Days go by and the beat of life can go up and down, stay in tune or go hopelessly out of whack with just the slightest nudge. In this update entry, I am going to, of course, have the usual overload on visuals, and hopefully some witty and fun writing for you all to enjoy that covers some of the shenanigans and happenings from the last few weeks, but I’d like to take a minute to say a thing or two first.
Many of you who have been following this blog of mine for a while, know that I will cover various sorts of subject matters and happenings. Thankfully, I’ve been blessed to get great feedback from many people on the things I like to focus on, or just ramble on about. So many of you have appreciated the fact that I don’t present a rose tinted view of being an artist in today’s world. Or that I am consistently trying to shove some sales down your throat.
I guess the reason I do this is because in today’s avalanche of social media, anyone can make their lives look like the best things out there. Full of self portraits edited to TeenBeat levels with filters, or updates about having the best (or most devastating life ending) day ever, to pictures of sandwiches, or whatever else people want to talk about. And that’s all cool. I really have few problems with that, I mean people can talk about what they want, just like I am able to, and do.
That said, I am a big believer in that, if you’ve got something to say, well, then for heaven’s sake, make it worthwhile, and maybe from a point of view that few others might look at it from.
Turning things on end seems to be a direction my professional life has been going towards for some weeks now. I’ve always got more than one avenue that I explore when it comes to doing anything related to art, and usually those are working/promoting myself at art shows, finding new shows, working on artwork, writing, devising new directions to take my work, and attempting to run various social sites that have something meaningful to say. This does not even begin to include the aspects of independent film projects, hobbies, and voice over work I’ve been gearing up for.
I work at Hallmark during the day as a Production Artist, which is a glorified way of saying I do art correction/problem solving, data entry, and a few other odds and ends. I happen to work with a great group of people that make life in a corporate environment bearable (actually, it’s more than bearable, I like quite a lot about my job and the people I am around). Having a regular paycheck, benefits, and other people around you that also tend to have similar interests or views, is a rare thing in this world and is prized.
But the world is changing. The world market is changing. How people interact, live life, and connect, is ever changing.
Corporations like Hallmark, have the benefit of having a storehouse of incredible, capable and smart people that work from within to help keep the companies they work for relevant and topical.
In the now two years I have been in the private corporate sector of the art world, there are those that would push the idea that change is painful, change is not always possible, or the best thing to have to deal with… and yet, change is one force in life that cannot be denied. I’ve been there many times with other companies that downsized, lost funds, ideas never panned out, I mean, you name it. My resume often reads like a schizophrenic wishy washy effort at trying to explain this guy’s efforts to attempt to look experienced, without looking overqualified and restless.
But onto other things, let me show you what I’d been up to recently, that helped get my mind a bit more straightened out, and my feet back in step…
Wonder Woman
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(left) Initial pencil rough laid out. (right) Using Copic permanent pens, the initial inkwork is drawn in.
The Wonder Woman idea came about because as of late, there’s been a lot of hub bub going on about her making an appearance in the upcoming Superman v. Batman flick. Though I hold little hope that the film will be that good (mainly because it seems like DC wants to put WAY too much into it), I am hoping that Wonder Woman makes a good enough impression in the film so that it leaves people wanting more. I am not be biggest fan of more modern appearances of WW, and so I opted to give her a bit more of a warrior look, and I really wanted her to look solid, and far from waif like.
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(left) All of the outlining has been laid in. Since this is drawn onto a wood panel, the ink does retain it's permanance like it would on paper, but I've found that if I let a day go by before attempting to erase my pencil lines out, I'll have less ink lift up and less smudging. (right) Starting at the upper corner I start off by giving either watercolor or marker washes over certain areas, then move to more controlled lines of color to give the helmet a metal look.
When I sit down to do these wood panels, especially the smaller ones, there is often very little research done on my part, and the majority of my efforts is on pulling whatever I can out of my mind at that moment. To just put down what I see in my mind as clearly as possible. Granted, that’s something I’ve developed over years and years and YEARS of drawing just for the heck of it. To loosen up not only my hand, but my mind. But it comes with an understanding of color relationships, anatomy, and how lighting works in the real world.
Here in the near future, I’ve got some updates coming up that will deal with working with elements like life drawing, lighting, mood, stuff that many of you had expressed interest in, and talked to me about during portfolio reviews at shows. The great thing about that, is that it will give me a chance to start working on more things that are out of my comfort zone.
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(left) My process is really pretty simple, and I often jokingly refer to it as the paint by numbers process. For years I struggled with giving dimension and weight to elements of a design. Even at this point, sometimes small design cues go out the window, as for instance you'll notice I had this weird vent/cut shape at the top of her shoulder armor, which I decided to take out and just make a glossy blue area. (right) And here is the color complete version of the artwork. At this point, I let all of the colors completely dry for the better part of a week. I had found prior that when I went to seal/coat my work that had been done on wood panel, I would get a loss of pigment occurring or some bleed over into areas. Because even though I work in mediums that soak into the wood, the fibers in the wood are so saturated by this point, that any additional brushing or sealing on top of it, just made a mess of things.
