I’m super excited to be teaching a summer school class on watermedia with the esteemed Caitlin Kuhwald. We are dividing up the session into two one-month blocks. I am teaching the first month on ink techniques. Caitlin is teaching the second month on watercolor. If you are currently attending CCA, you can still sign up to take the class! Email me for more info.

In addition to launching a new site, I just put up a new shop page! Although my focus will always be freelance illustration, I thought it could be fun to have prints or other goods occasionally for sale. The first items in the shop are my brand new cards sets. They are available in three different packages. Check them out: http://chriskoehler.com/shop.php

I’ve been doing ink wash illustrations for about six months now. Since starting with simple value studies late last year I’ve spent most of my time experimenting and working out my process. To see how my illustrations have evolved, I posted up my ink wash work from the last half year on my studio wall. Besides showing progression, it looks pretty cool…

The series of portraits is almost done now. Here are the two most recents ones. On the left is Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. The band name is a play on the French words for “Good Winter” so I wanted to show the singer in a snow storm. The right is a portrait of actor Willem Dafoe, who is just all around creepy and incredibly intense. Enjoy!

I’ve been picking up a nice bit of editorial work this year. Here are two recent pieces. The left piece is for OnEarth Magazine for an article about a confrontation with an angry elephant. The right piece is for the Boston Globe’s book review of Lionel Shriver’s “The New Republic.”

Huzzah! I got a full page with four illustrations in this year’s 3×3 Illustration Annual. The funny thing is that I missed the Pro show deadline and accidentally entered the Children’s Show for children’s book illustration. I have no idea how these got in, but I’m not going to question it. I would’ve posted this last month when it came out, but I brought my free copy to school and (accidentally again) left it there.

*Edit – The work on the facing page is by the wonderful illustrator Jannie Ho, check her work out here

For my recent portrait of Panda Bear I wanted to experiment and use more digital tools to create the piece. Usually I just clean up the contrast and add a color tint, but this time I wanted to create a full collage in Photoshop.

The music of Panda Bear uses lots of samples to create sound collages. To emulate that process visually I created some smaller images which would act as samples. His music (and Animal Collective’s) has a Beach Boys feel along with carnival sounds; in addition to a straight portrait of him, I used images which evoked his music.

After scanning in the ink drawings, I created a canvas in Photoshop and brought over the images as smart objects. Next I placed a grid on the canvas. I wanted to emulate a 4/4 time signature, so I divided the canvases into rows that mimic tempo. I started with larger samples and and started to break them down smaller using layer masks. I also wanted to show how the samples change tonality musically by altering the color. This also evokes the mood of the music. The above image shows the start of the process.

As several of Panda Bears song progress, they break away from a repetitive structure by echoing and overlaying the sounds, creating a dense collage. In the bottom part of this piece I echoed the images and overlaid lots of samples to create a texture. Finally, the piece ends with a panda bear. Enjoy!

A while ago I posted a process article on my red and black work. Since I’ve been working in ink wash for a few months now, I thought it would be fun to post about my new process. Since this is an ever-evolving process, I might have to post again soon. In any case, here is a breakdown of my last piece, a portrait of Mike Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius:

1 (not pictured) – Before starting any piece, I research like a mad man. To get the reference for this piece, I watched Perfume Genius music videos and looked up still photos. I also knew I wanted to portray him with water quickly rising around him praying. But I wanted the focus to be on the face and eyes with an angelic element feel.

2 (above left) – After comping together some look images in Photoshop, I transfer the images down onto smooth bristol and draw in the details. It ends up looking like a paint-by-numbers. This is usually enough to take to finish.

3 (above right) – I always start with the riskiest area. This way, if I screw it up I can start over with a minimal loss of time investment. In a portrait, the riskiest area is always the actual likeness. Also, I’ve done water to death so I feel pretty confident there. After finishing the face I move on to the background.

4 (above left) – I render the rest of the background in the same medium as the face, Pentel Color Brushes in black and grey. At this point it is all ink, all black and white. The image above is the straight up scan of the ink work. This piece is 8″x10″.

5 (above right) – After scanning, I tweak the contrast and clean up minor blemishes. Next I add a tint of color. Lately I’ve been experimenting with adding the color in the background framing the face. I also added some ink spatter that I did on a separate sheet of paper (and on my desk and wall… oops!). Lastly I added a soft vignette to better frame the face.

6 (below) – Here is the finish. Mostly ink with a touch of digital! Enjoy.

My most recent work has been a series of portraits. I am aiming to have a full portrait portfolio in a few weeks. Here are the last two pieces I have done: David Bowie on the left and Stephen King on the right. Both men are a huge inspiration on me, so I wanted to capture their spirit as much as possible. Enjoy!

This is Part 2 in a series on sketchbooks, which will continue every now and then. Read Part 1 here.

Sketchbooks can be used for many types of arts. I’ve had books purely for calligraphy and other books to storyboard longer stories. I typically do my final illustrations in sketchbooks, as I prefer the portability and paper stock to fancier materials. My last book, Devotion, was done entirely in one sketchbook. 

Probably the most common use for a sketchbook is to sketch. Ironically, this is probably what I do least in them. So when I got three sketchbooks for my birthday in December, I took that as an opportunity to get loose. My main problem as an illustrator is a tightness. I have a tendency to draw too tightly and exacting and I miss out on a lot of the magic that happens with looser strokes and more spontaneous work.

To that end, I decided the first book I’d get through would be dedicated entirely to drawing quickly from life. This change of pace has been a revelation for me. Not only do I get to play with new techniques and ink, I have almost no attachment to the work. Working on sketches as opposed to finishes is incredibly liberating. Although the work produced is nothing I’d show outside of here, I am having a good time and learning quickly. I should be finishing up in a couple days. Here is some of the work so far:

I was happy to see the new bottles I designed for House Kombucha randomly in a grocery store this weekend. In all, I did six labels, all with little stamp illustrations on them along with the logo and branding. If you see it, buy it! House is awesome. I put some of the label illustrations below.

