"The Shadow Of Despair"

"The Shadow of Despair"

2023

In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl. A great black shape against the fires beyond he loomed up, grown to a vast menace of despair. In rode the Lord of the Nazgûl, under the archway that no enemy ever yet had passed, and all fled before his face.

-"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", by J.R.R. Tolkien

Behold! The Witch-king's moment of (near) triumph!

A notoriously, and unnecessarily, controversial scene. A lot of people don't like to see Gandalf the White being trounced by the Lord of the Nazgûl. Yet the reason why I say unnecessarily controversial is because we know from the texts that the Witch-king was vastly grown in strength at this point, and that Gandalf himself wasn't sure wether he could beat him. Thematically this represents a point of near defeat, where all the defences of Minas Tirith have been broken, and with the commander of the city, a character that in so many ways represents hope, about to fall to the enemy captain, a character that is the embodiment of despair. It therefore makes the subsequent arrival of the Rohirrim that much more powerful. So, and the detractors will have to forgive me, this scene works however you want to put it, and by rights should have been included in the theatrical release.

It's always a treat for me to see two opposing heavyweights of any fantasy story meet in battle. Granted, this was more of a brief clash than a battle; and the Witch-king isn't really the Big-bad from Lord of the Rings. But given that Sauron never comes forth from his tower, this is as good as we get; his second in command, there to enforce his Master's power and will on the battlefield. Gandalf and the Witch-king are also my two favorite LotR characters (and my favorites of any work of fiction, ever) so of course this scene was always going to be a favorite of mine.

"Smaug the Golden"

2023

This December marked 10 years since Desolation of Smaug was released; 10 years since the greatest dragon to be ever put to screen first delighted our senses. Whatever may be said about the Hobbit Trilogy, Smaug was and will forever be its crowning achievement.

"Groovin'"

2023

Strangely, cel shading takes a lot more effort and time from me than when I do a more rendered piece. But this came out quite well.

"Toni"

2023

Behold! The bestest boy, my dog Toni.

This last July marked 15 years since we adopted him. It is strange to think how long a time that is, and how much of our lives we live with our pets being silent but loyal and comforting witnesses. I am 31 now, so this dog has been with me for roughly half my life! Imagine that...

"Free Palestine"

2023

(Artwork and caption made on the first week of the genocidal aggression on Gaza)

I oppose war and violence on general principle. Yet when the root of that violence lies in oppression, colonialism, and apartheid, then it isn't my place, nor anybody else's, to tell an oppressed people that they should not resist and fight back against their tyrants. 

Every single day my social media feed is filled with stories of Palestinian people being shot by Israeli soldiers; and if not that, then it is a kid being strip-searched, or beaten, or arrested without charge, or an elderly person being shoved to the ground; and if not that, then it is a town, or a market place, or a refugee camp, or a mosque being raided by the Israeli military, and the people inside being harassed and threatened by Israeli settlers. It is infuriating to me to see supposedly liberal/progressive people in the West suddenly care, to see them become outraged at the loss of Israeli civilians, however regrettable and tragic that may be, without having ever said a word about all the systemic, state-sponsored violence against Palestinians that preceded it, and then claim that those that do are being insensitive, or mean, or propagandized. 

I thought we had learned to recognize systems of oppression, no? That to take a neutral stance was to side with the oppressor? I now ask, who is the oppressor here? Who's the powerful country in this circumstance? Who has the nuclear arsenal, the top-grade weapons, control over most of the land and resources, and political and economic backing of the most powerful countries on Earth? I have the answer for you: it is not the Palestinians. 

*be advised: any zionist trolls, colonial apologists, right wing nutters, etc, will get their comments deleted and accounts blocked.

"Cretaceous Sunset"

2023

T.rex (Tyrannosaurus rex)

My favorite dinosaur, inspired by Prehistoric Planet, but with a few tweaks in the coloring.