Stiles of Art: May 2023

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

MOTHER OF STYLE

There are a few annual shows I do a year, that I always look forward to, and Gallery1988’s ‘Idiot Box’ is definitely one of them. The show’s theme centers around television shows starting from the turn of the century, and gives me an opportunity to usually do personal fan service to a series that I love (which also works for the gallery’s clientele). My plan was to do something completely different than what you see here, but due to time constraints, I had to act and think, quickly. Thankfully, whenever I receive a prompt list, I do a little bit of brainstorming myself, and usually come up with a collection of concepts. I also finally got around to some of those shows in my cue, including this years selection, ‘American Horror Story’.

Season Five, ‘Hotel’ to be exact, but the series in general is a marvel to behold, and filled with such talented performances.

Interior Art Deco reference shot of 'Hotel Cortez' from (season five of) 'American Horror Story: Hotel'.

For those unaware the series ‘American Horror Story’ (or AHS to it’s fanbase), showcases a different story each season, in most case with the ensemble of actors from previous installments returning as different characters. The show works as a whole due to cohesive acting team, but occasionally, there is a standout.

‘Liz Taylor’.

Denis O’Hare gives a magnificent performance as the ‘Mother of Style’, in the fifth season entitled ‘Hotel’. I refuse to give any details because Liz’s story is very well scripted, but it’s wrought with hardship. As Liz, O’Hare is the face of the hotel that guests see first, and all too often, the last. The hotel itself is based loosely on the infamous Cecil Hotel which became a beacon for misfortune, and the ‘Cortez’, is no different. The season also stars: Lady Gaga, Wes Bentley, Kathy Bates, Matt Boomer, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, Chloe Sevigny, Evan Peters, Cheyenne Jackson, Finn Wittrock, and Mare Winningham.

Denis O'Hare, as 'Liz Taylor' in (season five of) 'American Horror Story: Hotel'.

With my selection in mind, and the clock ticking, I had what I like to call a ‘false start’. I was so rushed to get something started, that while yes, I was striving towards a goal…it wasn’t a pretty goal. My composition was clearly uninspired.

I needed help.

I had already done my research, so I had plenty of reference, (even if it wasn’t that great), but something was just off. I went back to my notes and decided to focus more on Liz as a portrait, as my currently design included too much negative space that was just left unfilled. Also my background was ugly and just didn’t work with the image.

Initially I had some Art Deco reference shots to help with designing my interior. Since the art movement played such an important role in the ambiance of the hotel (which was where the season took place almost entirely), it needed to be represented here as well (and for other reasons that fans will appreciate).

I had already vectored out a lot of the background in Adobe Illustrator, but went back in, multiple times to make adjustments. I raised the Cortez’s logo a handful of times, and then utilized it’s design from the hotel entrance to act as a stained glass or framing device for Liz. The side panels were also taken from that same door frame structure.

While this mechanic didn’t change too much, it did change shape, size, and color a few times before settling on the design we have in the final image.

Original digital pencil layout design.

Liz herself also proved to be a chore in some ways.

Inspired by Ruud Studio's piece below, I basically replicated it in Procreate, using Liz as my subject, and taking several personal liberties as well. Due to the change in composition I needed to gather more reference images, which eventually led me to creating a composite out of several images in order to get the pose intended.

With that in order I set to digitally painting Liz, and selecting one of her many dazzling outfits to adorn her with. Given the reference material, and color scheme that I was also replicating, I narrowed Liz’s wardrobe down to a black dress she wore towards the end of the season that had a spectacularly sparkly collar.

That combined with her headwrap, and gold bell dangling earrings, she was complete.

Gorgeous portrait with Art Deco border by Ruud Studio used for inspiration, and reference.

The next step was to include her customary compulsion, otherwise…how would one recognize her without cigarette in hand?

The real issue was how to portray the smoke as the juxtaposition of the rendered flesh, versus the flat and rather mechanical nature of art deco.

