CONAN (1982)

I have long been a fan of the original ‘Conan the Barbarian’, starring none other than a fitness figurehead, and former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. As an avid player of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ in my adolescence, I was a fan of both installments with the Govern-ator. It didn’t hurt that I was an artist and was also very aware of ‘Conan’s’ comic book lineage based loosely around the original creator Robert E. Howard’s work.

The film’s look could arguably be said to have been influenced by the comics which featured amazing artists like:  Frank Frazetta, Mark Schultz, Barry Windsor Smith, Roy Thomas, and more dating back to the 1930’s.

Regardless, the (first) film is a dramatic masterpiece directed/written by John Milus (and Oliver Stone), which in truth, would be unmarketable by today’s standards as it would be most likely be considered too slow due to the natural pacing. This is rectified in the sequel that Arnold graciously gave us, which is in truth, a major departure from the original, but enjoyable, nevertheless

Since I had such a strong affinity for the film, I selected it for Gallery 1988’s annual ‘Crazy 4 Cult’ show.  The exhibition is a reoccurring one, which features artwork from various artists, reimaging popular classic, and cult films. I’m not sure this fit, but I was a fan, so…there’s that, and that was enough for me! 

 

I initially started this piece in Procreate by sketching out Arnold on my iPad, attempting to capture his likeness enough to where it would be recognizable. My plan, which changed over time, was to depict as many of the events in the film as possible.  With pieces like this one, I like to create narrative vignettes that tell the story visually without giving away any spoilers. I knew I wanted to have Arnold center, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a clichéd back shot, with him looking over his shoulder, or a more imposing front shot. Either way I the plan was to silhouette him, detailing a few parts of his musculature, face, etc., leaving the bulk of his interior a solid base color to house other images in. It took me a while to decide on how ‘Conan’ was going to be displayed, but once that was done, I began work on the accompanying images. Within ‘Conan’ I started with the ‘Eye of the Serpent’, and a Cimmerian style funeral pyre which both lead into the next illustration.  Below the pyre I wanted to depict ‘Thulsa Doom’ (James Earl Jones), and his snake cult, as they play a major role in the film.  I was particularly inspired by a rather Frazetta-esque scene late in the film with ‘Doom’ on a throne-like seat accompanied by the enthralled ‘Princess Yasmina’ (Valérie Quennessen), at his feet. After working on the image, which itself could have been a solid illustration, I opted instead to depict the ‘Princess’ encircled by the snakes from ‘Doom’s’ religious symbol.  At Conan’s base, was the ‘Tree of Woe’, which depicts the crucifixion of our hero. I also wanted to properly narrate ‘Conan’s’ transition from boy-slave to warrior visually. I attempted this, by placing his village on one side of him, and the city of ‘Zamora’ with all its splendors, where his transformation truly begins.

Still of James Earl Jones as 'Thulsa Doom', and Valérie Quennessen as 'Princess Yasmina'.

  

The illustrations mentioned above were, however, only the line work of the images, and I still needed to paint them.  I got experimental and decided to use multiple contrasting colors which worked out with measured success (more on that later). I first took the project into Photoshop, annotated any errors, cleaned those up, and then started with the background at the top containing both his home village, and the city of ‘Zamora’. In the film, ‘Conan’s’ village is shown in a mountainous region with ice and snow, while ‘Zamora’, is in a rather arid desert region, making this transition easy. I created a gradient and placed it behind the illustrations and sent the file back to my iPad to detail in Procreate. I wanted to fade the background a bit and give it more contrast instead of simply colorizing the work I already did. I spent that time instead painting in the minor details like the straw roofs, or stonework.  Satisfied with the outcome, I then proceeded to add clouds to the sky behind ‘Conan’s’ head to create more contrast and dimension. For ‘Conan’s’ face/body I pulled colors from the background, and did some minor detailing to create some contouring. In order to separate the silhouette of his body from the background I knew that I would need to include another creative device. I went with outlining his arms with the raining of blood (of his enemies naturally), to push the negative space and give it a higher contrasting element. The interior colors were dictated by one thing, the ‘Eye of the Serpent’. In the film, the jewel is red which complimented the raining blood outlining his arms. This also created the opportunity to utilize greens and yellows for the ‘Princess’, creating a more ethereal look that alludes to her role in the film. In retrospect, I was reluctant to use these colors but I’m glad I did as they really draw the viewer’s eye. Full disclosure: this portion of the illustration is also the most detailed, and I do love detail, so that might be another reason. I rounded out the image, by contrasting the bottom scene using colors from ‘Zamora’. 

With the image done, I had a new problem.  I needed to locate a new printer, as the one I had been using for years abruptly closed back in February (2021), leaving me with few (locally convenient) options. Eventually I turned to SGX, a local printer that often attends conventions and other various mutual haunts of mine. They were very helpful in walking me through their process for how they print and fulfill orders in addition to offering me some different paper options than I normally work with. For this project I selected their White Pearl Linen as suggested, and it turned out beautifully.  The paper has a shimmery quality to it with slightly visible fibers that give the work a more traditional look, or as if it were printed on canvas. Unfortunately, my piece was set to 16” x 20”, and I had to eventually resize it to 11” x 14” in order to fit within the paper’s parameters of 13” x 19”. Poor planning on my part, but that’s part of the learning process, and there was no image quality loss in the size reduction.

I started the image on June 16^th, 2021 and finished it July 29^th, 2021, spending just shy of one hundred and twenty (120) hours in Procreate.  Of that time, I spent forty five (45) hours drawing the images, fifteen (15) hours determining the color, fifty four (54) hours painting/detailing, and an additional five (5) hours cleaning the image up to print. It was due July 24^th, with the show opening on August 6^th, 2021 at Gallery1988, and running until the 28^th, as part of their ‘Crazy 4 Cult XV’ group show. Each 11” x 14” image was printed on White Pearl Linen, and was exclusively available via the gallery, so please check their website for all remaining works related to the show including mine.

 

 

For more information, or to see a catalog of my other work, please visit my online store here. 

 

You can also find me on various social media platforms below doing a multitude of other artistic things that include hand lettering, and the occasional sculpting, crafting, or painting. 

Website: www.michaelstiles.com

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