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Another character portrait from my novel in progress, The Infernal Twins. Nanos-Alux the court dwarf is the most able member of King Ah’itzotl’s retinue, skilled in science, magic, administration, and the military arts. Seated on a low dais, in the presence of his Divine King, he ingests a potent mixture of opium, toad venom, and psilocybin, to demonstrate the potion’s safety. Note the stylishly matched jade earflare and navel ring. To cool the cat while he blows his mind, I provided a World Tree for shade, a highly stylized ceiba, similar to the Norse Yggdrasil Tree, an ash in that myth.
Is staring at you all the live long day. This is dedicated to the memory of my dear friend, the late Tom Moody, a son of Texas and a finer artist than I’ll ever be. Adios, Tom.

This is based on a detail from a stele excavated at Tikal, site of some of the most magnificent Mayan ruins. A mask from the belt of a King of Tikal, Siyaj Chan K’awiil, it combines features of the Sun, Fire, and Wind Gods. Mayan art has always fascinated me.

This is based on a devotional object found in a Mithraeum, an underground temple to Mithras, located near Hadrian’s Wall in Great Britain, circa 100-200 CE, one of many interesting features. Mithras is depicted as hatched full grown from an egg. More traditional portrayals have him emerge from a shattered rock. The Zodiac figures in the frieze surrounding the sun god are also unusual. I added the World Snake devouring its own tail for extra symbolism and also completed the body, still mostly roughed out in the original. I used my yellow oil marker for the eggshell and the gold one for the border and I’m fairly pleased with the results. His hair looks like Bettie Page’s though.
Here’s the original for comparison:


This is a portrait of Um-Kastor, a protagonist in my new novel The Infernal Twins. He’s the angry, ill tempered twin while his brother Poll-Ha is jovial and like to kid around. They both like playing the ball game better than anything else except for hunting and warfare (as opposed to fishing and golf). Any resemblance to Castor and Pollux is deliberate. Please note the jade butterfly nose plug.
I started out trying to draw Cthulhu, but this is what I ended up with.
French title: Les Betes De La Mer Ont Faim.


The inspiration for this came from Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations for Wilde’s play, Salome, specifically the Dance of the Seven Veils drawing. I even copped Beardsley’s icon signature. Any resemblance between this character and Gene Simmons from Kiss is entirely coincidental. And to any boomers out there wondering, yes, he is indeed playing a scorching, white hot version of Smoke On The Water.
I got a new fine point pen and went somewhat nuts with it last night. Unfortunately the image is just slightly too big for the scanner.
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