Conan the Destroyer (1984)

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). 

 

'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.

 

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.

 

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. 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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?

 

Final colored snippet of 'Akiro, the Wizard 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.

Final (watermarked) 12" x 18", 'Conan the Destroyer' (1984) illustration

I started the illustration on June 13^th, 2023, and completed it on July 25^th, 2023 taking one hundred and fifty-two (152) hours, and nine (9) minutes. Almost a hundred (100) hours less than my ‘Conan the Barbarian’ piece I did two years ago. While this one is a bit different in style, I still see this as an improvement in both speed and skill so…

One point for Gryffindor….?

Although, maybe not, as the piece was due on July 21^st, 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 4^th, 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.

 

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.

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

 

 

Ray’s (Crime) Bored

Occasionally, I will get invited to participate in group show dedicated to a specific franchise or movie, as was the case with Gallery1988’s ‘God I Love This Street’ (‘The ‘Burbs’) group show. The tribute was based around the 1989 movie (the ‘Burbs’ starring Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern, Corey Feldman, Rick Ducommun, Wendy Schaal, Henry Gibson, Theodore Gottlieb, Courtney Gains, Gale Gordon and many more. In the film, Ray (Hanks) is home on a ‘staycation’ and begins to suspect his new neighbors the Klopek family, might be up to some nefarious acts. It’s a classic film of Hank’s, and is beloved by many fans, making it a foreboding task to illustrate properly.

 

Rough layout of the crime board on a digitally painted 'cork' backing.

Typically when I start a piece for a themed show, I have some kind of idea of what I am going to do, or how am I going to approach it.  That is not always the case, and occasionally I have to pick a direction and hope it works out for the best. I usually have a ‘vision’ in mind regardless, but execution, as many creatives know, isn’t always the smoothest. In regards to this image, my only conceptual idea was a crime board where I could collect specific pieces of the storyline, and scatter them about like a ‘Where’s Waldo’ book littered with as many Easter eggs as I could possibly include…at least that was the objective.

Like most works I sat down and rewatched the film, which I hadn’t seen in decades.

In fact, I’m not sure I’ve seen the film in it’s entirety.

The first time I saw the movie was when my parents took me to see it at the drive-in, and I think I might have fallen asleep.

I digress.

I set about watching the film, and collecting any imagery I thought might be useful as reference later. I knew however that a second or third viewing was likely with a piece like this one where the details are important. I also know that my work tends to evolve, so sometimes I need to adjust the images for the purpose of the layout, or even collect more reference for a specific pose/character/etc.

I also had some reference images from the internet with some interesting layouts for a crime board, so I knew what kind of images I needed to create for it.

 

Walter (Gale Gordon), with his dog 'Queenie'.

I started the piece first by creating the corkboard background in Procreate, of which my images were going to be arranged. I’m not entirely sure which brushes I used for the textured look, but it was mostly about experimenting until I found something that replicated the desired effect. Looking at my reference (for the crime boards), I noticed there were usually some articles, notes, cards, pictures, and usually some kind of yarn or string connecting these elements to one another.

The next step I took was creating a sketch over the top of the background layer and begin to ‘arrange’ my elements to create an interesting layout (which evolved). With my elements in place I began working in steps to illustrate my board. Now I should mention that the plot of this particular film isn’t very complex, and nor is the (spectacular) cast very large, so creating enough things to fill the space of this board was actually much more challenging than I thought it was going to be. In fact I think a straightforward illustration would have been easier in some regards, but I didn’t choose that path, so…moving on.

The first image I produced was for the business card on the board which really has nothing to do with the plotline or story of the film, and is one of the most blatant Easter eggs in the image. The plumbers are only mentioned once by the garbage men when Ray and his neighbors are searching the refuse for evidence.

Next up was the note that Art (Ducommun) leaves the Klopeks (the new neighbors), and is promptly returned to an enraged Ray.

I then created some templates for polaroid pictures that I wanted to include on the board of Walter (Gordon), and the femur Ray’s dog Vince finds, as this would be really the only way to represent them here. At this point scale became a concern. I knew this image was going to have to establish some kind of scale system in order for it to be even partially realistic looking. I had a business card available, so that was an easy measure, but the polaroid was a different story, especially considering the time frame, polaroid’s were different in size and window aspect ratios of which any trained will be able to tell. Thankfully I am old enough to own several polaroid’s from this era, so it was a simple matter of using a ruler to measure it all out.

