Groundhog Day

 

When I received the prompt from Gallery1988 for their 30^th Anniversary ‘Groundhog Day’ show I almost groaned. I had an issue, as I had already done an illustration inspired by the film, almost a decade ago that has really never seen the light of day outside this blog. My quandary was this: I could simply reuse this image, afterall it was clever, and captured the film for me precisely, OR I could create something new.

 

If you haven’t seen the movie, the concept is what obviously inspired such knock-offs as ‘Happy Death Day’ (which was fantastic, as was the sequel, I’m just saying, know your history kids). With that out of the way, I didn’t want to repeat myself (HA), I set about rewatching the film which I honestly haven’t seen in ages. I collected some reference materials from the viewing, and the internet but nothing was really speaking to me. I then attempted to highlight the actual holiday (which takes a back seat to the plot), but after several sketches, and at least a pot of coffee, I decided to take a different approach.

 

Original broken record concept for the movie based on the prompt 'Repeat'.

I went back to my original design from several years ago I mentioned above, and thought about how I could possibly salvage, or repurpose it. It did feel a little bit like cheating considering this piece was already ‘finished’. I thought about how I could use the surface of the record as a mirror to reflect the images of characters from the film. While this concept was extremely tempting, I knew it would ultimately turn a simplistic image into a jarring cacophony of characters. The plan would be to take the record, and crack it into pieces, using each shard to depict a different actor in the film. I would have place them in accordance with how important they are to our lead man ‘Phil’ (Bill Murray), and his story (which the film centers on).

 

Instead, I took a different approach that was less bold. I decided to use an older file of the illustration I had from a backup. In this version, the record had yet to have been broken apart. This gave me more surface area to work with, and I decided that I could still get my ‘broken record’ message across with a smaller area of damage.  With the extra room, instead of depicting multiple characters from the film, I went with just one, ‘Phil’.

 

Sketch of 'Phil' (Bill Murray) from 'Groundhog Day'.

Now my only obstacle was to find an image of Murray where he really sold me on the character. In the final illustration, Murray’s expression is omitted (due to design, I did draw it), but it was fantastic.  I picked a still from the film in which he had just woken up…again, disheveled and confused, it was perfect.

 

Upon selecting my image, I got working on it at a scale that would fit the record’s surface.  It took me almost seven hours to complete the initial sketch, followed by another thirteen hours digitally inking the image, and ambivalently picking a layout. I had a very challenging time determining how to best place ‘Phil’s’ reflection on the record. Eventually I settled on the fact that his face or expression didn’t matter as both the record’s title, and defects, are enough to relay my intentions.

 

The entire (re)design took me a little over twenty (20) hours, in addition to how ever much time I spent on the original record illustration. The record was made entirely in Corel Painter, with the image of Murray added in Procreate on the iPad. The piece was then taken into Adobe Photoshop before going to print.

 

Final image (10" x 10")

The 10” x 10” image (printed on 100lb Cover, thank you SGX), was (re)made for Gallery1988’s ‘Groundhog Day’, a group show dedicated to the beloved film’s 30^th Anniversary.  The show was originally scheduled to run from January 28^th, 2023 through February 11^th, 2023 with all remaining works available the following day at noon. At this time the prints are 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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SPAM (LIKELY)

This piece was pulled from the archives of my pun ideas, and while I swear I had a sketch for it I just could not for the life of me find it (UPDATE: the sketch was found so I posted it below for comparison, I’ll spare telling you it was literally sitting in a sketch book next to my computer the entire time I just never bothered to look in it, because I didn’t realize the book was there…behind all of that stuff…the lesson? Clean your workspace often). Anyhow, I redrew the image from memory on my iPad, which took me around five (5) hours in Procreate. 

 

 

Original concept which looks a bit Spongebob-ish

With the initial sketch and layout fully realized, I took the drawing into Adobe Illustrator to vector all the linework. Upon completing that process (untimed, but potentially five [5] hours), I took the outlined piece into Adobe Photoshop to literally stitch it back together. I then painted the image in Procreate for about seventeen (17) hours. Once I was finished with the illustration, I sent it out to SGX for proofing.

 

 

Unfortunately, due the name (SPAM), the image file was misplaced, and I was never able to get an actual proof.  I had to ask the printers to produce the final images sight unseen as my deadline* was rapidly approaching. Thankfully, the delay, and mix-up were not too problematic (other than just being simply stressful), as the image did not need any correcting.

