The Manifestation of Azrael

This image of the Archangel riding his headless dragon will serve as a grim reminder of the passing year. We wipe our eyes and look into the future.

/pastels on paper/

Sketchbook of the Yoke

A combined sketchbook post. A few assorted pages here allowing for some insight into the alchemy.

The Sleeping Beauty

One of the first attempts at lock-picking the myth of Aghartha. 

This composition is based upon the image of an old Tibetan priest's head. The aged flesh represents the shifting atmosphere, the storms envelope the egg of the Earth. The eyes of the seeker travel to the vertical positions to become the source of power (electricity) and the spring of wisdom (the serpent) respectively, guarding the polar entrances from all impurity and harm. The sleeping woman reflects the secret fruit of Aghartha, the tranquility of the subconscious.
/pencil on paper/

The flying V!

The ghostly raven messenger heralds the advent of night, drops the black-patched curtain and chases the sun into the depth of the sea projecting its fury upon us, giving birth to countless miracles. It leaves us wondering if the sun we see the next morning is the one we saw drown last eve.
The final monochrome version of the drawing commemorating Utech Records' first anniversary.
/ink on paper/

Winter Warrior

The logo draught for the Dead Reptile Shrine order.
The idea for the logo (the angular shape and the motif) comes from a dream, though I am not telling what the dream was about, of course.
The setup is built upon the reflection of sacrifice of one’s self on the path of learning the truth. Facing the dragon, summoning all the skill, knowledge and using good touch with one’s spirit to defeat the beast. Or taking the courage of offering one’s self to the dragon in order to use the chance of killing it from within ... only to discover the void that is no vessel for a spirit.
The dead dragon bribes the hunter with the dream seeping from under the lid, the nostrils and the ears. The cold tongue won’t speak any more, yet the shrine is forever.
The rising smoke is giving away the act of sacrifice in a cave full of corpse lanterns.
/ink on paper/

The Moment of Truth

Artwork for Jenks Miller's Horseback. A perfect match of image and verse achieved in a complete unawareness of one another:

This other truth imperils me:
So many wolves part ways across some plain;
I cannot keep them all at once within my sight,
And can't account for those I cannot see.
I may have one beast by the throat, twisting under me,
While his brother's teeth move close across my neck.
I fashion myself into a hunter.
To whom, then, do I turn for mercy?

Horseback "The Invisible Mountain" URCD039
AVAILABLE AUGUST 8
www.utechrecords.com

/ink on paper/

The Key of Knowledge

The logo vignette for Finnish esoteric metal band Ride For Revenge.
/ink on paper/

Odinn plays with his magic boat

A quick children's book illustration done back in 2000 at a friend's studio in St. Petersburg. A small painting supposed to be used in an adapted version of Edda. The publisher went with something disgustingly tame and uninspired instead. I dug this little thing out of my archives a while ago, spruced it up a bit and here it is.
/acrylic on paper/

The new spring

Painting and drawing a lot, I think I have pierced through something completely new, something utterly wild in my artistic search. Will get back to posting very soon.
Thank you for your interest.