Stiles of Art: May 2024

Friday, May 31, 2024

The Crow (1994)

This particular piece was developed for Gallery1988’s ‘30 Years Later (1994)’, a semi-annual show of theirs which is dedicated to films from three decades prior. In this case that would make the film selection from the year of 1994, which was an amazing year for movies. My short list contained: Reality Bites, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, Interview with a Vampire, Clerks, Natural Born Killers, and The Hudsucker Proxy. I however opted for one that I had already done some work on, ‘The Crow’.

Original sketch I did for a previous show that was never used.

The film for those who’ve never seen it, or are gearing up to watch its blasphemous remake, is based on the comic book series created by James O’Barr, who was inspired to write it after the death of his fiancée at the hands of a drunk driver. In both the book and movie we follow newly resurrected ‘Eric Draven’ (Brandon Lee), as he seeks to avenge the death of himself, and his lover ‘Shelly Webster’ (Sofia Shinas), at the hand of a brutal gang that terrorize the city. While a fantastic retelling, it’s haunted by the death of the lead Brandon Lee, who’s tragic death on set, arguably vaulted the film to cult tier status. I’d say it was the cinematography (of Dariusz Wolski), atmosphere, and music that really solidified the films ‘goth’ credentials. It’s a great film (directed by Alex Proyas), and I’d highly recommend it for comic book fans, but I’d also caution against watching any of the sequels as they are rather dreadful.

A few years ago Gallery1988 had a 90’s themed show, and I had created a few concept sketches for illustrations based on a few of the above mentioned films. It was a difficult choice as I said since I had more than one idea generated from this specific prompt, which ironically also were from the same exact year. Odd. Funny thing is I took one look at my design for ‘The Crow’ inspired illustration and was just not loving it. Thankfully I own the film (shocking I know), so I rewatched it, and came up with an entirely different vision that retained some of the original design themes.

Second attempt utilizing a different approach for the illustration by focusing on Shelly and The Crow.

In fact I went through around three or four different layouts, starting over multiple times. It was horrible, as I just couldn’t capture the essence or ‘feel’ of what I wanted to convey. Eventually I managed to put together a series of ideas that worked conceptually, which I was also satisfied with. I knew centrally I wanted to depict the shape of a crow, or ‘The Crow’, from the film which acts as a spirit guide for our main protagonist ‘Eric’. I quickly painted a silhouette of a crow, based on some reference material I found both online, and from the film. I wanted it to be rough or painterly looking, and then tightened up some of the details on the head to make sure it read as a crow. Originally, I wanted to place the circular window from ‘Eric’ and ‘Shelly’s’ apartment centrally, and was going to use it as a framing device for a silhouette of ‘Shelly’ and the crow (the bird not ‘Eric’). I ditched that idea, but I still had the fully designed window, along with the cityscape depicting the different scenarios from within the film (the bar, pawn shop, and gang lair). While these areas are not directly outside the apartment window in the film, it worked for this illustration. Also, in the film, you really can’t make out what is outside the window, as the rain literally never stops falling in this film…there’s even a song called ‘It Can’t Rain All the Time’, in the film…I’m not even joking.

Since I already had the assets for the window completed, it made the next steps a little easier. I wanted to include some other iconography within the illustration for reference to the film. The first was the engagement ring that ‘Eric’ gives ‘Shelly’, which is gifted to ‘Sarah Mohr’ (Rochelle Davis), and later returned by the crow. It plays a somewhat important role in the film in helping ‘Eric’ complete his quest for vengeance. I knew I had to include the gorgeous gothic cathedral where the film’s climax takes place as it is also an important location for our hero. I originally planned on including the gravestones for the characters, but it just didn’t work not matter how hard I tried to incorporate them into the image. It was always a much more dynamic and striking layout without them unfortunately, and they also competed too much with the apparition of ‘Shelly’ that I had placed centrally.

Third attempt which was simply too abstract.

I was also conflicted on displaying them, as it left little mystery to the fates of these characters (which is given at the opening of the movie), and it felt a bit like spoiling the plotline by revealing them. The last image I had to create was ‘Shelly’, which proved to be a little daunting, but I determined early on, I was not going to replicate her likeness because I wanted her to look more like a ‘spirit’, or ‘ghost’. At this point I had to do some rearranging of the images in Adobe Photoshop, primarily resizing the assets so they didn’t get pixelated in Procreate.

