Samson

This is an illustration of Samson killing 1,000 Philistines with a donkey's jawbone. I think that's such a brutal story. The scriptures say that "The Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men." Judges 15:14-15

That place was later called "Ramath Lehi," or "Jawbone Hill."

Done for my Experiencing Anatomy Class with Amy Sands.

Snapper Screenprint

Here is the finished product! I'm pretty pleased with it. It would have been nice to maintain some of the line quality in that first layer, but my ink was kinda runny and bled a little. That's really all I'm not satisfied with in this piece. I kind of like working with the screen filler, you can make some cool textures, it looks somewhat painterly, and it's a lot easier to clean out than photo emulsion.
TURTLES, BRAH!

Done for my Screen Printing Class with Emily Hoisington.

Here's some process for ya to look at.

Cooperative Print

This is a pretty simple print (WHATTAYA WANT? it's just a paper stencil) that was a collaboration between myself and fellow illustrator, Catherine Repko. She made the deer and then submitted it to me, trustingly, to deform and add too. I think it came out pretty well.

Done for my Screen Printing Class with Emily Hoisington.

ps - Catherine also has a blog here.

Snapper Screenprint

Here's the color scheme and rough layout of my next screen print. Don't read too much into it, just a lot of images that can sort of correspond on a subconscious level. And don't expect too much detail out of this print because we're using screen filler instead of photo emulsion, which means it will basically look painted instead of carefully registered. And we are working reductively, which I've never done before, so we'll see how this goes.

Done for my Screen Printing Class with Emily Hoisington.

Nick's Tattoo

Here's a tattoo I designed for my friend, roommate, and brother, Nick. It's about Psalm 107, specifically verses 10-16.

"Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
they fell down, with none to help.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he shatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron."

So there it is. I suppose this is sort of in process, as he does not exactly know when he will get it done. But he BETTER, or so help me...

Praise God for his steadfast love!

Dia de los Muertos Postcard

These cards were entered in a competition / exhibition at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts as part of Dia de los Muertos, or for those not "in the know," the Day of the Dead. I wanted to make the holiday more personal, so I inserted the reference John 8:51. This reads, "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." This is a big part of my faith and therefore my life, that I am promised true life which accompanies my faith in Christ.
I wanted it to be pretty simple, so I thought, "A skull!" So as not to be too "on the nose" about it, I cropped it right under the eyes. I tried printing a second, gold layer on the silver, but I stopped doing that after about three of them because I didn't like it so much.

Done for my Screen Printing Class with Emily Hoisington.

ps- here are some photos of the installation

Isaiah 6:1-7

'In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train1 of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”


And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”'

I was reading this and I just thought how amazing the image that it conjured up was. There sits the Lord in majesty, surrounded by mighty angels. And one angel looks over to his fellow and just says, "GOD IS SO AMAZING! JUST LOOK AT HIM!!" And when this "simple" angel says this, the room shakes, and fills with smoke. That's so awesome.

I can't wait to be in the presence of the Lord, and just look over to my fellow believers, the Church, the bride of Christ, and say, "Holy is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of His Glory!" And they'll be like, "I KNOW, RIGHT?!!"

I could go into, the rest of the verse, which is almost as awesome, but this is all I really wanted to write about.
Here's Durer's interpretation of God; it is, however, taken from Revelation, not Isaiah, but I love looking at his work. The Church used to be so active in the arts back then. Image

RAW Minneapolis Artist's Showcase

HEY guys, so I don't know if anyone would be interested in supporting local art, or art in general (you don't actually have to be here) but I and a bunch of other artists have a show in October, and I would really appreciate your support, if you could come to the show. Tickets are $10, but that's reasonably cheap considering everyone you get to see. If you go to http://www.rawartists.org/minneapolis/pulse you can order a ticket for the show, just change "general admission" to Seth Young. Even if you can't make the show, it'd be cool if you could buy a ticket; I have to sell 20 or else I pay for them... I'd rather have you all come to the show, though! There will be musical artists, fashion, crafts, hair and makeup, fine art, illustration, THE WORKS!! So please come.

Also, this is my first show outside of school, so I could use the support.

Samson

I get to take ANOTHER anatomy class this semester!! YEAH! Somehow, it has worked out that the first semester of my senior year contains NO illustration classes... go figure. Anyway, I've been trying to find other ways to fill in illustration hours. So, in addition to my joy at getting back to a little life drawing, I am happy because this class has two self guided assignments where we can incorporate this class into our major. I'm gonna do an illustration about Samson, because despite making a lot of bone-head decisions, he was a pretty BA guy. The illustration is a snapshot of him killing ONE THOUSAND Philistines with the jawbone of an ox. brutal.
I don't know how much process I'll get up on this, but I figured, "I've got the sketch scanned, I might as well."

Done for my Experiencing Anatomy Class with Amy Sands.

