PETERAHERN.COM is (a)live!

Peter: Hey all, in an effort to consolidate my personal and commercial work I’ve moved to a new website – come melt your eyeballs at peterahern.com

 

 

Golly Jolly Holly

Peter: Welp, now that December’s here it feels like wintertime has officially begun! And what better way to celebrate than with this brand spankin’ new seasonal vignette full of festive wonder and cheer!

Available now on my S6 page, check it out HERE.

Happy holidays!

some sketches/earlier versions

The Dare

Peter: Here’s a new illustration I’ve been working on called The Dare, inspired by a story in my head, memories of growing up in rural Massachusetts and a love for retro horror art. Gallery quality Giclée art prints are now available here.

click to enlarge

Below is the original rough concept sketch, because it’s always fun to see how ideas evolve:

 

Black Phillip Design + Merchandise

Peter: “Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?

After seeing The Witch I fell in love with it’s arresting visuals, crazy soundtrack and breakout star: Black Philip.

I didn’t see much merch for the film so I decided to draw up my own design and make it available on shirts, mugs, bags, etc – inspired by 19th century etchings but injected with fresh, bold color.

Update: Thank you everyone for making this my all time best selling design on S6. All of the attention has resulted in it’s selection for the site’s own curated “Society6 Shop” (not just my own shop’s page)! Very cool!

(click to enlarge)

…Black Phillip, Black Phillip, king of sky and land, Black Phillip, Black Phillip, king of sea and sand…

 

sketches

 

Head Trauma (part 1)

It had been WAY TOO LONG (years) since we had the opportunity to devise a new photo series together, but this past holiday break we were in the right place at the right time and Head Trauma was born. In addition to some fun costuming, we utilized a fisheye lens and off-camera flash lighting, with the final results created completely in camera. Stripped down, haunting and raw, these are just a peek at a few of the images we captured:

click to enlarge

More to come….

Fall-Time Vignette

Peter: Wow, it’s been quite some time since I’ve last posted on here! Busy busy. But happy to be able to share a new illustration to fill your head with thoughts of apple cider, pumpkin pie and the reapings of a good ol’ harvest. Also available on my S6 page, where you can get it plastered across pillows, mugs, blankets and all sorts of things to get you in the Halloween and Thanksgiving spirit. Stay cozy!

Some sketches/earlier versions:

Ice Scream

Peter: Come and get it!

Society6 shop is now open!

Peter: Today I launched my new Society6 shop, featuring an illustration project I’ve been working on secretly: a trio of colorful, nightmarish baby animals! Available for print on throw pillows, coffee mugs, clothing and tote bags as well as a variety of gallery quality art prints. Get them as an all-in-one design, create a set from them individually, or just pick your favorite standalone! Also by coincidence, today only Society6 is offering FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING! Come check it out!
http://society6.com/peterahern

Sleep No More

Peter: Amy and I attended Sleep No More this past winter in NYC and it’s an amazing experience. I felt inspired to do this drawing of something we stumbled across (while exploring in our venetian masks) within one of the building’s 100+ shadowy rooms.

I could fill pages explaining what SNM is, but I actually think the Wikipage gives an excellent summery (I’d be paraphrasing it if I didn’t just copy/paste it, so I’ll save the time):

Sleep No More adapts the story of Macbeth, deprived of all spoken dialogue and set primarily in a dimly-lit, 1930s-era establishment called the “McKittrick Hotel”: the website of which claims it has been recently “restored” but is actually a block of warehouses in Manhattan, transformed into a hotel-like performance space

Sleep No More’s environment consists of five floors of theatrical action within the “McKittrick Hotel”, though with many rooms and features not normally associated with hotels, including those which resemble an antiquated lunatic asylum, doctor’s offices, children’s bedrooms, a cemetery, indoor courtyards, shops, a padded cell, a ballroom, taxidermist’s menageries, and so on. The actors and their environment all adopt the dress, decor, and aesthetic style of the early 20th century, inspired by the shadowy and anxious atmosphere of film noir. The production “leads its audience on a merry, macabre chase up and down stairs, and through minimally illuminated, furniture-cluttered rooms and corridors.”^[1] Audience members begin their journey in a fully operational bar/lounge, the Manderley Bar, from which they enter an elevator that transports them to the major floors of the “hotel” and sometimes ejects audience members randomly, separating them from their friends.
Audience members are instructed to remain silent and masked at all times^[2] once they have boarded the hotel’s elevator up until the time they return to the Manderley Bar; however, they may move freely at their own leisure for up to three hours, choosing where to go and what to see, so that everyone’s journey is unique; they may also exit the premises at any point.^[3] Audience members may thus follow one or any of the actors throughout the performance, or they may independently explore the many rooms of the building; in groups or alone. The audience is also encouraged to investigate by opening drawers, examining the numerous written diaries, letters, and other props found throughout the set. Recorded music plays steadily throughout the building at all times.

Portraiture

Peter: Some lord from the middle ages asked me to draw his portrait like, 1000 years ago, and I just got around to it so here it is. Unfortunately he died waiting, but rather than depict him as he was, I just drew him as he is (because I’ve got better things to do than try to remember what he looked like). Also he might have been a cat.