Stiles of Art: January 2022

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

OZARK™️

This piece was designed specifically for an exhibition curated by Gallery1988 for the Netflix series of the same name. When I initially received an invitation (in May of 2021) to participate, I knew very little about the franchise, and I had only ‘heard’, or ‘seen’ the show advertised on the platform. It was in my que, but, so is a lot of stuff, and I rarely watch scripted television, especially when the material is this dense. I was also unaware it was going to be in conjunction with the production companies (Striker Entertainment & MRC) to promote the upcoming series finale (this is important).

Original sketch for OZARK™️ mug wrap 4" x 8.5"

I scheduled the piece in my calendar and began working on an unrelated illustration for an upcoming show, as the ‘OZARK’ exhibition wasn’t scheduled until March 2022. I thought I would have time to watch the series over the next several months and get a feel for it. That is until I received an email with show guidelines in July (2021), and a deadline of ‘initial sketches’ for approval on August 1^st.

panel 1: featuring 'The Blue Cat Lodge', Water Tower, 'Lickety Splitz', lakeside offices, and the 'Byrdes' home.

I’ll give you a minute to digest that.

panel 2: Water tower, 'Missouri Belle', Mason Young's lakeside service, and Sue's home.

What this really meant was, whatever I was working on, would need to be put aside for the moment. I then began doing what I told myself I would never do in my adult life. I binged watched Netflix, and I liked it. There I said it. It was liberating to do nothing but watch episode after episode of the RIDICULOUSLY twisted nature of ‘OZARK’ (the show not the place…at least as far as I know). Bleary-eyed and in much needed of sunlight and movement, I somehow managed to crank out a sketch based on the concept of a mug wrap which I have done previously for the gallery. The show itself is impossible to nail down (in my opinion), since there is just entirely too much inspiration to draw from. From the cast, the setting, to even the color scheme of the show. Initially, I thought about doing a souvenir mug for the ‘Missouri Belle Casino’, but realized that the show really is an ensemble. Instead, I opted for a landscape layout, and attempted to include all the major environments from the shows first three seasons which are littered like ‘Easter Eggs’ all throughout the piece. Upon completion, I did a ‘clean’ draw-over, and labeled it for the producers as the image was realistically going to be very small. I then sent the drawing to my liaison, along with an unnecessarily detailed email explaining everything including links to examples of previous mug wraps I had done in the past. I basically treated it like I was applying for a job, afterall if the producers rejected the work, I was not going to be able to participate in the show.

panel 3: the Langmore's trailers, and the Snell's home.

A few months later in October (2021), I received my approval from the gallery (after a minor adjustment…apparently my reference for the casino said ‘Mississippi Belle’, and should have read ‘Missouri Belle’, my bad). The next step was a full color approval due on December 1^st (2021). Truth be told, the draw over I did which was submitted for approval, was the final image. When creating the piece I worked on it in full color. I wasn’t married to the color selections so I did the draw over to give the producers some opportunity for input regarding values. With their blessing (and no color preference), I took the piece into Adobe Illustrator and vectored out all of the different images. The trees, and water ripples were drawn in Procreate, along with some editing done in Adobe Photoshop (primarily color and scale). I then proofed the image (thankfully only twice) and submitted it by the deadline.

Shortly afterwards into the New Year (2022), I heard back from the gallery with approval for the final piece. With production delays being what they are/were at this time, I immediately ordered a prototype mug from my supplier. I wanted to see the quality, and how long it was going to take them to ship it. Luckily, the transfer was beautiful and it arrived faster than I expected. With the show deadline quickly approaching, I ordered several for the event, and had them shipped directly to the gallery.

Featured exclusively at Gallery 1988’s “OZARK Art Exhibit” which ran from March 4^th, 2022, to March 12^th, 2022, the 15oz. mugs were limited to a run of nineteen (twelve of which went to the producers, and the remaining to the gallery). For more information please check the gallery’s website concerning all available works related to 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.