Summer Sketches

I often sketch during Church services, lectures, discussions, or what have you (not so much Church anymore, trying to take notes, not sketch). It usually helps me focus because I can control my subconscious mind with something in my hands instead of having my mind be scattered around the room. I drew these during the summer during staff meetings and Chapel sermons. I've done others but I scanned these because I was getting rid of them. I gave them to the speaker's kid, who says he wants to grow up to be an illustrator. He's like 7!! How does he even know what an illustrator is?! Also he likes to draw monsters.
I hope he never grow out of it!

Transfer Collage

This was a collage I made in honor of hardcore and punk music, skateboarding, and the culture and imagery tied to them. It was mostly just combining a bunch of pictures I liked into a collage using a transfer method I hadn't used before. I then went back into it with charcoal to add motion and some energy to it.

Done for my Pressed Drawing Class with Amy Sands.

Monoprint Set

These monoprints were mostly about experimentation. I had never worked with this medium or method before, so I was just seeing what I could make here. I'm not very good at making abstract images, so my images are variations on WWI soldiers I found on the internet. Don't read into any symbolism, I was just seeing what I could do. It was fun, I liked it!

Done for my Pressed Drawing Class with Amy Sands.

Vocalist Series

Weyandt


Fitzhugh


Ingram


Bannon 1


Bannon 2


Weiss


Scogin


These are a series of monoprints I made about my favorite vocalists. I used to be in choir, and I'm not much of a musician, so for the most part, the defining factor of a band for me is the singer. You can make guitars, drums and other instruments and effects sound the same, but everyone's vocals are different, that makes the singing the most distinguishable piece of the band.

Done for my Pressed Drawing Class with Amy Sands.

City Pages

I made this cover for City Pages based on an article about Vegas card counters moving to the midwest because of the lax security at their casinos. (card counter = card shark/ now do you understand my subtle use of animal symbolism?) City Pages had a contest to see which who could make a good city pages cover, and this took second place; it was a little to detailed for a pulp publication.

Done for my Illustration Professional Practice Class with Carrie Hartmann.

BEARGREASE

I made this poster to promote the John Beargrease Dogsled Marathon. It seems pretty hardcore to me – a trek through the North American tundra, just a man and his dogs. I wnated this poster to look "epic" and heroic, while still emphasizing the bond between the musher and his dogs.

Done for my Illustration Professional Practice Class with Carrie Hartmann.

Jack and the Devil

Here's an illustration about the history of the Jack o' Lantern. At this part of the story, Jack traps the Devil in a tree by carving a cross in it. He won't scratch it out and let him down until the Devil promises not to bother him the rest of his life.
This is sort of inspired by Mike Mignola, but more so just folklore in general. I like how much research Mignola puts into his comics. For those of you you not "in the know," Mike Mignola writes the Hellboy comic series, and he's boss.

Done for my Illustration Professional Practice Class with Carrie Hartmann.

Zao Tee

This is a tee shirt design I made for one of my favorite bands, ZAO. If you know them, this is based mostly on their older music and imagery, but otherwise, I just wanted a symbol of brutality that retained something sophisticated, and gentle. So I chose the iron maiden, and I emphasized the gentle side of it with the angelic feathers in the background. I'm kind of getting into using a lot of hatching in my illustration, so this was a good opportunity to mess around with that more.
Here's a poster I made about the vibe I was going for.

Done for my Illustration Products Class with Charlene Smith.

Skateboard Concept for Creature Skateboards

This is a deck design for Creature Skateboards, who always have some gnarly graphics. I whipped up a sort of style board/ poster and then there's the final deck with the logo placed on it along with some alternate sketches.
Recognize that little sketch second from the right? Yeah I liked that one, wanted to still make something with it.
Done for my Illustration Products Class for Charlene Smith.

Health Spots

This is a series of spots I made for an article about healthy living. It was a pretty weird to try cramming all of the information and technique that usually goes in an illustration into 2" square spots. It was also kind of relaxing. They promote (1) Relaxing, (2) Tobacco Free, (3) Exercise, (4) Eating Fruits and Veggies, and (5) Getting Rest.

Done for my Illustration Professional Practice Class with Carrie Hartman.

No Temptation Has Siezed You

This illustration portrays my struggle with temptation, and how it feels like something that just surrounds and suffocates me. I am only ever victorious when I depend on God. He will provide a way to stand up under it (I Corinthians 10:13) (Rom. 7:24).
And that stippling for the shading... FIVE STRAIGHT HOURS!! It better get easier/ faster, or it may loose its allure.

Done for my Professional Practice Class with Carrie Hartmann.

Zao Poster

This was sort of inadvertently created in my Illustration and Products class. So we're working on band shirts, and we are supposed to make a "trend board" composed of images, and trends, and a color palette depicting the direction of where we want our shirts to go. I got sort of carried away, and I ended up making a poster tribute for the band ZAO. If you look at this, you can get a pretty good idea of what Zao sounds like, and what my shirt will look like. That's the vibe anyway.

Old "Hope 180" Tees

This is me modeling possibly my first "commissioned" design/illustration work. This was for my youth group when I was in high school, it's about turning your life around after surrendering your life to Christ. Get it? DID I DO A GOOD JOB?! yeah. fond memories! fun fact-I bought my first skateboard with the money I got from this design. It was like $30!