven, and I'm still working on the background textures. I assure you, loyal fans, it will involve comic books in some way. And if I finish it in time, you can see the final at my upcoming show at Brave New World Comics.

More details on the show are available here.

Beware the trickery of "Trickster Coyote"

I've completed my "Trickster Coyote" papercut today! Based on the traditional Native American representation of Trickster Coyote, the piece uses cut-up Loki comics as background texture, bringing together an ancient trickster with a comic book counterpart. The Loki pieces are from Thor comics throughout the 20th century, including some Jack Kirby and John Buscema. There are also some Native American colors and textures (courtesy of Alpha Flight and The Ringo Kid), and a few other surprises here and there.

This piece, and many others, will be on display in my upcoming one-man show at Brave New World Comics (the opening reception is Saturday, September 11).

Trickster Coyote papercut begins to take shape

I'm working on a papercut for my upcoming show at Brave New World Comics (opening reception is Saturday, September 11), and I thought I'd share a couple of detail photos as it's coming together. The image on the left is just the cut; on the right you can see the background getting filled in -- I'm using Loki as a primary background element, but there may be some other characters you recognize once it's done...