 

The illustration is associated to a series of pun-based images I have done over the course of several years. Hopefully the ‘joke’ reads, but if not, I shall elaborate.  These days those of us who have cellular phones get a lot of calls from telemarketers trying to solicit sales.  Most phones these days have a feature that identifies the caller, allowing them to determine whether the interaction will be worth their time. The calls are typically referred to as SPAM (or spamming), and will show up with that title on the phone’s caller identification. Hence, the joke.  I also added some of other mirth making ‘Easter Eggs’ into the image as well.

 

I started the 8” x 10” image (printed on 100lb Cover), on September 11^th, 2022 and finished it on the 22^nd, spending roughly thirty (30) hours on the image. The piece was due on October 7^th, 2022*, at Gallery1988 for ‘Jerrod Maruyama’s SMORGASBORD’, a group show put on by the social media maven and artist dedicated to food. The show debuted on October 22^nd, 2022, and closed November 5^th, 2022 featuring works of myself and many other talented artists. At this time the prints are exclusively available via the gallery, so please check their website for all remaining works related to the show including mine.

(*sidenote I thought it was due October 1^st, so I literally rushed to get this piece done.  This is also what happens when you have too much going on all at the same time)

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

Etsy: Stiles of Art

Threadless: mistiles

LinkedIN: Michael Stiles

IG:  stiles1978

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Pinterest: Michael Stiles

Tumblr:  stiles1978

Twitter: stiles_of_art

 

LEGEND (1985)

I started the concept for this piece back in January completely by mistake. I was working on some ideas for an upcoming show when I tapped into some inspirational spark and began sketching multiple layouts for different films I loved. I had several by the time I was done, and thankfully I’ve had the opportunity to utilize some of them. Long story short, this was one of those images, albeit a bit more fleshed out than the others, but that’s likely due to my obsession with this childhood favorite. 

 

Even to this day, Sir Ridley Scott’s ‘Legend’ manages to enchant new viewers under its spell, I think, because of its timeless appeal and rather overly simplistic story structure that draws inspiration from ‘the fall of Man’. It’s a classic tale of good versus evil beautifully presented, with amazingly talented performers.  The film stars Tom Cruise, Mia Sara, Tim Curry, David Bennet, Alice Playten, Billy Barty, Cork Hubbert, Peter O’Farrell, Kiran Shah, Annabelle Lanyon, Robert Picardo, and more. Most people will recognize Curry’s portrayal of ‘Lord Darkness’, even if they have never seen the movie nor even know who Curry is (blasphemy in opinion). Not with controversy, the film has two versions, and two soundtracks. The original is the one most have seen, but the director’s cut contains almost a half an hour of extra footage which does flesh out the story with improved pacing/character development. Musically, the film has a theatrical release with a slightly modernized score done by Tangerine Dream, while Scott’s cut contains the original by John Bettis, and Jerry Goldsmith.

 

As a fan, I have long loved this film, but as an artist, I have an extreme aversion to producing work dedicated to it. Why? There is an abundance of it, and most of them are really good. I don’t really want to compete with other artists in a saturated market, BUT, this was a really great concept so…I went with it. I also had some encouragement from others to choose the film, and that helped.

My first piece dedicated to the film for Creature Features 'Tim Curry Tribute Show' (2018)

As for the piece itself, I started the sketch back in January (31^st, 2022), but didn’t return to it until August (24^th. 2022). Thankfully I had a clear idea of how this piece was going to look, so making decisions about placement and design came quickly. I really wanted to include all the major players, so first and foremost was Curry’s ‘Darkness’.  I have seen the antagonist portrayed so many ways, but I was always partial to one of the original poster designs in which ‘Darkness’ is blended rather subtly into the background. In the film ‘Darkness’, depending on which cut you watch, is not fully revealed until much later yet we are given an indication early on about his chthonic appearance. I chose to depict him thusly and then placed him centrally in the layout. On my list of must haves for this piece, I knew I wanted to depict ‘Lili’ (Sara), ‘Jack’ (Cruise), and the Faerie Folk accompanying him.  I also wanted to include ‘Darkness’’ lair, the Great Tree as the design was always so fascinating to me.  It was imperative I include a nod to the unicorns in the film (as they are major players), and as I progressed through the piece I determined having them central was best.  It would also help to contrast against some of the darker elements of the image. Primarily due to spatial constraints, I ran out of room to include all the images I wanted so a few of the more interestingly designed characters did not get represented and I had to eliminate one of the unicorns as well from the composition. Since the film takes place primarily in the forest with enormous trees, I decided to use them as a framing device to duplicate the atmosphere.

