The Year 2020 Rings in the New Decade Chaotically

It’s been about a year since the last time I posted and I can’t believe just how much has happened/changed in such a short span of time. Around the time of my last post, I was working at Blick Art Materials in Miami as an Associate Manager; and we were just getting around to the busiest part of the year for art retail. Back-to-back it was Fall Back to School, the Holidays, and then finally Winter Back to School as we went into the new decade. Needless to say that it was a very busy year as usual.

2020 marked the start of my seventh year working art retail at Blick Art Materials. 2020 also marked the turn of a decade; it also marks the chance for mankind to experience the old browser-based pandemic game first-hand. Needless to say, Covid-19 has been a devastating and divisive force to get the ball rolling for the new decade. As a result of COVID, I’ve had more time to work on art, this site, and putting more content up for visitors to enjoy.

Here’s a brief rundown of all the new content you can find on Mage Punk Archives as of writing this post:

Interstellar Mage Punk: Epilogue X Prologue

Interstellar Mage Punk was initially a side project inspired by the album Rise of the Obsidian Interstellar by Disasterpeace. Listening to that album I imagined what it would be like to see the characters of Mage Punk Archives re-imagined in roles appropriate for a space opera type of story. I imagined a future in which the people of Orbyss are forced to live in outer space. Up to this point, I only ever thought of telling the story of Mage Punk Archives in a very linear manner. Mage Punk was to be this epic story that spanned generations of Jake and the other character’s families. We were to see Orbyss evolve through their eyes. Unfortunately, telling Mage Punk that way would mean having to wait before getting to all the cool parts. I didn’t want to spoil anything for myself or my potential readers.

I’ve since abandoned that linear format in favor of jumping around on the timeline. Instead of a long, linear narrative, I feel like the different plot points in the narrative should have the opportunity to stand on their own as individual short stories. I don’t want any one part of Mage Punk Archives to be a spoiler, but rather just another point in a grand tale about a strong little dude with a big fiery heart that helps those around him shine their brightest.

With that in mind, I suppose the first real story on this site is the biggest spoiler of all; Orbyss crumbles in the end, but life goes on:

Maps of the Void

These initially began as a exercise in using various drawing media such as ink liners, brush pens, markers, and watercolors. The goal of each drawing was to capture or ” map the natural flow of the blank drawing surface” hence; Maps of the Void.

These drawings also have a secondary goal of channeling anxiety or working through an art block. Each map begins with a single mark of a pen. The next marks are made in response until eventually the map is “complete”. Without an objective goal, each drawing is tackled using reactionary artistic muscle memory with little thought towards “what to draw”. This is similar in approach to the ever-elusive Ches ★ Star.

Like the clouds in the sky, these Maps of the Void can take on a different appearance depending on the angle they’re viewed at. When viewing them from your phone or tablet, turn them around and see what shapes or other images you can find while gazing into these tiny portions of the Great Void. If you’re viewing these on you PC you can try flipping the monitor, but be very careful if you do.

Ches ★ Star Gallery

You never know where the the mischievous Ches ★ Star! might appear. Initially inspired by Miami’s own Atomik Orange, the Ches ★ Star is partly an ode to graffiti and tag culture.

Similar to the Maps of the Void, Ches ★ Stars doesn’t have any specific design goals in mind; instead, they’re designed on the spot. However, unlike the Maps of the Void, every Ches★Star is drawn using the same general technique; following a specific structure from beginning to end. This allows for a consistent design that acts as the perfect foil to the seemingly chaotic Maps of the Void. They’re an excellent subject for working through art block in cases where abstraction might not suffice.

Every iteration of this playful cat is unique in some way. From their vast color schemes to the varying shapes and expressions of their eyes. As such, each ever-grinning Ches★Star is bursting with individuality.

Sketches & Concept Art

This section is a little more diverse than any of the other sections I like to divide my sketches between two separate sketchbooks, depending on the scope of ideas explored within them. For the sake of this page, I’m dubbing the large sketchbooks “Sketchbooks Major”; and the smaller sketchbooks “Sketchbooks Minor”. In this section you’ll also find a collection of various drawings, works-in-progress, and other scraps that I’ve worked on. I have plenty more to post and even more that still needs scanning, but for now, please enjoy what this section has to offer~

Ches🟊Shoppe

Last, but certainly not least, I’ve created a shop page on this site and on Etsy. Using some of the art in the gallery, I’m going to create merch for you guys to buy. If there’s any chance you’ve perused my galleries and thought “this looks pretty neat, I wanna stick it on my things!” then you might like what you see there. If you think you might be interested in merchandise for anything not already in the shop, drop a comment on the piece or let me know via email. Fulfillment for stickers is done through printful.com and the quality of their stuff is really nice! I only have stickers available at the moment but I have plans to add buttons, resin charms, and apparel eventually!

You can click here to check out the shop on this site;

or…

Click the banner below to go to the Etsy Shop…

That’s the gist of it for now~

I’ll be uploading more content to the site in the near future. For the time being, there’s tons more stuff to scan in and I have a few pieces in the works that I want to try to make headway on. I also have more comic pages that I’m already working on that I’d like to post here, as well as doing a colored version of Interstellar Mage Punk Epilogue X Prologue, so keep an eye out for those. I’ll try to keep future update posts a little more frequent and less lengthy. Until next time, I hope you can enjoy what Mage Punk Archives has to offer.