In between working on stencils, I also painted something else...
This painting was done on a piece of 1/2" thick cardboard substrate. I used white flax-latex and black acrylic ink to give the cardboard the look of a distressed, weathered and white washed piece of wood. I like how it turned out. Some areas were done wet-into-wet other areas were done with a dry brush technique.
After the whole background had been painted, I came up with character for the board. I just doodled him out on a piece of scrap paper in about 20 seconds. Done. Then while I was sitting there, looking at the black and white board resting horizontally on my easel, I suddenly decided that I wanted a brightly colored line to run across the piece. I settled on pearlescent blue, well- because I really like the color of it. Then I had the idea that I wanted the little character to interact with the blue line. So I decided on four figures and as I came up with a plan to sketch them onto the board, I thought about what type of hand he'd have. He didn't have any hands at all in the initial sketch. Since their were some tools scattered about the studio, I first thought about a pliers and then a hammer (though there was no hammer in the studio at the time). And so it was. The first image up on the right is about halfway through the process.
As for the detailing, I did a bit of painting around the figures using Payne's gray just to make sure he popped out of the background a bit more. The line was under-painted with white acrylic, then inked over with a true blue, and then inked again with the pearl turquoise ink. For the final step I printed out the script "My Hand is a Hammer," cut it out as a stencil and sprayed it onto the work a few times. This painting now resides in New York as part of the collection of Marco Repola.
Posted at 1:19 PM on Friday, June 25, 2004
I'd mentioned awhile back that I'd found out about a site called Stencil Revolution and decided to link it right? Yep. I sure did. Well stencils have been my passion as of late (as I'm sure you're all aware: I can't ever seem to stick to one medium for too long a period).
I decided to make my first stencil of Macolm McDowell's character (Alex) from the film A Clockwork Orange. Why this as a first stencil? Well really it had more to do with finding an appropriate image for the orange 8.5x11 inch stickers I had just won on the eBay. I've always liked Kubrick's strange, strange movie and so it was.
After some manipulation in Photoshop to close off any so called "islands," I grayscaled the image and separated it into three layers (black, white, and gray). I then printed out three copies of the image. After that I bought some adhesive peel-and-stick type laminations from the OfficeDepot and laminated the image. I only did one side because laminations aren't cheap and I didn't care how many sprays this stencil lasted before it was done. "Done?" you say. Eventually the paint builds up on the stencil after repeated spraying -> edges get gunked up and you lose detail. But...if your whole stencil has been laminated you can just put a bit of paint thinner in a shallow pan, put your gunky, painted up stencil in it and voila: Fresh stencil. Perhaps I'll eventually invest in one of those hot laminators...
So after that I cut the stencils out ya dig? More on process next time around. The first image up top is the three separate layers that make up the stencil. The second image is the Clockwork Alex LPs (a series of five). Oh and Banksy's site is back up now...cool.
I'd mentioned awhile back that I'd found out about a site called Stencil Revolution and decided to link it right? Yep. I sure did. Well stencils have been my passion as of late (as I'm sure you're all aware: I can't ever seem to stick to one medium for too long a period).
I decided to make my first stencil of Macolm McDowell's character (Alex) from the film A Clockwork Orange. Why this as a first stencil? Well really it had more to do with finding an appropriate image for the orange 8.5x11 inch stickers I had just won on the eBay. I've always liked Kubrick's strange, strange movie and so it was.
After some manipulation in Photoshop to close off any so called "islands," I grayscaled the image and separated it into three layers (black, white, and gray). I then printed out three copies of the image. After that I bought some adhesive peel-and-stick type laminations from the OfficeDepot and laminated the image. I only did one side because laminations aren't cheap and I didn't care how many sprays this stencil lasted before it was done. "Done?" you say. Eventually the paint builds up on the stencil after repeated spraying -> edges get gunked up and you lose detail. But...if your whole stencil has been laminated you can just put a bit of paint thinner in a shallow pan, put your gunky, painted up stencil in it and voila: Fresh stencil. Perhaps I'll eventually invest in one of those hot laminators...
So after that I cut the stencils out ya dig? More on process next time around. The first image up top is the three separate layers that make up the stencil. The second image is the Clockwork Alex LPs (a series of five). Oh and Banksy's site is back up now...cool.
Posted at 6:16 PM on Friday, June 18, 2004
Robot sculpture number two has been finished and is now over on the auction block at eBay. Being that his head is made from a jigger, he has been titled Mixobot.
He features a head that can be rotated and arms that can be raised to different heights / angles. As mentioned earlier, I made his torso hinged so that it can be used as a storage space. Mixobot comes with the appropriate hex (allen) key to adjust and move his arms and it's conveniently stowed within his body. His arms and 'hands' were constructed from some sort of translucent green plastic material and the tops of vintage tin salt and pepper shakers. To mount the arms, I cut and shaped some handles that were once attached the front of a rack mount power amp (used to power a guitar or bass rig, ya know?). I guess they'd technically be his shoulders right?
