Lining the Hulk

Finished lining this piece, next step? Airbrushing! Check out my blog and read about creating this piece here: defiantartistry.blogspot.com #marvel #marvelcomics #marveluniverse #hulk #incrediblehulk #customairbrush #customairbrushing #mural #painting #drawing #comics #comicbookart #comicbook

A photo posted by Dave King (@dave_king_o_o) on Jul 11, 2015 at 3:32am PDT

Todays agenda, after completely my quest to find some good monglian bbq, was to finish the lining for "The incredible Hulk" commissioned piece I've been working on. Completely designed from scratch, here's what the piece looks like after completing it on my desktop using #Autodesk #Sketchbook:

This piece was a lot of fun to draw. I've never really been much of a Hulk fan, but I really like doing comic book style art with hard black lines and stuff.

The story of how this commission came to be was a bit of a journey in itself. The original idea was moral a piece like this on the wall of a childs room for a friend of mine. Problem was that they lived in the midwest and I live in southern California. I really didn't want to have to take time out to go out there for a couple weeks to do a piece, so we had to think of another approach. I had the idea of marling a door for them (an idea i still plan on pursuing in the very near future for other pieces). That way i could paint something big and awesome, and since my friends rent their apartment, they could take the piece with them should they ever move. Good idea, right? Turns out they had doorframe of odd dimensions, and the pricing from #HomeDepot to have a door customer made was over $100. That was a little more trouble then they wanted to go thru, so they decided on having the piece done on a large piece of #claybord. So once the claybord arrived in the mail, with only a little bit of slight damage on the corners from shipping, it was time to get to work.

First thing to do was to print the image so it could be projected. I could have completely redrawn the piece from scratch on the board, something i've had to do in the past, but there really isn't much sense in taking more time with something when it really wasn't necessary, especially not when you're working on a commission where you get paid for the product, not for the time it takes to do it.... that's not entirely accurate, but you get the idea.

So here's what it looks like after lightly penciling in the image (30x36x1.5 inch clapboard):

Personally, I recommend using 2H graphite for laying out stuff prior to paint. 2H is a harder lead and tends to keep a finer point longer and doesn't smear and smudge as easily will still being dark enough to work with. Kind of a pain to do since I have to double line everything, meaning lining both sides of the thick black lines, but the results are worth it. Clean hands are always a must. This keeps from leaving unsightly smudges on the surface and (hopefully) minimizes bodily oil deposits which might effect the paint when you spray it on. It also helps to remember (if you're used to drawing small in a sketchbook or whatever) is to draw with your whole arm and not just with the wrist. It'll make the long sweeping lines come out smoother and cleaner and is an invaluable skill to master in doing anything large scale.

The Battle Begins!!

I usually do my lining with fine brushes and paint, then do final touchup with sharpie after its all said and done, but that process is really time consuming and a whole lot of work. I thought I'd try a new approach this time (new for me at least). I busted out the sharpie right from the get go. Actually, it was a sharpie and a couple #prismacolor black markers. I learned pretty quickly that the felt tips of those markers didn't really work as well as i was hoping on the relatively smooth surface of the claybord. So after struggling for a while, it dawned on me to try a brush pen. First one i reached for was a #MicronBrushPen:

It worked pretty good, but the the tip frayed a bit and made controlling the edges and sharp whiptail lines difficult, so i reached for my #CopicBrushPen:

This did the trick. The Micron pens are completely disposable. There are awesome pens that are great in their own right, but the Copics are refillable with ink cartridges and the tips are replaceable. The Copics are more expensive in the initial investment, but the refills and replacements offset the cost. Plus you can't argue with the quality.

So, sally forth. 

With my big jug of ice water at the ready, a good audio book playing in the background (tonight, it was #CliveCusslers "Plague Ship" - #OregonFiles), and my supervisor overseeing my progress:

The lining was finally done:

*Whew*

At this point, i'm a little concerned about the possibility that the ink will effect the paint when i start airbrushing. Kinda like water beading on your cars finish, it's something that could happen when you try to put acrylic paint over a solvent based medium (like sharpie ink) or over really smooth surfaces, like ink itself. I'm hoping that a coat of matte finish clear coat will preserve the lines and give the paint something to grab on and stick to. Fingers crossed.

Next phase? Painting. Stay tuned. Same Bat time, Same Bat channel.... or whatever.

Next Episode:

Here's the colors done by my color guy:

I plan on using this as a color guide (i'm colorblind), but I think I have some ideas on how i want to actually paint this. Besides, doing the cel-shaded style is pretty hard to do in airbrush unless you cut a  lot of frisket shields and i really don't want to have to do that. But that's a battle for another day.