Happy (Chinese) New Year! Sorry for not being more active on here, this year has been crazy so far. In honor of the new year and an excellent last year, I am doing an art giveaway. Up for grabs are my 2012 Calendar, and prints of all the pieces on it.

Simply go to my Facebook page, “like” my page, and share the giveaway post. I will pick winners at the end of the week!

This year is starting off extra special. I rang in the new year by climbing Machu Picchu with Shara and my family. The best part was that I saw a lizard. I took a ton of reference photos, so hopefully some drawings will come from this trip. I hope this becomes tradition… 

I was recently honored to be a featured artist in the new issue of Fourteen Hills, the literary journal for San Francisco State University. Fourteen Hills features incredible authors and artists; a past cover was done by my friend Danny Neece. Huge thanks to art director and poet extraordinaire SB Stokes for including me, I couldn’t be more happy to see the final product. Check it out online:
Fourteen Hills Volume 18.1
SB Stokes

Since school has let out I’ve been drawing and inking nonstop! Here are a couple new finished pieces. I’ve also been doing lots of loose sketches which I will post soon. Both of these pieces are based on songs, like most of my recent pieces. The piece on the left is based on the Los Campesinos! song “By Your Hand” and the right is based on Shara’s interpretation of Frightened Rabbit’s “The Wrestle.”

The left piece was a practice in two different things, precise brush work in the masking and using really dark values. I’m pretty happy with how it came out.

The right piece was super loose, done in one day. Pretty much the whole piece was freestyled quickly and as loose as possible. At this point I am comfortable drawing water and this was a great opportunity to go crazy and flex. I hope you enjoy!

This is Part 1 in a series on sketchbooks, which will continue every now and then.

My birthday was this past week (30!) and it was characteristically awesome. I got three sketchbooks for presents, thanks to my amazing Ninang and Ninong and my friend Tony. I couldn’t be more excited, these arrived just in time. Lately I’ve been drawing on loose sheets of bristol, which is not only sloppy, it is completely against my nature.

I love sketchbooks. Almost all my work is done in sketchbooks. Getting a sketchbook feels like adopting a pet; I know it is going to be a long commitment and a certain amount of bonding is necessary. Also like a pet, the sketchbooks will be at my side constantly and will become an important part of my life. But this is for another time. On to the good stuff, the books themselves! From left to right:

1)  Stillman & Birn Beta Series, 7″ x 7″
Above all, I prefer square books. I think this is obvious to those who know me (see image above). This book was a nice surprise. I’ve been curious about this brand since seeing them pop up in art stores recently. I must say, it does not disappoint at all. The paper is a cold press natural color with a handsome grain and impressive durability. All my recent work has been in ink wash and this paper has held up well with heavy water saturation and ink. I’ve been trying to loosen up lately and draw faster; this book looks like the perfect venue. Hopefully I can tear through this and have some fun.

2) Flax (Cachet?) Sketchbook, 7″ x 7″
Ah, my beloved faux leather stamped 216 page bound sketchbook. This book has been my go-to sketchbook for the past ten years. To say that this book and I have history together is an understatement. Sometimes I’ll buy one, get a few pages in and just fizzle out. Other times, I’ll spend hundreds of hours drawing until I fill every last page with ink (see amen and devotion, both done in this type of book). In any case, there is no book that brings me more comfort or anxiety than this book. It is like an old friend who is always challenging me to be better.

3) Handmade book by Jose Moreno, 5.5″ x 5.5″
This was a gift from my friend and former student, Tony Huynh.  This one is a beauty. The paper is a heavy hot press paper; feels like Arches or something similar. I’ve never worked in this size, so I am pretty hyped to try it out. It is small enough to throw in my pocket, but prestige enough to spend some time in. It looks like it will hold up well with ink wash. I almost don’t want to ruin it by drawing in it…

As much as I love getting sketchbooks, I now have about 300 pages to fill. My goal is to just draw like a mad man and have all three done by the same time next year, absolute latest. Keep checking back for progress, and stay tuned for Part 2…

Creative Quarterly 24 just came out and it features yours truly. Creative Quarterly is an awesome magazine by the people who do 3×3. It features fine art, illustration, photography, and design. CQ also accepts both student and pro work, such as “new talent” like Anita Kunz (CQ’s wording, not mine). Buy it at select newsstands or view the whole book online here:
http://cqjournal.com/currentissue.html

Last week Communication Arts posted up an interview I did with them recently about being illustrator. In case you missed it, here is the link: http://www.commarts.com/insights/talking-good-game.html

If you missed all the awesomeness that went down at Flax this last Saturday, here is a recap of the inking demo I did for Pentel Arts. I was delighted when Pentel asked me to do a demo of their new (formerly Japan only) Pentel Arts line. The Pentel Color Brush is my primary tool, so I felt fairly comfortable fielding this request. Also, Flax is one of my favorite art stores, so it was perfect all around.

I did five demos in two hours to a crowd of about 30 people. I was really surprised with the range of people; 17 to 79 years of age and all backgrounds were in attendance.

To start, I drew four birds with four different sets of pens.

First up I used Hybrid Technica pens and drew a technical drawing using cross hatching and line work. Next I used the sign pens to draw looser and more gestural. Then I drew with the Stylo and Tradio Stylo, which have carved nibs which give lots of line variation but are also highly technical. The last bird demo I did was with the Pocket Brush, which is a straight up brush pen and gets really loose and painterly.

The last demo I did was a one hour demo with the Neutrals set, showing a full value range and how to knock in shapes really quickly. The picture ended up looking like a cross between Jeff Bridges, Dugald Stermer, and the Dos Equis guy.

