Peter Mohrbacher

Kundaliel, Angel of Ophiuchus - Color Phase

I wanted to create an imposing mood for Ophiuchus. Even though the figure is reclining, there is a sense of coiled potential still present. Even in the color palette, the yellows and blues press against each other in tight opposition, creating a latent pressure that's building up inside the figure. You can see that stored energy leaking through the cracks in the form of a rich red that's beginning to pour forth from the Angel's shadows.

Kundaliel, Angel of Ophiuchus - (Value Phase)

Ophiuchus is the 13th zodiac sign.

Over the past couple years, one of the most common requests I've received has been to expand the Zodiac series to include Ophiuchus. It's something I've been meaning to do for a while, but now I've finally committed to completing :)

There is a lot of room for me to bring my own flavor to this painting. First off, since Ophiuchus isn't a classically recognized zodiac sign, I couldn't find any reliable references to Angel names. Instead, I made t...

January Rewards + Discount Code

The 20% OFF discount code this month is CLEAR20. That code works on any order on Angelarium.net/store

There are new prints on the store popping up all the time. You should check it out if you haven't recently!

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All of the downloadable rewards for this month have been uploaded to the Dropbox archive!

2021-02-01 20:52:37 +0000 UTC View Post

Binah, Flowing Mind

It is understanding, the thing that brushes the infinite. It is context. Intuitive and contemplative.

A Palace of Mirrors.

All things, in all forms, under all light, are given shape. Under this axiom, potentiality falls away. A Song must begin, Thunder must crash from above, the Sun must rise (All from potential.)If existence blossoms in a Palace of Mirrors, the Light cast there is called Binah.

-description of Binah

Binah, Flowing Mind - Detail Phase

Starting with an easy drawing and build upon it with easy colors yielded an easy painting to complete. Finding puffy shapes in the cloudy background brings me even more pleasure than just looking at big puffy clouds. And I like looking at big puffy clouds a lot!

Binah, Flowing Mind - Color Phase

Pushing and pulling colors around almost immediately produced this really classic palette. I love the painting dawn/dusk scenes. The balance of blues against oranges creates a lot of really satisfying contrast that's instantly appealing to look at.

Sometimes I want to challenge myself to find rare or unusual palettes that expand my range and sometimes I just want the artistic equivalent of comfort food. In light of my rising optimism for 2021, this felt like the right choice for the mom...

Binah, Flowing Mind - Value Phase

I've thought for a long time about what I would do if I ever returned to Binah. It is one of the most important pieces within the Angelarium canon and a particularly important painting for me personally since it kicked off the last 7 years of working on Angelarium full-time. Instead of trying to outdo the original, I decided to follow my instincts and make a very different looking painting.

This painting is modeled after a doodle I've made dozens of times in people's books. It's the def...

December Rewards + Discount Code

The 20% OFF discount code this month is EARTH20. That code works on any order on Angelarium.net/store

There are new prints on the store popping up all the time. You should check it out if you haven't recently!

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All of the downloadable rewards for this month have been uploaded to the Dropbox archive!

2020-12-27 14:15:20 +0000 UTC View Post

Legacy Print Update + New Store Items, and More

I'm thinking about the future a lot recently and I owe some of you some updates, so let's jump into it.

The End of Legacy Print Subscriptions

Specifics first. The planned end date for print subscriptions is April 2021. I've listed new prints on the calendar for 2021 leading up to that point.

https://www.angelarium.net/legacy-print-calendar 

I'm not ending the print subsc...

Malkuth, Body of Earth

NFT - Live Auction
1 of 1 - Available on Makers Place
https://makersplace.com/digital-media/releases/33354/

"There is a mighty Tree and at the root of it, there is a Kingdom. So much light emanates from beyond the leaves above it. We live in the shadows of those leaves and that is how we know Malkuth."

More info about NFTs: 2020-12-22 23:00:14 +0000 UTC View Post

Malkuth, Body of Earth - Works in Progress

Wait. Why are all of these hitting at once?

I couldn't release the works in progress while I've been working on this painting because I made a promise to a new friend that I wouldn't share this piece until launch day. That's not going to be the standard going forward, but we're working on a compressed timeline this month so it's gotten a bit weird.

Wait. Launch day?

Just now, this painting has just launched on Makers Place as one of their...

Azazel, Angel of Sacrifices - Resin Kit

Hey there,

I just wanted to make sure you all knew about the new thing that I'm selling this month. Mindwork Games made a really cool little resin figurine of Azazel. It's a limited run, so I've only got about 50 left:

https://www.angelarium.net/store/azazel-resin

I kept one for myself as a keepsake! Here are some photos of me assembling it. It sticks together with super glue.

2020-12-20 19:32:38 +0000 UTC View Post

November Rewards + Discount Code

The 20% OFF discount code this month is TAROT20. That code works on any order on Angelarium.net/store

There are new prints on the store popping up all the time. You should check it out if you haven't recently!

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All of the downloadable rewards for this month have been uploaded to the Dropbox archive!

2020-12-20 19:20:30 +0000 UTC View Post

Eistibus, As Foretold

It was ordained
Each footfall pressed into its place
Every word spoken to its rhythm
We dance and he sees us dancing
If you wish to know, just ask
Eistibus will tell you

Eistibus, As Foretold - (Detail Phase)

And what a detail phase it's shaping up to be. Instead of billowing clouds, I've given myself the task of shaping all these little doodads in the background of this painting. The plan is to  twist the random forms I've established into shapes that pass as real objects. 