#marvel#marvelcomics #marveluniverse #hulk#incrediblehulk #customairbrush#customairbrushing #mural #painting#drawing #comics #comicbookart#comicbook

8 Jul 15, My New Blog intro... i guess

Vector based cartoon self portrait. Just cuz it's fun =)

A photo posted by Dave King (@dave_king_o_o) on May 15, 2014 at 11:16am PDT

So I'm finally getting around to getting this blog going, then it occurs to me ... I have no idea what makes for a good blog. After some careful consideration and a twix candy bar later, I've come to this conclusion... Zulu Foxtrot. Translation? Zero F’s, as in zero f’s given. I'm just gonna do what I do as an artist and... Everything else I am and simply document it. If anyone doesn't like it, they can simply not read or follow me... That being said, I can't wait for my first "(this) offends me, you shouldn't blog, talk, draw, film, etc. about (this), and I want you to take it down", to which I already have my biggest caliber "Go F yourself!" already loaded with the safety off.

Now, let’s get this out of the way right out the gate, I’m not a writer and i really couldn’t care less about being one. That being said, if anyone wants to show up wearing a grammar nazi hat, they’ll get a hardy smile and resounding “go F yourself”. i have a feeling most of what’s going to end up here in my blog will basically be “stream of consciousness / inner dialogue type writing”.

So, welcome to my world! I’ll apologize for the clutter and mess right now. i tend to be a little ADD and little disorganized with some things… oh, well. Zulu Foxtrot.

What have I been up to? *sigh* Let’s see if i can just list off the big things and I’ll talk about them in later entries…

1. Web series and comic book
2. Product design with 3D modeling and 3D printing and fabrication
3. Painting
4. Tattooing
5. Illustrating
6. … and a few other things

So, I’ve been pretty busy. Not to mention some of the things i’ve gotten involved in for recreation, like Airsoft.

There! That’s my new blog intro entry. … Oh, don’t expect me to post on a regular schedule… (ish). Like with most other things in my life, i’ll get around to it when I’m damn good and ready =).

k-bye

Weekends? What are those?

Sunday... just another work day. They forget to mention this part in the self employed business owner pamphlet. No such thing as a day off.  ... Ok, that not entirely true. Technically, i take time off when ever i want to, but when you have bills to pay and goals to meet, (depending on how motivated and disciplined you are) down time is a luxury.

Got a phone call where i had to juggle the ol' schedule a round a little because i was suppose to shoot an internet commercial for a company on the 29th, but there are some scheduling issues with the talent and a couple other details, so we decided to push it back a couple weeks. I'm learning there is a lot of that in this business. I'm ok with it, i've got plenty other things to do and this sort of thing is bound to happen when you have many people involved.

I have to reshoot a portion of a video tour tuesday because to owner/ agent didn't like the way the grass in the front lawn looked and the background music wasn't what they were looking for.  *sigh* Doesn't matter if i list on the website and tell them before i roll cameras to "Make sure the property is ready to show", things still slip between thru the cracks.

Still gotta read thru the latest Black Rabbit web series script revision, a necessary step since i'm the creative lead, before we can start with the table read and putting together our shot list and location planning and blah blah blah.

One highlight i'm looking forward to getting to tonight is laying out the ground work and logistics to purchasing a camera drone.

I'm looking at picking up one of these kits since it has everything i need in one package and it'll save me the time and hassle of building a unit myself. Here's the link:

DSLR Pros Camera Drone

Ya, the idea of working with a unit like this puts a giant smile on my face, but it's not as simple as buy and fly in this case. i gotta make sure i can make the money back and that it becomes a good selling point for Black Rabbit Enterprises.

I've been a RC helicopter and airplane enthusiast for a long time now, to operating this things isn't an issue. It's lining up paying gigs that's got me a little nervous. At this point in the game, a $4k purchase is a pretty big deal to me, tho eventually (especially in the entertainment business) making equipment purchases that can go well into the 6 figures is common practice. I'm simply not there yet.

At any rate, long hours, little down time, hard work... and still loving every minute of it! What more could you ask for?

.... anyone want to be my sugar momma???

Down to Business!

4 hours of sleep and out the door for a video shoot! Time to mainline caffeine! ... actually, grabbed a can of Monster on my way out. This one is a video tour of a house in Walnut. Actually, I shot the interior last week, but the exterior front wasn't ready yet, so i had to go back today. Was really hoping to got out there a little earlier to catch the better morning light, but it wasn't in the cards.

So, i thought i'd share a little of the equipment i'm running right now. pretty low end, but hey, we all gotta start somewhere right?

