Amigos! Amigos! Amigos!

Inspired by the 1986 film ‘Three Amigos!’ (directed by John Landis), Gallery1988 decided to do a tribute show to the classic comedy. The film stars three legendary actors and comedians: Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Martin Short, alongside Alfonso Arau, Tony Plana, and Patrice Martinez. The remaining cast is filled in by an assortment of familiar faces (as are most movies starring SNL alumni), along with a large cast of characters that fill the small fictitious village in Mexico, where most of the film takes place. It is here in the village of Santa Poco, where the story takes place involving a classic villain, and a village in need of heroes!

Loose concept for Amigos! Amigos! Amigos! alongside some notes.

 

I recall seeing this movie at least once, but the details were rather hazy, so I went into research mode. This typically involves me watching said film which happened to be available on MAX to stream at the time. I reviewed the film, and after familiarizing myself with the story, I set about brainstorming howI could properly capture the nature of this film.

 

I’m not sure at what stage it was, but relatively early on, I had the idea of creating a ‘Where’s Waldo’-style page with the Amigos. Now if you haven’t seen the film, this concept will be entirely lost on you. If you have, you’re probably thinking…Ohhhhhhhhh!

Right?

Well, I immediately set to work getting shots from the film to adapt into a cartoon looking version of the village, along with other various elements from the movie I was going to depict.

I also really needed some reference material for the ‘Waldo’ page. I know I could do it, but it would be much easier if I had a visual example so I could determine how best to layout my piece.

Luckily, I had a friend who happened to have a ‘Waldo’ book they let me borrow (thank you Sandra).

 

Preliminary sketches with completed telegram.

 

I began working on first designing the ‘postcard’ that each ‘Waldo’ page has upon opening it to a new section.

In this case, I suppose I could have used a postcard, but thankfully the film starts out with a very important and misleading telegram from a concerned resident of Santa Poco addressed to the Amigos. I opted instead to recreate an authentic looking telegram from the time-period of the film (1916). I had to rewatch the film to get the verbiage correct on the message sent, and then needed to find images online of actual telegrams from that era.

I then took my sketches into Adobe Illustrator, and vectored out the design, while also utilizing several fonts for the telegram itself (Courier New, American Typewriter Semibold/Condensed, and Mom’s Typewriter).

 

Final digital inking of Santa Poco.

 

I then exported the final product back into Procreate as a PNG, digitally painted it to looked aged, and added a shadow as well (like the ‘Waldo’ books).

Next, I set about sketching out the background and village.

This took some time as I’m not that skilled of an artist with perspective, and the ‘Waldo’ books have a very specific one. I did my best to capture the spirit, and then proceeded to cleaning up the drawings for color.

After inking the linework, I then quickly applied color as my deadline was rapidly approaching.

I stuck to a very limited color palette as I noticed this was one of the key details that they use in the book which causes confusion for the eye. It’s difficult to ‘eliminate’ details when looking for something if it falls within a similar pattern as the elements surrounding it, go figure.

 

With the background, and buildings all finished I went to work at adding my ‘Amigos’ into the mix.

This also proved to be REALLY, tedious after a while. I did enjoy some of the process and had fun with it, but soon ran out of ideas for what the ‘Amigos’ could be doing.

I also started to include various Easter Eggs to reference other parts of the film, some more obvious than others. If I had the time I would have included more, but I was on a deadline, and even at that, I had asked for an extension of a few days to finish. The overlap of this show and my last one, made it almost impossible to finish this one on time.

I intentionally chose to do something simple for both shows, and while this piece was the more complicated of the two, I thought I could get it done in time. I was under A LOT of stress.

 

Final color.

