Paintings & Drawings Spotlight
Artist // Traditional Art
- Ireland
- Deviant for 13 years
My Bio
My art serves as an outlet for aspects of my inner world, which I attempt to translate into the language of imagery. As such, I prefer to focus more on atmosphere and mood than detail and realism. It also pays homage to my land and heritage. My subject matter and preference for grisaille make my art well suited to black metal, and I have done album covers for bands such as Elysian Blaze, Sombres Forêts, Nifleheim (Canada), Lyrinx, and Chaos Moon.
Favourite Visual Artist
Jean Delville, Franz von Stuck, Carlos Schwabe, Odd Nerdrum, Nicola Samori, Henry Fuseli, Gustave Dore, Caspar David Friedrich, John Atkinson Grimshaw, Leonardo da Vinci, Zdzislaw Beksinski, Felicien Rops, Alfred Kubin, Sascha Schneider, Alan Lee.
Favourite Movies
Pan's Labyrinth, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit trilogy, Dune (2021), Moonrise Kingdom, The Double (2013), Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, A Single Man, Donnie Darko, Frantz, The Crow (1994), Sleepy Hollow, Interview with the Vampire (1994
Favourite TV Shows
Johnathan Strange & Mr Norrell, True Detective (season 1-2), Sherlock (season 1-2), Aoi Bungaku: Ningen Shikaku, Fate/Zero, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Blue Eye Samurai, Mo Dao Zu Shi, Doctor Who (11th Doctor series 5), Silo, Westworld (season 1), TNG, DS9.
Favourite Bands / Musical Artists
Gorecki's Harpsichord Concerto, Vasks' Musica Dolorosa, Preisner's Requiem for My Friend, Codex Calixtinus - Dum esset Salvator in monte, Schnittke's Psalms of Repentance, Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8, Stravinsky's Symphony of Songs, Xasthur.
Favourite Books
Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft, Poetry of Edgar Alan Poe, The Stranger (Camus), The Goldfinch, A Short History of Decay, Hamlet, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Frankenstein, Idlewild (Sagan), Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Pandora Hearts, Harry Potter.
Favourite Writers
H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Emil Cioran, Albert Camus, Charles Baudelaire, Donna Tartt, Susanna Clarke, Jhonen Vasques, Mary Shelly, Percy Bysshe Shelly, Nick Sagan, Milan Kundera, Hermann Hesse, J. R. R. Tolkien, Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Sowell.
Favourite Games
Year Walk, Limbo, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Alice: Madness Returns, Don't Starve, 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons (Forgotten Realms), Call of Cthulhu (tabletop RPG), World of Darkness - Werewolf: The Forsaken, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar (Sylvaneth), chess.
Tools of the Trade
Mechanical pencils, tortillon, kneaded eraser, charcoal (vine, willow, compressed, pencil), white Conté, pastels, fixative, Windsor Newton oil paints, natural brushes, linseed oil, liquin, gesso, linen canvas boards, Epson Perfection V370 scanner, camera
Other Interests
Romanticism, Symbolism, Gothic horror, atheistic existentialism, black metal, classical music, Gothic architecture, old-growth forests, Irish history and mythology, Insular calligraphy, libertarian cultural nationalism, HEMA, trad archery, Bujinkan, paleo
Post Spotlight
You may have noticed the name change; I got sick of my uncommon Anglicised Gaelic name being mistaken for a similar-sounding modern American name of the opposite gender, so I had it legally changed. Since I was changing my given name, I went ahead and changed my surname along with it (still a family name), as I had never wished to bear that of my paternal grandfather. It makes for a rather confusing lack of continuity considering the different signature and accreditation on my earlier work.