Brian

@greygraphite.bsky.social

339 Followers 536 Following

Artist, college drawing instructor, union organizer, amateur Sasquatchologist. 🏳️‍🌈 www.brianrwilliams.com Creator of the independent webcomic “Orick & Argyle." www.orickandargyle.com patreon.com/greygraphite

Snapshot of the Logan model 4000 bevel mat cutter
Title page for my graphic-novel-in-progress. The title text, "Will-o'-the-Wisp," glows green above the illustration. Leona (the mountain lion), Argyle (the extraterrestrial), Orick (the Sasquatch) and Ursula (the human person) leading the group with a flashlight, walk down a set of stairs in a cave lit by purple light. "Will-o'-the-Wisp" is about a spooky light Ursula sees in the woods outside her trailer one night. She and Orick, Argyle, and Leona set out to discover the truth about the ghost light. But they're not alone; malevolent Sasquatches called wood devils are also hunting the Will-o'-the-Wisp. Ursula and her friends must catch up to the light before the wood devils do. The first half of the novel is free to read here: https://brianrwilliams.com/will-o-the-wisp.html
A snapshot of me sitting behind my table at the Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo just after setting up early Saturday morning, before the doors opened.
A snapshot of my table set-up at the Small Press & Alternative Comics Expo.
Poster titled, "Creature From Somewhere in the Midwest," a spoof on movie posters for Creature from the Black Lagoon. Under the poster title text, a green, friendly-looking creature with gills, a pink snout, two arms, and six human feet is smiling and saying, Midwesternly, "Ope! Lemme just scootch past yah." He is holding a red plastic party cup and is wearing a yellow novelty t-shirt that reads, "It's Wine O'Clock."
“Anthracite Deer,” graphite and charcoal powder on paper. A drawing of a deer in an Appalachian forest landscape with a smokestack where its neck and head should be. The smokestack is belching out clouds of thick, black smoke.
Top row, pic of me wearing glasses & squinting at a blurry sign. Bottom row, pic of me removing my glasses and now the sign, which reads “You’re 46 today (and you need bifocals)” is no longer blurry
A digital drawing of comic book characters Orick, a Sasquatch; Leona, a mountain lion; and Argyle, an extraterrestrial, rowing across a pond at dusk toward an island with an old church on it.
A graphite and colored pencil drawing on paper of a yellow and green seahorse perched on the couch from the painting, "Portrait of Madame Récamier," bt Jacques-Louis David.
A digital painting of Orick, a Sasquatch wearing an orange scarf and carrying a hot drink of some kind, walking between some trees and saying "boo" to classic movie monsters Nosferatu, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and a werewolf, who cower in fear and run away.
I Among twenty snowy mountains, The only moving thing Was the eye of the blackbird. Stanza I from the poem, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," by Wallace Stevens. Artwork: a digital drawing of a blackbird perched on a blue lantern that is placed on the edge of a cliff, overlooking a valley between two snowy mountain ranges at sunset.
Krampus, a furry anthropomorphic creature with a goat's head, long tongue, one cloven hoof, with a satchel of birch branches on his back and iron chains hanging from his arms, stares at the viewer from a hallway. The hallway is elegant, with an arched colonnade and paintings on the wall in the background, implying that Krampus is visiting the home of a wealthy family.
XIII It was evening all afternoon. It was snowing And it was going to snow. The blackbird sat In the cedar-limbs. Stanza XIII of the poem, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," by Wallace Stevens. A digital illustration of a grackle perched in an eastern red cedar tree in a winter landscape. The iridescence and textures of the bird's feathers is emphasized. On the tree limb beside the bird are pebbles, a quartz crystal and a shell, all with iridescent surfaces.
Orick, a sasquatch, sits hunched over at a wooden table, holding a magnifying glass and an eye dropper filled with honey. On the table in front of him is a pair of tweezers, a spool of thread and a needle, a jar of honey, and 5 bees resting on tiny pillows. Other bees are flying around him. In the background, against the wall, is a wooden bee hive. The foreground is filled with white flowers.
V I do not know which to prefer, The beauty of inflections Or the beauty of innuendoes, The blackbird whistling Or just after. Stanza V from "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," written by Wallace Stevens. A digital illustration showing a red-winged blackbird perched on a twig next to a muddy pond at twilight. The blackbird is calling. Next to it is an old stone with a spiral pattern carved into it. The scene's reflection on the surface of the pond appears to show a moment in the near future: the stone is glowing and the blackbird is flying away.