 

 

Thankfully with this piece’s color palette, I really wasn’t concerned about proofing, and it did turn out great on the first run. I’m not sure if I’d ever do another image like this, but it was a learning experience and gives me much more appreciation to the artist(s) who work on the ‘Waldo’ books. I discovered that it usually takes about six (6) to eight (8) weeks for an illustrator to finish one page for the ‘Waldo’ books which seems like a lot, but trust me, it’s not. I on the other hand started this one sheet (the books are usually a double spread), on August 1^st, 2024, and finished it on August 18^th, 2024 (originally due on the 16^th). I spent two (2) hours in Adobe Illustrator, fifty-five (55) hours, and fifteen (15) minutes in Procreate, and around forty-five (45) minutes editing in Adobe Photoshop, totaling in around fifty-eight (58) hours.

 

Final 11" X 14" image on 100lb Cover.

 

The 11” x 14” image (printed on 100lb Cover, thank you SGX), was made for Gallery1988’s ‘Three Amigos!’, a group show paying homage to this charming comedy which opened August 30^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.

 

*UPDATE 9/29/24

The piece is currently sold out at the gallery.

 

Website: www.michaelstiles.com

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(Get A) Clue!

Occasionally I get a very specific invite for a show that’s dedicated to a particular actor, director, movie, series, or even production company. I always enjoy these tributes, because the interpretation by each artist is so dramatically different. It’s truly like seeing a crime scene from multiple angles, which brings me to the focus of our entry today: 1985’s ‘Clue’.

While this movie was not a major box office success, it has earned a cult following that few other films can rival. Personally, my parents took me to see this movie, so I have some very fond memories of it, and I thought it was very funny if not a little odd in the most charming way possible.

The film for those unaware (not sure who that would be), is based on the Parker Brothers version of ‘Clue’, a version of ‘Cluedo’, invented by Anthony E. Pratt. The games rights have exchanged hands many, many times, (it’s been around for 75 years), and is currently held by Hasbro (I believe).

The game is a basic who dunnit, in which players attempt to solve the murder of the ‘victim’. The potential suspect list includes all six playable characters, who assume the role of detective in scouring the mansion for ‘clues’ as to the identity of the assailant.

The film (directed by Jonathan Lynn), follows a similar precedent, and primarily stars: Tim Curry, Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, Colleen Camp, and Lee Ving.

 

Rough layout and placement as done in Adobe Illustrator.

 

Initially I had no idea what or how I was going to depict this movie.

My first step was to watch the film, as it had been ages since I’d seen it.

Afterwards I contemplated what I could do as I was still a bit lost, and eventually thought about making the piece more interactive, like perhaps revisiting the BINGO card concept. I really didn’t want to reuse the same idea for another project, so I did some research on simple games.

It was then I came across an idea for creating a paper fortuneteller.

I used to make these as a child, and then write all sorts of random weird fortunes on the inside to make it fun.

I took the concept and quickly made a prototype out of paper.

Much to my surprise all the ‘information’ for these devices exists on the same side of the paper.

It blew my mind, as I was concerned I might have to do some double sided printing which was not worth the effort in my opinion. The main reason was it would take too long trouble shooting how to line the image up properly, and time was not something I had in abundance, but thankfully it was not a concern. 

 

Flattened final image.

 

I spent the days after designing the ‘fortuneteller’ in Adobe Illustrator. Initially I was tracking the time I spent working on it, but it was a lot harder to track than when I work on my iPad which records the data for me.

Once I had a good idea of how to lay out the format, the project took shape quickly.

I primarily used the fonts Neue Kabel and Gallia for the typography.

The border design was inspired by the film, as was the mansion.

I outlined the mansion in Adobe Illustrator, then moved it into Procreate where I detailed the image on my iPad.

I then returned to my desktop, and in Adobe Photoshop I added the mansion onto the header, in addition to adding the description on the backside.  

 

Prototype of fortuneteller with header in the background.

 

I originally debated adding a header for this piece but decided that asking a potential customer to cut and fold all of this was unreasonable. That meant I was going to need to package it as already ‘made’, so I would need the header for the sake of presentation. 

