As an artist I feel like there are some callings you just can’t ignore, and this would be one of those times.
Two years ago I paid homage to one of my favorite childhood movies, ‘Conan the Barbarian’ (1982).
You can read about that albatross here (it came with a few challenges, and I believe it still reigns supreme for the most time spent on an illustration, in my portfolio).
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| 'Conan the Destroyer' layout design sketch |
It was made originally for Gallery1988’s Crazy 4 Cult XV, which spotlights cult films from the days of yore. It’s really one of the few shows I participate in where I really feel like I have free reign to choose something within my wheelhouse.
Oddly enough, I planned to do the sequel for the gallery’s Crazy 4 Cult XVI, but instead went with the 1985 film ‘Legend’.
So when the opportunity presented itself again this year with Crazy 4 Cult XVII, I coincidentally went back to ‘Conan’, which also had a two year gap between films with the sequel ‘Conan the Destroyer’ being released in 1984.
The thing is, between the two films, I really enjoyed the sequel (‘Destroyer’), more even though the original is really well done (for this genre), and between the two, is definitely more polished.
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| Thumbnail and final sketch of Thoth-Amon's Crystal Palace on the lake |
Even though the directors switched from John Milius to Richard Fleischer, I believe Milius, who also wrote the original screenplay based on Robert E. Howard’s character of ‘Conan’ along with Oliver Stone, consulted with Fleischer during the sequel’s making. The two would also later team-up to film ‘Red Sonja’, which would also co-star Schwarzenegger as ‘Kalidor’, and Sandahl Bergman as the lead villain ‘Queen Gedren’. Sandahl returning to the universe this time as the antagonist, formerly portraying the love interest of ‘Conan’, ‘Valeria’ (from ‘Conan the Barbarian’).
That being said, this film for some reason really reminds me of my childhood. I used to play Dungeons & Dragons when I was an adolescent, and I also collected comic books. I knew who ‘Conan’ was and could recognize him immediately on a cover of any periodical. In fact I still have an oversized ‘Conan’ comic complete with stunning tonal illustrations which managed to inspire me artistically. Since D&D and ‘Conan’ have some similarities, they were often merchandised together explaining my exposure, and that should bring us back to the present.
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Final sketch of 'Zula' as played by the multi-faceted Grace Jones
Having selected my film for the show, I then set about watching the movie to consider how I would layout my piece. I have seen the sequel more times than I would ever care to count, and I’m not in least bit ashamed.
I love it, and every little thing about it.
It’s a complete popcorn flick without the strength of a solid story present in first epic.
Instead we are given what we really want (at least at the time).
Spectacle.
The cast here even reflects the curse of a bigger budget sequel with names like the multitalented Grace Jones as ‘Zula’, or basketball star Wilt Chamberlain as the Captain of the Guard, ‘Bombaata’. We also get newcomer Olivia d’Abo as ‘Princess Jehnna’, Tracey Walter as ‘Malak’ (‘Conan’s’ partner in crime), and Sarah Douglas as ‘Queen Taramis of Shadizaar’. Only Mako Iwamatsu and Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising their roles from the prior film as Akiro, ‘the Wizard (of the Mounds)’, and the Cimmerian Conan. Pat Roach also makes another appearance, however in this tale, his role is heavily costumed concealing his appearance. There is also a costumed cameo by none other than André René Roussimoff, or André the Giant as he was more commonly known.
I for one, am here for it.
Not sure if I made that clear.
In my very skewed opinion…this movie is #flawless.
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| Final sketch of 'Malak' as portrayed by chameleon Tracey Walter |
Upon completing my viewing of this masterpiece, I set about creating some sketches for my layout in Procreate to depict what I had envisioned. I eventually came up with a solid concept after a little over four (4) hours of sketching on my iPad (Pro). With my layout solidified, I set to gathering reference shots for the images I was going to be illustrating for my piece. My plan was to do a narrative illustration that tells the story as closely as possible. Looking at some of my other more successful pieces I also determined that a well-defined boundary or framing device always helps my pieces look better. I settled on using the mirror segmentations that are so prevalent in the Thoth-Amon scenes since they might not too jarring depending on how I utilized them.
I also decided early on that I wanted some of the segments of the mirror to pass through, overlap, or be covered by, the other various images I was going to be adding to the overall piece. I thought this would give the illustration more depth, and keep the eye moving.
Once I completed the border designs in Adobe Illustrator (spending really about twenty minutes as it was super simple line work over an illustration I already did), I returned to Procreate and dropped it in as a layer making some adjustment with the placement until I was satisfied.