A digital illustration showing a Sasquatch reading a book in his cave with his friends, a mountain lion asleep next to the fireplace, and an extraterrestrial laying on a rug watching The X-Files on an iPad. The cave is illuminated by the fire in the fireplace, candles, lamps and glowing crystals. Above the fireplace is a framed portrait of a Sasquatch ancestor. In the background is a bookshelf and a staircase.
Cover image of "Will-o'-the-Wisp," a webcomic. The title is written in glowing green font. Below it are main characters Orick, a Sasquatch; Ursula, a human; Argyle, an extraterrestrial; and Leona, a mountain lion.
A digital sketch of a giant jellyfish floating in the air in front of a large Tudor-style house at dusk. The jellyfish glows orange and pink, and its long tentacles drag on the ground.
A graphite drawing showing a surreal scene: in the foreground is a tree trunk with four square holes cut out of it. A man playing a violin emerges from the biggest hole; his arm holding the violin sticks out from another hole. His other arm holding the bow emerges from a hole in a second tree trunk. The violin is on fire. Diamonds and an ammonite are seen in the last two holes in the tree. Additionally, connected to the front of the two tree trunks are three smokestacks belching black smoke and sparks. In the background is an overcast landscape with a meadow, a creek and a forest in the far distance.
"Carbon," graphite and charcoal powder on toned paper, 2025. A pair of tree trunks in the foreground have square holes cut out of them. Emerging from the biggest hole is a man playing a burning violin; his arms holding the instrument and the bow are emerging from two smaller holes. The arm holding the bow is coming out of a different tree than the rest of his body, revealing the surrealistic and nonsensical nature of the scene. An ammonite and a pile of uncut diamonds are seen in two other cut-outs in the tree. Also emerging from the trees are steel smokestacks belching copious amounts of black smoke and sparks. In the background is a meadow with a creek running through it; along the horizon more trees can be seen. The sky is overcast. Everything in the scene is composed partly or entirely of carbon: the trees, the violin, the diamonds, the steel smokestacks, the smoke, the man.
“The Hermit II,” graphite on paper, 6x8” oval, 2025. A birch tree grows from the neck of a woman from a 17th-century Dutch painting. She wears an elaborately-embroidered dress and stiff ruff collar. A woodpecker peeks out from a hole in the tree approximately where the woman’s head would have been.
Rare Earth, drawings by Brian R. Williams, Friday, September 5 at La Luz de Jesus Gallery
A photo of the above drawing matted and framed in a wood frame with gold accents on the outside edge.
“The Hermit III,” graphite on toned paper, 2025 An oak tree trunk emerges from the neck of a cloak worn by a sitter in a painting by Renaissance painter Hans Holbein the Younger. A barn owl peeks out from a hole in the tree trunk.
"Carbon," graphite and charcoal powder on toned paper, 2025. A pair of tree trunks in the foreground have square holes cut out of them. Emerging from the biggest hole is a man playing a burning violin; his arms holding the instrument and the bow are emerging from two smaller holes. The arm holding the bow is coming out of a different tree than the rest of his body, revealing the surrealistic and nonsensical nature of the scene. An ammonite and a pile of uncut diamonds are seen in two other cut-outs in the tree. Also emerging from the trees are steel smokestacks belching copious amounts of black smoke and sparks. In the background is a meadow with a creek running through it; along the horizon more trees can be seen. The sky is overcast. Everything in the scene is composed partly or entirely of carbon: the trees, the violin, the diamonds, the steel smokestacks, the smoke, the man.
“The Hermit III,” graphite on toned paper, 2025 An oak tree trunk emerges from the neck of a cloak worn by a sitter in a painting by Renaissance painter Hans Holbein the Younger. A barn owl peeks out from a hole in the tree trunk.
“The Hermit II,” graphite on toned paper, 6” x 8” oval A birch tree trunk emerges from the neck of an ornate dress and ruff worn by a female sitter from a 17th-century Dutch Golden Age painting. A woodpecker peeks out from a hole in the tree trunk.
