Jesus as the greater Boaz

Pen and ink. This is an illustration for an essay about the book of Ruth. In the book, Boaz provides for a destitute Ruth and Naomi by leaving extra grain in his fields for them to glean and also by giving six measures of barley directly to Ruth. Her gleaning of grain from the fields is strongly reminiscent of the Israelites collecting the manna that God provided for them in their wanderings. The association of manna with the bread in communion and the even stronger association of grain with bread make this scene in Ruth a foreshadowing of Jesus giving bread and wine to his Church in the form of the elements in communion.

Alligators

Screenprint and oil on paper. I love alligators and I miss them very much now that I live in PA. I guess I always took them for granted in Florida; my wife and I still catch ourselves scanning drainage ditches and small ponds for gators. I also miss the spring when the baby lizards hatch and run across the sidewalk as you walk past them!

Animal Farm

Pencil and watercolor on paper. This is an illustration for Animal Farm. I was thinking Ralph Steadman when I made it. I guess I stayed in the lines a bit much for Steadman, but still...

Wasps

Ink on paper. This was an illustration for the Inferno. The souls that were neutral in life don't even get to go to hell. They have to wait in the anteroom to hell where they are tormented by wasps and maggots.

Cyclops Skull

Ink, goauche on paper. A cyclops skull of course. You may be saying that it looks like an elephant skull all dressed up as a cyclops skull because, really, real cyclops skulls are hard to come by. But what you don't know is ol' Polyphemus' skull has been in my family for generations.

Crawdad Claw

Ink on paper. This is a claw, or cheliped for those of you in the know, of a crawdad (or crawfish, or even - gasp - crayfish). Crawdads happen to be some of my favorite animals on earth. I used to spend hours hunting them when I was a kid. Actually, I still do spend hours hunting them whenever I get the chance.

The Books

Here are the covers of my three new books that you can buy over at http://www.blurb.com/user/bustard

Line Work Thursday

These are all ink on illustration board. They are, from the top: The mighty Hektor, mortal foe of (the mightier) Achilles, a muskrat skull, and an alligator skull.

BUY SOME BOOKS! Part Deux

Here are some more teasers. I have gobs and gobs of pictures in these books, so don't worry that you may see all the images here for free and that if you buy the books they will be full of reruns!

BUY SOME BOOKS!

Ok. So you've fallen in love with my drawing books - I know you have because you've all told me you have. (Unless, of course, you've ever met me; in which case you're thinking I'm an egomaniac. Fair enough, but I still think you'd like the books if you ever saw them.) So this is your greatest opportunity to own one! Seeing as how I have no intention of ever turning loose of the real things, these are the next best alternatives! Go to www.blurb.com/user/bustard and look at "Hell" and "Sanctification". To whet your appetite, above are some images from the drawing books.

The Rusty Knight

Ink and Photoshop. I suppose if you want to get picky, this is just a regular knight in rusty armor - the knight himself has no rust as he is made of flesh and blood. Now that we have established that, it's an illustration for George MacDonald's "Phantastes".

Polycarp

Polycarp. Pencil, watercolor, gold leaf, ink on paper. Polycarp was an early Christian martyr. He famously defied the Romans in their pleas to him to renounce Christ. As a result he was burned alive.

The Fight!

A Fight between a Human and a non-human Hominid. Photoshop and Illustrator. This is an illustration for The Lost World by Conan-Doyle (like the sharks below). I spent WAY more time on it than I should have! It's easy to get sucked into invisible details when you can blow the image up to 400%.

Mr. Spock

Spock. Adobe Illustrator. A very cool job; I was told what to make - much against my own inclinations - and was very happy with the results!

Captain Nemo's Diving Helmet

Capt. Nemo's Helmet. Watercolor on paper.

Frilled Shark

Frilled Shark. Watercolor on paper. Again, a weird Japanese shark that normally makes its living deep down but found its way to the surface for some reason. And, like the Chimaera, it's based on a photo.

Chimaera

Chimaera. Watercolor on paper. Maybe you've seen the photo this is based on. I think this beastie washed up on the beach after a tsunami.

Severed Hand

So, here are some drawings in no particular order. I suppose they'll probably go up as I do them. Enjoy. By the way, this is an illustration for Cicero. I'm not sure what it's about, but I was asked to do a severed hand, and I did a severed hand. Watercolor on paper.