It was then I decided to add ‘Eric’s’ ‘face’ into the image, partly because I (still) have a (felt) poster, from the original film’s distribution back in 1994 which had Lee’s eyes on the wings of the crow. This was a popular motif for the franchise, so I could pay proper homage to the original by mimicking the design which plays upon the familiar. Now the make-up worn by Lee lends itself to the image of the crow very well (as I’m sure the original designers also acknowledged). As I was looking at the reference I realized I could use his mouth as the ‘grave’, considering the almost Joker-like application of cosmetics to his lips. I used the same brush as the crow for the lips (Oriental Brush), and then carved out the eyes from the silhouette (using the Studio Pen). I then added the single rose ‘Sarah’ leaves on ‘Eric’s’ grave to bridge the images.

Fourth and final (?), attempt at my layout for this piece.

The coloring process for this piece was confined to a single palette that I found from the internet. I wanted to use a palette that was designed/inspired by, or for, the film. I went through two different choices before I settled on the one I ended up using. I started with the window and worked my way forward with ‘Shelly’ and the rose being the last items to paint. Due to the way I designed the image, I had to invert, and use a lot of layers with color overlays to achieve the final product. Part of this reason was because I was developing everything on a white background, and I knew I wanted the final colored image to have a black background, as it set the tone of the piece better.

While the piece was essentially done, I did go back and make a few adjustments. One item that wasn’t working for me was the window scene. I mean it’s ALWAYS raining in this movie (‘cept maybe during a few parts), so I felt I needed to capture that somehow. I’m not entirely certain I did, but I ended up using the Technical Pen, and Fine Tip brushes in Procreate to create a simulated look of rain falling. Initially it was too bold, so I took down the opacity, and may have even made it a Screen or Multiply layer to soften it. I often experiment with different layer properties until I find something that looks good, and I don’t always pay attention to which one I end up with unfortunately.

Final full color image.

Given that I added the rain, I was also going to have to implies drops on the window. This was actually one of the more enjoyable tasks as it was new to me so I had to spend some time on it. With that done, I still wasn’t completely satisfied with the image. My ‘crow’ looked great. I loved the brush strokes, but, in the film, ‘Eric’s’ make-up has some streaks that go both up and down from his eyes. He models it after a harlequin mask he finds on ‘Shelly’s’ dresser earlier in the film. I looked at the image, and the negative space I had between the crow and lips/grave bothered me. I though about adding the graveyard there, or maybe even rain…but nothing looked right, and it really detracted from the focal point. I then decided to add some paint drips into the crow silhouette, and provide the streaks I needed to match ‘Eric’s’ make-up, while balancing the image out. With that done, I concluded I had nothing left to give on this image and sent it out to the printers for proofing.

The original sketch was started on March 1^st, 2022, and the file included sketches for five other concepts as well. I would return to the file on May 18^th, 2024, and finishing the image on May 31^st, 2024, with the initial drawings and clean-up taking around twenty-five (25) hours, and ten (10) minutes, and the coloring process taking an additional twenty-three (23) hours, and fifteen (15) minutes, resulting in a total time of forty-eight (48) hours, and twenty-five (25) minutes.

Final 10" X 10" image on White Pearl Linen.

The 10” x 10” image (printed on white pearl linen, thank you SGX), was made for Gallery1988’s ‘30 Years Later (1994)’, a curiously curated collection of works dedicated to the films of 1994, which opened June 14^th, 2024. 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.

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Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Chickenfoot

This piece was inspired by Gallery1988’s ‘Smorgasbord’ group show, loosely themed around food, and the mascots many companies use to peddle them, as well as those from film and television that may not actually exist in the real world.

Initially, I had a hard time determining what, or who I was going to depict for my piece.

This show had been scheduled as part of their original line-up, but also happened to land on the same day as their newly introduced ‘Masters’ show, which had me pressed on time. I also had little to no idea about what I was going to create. I flirted with doing a piece utilizing the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the ‘Ghostbusters’ franchise, but ultimately another idea fell into my lap.

First pass at Chickenfoot, which was just...boring.