When i go on a residential video tour shoot, on of the first things i do is what i call the role up. I slap my go pro to the windshield of my car and get some footage of what the neighborhood looks like right around the house. When i shoot something for a yacht, i don't bother with this step because... we, who cares what the area around the marina looks like. instead, i slap the go pro to the hull of the yacht at various places and get footage with the vessel underway (when it's possible to have the vessel underway that is). Anyway, here's my little buddy Mike (yes, i named my go pro):

So Mike is Gopro Hero3 Silver. In the above shot, he's mounted on a suction cup mount. These things are awesome! rated at being stable and secure at speeds up to 150mph! Check out the specs: GoPro suction mount. I usually have Mike in the fully enclosed waterproof protective body. This body sucks for audio recording, but i normally don't need to do any sound recording what i do stuff like this, so it doesn't matter. If the video requires voice, then i record that later of site with different audio equipment.

My main workhorse right now is my trusty Canon EOS Rebel T3i. Now, in the world of DSLR cameras that are video capable, the T3i is basically on the low end as far as price and in bells & whistles. What i needed was a DSLR camera that could shoot 1080p at 60 FPS (Frames Per Second) and this camera does it the price point i had at the time of purchase. I'm getting ready to upgrade soon now that business is taking off, but my T3i will always be in my standard tool bag.

The Lens i use the most with Video Tour shoots is a Sigma wide angle. Great lens! Rugged metal construction and smooth controls. I've also got a standard polarized ND (neutral density) filter on the lens for outdoor video shooting, good for 2 f-stop reduction.

The Mic is an Azden Shotgun mic. This puppy works GREAT! excellent sound capture, just remember to adjust your cameras' input to almost all the way down or you'll get over sampled recordings.

The tripod is a discontinued Manfroto fluid head model.  The fluid head is important for smooth and stable panning shots. These types of tripods can be  considerably more expensive then photo tripods.

Last, but not least in my standard Video Tour tool bag is my GlideCam rig.

So, i'm running the Glidecam XR-1000. But i'm starting to push the limits of the weight of camera and gear that this Glidecam model can take, so i'm pretty sure i'm going to have to upgrade soon. A friend turned me on to a full steady cam rig (vest and all) that is actually a good quality rig (despite the fact it's made in china) that's suppose to be around $800... as apposed to $10-15k. Seems a lot of industry pros have been selling their expensive rigs and getting this cheaper model.

There you have it. Those are the basic tools i use on most video tour shoots. I now have access to some good lighting equipment, but it's proving out that using them complicates matters a little since i use Glidecam walk thru shots and lighting any particular part of a house on the fly is too time consuming and impractical for the amount of time i have to do a shoot and the mount of money i charge per video. I also have access to a much nicer Nikon camera, but i haven't had the chance to really get used to using it yet and the last thing i need is to not know what i'm doing with a camera when i'm on sight, or not know what kind of results i'm going to get because i'm unfamiliar with my equipment.

Now its off to editing and that's something for another post.

I need food.

I leave you now with a Video Tour i did not to long ago:

18  March, 2014

            So whats new? Since the last time I made a blog entry, lots. I’ve basically added “filmmaker” to the list of the things I try to do. It’s been an adventure that I wish I had started a loooong time ago. I’m loving every minute of it. Even the tedious and hardest parts of it all. I’m lovin’ it. I still Illustrate and tattoo here and there, whenever the opportunity arrises, but I don’t actively look to work in a tattoo shop anymore. Instead, I find the idea of getting paid to play make believe and tell stories to be the greatest thing ever!

            So, I started an LLC with the goal of making it a web based indie media production company. Seems like the perfect time in the world of entertainment to do that, right? What with Netflix encompassing upwards of 70% (I think) of internet traffic on a daily basis. Web based entertainment is becoming a real contender in the world today. Granted, literally anyone can go out and pick up a camera and start making stuff. The market is pretty flooded, but the good stuff still finds it’s way to the forefront and shine. That’s what I want to do. Tell good stories. With the economy the way it is, and the fact that tax laws and stuff have really been turned upside down, it’s become harder and harder to make your way into the entertainment industry. So I figured, why wait for someone to give me the chance? I’ll just do it myself! …… Pipe dream, right? Maybe. But I know what I want to do with my life now, so I’m just gonna set out and do it. Sure it’s gonna be an uphill climb, and by no means has it been easy, but I never expected it to be. Besides, how many of the great figures in history, really knew what they were doing when they set out to do it?... don’t answer that.