All in all, I had a great time and met lots of great artists. Big thanks to Pentel for the supplies and Flax being so accommodating.

Check out Pentel Arts here: http://www.pentel.com/pentel-arts/

Check out Flax here: http://flaxart.com/

The new Lotfi fall line is out and so is their fall Lookbook. This season I once again collaborated with designer Sharareh Lotfi. I did seven vignette illustrations which are being used in the Lookbook and fall campaign. Working with Shara is always fun and my work goes well with her fashion. Lately Lotfi has been picking up some serious press, so that is a nice benefit as well. Check it out online: http://lotfilotfi.com/

The other day I realized that use a lot of punctuation marks when I type (a huge writing no-no, much like parentheticals).  Well, damn it, I am an excitable person. And nothing gets me more excited than trying new techniques (another no-no, starting sentences with “and”).  Lately I’ve been loving using the black, grey, and water brushes. I also add a very mild color tint in photoshop. 

The top left piece was a super fast one. It is a portrait of Jamie Stewart from the band Xiu Xiu. His music is harrowing and unhinged, so I had a bit of fun with the technique in this one. I got to simulate paper, which was a fun little challenge.

The second piece is just an idea I had, but it reminds me of Mazzy Star, so I’ll go with that. In this one I tried out new hair styling (I love hair!) and worked over the piece with FW liquid acrylics for the constellations. I will definitely incorporate this in the future.

Stay posted for more work!

I exhibited at Alternative Press Expo for the third or fourth time this year. Even though I could only exhibit on Sunday, this year was amazing. If you don’t know what APE is all about, on October 1 and 2, the Concourse in San Francisco was filled to capacity with indie zine publishers, comic nerds, and artists all selling their wares and checking the floor. It is like Comic Con for the indie audience. I sold out of my prints (yay!) and had fun exhibiting, but APE is way more fun as a spectator. Here are some of the books and art I picked up this year:

1 Dean Stuart Print – I love Dean’s art. He was a student of mine a few years back and he keeps elevating his game. I saw this piece on his blog before APE and I wanted a print immediately. Luckily he had some for sale. This is by far one of my favorite pieces I’ve seen recently. Gorgeously rendered and perfectly realized. Check out his work here:
http://deanstuart.blogspot.com
http://deandraws.com

2 Joko Budiono Print – I hadn’t heard of Joko before, but I am a fan now. Joko had the table next to mine. I paled in comparison. He teaches at the Academy of Art, but he is still an awesome guy (ha). His perspective work is madness. Check it out here:
http://jokosart.blogspot.com/

3 The Matter no. 2 – Someone traded with me for the collection. I usually don’t do too many trades, but the graphic design of this book is killer and it is a great collection of comic vignettes. There are five stories in here, I am still working my way through all of them. Their site is here (not working at the moment):
http://therseco.com/

4 Post Art – Marian Dilan and Helen Chau had the table next to mine. Both are former CCA all stars and this collection solidifies it. The book is a collaboration between Marian and Helen and features a ton of work done on post-its. This medium happens to be PERFECT for their styles. They also were selling post-its with original art. You better believe I picked up some. Check ‘em out:
http://helenchau.com/
http://www.helenchau.blogspot.com/
http://mariandilan.com/

5 Grim Wilkins Book – My Grim Wilkins fanboyism continues. This is a new book. WITH. ORIGINAL. ART. ON. COVER. Hell yes. Seriously, Grim can do no wrong. And if he does, he doesn’t publish it. I also picked up a print. I didn’t put it in this pic because he might think I am stalking him. If you don’t know, learn yourself up:
http://grimwilkins.com/
http://grimwilkins.blogspot.com/

6 A Caxcan Guerilla Takes Over the Awkward Girl and Outgrowing Plastic Dolls – I had known of Liz Mayorga-Amaya’s work for a bit, so I was hyped when I saw that she had her zines for sale at APE. While APE this year was a little more super hero heavy, Liz held down the other side of the spectrum with work that is subtle and thoughtful. Her combination of comics and writing should bring back memories of childhood for anyone. I’ve since picked up all her work, I only wish there was more. Check out her site here:
http://www.spunkycatcomix.com/

7 Fiona Meng Lookbook – Fiona had the table across from me. She is awesome and we had a long talk about art and style and all that good stuff. Her work is rad. Check it out!
http://fionameng.com/

8 Four prints by Mike Manomivibul – Wow that’s a mouthful! Mike’s work is sick. He recently got a full page in Spectrum and he earned every inch of it. My friend Brian Bowes introduced me to his work and I was hooked. His diver pieces are especially amazing. Crazy enough, he proposed a trade with me. I got the good end of that one. Word. Insanity awaits:
http://www.mikemanoart.com/

9 Sketchbook x 4 – A collection of the sketchbook work of George Cwirko-Godycki, Ben Jelter, Konstantin Pogorelov, and Nathan Sisler. I got this book in a trade with George. Anyone who knows me knows my love of sketchbook. This is a great example of four unique styles and the unbridled love of drawing. Massive book with several thousand awesome drawings. Check out their work:
http://freshzebra.blogspot.com/
http://theguture.blogspot.com/
http://klumsyk.blogspot.com/
http://www.nathansisler.com/

10 Zoo – I shared a table with Tony Huynh this year. His recent work is bananas. His minibook, Zoo, is a black and white showcase of his unique style and graphic design, retelling his childhood trip to the zoo. He is killing it right now, show some love!
http://thuynh.com/

Here are a few flowers for a secret project/collaboration that should be finishing up in the next few days. Perhaps this is my triumphant return to fashion. Four more pieces to follow…

I love the lectures at California College of the Arts, and last night was one of the best.  Making this event even better was the biennial Alumni/Faculty art show. Since I am both Alum and Faculty, I participated, along with some of my favorite people and artists, including Owen Smith (both art and person pictured above), Grim Wilkins, Mike Manomivibul, John Hersey, Dugald Stermer, Barron Storey, et al. The art show as super inspirational and humbling and it also ended up being a class reunion of sorts, as my (extremely successful) classmates Jon Stich, Melissa Garden Streblow, Vincent Perea, Carl De Torres and Jorge Mascarenhas were in attendance.