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Friday, January 21, 2022

CONSTANTINE

In late November (29^th), of 2021 I received an email from Hero Complex Gallery inviting me to participate in their upcoming ‘Covers’ group show. At first, I wasn’t sure I would be able to participate. I had several other obligations including two conventions, and two other gallery shows. It was a tight fit for sure, but I managed to squeeze the project in quickly. Its development is another story…

As December was coming to a close I had yet to start the project for this show, nor did I accept participation yet. I wanted to make sure I didn’t overwhelm myself, and I also had no idea what to create. The concept was amazing, as were the examples the gallery provided, however it was also very broad. Initially, I was going to base the project around either a popular song, or movie but while brainstorming I recalled a conversation from the comic convention I exhibited at earlier in month. At the event, my neighbor Mark (of Lesser Known Comics), spoke with me briefly, and I recall expressing interest in illustrating covers. It dawned on me then, that I should merge those two concepts, and showcase my talents. Create the job you want, right? Something like that…

I quickly picked 2005’s adaptation of DC and Vertigo Comics “Constantine” starring Keanu Reeves, and Rachel Weisz. The movie also stars some other lesser knowns like Academy Award Winner Tilda Swinton, Disney kid Shia LeBeouf, Marvel’s Djimon Hounsou, and some guy named Gavin Rossdale who was in an obscure band called ‘Bush’. I kid, because those stars are HUGE. The movie is pretty damn good too. I’m not a purist (I read Marvel), so I have no idea if it follows the storylines from any of the books, but I immediately became a fan of the character, and not just the movie (#MattRyan).

With the due date quickly approaching (January 21^st, 2022), I set to work on the piece. I developed the image entirely in my iPad in Procreate using the Sketching 6B brush. I had settled on a layout quickly, with ‘John (Constantine)’ being central, and using his trench coat as a framing device to contain the numerous characters we meet along his journey. After some initial sketching of where I was going to place my images I began collecting reference, and rewatched the film a handful of times. I wanted to capture the film properly so I often review a movie, or series multiple times before I ever finish a piece. I look for what ‘speaks’ to me, and determine then, or on a repeat viewing, what I want to include in order to represent the narrative accurately. It’s an oddly enjoyable process, which maybe sound terrible to others, but most of the selections I make are rooted in personal preference.

Having collected my imagery I was ready to start working on my renderings. I decided that this piece, in part to its rapidly approaching due date, was going to be slightly experimental. I was going to pencil render (digitally), all the vignettes, and add minimal color afterwards. Most of the renderings came along quickly, with a few (‘Chas Kramer’/Shia & ‘Papa Midnite’/Djimon), giving me an exceptional amount of trouble. Resolving what I could, I moved on to the color process and made some final adjustments in Adobe Photoshop (scale/placement/color, as I would learn early on making scale adjustments specifically in Procreate is a bad idea as the device ruins the crispness of your line work). I also vectored the title font in illustrator along with all the other ‘comic book’ cover ‘elements’ (barcode and issue number). I was asked to include ‘Easter Eggs’ in the piece if possible, and there are a few, some more obvious than others. Take a close look at the piece, you never know what you might discover.

Upon completing the illustration, I sent it to SGX for proofing. Since the due date was so close (January 21^st, 2022), I ended opting for the gallery to print the image on demand, as well as select the edition limits for it. Originally the piece was scaled to an aspect ratio of a standard comic book (6.88”x 10.5”) however the gallery pointed out that it would most likely perform better at a more traditional size. This made sense, and I’m not entirely sure what I was thinking as ultimately it was going to be sold as an image, not a book so the size didn’t need to be authentic. I had to make several adjustments to the file, before I was able to get Hero Complex Gallery a version that they could use. It was a bit more complicated than I expected, and the number of uploads it took to correct the issues is embarrassing. Live and learn I suppose.

The final piece is 11” x 17” and exclusively featured at Hero Complex Gallery’s “Covers (2022)” which opened online May 14^th, 2022. Please check the gallery’s website for all available works related to show, including mine.