Paradise Lost: Page 20

Here, Eve tells Adam how amazing he is. Satan listens in on this and when, in the poem, they go into each others arms and perform the act of creation. He leaves to explore more of Eden. He is eventually found and thrown out before he makes his way back in as the serpent and tempts Eve with the apple from the tree of knowledge. This is also, unfortunately, the last page of my thesis. There will be some changes, which I'll post, and I'll put it up lettered and ready to read as well as a post that is the paper that goes along with this, but until then...Courage...and keep moving forward. And stay posted for the lettered version. I may even print a few for give away...we'll see.

Paradise Lost: Page 19

Here, Adam starts to explain his relation to God and Even with Eve. It's a touching moment that Satan listens to intently.

Paradise Lost: Page 18

Alright, here Satan is moving into the territory occupied by Adam and Eve. This is the first point at which he is isolating the couple and feels like he is hidden enough to get this close.

Paradise Lost: Page 17

The next few pages are all about Satan stalking Adam and Eve. When he notices they are different than the rest, he follows them and listens in on their conversation before heading off to explore the rest of Eden. So here he is changing his appearance and watching Adam and Eve.

Paradise Lost: Page 16

When Satan enters Eden he changes his form three times, from a Cormorant sitting in the tree of life, to a lion, and finally a tiger. Over the next few pages, you'll see that transformation happen by the clothes he wears. When he comes out of the tree, he loses his hat, and over the next few pages he'll put on a trenchcoat, a feather boa and finally another hat, therefore representing these changes.

Paradise Lost: Page 15

SWINGERS! This is the inside of Eden and Satan's entrance into Paradise

Paradise Lost: Pages 13-14

This is a two page spread. The text on this page gives a large and detailed description of Eden (which in this instance is a bar and night club). There needed to be a lot of room for text. Satan is looking through a window from a fire escape into Eden. He is alone on the left hand page of this spread, and the "animals" and club goers of Club Eden are on the right hand page showing his separation and isolation from the rest of creation.

Paradise Lost: Page 12

The beauty of comics is this: The marriage of text and image to create a truly stunning piece of artwork. This page is a great example of a page that is missing a significant portions of it's final piece. There is a large blank space of black road that runs through the middle of this page. It made this page go rather quickly, but makes it look empty. There is a lot of text that goes with this page, and therefore it can't truly look complete until the text is added.

Paradise Lost: Page 11

Satan ventures off toward Eden. This was an integral scene showing he could fit in if necessary. But he is still alone and an outcast. So fun scene. The two middle panels show the two sides of town. One dark and the other watched by God. Of course, Satan heads towards the area watched by God, which is Eden.

Paradise Lost: Page 10

The end of his monologue. Satan heads out to find Adam and Eve and heads off to Eden.

Paradise Lost: Page 9

At this point Satan realizes he can corrupt man (God's greatest creation). He finds the picture of Adam and Eve amidst the mess he created and decides they are his new target. One thing to talk about artistically with this page. There is a design theory out there that talks about amounts of gray, black, and white that should be on a page to create focus. If you think about each as a paint bucket, there should be a gallon of one, a quart of another, and a cup of the last. This page is a good example of that theory. There is a gallon of black, a quart of white, and a cup of gray. This creates focus in areas where they overlap and/or are surrounded by a varying tone.

Thank you Steve Jobs

This image is a repost from a previous post on this blog. I felt it necessary to put it back up, not only in homage of Steve as an innovator and creator, but as a person. Steve Jobs has brought computing home and made it extremely simple and accessible to everyone. He has done this multiple times with multiple projects and created an entire connected culture that will not be replicated for a long time. He was an innovator in technology, accessibility, and ease of living. He will Truly be missed by this artist and person.

Paradise Lost: Page 8

This series of imagery from the text referred a lot to God and his role is Satan's demise, as well as Satan's realization that he can not defeat God. He looks up to the Sun in the last panel and talks about his reverence for God, and I used the light of the sun to represent that.

Paradise Lost: Page 7

I think this was the most fun to draw out of all the pages thus far. It pushed me as artistically to play with perspective and focus. Although one of the biggest rules of cinematography is don't use a straight down bird's eye view, this one works because the focus and secondary focus are on the floor and the desktop. So seeing those from above is very important, hence the shot choice. I added the fan at the top to help draw the eye between the two focus points and add a significant amount of depth. The viewer is sitting on the fan blades looking down upon the scene.

Paradise Lost: Page 6

One of my main objectives when it comes to this project is really pushing myself on camera angles, adding depth, and most of all clarity when it comes to my comic pages. This is a large image that really draws in a particular focus. Satan's face, I think pops right off the page, and the rest if the image is composed in such a way where you can't miss his expression, his exasperation, and his anger. What do you think?

Paradise Lost: Page 5

Not much to say today or I'll be late for work...oh well. ENJOY!

Paradise Lost: Page 4

Page four takes a look outside the Satan's hell and shows us what's around him, the "purgatory" that is around him, which really is not bad at all. Just shows his separation from the rest of the world.

Paradise Lost: Page 3

Throughout Satan's rant, he talks in length about the loss of his own Paradise (his seat in heaven) and how he can't defeat God. His appearance changes three times throughout this monologue. The first change is in the bathroom mirror. The second and third come later and make his appearance harder to recognize, check them out.

Paradise Lost: Page 2

Paradise Lost is Milton's Epic poem about Adam and Eve and their expulsion from Eden. In Book 4, Satan has lost his first battle for heaven and is retreating back to hell. On his way, his soliloquy about his own pain and loss of being God's most favored angel ends with his conviction to corrupt God's favorite creation: Man. This page starts this soliloquy and it goes for the first half of this comic.

Paradise Lost: Page 1

over the next few days I am going to be posting the pages from my MFA thesis: John Milton's Paradise Lost. I am adapting the first 500 lines of book 4 into a noir detective story. Satan is the detective and Adam and Eve are his current marks. To see the full text, click here. This book starts with Satan leaving heaven after losing his first campaign to take over and destroy God. This post also marks my 100th post on my art blog! Thanks for staying with me for this long!