Angry sand worms spring from the enlightened skull of a desert drifter. I am falling deeply in love with turquoise star light. So satisfying cleaning up those beam edges. This was originally a black and white piece I was playing with yonks ago, initially inspired by an Inktober prompt ‘dune’.

When I hear the word ‘dune’ my mind is taken swiftly to the philosophical sand storms whirling about in the head of Frank Herbert. I see the baron lands of Lynchian Sandworms, the forbidden zone in Beetlejuice occupied by almost comically crude ghost predators munching on entities lost in limbo.....(and as a side note, also the movie that introduced me to both Geena Davis and Winona Ryder as well as the concept of goth and misery and humour in one neat little fearless package-so pretty significant) This was my starting point. Embracing fully my nerdery when it comes to all things fantasy and sci-fi during the 80’s and 90’s (before I had friends to intervene), these granular memories thrust me through a wormhole of nostalgia. I was scribbling down witches and monsters and conjuring up dystopian worlds way beyond the PG rating using a multicolour biro pen. From the moment I realized my creations got reactions-particularly concerned ones from adults and petrified ones from younger kids, I was addicted. No surface was safe from a Dali-esque doodle.......Forever propelled into a healthily unhealthy obsession with all things surreal and gore. When my sister chose Disney movies, I was clutching a rental vhs with the most gruesome front cover I’d managed to find.....(imagine a seven year old waving the hellraiser movies about with utter glee) This illustration is a melding together of childhood nightmare and intrigue. The triangle carved into the skull is in reference to the higher consciousness they were all hooked on in the 1984 Dune movie, going nuts for the spice etc., (an aspect of the story I didn’t grasp as a kid, long before I discovered caffeine and other worldly mind altering fun stuff), and also a nod to the excellent reworking of Pink Floyd’s ‘eclipse’ which Hans Zimmer has created for the remake. Queen of waffledom at your service.

Full time lapse

illustrated in Procreate (sketch and colour using spray can, star brushes and luminescence brushes for glittery fabulousness, various texture brushes for sand and cloud brushes for angry worm breath magic) animated using Motionleap

Music mashup: Beetlejuice theme song Danny Elfman, Eclipse Pink Floyd Hans Zimmer cover, metamorphosis. Philip Glass

Cosmic Sand Worm (time lapse)

©KARIS HARRINGTON 2024