This is part of an ongoing series. This time we pass through The Great Exhibition and meet the different characters there to view art or just to socialise and hang out.
My favorite way to eliminate the often paralyzing fear of "ruining" "good" paper is to just paint on any and all junk mail that comes into my house. Higher end catalogs are great for this, they don't use slick, thin paper (and even that gets used in collage or as a desk cover for other projects) and they're already bound for you. Just add marks! Carry it with you. Scan the pages you like. Cut it up later for making other art. It's "just" junk mail, so there is literally no pressure. I have HUNDREDS of these type of things and I run across them all the time, forgotten, in some old backpack or purse or drawer and it's a treasure to look through them again, and add new marks, paints and words.
I’m back! The game company I work for hit some turbulence and laid off half the studio. I’m still there but it took a while to adjust. Getting back to my own work now.
This was drawn with my Sailor King of Pen (M). What a pen! My Royal Tangerine 1911s is to the left for size comparison.
This started as a pencil drawing (see the 2nd image) that I scanned and put into Photoshop. I tried various filters including: Smudge, Ink Outline, some Splatter, changed the Exposure and added a Sepia Photo Filter. After a couple of hours of playing (I’m not very knowledgeable about digital possibilities and just use trial and error) I ended up with a dramatic image with which I am quite happy. The reference was a magazine advertisement.
It’s been raining all day so I felt like taking a party wagon to the beach and catching some good vibes! This is based on a 1960 Volkswagen Transporter.
Another one for #transmundanetuesdays, with prompts by Carson Ellis (an older one tho), this is my #glovedandspikeybricklayer!
He looks evil but he's just allergic to non-spikey things.
...initially was going to replace the spiders meal for a banana (referring to the piece #Comedian created by artist #Maurizio_Cattelan)...but just could not do it. Had some good conversation about the concept, so hope it leads to more.
Instead, it has lead me to explore some other ideas.
There's a big drop of black ink spilled near the center... It's like that bit of ink just couldn't wait to be part of the art. Sometimes a rough sketch takes on a life of its own.
Three kings stopped a walking man to ask advice about their dreams.
But the man said, "Oh no please, I don't want to hear these things."
"I have dreams of my own although they'll never come to pass...
I just work my life away while all you rich guys sit and laugh."
I’m often asked about my Bic pen drawings and how I do them. It starts with a good foundational drawing, the ballpoint pen part is just trying to colour within the lines. I try to do my best to explain the process, but the best way to show my progress is by posting my efforts to master pen drawings over the span of 3 or so years. I have been doodling/drawing with ballpoint pens as far back as I can remember - they were cheap, readily available and always lying around the house. It wasn’t until I was bored during a particularly long team meeting-conference call (around 2016-17) that I started to think about the possibilities of ballpoint pens as serious portrait illustration tools. My first experiments with full colour ink portrait drawings were rather crude, but that’s the point of learning new techniques—as long as the curiosity and the love of drawing is there, you can transfer that skill and passion into any medium. Remember, the most exquisite drawings and paintings you see didn’t materialise fully formed, they started out as failed experiments. Failure after failure after failure. It’s important to remember this when you get discouraged (I've failed spectacularly over the years). The only difference between the accomplished artist and the beginner is hundreds of hours of practice. Talent can only get you so far. It’s the hard work that you do behind the scenes that makes your work look effortless. Keep doodling. Keep learning. Stay curious.
An illustration for a Grimm's Fairy Tale in a Moleskine notebook. This one is for a kind of obscure story called The Companionship of the Cat and the Mouse. Just graphite.
This was a labor of love. Completed with Prismcolor pencils and Copic Markers. I'm very influenced by my surroundings, and all around me are hipsters. I'm also surrounded by artist and those in studio & animation jobs that I hope to have one day. This piece reflects a point in my life of where I am physically and shows my career aspirations. And it was also just for fun because I love Rick&Morty.
Watercolor and India Ink on Yupo paper. If there is any single way to let go of detail and think simply, it is by using watercolor on Yupo paper. You basically have to surrender control and just see what happens.