            What’s the name of the LLC I started? It’s called Black Rabbit Enterprises. Why Black Rabbit? Because all this actually started with the web series I created called “Black Rabbit”.  I’ll post the web address for the production later, it’s still under construction, but we’re working on it. but you can check out and "Like" our Facebook fan page here:

Black Rabbit Web Series Facebook fan page

            The other venture I’ve started is Video Tours for real estate and yachts. Not sure what that is? Take a look:

www.brvideotours.com

            The video tours business is taking off a bit. It’s a lot of work to get out there to promote the business, but it is what it is.

            I’m hoping to add aerial cinematography to my list of tools and services soon. I’ll talk about that in another post.

            What else am I up too?  Working on producing web based commercial for business and products and such. Then after Black Rabbit web series is on its feet, then I plan on starting other web series productions. Not just mine, but others peoples ideas too. And that’s still just the beginning of it. There’s still merchandising and live events. Yes my plans are pretty expansive… but hey, go big or go home, right?

Time to upgrade

My state of the art (four years ago) laptop is really showing its ago now. Can't blame it. It's been hard working and has delivered well thru these years, but alas, it's time to upgrade.

For all the tech geeks out there. The image above is the product of only 1 hours work on a duo core 2.5 Ghz laptop running photoshop 6 on windows 7. Image is 150 dpi, 8bit RGB, and only 3 layers... And my poor laptop was having trouble keeping up with my brush strokes. Poor thing =(. Obviously a ways to go before it start looking like the way I want it too, but it'll never get there with what I have now.

So I'm off to my hardware dealer and to talk about a new desktop. I need the horsepower to take my work to the next level. Only place I see that my pencil skills would fit best is the comic book industry. Of course I still plan on perusing the comics thing in a big way, but certain opportunities have come about that require me to embrace digital.

Far be it for me to ignore destiny when it walks up and kicks me square in the nuts.

"Be good, get good, or step aside."


- It's good to be the king =)

Frustration, thy name is technology

Having too many issues with my laptop.. Go figure, a gaming machine that's about 4 years old and has always been a heat monster is having trouble running photoshop 6 with windows 7. I got a few big things coming just around the corner but they all require me to brush up on my digital painting chops. Solution? I'm digging up my old (emphasis on old) desktop. P4 2.0 GHz that I'm hoping to turn into a photoshop ONLY machine so I can get work done. Been havin to call my tech geek friends a lot lately, but whadayagonnado? Can't let a minor issue like tech deficiencies get in the way of my plans of world domination!

Just got the call! Time to get my MacGuiver on!

Now I'm putting my work on stuff you need, come check it out!

Check out some of the stuff I'm putting my art on =)

make custom gifts at Zazzle

"Act of Valor" review

So I finally had a chance to watch "Act of Valor" 2012. Movie about Navy SEaLs. All and all... it was alright. It's not "Saving Private Ryan", but i think it was fairly well done. Acting sucked, but from what i understand, the characters were actually played be real Special Operations Operators so I guess it's to be expected. I would venture to say that 99% of effects and such were accurate, there were only a couple small details that i could nit-pick, but all and all, pretty convincing. The story, I feel, seemed like it was a much bigger story with a much bigger impact that had to be cut down to fit into the time allotted. Even though they basically tied off all the loose ends, it still felt unfinished. Being a military buff and all, having a pretty heavy military family background, and having served myself and been friends with servicemen and specops personnel.... I give this movie a 8. Lots of military movie cliches, but it was alright all things concidering.


- It's Good to be the King =)

Nature Vs. Nurture

Had to revisit a discussion I've had with a few people about being an artist and other high discipline occupations. The conversation usually ends up in the neighborhood of nature versus nurture, talent versus practice. Now, i cant speak for other people, but i tend to get annoyed when people when the word "talented" starts getting thrown around. The gist of it is that no one is born truly great at anything beyond crying, eating, pooping... and all the other things we can do naturally out of the box... so to speak. We all have to learn how to do and excel at the things we end up doing. A master pianist still has to learn how to play the piano and make it do the things they want it to do. A doctor has to learn medicine before they can use all the thing they know to cure diseases. I had to learn to use to tools i use and learn how to make them do the things i want them to do. Practice. My point is that anyone who ever got good at something got that way because they have at least some interest and then likely spent a great deal of time mastering they're interests.

So here's the rub. Again, i cant speak for others, but i find it kind of irritating when someone simply attributes what i create to simply being talented. dont get me wrong, it is flattering and it is a nice thing to say... but at the same time, i spent a great deal of my life and energy trying to GET good. Being a good artist (at least the kind of artist that i'm trying to be) requires lots of study and practice. I didn't fall out of my mom able to do what i can do today. Yes, a degree of talent is required to get anywhere in any given discipline, but simply saying someone is talented at something and not acknowledging their hard work can be a little insulting.

So there's my little rant o today. Take it as you will.


