Category: Art

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Kissing Giantesses

So my cousin and her lovely wife Jane were at a pride parade being amazing in stilts and colorful costumes made by Regina Armenta when Jai Brooks captured this photo.

This was then turned into a painting by the talented Joan Cox.

This was in turn used as the cover for the cover of the Sep/Oct 2014 Lesbian Connection magazine.
And finally offered as a print, which I have since ordered.
And that’s the story of how it ended up on my wall. :^)

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Dallas Comic Con 2012

I was able to volunteer for the weekend at this years Dallas Comic Con. I had the pleasure of meeting Patrick Stewart, Stan Lee and John De Lancie to name a few.  I was also able to make it around the show floor and found some noteworthy creators:

niqparker.blogspot.com
leroysplace.com
jbalkesart.com
galacticdustbunnies.com
urbanjunglecomic.com
brigidashwood.com
gudfit.com
paunk.com
parkersandquinn.etsy.com

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Commissioning Art

For many years I was an avid collector of comic books.  I love the stories, but I especially loved the art.  After many years, the cost of paper books was just too much and took up too much room, so I sold them all away.  Nowadays, I collect art.  Specifically, I love meeting the artists that are out there creating.  I spend most of my time in “artist” alley at the comicons which have as much or more space than the tradition vendors.  I don’t limit myself to just comic creators either.  I love talent in all forms.

I recently had a piece done that has taken almost a year to complete.  I wanted to have a piece done using the Chinese Zodiac creatures for each of my girls.  Originally, it was going to be a tattoo, but the size and complexity changed it to wall art.  I originally approached an artist, who will remain nameless because I have lost their name.  This was the piece he eventually sent me:

After trying to communicate with the artist for a couple of months, I gave up.  Later I took the final sketch he had sent, since I liked it so much, and passed it to a new artist I had met and started following on Facebook.  David Faught is an extremely talented artist with a wide range including the human form, animals and fantasy.  I sent the piece to him and asked if he could ink and color it.  He did more than I ever expected.  He redrew the piece to make it his own and even made adjustments I wanted, specifically the placement of the dog and dragon.  He spent many hours inking and finally giving me two color versions, one digital and one watercolor, mostly because of a miscommunication.  Here are the stages of the piece:

First pencils


Adjustment to switch dragon and dog


Inked


Digital Coloring


Watercolors


While I have been doing this for a while, this piece taught me some valuable lessons about expectations and being clear with the artist what you expect.

  1. Be clear about what you want.  Even if you are going this is an “artists choice” be clear what you are hoping for.
  2. Communicate clearly what you want.  The worst that can happen is the artist will tell you no or they cannot do as you ask.
  3. Get the money talk out of the way early.
  4. Be patient.  The creative process is much different than a regular day job.  It requires being in the right frame of mind and having the time to work their magic.  If you want it done right, wait for it.
  5. Keep the communication open.  I like to see a rough then a semi-finished before they are completed.  The rough helps you and the artist get the concept down and the semi-finished gives you a clear picture of what it should look like before it’s completed and any adjustments are still relatively easy to make.
  6.  Money will need to exchange hands. 
Here are some questions you may want to think about to define your project.
  1. What medium does the artist work in? 
  2. What character do you want?
  3. Is it a head shot, torso or full body? 
  4. Will it be pencil only, inked or colored?   If colored, do you want it digital, watercolor, ink, other?
  5. How much will it cost?
  6. About how long will it take?
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A Little Bragging

I am getting all the work I have commissioned over the years digitized.  In doing so, I came across some pieces I did.  Don’t get your hopes up too high, these generally took me a long time and only when I was really inspired, but I think they turned out pretty darn well.

This is Dado (short “a”).  Based on my father about 45-50/yo.  I made a couple of comic strips (think Plugger) using him.
Dado

At one time I have been the proud owner of six ferrets.  One year I decided to do a X-mas card and this is what I came up with.  I printed out the cards and colored the hat in red.
Ferret Card
In another lifetime, I was a Mormon and served a mission in Perth, Australia.  Since there is no TV or reading books or magazines (though I did ;^) ) I had more time on my hands.  I spent many days and hours drawing this copied off of a photo in a church magazine.  Like any good perfectionist, I just didn’t think it looked quite right.
GBH
The next two were birthday cards I made for some people.


This was an image I found in a paper advertising a book called “Deadmeat”.  I traced it and used it as an exercise for shading.

OK fans of fantasy…where is this creature from?

Another exercise in shading.

My DW…

And finally a little geometric coloring.

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Arts Fest

This past weekend Mel and I went the the Fort Worth arts festival. I got to meet J.D Hillberry (http://www.jdhillberry.com/). I wish I had brought his book with me to get it signed. We had fun just looking at all the ways people express themselves and get some inspiration for our own work. We at at Cabos (the fish tacos are the best) and then that evening we went to the Scat Jazz Lounge. The place was so cool and filled with atmosphere. The music was great. We stayed at the Worthington and had an amazing view. The kiddos did wonderfully staying with their grandma, so it looks like this sort of thing may start to happen more often. Thanks to my Sweetie for making it all happen. I really needed it after that week!