Enlistee's art gallery!

[dlhenderson]

Wow. What a quagmire. That's why most of my work has been done in my dungeon with no input from exterior forces. But then, of course, I don't get paid! 98% of my stuff is created in a relative vacuum. But if nobody ever sees it, what (I often tell myself) is the point. Long ago an art director told me the work would "horrify the general public". I had a somewhat successful gallery run at one point, but when my style evolved I was shown the door. Probably the most consistent period of actually getting paid for my efforts was when I did editorial illustrations for The Atlanta Journal. Maybe I'll post a couple of those when I get a chance.

[ChrisW]

Long ago an art director told me the work would "horrify the general public". I had a somewhat successful gallery run at one point, but when my style evolved I was shown the door.

I think the key to that comment is "Long ago...". Sensibilities have changed, as evidenced by your acceptance into Spectrum. I think its a matter of finding the right gallery. Like I mentioned earlier, Tony Shafrazi Gallery handles Robert Williams' work, and you don't think HIS work "horrifies the general public"!?!  . The right person will see your work and your rise will be meteoric.

Oh, and while I may be pissin' and moanin' about the Michael Myers job, I still love getting illustration assignments. For me a large part of the fun is in the research, discovering details that nail the subject. I've done some historical recreations for museums and collaborating with the archaeologists and historians was very satisfying.

[markchro]

Chris! I love the ducks (or is it "Luvaduck"? ) especially the gorgeous lighting...I feel like I'm with 'em! One day I'll get back to trying to paint wildlife and fauna. The Stooges painting is awesome, I didn't originally spot the funnies in the heiroglyphics..so I'm glad you told us!

I appreciate your story behind the terrific Myers boxart! I was very surprised by the "Cert PG" attitude to depicting a "serial killer"! Especially when you have Todd McFarlane giving us gory nightmares for decades with his multimedia.

Are there any censorship/parental guidance guidelines that toy and kit producers have to follow when it comes to the visuals...even if the product is aimed at an older audience?

Dan! Thank you for telling us about what you've have to go through. I'm just pleased that you kindly share some of your art with us! All of my work is just for the portfolio, but I have recently been fortunate enough to have a few drawings used. I have to work alone, in my own little world when I draw or paint.

What sort of art were you producing when the Art Gallery said goodbye? I look forward to seeing your illos for The Atlanta Journal.

Thank you guys for some thought provoking tales on being an artist!

[markchro]

Companion piece to the Claude Rains portrait.

Marker pen and gouache on paper.

[markchro]

A bit of fun with Photoshop, with a nod towards Herbert West!

[creaturerevenge]

Companion piece to the Claude Rains portrait.

Marker pen and gouache on paper.

This is a really amazing piece! Invisible Man is one of my all time favorites! Beautiful job on this!!!!

[Earth 2 Chris]

Fascinating stuff, ChrisW!!! I've done a little package design here and there, enough to understand where you are coming from with the Michael Myers piece. They even gave him EYES! That's just wrong. Love the original, and the Stooges of course!

Markchro, you continue to amaze. Great Invisible Man!

Chris

[ChrisW]

Markcho -  thanks!
There are  guidelines created by the Toy Industry Association (TIA) to self-govern the industry (pretty much to avoid government regulating), and there are other advertising guidelines from advertising associations, but I don't know specifics about what can be put on packaging beyond images or claims of capability the toy can't do. Of course we remember the uproar from parents because the old Aurora kits didn't look like the illustrations...
Great portrait of the Invisible Man, very dramatic. Like the Herbert West nod!
Thank you Chris.
Dan, i'm anxious to see your Atlanta Journal work as well.

I apologize for dominating the thread lately, but I've really enjoyed this show-and-tell!

And just as a general note, If you love art and illustration, check out Gurney Journey, Jim Gurney's blog.  http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/ All kinds of fascinating subjects and tips from a phenomonal artist.

[Illoman]

Chris, dominate the thread all you want just as long as you keep posting your great art!!

[Unknown Primate]

What he said!

[creaturerevenge]

Hey everyone! I've been crazy busy with work around here for a few weeks but things are finally startign to slow down as this project draws to a close! There has been some AMAZING art on here over the past few weeks! I always wondered who did the gorgeous art for some of these plastic kits over the years! That's truly incredible work ChrisW!!! And Markchro, I really really love you're style man! Awesome composition on them all too!

This is a really cool "new" piece that i am super psyched about! This is a painting I did a few years back that i call "The Pin-Up Ghoul". It has been one of my most popular pieces at a number of different conventions and shows, so I wanted to do something a little different with it. So I decided to start looking into making ti available as a statue and/or model kit. At the same time, I have been wanting to test out the world of 3D printing, so I thought it would be the perfect piece for it! A friend of mine named Ken LeSaint has worked as a 3D modeler in the video game industry for many years now and has worked on games ranging from Borderlands, to Tron, to the upcoming Aliens video game. He is really an incredible artist! He does a lot of work with me for our art and effects company. He took my artwork and did a full 3D sculpture of it using 3DS Max and ZBrush. We then worked with a 3D printing company to take is digital sculpture and print out a solid resin master of it. Next we are going to cast it and make it available as a pre-painted statue or as a resin model kit. I just today got the resin master here in the mail! I am super happy with the level of detail they were able to give it!

The original painting...



The digital sculpt of it...



And finally, a few shots of the printed resin master...

[dlhenderson]

That's pretty damn cool.

[dlhenderson]

...and Mark, that's some bitchin' B&W work, and I enjoyed the Herbert West version. Ever work in scratchboard?

[ChrisW]

CR - very cool. Your friend Ken did a great job capturing the attitude of your painting. How large is the resin master? Did he have to do much finish work on it? I love the detail in the hair.

[creaturerevenge]

She is about 1/6th scale so she stands about 7 inches tall. The 3D printers leave a slight texture to the surface which is fine for some parts. It sands really easily so I just took some high grit sandpaper to her skin and the blood splat base to smooth it out a little more before I start molding her. The detail that the printer puts out is pretty amazing! I was concerned about the flowers in her hair and some of the subtle detail he put into it like the slight veins and bone structure he put on the back of her hands and stuff like that, but it all came through beautifully! A bit of sanding and she's ready to cast! I did have a parts tree to cut off of her first though. It's cheaper to print one part than multiple parts, but for casting purposes we obviously needed her in pieces, so he connected all the pieces with a small parts tree in the computer so it could be printed as one file instead of multiple files.