The Lost Tartarian Empire

This is currently my favorite deranged conspiracy theory, as seen on X/Twitter etc. Apparently there was a huge technologically advanced empire that everyone has forgotten about that created all the neoclassical, etc. buildings of the 19th century & beforehand. I'm baffled that people believe this stuff...? Here are my AI homages to this:

The Majesty of Tartaria, AI, 2025

The Fall of Tartaria, AI, 2025

Tartarian Ruins, AI, 2025

 

Leonardo.Ai screenshot of a work in progress

 Here is a screenshot of a WIP in the Leonardo.Ai interface (Realtime Canvas section), to demonstrate that AI image generation is slightly more complicated than some people might think. In this case, it's a combination of a text generated image with more text input, plus I've painted extensively on the image to change the shapes and appearance of objects. It's a refining process which can be quite lengthy...AI is really a collection of power tools that enhance creativity.

Leonardo.Ai screenshot

And here is the finished piece:

Light Among the Ruins AI

End of Empire (AI generated image)

 Here is another AI experiment from Leonardo.Ai. I find that it takes many edits to get a good image, so while this is in many ways quick & automatic, there are a lot of wasted images. I also find that the AI responds quite well to poetic or "nonsense" prompts...

End of Empire, AI-generated image

The Lost Cities of Mars

 This is a VR piece I've been working on recently in Unity (game engine/VR+AR program) & Blender (3D modeling). It ties together a number of themes & ideas inside a handy alien environment. I'd like to develop it further, making the portal teleport to various areas of the piece, adding sound/music & perhaps other features. I'll mention here if these events come to pass. You can also see a video walkthrough, recorded from inside the Oculus Quest headset here on Flickr.

The themes involved include, time, eternity, the beginning & end of civilizations, what it means to be human, what it means to exist in the universe, the idea that everything that has happened in our world may have happened elsewhere long ago (or again in the future)...and many others...

The Lost Cities of Mars, VR piece, 2021

The Ruins of Babel

Here is a new painting of the Tower of Babel...I've done quite a few over the years (you can see some of them here). Also, I tried to photograph it last night, but it was too dark, so I took the underexposed image & played around with it in Photoshop (second image below).

The Ruins of Babel, 2015, acrylic on gatorboard, 14" x 11"

The Ruins of Babel, digitally modified in Photoshop

Forgotten Idol

I've always been fascinated with the idea of ruins & lost civilizations, & this is a theme that runs through my work from time to time.

Forgotten Idol, 2014, acrylic on cardboard, 20.5" x 14.5" approx.

Conducting Research in the Ruins

This was a slightly strange painting...almost sci-fi in nature...

Conducting Research in the Ruins, 2013, acrylic on board, 12" x 9".

The Portable Apocalypse

This small acrylic painting for the Apocalyptic series was at least partly inspired by seeing some works of the German expressionist Ludwig Meidner years ago...his panoramic scenes of apocalyptic destruction were somewhat undercut by the small physical scale of the paintings...

The Portable Apocalypse, 2012, acrylic on board, 8" x 10".

Profile and Ruins

Another Sharpie sketch:


Profile and Ruins, 2010, ink on paper, 8.5" x 4.4" approx.

Time, Death and Ruins

A funny little allegorical sketch that I think I quite like:


Time, Death and Ruins, 2010, ink on cardboard, 10" x 8.5".

Imaginary Landscape

I always liked those old drawings by Leonardo, Breughel et al with fantastic & impossible rocky mountain shapes. Here's one of mine:


Imaginary Landscape, 2010, ink & brush on paper, 8.5" x 8.5".

In The Ruins

A new ink drawing:


In The Ruins, 2010, brush & ink on paper, 11" x 8.5".

Hope Among the Ruins

Here is a drawing I did a few days ago, uploaded here, then took down again as I wasn't sure it was worthy of inclusion. Maybe all it needed was a title change:


Hope Among the Ruins, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18". There is always hope, speaking of positivity, as we were.

Red Ruins

A new small painting:


Red Ruins, 2009, acrylic on board, 10" x 8".

I've always liked depictions of ruins -- Desiderio & Piranesi and so on. What with the current state of the world, the Ruined City paintings have become some kind of metaphor for that...and I still like images of ruins. I created this small painting with the intention of donating it to a local fundraiser for the schoolkids (that's the Rhinebeck NY Whale Watch auction, btw). Also please note that the red in the image is a bit off -- my scanner can't seem to handle cadmium red; the actual red is more orange than this.

Here is a better version, in terms of color:

Also some more work done on the image, and signed.

Nero After the Fire

New large drawing:


Nero After the Fire, 2009, 23.5" x 18".

I simplified the drawing down to mostly an outline, for a change. The shadows on the page are due to shooting indoors under dubious lighting conditions...[note: new photo uploaded May 1st]

Young Man Among the Ruins

Another new drawing, I seem to be cooking now...


Young Man Among the Ruins, 2009, ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

Under the Debris

Another new, large-ish but loose-ish drawing.


Under the Debris, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18". My drawings seem to be loosening up somewhat, which I think is good...

Sphinx

New drawing of the Sphinx.


Sphinx, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

Maybe one day I'll go to Egypt & see the real thing...

Stranded

A new painting -- I'm starting to work on a slightly larger scale again...


Stranded, 2009, acrylic on board, 20" x 16".

Alone Among the Ruins

A new small painting:


Alone Among the Ruins, 2009, acrylic on board, 10" x 8". Continuing with familiar themes. The photo is a little bit blurry, I've tried several times to get a clearer version & this is the best I've gotten so far.