He was rounded out and finished up by brass candlesticks for legs.
Robot sculpture number two has been finished and is now over on the auction block at eBay. Being that his head is made from a jigger, he has been titled Mixobot.
He features a head that can be rotated and arms that can be raised to different heights / angles. As mentioned earlier, I made his torso hinged so that it can be used as a storage space. Mixobot comes with the appropriate hex (allen) key to adjust and move his arms and it's conveniently stowed within his body. His arms and 'hands' were constructed from some sort of translucent green plastic material and the tops of vintage tin salt and pepper shakers. To mount the arms, I cut and shaped some handles that were once attached the front of a rack mount power amp (used to power a guitar or bass rig, ya know?). I guess they'd technically be his shoulders right?
He was rounded out and finished up by brass candlesticks for legs.
Posted at 5:50 PM on Saturday, June 12, 2004
The Simonds box used for the torso of Bot02 was removable, not hinged. For a free-standing Bot, as he will be, that's not desirable. We wouldn't want his front cover to pop / fall off while he's just standing there right? So I decided to add some hinges.
The first step involved some cutting to accommodate the nuts and bolts used to mount the hinges. That's what you're looking at over on the right. All in all, the cutting and drilling went really smoothly. Here's what the hinge looks like from the outside and the inside.
Don't forget that this weekend I'm gonna have some work up at Revolution Studios. It's a three day art show / garage sale / auction / raffle event! Wooo Hooo! I will be on hand Friday the 11th for the opening. If you're in Chicago, then you should come and check it out:
Friday June 11th thru Sunday June 13th
@ Revolution Studios
2221 N Western
Chicago – (773) 486-8888
Opening reception on the 11th at 8pm.
The Simonds box used for the torso of Bot02 was removable, not hinged. For a free-standing Bot, as he will be, that's not desirable. We wouldn't want his front cover to pop / fall off while he's just standing there right? So I decided to add some hinges.
The first step involved some cutting to accommodate the nuts and bolts used to mount the hinges. That's what you're looking at over on the right. All in all, the cutting and drilling went really smoothly. Here's what the hinge looks like from the outside and the inside.
Don't forget that this weekend I'm gonna have some work up at Revolution Studios. It's a three day art show / garage sale / auction / raffle event! Wooo Hooo! I will be on hand Friday the 11th for the opening. If you're in Chicago, then you should come and check it out:
Friday June 11th thru Sunday June 13th
@ Revolution Studios
2221 N Western
Chicago – (773) 486-8888
Opening reception on the 11th at 8pm.
Posted at 6:29 PM on Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Here's Bot02's head and boy as they will be attached. I used some brass grommets for his eyes and some brass...er...ummmm...thingy for his mouth. Whatever it is, I pulled it out of the last Bot's head when I began working on him (Conglomotron). When it comes to Robot construction, anything metal might be usable later- so in the 'parts box' it goes. The black divider between the hat and his head was cut from a piece taken from the inside of an old military camera that will used on a forthcoming Bot. [That was a super sneak-preview kinda.]
His mouth is held on by these ultra-tiny kotter pins. I picked up the pins a month or so ago expressly for use on the Robot projects and this is the first opportunity that I'd had to use 'em. The mounting allows the head to be turned left, right, or fully round if you so choose.
Now onto other schtuff...
Next weekend, (not this one, but the following) I'm gonna have some work up at Revolution Studios. It's a three day art show / garage sale / auction / raffle event! Wooo Hooo! I will be on hand Friday the 11th for the opening. If you're in Chicago, then you should come and check it out:
Friday June 11th thru Sunday June 13th
@ Revolution Studios
2221 N Western
Chicago – (773) 486-8888
Opening reception on the 11th at 8pm.
Here's Bot02's head and boy as they will be attached. I used some brass grommets for his eyes and some brass...er...ummmm...thingy for his mouth. Whatever it is, I pulled it out of the last Bot's head when I began working on him (Conglomotron). When it comes to Robot construction, anything metal might be usable later- so in the 'parts box' it goes. The black divider between the hat and his head was cut from a piece taken from the inside of an old military camera that will used on a forthcoming Bot. [That was a super sneak-preview kinda.]
His mouth is held on by these ultra-tiny kotter pins. I picked up the pins a month or so ago expressly for use on the Robot projects and this is the first opportunity that I'd had to use 'em. The mounting allows the head to be turned left, right, or fully round if you so choose.
Now onto other schtuff...
Next weekend, (not this one, but the following) I'm gonna have some work up at Revolution Studios. It's a three day art show / garage sale / auction / raffle event! Wooo Hooo! I will be on hand Friday the 11th for the opening. If you're in Chicago, then you should come and check it out:
Friday June 11th thru Sunday June 13th
@ Revolution Studios
2221 N Western
Chicago – (773) 486-8888
Opening reception on the 11th at 8pm.