News!

I have begun the early stages of working on a graphic novel. The working title is "I.D." It will be 6 issues long and released initially as a web-series with the hopes of getting it into print at some point after that.

I will be at the very least penciling but likely doing some amount of the inking, coloring and backgrounds. It is completely written (by Mira Mortal - You can follow her here: https://twitter.com/mortalcoil ).

At this point in time I am trying to hammer out the characters as they will appear and nail down a style... I feel like this is the toughest part and am excited to get this done to get into the layout of the story.

Here is a little description of the story:

" The government has contracted a private facility dedicated to manufacturing classified weapons for military use. Due to the importance of the success of these weapons, those that show any deviation from company specifications are dropped into the deep ocean that surrounds the factory—intended to be buried forever, swept away and forgotten..."

This piece, which is a painting I did back in November / Decemberish (?) was a concept I did for the lead character... Dunno if it'll stick moving forward but I really liked the simplicity and emotion without detail I thought it captured.

I'll continue to use the blog to post information about the project, including sketches and panels as the project moves along.

I hope you guys (and gals) will dig it - I know I am beyond excited to be doing it.

Kevin

Joker - A sort of "Step-by Step"

I am wrapping up a Joker piece that's been underway for a few days now and thought I'd share.

Here's the stats on the project:

 - Two 12"x12" stretched canvases so in actuality the piece is a little bigger than 12" wide by 24" tall.
- Acrylic paint, semi-gloss finish.
- For Sale

 First, a sketch in my sketchbook. Was originally going to do 3 panels but realized a third panel of all hair and forehead was silly talk. Plus, while I like unusually shaped and composed pieces, I felt 12"x36" was a bit much. So two panels... I sketched it onto the two canvases... and we're off! 

 

I strayed a little bit from my usual routine at this point. Normally I'd Gesso (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesso) with a white or black (usually black) and cover these puppies completely but for this I opted to simply do an outline and the small portion of background black. In part my reasoning was that I knew most of the left half of the piece was going to be white/gray, so it would be counterproductive to go all black, per my norm... On many levels I actually like the black and white image better than the finished version with color but wanted to add a little color to it... So I did....

From here it's all color. Just a dab of red for the lips and 2 shades of green in the little bit of coat at the bottom as well as a little in the hair, although the hair is hard to see in these photos. 

Then I went back and threw in a gray-tone shadow here and there as well as some gray skin creases and finished it off with some white highlights, primarily in the eye and hair. 

Now everything is drying and I'll do some final touch-ups which will basically entail cleaning up some of the lines and small details, as well as cleaning up some of the gray shadowing. 

That's pretty much it. A fun little piece to do and wasn't all that time-consuming. After several months of not doing much art-related due to the move, it was a nice way to get back into the swing of things...

On to the next one!

Kevin

Gearing up for our Farewell to Monster-Mania

           It's been a little bit since I last wrote and more or less it's been because not much has been going on. We've been settling into our new place in North Carolina... So far, we love it. That said, it's still a lot to adjust to mentally and emotionally... especially with a kid. New routines, new places, etc etc. - I could go on but it's not that interesting.

          Art-wise everything had taken a backseat from about Mid November when Sandy hit through now. Finally my new office / studio is more or less set up and I feel I am starting to relax a little. Been sketching a little bit to kick the dust off, pretty happy that it seems my absence hasn't resulted in an art-funk but we'll see once I dive into a real project. I've got a 4 panel piece that I am brainstorming with, so it should be a lot of fun once I settle on an idea. Looking forward to getting back into it.

        A lot of people say they can't not draw - that they physically must put a pencil to paper every day. Most of the artists I admire most are that way and I respect and am a little envious of that. I am the opposite. Sometimes I NEED to step away. Between real life issues and sometimes just feeling that nothing is working artistically, I step away to mentally regroup. I am always thinking, usually jotting notes... but not always drawing. In most cases when I do then put a pencil to paper again I feel rejuvenated and things tend to flow better. Just thought I'd share that little tidbit... You may or may not care and if you don't I apologize for the ramble... it's just something I've been thinking about a lot in terms of artistic process. I seem to be a little against the grain in that idea but that's fine with me, to each their own.

      Upcoming things include, sadly, what will likely be our last trip up to Monster Mania http://www.monstermania.net/MMC24_GUESTS.html in March... With the move to NC and the fact that we have a 3 year-old the trip is just too much to continue doing, which is sad because we have really enjoyed it over the years, both as vendors and as guests and the staff do a wonderful job. We love seeing the same people every year and meeting new ones as well. We'll definitely be searching out new shows down here such as Blood on the Beach and a few others.. I'll keep you all posted. This year, my wife and I (she makes and sells jewelry and kills it consistently: https://www.facebook.com/pages/-OneOfAKindSass-/232270160161664?fref=pb ) will each have our own tables where as in the past we'd shared a table. It will be a bittersweet trip and show but nonetheless we are looking forward to it.

     That's about it for now... Off to paint and I swear this time I'll do a better job of updating the blog.

If you've not checked it out you can see / buy my art at www.inkspatters.com  and also https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Art-of-Kevin-Spencer/105642232850788?ref=hl 

     I hope this finds you all well and that 2013 is a great year for everyone.

KS