DOGFACE (The Adventures of,): EFFULGENCE

This piece was created for the 2006 Scholarship art scholarship competition. The theme was the word “effulgence.”
This is the original essay that was submitted with the piece.

“EFFULGENCE!” (Obviously something a villain would demand).
“What does that mean?!” (Of course, our hero can’t be expected to know what it means).
“Give her to me!” (The villain persists).
“What are you talking about? What is this?” (The hero begs for clarity).
“It’s symbolism – I’m sure of it.” (The pony can talk, and he’s very smart).
“*Foiled again.” (All villains must say this at some point).
“Sounded like mouthwash to me.” (The hero lightens an otherwise dark scene).
It ran through my mind for a while, and in the end I had to edit out the punch line and streamline it a bit. The characters developed slowly, first the villain, then the hero who, at the last minute, got the face of a dog. As a normal man, he just never made an effective hero. The third-party/ sidekick eventually became an ordinary talking pony. He was a unicorn only for a few minutes, and a horse for even fewer. The villain needed a purpose, but not an evil one like most villains. So as it turns out, his little sister is waiting for him to bring back Effulgence to save her life. Only his methods are villainous as he disregards the hero’s needs in favor of his own. The hero must have met some greater villain and been put under a curse… why else would he have the face of a dog? And the pony, I don’t think I’ll ever figure out. As for Effulgence, it must have something to do with that watch. From there, a thousand stories developed that I fear I’ll never have the time to write down. I eventually abandoned the lines between the frames and the voice bubbles. I also gave up the idea of putting a three-headed beagle puppy sleeping in the background. That just wouldn’t have made any sense. As for actually expressing effulgence, I played on the side of the appealing mysterious and magical sound of the word itself, without its definition. And just to embellish it, decided to illustrate the thing with the title of Effulgence as being effulgent. The story however, is to be continued…



Pen and Ink, matted and framed: 16x20" (40.5cmx51cm) (that's probably the size anyway).
$215 (plus shipping when applicable).