I ended up going with a series of dots, that overlapped each other a bit like bubbles, but I included a variation on their tints to provide some contrast between them. The one thing I liked about this approach was that the ‘smoke’ almost blended back into the background, much like Liz’s dress does at the bottom. This echoed repetition I felt was successful enough to work for the design that I played with perspective and depth a bit by manipulating the background design (with both smoke, and Liz’s dress).

Satisfied with the design, I took the image into Adobe Photoshop and made some minor adjustments to the contrasting, primarily on the jewelry as it was reading very dark. With that done, I sent the image off to print. I had very little time between pieces during this images development, so I ended up having to contact the gallery to ask for an extension, which I do not like to do. I am glad however that I did, as the image turned out beautiful.

Denis O'Hare as 'Liz Taylor' or the 'Mother of Style', from (season five of) 'American Horror Story: Hotel'.

I started the piece on May 9^th, 2023, and finished it May 17^th, 2023 totaling thirty three (33) hours, and fifty three (53) minutes. In that time, I spent twenty eight (28) hours, and fifty three (53) minutes in Procreate, with an additional two (2) hours in Adobe Illustrator, and three (3), in Adobe Photoshop editing.

The 11” x 14” image (printed on white pearl linen, thank you SGX), was made for Gallery1988’s ‘Idiot Box’, which opened online June 2^nd, 2023. 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

Threadless: mistiles

LinkedIN: Michael Stiles

IG: stiles1978

TikTok: stiles1978

Pinterest: Michael Stiles

Tumblr: stiles1978

Twitter: stiles_of_art

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

BIG ‘UNS: THE LAST TISSUE

As I was working on my current piece for Hero Complex Gallery’s ‘Righteous Rides Again!’, they contacted me with another opportunity for a show entitled ‘Sitcom Showdown’. I took a beat, and wondered if I could fit this one in, and then in order to combat the normal hesitancy I have in these predicaments, I simply dove into the project immediately after finishing the my ‘…Rides…’ piece. Sometimes I have a decent concept and have to shelve it for a moment because there just isn’t a good venue, or prompt that fits it. They’re usually ‘orphaned’ ideas I have had while brainstorming for various shows, as was the case with this piece. This concept I recalled from developing ideas for a Fake Gig/Fake Product show(s), I have done over the years. Some of the locales have annual shows that maintain a specific theme, so it’s always good to have a few back-up ideas for next time. Since this event was sitcom themed, I looked over my list and spotted one that would work well, my ‘Married with Children’ magazine cover.

David Faustino as teenage son 'Bud', reading Al's beloved periodical.

While the show has not been on the air for a while, it still exists in the streaming world, and I believe the land of syndication on cable television…somewhere, along with ‘I Love Lucy’, ‘The Simpsons’, and ‘Law & Order’. Probably sandwiched between ‘Futurama’, or reruns of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadephia’.

I digress.

Anyhow, for those unaware (or living in a cave), MWC features the ‘Bundy’s’, a working class family of ye’ olde’ days when one income was sufficient living, so…not very relatable by today’s standards, and also completely inappropriate for the easily triggered. It stars father ‘Al (Bundy)’ as played by ‘Modern Family’ alumni Ed O’Neill, his wife ‘Peggy (Bundy)’ played by the multifaceted Katey Sagal, and their children ‘Kelly’ (a very youg Christina Applegate), and ‘Bud’ (David Faustino). Rounding out the cast are some other faces including ‘Marcy Darcy’ (Amanda Bearse), and her husband(s) ‘Steve’ (David Garrison) and ‘Jefferson’(Ted McGinley), as well as the family dog ‘Buck’. There are many themes that ran over the course of twelve seasons from 1987 to 1997, including jokes about Al’s job as a shoe salesman, and his football heyday obsessions, or how tenacious yet unmotivated they were. It was a truly interesting show, and one of the few I can recall watching as a family in my house (oddly enough). My family did not practice broad censorship, or share the conservative ideology that television rotted the mind, both of which were so prevalent at the time.