 

I determined that most of the characters would have to be silhouetted in order to provide the contrast I was visioning.  I originally planned on going back to each one and adding a bit of a highlight here or there to give them more dimension, but quickly abandoned that plan when it became apparent that the details would most likely not be legible in the final piece. I was also reluctant to place ‘Lili’ where she is in this composition, as it echoed a piece (SLEEPWALKERS) from earlier this year. It was however the best place for her and actually worked really well from a design concept as her ‘hair’ leads us into the swamp scenario and blends into the twisted roots of the trees. I chose the color palette based on the movie’s own visuals and from a previous piece I did inspired by the film (above), for Creature Features and their ‘Tim Curry Tribute Show’. I started with the background colors first, determining that the transition was the best way to contribute to telling the film’s story (without spoiling it).  It also helped with contrasting elements, although the right side suffers a bit I think due to the darker colors used, but it also forces the viewer to the left which is where the story begins anyways so...there’s that.  The unicorn, and ‘Lili’ were then painted next, followed by ‘Darkness’ on the original background layer (which I never do, and was VERY anxious about). Thankfully the image did not require additional proofing beyond the initial one, and the whole process took me roughly sixty (60) hours in Procreate on my iPad, in addition to a few hours in Adobe Photoshop editing.  In all, this piece really did not take me as long as I thought it would and I was incredibly concerned I would not make the gallery’s due date of September 17^th (2022).  While I did resume the piece on August 24^th (2022) I didn’t complete it until September 7^th (2022) as I was juggling this piece (DOUBTFIRE) at the same time, in addition to life events. For the time spent, I can say I am very happy with how this piece turned out. I have long wanted to develop something inspired by the film, but I just couldn’t realize what that was.  The first piece I did for Creature Features was a very difficult piece for me to realize, and even after completion, it just did not seem to fulfill the void. This is a prime example of not having the skills at the time to execute a vision, and how returning to a concept, or even developing a new one later is worth exploring.

 

The 12” x 18” image (printed on 100lb Cover, thank you SGX), was made for Gallery1988’s ‘Crazy 4 Cult XVI’, a group show dedicated to many classic and modern films with a (cult-like) following.  The show was originally scheduled to run from October 1^st, 2022, through October 15^th, 2022 with all remaining works available the following day at noon. At this time the prints are 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

Etsy: Stiles of Art

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LinkedIN: Michael Stiles

IG:  stiles1978

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THE SOCIAL NETWORK

This piece is an example of throwing caution to the wind. I am not an abstract artist what-so-ever, and as a creative, I am truly embarrassed to admit that I don’t ‘get it’ very often, or ever, in most cases. With that in mind, perspective (or arguably personal taste), shouldn’t prohibit me from drawing upon these works for inspiration, right?  This would be my second venture into this ‘space’ the first in this style being my ‘These Strange Things…’ piece for the Paul Thomas Anderson show at Gallery1988 in December (2021).  Even with that piece, my work has lately started to take on more of a graphical look.  This is my ‘abstract phase’ I guess for any historians out there willing to following along, or for when they unearth some sacred treasure with a vague signature and ‘QR’ code sticker on the back. That or it’s my ‘director series’…? 

The theme for this piece, I should note before I take you on another random unrelated tour of my mind, was based around director David Fincher. Or more importantly, illustrating one of his features. I recall seeing the email and was both elated & anxious.  I love Fincher’s work.  I’ve seen most of his films and grew up watching the music videos he worked on early in his career (unknowingly).  My favorite project of his has always been ‘Se7en’I saw it in the theaters by accident, and became (healthily) obsessed with his work. I’d watch anything his name was on and was usually rewarded.  If he’s reading this, I have one request, Mr. Fincher, David if I may, please for the love of all things holy, finish ‘Mindhunter’!!!! Damn that show is intense.  I digress…

Looking over Fincher’s work I knew I shouldn’t pick anything already too saturated.  For me that meant no ‘Fight Club’or ‘Se7en’, which left me with ‘The Social Network’. Outside of ‘Mindhunter’, this had to be my most favorite recent-ish work of his.  It is such a cross section of human psyche that it haunts me how well it was done.  This however would not have been possible if it was not for the masterful and Oscar-worthiness of the entire team involved. The adaptation (of Ben Mezrich’s ‘The Accidental Billionares’), by Aaron Sorkin (>ahem<OSCAR>ahem<), the music….can we talk about the music?!!! Holy cow, also the music by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (>ahem<OSCAR>ahem<), which created such incredible tension, and the editing done by Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall (>ahem<OSCAR>ahem<), yeah…it was great film. It was also nominated for eight Oscars in total, but ONLY won three. So, there’s that. 