- It's Good to be the King =)

Sexy Cat

Sexy Cat

So here's a little story adventure that happened to me while I was working ad a tattoo artist in the San Francisco area a coup,e years back. Thought this might be a good example of on of the many perils faced be artist who do contract work.

Just another normal day at the tattoo shop. Pretty quiet actually. One of the other artists was busy carving away at one of his clients, and another two where just sitting around watching tv, and i was doing my usual of doodling. A women of about 27 comes into the shop. Being that its my turn in the rotation, I greet her and ask her what I can do to help her. She states that she wants a tattoo of a cat. I smile and tell her that it won't be a problem. So I pull out my client sketchbook and my pencil and start the usual questioning process of understanding what kind of tattoo she would like. Right from the start, things start getting a little wonky.

"So what kind of tattoo are you looking to get?" I open with.
"I want a cat tattoo on my lower back." She replies with a smile.
"Not a problem." I assure, "Would you like it to be sort of 'comic-ee', or realistic?"
"... Uh... I don't know."
"Ok, how about a pose for your cat?"
"... Uh... I don't know."
"Would you like just a head, or a full body?
"... Uh... I don't know."
"What are you trying to say with your tattoo? Is it a reflexion of who you are, or maybe just a visual representation of your love of cats?"
"... Uh... I don't know."
".... Well, I need something to start with, a direction to go in."
"....ummm... Make it sexy"! She beams with a smile.

Here's where I start to get a little aggravated.

"Ok, what type of sexy are you thinking?" I continue.
"Sexy." She blurts with a disgusted look on her face.
"Um, could you be a little more specific?"
She heaves a sigh at me, "Sexy... Sexy... You know...geez, how hard is it to make something sexy?! What kind of tattoo artist are you?"

I screw on a smile and say, "I guess I'm not a very good one. I'll see if another artist here can help you out a little better."

She utters an "Idiot" under her breath as I leave the room.

Non of the another artists want to work with her after hearing about my experience with her. Even the shop owner didn't want to talk to her. He ended up just telling her she would be better served at another tattoo shop... Of course that wasn't until after she extolled to him how much of an moron and incompetent I was.

So the point of this little story is that it would seem some people don't understand that there may be different perspectives and different interpretations of things. As an example, my idea of sexy is likely different from the next guys. As an example, I prefer slender, athletic women. I have friends who prefer more curvaceous, voluptuous women. If you told us to draw a sexy women, your likely to get vastly different drawings.

I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that when are going to someone to create something for you, you need to know what it is you want and be able to convey it effectively. Visual references and/or examples would be a huge help. Even a lengthy description of something might still yield extremely different results. Just don't forget that everyone sees, understands, and interprets things differently and no one is psychic.

That is all. Carry on.

- It's Good to be the King =)

Tag!!! You're It!!!!

http://fav.me/d4geu76

So the other day there was this unknown person on Facebook that tagged my portrait of Bellabrook as inappropriate. Now, This piece is shown above... To me, this is an emotional piece and Bellabrook doesn't seem to be doing anything rash nor is she performing as such. So the question I ask all you peeps out there is........... Why the hell does someone think this is inappropriate or "porn"? Seriously, so that means the greatest artists of all time were inappropriate as well? Come on now, the freedom of expression for any art form should never be confined. The idea that comes from the artist is shown to the people, and the future. It shouldn't be expelled from society because someone deems it inappropriate because they see it as an offense to their personal mortality. No one is forcing the public to look at artist's pieces, so why do the "taggers" force their negative thoughts upon everyone standing by trying to appreciate the Art's. ...."If you don't like something don't do it or look at it." You shouldn't even socially tag someone even if you're a rival. All is fair in love and war, yes... However, your work is just as important and unique as the next artist...Please give me your feedback,questions, or even to vent yourself as well. All ideals and opinions are quite welcome. My last question of the day is who is in control to interpret what is right and what is wrong? What happened to independence, personality, and individualism? Don't feel you need to follow the herd to survive, Being yourself is the best gift you can give to the world and yourself... The world will be uniformed if you give in... Freedom to life!!! ( My tangent for the day) I would love to read what the fellow artists feel about this and anything that comes to mind...

so, after a discussion about living your life and pursuing your dreams and such (which is something i advocate quite avidly by the way). i came to the realization that all that stuff that they've told you about chasing your dreams and doing/being what you want in life, they left out what is perhaps the most important lesson... you can and should go after your dreams. we can all be successful and happy doing it. you CAN do anything you set your mind to. but when you set out to realize your dreams, whatever they may be, at some point... YOU HAVE TO NOT SUCK AT IT!


that is all. carry on.

