Xmas is not an easy time of the year if you make a living as a freelance artist. Work comes to a standstill whether you like it or not, and us freelancers are like sharks —if we stop moving, we drown and perish.
Still, I managed to make use of the free time by drawing in the traditional way, instead of digitally. I seize these chances as an opportunity to celebrate the flaws that are bound to appear in the work, which is a welcome change from all the stress I experience when I spend weeks polishing a digital illustration using dozens of layers, and trying to reach a level of perfection that is ultimately unattainable. It’s also nice to finish a quick doodle on the same day you actually started it; kind of like going for a nice little jog instead of running a marathon.
Aside from the Grinch parody I posted previously, I came up with the two pun-y images shown above —for people who don’t get the pun, EBE is not only the first two syllables in Scrooge’s name from A Christmas Carol, but it is also the supposed acronym used by the US government to designate the alien creature they captured alive after the infamous Roswell crash in 1947.
As for the image on top of this post, I like how pop culture has embraced the character of Mothman (in a very literal way, actually) even though most people have probably never bothered to read John Keel or Gray Barker’s books about the events that unfolded on Point Pleasant in 1967 —and this is an excellent opportunity to remind my readers that Richard Gere’s movie The Mothman Prophecies is totally a Xmas film.
With the image below. I didn’t try to be funny, of course. Quite the contrary, it was an opportunity to remind people —especially Christians— that there are currently millions of people going through a terrible humanitarian crisis which unfortunately won’t be solved anytime soon.
I hope visitors to this website will be discerning enough to understand that a pro-Palestine posture does NOT mean an endorsement of Hamas; the same way that supporting Israel’s right to exist does not mean supporting Netanyahu’s policies.
Reaching a lasting peace in the Middle East seems like an impossible dream, but I guess that’s one of the reasons I like Fortean mysteries so much —because they are a reminder that the universe does not need to conform to what we deem possible… or impossible.
Catch you all on the other side of 2024! And remember to contact me if you’re interested in hiring my services for a project or a commission.
Absurd by Design 