A Modern Psychopomp

A psychopomp is the name for a mythological spirit guide that escorts souls to the after life.   Similar characters exist in many mythologies.  In the ancient Greek tradition Charon would accept coins placed in the mouths of the dead as fare to ferry their souls across the river Styx and Acheron.

Here I've depicted Charon as a bus driver.  I thought it might be funny to interpret the Purgatory as attempting to maintain an updated transit system (and failing at it).  As though it was good to keep every thing somewhat familiar to the dead souls it services.

The page is drawn with graphite on paper then digitally colored after it has been scanned.

For more on Psychopomps and Charon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopomp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_%28mythology%29


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View my portfolio at: www.spencerhallam.com

One of those Days

A single panel excerpt from "Transit" an in progress graphic novel I've been illustrating about a business man trapped in purgatory.  I thought this landscape was nicely atmospheric.

Hound's Tooth

I've been showing so much work with watermedia in the Sketchbook I wanted to post some work in oils.  So in spite of the uneven sheen on the underside of her ha I decided to post this study. This is a portrait of my friend Marjorie who was gracious enough to pose for me in her hound's tooth coat and vintage hat.  Though she was distracted by an episode of Desperate Housewives playing on the TV during our photo-shoot I was still able to get some classic looking photo reference to paint a satisfying study.

Quick Study from Photo Reference

This is just a quick study in watercolor from a magazine photo.  Mostly this was done just to keep my skills sharp.  I liked the dynamic geometries that develop from using a flat brush rather than a round or a filbert.  More like these to come.


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View my portfolio at: www.spencerhallam.com

Seeds

These are exploratory thumbnails for a public sculpture project I'm involved with.  I enjoy the idea that a simple 1x1 inch drawing can communicate a form that could take months to finally bring into tangible fruition.

Tiger Study

This is a small sketch of a tiger I did as a demonstration to show a student on how to draw from a photograph.  I thought it turned out nicely and wanted to share it.  Tigers are somewhat easy to draw since their stripes imply their form so well.  Pattern on any surface can make a rendering less dependent on chiaroscuro to indicate the form.

Mamita Lupita!

Who doesn't love good salsa? I recently completed this illustration for Mamita Lupita's Salsa. The logo and label design were created by SoCal WebWorx (www.socalwebworx.com).