MOBY-DICK, Page 549 (second, final version)

Title: Retribution, swift vengeance, eternal malice were in his whole aspect, and spite of all that mortal man could do, the solid white buttress of his forehead smote the ship's starboard bow, till men and timbers reeled. Some fell flat upon their faces. Like dislodged trucks, the heads of the harpooneers aloft shook on their bull-like necks. Through the breach, they heard the waters pour, as mountain torrents down a flume.

"The ship! The hearse! - the second hearse!" cried Ahab from the boat; "its wood could only be American!"

15.5 inches by 10.75 inches
acrylic paint and ink on found paper
January 23, 2011

MOBY-DICK, Page 549 (first, unused version)

(Simply put, I had two ideas for this piece and I just couldn't decide. So I made both of them on the same afternoon thinking it would be easier to choose which one to use once they were both complete. I ended up liking them both quite a bit, but the second one in the post above seemed just a bit more cinematic, violent, and terrifying so I went with that. Still, I like each of these quite a bit.)

Title: Retribution, swift vengeance, eternal malice were in his whole aspect, and spite of all that mortal man could do, the solid white buttress of his forehead smote the ship's starboard bow, till men and timbers reeled. Some fell flat upon their faces. Like dislodged trucks, the heads of the harpooneers aloft shook on their bull-like necks. Through the breach, they heard the waters pour, as mountain torrents down a flume.

"The ship! The hearse! - the second hearse!" cried Ahab from the boat; "its wood could only be American!"

10.5 inches by 7.5 inches
acrylic paint on found paper
January 23, 2011

MOBY-DICK, Page 541 (second, final version)

Title: "Aye, he's chasing me now; not I, him - that's bad..."

7 inches by 7 inches
acrylic paint and ink on Bristol board
January 20, 2011

MOBY-DICK, Page 541 (first, unused version)

(This was my first attempt at the image. Obviously thinking about the ouroboros as well as E.R. Eddison's amazing fantasy novel The Worm Ouroboros. I felt that this attempt was just a bit too static and perhaps even a little lifeless. I'm not absolutely thrilled with my second attempt, in the post above this, but I do feel it has a bit more life and a bit more horror in it so I am going with that one.)

Title: "Aye, he's chasing me now; not I, him - that's bad..."

7 inches by 7 inches
ink and marker on Bristol board
January 17, 2011

MOBY-DICK, Page 540 (second, final version)

Title: ...while still as on the night before, slouched Ahab stood fixed within his scuttle; his hid, heliotrope glance anticipatingly gone backward on its dial; sat due eastward for the earliest sun.

8 inches by 6 inches
ink and marker on watercolor paper
Jannuary 24, 2011

MOBY-DICK, Page 540 (first, unused version)

Something about this image just wasn't sitting right with me. For one thing, I was unhappy with the three little skulls near the bottom. Also, the sun looked more like Jupiter to me, which bugged me. Finally, I just couldn't get that word "heliotrope" out of my mind. So, days later, in a rather furious fit of sketching, I redrew this thing completely. And I'm much happier with the second version, in the post above...)

Title: ...while still as on the night before, slouched Ahab stood fixed within his scuttle; his hid, heliotrope glance anticipatingly gone backward on its dial; sat due eastward for the earliest sun.

7.75 inches by 10.75 inches
acrylic paint on found paper
Jannuary 16, 2011

MOBY-DICK, Page 501 (first, unused version)

(Another page where I had two ideas, so I made them both. This was the first one and it is a very intentional mirroring of the piece I did for page 26 way back in Augist of 2009.)

Title: "Come! I feel prouder leading thee by thy black hand, than though I grasped an Emperor's!"

6 inches by 9 inches
acrylic paint on found paper
December 20, 2010

MOBY-DICK, Page 094 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions. All I can say about this one is, damn you Alberto Giacometti and your world famous "Walking Man" sculptures from approximately 1947 to 1949.)

Title: It was nearly six o'clock, but only grey imperfect misty dawn, when we drew nigh the wharf.

5.5 inches by 8.25 inches
colored pencil on found paper
December 31, 2010


(original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 496 (first, unused version)

(The illustration for page 496 in the post just below this was my second attempt. I had two ideas for this page so I made both of them and decided to include the one I liked better for the book. The piece in this post is my first attempt, which I like but not quite as much as the second one.)

Title: Deliberately standing before the binnacle, and eyeing the transpointed compasses, the old man, with the sharp of his extended hand, now took the precise bearing of the sun...

10.75 inches by 7.75 inches
marker on found paper
December 17, 2010

MOBY-DICK, Page 233 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: And often you will notice that being conscious of the eyes of the whole visible world resting on him from the sides of the two ships, this standing captain is all alive to the importance of sustaining his dignity by maintaining his legs.

6.25 inches by 9.25 inches
ink and marker on found paper
October 31, 2010


(original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 158 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: "God keep me! — keep us all!" murmured Starbuck, lowly.

9.5 inches by 7.75 inches
acrylic paint, ink and marker on found paper
October 31, 2010


(original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 148 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: There you stand, a hundred feet above the silent decks, striding along the deep, as if the masts were gigantic stilts, while beneath you and between your legs, as it were, swim the hugest monsters of the sea...

6 inches by 7.75 inches
ink and marker on found paper
October 25, 2010


(original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 185 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: Therefore, in his other moods, symbolize whatever grand or gracious thing he will by whiteness, no man can deny that in its profoundest idealized significance it calls up a peculiar apparition to the soul.

ink on Bristol board
7 inches by 8.5 inches
October 1, 2010


(original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 154 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: "Look ye! d'ye see this Spanish ounce of gold?" — holding up a broad bright coin to the sun — "it is a sixteen dollar piece, men. D'ye see it?"

acrylic paint and ink on found paper
6 inches by 8 inches
October 1, 2010


(original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 149 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: ...for as the soul is glued inside of its fleshly tabernacle, and cannot freely move about in it, nor even move out of it, without running great risk of perishing...

acrylic paint and ink on found paper
4.5 inches by 7.75 inches
October 1, 2010


(original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 137 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: BOOK III. (Duodecimo), Chapter II. (Mealy-mouthed Porpoise).

colored pencil and ink on found paper
8 inches by 5.5 inches
October 3, 2010


(original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 136 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: BOOK III. (Duodecimo), Chapter II. (Algerine Porpoise).

acrylic paint and ink on found paper
5.5 inches by 8 inches
October 3, 2010


(original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 115 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: For several days after leaving Nantucket, nothing above hatches was seen of Captain Ahab.

ink on found paper
5.25 inches by 6 inches
October 3, 2010


(original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 086 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: "Cap'ain, you see him small drop tar on water dere? You see him? well, spose him one whale eye, well, den!" and taking sharp aim at it, he darted the iron right over old Bildad's broad brim, clean across the ship's decks, and struck the glistening tar spot out of sight.

9.25 inches by 6 inches
ink and marker on found paper
September 26, 2010


(Original version below)

MOBY-DICK, Page 052 (re-drawn)

(For various reasons, a handful of these illustrations needed to be redrawn. These are the new versions.)

Title: Nothing exists in itself.

7.75 inches by 10.75 inches
ink on found paper
September 24, 2010


(Original version below)