The Mornings After: Friday

This is another drawing from The Mornings After series. The two remaining pieces (Saturday and Sunday) are coming soon.

The Mornings After: Thursday

Another drawing from The Mornings After series. Four down, three to go.

Rebranding

First of all, happy holidays everyone! This is my first post in 2010, so I think it's appropriate to begin the new year with something about a change.

My artistic career started exactly 15 years ago, and since that I have changed my signature twice. First time it was in 2000, and the second time it would have been in 2005, only I hadn't done any artwork that year (at least, anything worth signing), so "officially" the second change took place in 2006. As you can see, I have developed a sort of habit to change signatures once in 5 years, so it's time for another change -- hopefully, for good.

My new signature is not exactly new. Actually, it's a simplified version of my original "pyramid" logo, used between 1995-1999 (you can see it on the right). I have just removed the triangle and left only the intertwined R and K. So it's like a return to the roots. Also, there will be no date under the logo, which means my artwork won't be dated anymore, only signed. This is bad for chronology, but good for "timelessness." Many artists prefer using signatures without dates, and among them are some of my favorites -- like Luis Royo, for instance.

My previous signature won't be completely abandoned, however. It's still going to be used on certain works, like the political series, some pastel drawings, etc. But all the mainstream surreal and fantasy artwork will be signed with the new signature from now on.

I won't start using the signature immediately, though. I still have to finish some artwork started last year, and since I usually date my works with years when they were started, not when finished, they're gonna be signed with my old signature. Most probably, the first artwork signed with the new logo will be The Little Heartbreakers, which was also started last year, but will be dated 2010, as an exception to my "dating rules."

Suitcase Mood

I made this drawing as a present for my younger brother Soso on his birthday, which is today, December 30th. For the reference, I have used a photo of him, taken by me in Riga airport, during our transit flight from Vilnius to Tbilisi, in January 2009. Only he wasn't actually sitting on a suitcase. The idea comes from the Russian expressions "sitting on a suitcase" and "a suitcase mood," used when someone is ready and eager to depart somewhere.
The artwork perfectly represents my own mood at the moment: I'm planning to move to Lithuania next month, to finally reunite with Diana and settle down our nomadic marriage. No more suitcases and airports please! Thank you.

As for the drawing itself, it's my usual color pencil/ballpoint pen combination. I have decided to place both my brother and his suitcase (my suitcase, actually) against a clean white background, in the best traditions of Norman Rockwell, which adds to the comic feel of the artwork.

The Mornings After: Wednesday

Another drawing from The Mornings After series. For the details please read my introduction to the series.

The Banner

With Black Coffee II finished, I have switched to my other series called Paranoia II (or ParanoIIa, as spelled alternatively). For a change, I decided to draw something new this time, not a remake. Well, the concept itself is quite old actually -- I did the rough draft a few years ago -- but still, it's a refreshing break from the long streak of remakes I did in the last few months.

I have nothing much to say about the artwork, except that it also features Diana as the model (what could I do without her!), only in a rather unusual form -- we can see a narrow stripe of her body, attached as a banner to her own... finger! Well, the finger is not exactly hers, but it sounds more bizarre that way -- and not only sounds, but looks as well, as you can see for yourself.

Black Coffee II: The Complete Series

Inquisition II has concluded the Black Coffee II series, but I still have left a whole bunch of "coffee sketches," as I call them, so I'm planning to begin the third installment of the series next year. Meanwhile, I'd like to showcase some of the best (in my opinion) works from now completed series. But before that, a brief history of my "coffee artwork" -- and what on earth has coffee got to do with it, in the first place.

The answer to that question is simple: all the drawings from Black Coffee series are based on the actual images seen in dried coffee grounds, inside the actual coffee cups drunk by the actual people. I did these coffee drawings on a regular basis since 1993 through 1996, using only black ball-point pen. Most of them were drawn on the pages of a math copybook, properly titled and numbered, but later I started to make just quick drafts on random pieces of paper. Presently the copybook drawings are gathered into the series called Black Coffee With No Sugar, while the quick coffee sketches are collected as Coffee Drafts. On the left you can see my very first coffee drawing, called Golgotha.


The first colored version of a coffee drawing appeared in 1995. It was Mate to the Queen, loosely based on 1993's Regal Execution, seen on the right. It's probably the only case when I have changed the original composition so dramatically -- all the later color remakes follow their black-and-white predecessors as close as possible in that regard.

Mate to the Queen (1995)

The Black Coffee series, based on my earlier black-and-white coffee drawings, was among my first surreal portfolios, along with Body Language and Paranoia. It contains 15 pieces in total, dated from 1995 to 2000. In 2002 I started a new series called Black Coffee II, which has been completed only a few days ago. It also consists of 15 pieces and has some remade titles from the previous series. Here are a few selected works from the now complete series, as promised in the beginning. You might have seen some of them already in my previous blog posts.

Mate to the Queen II (2002)

Mermaid's Dream (2003)

Bride & Widow (2004)

The Original Sin (2004)

Shadows of the Memories (2006)

The Blue Cloud (2007)

The Moonstone (2009)

Nude Beach Dreaming II (2009)

You can see the rest of the works from this series at my website, or my deviantART gallery.