I recalled my love for the franchise ‘Invader Zim’, and felt that this particular project would fulfill that need for a Jhonen Vasquez inspired piece. I typically steer clear of animation for my inspirations since their identifiability revolves primarily around the design or style of the series. For me, this means it needs to look close enough like the original to be recognizable without being outright plagiarism…not sure I succeeded there, but I did draw the whole thing by hand, so…it’s at least a testament to my skills in following a style….?

I digress…in the show, Vasquez creates a wildly creative vision that borders on the ludicrous. There are several fast food franchises in the series, one of which is prominently showcased in the episode “The Sad, Sad, Tale of Chickenfoot” (S1,EP18). In the episode, one of the characters seeks to expose a ‘cryptid’ sighting as a fraudulent hoax, which haunts the local ‘Chicky Licky’ fast food chain.

I was energized by the concept, and quickly set to sketching some images for the piece.

I thought I could take a simpler approach here, do maybe just a character study similar to the sketch cards I’ve done, or a cryptid like image poster. The problem was I had a hard time finding any reference for what I had in mind. I wanted something similar in style to those sasquatch images with a full moon I know I’ve seen somewhere.

I’m guessing it was really just a search term issue, but I also didn’t want the design to be too influenced either.

I decided instead to merge my concept, and typical design workflow.

I watched the episode closely, and took note of how I could incorporate my ideas.

I gathered some reference for the piece, along with potential Easter eggs I wanted to add later if time allowed.

Then I set to sketching the establishment our ‘cryptid’ haunts, followed by a few scenarios from the episode including the hospital, and apartment complex. I then added a few extra elements including the ‘Baby’, from the previous half of the episode (“Abducted”), ‘Turkey Neck’, and a floating screen with ‘Professor Membrane’. Both characters have cameos in the episode themselves, but were utilized for their design and placement to keep the image a bit more interesting.

My final task was one I was dreading.

‘Chickenfoot’.

In the episode, ‘Chickenfoot’ is created during a freak accident which results in smoke pouring out of the establishment, which as anyone familiar with my work, is the PERFECT vehicle for creating things out of, or housing a new image within.

That said, I had to find several images to create the pose I had in mind for my main attraction. I wanted it look almost like he was howling in pain or at the moon like some wild creature (contrary to the truth). It wasn’t easy, but I think I eventually worked it out.

Final layout for Chickenfoot.

My original plan was I wanted to take these sketches and ‘ink’ them digitally, but I felt it was unnecessary, and it would take entirely too much time, time I was running short on, primarily because this was a two-show deadline, in addition to whatever commission work I have taken on.

Instead, I cleaned up my sketch lines, while retaining their looseness. I felt it complimented the style I was inspired by.

Happy with the images, I exported them into Adobe Photoshop to do some editing, primarily scaling to retain image quality. I also needed to move some stuff around and play with the layout a bit.

My next step was the color process. This is usually the longest step of illustrating a piece for me as I do a lot of guessing in terms of shadows/light/color/etc. Thankfully I had a lot of very applicable image references that worked splendidly. I wanted to set the scene at night so I could utilize the moon as a framing device for ‘Chickenfoot’ like a proverbial spotlight. With all my items in play, I began digitally painting the difference pieces of the illustration, starting with the more complex buildings of the hospital, and apartment complex, before moving on to the smaller images working from back to front. The only exception here being, I did paint the ‘Chicky Licky’ store first before ‘Chickenfoot’, as I knew the limited palette for my main image would be easier to navigate.

Final colored image.

Upon completing the painting process I took the image back into Photoshop, this time to make some slight adjustments on the colors to get them to all work within a reasonable range of tones. I wasted more time then necessary on one part (‘Chickenfoot’), when all I really needed to do was drop the saturation in order to make it work. Overall, the process really didn’t take too long, primarily because I had such good reference material (IMO).

My last step was to get the image proofed so I knew how it was going to look when printed before I send it off to the gallery. Thankfully the image didn’t need any adjusting which is always a relief.

I started the piece on April 18^th, 2024 and completed it on May 14^th, 2024. I spent approximately fifty-four (54) hours, and twenty-eight (28) minutes working on the piece. Twenty-nine (29) hours, and forty-three (43) minutes were spent sketching out the assets for the piece. I then spent another twenty-three (23) hours, and seventeen (17) minutes painting the images. Finally I spent around one (1) hour and thirty (30) minutes in Photoshop editing the piece.