This and That & Some Commission Stuff

This week has been nuts - Been preparing for the trip up North for family and friend visiting followed by Monster Mania next weekend ( http://www.monstermania.net/MMC24_GUESTS.html ) and trying to get done some last minute commissions as well. Good news is we're just about ready to get outta here and nobody has lost their shit yet. Art stuff is all packed, wife's jewelry for the show is all packed (as mentioned previously she also has a table at Monster Mania and sells some really cool / creepy jewelry) and tomorrow we'll load up, get the dog to the Doggie-hotel and make our way up the East Coast Saturday morning. We are quite excited...

That said, this isn't going to be an overly wordy post in terms of explanation, I just wanted to post some updated process photos of some stuff I've been working on of late... Hope you guys dig them and hope to see some of you at Monster Mania next weekend.

Kevin

The Darkness from Legend:

Johnny 5 from Short Circuit:

Sort-of-Step-By-Step: Puppet Master

14" x 17"
Inks (Speedball for colors and Higgins for blacks)
Bristol Board
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a commission for three characters from the Puppet Master series - which happens to be one of my favorite horror series.  This was a lot of fun. I did all of the line work with brushes, which was a little different for me, as I usually ink with either pens or nibs.

So here's a little look into the process... Hope you enjoy.

Also, if anyone every has any questions, feel free to ask.


So, I first obviously sketched everything out... Only Blade (the center character) has any amount of detail, the rest were pretty much just blocked out to be sure I spaced everything correctly (a problem I used to run into a lot before I started blocking EVERYTHING out first.)

 The pencil is kind of hard to see in the first one below but basically it's just a bunch of circles and rectangles. With eyes...

Then I started inking... I started in the center with blade bust because it made sense as he is the main character in this piece and the only character pretty much shown in his entirety. 

More inking... Starting to get the basics for the whole piece inked. This is another thing I was making a conscious effort to do because I always get obsessed with one part and spend all my time on that part. I am this way with everything: If I had a burger and fries I eat the fries completely before I touch the burger... I never mix... Just the way I am I guess.

Inking away, making sure I get everything blocked in and then will go back to do details and touch ups. All of the line work is with either a 000 brush or a 2... I will go back later and thicken some of these lines - For now I'm just sort of blocking everything in again but with ink this time and getting more of the basic facial features in place rather than just shapes.

Then you'll see here I can't help myself and start adding some color before I even add the character to the right (Tunneler, with a drill head)... I was thinking about how I was going to approach the bandanna and just couldn't wait. Fucked if I am not one of the most impatient people I know...

So now I am blocking out the character on the right with pencil - his original design was so sketchy I didn't feel comfortable going in with inks. Granted his design is super-simple but still... I could see myself diving in thinking it would be fine and screwing it up - I had put in too much time by now to be so brazen. 

Also, you'll notice I print reference photos... Lot's of them. Each character had about 3-4 photos I printed of various angles and I had a few pages of revolvers... I use a lot of reference materials. The combination of Google searching and printing and staring at them helps me get familiar with the subject matter. Often I'll also sketch the characters a bunch although in this case since I know the movies well I didn't feel the need to. 

Playing in the background was Curse of the Puppet Master (thanks Netflix!)

Now I am pretty much wrapping up, going back and cleaning up some lines as well as adding some white highlights and the detail in the bandanna...

And that's it! In actuality I went back and did a little more work after this photo but, truth be told, I am too lazy to go back and take another picture at this point in time... 

The photo of the finished piece washes out a little of the subtle details but alas, at a larger scale than a scanner, I'll need to find out a way to do a larger format scan... In the meantime this will do.

Thanks for checking this out. Catch you all later.

Kevin

Spend Less Time Complaining and More Time Doing

   Watch this video

    The above video was posted on Facebook by an artist whose work I greatly admire and someone who I look to daily to see what he's up to. His name is Tony Moy and his stuff is fantastic. Here are just a few of his pieces:

 

You can see more of Tony's work here: 

Tony's Art

Ah Facebook... what a useful tool, or horrible weapon, depending on how you use it...

