Sea Venom 1989

Ken Kelly painted "Sea Venom" with oils, and it's a real explosion of pulp adventure. The color palette is all sun-baked earth tones and the mark-making is what I'd call high-octane drama. You get the sense he really went for it. I'm fascinated by the way Kelly builds the scene, how the swirling lines of the background clash with the more defined figures. Look at the way the light seems to emanate from everywhere and nowhere. It's a kind of dream logic. And the texture! You can almost feel the grit and grime of this ancient, chaotic world. The arachnid looks as though it is about to pounce right out of the canvas. There's something very Frazetta about it, a similar love for the heroic and the monstrous, but with Kelly's own spin. It's a reminder that art is a conversation, a way of building on what came before, and venturing into uncharted territory.