The show was followed by the main event: an alumni lecture. The lecture featured a panel of alumni from ten years out to two years out.  Featured were: Charles Glaubitz, Lisel Ashlock, Carl De Torres, Vincent Perea, and Brynn Metheney. Each talk was unique and really showed the breadth of experience and approaches in illustration. It was especially good for the students to see the journey at various steps of the way. And Charles was especially inspirational and honest. Please check out all their work! And special thanks to Alexis Mahrus for putting this altogether. I am so proud to be part of this department.

Check these guys out:
Charles Glaubitz - http://mrglaubitz.com/
Lisel Ashlock - http://www.liseljane.com/
Carl DeTorres - http://www.carldetorres.com/
Vincent Perea - http://vincentperea.com
Brynn Metheney – http://brynnart.com

(l-r: Carl DeTorres, Brynn Metheney, Charles Glaubitz, Lisel Ashlock, and Vincent Perea)

I’ve been really inspired lately and the ink is running freely. I’ve been working on an art project where I am illustrating my favorite songs. Since I am a total music junkie, I have no shortage of ideas or songs to choose from. Here are two recent pieces. The first is a portrait of my friend Marian for a collaborative book called “Strange Ghost.” The second image is from my music project. The song is “King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1″ by Neutral Milk Hotel. All images are done with Pentel Color Brushes, a black one, grey one, and a water brush. I will put  up a tutorial sooon…

After finishing Devotion I was almost burnt out. In the month that followed, I had a severe case of artist block. One of the main problems I was having was with technique. As it was, I felt I had pushed the red and black thing as far as I could push it in that direction. The further I got into the book, the tighter and more controlled I got. Near the end this hit a critical mass and I felt I really couldn’t push things tinier or more detailed. 

I knew that I really needed to loosen up and work freer and faster. I tried out two sketchbooks and it just didn’t click. I had a few ideas and those didn’t click either. For the life of me, I couldn’t make the work happen. I was even dreading spending 20 hours doing a small hyper detailed piece again. And really, if you dread working, why do it at all?

To make matters worse, my friend Tony and I were several weeks behind on a collaborative project. For Alternative Press Expo, we are creating a series of pieces inspired by music. Only I wasn’t inspired in my work. Then magic happened…

Two things happened in the same day which proved to be quite serendipitous. On Monday morning this week I received a package from my friends at Pentel Arts. I am doing a demo at Flax in November and Pentel sent me just about their entire line. Included in this package was a set of color brushes (!!!) with a black, grey, sepia, and a water brush to blend with. This was perfect timing because I wanted to do a value rough demo in my Illustration 1 class that afternoon.

In class I used the new tools to quickly knock out a value study of a Stone Golem. After five minutes of drawing, I felt like I had found a new soulmate in these tools. I knew I needed to explore this further…

The next day I was meeting my friend Madaly to grab lunch and draw for a bit. I needed to knock out some roughs for a client so I thought I’d play with the technique some more. I was able to knock out two roughs quickly in one sitting. I knew this would be a great way to do value studies and sketch, but I wondered whether this could be useful for even more…

After two days of intense freelance, I had some free time to draw on friday. I went to my favorite drawing spot, Borderlands Cafe, and doodled around. After about ten minutes, I had this piece (cthulu on the horizon):

While this piece is by no means “good,” it had enough going on that I though it was worth pushing further. In the next two days I had knocked out another six pieces, including the two at the top of this post. While I am a little hesitant to start in a completely new style, I know enough to always follow my heart and right now all I want to do is work like this.

This new way of working still has the same sensibility as the red and black work, but with a softer more nuanced feel. But mostly, it is FAST! It feels so good to create a piece in one short sitting and even better to create multiple pieces a day.  I am probably going to go back to red and black in a little bit, but for now, this is what I need to be doing… Lots more coming soon.

In between long projects, I always like to take some time to do small projects with less commitment. In addition to straight up illustration, I’ve always loved calligraphy and lettering. As one of the small upcoming projects, I want to play around with more lettering and typography concepts. The script above is the first one I’ve done. 

If you would like me to do your name or a phrase, just write it in the comments below and I will try to get to it. Stay posted, I will be posted more on this regularly.

Some random editorial work for a tech blog that, alas, will not be used.

Honestly, as much as I love illustration, I don’t enjoy editorial very much. Give me story book any day! In fact, a new project is starting shortly…

This past weekend I was invited to do some live painting at Literary Death Match at the Forum in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. If you haven’t been to Literary Deathmatch, it is a trip: known writers compete head to head in seven minute read-offs. After reading, they are judged by a hilarious and usually tipsy panel of their fellow literati. Two writers make it into the final round which usually has nothing to do with writing.

This time around the event was tied into visual art, so I was asked to create a  simple portrait of William Faulkner (in black and red). I then made the picture into a paint-by-numbers piece. For the event, I created the paint-by-numbers image on a huge illustration board.

During the final round, the two writers, Susan Steinberg and Caitlyn Myer, had to guess trivia questions. If they answered correctly, I painted in a section and they could guess who the picture was of. It took almost the entire piece filled in, but Susan guessed correctly and won the event.

The event itself was awesome. About 300-400 people attended and the readings were great. The amazing poet Bucky Sinister was one of the hosts and I got to meet him and talk for a while. I’ve been a fan of his for years, so that was a cool surprise. Thanks to Alia Volz for inviting me!

