Not exactly sure how this came about but recently I've not been getting as much sleep, or the best of sleep, as I'd like. For the past week I blame my body covered in hives-- and it's getting better now, but then it was insane-- I was sure to lose my mind but things have all but come together.

In the process of that-- I sat around one late night and thought about my biggest fear; the dark. It's not so much THE DARK I'm scared of-- but more over, what the hell that could possibly be hiding in it that scares me.

I sat around one night thinking what if the dark had friendly spirits eager to become one's company? Most people have a morbid, disturbingly shocking, haunting idea of the dark 'the things that go bump in the night' and all that... but what if there's a misunderstood entity in it?

The realization came to me in that, during the night, most of the craziest, off the wall stuff comes to mind and the problem is that I'm usually too tired to draw it all down-- until now. I partially blame my caffeine rush that I accidentally binged but I'm kind of glad it happened else I really doubt I would have gotten around to this piece.

I hate to treat the descrip. here like some kind of journal-- but during the night I often find myself more inspired to draw. Music in my ears, imagination running wild. So I got to thinking, "What if those spirits were more than spirits. But my own muses?"

During these late nights, these fiver 'entities' come to mind; just for the sake of the piece itself, let me note them out in clockwise order: The Unseen, The Questioner, The Desire, The Body (Juju) and The Loneliness.

In the way I figure things, to some philosophical standpoint--

The Unseen is that which ISN'T seen, compromised of comprehension. We wander with eyes wide open yet with clarity close-minded.

The Questioner is that which asks and never ceases. As an artist, you question things and during these late nights I tend to think about many questions, ALOT. If you aren't asking questions, you simply cannot be.

The Desire is everything and anything we cannot truly attain. As much as we try, one's happiness cannot be truly measured or acknowledged. Is your style good enough? Are you truly happy? The Questioner comes before Desire because we must question that which we really want.

The Body is the vehicle which absorbs, accumulates, inflicts and understands through sight, thought and desires; life. To see, to think, to want, to live.

The Loneliness is the void one seeks to fulfill by any means enjoyable. As artists would have it; we are creatures of the loneliest stock, no matter what company keeps or admires us. Love, friends, family-- they all but remind us how lonely we are when either are around. Yet ironically, by some strange means, can still remain lonely even in such company.

There must be some kind of philosophy loosely bent around what I tend to stay up late thinking about, but for the time being, I'll simply call it 'Shadow Language'.

Pretty crazy right? Probably none of it makes a lick of sense but it means alot to me... and maybe that's the problem.

This scene depicts no actual events based around Juju's story, but I find it easier to illustrate using him in this particular scene.

=== When I get around to finishing it, this little piece will actually have a bit of dialog and story to go along with it, and the warnings about one of the most dreaded things one could suffer through the night, The Nightmare.

I've still a long way to go but I wanted to see it on a monitor screen for myself as a way to stand back and look at where I'm headed with this before taking it to the lineart stage and then ultimately, colorrr!