Sean Äaberg

QUEEN OF CUPS

SIX OF COINS

The Six of Coins from the Tarot Goblinko - the little guys have peyote button heads, taking money from a wizard/spiritual traveler!

SELECT PLAYER

I did this for an DUNGEON DEGENERATES ad in PORK, a direct lift from the Golden Axe character selection screen. So much of the initial impetus for DUNGEON DEGENERATES was based on the limited amount of fantasy stuff I could get my hands on in the late 80s. It was a Golden Age in terms of what was being produced, but the quantity was a puddle compared to the Ocean now. I consider myself fortunate to have lived through it.

STAR MAN

I did a couple versions of this Star Man in 1997 & 1998. Back then I developed a very laborious style involving the smallest Micron. Anyhow, this is a fitting opener to the season of Death!

PORK 27

The cover for PORK 27 - this issue came out before my mom was dying, but Katie drew it as the next in the Tarot Goblinko series - Death is good to meditate on, especially with the outline & discipline of the tarot! I probably have 20 books on the tarot, plus the internet is at my fingertips so, there was a lot to chew on & it sort of eased my brain into the world of death - which is really about change & transition! Like Fall!

PORK 26

The cover of PORK 26 - I think was the first tarot card I drew in the Tarot Goblinko series! It was for my friend Anne’s jacket that Katie designed! I was so busy that I had figured out a way to use one illustration for multiple projects - in this case for a jacket, a tarot card, furthering my Dungeon Degenerates fantasy world & as a PORK cover! I really like the tarot conception of strength being about taming something really strong & animalistic, making my childhood view of Popeye...

PORK 25

The cover of PORK 25, Porku in a tank, I was particularly pleased with the pineapples, coconuts & skulls he is rolling through. I was always probably unhealthily conscious of how I am viewed as evil by a certain segment of the population, that bad reputation both hindered & helped me. In the age of Tr#mp, that game has become over played & I’ve retreated from it, almost entirely, the bees have been out of their hive & agitated since 2016, it’s boring.

A FOREST

Unpublished, unfinished but I really like how hard I went on the trees. Sometimes, when I’d decided to draw every leaf or every blade of grass, I’d kick myself 8 hours into the piece knowing I wouldn’t finish it, but this one is still cool, so I colored it!

9-11

I got a lot of flack for using insensitive tropes in my art - but if people aren’t overly sensitive, they’re dead to the world so - I’ve decided not to use these tropes anymore, but, Happy 9-11 nonetheless.

ATLAS

A former higher up once told me that I didn’t have to be like Atlas with the weight of the world on my shoulders. I agree & disagree, I gain power by taking on the world, conversely, I need not be slowed by that weight

BANG!

Before there was PORK, there was BANG! A free weekly I cofounded in Eugene. Ad sales dried up, so I sold an issue’s worth of ads & realized how easy it was for me to sell ads & why shouldn’t I do my own magazine? Like I’ve been doing since I was 12!

LSD IS THE BOMB

PORK blotter paper - I never made this but I did start talks with Zane Kesey about making some blotter paper, never went anywhere, but I’m still more than down. Anything for mind expansion & cheap thrills!

THE VOICE

There was such a lack of culture when we moved to Eugene that I just started generating it, this was the origin of PORK & my Imperial style that I was doing before, that was directly caused by me reading most of the newspapers on microfilm at the Oakland Public Library when I worked there.

THE TOWER

A while back I decided to do the tarot as a series of pixel pieces, since then we published the Tarot Goblinko as a book & I’ve had myself freed from tarot projects - or have I?

PORK 24

The cover of PORK 24 - Pathways of the Weird - at this point I was tired of producing the magazine & was ready to devote my energy to DUNGEON DEGENERATES. Even though I am still propelled by a love for Rock&Roll of all varieties, I am not focused on only one genre of music & much prefer to follow my interests wherever they go. I’m not small minded, I just played one on TV.