Check out more Death Match info here: http://www.literarydeathmatch.com/

I finally finished work on Devotion, the project I was focused on for the last two years. While I look for a publisher, I’ve put the entire book online to view. The book is online here: http://chriskoehler.com/devotion/

To commemorate the finish of the book, here are some statistics:

Book started: 8/8/09
Book completed: 8/8/11
Time period of work: 2 years exactly
Hours spent on art: ~ 600
Pages/pieces: 112/56
Pieces used: 40
Most amount of time spent on a single piece: >40 hours (http://chriskoehler.com/#image7)
Pieces edited in post-production: 9
Colors used: 3
Brushes used: 5
Favorite brush: #4 Round Black (Pentel Color Brush normal size)
Number of counties worked in: 5 (USA, Germany, Israel, Spain, England)

I can’t really think of any others, but if you have any more questions, put them in the comments!

The Devotion project is nearly done, one more left to go…

Work in progress, the red is finished. So far I’ve put well over 30 hours in, mostly on the roses. This is all cross hatching with a brush on paper, no midtones at all. Hopefully the black will go faster. Detail below…

I spent the afternoon today drawing with the illustrious Lauren Szabo. She is all about oil painting on location. After some hunting around we city, we found a cool spot out in the piers in China Basin. I accidentally left my pencil case at home, so Lauren lent me a felt brush pen. It definitely wasn’t as tight as the almighty Pentel Color Brush, but it was good getting loose again. This is first time I’ve freely sketched in a LONG time and it felt great. If you are down to draw, email me!

I love roses. Over the last couple months I have drawn hundreds of them. It is always good to have reference on hand and there is no better reference than the one you shoot yourself. I took a trip to the rose gardens in Portland and snapped a couple pics. Awesome grounds with thousands of roses, highly recommended.

After a 16  hour train ride north, Shara and I spent our first day in Portland, Oregon. We walked about nine miles and ate all day. Good times. Here are some photos from day one in the Pacific Northwest…

Portland has hundreds of food carts. Most of the food seemed pretty good, too! There was one with poutine but it was too hot outside to get down on that. I did get an horchata that came in pony keg size.

There was a cool deer statue downtown.

As a nice surprise, I found this cool Os Gemeos scribe in the bathroom next to our hotel. If you don’t know who they are, look them up, their work is amazing. But I’ll still settle for a scribe.

I was having lunch with a friend from college the other day and the topic of senior thesis came up. No matter how good someone is in college, their first goal after graduating should be to completely replace student work with real work. In my case, my style has changed so dramatically that having my old work up wouldn’t even make sense.

I used to do purely digital work, but after a couple years of plotting points in Illustrator, I realized I just wanted to draw. My current style is just an evolved form of my sketchbook work from college. For fun, I thought I’d break out the flat file (hard drive) and post a few old pieces up. All these pieces are from my Junior thesis project on mental dysfunctions, done around 2003 (I can’t believe it’s been that long!).

Like lots of college illustrators, I was obsessed with Alphonse Mucha. I was also a computer nerd. My style back then was pretty much a marriage of these two interests. Enjoy!

There are a ton of artists i like, but very few artists’ sites that I frequent. The main reason is that most are sites are static; one visit and you’ve seen it all. I love sites with good blogs that have consistent quality content. These are the sites I bookmark and subscribe to. An interesting blog goes a long way in keeping people hooked. This spotlight is dedicated to a few artist’s blog that I read regularly. So get your bookmarks toolbar ready!

Hascunyo
Hascunyo is the tumblr blog of Jorge Mascarenhas’s sketchbook work.  Jorge subscribes to the whole “sketchbook that is better than your portfolio” school of thought, which I dig big time. Jorge and I went to college together, but he has lapped me several times over by now. His moleskine work is dark, mysterious, and completely worth the visit. Check it out: http://jmascamoleskine.tumblr.com/

a kevin wada art blog
Kevin is one of those rare people who graduated school with a fully developed style, running full bore into a career. There is a good reason why he is getting so much work these days, his work is flawless and unique, with a mature sensibility that belies his time out in the field. His blog is an awesome showcase of an illustrator moving fast. Don’t visit if you are easily discouraged… http://www.kevinwadaart.blogspot.com/

The Wonderful World of Helen Chau
The title doesn’t lie, Helen’s world is wonderful indeed! I am a huge fan of Helen’s work. Her style is simple and complex at the same time and is as fun as it is focused. We draw together a lot, so my portrait pops up on her blog from time to time. The awesome thing about her blog is watching her style mutate and mature from post to post (great insight into the artistic process). Click here or else: http://helenchau.blogspot.com/

FishHook Studio
FishHook Studio is the blog of Brynn Metheney. Brynn (see books) is relentless, by far one of the most consistent and professionals concept artists I have seen. Her blog covers everything, from process to finishes to behind-the-scenes. If you are lucky, you might even pick up some pointers. The blog is updated often and the content is always top notch. Game recognize game: http://www.fishhookstudio.com/

If you didn’t see your blog above it might be because I forgot about it or you don’t post often enough. So shoot me an email and let me know about it!

If Thomas Kinkade gets to be the “Painter of Light,” I get dibs on water. Above, twelve arguments. Represent!

When it comes to art supplies, I am a simple man. All the tools I use to illustrate are contained in a 7″ x 4″ pencil case. After years of trying different media and toting around a tool box worth of paints and brushes, I love the portability and efficiency of this set up. So what’s in the box? Let’s open it up and take a look…

The most important items in my kit are my brush pens, also known as Pentel Color Brushes. They are cartridge based brushes with synthetic bristles. I gush about these brushes a lot because they are the best and most versatile tools I have ever worked with. The brushes can flow wide and wet or can pull lines as sharp as a razor. The cartridge system can also regulate the ink flow fairly well and comes in a wide variety of colors. They also last forever (the bottom one pictured above has at least eight years on it).

