The Demon King's Last Stand

Hi Bloggyworld - so, yeah, it's obvious at this point MSCED isn't exactly going to work out right now. I thought it could work but then senior year happened. Whoops!

Anyways, onto bigger and better things - here's my latest piece in my senior thesis samurai showdown series - "The Demon King's Last Stand" - in this myth, a famed warrior named Raiko and his band of 5 men try to attack the king of the Oni in his sleep, but as soon as Raiko's sword strikes his neck, the head flies up into the air, spews smoke and fire from his nostrils, for one final attack. Raiko strikes the head in the air, and that, as they say was that. They take this big ugly head as a trophy and it's a happy day for everyone (except the Demon King)

Oni character studies

Here are some sketches in preparation for my next samurai mythology piece, which will involve one very angry demon. I'm super excited for this one.

HIDESATO VS GIANT CENTIPEDE - (with improved colors)

I decided this piece needed some further adjustments - something just wasn't quite right with the last version.

Much thanks to Dan and Nick for busting my chops about it.

HIDESATO VS GIANT CENTIPEDE

This is my first piece for senior thesis this semester - I'm drawing a series of Japanese warrior myths, complete with giant monsters, goblins, possibly ghosts, etc. Basically, the weird and the strange doing battle with great warriors with awesome topknots. Lots of topknots.

I hope you guys like it - feedback would be appreciated!

MSCED #27

2/13/2010 - Vespula Vulgaris

MSCED #26

Cryogenic Freezing

Is this MSCED #25? Maybe. It's what I made today, so maybe. This is an editorial assignment for an article about the cryogenics movement. My goal with this piece, in terms of execution, was to streamline my process a bit, which is normally a bit messy and chaotic (in nice artsy terms, "organic"?) - this time around I wanted to make smoother, more deliberate transitions from the planning stage, to final drawing, to color, etc. I'm sure I'll return to my standard chaos soon enough, but it was definitely nice to clean up a bit.

MSCED #24

2/10/2010 - "Man on stool, being offered donut, insect overlord observes silently"


So, I don't think I'll be posting anymore of the "Engine of Ruin" series as individual images. They were intended to be viewed as one sequential object, not as single pieces, so it doesn't make sense to show them that way, and I don't think they look good that way. Oh well. The final piece will be revealed..eventually.

Instead I think my MSCED posts will return to being quick thoughts from my sketchbook and other scraps. Just makes more sense to me. This is a piece collaged from a few of my favorite moments from a page of inky mark-making.

MSCED #23

Lots of things

Hey blogworld, sorry for constantly missing posts. Besides just being a bad blogger, I've got some really good excuses, including a medical scare in the family (which thankfully turned out okay) - this past week has just been pretty crazy/distracting. Super crazy. Super distracting.

First - some good news - my work is going to be published in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual coming out this May! This came as a total surprise (A very exciting surprise). The piece that's running is the poster I designed for MICA's Halloween Party last October.

Next - I've launched my new website today - http://www.nivbavarsky.com - Designed by my incredibly talented dear friend Julia Kostreva.


Then a whole lot of snow fell on my town. A whole lot of it. More is coming, apparently. Here's a little sketchbook page I drew at some point during the blizzard. MSCED#somethingorother

MSCED #21 - Tornahdo T-shirt

Tornahdo are a really great band from Austin, Texas. Look out for them at South by Southwest this year to hear some far-out mathy instrumental rock music. They've got a preview from their upcoming EP on their myspace and it is exciting stuff.

For this t-shirt I decided to use some of the ideas I've been playing with in the "Engine of Ruin" series, while being a little more graphic and using color.

More tomorrow!

MSCED #19 & 20

Whoops. Forgot to post yesterday. I am not good at this. I am sorry.

MSCED #18 - Engine of Ruin 8