A pencil drawing showing a young boy asleep next to a creek in the woods. Watching the boy sleeping are three fantastical creatures made of moss. A rabbit rests beside the boy, an owl is perched on the shoulder of one of the moss men, and a white-tailed deer watches the scene from behind a tree trunk. Client: Worthy Tales Magazine
"Ventifact," graphite on toned paper, 9 x 12 inches, 2025. A pencil drawing showing a man wearing a two-toned hoodie, buried up to his waist in sand in a desert landscape at dusk. The sand around him has been shaped into ripples by the wind. His head has transformed into a stone with cracks sharp edges all over its surface. The man's hands rest on the sand in front of him. In the far distance are mountains and clouds in the evening sky.
A digital drawing in black, grey and gold, showing an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon king painted in black and while being struck by a comet with a golden tail. The king is wearing chain mail and his hand is shown letting go of a lance. All that's shown of the king's head is his skull, which is being spun in the air by the force of the impact. The skull is still wearing a helmet and a crown. The night sky behind the scene is filled with gold stars. At the bottom of the drawing is an inscription written in gold that reads REX INTERFECTUS EST, meaning "the king is killed." The drawing is inspired by the death of King Harold II of England in 1066 as depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry.
Dietrich Instar, graphite and colored pencil on toned paper, 2024. A pencil portrait of Marlene Dietrich with butterfly wings growing out of both sides of her face. Most of the portrait is black and white, except for the butterfly wings, which are in color.
"Gold Coast Siren," graphite on toned paper. A siren with a human body but bird-like claws stares at the viewer as she plays a phonograph, using her claw as the stylus. The phonograph is attached to multiple amplifying horns of various designs behind the siren's head. She wears a 1920s-era headdress.
“Chronospecies,” graphite and charcoal powder on paper. A man in a black hoodie sits at a desk holding a book. A human skull is superimposed over his face. Next to the human skull are the skulls of two ancestors of humanity: Homo ergaster and Australopithecus. A pocket watch sits on the desk in front of the man and a cuckoo clock hangs on the wall behind him. Through a window in the background, behind the skulls, can be seen the landscape of Tanzania, Africa, the geographical origin of the human species.
A black and white digital illustration showing comic book characters Ursula, a human woman; Orick, a Sasquatch; Argyle, an extraterrestrial; and Leona, a mountain lion, walking down a staircase carved into a cave. Ursula, holding a flashlight, leads the group.
Photo of the front cover of “Orick & Argyle Book 1: Mischief.”
"Schiller," graphite and gold paint on paper. An image of a man seated at a desk with a giant shell on his head that covers his eyes. Behind him is a window, through which a cubic crystal hovering in the air above the sea can be seen. He is drawing a crude diagram of the crystal using a string of gold paint.
"Dietrich instar," graphite and colored pencil on toned paper, 2024 A portrait drawing of Marlene Dietrich with swallowtail butterfly wings growing out of her cheeks.
"The Siren & the Nightingale," graphite on toned paper, 2020. A portrait commission depicting the sitter as a Greek siren with feathers on her arms, playing a lyre and looking out of the drawing toward the viewer. A nightingale is perched on the lyre and singing along to the music. The title of the drawing is written on a banderole, or medieval speech scroll, fluttering in the air above the scene.
"Spring Tide," graphite on paper. An image of a bay in the moonlight. The water in the bay is cut away to reveal two orcas swimming. Rising from the ocean floor is a brick tower with an hourglass inside it. On the ocean floor are some rocks in which Galileo's quote "Eppur si muove (And yet it moves)" is carved.
“Chronospecies,” graphite and charcoal powder on toned paper. A man in a black hoodie sits at a desk holding a book. A human skull is superimposed over his face. Next to the human skull are the skulls of two ancestors of humanity: Homo ergaster and Australopithecus. A pocket watch sits on the desk in front of the man and a cuckoo clock hangs on the wall behind him. Through a window in the background, behind the skulls, can be seen the landscape of Tanzania, Africa, the geographical origin of the human species.
12 The river is moving. The blackbird must be flying. Stanza 12 from "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird," a poem by Wallace Stevens. Illustrated by me. A blackbird flies upwards over a bottomless canyon, pulling a waterfall into the sky with it. In the foreground is a city of towers lit by the setting sun.