FOLLOW YOUR NOSE

Follow your nose! I’ve been on the same path of teacher & artist for as long as I have had stuff to teach. This has tendency has just increased as I’ve been a parent & as society has fallen apart. One of my central lessons is to follow your nose. I always try to leave plenty of clues that lead all over the place!

THE BATTLE FOR BRÜTTELBURG

I’m working away on this Video Game - getting more ideas & fine tuning others! It’s really fun! This thing has turned into a series of at least 3 DUNGEON DEGENERATES games! This one is tentatively titled The Battle For Brüttelburg, the Swords, Sausages & Sorcery one is huge & takes place on the whole map of the Wiürstreich & the Colin the Goblin game takes place between the Goblin Fortress & Brüttelburg! Anyhow, a lot of fun & a lot of work! It’s also cool to ...

CIRITH UNGOL

It takes a while to come back - it’s been almost five years since I had all my reserves completely depleted. Will I ever be back to the way I was? No, nobody is, but! I can continue to get stronger & stronger, eventually stronger than before in a different way! I can feel it!

RETURN TO FANTASY

The cover of PORK 23 - Return to Fantasy. I had been slowly returning to fantasy thanks to an interview I published with Skinner that helped me feel that I could do whatever I wanted as far as Art went & I didn’t have to be stuck in the Weirdo Art world I felt stuck in. I’m much happier just doing whatever I want.

THE GOBLIN

I did these for my The Goblin column in PORK, it’s weird, I like being a little bit bad, not genuinely evil, but humorously bad & things are so out of whack now I need to show these wannabes how to be actually good, even though it’s so fucking boring.

HOORAY FOR THE BAD GUYS

One of my favorite pieces of art for the game & a call which few understand these days where everyone tries to be good but few truly are - Hooray For The Bad Guys. What’s also messed up is I feel like I have to show people what being good actually is these days because people need a lesson on the basics, & I’d rather be a Necromancer in my tower licking my wounds & slowly gaining power.

PORK 22

The cover for PORK 22 - showing a sushi boat mobilization of GOBLINKO products as well as the factory line that it emulates! I still think this idea is cool & it’s waiting until we have more money!

DON’T BE A DANG HALLOWEENIE!

The “Don’t Be A Dang Halloweenie” Comic i did as a giveaway for Trick or Treaters back in 2007 - I’ve always had strong feelings about Halloween!

ROCK & RULE

I was listening to the Scorpions today & had some major flashbacks to DJing at Star Bar & Sandy Hut & Club 21 (rip) - good times, free drinks, good tunes!

THE GRELL

I did this Grell back when I first realized I wanted to do some kind of a game in 2006. Retro fever hadn’t hit gaming, at all at that point, Kickstarter didn’t exist & everything looked boring & shitty, so I HAD to do something! I’m glad I did, because now there’s actually too much good stuff!

PROCESSION

I did a my current pallet for this one in the Dungeon Degenerates art book that’s coming out soon. Another fun thing about designing this video game is knowing that most of my ideas have a place to live!

DR. DEMENTO

Dr. Demento reading PORK 20 - early on I realized that I could meet or interview anyone I wanted with the magazine, so I talked to the good Doctor when he gave a talk at his alma matter Reed College, which was cool, I also found out afterwards that he’s a Libertarian, I consider myself to have a lot of Libertarian & Anarchist values but I think society & humanity are too complicated for those as systems!

PORK 21

The cover of PORK 21 - featuring Hansel & Gretel, these old Brothers Grimm stories grew with importance for me having kids, I know the lessons in them are usually questionable but the imagery is awesome & really sets a tone for this weird world of Gingerbread & Witches!

HELLSHIRE IV

I found the HELLSHIRE beer label that correlates with PORK 20 - this is HELLSHIRE IV, one of the last ones I did with non computer colors, which I switched to to have more control over how colors would look like when scanned & printed.

THEY CALL IT ACID

Current mood. I’m feeling more like my old self lately, with more energy to project my will out into the world, like Sauron in Mirkwood licking his wounds! Anyhow, it’s a good feeling, that slow rise.