There are a lot of social networks out there, and often as an artist it can be difficult to choose which ones would be best. There’s something to be said for really needing to be doing art all the time, but I don’t think that’s quite fair. In my situation, as it is from many others (that I’ve heard), I not only need to be finishing work on current projects but I need to be Read more…
I’m sure most people are aware of this, but here it goes anyway. There are people on the web that, when they find an image on a website, just grab the web URL directly to the image and paste it into their forum/website/blog/whatever. This is called hotlinking, as you are not hosting it on your sites but stealing a bit of the bandwidth I pay for to show everyone my own images. What that means Read more…
Being on Twitter (quite often) gives me the chance to see what other artists are up to, and the kinds of projects that they work on. Case in point, yesterday Eric Orchard posted one of his sketches, and the idea came up that it would be fun if a bunch of artists decided to get together and post their own works in progress, at a certain time every day. So today, we started doing just Read more…
A few years back, I wrote an article about the art technique books I have (it’s here). I thought it might be a good time to revisit that, as well as post some of the artist books that I have as well. However, reading a bunch of text is probably pretty boring, and artists are visual people, so I decided to just take photos of the books I have. There are plenty of books that, Read more…
I’ve been considering doing an ink work of something from the film District 9 for some time, and I finally decided to fit it in here. I managed to fit it in between two other commissioned pieces (call it a “break”). I also decided that, instead of just an ink work, I’d have fun with it. I’ll probably still go back and do a normal ink work of something from District 9, but this one Read more…
Something that comes up from time to time is the need, as an artist and a designer, to have a portfolio to show someone in person. That could be at a convention, or a job interview, various places where having a portable way to show your work would come in handy. For many years, I’ve used a simple, letter-sized portfolio, which has worked well. I can have a design on every page, or a group Read more…
Despite the bad way that my year is going, I still manage to get some great projects by some wonderful authors. Case in point, I was given the chance to work on author Ray Garton‘s new book, Vortex, out soon from Cemetery Dance. It’s a great honor not only to work with one of Ray’s stories, but to work with an always helpful and constructive publisher like Cemetery Dance as well. For the cover, I Read more…
For once, I’m posting less about art and more about life. Don’t worry, I’ll be getting back to posting about art soon enough. I think, looking at my work overall, you can see that I’m influenced by a great many things. I don’t really match any one artist, or one style, and I tend to not really have a style at all. It’s a part of my nature to be interested in everything, and, in Read more…
I think it’s important as an artist to look at a lot of art, and in fact I love nothing more than to flip through the many art books I have on the shelf. Seeing different styles, different techniques, and just appreciating what others have done is a great way to learn more about art, and to think about doing it better. Books are great, but to really see a painting I also think it’s Read more…
On Thursday, I posted my newest ink/digital artwork, of Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin character from Star Wars. I decided today, while taking a break between art pieces (and while my internet is working) to upload this article about how it was created. I like to post these kinds of articles for a couple of reasons. One, there people out there who’ve said they like to see the process, and I’m happy to oblige. For Read more…
I’ve been wanting to try and do art for one of the special days that come up. Certain birthdays of actors, or film release dates, anniversaries, that sort of thing. So I took a little time away from finishing up some publishing work and gave it a go. Today would have been actor Peter Cushing’s birthday, and I thought, since I’ve wanted to do an ink of him for some time, that I’d try it. Read more…
I’ve been busy as of late, with commissions, local art sales and creation, job searching, various levels of depression. Coupled with those things, I’ve also had a terrible internet connection, which has caused a number of things to fall behind. In the process of trying to get caught back up, I did manage to squeeze out a new piece of art. Now, truth be told, I managed to do a few pieces of art, which Read more…
My latest article for Apex Magazine (check it out here) is about, as an artist who likes being noticed, learning how to approach people. It’s not easy, and being a wallflower most of life it really becomes a challenge. As the article I wrote discusses, putting that first step out can be difficult, but can be very rewarding. Case in point, on a whim I decided to ask about the art on the walls at Read more…
I’ve always loved the image of the female robot from the film Metropolis. It’s a very streamlined, very cool design, and well ahead of it’s time for when the film was made. I’m not sure I captured it as well as other ink works I’ve done, but I’m still happy with it. I think it still has a metallic look (tricky with ink), and certainly looks female. Believe it or not, sometimes making a piece Read more…
While I was in Austin, Texas, for the World Horror Convention, I had a bit of time to kill before checking in. I decided to sketch some things first for projects that I have in play, and after that I decided to create another ink card. Now, the main motivation for it was that I simply wanted to do another ink work. Secondarily, especially since I was sitting right near the main path of all Read more…
I’ll be attending the World Horror Convention in Austin, Texas this week, and I’m hoping to meet a lot of people there. I have a number of friends that will be there, along with quite a few I talk with online who will be nice to meet in person. If you decide that you’d like to see what a poor, unemployed, REAL starving artist looks like, here are a few places you might just find Read more…
Since last night’s ink card (see it here!) was a bit on the dark side, both figuratively and literally, I thought I’d something different with today’s ink card. Today’s ink is of “The Spaniard”, the temporary nickname for the character of Maximus in the film Gladiator. I chose it not only because I really like that movie (really really), but it posed a bit of challenge in texture and shadow. The crosshatched lines, unlike a Read more…
As I’m jumping back in on the art thing this week (see the previous article), I wanted to try something, well, harsh. I wanted to try and create an ink card that was very dark, and really only show the barest of highlights. It’s tricky for sure, and to be perfectly honest I’m not sure how well it worked out. However, I do also believe that there can be no real triumph without putting it Read more…
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks, while still working on projects and doing art and design, in a bit of a lost sense. I’m not sure why, but I’ve reached a bit of a crossroads with the world. Almost like this long, perceived journey is about to take on a different tact since the end of the last job. But the more I think of it, the end of the last job isn’t exactly Read more…
It’s not really a well-kept secret that I like the scary stuff. So, when I was looking to create a new ink work for the end of the week, I ended up with a scary figure. Now, in this case, it may or may not look that scary. The character is Tomas, from the film The Orphanage, and, near the beginning of the film, this child comes up. I won’t give you any spoilers, but Read more…