The Red Knight Complete, Remembering Wrightson, My Personal Fab Four and Countdown to Halloween

Finally finished digitally coloring the Red Knight.  I have to admit that it was a love/hate relationship. It was one of the most difficult pieces I had to color digitally. I should elaborate, I am mostly self taught in the digital medium, so I struggle with it more than others I suppose and I am a bit of a Luddite.

All in all, I am happy with the end result. Currently I have the final image on posters, postcards and black tees and I will also have them available on Amazon early next week. The Red Knight is part of the "Go Ask Alice" series that I am currently working on. You can find the "Go Ask Alice" series here on Zazzle.

As I am writing this, it is now twenty one days to Halloween. My annual binge of horror movies has already begun and now I am revisiting some old classics.  I am also remembering the art of Bernie Wrightson who passed away last March of brain cancer despite putting up a valiant fight. His work on the illustrated Frankenstein greatly inspired me with what one could do with the medium of pen and ink. 

Bernie was inspired by 19th Century illustrator Franklin Booth. The flowing lines, the ability to pull contrasts and use dark shadows while filling the piece with incredible detail and energy, that was Bernie's forte. Currently IDW is reprinting Frankenstein Alive! Alive! 

Bernie worked with Steve Niles to bring the story to fruition. Sadly Bernie passed away before he could complete the final issue of a three issue run. Kelly Jones, who is an admitted admirer as well as being deeply influenced by Bernie's style, stepped in to complete the final issue. The first two issues were an amazing swan song by Bernie. From the page above, which is from issue one I believe, you can see he still was at the height of his craft. 

Bernie was also personally chosen by Stephen King to illustrate "The Stand" and "Cycle of the Werewolf".  In fact their partnership goes back to the original "Creepshow" movie that King himself starred in. "Creepshow" was inspired by the EC Horror comics of the fifties, which in turn were an inspiration for both King and Bernie. Bernie did a lot of the promotional art for the film and later a comic adaptation.

Bernie will definitely continue to be remembered, like Frank Frazetta before him and other members of the Studio that included Bernie along with Michael Wm Kaluta, Jeffery Jones and Barry Windsor-Smith. All remarkable artists and craftsmen. Growing up they were my Fab Four. I still have a copy of "The Studio" that came out in the mid-seventies along with a copy of the "Illustrated Frankenstein", Barry Windsor-Smith's "Opus Two" and a collection of Michael Wm Kaluta's work on the Shadow. 

Bernie, Jones, Kaluta and Windsor-Smith

These guys made my adolescent years tolerable and gave me the escape I was looking for as well as introducing me to a whole world of creative imagination. 

Have a Happy Halloween... 

Creepy Tees, Tools of the Trade, Fall and Artistic Soulmates

Fall is almost here. It is my favorite time of year, the weather cools, leaves turn color and Halloween is right around the corner. I suppose I wouldn’t have to admit that it is my favorite Holiday, from the subject of my work, it is an obvious conclusion.

Still trying to master the art of marketing Tee Shirts, seems that there is an arcane secret that I have yet to unravel, but I am persistent. So far, the quality of the reproductions has been impressive. I was concerned about the detail of some of the pieces being lost in the process, but so far, they seem to be retained.

If anyone is curious about what tools and materials I use, I thought I would share. For the most part I sketch the drawing with mechanical pencils, anything from a .03 lead to a .07. I also use the conventional 2B pencil. For inking I have really grown fond of Uni Pens. My main weapon of choice is the Uni Pen, the come in various sizes and the .005 is my main weapon of choice.

I use Bristol paper, it’s the only paper I use on serious work. It comes in many surfaces, usually I will use a smooth surface for pen and a bit of a rougher surface for pencil and ballpoint. Ballpoints are tricky though, they are not lightfast and will fade over time.  Some worse than others, I have good luck with Zebra fine points. The ink is dark, gradations are smooth, and the ink seems to be more resilient to fading. Bristol pads come in various sizes and even has a comic book format version that is 11" X 17" which is the industry standard.

As far as sketching, I am bias towards Moleskines. In fact, like ballpoint has the Biro following, (the English term for ballpoints) Moleksines have a huge sketchbook following.  I use the graph paper version because I plot out ideas and character designs, which really isn’t artistically correct I suppose, but it does help when I am trying to design letters.

 I also added some excerpts for my own sketchbook.

I am attempting to move my hobby into a business eventually. I have a lot to learn though and more than likely may have to consider doing something more mainstream. I know I have a niche that I would like to cater to and a style that I like to cultivate. More than anything I would like to persist in that, but I also realize what I do isn’t for everyone.

There are a lot of artists out there that don’t get the attention they deserve. I find it an unfortunate situation, but at the same time there are a lot of artist that work extremely hard at what they do and deserve every bit of success that comes down the highway.  Emotions like envy and jealousy have no place in this creative process. Instead they just become justifications for cynicism and worse, it kills the creative process when instead it should inspire. You only learn from those that are better than you are.

Art requires talent and skill, but talent alone won’t save you. Skill is developed through many hours of sacrificing time and being dedicated to what you want to do. Any musician will tell you that, for that matter so would any athlete. Any artist will tell you that they cringe at their early endeavors.

