Birth Of An Artist
In previous posts, I've talked about my professional work. But for the end of the year, I'd like to share with you my personal journey as an artist. It is easy for most people, including potential clients and employers, to assume the commissions I am hired to do are my 'niche' or signature 'style'. That's partially true. If an individual likes something they have seen in my portfolio, they generally request a similarly designed piece.
It is not, however, all that I am.
I'm constantly evolving–pursuing new techniques, and approaching different expressions that capture my interest.
All of which were seeded when I fell in love with Fantasy Art as a child. The very first time I came across the works of Frank Frazetta, Luis Royo, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell (among many, many, others) I was fascinated and consumed by them. Not just their glorious colors, and tones, but their forms, and their ability to tell a story with a single image.
That infatuation has stuck with me ever since.
Frustratingly so. Physically, painting irritates my body. My fingers and my wrists do not like the sensation of holding a brush for hours on end. I hate the way a single mistake–depending on your medium–can ruin days worth of work. I also heavily despise the smell of oil and acrylic. In short, I'm not wooed by the traditional practice.
But I want their skill set. I am driven to match it. To be comparable to their level of competence. So I tackle it in my own way by working in photoshop.
A stylus sits more comfortably in my grip. I can correct a mistake when arthritis makes my fingers suddenly jerk in an unplanned application. It's smoother. I'm easily absorbed into the piece. And I can spend months taking my time, building up layers upon layers of flesh, shadows, highlights, and textures, until I have the presence I am looking for.
Overall, it is an incredibly peaceful way to voice my imagination. To bring forth a character, or a notion, while sitting with my Cintiq in front of me, bobbing my head to music from the 80s. It is how I prefer to spend my weekends, especially as the weather becomes unbearable to be out in.
I don't know if I'll ever be as amazing as those I admire most, but I can certainly continue striving for it until my fingers no longer give me what I demand of them.
Beyond my adoration for masterful pieces easily found in Heavy Metal Magazine, is my geeky crush on Comic Books. Yes, I as a young girl in the 80s/90s, grew up reading and thumbing through the magnificent works of John Byrne, Dick Giordan, Frank Miller, David Finch, Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Turner and countless other visionary creators. For me, comics are the beautiful union of art and writing. They bring forth, not just exciting narratives, but amazing pieces of ink and pigment splashed stunningly across page after page.
It is due to my affection for graphic novels that I really found what I consider to be my signature style. The attention to detail, the use of gradient hues, the ability to tease and toy a story in a single image, are all a reflection of what I study outside of any classroom.
I wish I had the passion for panel to panel illustration work. That is something I believe I will forever be trying to improve upon. But in the progress, I have developed a wonderful kinship with intense character portraits. I enjoy finding instances–especially in the same drawing–where I can be absent of line work in a background, and still have it be complimentary and supportive to the foreground piece.
I revel in working with lighting. In giving a sensation of 'warmth' or 'coolness' simply by the saturation I choose. I also really have fun in hiding symbolism throughout a sketch. I feel it adds unconscious depth that any viewer can appreciate.
There is, as well, the freedom to do an abundance of methods within comics that you can't really mix anywhere else. You can marry graffiti with strong line art. You can clash harsh ink with softly stained watercolor and still have it blend smoothly in a captive setting.
The options are limitless.
Just like a lot of the characters cast within those semi gloss papers. I imagine it is why, for me (and many others) that posters are so entertaining to do. Give me an Evil Queen spawned from fairytales, or a Ripley on a spaceship looking for new terra, and I'll snag an iconic moment with the right stroke and oozing reflection to leave an impression upon you.
This is who I am as an artist.
These are my preferred projections.
I can't imagine what kind of composer I would be without my incessant need to explore and extend myself beyond what I'm freelanced for. I can easily attest my supports would not know either. I live and breath creating something from nothing. In shaping a line and splotch to be so much more than just smudged solvents on a tightly weaved recycled parchment, or pixels brushed together within a digital screen. Perhaps it is egotistical, but when I'm illustrating, I feel like a Goddess giving life to mud.
And I can't imagine existing in any other way.
It is not, however, all that I am.
I'm constantly evolving–pursuing new techniques, and approaching different expressions that capture my interest.
All of which were seeded when I fell in love with Fantasy Art as a child. The very first time I came across the works of Frank Frazetta, Luis Royo, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell (among many, many, others) I was fascinated and consumed by them. Not just their glorious colors, and tones, but their forms, and their ability to tell a story with a single image.
 |
| "Dracula" - A work in progress |
Frustratingly so. Physically, painting irritates my body. My fingers and my wrists do not like the sensation of holding a brush for hours on end. I hate the way a single mistake–depending on your medium–can ruin days worth of work. I also heavily despise the smell of oil and acrylic. In short, I'm not wooed by the traditional practice.
But I want their skill set. I am driven to match it. To be comparable to their level of competence. So I tackle it in my own way by working in photoshop.
A stylus sits more comfortably in my grip. I can correct a mistake when arthritis makes my fingers suddenly jerk in an unplanned application. It's smoother. I'm easily absorbed into the piece. And I can spend months taking my time, building up layers upon layers of flesh, shadows, highlights, and textures, until I have the presence I am looking for.
Overall, it is an incredibly peaceful way to voice my imagination. To bring forth a character, or a notion, while sitting with my Cintiq in front of me, bobbing my head to music from the 80s. It is how I prefer to spend my weekends, especially as the weather becomes unbearable to be out in.
I don't know if I'll ever be as amazing as those I admire most, but I can certainly continue striving for it until my fingers no longer give me what I demand of them.
 |
| "Evil Queen" - Once Upon A Time |
It is due to my affection for graphic novels that I really found what I consider to be my signature style. The attention to detail, the use of gradient hues, the ability to tease and toy a story in a single image, are all a reflection of what I study outside of any classroom.
I wish I had the passion for panel to panel illustration work. That is something I believe I will forever be trying to improve upon. But in the progress, I have developed a wonderful kinship with intense character portraits. I enjoy finding instances–especially in the same drawing–where I can be absent of line work in a background, and still have it be complimentary and supportive to the foreground piece.
I revel in working with lighting. In giving a sensation of 'warmth' or 'coolness' simply by the saturation I choose. I also really have fun in hiding symbolism throughout a sketch. I feel it adds unconscious depth that any viewer can appreciate.
 |
| "Ripley" - Aliens |
The options are limitless.
Just like a lot of the characters cast within those semi gloss papers. I imagine it is why, for me (and many others) that posters are so entertaining to do. Give me an Evil Queen spawned from fairytales, or a Ripley on a spaceship looking for new terra, and I'll snag an iconic moment with the right stroke and oozing reflection to leave an impression upon you.
This is who I am as an artist.
These are my preferred projections.
I can't imagine what kind of composer I would be without my incessant need to explore and extend myself beyond what I'm freelanced for. I can easily attest my supports would not know either. I live and breath creating something from nothing. In shaping a line and splotch to be so much more than just smudged solvents on a tightly weaved recycled parchment, or pixels brushed together within a digital screen. Perhaps it is egotistical, but when I'm illustrating, I feel like a Goddess giving life to mud.
And I can't imagine existing in any other way.
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