Alan G. Brooks - Art and Illustration

   My dog Brum moved on without us on the 20th January 2021.  I couldn't say R.I.P. - and I couldn't say "passed away" - Dogs like Brum don't pass away or rest in peace. Even if they appear to dissolve into another time - another space or place - they never pass away. Passing away implies that you slip away or go temporarily unnoticed for a while. Brum could never be likened to any of that. He was always strong, a leader. Always attentive, watchful, assertive, protective. A General. The pack Leader. Faithful to the end . And that end is a new beginning . He can now find his friends and family that " left " before him - Ruby, Romany, Belle, Carmel, Evie, Gracie, Sally - and be together once more. The picture below is one I made in 2012 as a part of a promotional illustration for the "Brum in Brooksville" series I was working on at the time.   Brum from the "Brum in Brooksville" series Brum , 2021 - a STAR - Forever Rainbow Bridge I p...

Golden - Golden Cross Lane - unfinished - 2012 - Alan Brooks / oils on masonite. Frances Mary Brooks It's been a long time, Mom.  Your chair is empty in the living room - and it doesn't look right at all.  That house was your house.  Everything about it said you. The garden is untouched of course, and very tired now.  It is not hard to see how much it misses you. The bird tables and the bird baths are still in the yard. But there are no birds. They miss you too. Everything left with you. Everything is very still. Everything is very empty. Like we're all waiting for something. . . Nobody to fill your space. Nobody to take your place. The Heaven you brought to the garden went back to find where you'd gone. So, I will remember your love of the countryside and nature. Your giving heart. The welcomes you gave to my friends and family. The wonderful "banquets" you shared, they will always be remembered. You are missed, in so many ways. You could never be replaced. R...

This book was supposed to hit home and have uncomfortable truth's within it.  It was meant to provoke and make you uncomfortable in it's "what if" scenario.  Now we see it was prophetic all along.  It's happened - happening - and in your face - right now.  Unbelievable.  Actually, I'll rephrase that.  It is totally believable.  Nobody has to travel far to see it unfolding in their daily lives. Live and in color . . .  1984 The above piece was made a few years ago for a magazine when the story 1984 was still a novel.  A disturbing read at the best of times. Provocative and unnerving. But still just a novel. I didn't really expect to see it play out the way that it is. It seemed to be steadily getting closer. Then all of a sudden - and in fast forward - we are now suddenly  in it. Alan Brooks

and why not . . . ? Jimi Hendrix - "Impression 67" - Alan Brooks Oil on board "Floral Peace" - Knight Herald - Alan Brooks Acrylic on board My roots were bound in the late sixties - early seventies. Big O, Oz Magazine, Underground Comics and Posters, International Times, Mati Klarwein, Ernst Fuchs, Rick Griffin, Robert Crumb, Martin Sharp - and on and on and on. Where does the time go? Onwards and Upwards Alan G Brooks

Continuing  . . . . . . I showed some edited highlights from the Flying Saucer project Jay Brooks and I worked on back in 2006 / 2007. I have taken the color out of the pieces so that they ring more true to the 1950's B movie and Sci Fi tv fodder of the day back then. The likes of the Outer limits, Twilight Zone - and children shows shows such as Fireball XL5 and Space Patrol all had an impact. That show with its black and white imagery, robots and strange characters might just have been directed by David Lynch as far as I am concerned. Way ahead of it's time and equally as spooky! Page art from the project. Page art / panels. These pieces and the previous post have artwork that was allowing us to experiment with how my own stories might develop in a retro future way. The Doctor Clockheart story and artwork have a retro future look that echoes some of the experimentation that was tried out in some of the Flying Saucer project and art. Information downlo...

Versus the Earth . . . The Way We Were . . . Some notes and thoughts to go with artwork for an old project from around  2006 ish.  My son and I used to watch all the old sci fi movies and sword and sorcery epics while he was growing up in Birmingham in the eighties. We particularly liked Jason and the Argonauts, the animated tv shows of a Saturday morning - Star Fleet - Battle Star Galactica - Star Wars of course - and  . . well, I could go on and on. But we pretty much devoured it all. It was great fun. So when the opportunity came where we could work alongside some of those shows and people that inspired us - you'd better believe we took it! Overkill! I have posted the color versions of some of the artwork made for the Flying Saucer project shown here over at   the website Cover art I have posted the black and white versions of the work here. I believe these versions really are in keeping with the feel and atmosphere of the shows...

 . . . almost forgot Onwards and Upwards - Alan G. Brooks - watercolors Above is another piece from the similar timeline as Watching and Waiting. It is painted in watercolour, gouache and inks on illustration board. Probably from the mid nineties - 1996 I should guess. I meant to put it up with the "Watching  / Mole" painting - and actually thought I had.  I see here [and with the opportunity of hindsight,] that once again I am depicting breaking from one "dimension" into another.  The whale here breaks the surface and catches a glimpse of another world temporarily.  The mole similarly strives to break through a different surface and moves from dark to light.   Onwards and Upwards.  Alan G.Brooks