I know everyone thought Cancer was going to be an island, but actually it’s the first plains card! If you hadn’t gathered by now, the way the signs are mapped to land types has less to do with a literal consideration (where do crabs live zzzz boring) and more to do with qualities associated with the signs and with the land types. This is actually more fun for me because it presents interesting challenges to work out and makes for less expected final images. I can see a lot of angry reactions online and all I can say about that is that I think you’ll generally have a bit more fun with fantasy if you stop expecting it to be practical and realistic all the time (it’s in the name!).
Given the prompt Cancer/Plains I had an immediate thought and image come to me, and its mostly inspired by my long running fascination with the part of H.G. Wells The Time Machine when the Traveller jumps so far into the future he finds only giant crab creatures roaming a dying earth chasing huge moths. This is an interesting choice on Wells part with some understanding of the process of Carcinisation (evolution constantly making and trying to make crabs). There’s a basic line drawing from my illustrated classic version of the Time Machine that as an adult isn’t very striking but as a kid absolutely fascinated me, I think more for the idea it evoked than anything else.
Illustration by Brendan Lynch for Moby Books edition of the Time Machine
The other image I had in mind was N.C. Wyeth’s the Giant (interesting article here about him doing this painting based on a concept an artist friend left behind when he passed away inspired by his own childhood nostalgia). I remembered my buddy Ellie telling me that she regarded the white cards in MtG as being not just related to the healing positive aspects of divinity but also the fearsome ones, so I liked the idea of doing the crab as an awe-inspiring looming mirage on the plain.
When I went to Maya for our consultation right off the bat I said “I don’t know why, I don’t know if this makes any sense but I just have this image stuck in my head for this and it’s based off the Time Machine and this Wyeth painting that made an impression on me as a kid” and their response was immediately that this was a Cancerian instinct so I should follow it. They also gave me a lot of good insight about the connection between Cancer and Leo as complimentary back to back signs (Moon/Sun, Water/Fire) but since I can’t show you Leo yet all I can say for now is that they were designed as compliments, and weirdly both came from a more intuitive place concept wise. They might be my favorite ones in the whole series.
Just because this is where I put long form thoughts now I wanted to write a little something about my friend Marcelo Gallegos who passed away a little over a week ago. We met years ago tabling at NecronomiCon when Mike and I ran around the hotel finding little end tables to attach to our merch table until we occupied a whole corner of the vending area and sat at times ten people deep chatting and joking and trading art. Marcello was so funny, and so sweet and so talented, one of the rare types of people I can feel an immediate freak bond with. I was lucky enough to get to have some really nice days with him when he lived in Philly briefly, poking around flea markets and eating good food, and had hoped to reunite again soon. I feel extremely devastated to lose such a lovely friend, and from the outpouring I can see from his friends in New Mexico and all over the world he was very loved by a lot of people. It would make me happy to know that more people saw his work and a little of who he was so I just wanted to take a minute to share a little. We love you Marcelo.
“The Looking Glass” by Marcelo Gallegos
In other assorted news Maya’s band the Ire has a new album out and I really recommend you listen to it and buy it because it’s great.
Please please please give your money to abortion funds (not PP and definitely not politicians who don’t care if we live or die).
I’m continuing work on my updated Gogol zine and have almost 4 new paintings finished with 2 more to go and will probably do a write up on that project soon too. Wear a mask to protect yourself and others! Watch Phil Tippet’s Mad God!! You can bid on the original painting for Cancer/Plains here! If you need me I will be floating in a lake in the Pine Barrens, dreaming of the day “America” will be nothing more than a micro millimeter of compressed plastics in the Earth’s vast geological record.