Hey Mike - I have a question for you. Your work is very intricate and amazing. How do you start? Do you have a vision of your final piece in your head - or does it develop as you work? WHERE do you start?
I'm asking because 2011 is the year I will finally conquer drawing. I cannot draw a stick figure with a ruler and compass. (Sad, but true!) Any drawings I do - that remotely resemble anything - are either purely accidental, or literally take me forever. A ridiculous amount of time. I may never be able to draw like you can, but I'm going to draw better than I do now!
Thanks for the insight - I love learning how other artists work. Especially when it's work so far out of my range and so admirable.
@Shane, Thanks! @Katherine- I start with a tiny drawing called a thumbnail rough. I try in a small, quick sketch to envision the composition. I then jump to the full size, constructing the figures and objects in shapes, wedges and squiggles.... Once it's all blocked in, I tighten up by placing in details and emphasizing lines. All of it is an interplay between an image I have in my head and what is occurring on the paper organically.
Occasionally a piece can develop the opposite way, if I am sketching a detail such as a face or head and the image grows around it...
Thanks for that, Mike. I appreciate the insight - you really do have some mad skills. It's fun to look at what you've done - it's easy to get lost in the pieces. xx
The Wet Nurse was originally published by StrangeAeons Magazine, in a limited edition, magazine format, which quickly became an out of print collectors item and legendary underground comic. The story was recently reprinted by Oddness books in “the wet nurse and other tales,”a graphic novel collecting my shorter comic book stories. The Original art from this story consists of my original story 16 Watercolor pages, 7 Pencil pages, 21 Laser prints. The laser print represent archived copies of the final print versions with digital post production, and also has final pages with additional mixed media work re scanned for the final, and the completed mixed media pages developing the expanded ending. A unique original art experience! A graphic novel like no other, available in its entirety for an incredible price. $10,000.00 Original watercolor pages 11”x15” Laser print and mixed media complete story 9”x 13” Pencil Pages Alternate Ending 14” x 17” ...
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I'm asking because 2011 is the year I will finally conquer drawing. I cannot draw a stick figure with a ruler and compass. (Sad, but true!) Any drawings I do - that remotely resemble anything - are either purely accidental, or literally take me forever. A ridiculous amount of time. I may never be able to draw like you can, but I'm going to draw better than I do now!
Thanks for the insight - I love learning how other artists work. Especially when it's work so far out of my range and so admirable.
Take care,
Katherine
@Katherine- I start with a tiny drawing called a thumbnail rough. I try in a small, quick sketch to envision the composition. I then jump to the full size, constructing the figures and objects in shapes, wedges and squiggles.... Once it's all blocked in, I tighten up by placing in details and emphasizing lines. All of it is an interplay between an image I have in my head and what is occurring on the paper organically.
Occasionally a piece can develop the opposite way, if I am sketching a detail such as a face or head and the image grows around it...