You see for me, I try my best to ignore the bullshit on Facebook and instead use it to motivate myself. The video above got me thinking  about writing this blog entry... Because it's something I have been observing for a while now but never put into words. This is partly because I felt that "who am I to speak up about it"... But you know what? If one person reads this and is impacted by it then it was 100% worth it and if not, well, at least I got it out of my head. I hope at least a few of you can relate - It always helps to feel like you're not alone, I find.

    Being involved in art ever since I can remember, I defend it like a parent would a child. When I see people disrespect it, I fight the urge to jump in and tear them apart. That said, there's a terrible trend among artists that is getting worse by the day. With social media becoming a stomping ground for internet bullies and trolls, I see more and more people being attacked for work that others feel is not up to a standard that should garner the attention it's getting. These people more times than not are other artists, which is embarrassing. Sure, if I am being honest, there are times I see someone get backing for a project and go "seriously?" - but thinking something and going out of your way to insult someone directly are two very different things.

  

     If you look at those people who are making these comments, you'll find a good deal of the time that it's people who are talented artists but for whatever reason have not pushed themselves to be their best. It's quite clear these folks are bitter. Bitter because they are of the opinion (and sometimes accurately) that they have way more talent and that THAT individual has no right to be where they are but do you know what? It's your own fault.

   

     If you have any talent in anything you have no right to criticize anyone unless you are doing everything you can with that talent. I don't care if you can paint a perfect likeness of someone, if you are not utilizing that ability  then you are wasting it. Don't be bitter towards the guy who draws a witty stick figure comic, busts his ass to promote it and ends up getting it published - At least he had the courage and conviction to fight and see his idea through to completion.

    At some points everyone falls into this category, I know I do. "It's been a long day" or "My three year old wore me out and I don't have the energy to draw" or whatever excuse I come up with to avoid working on stuff... But I acknowledge it's my own fault. Or at least I try to. Sure I get bitter sometimes but if you make the decision to do so, you can turn that bitterness into motivation and use it to your advantage. 

      Beyond that point, I hope that there are enough people out there who love what they do to fight against these people who chose to bully rather than to do good - the art world is hard enough to survive in as it is and we all need to stick together and support one another. If you don't care for someone's work, that's fine, but there's no need to crusade against it like it's your job. It's not your job and most people will just think you're foolish and spiteful and there's nothing to be gained by that. This isn't just about art, it's about all situations and I know it's a tough world to get by in and for every guy who sells a painting it's a painting that I didn't get paid for but that said, let's all try a little harder to improve our situations through OUR actions and not by a false sense of empowerment achieved by tearing someone else down. We are all here for the same reason, to provide for our families and express ourselves but there's no reason why this has to be such a cutthroat process. 

    To end on a positive note, most of you are probably aware of it if you are a fan of art, comics or film but there is a wonderful site www.kickstarter.com that allows people to start a campaign in which they offer rewards in exchange for donations to help fund their projects. Many wonderful projects have been born of this site and if you are ever bored and have a few extra bucks to spend, check it out. Unfortunately I've missed out on a few I wish I had been able to be a part of but there's new stuff posted daily and there's some amazing projects in there. It's also a great way to support the arts and artists you love, even if you are not artistic yourself. 

    Lastly, there are a group of individuals that have joined forces to work towards a common, positive goal and I wanted to mention them, specifically. The work they are doing is phenomenal. As well known and respected artists, musicians and writers, they are a wonderful example of what can happen when people put their egos aside and decide to work together rather than against each other. Check it out: http://www.44flood.com/ and in particular check out the tab "Tome" and watch the video... It's another one of those things that can really light a fire inside you if you need a little extra push to get out there and create.

     Now to all those out there with ANY talent in ANYTHING, get out there and DO. Not everyone has a talent, so let's stop wasting it and when you do see someone involved in something creative, be sure to acknowledge their efforts- I can say from experience that there is nothing more motivational than encouraging words.

That's all I have to say. Understanding it's a bit off the beaten path from what people tend to expect from me (I keep most of my rants inside or vent to my wife, who is a wonderful and patient woman). 

Kevin