I've been exploring with my small set of digital brushes with techniques and such. I'm thinking of starting a new blog...thinking of course. It'll be more geared toward my STUDIOWHITE site, or more toward my SHANEWHITE site...perhaps both. I don't know...still thinking about the common thread between both sites and possibly writing a book. Still taking notes at the moment but we'll see.
Like last year I think I made internet promises that some things were going to change. They are but it may be slow and I don't know what they'll be. I believe if you think it, your subconscious has a way of aligning one's ambitions.
I've kept a pad of Canson vellum surface 2-ply bristol in my desk for quite some time for some ungodly reason.Why is it ungodly?
Because it is utter and complete garbage. It's like a defective pad of paper, there's absolutely no sizing. What is sizing? It's the protective filler or glazing that papermakers put in paper so that ink, paint or whatever liquid since no the surface and doesn't penetrate through to the other side.
Ever try writing a poem on toilet paper...not that I have but you won't get too far with it because it'll be too frustrating. Think of this as expensive toilet paper.
Soooo...I also have a bottle of putrid black ink. This stuff is both watery and globular in the same container. Don't even think of shaking it. Like happy-fun-ball it'll get angry. So I did my best to disperse the crap ink onto the crap paper to see if I could make some decent art. I mean why not...if there's even a small amount of conflict to be had, then surely something good should come out of it, right?
However, I did find that colored pencils work pretty well on this paper even though so much more should.
This was watercolor test for the previous watercolor project. Maybe subconsciously this speaks to the risk of public "nakedness" I feel when approaching a new technique. Or perhaps I just want to paint a blue demon. :|
Ouch I think I broke something. I didn't realize so many things going into this. First...the 4ply bristol Strathmore 400 series has a toothy finish that is very thirsty for ink but not as much for watercolor. Second even though I taped the edges and staple-gunned everything to gatorboard it still warped and writhed like a half-drunk Yeti.
Frankly I think I was in over my head.
Oddly enough though as soon as was done and I mean "spent" and "tired" I wanted to sit down and redo it. Weird, huh? It's a lot easier to see the problems you want to fix after the fact.
But as it stands I've already spent 5 plus days on it and need to move on. You can spend a bunch of time massaging the mistakes out of one piece or you can spend more time making more mistakes on other pieces until eventually you learn from them and are making less mistakes.
From the outset of the pencils I think I went about this the wrong way.
Having talked to a friend about the process of getting that "Jack Davis" look I would have had to pull back on the pencils and thus my inks would have been more open. In the colors I would have built all the shading necessary to make it more of a painting. Instead I over-penciled with all the shading but did what I could to open some areas up. Hopefully I'll still be able to make the color work. Jack has several approaches to his work. Some has more ink than color, while others has more color than ink. And there's a lot of stuff that ranges in-between. At the end of the day though, this will be a mere interpretive pastiche of his work.
I did a test which I'll probably post at a later date based on the suggestions that I received. This gave me a chance to understand how the paper and paint work together and how much of a struggle it ended up being. Essentially this piece is so unwieldy I have a feeling I'm going to have a fight on my hands.
Is it worth it? Man, you don't know how many times I ask myself this question. In the end I suppose it is. Gotta grow somehow, by force or by nature.
It's not too often I get to do a wrap-around cover. They were big in the 90s if memory serves me right. I forgot how much fun drawing a nutty crowd scene could be. Hopefully the client likes it.
And yes, I'm trying Jack Davis (of Mad Magazine) on for size.
Here's an interview I did at the JET CITY COMIC SHOW. I'd pass out pillows and blankets if I could but all I can do is apologize for not being more interesting or energetic.DOUBLE-CLICK BELOW TO WATCH IT FOR REALZ.
Man, what an excellent time last night! ART JAM 5 was kicking it into high gear with more artists than ever before. Thanks go out to Augie Pagan and Corrie Greening for organizing, yet, another great time.
My first piece was the first one to be sold. I guess Skull & Crossbones with a Fez motif is in this holiday season. I'm glad, because the first one is always the scariest to get out of the system.
While waiting forever, it seemed, for the 'Maestro' to put the finishing touches on a playing card I got up again for another one off. Again, 20 minutes or so and I was feeling the stride of panic and creativity grooving with much better beats. Though my dance partner to the left was making me a little nervous.