In America, the color brushes come in one size, which is roughly equivalent to a 6 round. In Japan (and Japanese stationery stores), Pentel makes a full range of sizes, all in black. I have three black brushes (two American size and one very-fine Japanese one), two red brushes (one American size and one very-fine Japanese tip replaced with a red cartridge), and one grey brush (normal size). Having more brushes means I can keep them in various states of dryness, which is important in detailing.

Besides the brush pens, I have the standard accompaniment of tools. I like using a vinyl eraser and #2 HB pencil to draw with. I also use a 4B pencil for transfers and sketching. A sharpener is always handy, this particular one gives a wicked sharp point. Rounding out the kit I have a Tombow Mono Zero eraser for detailed erasure and a Pentel Slim correction pen, which I use like a white pen since it can detail like a rapidograph (seriously bad ass). These last two are Japanese or import only for now.

Also, I make sure to pack plenty of spares…

Most of my sketches look like this. But different ideas call for different approaches…

Some ideas are great for freestyling, basically drawing as little as possible and letting the picture come out in ink. This is great for ideas with looser elements, like clouds or flowing water.  Other ideas need a more developed drawing – a finished composition and shapes blocked in. This is most often the case with trees, clothing, flowers, etc. And some ideas need drawings so tight that they are pretty much paint-by-numbers.

This is the case with images that don’t have much wiggle room in the execution, like faces and animals. The above piece is standing water with drops. Because of the posterization of the water, I wanted to refine the drawing to dictate the inking precisely. I hope it works out…

I love detailing. The tinier the lines, the better. For years I avoided crosshatching and feathering with ink. I used to think getting the hairlines was a matter of extreme delicacy and skill, which I do not have. Over the last year I’ve been hatching a lot and my lines have been getting thinner and thinner. I’ve learned that it doesn’t take skill to get skinny on it, you just have to know a few tricks…

For the best line quality and skinniness, nothing beats a good brush.  I use Pentel Color Brushes, I love the sharpness and integrity of the tip as well as the convenience of the ink cartridge. I don’t bother using a tiny brush as anything size 8 or smaller works fine. The Color Brushes are comparable to a 6 round. Let’s get started!

1) Blot the brush until it is almost dry
The biggest trick to fine lines is getting your brush almost dry. The more saturation a brush has, the more ink will bleed off the bristles on contact with paper. I like my brush at the point where it can’t pull a line at all, or even really dry brush. I usually try to keep at least one brush in a state of almost dryness. If necessary, I get out some toilet paper and blot the tip until it is dry. This can take a while.

2) Stroke the brush until you have a sharp semi-flat tip. Test!
You want your brush to be dry, but not so dry that it can’t hold a point. In fact, this is probably the most important thing. After blotting, I create short strokes on a sheet of test paper. I will rotate 90 degrees between strokes to pull the tip into a sharp point. When it is pretty sharp, I will create several several strokes without rotating to make the tip a little flatter in one direction. Then i rotate it to the narrow side and use the brush like a knife. Test the brush and see how skinny you can make the lines.

3) Mount your arm down, and stroke slowly outward with the wrist
Contrary to correct form, I cross hatch from the wrist instead of the elbow. I prefer my arm to be as rigid as possible and let most of the movement come from the wrist. I find I get more control this way. Because the brush has so little ink, it flows better if the angle to the surface is more acute and in line with the brush. Because of this, I always stroke away from my body at a steep angle inline with the brush. It might also be necessary to go slowly (sometimes really slowly) to get enough ink flowing.

4) Recalibrate often, lock and rotate
After a minute or two of working this way, the sharpened tip tends to flatten out. When this happens, I rotate 90 degrees to the sharp angle, lock my arm in and start again. Because I get the best lines from stroking outward, I will usually rotate my drawing surface to accommodate this motion instead of drawing in a direction. It is more time consuming, but well worth it.

5) Brush going too dry? Time for an ink transfusion!
The big problem with this method is that the brush dries quickly. If you are using an ink well, you can just reapply no problem. If you are using brush pens, squeezing the catridge will oversaturate the brush and it will take forever to get it dry again. There is an interesting solution to this problem…

6) Rub the brushes into each other
Using another saturated brush pen, I rub the bristles of the wet brush onto the dry one, from the base to the tip as I rotate the dry one to get a full covering. This gives just enough juice to keep inking without oversaturating and blowing out the lines.

7) Twist the tip
After transfusing ink, the newly inked brush will be flayed. I use my fingers and twirl the brush as i pinch softly to create a nice sharp tip. Then I repeat at step 2 until the brush is ready for show time.

8) Test and draw!
Again, I test and approve. I usually reink every few minutes while working, constantly keeping one brush at medium saturation and one dry. I have another at low saturation for medium detailing as well.

Always remember!
While this method doesn’t take much skill, it does take a ton of time. When I really get into it, I work at a pace of one hour per square inch. It can be incredibly time consuming and tedious, but it is well worth it. Don’t be afraid to take the time to make the image work.  And always have fun!

After several years of work (off and on) my band, Seraphim, has released our second album “A Second Wind.” Seraphim are producer and rapper Solstice, rapper Tede Rux, and myself (on producing and rhyming duties).

Besides illustration, music has been a passion of mine for over a decade now, so we are very happy that this project is released and sounds great! We decided that we’d rather be heard than make money, so the album is completely free to download. If you do want to support and want an awesome cd with amazing art by Tede Rux, you can also purchase it (with free download).