 

I then sent the piece off to the printers for a proof. The first proof unfortunately was printed on 100lb Cover, and proved to be too difficult to fabricate the fortuneteller out of. The second proof was printed on 80lb Cover, and it was also very rigid but workable. Unfortunately, I had no more time to troubleshoot so I took some photos of the best prototype I had and sent it off to the gallery. While the paper isn’t ideal, it would work, and depending on sales, it may not even be an issue.

 

I started the image on July 21^{st ,}  2024, and finished it July 30^th, 2024. I spent approximately seven (7) hours, and seven (7) minutes working on the piece in Procreate, with an additional eight (8) hours, and fifty-one (51) minutes in Adobe Illustrator. I also spent some time editing the layout in Adobe Photoshop, but exactly how much I am unsure of. In total, the image took about sixteen (16) hours to complete.

 

The final product bagged with header.

 

The fortuneteller is approximately 8.5” x 8.5” (completely flattened), and is printed on 80lb Cover (thank you SGX). The piece was made for Galler1988’s ‘Clue’, a group show dedicated to the beloved film ‘Clue’ from 1985. The show opened August 30^th, 2024. At this time the fortunetellers 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.

 

*UPDATE: 9/16//24

It turns out the piece was more of a success than I anticipated, and it sold out!

 

Website: www.michaelstiles.com

Etsy: Stiles of Art

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LinkedIN: Michael Stiles

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Precedence Day

This piece was inspired primarily by the first ‘Gremlins’ film, and it’s predecessor I did for Hero Complex Gallery, that was part of their ‘Stay Frosty Friends A Holiday Show’, during 2021. The story goes back further, but it felt natural to address the sequel as well given the chance. To be fair, when I finished the initial image I planned on creating this one as far back as 2014 (according to my file dates), however I never had the right venue nor time to properly flesh it out. Thankfully with Gallery1988’s annual ‘Crazy 4 Cult’ show, the opportunity would present itself.

A revamp that proved to be more ambitious than I wanted, and a departure from the original plan.

 

For context, ‘Gremlins 2: The New Batch’ (directed by Joe Dante), takes place some time after the events of the first in Kingston Falls, and we are reunited with the young lovers Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan), and Kate Beringer (Phoebe Cates) as they navigate the big city. Eventually (voiced by Howie Mandel), crosses paths with the couple, and mayhem ensues naturally. It stars several recognizable faces including: Tony Randall, John Glover (a Trumpian style mogul), Robert Prosky, Robert Picardo, and (Sir) Christopher Lee. For a sequel, it also manages to be as good as the original.

 

I used the layout from my previous illustration as template of sorts, and rewatched the 1990 film to curate my image references. I had seen the film numerous times, and it was still just as enjoyable as I remember. It’s one of the few films (besides ‘

Buffy the Vampire Slayer’), I recall seeing with my sister and our friends in the movie theater. At the time I had never even seen the original, as I was very young when it was released. 

Second attempt at a layout.

Once I procured my reference materials, I set to work immediately, and began digitally sketching my layout images. I used the 6B Pencil in Procreate on my iPad Pro to capture the likeness as much as possible. Initially I planned on simply leaving the sketches and doing an underpainting, but I determined it was a better idea to simply paint over them in the long run. I continued to use all the sketches to line my strokes up and, in the end, I think it was the better decision. I also wanted the previous image, and this one to share enough in common for the viewer to be able to tell that they are ‘related’ (other than Gizmo, and Kate also being in both illustrations).

 

Third attempt at a revamped layout.

 

The process was a long and tedious one (color selection being a bit of an obstacle at first), with few other challenges, that is except for one. While painting the timeless beauty of Phoebe Cates, and the fuzzy adorableness that is Gizmo was not new territory, the replication of ‘Kate’s’ tragic past was as always, a challenge.

Full disclosure: both images I’ve done contain a ‘memory’ of Kate’s that is wildly inappropriate, and generally completely out of context. I went with these depictions to immortalize the film because for some reason they really resonated with me, and I found them darkly humorous (which was the intention). For some the events could be triggering as the first contains the death of a parent, and the second episode involves an exhibitionist.