The creative process isn’t an easy road, one artist told me it is like dropping your pants in public and hoping everyone applauds.  An odd, but true analogy because artists take a risk and that takes some guts. You must take a chance that you might face ridicule or even scorn.  Not everyone is cut out for that.

Art is a weird world anyway. Fads change, tastes change, and everyone is looking for the next big thing to tie their sails to or they are trying to be unique in a world that is often dictated by critics and not personal tastes.  When an artist shares his vision and style he hopes he taps into a vein, that others click with what he is trying to convey.  In a way, to me, drawing is the handwriting of the soul and artists are always looking for soulmates.

About a Lost Cat and Mechanical Chess Pieces

It’s morning, slept late after working the past few days on a piece and trying my hand at self-promotion and marketing.  As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, self-promotion has never been my forte, but you are never to old to learn I suppose.

Usually when I am working on the drawing board I listen to either music or podcasts. I have been following the No Sleep Podcast for quite some time.  Not only is the No Sleep podcast well produced, if you are a fan of horror stories, you will find some well executed episodes that are well written with solid voice acting.

The other podcast that I have become a fan of is The Lost Cat.  It is hard to describe the Lost Cat podcast, its eccentric, surreal and a gem.  Some have compared it to if Neil Gaiman, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett all showed up at a party and began telling stories about a lost cat and their attempts to find him. The writer Andrew P. Clarke, who resides in London, is also the narrator and  a song writer, singer and uses his talents in each episode and spins not only a hypnotic tale, but also interweaves a song that is often cryptic and soulful. Think if Tom Waits had a love child with Nick Cave.

In other news I finally finished The Red Knight pen and ink drawing I have been working on. I really pushed myself on this one, I confess there were moments that I also thought it wasn’t going to work. I learned a lot from the piece, also gave me ideas on how to define the pieces that will follow it.

The Red Knight is a minor character in Alice in Wonderland who kidnaps Alice momentarily and is rescued by the White Knight in a comical jousting match.  I decided to make the Red Knight a mechanical chess piece. Since I am doing a twisted version of Wonderland, I felt it would fit.  Now comes the clean up and digital coloring process then I will make it available on Tees, posters, prints etc.

Halloween and the Trials of Self Promotion

As we near the end of August and creep into September, the air is becoming slightly cooler and with the coming of October, trees will shed their leaves and Halloween will come dancing down the pavement in a cascade of dead leaves and light, eerie laughter.  October is my favorite time of the year. Halloween horror movie fests, night coming quicker, the air is pregnant with mystery.

This Fall I find myself focusing more on producing and selling artwork. I fully confess that I target a niche audience, this has caused me some limitations in being able to advertise my work to its potential. Also, it has hampered me because I know that much of my work will never appeal to mainstream. I also confess this is fueled by a bit of arrogance, conceit and vanity.  Yet, in my feeble haphazard way I still meander down this path most likely to get lost in the woods and may have to set off a flair to be found. But you only live once.

I also have never been good at self-promotion, in fact most artists would rather be in front of a drawing table or an easel that ply their wares on the internet. But I am learning slowly and find that you must give as much into self-promotion as you do the act of creating. It can be disheartening, but it is the way it is.

Since Halloween is upon us, I do have horror themed Tees available on Amazon as well as Zazzle.  You will find the shirts on Amazon are cheaper, but the quality of the shirts on Zazzle, especially for black Tees, are higher, thus more expensive.  Zazzle does two passes on Black Tees with white ink to insure the image is probably defined.  Amazon, I am not quite sure yet. I have ordered from both and both have met my expectations and those that didn’t, I reworked and resubmitted. 

Below are designs that are Halloween themed available on Amazon:

 



Or you can visit my Zazzle Shop, not just for Tees, but posters, prints, postcards, playing cards, sketch books and more...

It has been almost over two years since I posted on this blog. In fact, I abandoned it due to changes at my place of employment, change of work hours (I have become a member of the graveyard shift brigade) and financial issues have dominated much of my time and thought.  Truth is I haven’t had much time for creative endeavors.  A lot has happened over the past two years, somethings to be grateful about and others that left a dent. I find that when I disregard or put creativity on the back-burner eventually I get out of kilter.  My return to the creative muse has been long overdue and a necessity.

I have decided to start a series primarily for Tee Shirts based on a twisted version of Alice in Wonderland. I know the concept isn’t new, American McGee originated it and Timothy Burton ran with it so I figured it is fair game for me to do and apply my own, somewhat haphazard vision.

Below is the first in the series, The White Rabbit. The original was done in pen and ink, ballpoint pen and pencil. I was really pleased with the outcome, but I decided if I wanted to do it for Tee Shirts I would have to make it pop a bit. Hence my return to digital coloring via my Walcum Tablet and Photoshop. 

Below are the two versions, the original pen and ink and the digitally colored version.

I waited before posting the Tee Shirt for sale until I received one from Zazzle to check the quality of it. I received it today and was pleasantly surprised that the enlarged image held.

After seeing the final product I decided to place them for sale on a new section I created entitled "Go Ask Alice."  This will be the first in the series. The characters in Alice in Wonderland are odd enough as they are, but I intend to add my own eccentric touch. Apologies to the purist. 

In other news, seems that my Oncologist only wants to see me once a year instead of my regular visits. I am officially in remission. So I may just grow into that creepy old man feeding ducks at the pond yet.