Check it out here and share it with everyone you know: http://6winged.bandcamp.com/

After several months of hard work, my wife Shara has launched her new clothing line –  Lotfi. Despite my marital bias, I am a huge fan of Shara’s work. Her line has a elegant simplicity combined with a unique sensibility. All pieces are handmade and feature custom textile patterns. Speaking of which, I was hired (still waiting on that check…) to contribute the textile designs adapted from oil paintings I had done a few years back. 

This is the first collection of many to come, check it out and put in an order!

www.lotfilotfi.com
www.alafdm.com/apparel

When people see my work, the question they most often ask is “why red and black?” Indeed, the most obvious feature in most of my work is a preponderance of red and black (on white paper). I never really know how to answer this question. There isn’t any deep philosophical reason I use red and black. The simplest answer is that I just like how it looks. But technically, I use red and black for some specific reasons.

Those who use photoshop or care about color theory are familiar with the two sets of primaries, which in photoshop manifest as color profiles. For screen media you have the additive primary colors: red, green, and blue (RGB). For print media you have the subtractive primary colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). Out of all primaries (with the exception of black), red is the easiest to translate from ink to digital as a pure primary color. Most other inks or paints are a mixture of primaries, but red can be converted from a pigment on paper to a discreet channel in photoshop.

Using levels, the midtones can be compressed easily to 100% red, isolating all midtones to a single channel. In this same process I can compress the light tones to pure white and black ink into to pure black. For example, the original scan is on the left and the compressed version is on the right:

This means that the red can be isolated and adjusted by selecting the red color channel. The easiest way to see this in action is to use a “Hue/Saturation” adjustment layer and selectively adjust the red channel. Here is an example of desaturation, turning the brightness to +100 and turning the brightness to -100:

This technique is handy when the image needs to be reduced to black and white, two color, or in prepping images for color separation. Color separation is necessary for silk screening and plotting, so I would do almost this exact process to create the separate screens for a shirt or print.

All of these examples are to illustrate how flexible red is. In addition to having a strong aesthetic quality, red, black, and white can easily become any three colors. Sometimes red, black and white isn’t the best way to go. In that case, Photoshop comes to the rescue. By isolating the red channel, I can do whatever I want, from adding a gradient to changing the hue. Here are three color ways for the above piece:

The blue version was the one used in the final illustration. In fact, every single piece I do is drawn in red and black. While I always flatten the colors, I often times change the colors to match the intent or mood of the piece.

So when people ask why I use red and black, hopefully I can just point them here, unless they really want me to go off.

A few weeks ago I gave a talk to my sister’s third grade class. The other night my sister gave me a stack of thank you notes and questions from her students. Here are the burning questions of third graders, answered:

Do you drive a car?
Nope, I ride the bus.

Do you draw Greek gods?
I used to, but not much any more. It’s a cool idea for a new series!

What materials do you draw with?
Normal HB #2 pencils, Pentel Color Brushes (brush pens), and Slim white out pens.

What kind of picture do you draw the most?
I like drawing nature including trees, clouds, and birds. I also like to draw silhouettes. I don’t like to limit what I draw though, so I will draw whatever seems cool.

Why do you draw pictures with red in it?
There are lots of reasons, but mostly because I like how it looks.

How old is your wife?
Um… a couple years younger than me.

How did you become an artist?
Anyone who makes art is an artist, so most people are artists in their own way.

Do you teach teenagers or kids?
Mostly adults.

Do you know how to draw Darth Vader?
I can draw Jabba, but not Darth Vader. My brother probably can though.

Do you like to draw sea serpents?
I have painted eels, but I don’t have much experience drawing sea serpents.

Do you like Harry Potter?
I liked the first four books, but they got too serious for me. Once it left the school, I signed out.

What school do you work at?
California College of the Arts.

Do you make books?
Most of my projects are done as books and I love the book form.

Do you have a gold fish?
Not now, but I had a gold fish named Sally when I was a kid.

For this artist spotlight, I want to feature some of the recent books (and cardsets) I’ve acquired recently. Along with recent publications by friends, I picked up quite a few promo books by the Illustration thesis students. From left to right, top to bottom:

Love Story in the Woods – Grim Wilkins
I mentioned this book in the last spotlight, but it is worth mentioning again. Absolutely gorgeous art. I could go on, but just buy it so you can see for yourself. http://www.grimwilkins.com/

Illustrated Adaptation of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Yina Kim
Yina Kim’s style really solidified in the course of her thesis. Her illustrations walk the fine line of intentional naivete and whimsical line work. Plus the colors are bananas. http://yinakim.com/

Fish Hooks Vol. 1 – Brynn Metheney
Since graduating CCA, Brynn has been on a warpath. She cranks out top level fantasy and concept art faster than most people can view it. This collection shows her range and process and intimidates all in her way.  http://www.brynnart.com/ and  http://www.fishhookstudio.com/

What are you doing here? – Yon Kyung Lim
Yon was a student of mine and I had no idea she could paint like this. Her watercolor is mature and sophisticated with a strong personal aesthetic. Every page in this book is a home run. http://yonlim.com/

Kandyland – Katharina Conrad
Katharina reimagines the board game Candyland through the lens of American dysfunction (my words). Messed up in all the best ways, Candyland will never be the same… http://katharinaconrad.com/

Rare – Alex Babakitis
Alex turned out one of the more straightforward and elegant thesis projects I’ve seen in a while. Homeboy can really work his lines and cranks out some stunning portraits of endangered life on earth. http://babakitis.com/

Apana – Laurel Planas
Apana Chang was the Hawaiian supercop who served as the inspiration for  Charlie Chan. This short graphic novel is a primer to his bad assery. http://laurelplanas.com/

Waking Dreams – Lisa Jeong
Lisa really stepped up her game in her thesis project based around her not-so-typical dreams. Dreams have been done before, but the descriptions are comprehensive and the nature of the pieces are so surreal that it rises above the standard. Plus the multimedia technique kills it. http://lisajeong.com/

Ten in One – Nicole Gervacio
Nicole’s thesis consists of portraits of circus and sideshow performers. Her technique is really unique and integrates loose painting with collage. Really cool  subject with an interesting approach. http://nicolegervacio.com/

What is Your Paradise? – Alek Morawski
Alek started this project by sending out a request for people’s personal ideas of “paradise”. Narrowing a list of over 50 responses to ten pieces, Alek took those concepts are ran with it. Alek’s work feels straight hip hop but completely personal. http://alekmorawski.com/

I can rock pretty hard with brush and ink, but my pencil sketches are terrible. For the most part I sketch just to get the rawest of ideas down and let the actual drawing come out in ink. I’ve always preferred ink to pencil; I love the solidity and accuracy more than the fudginess of pencils.