Acrylic dreams

So I had a dream last night. This is significant mainly because of what I dreamt about. First of all, I had always thought I dreamt in black in white. Hell, maybe I did, but last might I dreamt in full color. I dreamt I was painting. So why is this significant? I was using acrylic on canvas, and I was in "the zone". I haven't used acrylic paint and brushes since high school and haven't had any thoughts to even trying it again since then. There was something about the dream... So today I'm going to the art supply store to pick up some supplies.

So you feel like painting, Dave. What's the big deal? Well, of you look at most of my work, you'll see that 90% or it is in B&W, and none of it is done with a brush. It's all graphite, charcoal, tattoo or airbrush. Now for those of you who don't know, I'm colorblind. Not full black and white colorblind, but I have a deficiency where I can't tell colors apart vary well. Any two colors close together on the color wheel, I have a hard time with. Blues and purples, browns and greens, etc. I'm also red green colorblind. Stop lights look red red white to me (so if it ain't white, I don't go). I can almost imagine the "what color is this" game that everyone wants to play once they find out. Best way for me to describe it is that if you turn down the color on your tv, where of a person on screen is wearing a shirt and you can't tell if it's a purple or blue shirt. That's my world. How does this tie in with my dream and wanting to paint? The biggest reason why I don't paint with brushes (and try to avoid color tattoos) is because I can't mix colors very well. And if I mix a color for something one time, I may never be able to mix the same color again if I need too. Also, memories of coloring my skies purple and giving portraits a sickly green tint without knowing it *ahem, anita*, have always made me shy from picking up a brush. I guess all that's going to change. Friends have always told me to just try it anyway. Problem is, my style and the way my mind works is that I'm usually a perfectionist. I can't stand not getting something just right. So getting a color or shade wrong is almost unacceptable to me. Least is was not too long ago. Maybe a contributing factor to this urge to paint is the fact that I've been retooling my style a little so suite comic and creative story telling art. The type of art where looking good and telling the story well are more important then technical accuracy. I'm becoming less and less concerned with getting every detail perfect and more concerned with emotional and visual impact. I am still a little worried about ending up with purple skies. With a physical brush, I don't get to "cheat" like I do with digital painting. No mixing colors by punching in their RGB number or sampling from a photo. But I'm sure I can get by with eyeballing proper color mixtures... Least I'm hoping.

So I'm sitting in a parking lot at 8:00am waiting for this restaurant to open so I can grab some breakfast, then hit Pearl art supply for acrylic paints and to (hopefully) find some 3H graphite for my lead holders. Monica, my main lead holder (clutch pencil to some of you fellow artist / graphite lovers / draftsman) has been screaming at me that she wants 3H graphite. I've been running with mostly HB 2H and 4H, but they just don't feel right for what I've been doing. Blicks doesn't carry the graphites in odd numbers, only the evens so I'm trying other suppliers. More on grades of graphite and how they apply to drawing when I put up my bit on graphites and such in my how to blog.

So it looks like I'm going to be setting sail on a new acrylic voyage. Hope I find some nice destinations.


It's good to be the King =)

Nautical Inspiration

17 Aug 11

One of the benefits of being an artist is the fact that I get to make my own schedule… most of the time. That can be both a bad thing and a good thing. Good thing is the freedom it affords me. Bad thing is the fact I tend to be spontaneous and impulsive. This sort of lifestyle requires good time management and work ethic. Here’s an example, yesterday, I suddenly had this urge to go sailing. Well, renting a sailboat at this time isn’t exactly within my means. I mean, I have my keel boat certification and all, so that means I can take out anything up to 25 feet long, but the cost to rent one was a little more then I wanted to pay. So I settled for a whale watching cruise. Only cost me $15 (I had a coupon) plus $8 for parking. I’ve also wanted to take some new reference photos for a body of work centered on nautical life. Figured I’d try for some shots of sea birds first. So why didn't i go yesterday? Mainly because I felt some other things needed to be finished first before I go running off on what amounts to be a mini vacation. Basically, if I allowed myself to just run off every time I have a whim, I'd never get anything done. So I decided if I completed a reasonable set of goals yesterday, then I'd basically "earn" my trip today. Goals complete, Off on my trip!

I love being on, in, and around the ocean, so I was one happy dude today. Really needed to get-away too, even if it was for just a couple hours. Being that it was a Tuesday, there weren’t many people on the cruise, so it was good day all around.

I slapped together a quick video of my trip. It’s my first attempt at making a video so take it easy on me:

I got a few good shots I plan on seeing if I can use in new drawings, so stay tuned to see what comes of them =).

Good Sunday... Bad Sunday

1700 hours. Home. 


Welome to "The Art of Life".