I began the piece by first tackling the main man himself, ‘Conan’. I decided for this piece I was going to try something a bit different, but still within comfortable parameters. I have been utilizing the Sketching brushes in Procreate on my iPad (Pro), and practicing with them more as I miss the varying line work you can get with pencil. While Paint give vibrancy to a piece, pencil or linework is what provides me with form, or basically a roadmap as to how I am going to proceed. Similar to my ‘Blade’ piece, I wanted this one to have a more painterly feel as the former was primarily monochromatic with some tonal shifts here and there. I wanted to get away from the doing singular-colored pieces, as I feel I need to start approaching works with multiple colors. My struggle usually is, I plan more so for a striking layout, and when color comes into play, I have a difficult time making decisions about what I was going to need to alter or adjust. For this piece, I was particularly pressed on time, so most of the color choices were made with haste (which overall seems to have worked in the finished product). In terms of the drawing process, like I stated earlier, I used the Sketching 6B brush in Procreate, and spent about eighty-two (82) hours, and twenty five (25) minutes developing all the sketches that were to be painted. The longest sketches were both ‘Taramis’, and the ‘Temple of the Horn’ (the weird looking flaming thing in the bottom half of the illustration), both clocking in around thirteen (13) hours give or take.
Why?
Reference.
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| Final sketch of 'Dagoth, the Dreaming God' statue. |
The reference I had wasn’t the best, and I had to develop a composite image for ‘Taramis’, and made some executive decisions with the ‘Temple’ as some details just weren’t discernable.
‘Dagoth’, and ‘Akiro’ were also tough customers, as was ‘Princess Jehnna’ herself (who’s hardly visible in this piece to begin with). I had the biggest crush on Olivia d’Abo after seeing this movie, so I wanted to do her justice in this piece, and while you really can’t see it too well, I could have done a better job capturing her likeness.
For ‘Dagoth’, for the majority of the film is an inanimate statue, so I figured, using him as a silhouette framing the bottom of the piece would work nicely. There are however not many shots in the film of the statue in its entirety, which resulted in more composite work, and in the end, a lot of guessing.
Once I completed the sketches, I moved onto rearranging them as PNG files in Adobe Photoshop on my Desktop Mac. Procreate LOVES to add dithering to anything erased or that has a soft edge, and the only work around I have found is to export them as PNG’s and then stitch the whole thing back together.
Also since in Procreate, whenever you adjust the size of linework or a drawing, it loses sharpness.
Not cool.
So, Photoshop it is to avoid this.
I spent about an hour moving images and manipulating them until I was finally satisfied with my layout.
I then saved it as PSD file, and took it back into Procreate to begin the painting process.
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| Final sketch of 'Akiro, the Wizard of the Mounds', as played by the late great Mako (Iwamatsu) |
Oh and what a process that was.
LOL.
I started first with my background, and given the limited layers in Procreate at certain file sizes or thresholds, I determined it would be best to maximize its use. I decided that both the Crystal Palace setting of ‘Thoth-Amon’, and the landscape shots of the city of ‘Shadizar’ would best be relegated to this layer.
In fact, up until very late in the design, I opted to not provide the image of ‘Shadizar’ simply because there just wasn’t adequate room for it. However, as I progressed with arranging my layout in Photoshop, I determined that even at the size it is, it would still bring something to the piece. It also worked within the layout since I wanted both ‘Taramis’’ glass, and ‘Akiro’s’ fingers to be housed within the diamond symbols on the perimeters of the work.
With ‘Conan’ as a barrier, the color shift worked without being too jarring, and felt more natural.
Next I tackled the ‘Destroyer’ himself.
The trickiest part here was, this is where I was going to start setting the mood or tone of the piece depending on what colors I used, and even what shades. Initially I imported the image I used for reference and decided that due to time constraints, maybe we just let nature decide?
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Final colored snippet of 'Akiro, the Wizrard of the Mounds', portrayed by the amazing Mako (Iwamatsu)
Yeah, no.
While I did use some of the colors from that palette, I ended up actually manipulating them later in the Hue options under Adjustments as he was reading way too dark for how some of the other parts of the piece were developing.
Eventually what I did was instead of importing the image to get the actual colors, I simply did my best using my own eyes and I think its successful for the most part.
The painting process took me roughly sixty-eight (68) hours, and four (4) minutes, with ‘Akiro’ taking the prize for most difficult, followed by…yes you guessed it, ‘Taramis’! Also ‘Conan’ was a bit labored, most likely because he was the first image I did as his palette isn’t really that complex.
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| Final (watermarked) 12" x 18", 'Conan the Destroyer' (1984) illustration |
One point for Gryffindor….?
Although, maybe not, as the piece was due on July 21st, 2023.
I did reach out to the gallery though a week before it was due because I knew then, that I was not going to make the deadline.
Thankfully my proof came back clean, so I didn’t need to make any adjustments on the image. With that complete, I provided the gallery with my information for the show, and when the prints were ready I shipped them out.
The 12” x 18” image (printed on white pearl linen, thank you SGX), was made for Gallery1988’s‘Crazy 4 Cult XVII’, a group show showcasing artworks paying homage to a plethora of cult movies, which opened August 4th, 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.
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| Mock-up of 12" x 18", 'Conan the Destroyer' (1984) |
For more information, or to see a catalog of my other work, please visit my online store here.
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