I usually sketch between the pages of my finishes and glue the sketch pages together, but I have a few here, never before seen (for good reason). Enjoy!

I just finished the last piece in the penultimate chapter of Devotion. This project is going to be  nine chapters. Each chapter will be text with  five illustrations in sequence. In this particular chapter, “Learning to Fly”, the girl is teaching the boy how to fly and ascend beyond limbo. The idea of learning to fly is meant to be interpretive and personal, but I wanted to convey a story that is both fantastical and deeply personal. This chapter was created after the story was set, so it is a bit more cohesive and deliberate than other chapters. Each chapter also has a motif, this one is definitely “birds”. Check it out below:

1 You Were Meant for the Sky

2 A Wing and a Prayer

3 Winged Migration

4 Ascension

5 I Am a Bird Now

My most recent project, Devotion, started off like most of my projects – in a sketchbook. In fact, up until 20 pages in, it was just a sketchbook. There was no theme (other than the colors), not much consistency, and pages ranged from singles to spreads.

After about 20 pages, I switched over to all spreads. The book is 7″ x 7″ and each piece ends up being 14″ x 7″. I was also having problems with the ink bleeding through the pages, so I started gluing pages together. With spreads and gluing, the entire book would end up being 55 pieces instead of Amen’s (the last book I did) 210 pages.

A third into the book, similar themes and motifs started popping up, namely trees, water, clouds, and birds. I really enjoy drawing these things so I just went with it. At around the halfway point, the various thematic threads started manifesting as a story. This was completely unintentional. Up to this part of the book, I had just been making images I thought were cool. But something different started happening…

I didn’t even realize a story was being told until two-thirds in. I looked back and noticed a lot of pictures worked together to tell little stories. There was no grand narrative, but the threads were more than themes, they were short stories playing out randomly thoughout the pages. Even weirder, almost all the previous pages worked into the story. The Devotion project went from a sketchbook to a narrative story book.

For a long time after I realized this was going to be a “book” I just kept drawing, making sure to work in the same themes and moods that the rest of the book had. I had no idea what the actual story was other than knowing it was being told. I also had no idea what the structure should be or what text should be included. With each piece, though, the story started making more sense. The best way I can explain this is to say that what was initially an abstract collage started coming into focus. Every piece brought this big picture more into focus.

This was a really passive approach to telling a story and probably wouldn’t have been very successful. At the three quarter point, I had a revelation (albeit a small personal one). The story I had been fiddling with made sense and could be broken into nine chapters of five images each, with 10 images sidelined. The next thing I did was print the images as thumbnails and buy a pack of post-its. I used one of the empty walls in my studio and made a paste-up storyboard wall:

Now things started to make sense.

All the thumbs have double stick tape, so I can easily remove and replace them. I use post-its to stand in for the missing pages and switch them out as I finish new pieces. I also put ideas on them or little sketches (you can see a terrible idea in the first image for this post). I have made so many changes from when I first put up this wall; it really helps in a few ways.

- I can get a really high level view of the entire project.

- Within each chapter, I can get a feel for the flow of pieces. I try to give each chapter its own theme and want to make sure the pictures have enough variety and cohesiveness.

- This is an easy way to keep track of progress and ideas.

- I can easily move around pages. This is especially useful because I am retrofitting a ton of older pictures into a newer story. Sometimes it works, and sometimes my favorite images get sidelined. One way I’ve worked with this is to take two similar images and create a new piece in between to tie them together.

This is the largest project I’ve have to structure in any form, so this helps me keep track but not overplan (which has a tendency to completely kill my motivation). Plus it looks cool.

There are good artists and there are jealously inducing artists… Grim Wilkins is the latter.

Some back story: I make it a point to sit in on Barron Storey’s sequential imagery class as often as I can. Some days he brings in a suitcase of graphic novels to show the class. For the most part, I skim them and pass on. I’ve seen quite a few comics and graphic novels and I’m not much of graphic novel enthusiast, probably due to a wafer thin attention span. One day in particular, Barron mentions a graphic novel on the table, Love Story in the Woods. I start flipping through it, with my typical blase attitude. But this book is different, I am utterly spellbound. The story is vague and poetic and the art is… ridiculous. The style is simple but enigmatic, the forms fantastic but familiar. I’m hooked.

It turns out that Love Story in the Woods is the most recent published work by Grim Wilkins, a fellow CCA(c) alumus. We met a few weeks after Barron introduced me to his work; turns out that we had crossed paths before but never formally met. In any case, I’m a fan now.

As much as I love and follow art and illustration these days, there is a huge trend towards sarcasm, cynicism, and stylistic branding. That’s why it is so refreshing to see art with such a sophisticated sense of wonder and magic (especially when it is done in one color, he’s got me beat).

Words don’t do it much justice, but for a better sample, check out his website:
http://www.grimwilkins.com

Also, make sure to pick up a copy of Love Story in the Woods. It’s worth whatever he’s asking, which turns out isn’t that much:
http://www.grimwilkins.com/shop/