 

Preliminary sketches of Kate, Gizmo, and the 'event'.

 

In lieu of actual reference material from the film, as the events are simply relayed, never actually shown, I had to opt for filling in the blanks myself. I looked at my previous work from the first film, and initially went with a more representational version only to completely rule that out after working on it for several hours. It didn’t look right, nor did it ‘fit’ the piece. Instead, I went with more mystery, and much like Kate’s descriptive retelling of events, I wanted to ‘show’, not explicitly tell the viewer what was transpiring here. I then determined using silhouettes for both young Kate, and the perpetrator was a better fit. It did require more time repainting young Kate, and some light editing in Adobe Photoshop, but it was well worth it.

 

Final color with adjusted vignette.

 

The background elements of the various floating stars, and the crescent moon were selected early in the development. I needed a transitional element like the first image (in which I used snowflakes as it takes place during winter), and there is a scene late in the film (close to the reference shot I used), in which the inspiration for these elements were taken.

 

With that done, the image was finally ready for proofing. I immediately sent it off (only to find mistakes and send a new file), for proofing as it was due the following week. I started the project as far back as December of 2014, only to revisit it again in 2024. I spent approximately seventy-three (73) hours on the piece beginning June 17^th, 2024 and finishing July 20^th, 2024. The first thirteen (13) hours were dedicated to sketching the images, with the remaining sixty (60) being for painting. One (1) hour was used editing in Photoshop, and creating the stars in Adobe Illustrator.

 

Final 12" X 12" image on White Pearl Linen.

 

The 12” x 12” image (printed on White Pearl Linen, thank you SGX), was made for Gallery1988’s ‘Crazy 4 Cult XVIII’, an annual favorite showcasing works from several talented artists dedicated to film of cult status which opened July 26^th, 2024. At this time the prints are limited to a run of fifty (50), and 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

 

 

Powdered Toast

Its either feast or famine when it comes to the inspiration for some of these shows. One show I have struggled with creating content for is Gallery1988’s ‘Product Placement 2024’. The show’s theme is a bit on the broad side, as it entails paying homage to both real, and fake products from film, and television.

The first time I participated in the show, I panicked. I created what I thought was a decent illustration, but it felt like a rather hollow effort.

This time I wanted to make sure that, whatever my entry was, it felt more inspired.

I did take a little time brainstorming what I could make until something finally spoke to me. I had a short list, and almost everything on it was from an animated show, which was interesting. I looked it over, and decided that I wanted something obscure, but not unknown, which resulted in me choosing ‘Powdered Toast’, from ‘The Ren & Stimpy Show’ (1991-1996). I was considering ‘Log’, a more popular faux-mmerical featuring a piece of lumber as a children’s toy. The absurdity of it would not be lost on today’s generation, however the idea seemed too mainstream. I may return to it next time, who knows. My third option from this wellspring, was another product called ‘Don’t Whiz on The Electric Fence’.

 

Primary sketch and layout.

Now if you’re unfamiliar with ‘Ren & Stimpy’, or ‘Powdered Toast’, I would suggest you watch this for context. While the show primarily centers on ‘Ren Hoek’ a chihuahua, and ‘Stimpson ‘Stimpy’ J. Cat’ a manx cat.  Now, what I didn’t tell you, was that the product, comes from ‘Powdered Toast Man’, ‘America’s number one hero!’, who panders it to children and adults alike. The product is literally a powder that comes from a can, which when used becomes a whole piece of toast. In later episodes it’s revealed that ‘Powdered Toast Man’ lives within the same world as ‘Ren & Stimpy’ (along with a cast of other colorful characters), and even has an alter ego, ‘Pastor Toastman’.

With my selection made, I went further down the rabbit hole, trying to track down episodes that featured the ‘Powdered Toast’ commercial. Thankfully almost every series has a wiki that logs these things down to an almost science. I quickly checked the wiki for the show, and the attempted to watch the episodes featuring the vignette. At the time of this writing, the original show is available to stream via Paramount+, however due to a rights dispute, not all of them are available to watch. In fact several are missing. Several I needed. LOL. The show was so controversial at the time, as was it’s creator John Kricfalusi so I’m not really surprised.