My next task was all the post it style notes I decided to pepper the board with, and the two newspaper articles that I wanted to include as well. I used the scale from post its I had lying around, and compared that to the previous images developed.

For the notes, I decided that standard yellow was best (for quickly identifying as a note). The articles I knew were going to need to be different enough that they looked like they were from different time periods (or aged). The top article was going to tell the story Art relays to Ricky (Feldman), about ‘Skip’ the local soda jerk who murdered his whole family. The other article was a nod to how Art tells Ray about the Klopek’s former residence burning down before they moved to Hinkley Hills. 

 

Various notes, neighborhood map, and newspaper article.

 

Upon completely the bases for most of these items, I went back to the polaroids, and began to develop the interior images. First I created the femur, which still looks a bit off to me, but I tried my best, followed by Walter (Gordon), holding Queenie. I also decided to add an image (of a house fire)to one of the articles in order to make it more interesting.

My next challenge was Walter’s toupee.

Why I didn’t do another polaroid is beyond me, but it might have been easier. The reference I was able to pull for this wasn’t really that great, so I did my best to at least make it look like it was hair, even if it’s a bit hard to discern. Thankfully the implementation of the post it notes helps identify anything questionable. My real concern was the scale. I used my reference shots, many of which had several character hands handling said toupee, which gave me some idea of scale. I cross referenced this with my other images, and figured out the best way to mitigate the size issue. If anything it might be a bit smaller than it should be, however, one could argue it’s wadded up as well because its inside a bag, right?

The final image I  needed to create was a map of the neighborhood that I could use to place as my largest piece of evidence to fill in some of the empty space. I initially had several locales I wanted to include on the map that are mentioned in the film, like the mall/soda fountain, the pizza place (which is never named or clearly identified in the film which would have served as a better business card IMO), deli, golf course, ‘Garden Center’, or even the hospital, but I surprisingly lacked the space.

Once I began to fill the interior of the map (based off the best reference I could get from the film including home placement), I realized that in order to focus on the neighborhood, it would need to be central, and very easy to identify. I was going to include the home address numbers on the map (or buildings), but thought it might be too distracting. Instead I opted to include the only two notable street names in the film, Mayfield Place (where our story takes place), and Elm Street, the site of another series of unfortunate events.

In terms of scale for the map, I thankfully could make it look rather folded in order to create the illusion it was much larger than it appeared.

 

Final 17" x 11" image.

With the illustration process primarily done, I took the images into Adobe Illustrator to add typography to several of them. I started first with the business card for ‘Roselli Plumbing’, and used Charlemagne STD Bold for the title of the card, and I used Supermarket Sale for the slogan. For the articles I used Mom’s Typewriter for the older one detailing the murders, and Times Roman Bold for the house fire story. For the map I used Cambria Math Regular, and all the remaining font work was done by hand. I also wrote the entire articles myself (at least the visible parts), with a little help from the autofill for the other areas (which are complete nonsense).

 

The final task I had before proofing the image was to add some more dimension or shadows it. It was looking rather flat, so I took the image back into Procreate and added some depth behind the overlapping images which really helped overall. With that I done, I sent the image to proof, which unfortunately took two passes, primarily because the corkboard background was too light, and some of the shadows needed adjusting. I even ended up tweaking a few things like the note Art writes because they just weren’t looking right. In fact, there are two elements in this piece that I feel if I was more skilled with, could have really made this a solid piece. It’s not bad, but it’s a bit off from my original vision. I also ditched the idea of using any kind of connecting string or yarn, as I felt it would have been too distracting. Overall, I think the most successful aspects of this piece are the map and articles, with the post it notes being the most fun.

 

I started the piece on May 21^st, 2023, and finished it June 20^th, 2023 totaling thirty five (35) hours, and seven (7) minutes.  In that time, I spent twenty seven (27) hours, and seven (7) minutes in Procreate, with an additional five (5) hours in Adobe Illustrator, and three (3), in Adobe Photoshop editing.

 

The 17” x 11” image (printed on 100lb Cover, thank you SGX), was made for Gallery1988’s  ‘God I Love This Street’, a group show dedicated to the beloved film ‘The ‘Burbs’, which opened July 14^th, 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

 

 

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