My blueprint/layout for the final image.

The biggest challenge with creating work to encompass a series this vast (and provoking my own nostalgia), is how to detach myself from it enough while still providing ‘fan’ service. I recalled several reoccurring jokes/themes from the show, but in order to not have a mandala effect take place here, I had to fact check myself before I got too far into this piece. First, I knew from my notes that I wanted the design to be a magazine cover (in retrospect a TV Guide cover would have been a good idea too…I digress…again), which worked with my timeframe, and it’s something I am vaguely familiar with doing (in college). The cover I had in mind was…slightly controversial…as the only magazine I was aware of from the show, was Al’s Playboy’s, or the one he began reading later into the series (may have been a copyright issue or even Playboy not wanting to be associated with the show), called BIG ‘UNS (also a syndicated periodical at the time as well however this was ‘fictional’). My biggest challenge was executing this as tastefully and respectfully as possible but pay homage to the crass nature of the show. Due to the nature of the magazine, I only had a few options for who would grace its cover, Kelly, Peggy, or Marcy. I felt Kelly was in bad taste (as Applegate is a breast cancer survivor), and Marcy’s character was never overtly sexualized in the show, so it wouldn’t make sense. Peggy however seemed to work as a better subject for multiple reasons. Her penchant for animal print clothing, flaming red hair teased to the sky, and love of large (matching) jewelry are easily recognizable, making her a natural choice.

I then set to work with a rough layout and some headings, using the reference I gathered from various covers of Playboy magazines off google. Using this as a template, on my iPad, I digitally sketched my layout, and created some fake headlines, making note of other features to include (font selection, and barcodes,) as these would be needed to complete the ‘look’. I was originally thinking of doing a late 1980’s workout theme, but abandoned the idea after having difficulty in finding adequate reference material. I was also short on time, so some concessions would need to be made, hence, I settled on a portrait. Taking scale into account, I wanted to make sure contrast was on point with this piece, so I decided to base my colors around ‘Peggy’s’ recognizable look. With this in mind, and reference in hand I went ahead and started painting Sagal digitally in Procreate. I took a different approach with this one, and it seems to have been rather successful. I wanted to reduce my layer usage, and since this piece was rather simple in design, it seemed like a good time to practice the habit (of reducing file size). Upon completing a majority of the image (while on vacation no less), I then went back to my desktop (when I returned home), and set about designing the copy for the cover. I went through several different selections in Adobe Illustrator, before I finally settled on using Superclaredon Black for the title which I altered to look more like my reference from the show. For the article headlines I used Arial Black Regular. I then exported the typography and overlaid it onto the image, which I intentionally left unfinished in some parts. The reason was, I considered that I may not have to develop the entire face or image if the type was going to cover it, saving me some time. Unfortunately, the type did not cover enough, so even with some clever manipulation, it was necessary to finish the portrait completely. Thankfully, I had only neglected to paint in the eyes, as my original intention was to mask this part of the face with the title, which failed to line up the way I intended. It also looked better while I was editing the piece in Adobe Photoshop to have ‘Peggy’ fully visible. This resulted in me having to finish the portrait in Procreate, and then once again edit in Photoshop for the final time before sending it off to print.

Final 11" x 14" image featuring Katey Sagal as matron Peggy Bundy.

I started the piece on April 22^nd, 2023, and finished it May 9^th, 2023 clocking in fifty nine (59) hours, and fifteen (15) minutes. In that time I spent fifty four (54) hours in Procreate, with the remained broken up amongst Adobe Illustrator (around three hours), and Adobe Photoshop (around two hours) designing the font, and editing the piece for print. Thankfully the proofing came back spot on, and I was able to simply order the set I needed for the gallery within time.

The 11” x 14” image (printed on 100lb Cover, thank you SGX), was made for Hero Complex Gallery’s May 27^th, 2023 ‘Sitcom Showdown’ a collaborative show dedicated to the shows we know and love. 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.