This, our first episode (at least in this blog... every day is an episode for me), we find our stoic hero... avoiding doing anything constructive... trying to teach a young dog a new trick that doesn't involve vomiting... and casually pondering a problem that has plagued artists since the dawn of time! 


Soooo tired. Woke up yesterday at around 4 in the afternoon and I haven’t slept since. Been pulling a lot of long hours trying to get as much work done as I can. Why? Well, my boat isn’t going to buy itself! Hehe, more on that another time. Decided to take the day off basically. Kinda didn’t have a choice actually. Lack of sleep has made my brain cottage cheese so trying to get anything done was probably going to end up being counterproductive anyway. So I called up my buddy Jason and we took our dogs to the dog beach in Long Beach. Sam apparently still hasn’t figured out that salt water is not for drinking. So he’d gulp some sea water, then come running back to his water bowl that I brought for him and guzzle lots of fresh water, then repeat the process over and over again. Poor guy, when he got home, he peed for like a good 2 minutes. In so many things, he’s a really smart dog, but in some things… I swear, a pigeon learns faster than he does.  Jason’s dog Leia is like the perfect dog, course she’s about 6 years old and well trained. Sam is still like a drunk monkey on acid. *sigh* puppies…

 Dog Beach. Long Beach California. If you don't like dog's, dont come here.

Water, water everywhere. But nary a drop to drink... but that doesn't mean he isnt going to try though! BAAAARF!!!... again.

Sam seems to have that whole "Fetch" thing down pretty good... Mostly.

And now on to the crappy part of my day. On the way back from the beach, I got a ticket for speeding. I wanted to argue with the female highway patrol officer that I was doing 75 like everyone else on the freeway. Had i been doing the speed limit, my vehicle would soon become an obstruction to traffic. The California vehicle code clearly states that ones motor vehicle must always be operated in as safe a manner as possible. It further states that should a vehicle drive in a manner that causes more then 4 other vehicles to have to slow or alter driving direction, that vehicle could then be considered an obstruction to traffic and the driver susceptible to a ticket. Therefore, traveling at 75mph (the same rate of speed as all other traffic around me) was the safest way to operate my vehicle. It's the same concept as that idea that one must match the speed of traffic on the freeway before merging onto said freeway, otherwise you are a danger to the flow of traffic..... but i didn't. I'm pretty sure my words would have been met with a blank stare and a terse "Sign here" and that would have been the end of it. *sigh* C'est la vie.

Moving right along here... So my current plan is to stay up as long as I can (which from the way my eyelids keep getting heavier and heavier, isn’t going to be much longer) and try to get back on a “normal” schedule… whatever that is.

So, like I’ve said before, I’m liking the whole doing art on the iPad thing. My buddy Ben in Oregon told me that digital art is the way to go these days and suggest that the best way to market that kind of work is by selling limited run giclee prints… sounds great, but I think I need more places to sell them. One of my biggest shortcomings is that I can do the work well, but when it comes to marketing it, I suck like hoover industrial vac! Any suggestions?

All I've had to eat today was a Baguette sandwich from Mr. Baguette Sandwich shop in Rosemead. I think i'm hungry but i'm too tired to tell. Eh, off to bed!

I know it's been a while but a lot has happened since last i posted. Let’s see... I've started an exporting business selling stuff to china (yes china, their economy is booming and they love all things American... funny enough, just nor Americans).  It’s amazing how much time and effort has to be put into all the logistics and stuff for a project like this. Knew it was coming, just whining a little =) . I might be starting part time as an artist at a tattoo shop in Pasadena Ca. soon. So, in trying to get all those thing rolling, I’m still trying to finish a couple bodies of gallery works and have some sort of semblance of a social life (though I think this last part might be failing a little, price of ambition sometimes I guess).

So I’ve taken to doing more art on my iPad. I think I like working like this since it’s opened up the world of color digital painting to me. *** Special note: Thanks Anjii for the Waccom stylus for the ipad, best damn tool in the whole freakin world! *** For those of you just joining our program, our intrepid hero has a slight case of colorblindness so doing artwork in color can be an issue.  But here is my most recent attempt:

I purchased a few apps but I think I’m liking sketchbook pro the most for painting (which is the app I used to create the above work) and Inkpad for vector drawings and stuff. All the apps I’ve downloaded have been either free or under $10. When you compare the fact that photoshop and illustrator are hundreds of dollars, it’s not a bad deal. Of course you don’t get the functionality of those programs, but you do get portability, which was exactly what I wanted.

