I think where art can be a good thing is the ability to get the feelings and emotions out on the table, without necessarily having to explain all the things you are really feeling. I’ve always felt that art comes down more to what I want something to look like than any emotional release for myself. But once in awhile I get into a mood where the only way to express the feelings is through Read more…
Sometimes you reach a point in life where the proverbial crossroads happen, and I think I’ve reached that point. There is a definite feeling of where I’ve been, and now where I choose to go. The paths are unclear, but there are definite choices coming. Art. No art. Design. No design. Keeping the status quo or wrecking it. The fork in the road has been reached, and now I have some decisions to make about Read more…
I just returned from a very long trip to Portland, and I snapped a few pics for the website. As always, if you have any comments just let me know on my MySpace or LiveJournal. I like old signs, especially the faded ones on the sides of buildings: I also have a tendency to experiment with photos, here are a couple of duotones and one that’s a little more involved: I also had a lucky Read more…
It’s more like Gorgon sculpture: Hour #2, but close enough. This is always the difficult stage, where everything gets tweaked. For awhile too it all looks sort of… lumpy. The general shape is beginning to show, but unlike two-dimensional art you don’t start with a skeleton or even a rough sketch of circles and lines. You really have to base everything on how it will look on the surface, and work and rework it until Read more…
Before I actually mention the sculpture, I just wanted to touch base on what it’s like to have family around when you are working on various projects. This is a possible "Uberchimp", which might become a "something" in the near future. He’s what I picked up for reference since I don’t draw chimps all that often. Here’s Uberchimp after my daughter saw him on my desk, Pooh bear and all. Anyway, onto the scupture. This Read more…
While I was helping my daughter with my homework, I decided to work out some Monday sort of frustrations with new artwork. I don’t think it turned out too bad actually. I call it, “Asylum Days”.
I created a few computer desktop/wallpapers from the art that I did for Brian Keene’s Scratch. Here they are below: Download here Download here Download here
I don’t always get to just experiment and have fun with Photoshop, and tonight I had a chance to so I ran with it. This takes the place for tonight’s sketching, something I’ve been trying to do every day. The images below are for possible use with the great site The Big Adios (or at least their MySpace). Visit there if you haven’t been yet.
Someone asked me the other day which art technique books I would recommend, and it’s not necessarily an easy answer. I’m very picky with those kinds of books, and there are so many out there that what works for you might not work for me. But I thought I’d at least throw out a few that are almost always on my desk, open or otherwise. All of these are available everywhere, maybe even in your Read more…
Last year I completed my first comic work, a short story by Horror Express owner/author Marc Shemmans. It’s a nice little story, and I learned alot working on it. I decided to post it here on the site, it’s in the right column over there. Or, I guess, you can click here . For comments, leave them on my MySpace page (the comments here keep getting spammed. Thanks!
While we were in Yellowstone, the Tetons and Montana for vacation I snapped a few pics. Here are a few selections below for your enjoyment. The first one here is an abandoned attraction near Casper, Wyoming, that I visited as a kid. Hell’s Half Acre was always a cool stop (the “planet” in Starship Troopers was filmed on location there). A little sad, and I ran a few Photoshop techniques on it. They gave it Read more…
My good friend Kirk Alberts suggested making my blog partly about design and art techniques, so I thought I’d give it a try. This one’s on Photoshop’s Warp abilities. One thing I missed from using Corel PhotoPaint all the time was the warp abilities that Photopaint had. There were certainly ways around that in Photoshop, and maybe I just missed other easier ways. It might have been that I didn’t like how they worked. But Read more…
I’m not quite finished moving things over from the old server, hopefully that will be done this evening. Adding links, putting in art gallery pages again, all the stuff that makes moving a website so wonderful. At least installing WordPress again was easy enough.
I don’t get to art museums and galleries enough, but it can really give you a different impression of a piece of art. In this case, last week I was at the Phoenix Art Museum and saw the piece here, Pollice Verso (Thumbs Down) by Jean Leon Gerome (oil, 1872, 38″ x 59″). First off, I do like the piece overall. I think it has a good use of color, a very nice balance in Read more…
We’re back on a single piece of art this week (since I couldn’t decide on a different topic), this time it’s John Everett Millais’ The Blind Girl (Oil on canvas, 1854-1856, 32 1/2″ x 24 1/2″). It’s one of those pieces where the title really does impact what you see in the image, or at least makes it clear. It’s an image of duality, of great beauty but of disturbing meaning. A first glance is Read more…
This week, I’m talking about artist Gregory Manchess (www.manchess.com), one of those artists who seems to be able to fit into any genre. Whether it’s work for movies or television, books or magazines, or even just fine art, Manchess has a great ability to capture different ideas in interesting and exciting ways. If you happen to see the latest National Geographic Magazine in the store (February 2008), you’re getting a look at Manchess’ work. Along Read more…
This week we’re back to a piece of art, in this case Franklin Booth’s War on the Tiger (ink, 1908). I’m a huge fan of ink and engraved works, and Booth was a master of the pen. He is one of the most influential ink artists ever, and his techniques and styles can easily be seen among the best of today’s pen and ink artists. I happened upon a book about Booth last week, called Read more…
On the road of the new and improved (or at least different) “This Week’s Art” posts, this week I thought I’d talk about an art term. Partly for those who may not know what it means, and partly because I get to learn a little too. This week’s art term/word is “Trompe l’oeil”. No, I can’t pronounce it either [edit: it’s pronounced “tromp loy”, according to sources]. But as an effect in art I think Read more…
As I mentioned last week, I’m hoping to change things up a little with the art blogs, and offer more than just a “piece of the week”. I’ll be featuring artists sometimes that you may be familiar with, if not in name than in work. This week, I’m going to talk about Michael Deas (www.michaeldeas.com), an artist who has done some fantastic work. Many of those in the horror community have seen his cover of Read more…
After a busy (and depressing) holiday season, I’m attempting to restart the art blog idea. This time though, I’m going to work things a little differently. Instead of just a piece of art each week, I’m going to alternate on artistic ideas. Some weeks will still be about a certain piece, other weeks about artists or books/graphic novels, and other various art-related themes. Hopefully people will still tune in. For the first of the Read more…