Tuesday, August 19, 2008

"Bastards of the Universe" Sketches!

Things are movin' and shakin' in The Bunker, this week! We've been priming canvases and gathering collage materials, all in preparation for "Bastards of the Universe: A Pop Culture Mess," which opens in San Francisco this Thursday. Below are the earliest stages of a few pieces I'll be contributing to the show -- thumbnail sketches!


First up is a piece called "Trickle-Down-Megatronomics." Combining one of my childhood loves (The Transformers) with one of the many troubled policies of the 80's (Reaganomics), I'm creating a thematic mash-up that hopefully digs deeper than the usual, "Gawsh, the 80's were so rad" nostalgia. I'll be collaging in a portrait of Ronald Reagan for Megatron's face. And this Megatron-Reagan will be stomping thru a ruined American ghetto, as he marches forward with a plan that is ultimately failing the poor and downtrodden. The failure is illustrated in the impoverished, 40oz bottle-wielding Autobot about to be crushed under Megatron-Reagan's big boot.


Next is the less severe, "Prince Adam's 'Thriller'." This piece will show He-Man's alter-ego, Prince Adam, as he lounges Michael Jackson-style, in a white suit and billowy black shirt. He'll even be chilling with a cuddly, green and yellow, tiger cub version of Cringer (aka Battlecat). It's totally Thriller, for the Eternian set!


"Spock As A Lover" is just that -- Starfleet's numero uno straight-man has to loosen up sometime! In this painting, I'll feature Captain Spock as a Hindu god, complete with multiple arms and a powerful lust for... well, LUST. I'm especially excited for the background, which will feature collaged images of Indian artwork. You ever see how sexual some of that old Asiatic art is? It's pretty cool, when you consider how much of the European art from that same Period in time was on a very chaste, Christian slant.


Lastly, here's my sketch for "Et Tu, Vader?" It's my play on the death of Julius Caesar. In the broader scheme of things, this piece is part of a series I've got planned, depicting our world as being run by cartoon villains. The Galactic Empire from Star Wars represents the old Roman Empire... that nearly perfect conquering force that's inspired so many wannabes in our own time. I thought a fun moment to illustrate from that "Galactic-Roman" history would be the murder of its father (Caesar) by his friend and chief enforcer (Vader). Thus, "Et Tu, Vader?".

And that's it for today's update. Look for more "Bastards of the Universe" updates tomorrow!

-Bunker, out!

4 comments:

Lunchbox said...

Damn. You'll be busy as hell. It's Tuesday, man!
How do you do it?
Alls I know is that I need that Prince Adam piece, sir.
NEED.
IT.

Dave Crosland, aka King Gum said...

Ha! Yeah, I know... this has been the tempo of my work since Comic-Con. It's kinda nuts, but it keeps me fresh. As far as "How do I do it?"... I guess it just comes down to me being very stubborn. Once I get my head into something, I like to dig in and give it my all. Even if it might suck something awful, or take me right up to the limit. And if I do pull off this show, I can feel good about taking Friday off.

Scott Hume said...

really diggin the spook one man, I dunno, I the shape you choose for his head is really cool man, can't wait to see the finished peices.

Anonymous said...

Hey, so where is this opening at?? I'd like to come check this out on Thursday!