First things first, I need to get all these damn ellipses in order. Establishing a horizon line and getting them relatively correct is going to go a long way to giving this stuff the impression of substance.&nb...

Eistibus, As Foretold - (Color Phase)

I moved into color more quickly than I know is safe to apply my process correctly. There is a sweat spot between murky shapes and finely painted edges where my coloring process thrives and this is definitely too close to the loose end of that spectrum. Moving forward without establishing the background clearly runs a couple of risks.

Firstly, I could get jammed up trying to figure out what stuff is supposed to go back there late in the process. But more importantly, if I start to colori...

Eistibus, As Fortold - Value Phase

Eistibus was last seen as a towering figure aligning with the cosmos, but its design inspirations call back to classic divination imagery. I wanted its new incarnation to appear in that context, surrounded by the familiar trappings of fortune-telling.

The temptation here is to have the card deck Eistibus is holding feature the card back I've designed for the Angelarium Oracle decks. We'll see if that holds out to the final.

Playmat Vault - Final Day

Hey all,

Today is the last day to pick up standard sized gaming playmats from my store. I figured I would give you one final heads up before I took them away for another year.

https://www.angelarium.net/vault 

Also a reminder, as a subscriber to my Patreon, you can get an extra 20% off by using the discount code VAPOR20 at checkout.

Much love,

-Pete

October Rewards + Discount Code

The 20% OFF discount code this month is VAPOR20. That code works on any order on Angelarium.net/store

There are new prints on the store popping up all the time. You should check it out if you haven't recently!

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All of the downloadable rewards for this month have been uploaded to the Dropbox archive!

2020-11-09 19:21:12 +0000 UTC View Post

Sahaqiel, In the Great Expanse

The scholar fashioned wings
of his design
and leapt from the citadel,
drifting amid radiance
toward injury and fame.
What bondage is weight?
Even in burial
we ascend.

Year Two Decks - Back in Stock

I've gotten a lot of emails about when these would be back in stock. It took a lot longer than I expected to get another printing made, but they are finally in the studio:

https://www.angelarium.net/store

Sahaqiel, In the Great Expanse - (Detail Phase)

With such a tight sketch, I'm not sure why this piece has been so hard to finish. I feel like I've painted so many clouds in my life that I somehow forgot how to paint clouds. I don't get it, things should have sailed by without trouble at this point.

Oh well, art is just difficult sometimes without explanation. It isn't my job to ask the art why it's hard. The art doesn't owe me anything. I'm just here to serve its needs as they arise. So, if it needs to spend a few extra hours scrubbi...

Sahaqiel, In the Great Expanse - (Color Phase)

I'm a big fan of the whole vaporwave aesthetic, so it's high time I played around with the cyan/magenta/pink color palette.

All my early attempts at coloring this piece ended up making it looks like a soft reboot of the past Sahaqiel paintings. I'm hoping that taking this more vibrant approach will allow it to stand out and have its own identity among the collection.

Sahaqiel, In the Great Expanse - (Value Phase)

The first round of Angels were designed back in 2005. Even among them, Sahaqiel is one of the oldest. I think of it as sitting close to the heart of Angelarium. An essential piece of the 15 years of art that's come since its creation.

Going back to these very old designs is a lot of fun, but in Sahaqiel's case I didn't want to mess with too much. The trick is going to be introducing enough that's fresh and new to this Angel, while still being true to the original intent.

September Rewards + Discount Code

The 20% OFF discount code this month is RELEASE20. That code works on any order on Angelarium.net/store 

There are new prints on the store popping up all the time. You should check it out if you haven't recently!

----

All of the downloadable rewards for this month have been uploaded to the Dropbox archive!

2020-10-07 18:46:17 +0000 UTC View Post

Convention Prints - Woot

Since I have no idea when conventions are going to return, I've decided to liquidate the mass of prints I've got hanging around the warehouse.

To make things more interesting, I've decided to sell them in the style of Woot. Each design will be sold while supplies last and will be replaced by a different limited item once it sells out. The plan is to have one print from each of the major collections on the store at a time.

I've got 50 copies of some prints and only a single copy of...

Simikiel, Sword of Absolution

"Every path, every streak of cloud, points to the same bed.
I keep my wounds fresh for her so she can see their depth."

        - traveler's diary, found outside Amman

Simikiel, Sword of Absolution - (Detail Phase)

Considering I've been struggling to concentrate recently, this is absolutely the most difficult part of the process for me right now.

My best tool for clocking productive hours when it feels impossible to do so is to wake up early and do it first thing. There was a while where my default wake up time was 5am. Which, considering that I'm self employed and working from home, seems insane but it works. If I open my eyes at 5, I can definitely be at my desk with a cup of coffee by 6. That l...

Simikiel, Sword of Absolution - (Color Phase)

Before I got started on this piece, I made a sticky note that read "WHITE SIMIKIEL".

In my head, this color palette is an extension from that initial idea. Once I inverted the main color of the figure, I needed to set it in a darkened environment to create contrast. That lead to me needing to use cool hues to describe the darkness without pushing to black. It's strange the way such specific things seem obvious to us in first person. 

Over and over I've seen people given the a...

Simikiel, Sword of Absolution - (Value Phase)

2020 is a weird year. Here in the studio things are more or less normal, but I've had moments where I have a tough time getting focused. There was over a month between finishing my last painting and starting this one. When I finally did get started on it, I struggled to begin posting about it.

I wanted to make this painting because I've had a hard time letting go of things. I figured there was no better Angel to embody that idea than Simikiel, Angel of Vengeance.

When I worked up ...