I’d like to admit, I have never really found the time and confidence to post my art on the internet these days. Perhaps it could be thanks to a hectic schedule comprised of either classes or procrastination (not so hectic after all, eh?), or it could be my nitpickiness in regards to how I’d like said art to be portrayed. Which leads to…well, procrastination in a sense. Or that’s just lack of motivation.

Right, I am rambling at this point. Anyway!

First of all, dear reader, eleison–forgive me for being a hypocrite. I am not exactly what one could call an art geek, or an art enthusiast–all the fancy-schmancy terminology bounces off my head easily, and I simply do art for the kicks and giggles. But if there is a particular artstyle of mine I’d like to shine light onto, it’s that of Harry Clarke’s. And it all started with a good dose of Colleen Doran, who had taken inspiration from the man himself.

Now, who is Colleen Doran? If you are a comic devotee, which I ironically am not, perhaps you could recognize her works in the DC universe, particularly with icons like Wonder Woman and Supergirl. Or if you’re a literary nut, which I assure you am one of, you can often find her associated with notable authors like Neil Gaiman of Smoke and Mirrors and The Sandman, or even her most popular work A Distant Soil, which I highly recommend if you’re a nut for space-opera, political and gender ideologies, and hot androgynous dudes (aaaaand I’ll save a long explanation for another time! PRAISE BE HOT ANDROGYNOUS PEOPLE!). And in that case, a short story from the former, Snow, Glass, Apples, is what first drew me to a particular art style that consequently played a heavy influence on my art.

Having read the graphic novel, Doran had mentioned in the index that her biggest inspiration was Harry Clarke and his marvellous stained-glass masterpieces. So I looked him up out of curiosity, and lo and behold–that was a turning point in getting me to work out my artstyle and fall into the rabbit hole of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Harry Clarke, for starters, was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator whose work was influential in the Irish Arts and Crafts movement. Having produced around 130 windows, some of his most popular works are religious and secular-based, including the Geneva Window, the John Keats windows in the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, and Saint Patrick’s purgatory. Clarke even illustrated Ireland’s Memorial Records 1914-18, a roll of honour for Irish who died in WWI. You can view said examples below:

That being said, one drawback I ended up acquiring is an obsession for tiny details and procrastination because of said details. Or even my inability to simply “half-ass” it for the sake of those crispy little knickknacks. For some context, here are some examples of my work, both of which are unfinished “test” comics (c’mon, what did you expect? It’s “Couch Potato” Catalogue, okay?):

And that’s it for my rambling. But this won’t be the end of me rubbing my unfinished little bonkadonks in your face and gushing about all those fancy names in art. So bona nox for now!