Tengu with Nando's

Ever see a pigeon in the street digging in a box of chicken wings? Its a sad shameful sight when you see an animal eating its own kind...
The Tengu is a revered and also fearsome creature of nature in Japanese mythology. He is part bird part man, sometimes having the head and face of a bird some of them resemble men with great big noses, which can grow to great lengths with age. See my earlier posts for more Tengu related things! Theres a childrens book here somewhere! http://mergsworld.blogspot.com/2006/10/tanuki-and-tengus-magic-fan.html

Christopher D Ashley (Sunday Best Records UK)

Pls click on the picutre above to ENLARGE this tiny image!


A Beta version of a CD Cover spread for Christopher D Ashley single.

Sunday Best Records.
Release date T.B.A

Will this get used? Who knows...

The Infinite womb...Coming Soon!

This will be a joint comic project with a few of my buddies, currently in the works...Stay tuned for updates!

CLICK TO ENLARGE!

Tengu gone fishing!

CLICK TO ENLARGE!

More artwork like this in the Oct & Nov Archives just on the right of this page!

My current sculpeys!

A really freaky monk, is he smiling or really grumpy?

Tengu dancing with fan, like a 'No' actor

Same figure different angle


These sculptures are inspired by Japanese 'Netsuke'. Go Google it!

Window design, Vintage Clothes shop, Macau

Mergsworld: The Silent Comic-strip

Introduction
Mergs lives in a grey and oppressive world, confined by a plethora of laws which are concerned with catergories, labels and order. This is Merg's world.


Pt.1 Sunrise!
Our protagonist awakes to the automated sound of chicken, and in his mind he sees the sun rise over grassy hils. As his eyes open he sees the world in the only colours as he knows it for, and prepares accordingly to his timetable for work duties.

Pt.2 Breakfast, cartoons and then...
Mergs takes pleasure in the little things in life; looking after stray cats and cartoons from an age gone by are his little treats before facing the day at the Old Factory. Without these (and a few other things) life as Mergs knows it holds very litle pleasures.


Pt.3 ...Off to work!

Pt.4 "Got a snout?"

Pt.5 "You need a new hat more than a snout, bub..."

Pt.6 Take flight!

Pt.7 Snow in the city
"Its cold and this hat is stinky, but hey, I feel like I've started the day well! I'm bettin' my granma's funky drawers that I've just made that old chap's day!"

Pt.8 Time for a snout...

Pt.9 A vision!
Right before Mergs' eyes a world comes into view within the smoke ring. He has never seen anything so strange, so bizarre...
...and is left speechless!

Pt.10 Sweating on the bus
As the vision dissolves back into the city, Mergs is left in a daze. His bus arrives and seats himself on the upper floor, reflecting on the mysterious world he has just been allowed to catch a glimpse of...and the world that is in front of him...

And he asks himself, "Just what is this place?"

To Be Continued...
*click images to enlarge*

a soldier's dream

Brand new art work!

A regular night at the old Afroba

Sticky situations...

Moody Cats!

Someone brought up the subject of drawing cats..heres one i did earlier..moody!

Smoking Ban!

Smoking in Bars: R.I.P!

The Hand Of Glory!

The 'Hand of glory' is a device which superstitiousburglars considered an essential part of their kit until the early 19th Century. The hand was that of a gibbeted criminal: after the blood was squeezed out, the hand was embalmed for two weeks in a solution of saltpetre, salt and pepper, before being dried in the sun. Acandle wa made from a number of curious ingredients sucha as hanged man's fat, wax, and a substance called Lapland sesame. The resulting confection was thrust between the dead fingers, and lit when the burglar broke into the house. The hand was supposed to open locks, render the thief invisible, and send the household into a deep sleep.
It was believed that the candle's spell could be broken only by putting out the flames with blood or skimmed milk: then the houshold would wake!
Apparently there is a 'Hand' on display in Whitby Museum, N. Yorkshire, England

Ibetya Poster

A web Poster for "iBetya/Social" at The Oakford Social Club...

early stages of MERGS the figurine!

look hes got a mini snout and a tie!

around and around...

..started drawing when i got a seat on the train the other week, then got told to move over... then I started drawing again when i got a seat...

Man in the city

Heres an old project which I've re-drawn/layout etc recently-The project itself was a collaboration with a secondary school in London where 12 year old students had to write stories in their creative writing class which were in turn given to us at random to illustrate. Lucky me, I was given an essay which was all 'statistics' and 'facts' about man and his effect on nature in the city! The comic here is my translation of the essay which I asume would have been written for a public speech about pollution in the city. The absurdity of the events in the comic itself were a reaction to the essay because although the essay was essentially facts and statistics, it was quite obvious there was no research behind any of what was written-which I quite liked, this in turn gave me a lot of room to interpret it as literally as it was written. I have editted heavily on the essay, but seriously there really wasnt much to go on...Hope you like this interpretation of man in the city!

"Gasha-Dokuro" skeleton spectre

*Click image to enlarge*

A few different styles in this one pic! my whole body is aching after drawing this! Hope it was all worth it n u folks like it! More on the "Gasha-Dokuro" when I got more research done! Check the October archive (left somewhere) for an older version of the skull man!

Jinkininki

From Lafcadio Hearn's classic Kwaidan, 1904.
Once, when Muso Kokushi, a priest of the Zen sect, was journeying alone through the province of Mino, he lost his way in a mountain-district where there was nobody to direct him. For a long time he wandered about helplessly; and he was beginning to despair of finding shelter for the night, when he perceived, on the top of a hill lighted by the last rays of the sun, one of those little hermitages, called anjitsu, which are built for solitary priests. It seemed to be in ruinous condition; but he hastened to it eagerly, and found that it was inhabited by an aged priest, from whom he begged the favor of a night's lodging. This the old man harshly refused; but he directed Muso to a certain hamlet, in the valley adjoining where lodging and food could be obtained....


*Click image to enlarge*




To read on copy n paste link:

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/mergz/jinkininki-txt.gif

The Hannya and the trophy

*Click image to enlarge*

Hannya are a female type of demon or 'oni' and are never a pretty sight. The Hannya is normally created when a woman dies of some kind of in-justice or was treated badly in life and with a great vengeance burning inside of her becomes this horned creature of dramatic behaviour.
In the Edo Period of Japan there was once a demoness who haunted the gates of Rashomon, the entry point to Kyoto (Japan's capital city of the time). All who passed were tormented by the fierce spirit until one day a samurai named Watanabe No Tsuna vowed to slay the demon. He had spent several hours waiting for the Hannya however she did not appear. Time was passing on and fewer and fewer people came through until a young woman approached the gates, and spoke to Watanabe asking him to escort her through the city. The samurai courteously accepted and led the way. As they walked in the late hours of the day, Watanabe noticed in the corner of his eye that the girl behind him was changing. Watanabe quickly drew his sword and slashed at the nearest thing! The Hannya let out a piercing scream and fled leaving a severed arm on the floor, Watanabe was left shocked after the experience however when he came to his senses took the arm as a trophy of the incident and hid it in a chest in his home. Several years passed and by now Watanabe was an old man, and was famous for ridding Rashomon of the Hannya. Many people asked to see the trophy, but Watanabe always refused until one day when an elderly woman came to Watanabe to see it. Watanabe could not resist as the old woman explained that her son had been a victim of the Hannya and needed closure to her own experience. Watanabe swiftly went to retrieve the trophy from the chest, and no sooner had he lifted it out the old woman transforms into the hideous Hannya and grabs the arm, racing off into the streets with it!