No.147 - Big City

 

As often mentioned, an Echelon scene will start by constructing a flying craft of some kind on a gradated sky. It’s a somewhat simple procedure of overlapping shapes and gradations and graphic elements that I find appealing. They often turn out quite abstract. 

Below is an offshoot image using craft, not necessarily an Echelon image, just something further abstracted.

148 Echelon

One of my favourites. Maybe because of the graphic element of the Morse code like dashes superimposed over the architecture. I think the flying ships are stellar! A few posts earlier you can see the design development of one of them. I often put too many elements in these pictures. It’s hard for me to be satisfied with simplicity. The top ship probably doesn’t need to be there but it adds a nice counter movement to the two other ships.

Wonder Stories

 

No.150

No.149

No.151 New Echelon

 Funny what can influence you when making art. I recently bought a Lava Lamp.

Echelon Dream - 152

Every once in awhile there is an Echelon piece that does not quite seem like a Twilight of Echelon image, so it must be a dream. I’m still wondering who or what is dreaming … and what does it all mean?

No153 Ahead of Time

 

Back in Time - No.154

Quite often, creating a new Echelon work starts with creating a new spaceship or Flying Thing. Then I build a scene around it. A ship will start as a simple shape or silhouette and I add just minimal features. They don’t get too involved as I am searching for a certain expression. Most Echelon works each have their own ‘new’ flying thing’ but sometimes I need to use one more than once, as in the Episode below. 

This scene below started with the large central looming object (which could be a ship or flying thing) but was created in tandem with the ground lines. Everything builds then forms. In this scene the ships were the last to arrive and were taken from a previous scene.

No.155

The newest New Echelon piece. So new it may not even be finished. (I think it is) Usually I wait awhile after I finish a work just to give it and me some breathing space before others see it. There are usually little tweaks here and there to fix or change that it see through time. Hopefully this stands the test of time. 

There is so much other work that I could have posted, and I will eventually, but this one may be the last work I make in a while. I’ve done about 30 new pieces over the summer. It’s time to get back to some other work that I have been neglecting.

This one is also in a more elongated horizontal format than all the other ones. All the old Echelon pieces are in a 3:4 ratio (the short side is 3/4 the length of the long side) and all the New Echelon pieces are in a 2:3 ratio, but this one here is about a 1:2 ratio.

In The Coming Days Ahead.

 If I only waited a couple more days it would have been one whole year since my last post here. Geez. What have I been doing? Lots of things, but mostly comics…abstract comics. I have not stopped creating Echelon images! The cycle of Echelon has come around.  I think they are getting better and better. Yes the book will be coming out, now in November, and sadly I do not seem to be involved in the design mechanism for the mighty publisher. Everything is different now; size, format, design…. I can only hope for the best. In the meantime I have many many new Echelon works I hope to share in the coming days. There is nothing that can control my output of these beauties. Enjoy!

Teaser Taser Edition Is Blasting Through

Putting it in some form so it can be further transformed into a second state of being, the Twilight of Echelon teaser/ashcan exists on this plane. Limited copies are available through At Bay Press but be warned, there is a printing mistake. One page is printed twice and thereby taking the place of one page that is missing. You kinda don’t even notice it. Nobody else did until I thought something looked weird and pointed it out. At any rate, they will be printed again (I was told).

This edition is 20 pages, 6 x 6 inches, recycled gloss paper, fold-out front and back covers, all B&W and looks glorious.

It is still somewhat in the air on the books final size (7x7, 8x8)  page count (120pgs?) and form (whether hard or soft cover), silver printing on the cover possibly and the cover image my change. It is still scheduled for a spring 2024 release.

Echelon Dreams

Sometimes there is an illustration that does not totally fit inside the Echelon world simply because they are too fantastic or a bit more surreal (if that’s possible) but they still seem to be connected to the Echelon world that I call them Echelon dreams. Do androids dream of electric sheep? In the next few episodes I’ll post some of these dreams. 

It’s been awhile…

 that’s only because things are happening!

A BOOK will be published next year of these Echelon Images plus many more that I do not want to post here yet. But that is not all!! There will be writing by authors, all sharing their unique vision of how this visual world speaks to them and how they describe it. AMAZING! Published by At Bay Press.

We originally asked 4 writers. Three of them have handed in their scripts. Sad to say the fourth had not, even after an extension, so we had to let them go and are currently seeking a fourth writer. If we can’t , then we will stick with the three. These being; Lovern Kindzierski, Blaise Moritz and Den Valdron!

I’m excited!

On an outside personal note, This spring saw the release of two new books/collections/graphic novels of my comics/abstract comics work through 2 different publishers out of Quebec. 

EPISODE 23 - The Eternal Chamber

 

Episode 47 - Running Late

 

EPISODE 25 - The Artist Within

 

EPISODE 1 - The Original Plan

 

EPISODE 37 - The Division Of Time In Three Places

 

ECHELON DREAM - Episode 28

 

Manufacturing Consciousness

 EPISODE 06

Faster - Episode 42