So I still have a ton of photos from china that have yet to sort and upload, but it is on my to do list, so stay tuned! =)

19 Apr 11 China day 5

8:00 am Beijing local

Out of bed in into the shower. Nope, first stop, decided to see if I can find their hot water heater. Bingo! Crank some knobs, heat some water, turn Mr. Wong into jerky... Wait... What? Turns out the first knob on the left is for the central heat and the one NEXT to it is for the water temp. WTF? I had no idea. Ive never even HEARD of a set up like this. Turns out he's been going to a spa everyday since we've been here and hasn't needed to take a shower here. So I finally got a hot shower, had another breakfast of delivered Chinese yumminess, and head out the door. I find out after I come back that I inadvertently turned the house into an oven. Oops. Least Mr Wong had a sense of humor about it. Still feel bad though.




9:30 am

On this episode of "American Asian lost in China", we find our stalwart hero in yet other place he didn't expect. Thats right boys and girls! Tiananmen Square! Place was... Wait for it.... Gainormous! Seems everything Chinese is HUGE! ***remember that ladies ^_~***



Nice phallic representation of Chinese pride and power






Got to see the changing of the guard.










Some really Cool stone carvings






And a few really official looking buildings.

Being American through and through, I guess I had some mixed feelings about being in Tiananmen Square. I mean I respect the country of china but I've never been too hot on the ideas of communism and stuff, but I think that it works for a country the size of china. But standing in the middle of the vast... Courtyard? Not sure what you'd call it... I had this feeling in my gut... Or maybe it was just breakfast having words with me for eating it. So I went and took a dump. That's right ladies and gentleman, I crapped in Tiananmen Square! I backed one out! I laid some cable! I made my contribution to the cause! I torpedoed the Russian! HA!

Ok, most of you prolly didn't appreciate the last segment. That was service for some of my friends and readers (you know who your are). No more potty humor. AND! I didn't actually do it IN Tiananmen Square. I found a restroom.

11:00 am

Went to some garden thingy behind Tiananmen Square. It was purdy.





No idea who this is













1:30 pm




Lunch time! Finally got to fulfill a little tradition of mine. Every country I go to, I have to go to a McDonalds. Yup, foods the same. Forgot to look to see if they had anything special on the menu. Like Hawaii has spam and eggs, one country had pizza, etc. Think the only real difference I saw was that their idea of a medium soda was about the size of our small. Or the counter girl got it wrong. Quest complete! Did you know McDonalds is the largest land owner in the world? The Vatican being a close second? Did you know that Disney owns the 3rd largest navy in the world? Just a few useless factoids :).

2:00 pm

Off to the temple of heaven. See pic for some info. Oh hey, surprise! This place is huge too! Man, I think this is the most walking around I've done on any trip I've ever been on. It is a really beautiful place though.











This one expanse to get from one section of the grounds to another is a little over three quarter miles long. This was just one of many I walked.






So hey! Notice anything interesting about this map? It had a little red triangle at the lower right that is suppose to designate where you are. Can you see it on the map? No? That's cause it's not on the map... Anywhere! Front gate had a complete map with the red triangle showing you that you where at the front gate. NO other maps in the entire place has the red triangle!!! It was almost impossible to tell where you were! What really sucked was that if you thought you where heading in the right direction, you had a walk a really really long ways to get somewhere and figure out you were wrong. I was wearing a really big happy hat at the end of this little visit.



These birds are everywhere in Beijing. Don't know what kind they are, but they're gorgeous, trying to get a good set of pictures to maybe do some work on, but I can't get close enough, even with my telephoto, their pretty smart and don't let anyone get near them.

6:00 pm

RTB (return to base). Quick breather, then off to dinner. Yet another fancy Restaraunt. I'm not complaining mind you. It's freaking awesome!



Purdy!


Didn't know catfish were born with a spicy and mild side


Ribs! 'nough said!


Chicken


Veggies


9:00 pm



Here was a nice surprise, got to shoot some pool! Thats mr. Wong on the right, a friend of his he introduced me too in the middle, and the guy on the left is a dude who stands there all night and racks for you and takes any drink orders and stuff you may have. I could get use to this. Tables are really nice, great felt, narrow pockets though, 9 footers, and the felt is fast. It was weird shooting with the narrower snooker tipped ques, but it was do-able. And you can smoke in these pool halls! Hell, you can smoke almost e erywhere in china! It was freaking awesome!

So I've written a few of these blog/journal entries so far, anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to make them any more entertaining or to improve them in any way? Excuse the potty humor if you didn't appreciate it, but hey, this is my soap box! Feel free to let me know either here or on my Facebook page. meanwhile, off to bed, gotta catch an early flight tomorrow, not sure to where.

And that concludes today's little adventures, tune in next time, same bat time, same bat channel.
It's good to be the King =)