This work and reproductions of it, will be available up in my online store soon. If you guys want more indepth looks at the techniques or workings of what I do, please be sure to let me know when you see me at shows, in the comments section below, e-mail, or whatever. I know that for me, I like it when people break down the technical stuff. It gives us a chance to learn and adapt. I’ve had discussions with people over the idea of proprietary styles or techniques, but even if I were to give anyone else the same tools I had at my disposal, I doubt the end results would be anywhere near the same.
Escapism
There are times when going to the movies is one of the few times I can fully immerse myself in some other place and enjoy over an hour’s worth of a collective of creative minds putting art of all variety in front of me. Animated movies, both 2 and 3D, especially the ones by Pixar, Disney, Blue Sky, and even a few by Dreamworks, fill me with a sense of intense joy at the mix of musical cues, voice acting, and incredible often fantastic visuals.
If you are ever feeling like you are running dry on ideas, or just can’t get your pencil hand to get out any good ideas on paper… go see a movie. I’m lucky in that my favorite theatre, the Pharoah, has great morning matinee pricing, and it has a cool retro look and not a lot of people know about this little gem of a movie house. Because of that, I can really just let my mind zone out, and embrace a complete refresh of my thinking. Let’s be honest, no one can create in a vacuum.
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(top and bottom left) Look at it! I just oozes retro cool without even trying. This was the kind of movie theatre I went to as a kid often when I was living in Tucson Arizona. (lower right) I went to go see How to Train Your Dragon 2. In a lot of ways, it was better than the original, but had a bit of an awkward feel like it was a set up for the the forthcoming 3rd film in what has been confirmed to be a trilogy.)
Further Inspiration
The following run of photos are from the Englewood art walk day, and from Maker’s Faire. I’d been going through a lot of mental exercise, mulling over things at my day job, and trying to work out some other issues with voice over, freelance, and some personal projects. But I had burned myself out pretty badly. So, trying the best I could, I took my camera out and shot reference or inspiration at every turn through the two separate days I went to these shows. I’ll try to keep my chatty self to a minimum and let you enjoy the images below. Image may be NSFW.
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Englewood has a weird smattering of restaurants and galleries that are as offbeat as they are unique, which is to say, VERY much so. If you can believe it, the same house/converted restuarant has the decor of medieval stained glass windows in the same sort of area as the indoor christmas tree.
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So after seeing this nifty brush assortment holder, I've come to the conclusion that the company that once made it, is out of business. Sad as it's a great little invention. But seaches on ebay and google yeilded little, if anything.
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One particular gallery I'd never ventured far into, that is connected to the Steampunk gallery and store, had this whole crazy fairy land like set of miniature houses and art domiciles and studios hidden out back.
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I mean LOOK at this studio! this is not a lot bigger than my mower shed, and it could do with some A/C installed in it, but man I could work happily out there.
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(left) Details like this working water wheel, ponds, fish, and slightly overgrown paths were all adding to the ambiance of this little out of the way place. (right) A very Tony Stark-esque fellow plies his trade making glass beads in one of the other galleries.
Onto Maker Faire
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So all this show proved was that I have not accumulated enough hobbies. I was completely enthralled by the concept of building model ships that fired BBs at each other in efforts to destroy one another. HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS?!
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What do you get when you mash a U-Haul truck and a gypsy woodworker's caravan together? What you see above.
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The level of detail and craftsmanship on the vehicle was astounding.
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Robots. I don't think I need to type much more than just that.
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It was really pretty fascinating to see the teams compete against each other. I was kind of taken aback by how youthful the teams were. That's a lie. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. I was taken aback by how OLD I felt in the presence of these mini genius kids.
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This show had a proliferation of 3D printers. And I was impressed by the ones that this company was showcasing. Starting at only $200, it won't be long before more and more mainstream hobbies will be forever transformed by the availability of 3D printers.
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And then there are some people that keep it hardcore old school, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that an old acquaintance of mine, Tony (owner of Gecco Graphics out of Warrensburg, Missouri) had a WHOLE different direction of creativity that was on display at Maker Faire. I'd seen him and his buddy dressing up as Predators for years now at other shows, and of course had no idea that the main Predator was the guy that had knocked out some shirt creation for me 5 years ago.
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It's so refreshing to see this kind of work on display up close.
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The good news is Warrensburg is about to be home to a new creature effects and prop show in the near future. This is something I am looking forward to.
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And just a row over was another individual making amazing work by hand as well. (More info on him and his business name are forthcoming, I forgot his business card).
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The event was pretty huge, it was up and down the main hall of Union Station, out front, and in a smattering of rooms.
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It was great to see the R2D2 Builder's club I am joining there in attendance as well.
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After the overload of so much tech and pop culture, it was amazing to find this fellow in a corner to his own. A man that made insanely beautiful stringed instruments. I think I stared at them, the craftsmanship, the inlays... for a good 20 minutes.
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I did manage to snag two event buttons (I've been adding to my pin collection slowly but surely) and of course, I need solder and some assembly to get the really nice one put together. For now, that will have to wait. But it's a cool idea to market with. Image may be NSFW.
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So I hope you enjoyed my pictorial update. Until next time, support your local artists, be kind to all fellow beings, and do all you can to make the world a better place. Image may be NSFW.
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– Mario, the Artisan Rogue