Krampus, a furry anthropomorphic creature with a goat's head, long tongue, one cloven hoof, with a satchel of birch branches on his back and iron chains hanging from his arms, stares at the viewer from a hallway. The hallway is elegant, with an arched colonnade and paintings on the wall in the background, implying that Krampus is visiting the home of a wealthy family.
A cat the color of a lightly toasted marshmallow is sleeping on a grey blanket, curled up in the shape of a croissant or a shrimp.
"On the Rise of Mammals," graphite on paper. An illustration for a poem in "Dodos auf der Flucht/Dodos on the Run," a collection of poems about extinct and endangered animals by German poet Mikael Vogel. An anthropomorphic silverfish insect sits at a desk in a cave, wearing a suit and holding a quill pen in his hand. In front of him on the desk is an open book, its pages chewed by insects. On the desk beside him and in the foreground are skulls of various mammal species, including a human skull. The cave is illuminated by glowing crystals. In the background, stairs lead to the cave's entrance.
“Chronospecies,” graphite and charcoal powder on toned paper. A man in a black hoodie sits at a desk holding a book. A human skull is superimposed over his face. Next to the human skull are the skulls of two ancestors of humanity: Homo ergaster and Australopithecus. A pocket watch sits on the desk in front of the man and a cuckoo clock hangs on the wall behind him. Through a window in the background, behind the skulls, can be seen the landscape of Tanzania, Africa, the geographical origin of the human species.
Comic characters Orick, a Sasquatch, Argyle, an extraterrestrial, and Leona, a mountain lion, are relaxing in Orick’s cave. Orick is reading in his chair, Argyle is on the floor watching The X-Files on his iPad, and Leona is napping in front of the fire. In the background is a bookshelf and a staircase, and above the fireplace hangs a painting of one of Orick’s Sasquatch ancestors.
Stanza 8 from “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” a poem by Wallace Stevens. I know noble accents And lucid, inescapable rhythms; But I know, too, That the blackbird is involved In what I know. Image description: Two blackbirds perch on an antique phonograph in a clearing in the woods at twilight. The phonograph is printing out punched computer tape. One of the blackbirds holds the tape in its beak.
A non-threatening sasquatch, wearing an orange scarf and carrying a coffee, says "Boo" to some classic movie monsters, frightening them. Nosferatu hides behind a tree, the Creature from the Black Lagoon cowers on the ground, and the Wolfman runs away.
A cat the color of a lightly toasted marshmallow, whose name is Jasper, is napping upside-down on his favorite chair.
In the first panel, Argyle, a grey alien, is seen walking into his massive storage unit. In the foreground, Ursula stands in amazement, stunned by the room’s size. Hanging from the ceiling above them is Amelia Earhart’a missing airplane. In the second panel, Ursula says, “Whoa, Argyle, what all do you have in here?!” Argyle says, “Just stuff I’ve collected over the years” as he roots around in a wooden crate. Behind Ursula is the Ark of the Covenant from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.
"Creation of the Birds," by Remedios Varo, 1957.
Orick, a sasquatch, sits hunched over at a wooden table, holding a magnifying glass and an eye dropper filled with honey. On the table in front of him is a pair of tweezers, a spool of thread and a needle, a jar of honey, and 5 bees resting on tiny pillows. Other bees are flying around him. In the background, against the wall, is a wooden bee hive. The foreground is filled with white flowers.
IV A man and a woman Are one. A man and a woman and a blackbird Are one. From the poem, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, by Wallace Stevens. A blackbird, wings raised, emerges from between two halves of a broken obsidian egg. The egg is floating in the night sky above an erupting volcano. The bird and the egg are lit from underneath by the glowing lava.
Comic characters Orick, Ursula, Argyle and Leona are walking through a forest. Ursula is telling the others about a memory of a wood devil lurking outside her bedroom window when she was a child. She had always dismissed the memory as a nightmare, but after seeing wood devils as an adult, she is wondering if her childhood memory is a recollection of a real event. Her story is illustrated in a full-color flashback scene taking up two-thirds of the page.
An Orick & Argyle comic titled, "Orick & Argyle Don't Eat Roses."
Chapter 1 in “On Tyranny” by Timothy Snyder: Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is tracing power what it can do. Illustration by Nora Krug.
Hieroglyphs spelling "do better."