All and all I think the first two turned out better than usual...go figure. I did a jam with Augie and our other friend Dev who got past his "stagefright" and knocked out some groovy ghoulies. Though I don't have a good pic of the finished piece since I cut out early.
Thanks to my wife for snapping the photos and to Matt and Jennifer for being such upstanding audience members.
It's a long time for anyone to stand and watch paint dry. :\
I'm not really sure what it is about me but some of my best stuff, and some of the best feeling comes when I create on scrap 'anything'. For whatever reason drawing on things I should not or are not considered "proper" substrates ends up feeling more like myself than the schooled approach to creating art. I don't have any hang-ups on succeeding or any expectations of the outcome.
Maybe it's because I grew up in a poor-to-working middle class environment. The economics of art can have an adverse effect especially in ones developmental years. Granted, like many cash-strapped filmmakers, inventiveness reigns high as they are forced to be more creative with less. But when given multi-million dollar budgets I can see where that might be overwhelming.
Then again, it doesn't mean you have to abandon the spit and tape. Maybe that's why I like Terry Gilliam's work so much.
To see more unrestrained art I'll be attending ART JAM 5 tomorrow. Come down and have a crazy hobo time of it.
I think we decided over a slice of very plain coconut cream pie at a nearby Denny's that "we should probably talk about getting married." Buried in practicality and logic I suppose that was the apex of our romanticism. Or maybe we'd already used our best moves early on while counting satellites on our backs on a trampoline until the early hours of the morning. Because we knew it was right and good we cut to the heart of the matter and proceeded to put together a wedding in three months.
In the midst of all the planning and panic that comes with the territory I thought of the ingenious idea of adapting one of her plays...in secret. This proved to be rather difficult on sooo many levels. First, I was drawing the pages and then lightboxing them so I could ink them on watercolor paper. For those who are unfamiliar with my studio, she had upholstered an abandoned chair and set it up in the corner of my room. At the time she was a rather avid reader and would pop in without notice. Luckily she earned the title of "Spotter Watson" (a derivative use of Sherlock Holme's Watson...and of course her keen observation or lack thereof in "spotting" at times very obvious things) as she paid very little heed to what I was working on. So by the time I was close to finishing the twelve page story I was less manic about shoving all the pages back into a drawer and pulling something else out to work on. Which, believe me is harder than you think when the page is wet with ink.
Closer to the wedding another idea struck. Not only would I give this to her as a gift but it could actually be given to our guests in the form of a small chap book. Thinking back on this now...I wished I would have worked under better circumstances as some of this is a bit painful to look at. But the story...I really love the story so I figure nothing else the words would bolster what I lacked in skill and circumstance (thankfully we were able to work again under better circumstances to produce a short piece called Devils and Gods for Comic Book Tattoo which is my new favorite piece).In the end everything worked out fine and the wedding went off without a hitch...er...well with a hitch...well we got hitched...you know what I mean! :| Can't wait...my Jessie comes home today!
My friends at theEmerald City Comiconextended their invitation to be a part of the MONSTERS & DAMES 2011 hardcover charity book for Children's Hospital. So what does sex and violence have to do with charity?I have no idea. But it was a chance to work completely digital with the new brushes that I had built recently.Hopefully it prints well, never can tell what paper will be used.
=s=
P.S. I'd show the rough, but upon looking at it this morning, sadly I missed the mark on the finish...oh alright...I'll stop being a wuss. As you can see her face has a stronger choice of confidence. Her message, "Things are going to change." At least I fixed the arm for the final.
As of today I'm officially 'going dark' on a freelance gig that I had started right after the New York Comicon back in October. Apparently I'll be asked back later once a few items get ironed out. What's been great about the work is that I forced myself to work digitally and have grown more comfortable with it. Still a long ways off from what I'd like it to look like but it's getting there.
This is a piece I did for myself using some new brushes I made.
The reality of not working is obviously apparent when the money once again is not coming in. However I've also got a bit more time to focus on my comic work, which I will begin in earnest tomorrow. Wish me luck. :\
I've been exploring with my small set of digital brushes with techniques and such. I'm thinking of starting a new blog...thinking of course. It'll be more geared toward my STUDIOWHITE site, or more toward my SHANEWHITE site...perhaps both. I don't know...still thinking about the common thread between both sites and possibly writing a book. Still taking notes at the moment but we'll see.