While I was able to locate enough material, I did have to eventually turn to YouTube in order to gather more intel on the product itself, and rewatch the shorts.

I determined I was going to do an advert based on the product of the ‘Powdered Toast’, and looked at some old magazine ads from the 1950’-60’s, as this was the design aesthetic from the show (which was inspired by cartoons like the ‘Flintstones’, or ‘The Jetsons’). I then did research on fonts from that era as well to add some authenticity to the final image, as it was going to contain some text.

 

Inked layout with typography in place.

 

I came across a handful of promising fonts, but ended up choosing Custard (Condensed), and Honey Script (Semi-Bold), for the final image. I had to hand vector the ‘Powdered Toast’ typography in Adobe Illustrator, as I could not determine what actual font was used for it (however it’s most likely a custom one). I would return to Illustrator a handful of times throughout the project to create some cleaner versions of a few items I drew in this piece, like the ‘Powdered Toast Man’ sparkles, and the PREEM-O diamonds.

The remainder of the image was created in Procreate on my iPad Pro. I took a different approach for this one as I had a better concept that was fully realized. This took a lot of the guess work out of the project, and I was able to get to work for quickly. I knew I wanted a green background, and a ‘yellowed’ paper edge, so I set to painting the background quickly, then began ‘sketching’ in my images. I ended up utilizing the reference from a later episode in the series in which ‘Powdered Toast Man’ is on the can of the product, as in the first commercial, it simply says the name without his image. I had to do some guess work on the visage of ‘Powdered Toast Man’, as his expression on the product was simply too…simple. The children I designed using visual inspiration from one of the commercials that appears later in the show. I wanted to pose them in a state of surprise when the ‘Powdered Toast’ can magically appears floating above their kitchen table.

After I finished the initial sketches, I went back in and ‘inked’ them before adjusting my layout to include the font. With everything in place, it was time to move on to the color process. I kept the palette relatively limited, and relied upon only a handful of colors, or related families. I also wanted to make sure and balance the composition by utilizing contrasting colors appropriately. In order to give it a more textured or vintage look, I used a few different brushes than I normally do.  For the line work I used 6B Pencil, and the Studio/Script/Syrup brushes for the inking. For the color process I used the Oriental Brush, and the Noise Brush. In order to rough up the image, I used both the D’Entrecasteaux and Noise Brush as an eraser over some of the linework, and colored sections. It seemed to work out pretty well.

 

Final color.

I then tried another experiment.

I typical never save the final draft from my iPad, but I figured in this case with multiple layers the Photoshop file was going to look ‘different’. I also wanted to see if there was any quality difference between the two files.

Much to my surprise (or as I suspected), the final flattened image look exactly as it did in Procreate, while the Adobe Photoshop file, needed a lot of work to get it presentable.

The final image from Procreate was in my opinion fine, and really didn’t need any adjustments. With that in mind I sent the image to the printer to get a proof. Imagine my shock when I picked up the image only days later to see it was completely perfect. I couldn’t believe it was as simple as that. In my defense, most images require some tweaking in Photoshop, be it contrast/saturation/brightness, or even a complete hue change. This one was simplistic enough that it didn’t need anything. I couldn’t be happier!

 

Final 11" X 17" image on 100lb Cover.

 I started the image on June 8^th, 2024, and finished it on June 13^th, 2024, clocking in around eighteen (18) hours, and thirty-four (34) minutes. Most of the work was done on my iPad, with some light editing in Adobe Photoshop, and Illustrator. 

The 11” x 17” image (printed on 100lb Cover, thank you SGX), was made for Gallery1988’s ‘Product Placement 2024’, a group show dedicated to works inspired by fictitious, and sometimes real, products found in movies, television, and other media, which opened July 19^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.

 

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