The Haunted Isle

The Haunted Isle

I lie beyond the narrow sandy strand,
A jagged mote upon the horizon,
A rugged speck upon the ocean.
Sailors skirt past my flanks in morbid dread.
My dark hollows house the unshriven dead.

I lie amongst the angry, swelling waves.
Churning foam obscures my treacherous shoals,
Doom for innumerable imperilled souls.
Wretched spirits weep on my savage shore,
Unheard above Poseidon's constant roar.

I lie shrouded in a bleak, swirling mist,
Cloaked in an eternal obscurity,
Wracked by a turbulent, restless sea.
Haggard spectres drift amidst my grey stones,
Vainly searching for their sun-bleached bones

I lie beyond a mortal's tenuous ken,
A dismal harbour for woeful secrets,
A forlorn abode of abject regrets.
Rendered barren by the sea's bitter breath,
My rocky bosom knows nothing but death.

(Poem originally published in Illumen Issue 8, Spring 2008.)

***

Posting this, I realised that I mentioned "grey stones" in the poem, but made the stones in the illustration more of a brownish hue. I always have to go where my art takes me, and my art took me in the direction of brownish stones. I wanted a decent contrast between the stones and the spectral mist, which I wouldn't have gotten if I had made the stones more of a grey hue. I like the colours, and I ain't gonna change 'em now!

Oh well. Sometimes my artistic side and my literary side do clash just a bit. Funny how the artistic side usually seems to win in the end.

West Dingleton Illustration Published

My illustration for my speculative poem "West Dingleton's Loss of Humanity" now appears in the on-line version of Abandoned Towers. It is also featured on several items in the Abandoned Towers Zazzle Store, under the title "Science Fiction Nightmare".

In other illustration news, I have almost finished work on an illustration for my poem "The Haunted Isle". And this one is pretty much a landscape, something I don't get a chance to draw very often. I made sure it was a dynamic, even darkly evocative, landscape.

In case anyone was wondering why I'm doing all this work for nothing but exposure and a cut of the profits from Zazzle merchandise, all these poems and illustrations are slated to be in a future collection. However, the publisher doesn't want a mere chapbook, she wants a major work, chock full of art and poetry. I seem to recall her saying something about 125 pages, truly a daunting proposition.

I think I have enough poems already, although I may still add a poem or two, but I need lots more art. To make this project a reality, I have to illustrate almost every single poem. It won't just be a book of poetry; it will be a book of art as well.

So I had better get drawing, because it may be a daunting task, but it's one I want to see become a reality. I just don't know how long it's going to take. I'm a slow and deliberate artist, not one that can usually whip off several drawings in a day. At least each finished illustration puts me that much closer to reaching my goal.

Zazzle Merchandise Makes Great Gifts

Just a quick note, Abandoned Towers Zazzle Store items featuring my art and designs would make great holiday gifts. And I do get a share of the profits from each sale of items featuring my work.

C'mon, make my Christmas just a little bit brighter by brightening Christmas for your family and friends by giving the gift of art this year. There are a lot of different images to choose from, from the surreal to the historical, from the folkloric to the fantastic. And the items available range from binders to stickers, from aprons to t-shirts.

Check it out!

West Dingleton's Loss of Humanity

Illustration Copyright © 2009 Richard H. Fay

West Dingleton's Loss of Humanity

It all started with a strange cloud,
A nebulous mist of colours
Glowing faintly
In the night.

An aurora in the east
Some suggested.
Electrically charged fog
Others said.
Ambient mood lighting
A few joked.

It descended upon the sleepy town
In a dull rainbow shroud.
Noises were muffled,
Bare flesh
Tingled.
No one worried too much
Until the changes began.

Subtle hints appeared at first,
Crooked eyes,
Drooping lips,
Peculiar warts,
Odd tufts of hair.
Deformities soon multiplied
And grew more and more grotesque.
Limbs twisted,
Noses dropped off,
Mouths expanded into
Gaping maws,
Bulbous lumps of human flesh
Sprouted vestigial limbs.
Their minds remained clear
As their bodies were corrupted.
Tears fell
While tears could still fall.

Word of the calamity soon spread.
Surrounding communities panicked.
The outside world
Shunned the town,
Barricaded roads,
Protected mankind.
Plans were made
To wipe out the creatures,
Destroy the mutations,
Cleanse the land.

The poor people of West Dingleton
Had become something different,
Something monstrous,
Something dangerous,
Something alien,
No longer human.

Or did they?

(Poem originally published in Bewildering Stories Issue 256, August 20,2007.)

Another Illustration Published

Just a quick note: my illustration for "Holiday on Phreetum Prime" now appears alongside the poem in the on-line version of Abandoned Towers.

Now back to composing more art and poetry (I'm currently working on an illustration for my speculative poem "West Dingleton's Loss of Humanity").

Internut

Internut
by Richard H. Fay
Ink on Bristol board, digitally coloured

The above illustration now accompanies Doug Hilton's story "A Brief History of the Internut" in the on-line version of Abandoned Towers. It also appears on merchandise in the Abandoned Towers Zazzle Store. This merchandise features various "green" phrases and messages in an attempt to use the image to tie-in with environmentally conscious concepts.

I had to dig up pics of an old computer and a peanut plant for this one. Even after I found images to use as references, I wasn't sure at first if the concept requested by the author of the story would work. However, once I drew the computer, the plant, and the roots, I realised that it almost had a "Dali-esque" feel to it. It's certainly on the weird side.

Weird often works for me.

What I Want for Christmas

My mother-in-law, who is more of a mother to me than my own mother, asked what I wanted for Christmas. I told her I wanted this:
Super Pro Edition 1/24 VsTank Pro PanzerKampwagen German Tiger I Late Production Desert Brown Airsoft Radio Remote Control Battle Tank.

Yeah, I'm a kid at heart, and a World War II armour buff to boot! When I had the time for such things, I used to build plastic armoured fighting vehicle models from kits. I still have a few of the models I put together on display, along with some decent-quality ready-built ones. However, I always wanted an RC tank, especially a Tiger. There's something especially bad-ass about the Tiger tank.

Well, my mother-in-law ordered the tank. So, it looks like I'm going to get to play like a kid come this Christmas morn. I'm excited!