I got to work rewatching the film and collecting some reference materials for my illustration.  As usual the final images you seen here were developed over time, and it transformed at least twice before I settled on my final layout/design.  My first idea is something I may return to, so for that you’ll have to stay tuned, but I will tell you it was a quote.  The second phase I had a better idea of what I was going to do, but no clear layout, just a bunch of imagery I knew I wanted to include and it was going to look something like an old Facebook profile.  I was firm however on three things:  the color scheme, the focal point, and a design element to relate it to technology.

At this point I looked at some of my previous work and decided with at least two out of three elements nailed down (color/focal point), I should just start something.  Taking inspiration from the illustration I mentioned earlier (first paragraph…I’ll wait), I painted the background in Procreate, and the returned to my reference material. Since I was going to keep things mostly abstract and only planned on having one actual realistically rendered element, I would need to choose anything I could use as a ‘symbol’ of some kind (be it logo in the case of Sean Parker’s representation here with Napster), or even typography (with the detailing of Mark Zuckerberg’s alleged hacking for Facemash).

I finalized the layout rather quickly after determining what I was going to represent, and what was not going to make the cut.  I settled on the pint glass of beer (which originally was a Beck’s bottle as in order to true to the context of both film and alleged ‘facts’), the ‘equation’ written by Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield), on Mark’s dorm window. I still needed a technological element to connect everything to fill in the dead space and as a method to convey more of the story.  I knew the bottom of the work, much like the ‘These Strange Things…’ inspired piece, would have silhouettes of iconic buildings/structures that could be easily identifiable.  

I turned to the web, which eventually led me somehow to circuitry images that I ended up using for inspiration. I then took my background into Adobe Illustrator, and began constructing the silhouetted buildings I needed for my base along with the window & circuitry.  It didn’t take me entirely too long to design all three and take it back into Procreate. Meanwhile back on the iPad I went about finishing the illustration/design, detailing the central beer glass, window (banners*), and rowers. Upon finishing I got it ready to send to SGX for proofing. (*Those banner images were hella hard to find.  The Greek letters were in the movie, but the Phoenix Club’s symbol has been almost wiped form the internet, I’m guessing because of all the controversy around these Harvard Final Club’s and their ‘sunsetting’ back in 2017).

Covid, however, was not done with supply chain and so the paper I had so diligently asked my printer to hold for me the day I started the image, was not yet available…yay… Eventually, much closer to the due date, the paper arrived, and there was one more final hiccup, because…life, amiright? After one proof, I was able to correct any ‘issues’ (being only the rowers changing in hue as they were lost in background), I got ready for my final round. I originally scaled the image to 11” x 17”, for the sole purpose of having the extra layers available on Procreate.  You see non-artist types, the larger the starting size, the less layers you have, even at an industry standard threshold (300, but really 600 IMO at least).  Thankfully, upscaling can be done in Adobe Photoshop without error. You DO NOT under any circumstances want to upscale any image or item in Procreate, it will become hideously pixelated, losing most of the detail.  Wait to do it in Photoshop or other software that has the capacity to upscale an image without destroying it. The problem here was none of that, and I’m pretty sure I’ve issued this warning before. Typically, when I get the White Pearl Linen Paper from SGX, it comes in sheets of 13” x 19”. So as not to waste any of the precious commodity, I enlarged my final image to 12” x 18”. The paper SGX had, was however, also 12” x 18”, meaning some of my image was going to be lost, AND it was not going to fit in the frame I needed it to for the show. Or at least I thought. Luckily, I was able to get things worked out (with help from my liaison at SGX), and the final image fit beautifully in the frame.  

The final illustration is hidden with ‘Easter Eggs’, entirely digital, started May 2^nd and finished May 11^th totaling about twenty-two (22) hours. The image was primarily developed in Procreate, with some design work done in Illustrator, and minor editing in Photoshop. What’s that? Well, I could tell you everything I ‘hid’ in this piece (another Stiles Trademark historians!!!), but I’m not going to, so either enjoy or look away, you’re ruining the ‘mystique’.

The piece (limited to a run of 11), was originally featured at Gallery 1988’s ‘Political Menace & Moral Despair A Tribute to David Fincher’, which ran from June 11^th, 2022 through June 25^th, 2022. The image is roughly 12” x 18”, and is printed on white pearl linen paper.  Please check the gallery’s website for 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 and painting. 

 

Website: www.michaelstiles.com

Etsy: Stiles of Art

Threadless: mistiles

LinkedIN: Michael Stiles

IG:  stiles1978

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Twitter: stiles_of_art