It was another busy week and artmaking went by the wayside.
So here's one from the vaults (over 10 years old): it's the Kup. The story: when I was HS I played in a pop-punk band and we had a song about a an aquamarine cup "that had a monster on it," in the song you learn that it wasn't a monster at all, but an ancient, evil, African spirit that had taken up residence in the Kup and is now trying to control you in order to do it's bidding. Yeah. The funny thing is we weren't smoking anything at all...
This was a potential shirt design featuring the evil Kup (done in marker in a sketchbook) that never did get made.
Posted at 5:02 PM on Sunday, February 29, 2004
Many shattered tiles, a lot of nipping, quite a few cuts and some time later- the tiling is finally done. It's kind of strange in a way, I started this piece such a long time ago; It's good to see it finally getting closer to finish. You probably can't tell much in the picture, but the surface of a few of the tiles are still smudgy (and some have glue on the surface). This is because I didn't bother to give it a proper shining yet, but rest assured they'll appear shinier, slicker and colder in the end.
I mentioned that the tile is held to the board with white glue, which might seem rather flimsy. I thought about using tile cement at the start, but after I considered all of the stages of the project I realized I didn't need to bother with that. The Elmer's glue really is a temporary hold until the next stage gets going. So more on that next time.
Other than that, I also worked on a Valentines day card this week. The card features a pop-up Lloyd Dobler because let's face it: what's more romantic that Lloyd holding up the boombox with Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" blaring? Yeah, not much. Here's what the card looks like when you open it with Lloyd "retracted."
Mike Cameron: I don't know you very well, you know, but I wanted to ask you - how'd you get Diane Court to go out with you?
Lloyd Dobler: I called her up.
Mike Cameron: But how come it worked? I mean, like, what are you?
Lloyd Dobler: I'm Lloyd Dobler.
Mike Cameron: This is great. This gives me hope! Thanks!
Many shattered tiles, a lot of nipping, quite a few cuts and some time later- the tiling is finally done. It's kind of strange in a way, I started this piece such a long time ago; It's good to see it finally getting closer to finish. You probably can't tell much in the picture, but the surface of a few of the tiles are still smudgy (and some have glue on the surface). This is because I didn't bother to give it a proper shining yet, but rest assured they'll appear shinier, slicker and colder in the end.
I mentioned that the tile is held to the board with white glue, which might seem rather flimsy. I thought about using tile cement at the start, but after I considered all of the stages of the project I realized I didn't need to bother with that. The Elmer's glue really is a temporary hold until the next stage gets going. So more on that next time.
Other than that, I also worked on a Valentines day card this week. The card features a pop-up Lloyd Dobler because let's face it: what's more romantic that Lloyd holding up the boombox with Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" blaring? Yeah, not much. Here's what the card looks like when you open it with Lloyd "retracted."
Mike Cameron: I don't know you very well, you know, but I wanted to ask you - how'd you get Diane Court to go out with you?
Lloyd Dobler: I called her up.
Mike Cameron: But how come it worked? I mean, like, what are you?
Lloyd Dobler: I'm Lloyd Dobler.
Mike Cameron: This is great. This gives me hope! Thanks!
Posted at 8:43 PM on Wednesday, February 18, 2004
There are times when I'm really glad that I have hardwood floors...like when I'm cutting tile. So yeah, I continued with the tiling of this piece this week. I described how I transfer the outline of the figure onto the tile in a previous post, after that it's justa matter of nipping the tile into shape. After the contour line is drawn onto the tile, I score the line with a glass cutting tool. Then little by little, I cut away the excess with a tile nipper. The tile is then glued to the masonite board with Elmers.
There are times when I'm really glad that I have hardwood floors...like when I'm cutting tile. So yeah, I continued with the tiling of this piece this week. I described how I transfer the outline of the figure onto the tile in a previous post, after that it's justa matter of nipping the tile into shape. After the contour line is drawn onto the tile, I score the line with a glass cutting tool. Then little by little, I cut away the excess with a tile nipper. The tile is then glued to the masonite board with Elmers.
Posted at 8:13 PM on Tuesday, February 10, 2004
I decided to draw up and entry for a logo contest set up by Midtown Comics in NY. Here's the info that they listed on their website:
"Our new logo should ideally convey a sense of New York City. Perhaps a skyline (silhouette, maybe?) should be part of the design, showing various NY landmark buildings. Perhaps it should be somehow reminiscent of (or incorporate parts of) our old logo; we’ve built name-brand recognition over the years. This does not necessarily mean that the logo must contain a skyline or an oval, etc., if it can convey the spirit of Midtown Comics.
Allow space for us to add our URL midtowncomics.com when needed. The logo should not be too cartoony. Shoot for a style that Marvel or DC would proudly use on one of their titles."
Here's the old Midtown logo- rather plain as you can see. I decided to make my entry far more illustrative and "busy" so to speak. Who knows if they'll like the concept or not- we shall see. In any event, I enjoyed drawing in a comic-booky style, which I hadn't done in quite some time. The drawing was done with a 4H pencil, the color is done with colored pencils and acrylic paint, lettering and some tweaking was done in Photoshop. I put the pressure on myself to come up with and create a workable composition that incorporated each of the elements mentioned in the contest description:
-the New York skyline as a backdrop
-the old Midtown logo (at least in part)
-a style that references contemporary comic companies like Marvel / DC
[my characters are stylized after contemporary books, but all are original creations]
-space for the URL, but a design that allows it to be removed and still appear whole.
The version that you over on theleft right is very close to the original in terms of value and hue. Here are some alternates as well:
Saturated Color
Black and white
Applied color (dark)
Alternate text
[oh yeah, I added a new link to Stephen Kasner's art in the sidebar]
I decided to draw up and entry for a logo contest set up by Midtown Comics in NY. Here's the info that they listed on their website:
"Our new logo should ideally convey a sense of New York City. Perhaps a skyline (silhouette, maybe?) should be part of the design, showing various NY landmark buildings. Perhaps it should be somehow reminiscent of (or incorporate parts of) our old logo; we’ve built name-brand recognition over the years. This does not necessarily mean that the logo must contain a skyline or an oval, etc., if it can convey the spirit of Midtown Comics.
Allow space for us to add our URL midtowncomics.com when needed. The logo should not be too cartoony. Shoot for a style that Marvel or DC would proudly use on one of their titles."
Here's the old Midtown logo- rather plain as you can see. I decided to make my entry far more illustrative and "busy" so to speak. Who knows if they'll like the concept or not- we shall see. In any event, I enjoyed drawing in a comic-booky style, which I hadn't done in quite some time. The drawing was done with a 4H pencil, the color is done with colored pencils and acrylic paint, lettering and some tweaking was done in Photoshop. I put the pressure on myself to come up with and create a workable composition that incorporated each of the elements mentioned in the contest description:
-the New York skyline as a backdrop
-the old Midtown logo (at least in part)
-a style that references contemporary comic companies like Marvel / DC
[my characters are stylized after contemporary books, but all are original creations]
-space for the URL, but a design that allows it to be removed and still appear whole.
The version that you over on the
Saturated Color
Black and white
Applied color (dark)
Alternate text
[oh yeah, I added a new link to Stephen Kasner's art in the sidebar]