Theodoric S. Taylor Art

developing

Scribbly beginnings

Pretty much taken the under drawing as far as it needs to go here and will move on to painting next and will attempt to pay more attention to the intentionality of the strokes than I did in my previous study after Rubens.

Study in gouache on a piece of A3 paper after Rubens' Hercules as Heroic Virtue Overcoming Discord. First time painting in gouache for over a year now, very fun, but life is a little too short to take this any further so I will leave it a little rough around the edges and move onto the next one.

Bit of an experiment to draw some master studies on photoshop using custom brushes to make them look like ink drawings.

I know this connection has been made before, but I do find the similarity between grotesque faces carved in stone long ago and our soyjack memes to be highly amusing and intriguing. Its almost like we have unknowing created our own contemporary digital gargoyles which represent the most detestable aspects of ourselves and the states of our spirit that we never wish to embody and rightly ridicule.

Since it's no secret that much of Christian lore is built upon prior traditions which it assumed and Christianised, I can't help but wonder if this idea of perceiving those most inferior aspects of oneself that arise in the spirit as something to be battled against in an inner war is linked to something far older. I am in no way versed in such matters, but it does bring to mind, for me at least, the trolls of Norse Mythology and Folklore, which lurk with malicious intent underneath bridges, of which the mighty Thor treads down upon and crushes underfoot. Regardless it is with this purpose elucidated above that I am attempting to deploy them in my own work in a symbolic way.

Studies of various gargoyles and grotesques in the A5 sketchbook, drawn with ink and brush.

Underpainting done, colour next

My book cover design and illustration for Skirmishes in the Atrium: A poetry chapbook for the age of strife, by Arthur Powell - t.me/atopthecliffs A challenging but highly enjoyable project to bring together modern and ancient aesthetics into a symbolic whole. Purchase the book here: Britain: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Skirmishes-Atrium-poetry-chapbook-strife/dp/B0CT64TKJM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3W0MUT99UEPFA&keywords=Skirmishes+in+the+Atrium&qid=1706981598&sprefix=skirmishes+in+the+atrium%2Caps%2C295&sr=8-1 America: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CT64TKJM?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_46J7MSJ8Z8TZBWHVW9G9_1

Here's a very simple process video showing the three stages. Pencil drawing to get the forms more or less there, lines with water resistant ink, and then diluted ink washes for value. Both the lines and washes were drawn with a fine brush.

Two studies today after Salvator Rosa, the Italian artist from the Baroque period. I went back to the A5 sketchbook for these full figures, as I found the A6 a little cramped for them last time.

Two studies after Luca Cambiaso. Diluted my ink with a little too much water here and it bled, ruining a lot of the line work and I had to work back over it. Mistakes were made, lessons learnt.

Some studies of old master drawings in a new A6 sketchbook. Pen and ink.

Two studies today

Some of the interior illustrations I drew for another dark fantasy novella by Jordan Allen. I was a bit experimental with my work here, and I appreciate Jordan trusting me to try a stylistically different approach to this project. Read about it and purchase it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1919619283/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-2