Grenn, I'm a tremendous fan of your work: I spent at least an hour yesterday just pouring through your site.
I'm curious about a few aspects of your technique:
1. Do you generally go into the color phase of a drawing with a plan, i.e. four colors or so you want, or is it more iterative?
2. Do you work from your final colors, or do you color however you want and rely on a software filter to do the initial drop-to-four (or however many you're using) colors?
3. What's your general price range, i.e. how much are you charging for these posters? (I understand if you don't want to answer that one)
Firstly, thanks a lot for the very kind words, they are sincerely appreciated.
1. Do you generally go into the color phase of a drawing with a plan, i.e. four colors or so you want, or is it more iterative?
Generally, I plan everything out in my head beforehand as much as possible -- I think of a concept and then visualise the colours and basic composition before I draw anything or sit down at the computer, so I have a clear idea in my mind's eye of what I'm working towards.
In fact, I do a lot of mental planning, to quite a freakish degree and to the point where I'm thinking about colour/texture seperations in Photoshop, actually imagining doing the work before I do it. My girlfriend will often catch me staring off into space and say, "You're thinking about Photoshop aren't you?"
So yes, I usually know how many colours I will use beforehand, and how I will set up 'floods' and 'traps' for my colour seperations.
Obviously this applies primarily to work that will be screenprinted, but I also apply to most things I do. When I first started screenprinting I found it very hard to use so few colours but now it's a habit I'm glad I have developed.
The ability to do 'more with less', and edit and strip your work down to the essentials without losing any of the impact is the sign of a good designer, imo, and something I continually strive to be better at.
2. Do you work from your final colors, or do you color however you want and rely on a software filter to do the initial drop-to-four (or however many you're using) colors?
All the elements on the screen are actually black; I use colour overlays to assign colours to each layer while I'm working. Even though I will only use 3 or 4 colours, I tend to spend a long time trying out different combinations of those colours on the elements of my image (i.e. will this character be solid blue with grey linework, or just blue outline and no fill, or solid fill and white linework, etc. etc.) until it seems balanced and comes together.
I use layers obsessively. With the Hold Steady poster above, I used about 70 layers.
3. What's your general price range, i.e. how much are you charging for these posters? (I understand if you don't want to answer that one)
I sell Gigposters for around $20-$30 (although I sometimes put the price up if I have only a couple left), "art prints" are typically a bit more but have smaller edition sizes.
(and for info: all my gigposters are commisioned by either the band, label or promoter/venue and are used to promote the show or as merch for the band to sell. I don't just make posters for random bands I like, as that would be bootlegging.)
My rates for commissioned design work vary depending on how much fun the project sounds and the budget of the client.
The Night Marchers gig (poster above) was all kinds of awesome, a few friends and I put the gig on and were worried about losing a tonne of money but fortunately, all costs were covered, the band got their guarantee and everyone twisted the night away.
I made 4 huge posters of the Night Marchers skull, which were displayed either side of the stage and they were grabbed by fans before the gig was even finished. I should be doing screenprinted versions of this at some point (with the band's approval).
My Hold Steady poster got printed up (yay) and then the band cancelled the entire tour due to sickness (nooooo) but fortunately they've rescheduled and I can amend the dates by hand.
My work appeared at another exhibition, which was well attended. Spoilered for looong pic:
And finally, a local band's record came out which I did the art for -- although it was a while ago, it's nice to see the finished CDs:
and a poster I did for their release gig:
That's it from me... back to doing no work and playing Fallout 3 instead. 8-)
A couple of pics from an exhibition my work featured in over the weekend. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the event myself, as I was visiting London, but still managed to sell some prints... via text message!
Personal update time:
I've been on a break from design work while I stress about the day-job and obsess about playing squash... BUT I'm working on a new site and some new work to go on it.
Please leave me encouragement itt; it is gratefully received.
I think the room itself was a decent size, just a low ceiling. Here's a view from outside:
I didn't do any of the pinning/set up -- just sent my stuff in a tube and forgettabouditt!
Yep, they're pinning using bull-dog clips and yes they probably left marks. But, these are the prints that sold, so people don't mind so much. The marks can be smoothed out with the fingures... and besides, one of the good things about printing is that you have plenty of prints left if any get damaged.
As for visiting the UK -- dude, you are more than welcome to come and harass me! Where are you visiting? If you can spare a day up North, then drinks ahoy matey!
Edit: look how strange I spelled the word 'fingers'...
A place called St Helens I think. Near... Manchester apparently? I don't know!
And hey, wow, that space looks awesome! I'm in another show tomorrow, I must get some pictures this time. I never take a camera because I dont want to lose it when im drinking so heavily
And hey, wow, that space looks awesome! I'm in another show tomorrow, I must get some pictures this time. I never take a camera because I dont want to lose it when im drinking so heavily
I've taken the 'never take a camera' stance one step further by simply not turning up at all. ;-)
Started this a few weeks ago, then got married and went away on honeymoon, and returned to an email telling me I need to get this done within 24 hours as all the posters from this tour are being featured in a music magazine over here... SO, I'm furiously working on this.
Pretty happy with it, although I'm probably going to redo (or possibly ditch) the "everything is falling apart" text, and hand-draw the other text at the bottom.
Hopefully this is now looking a bit more compositionally balanced than the first draft I posted -- though I'm aiming for the chaotic look.
Comments and crits are most welcome as I've been staring at this for way too long.....
goddamn. the melvins are still around? Surprising how long a band can last based on the tag line: "the local band the guys from nirvana used to like"
That is a balling fucking poster though. Then again, I do love some magenta.
Not only are they still aorund, they added a drummer and a bass player (they absorbed Big Business).
Their last album was incredible.
The last two albums, for me. Senile Animal and Nude With Boots are both great, great records and the Melvins have, very cleverly, almost reinvented themselves by absorbing Big Business and going down the dual-drums, dual-vocals route.
And finally, they are fucking amazing live -- I'm lucky enough to have done 2 posters for them and seen 'em on both tours I did posters for.
As for the Gallows poster -- I just got a cool email from the printers saying it's their new favourite poster and it was a pleasure to print!
Also -- Mully, you are far too kind! I am neither a genius or a superstar but I am glad you like my work.
The beefstock poster probably won't be screenprinted but I think I may rework it into an illustration without the text and do a print of that. I'd like to add some layers of ground underneath and play with the perspective some more.
Posts
I'm curious about a few aspects of your technique:
1. Do you generally go into the color phase of a drawing with a plan, i.e. four colors or so you want, or is it more iterative?
2. Do you work from your final colors, or do you color however you want and rely on a software filter to do the initial drop-to-four (or however many you're using) colors?
3. What's your general price range, i.e. how much are you charging for these posters? (I understand if you don't want to answer that one)
Again, big fan. Keep up the great work.
Generally, I plan everything out in my head beforehand as much as possible -- I think of a concept and then visualise the colours and basic composition before I draw anything or sit down at the computer, so I have a clear idea in my mind's eye of what I'm working towards.
In fact, I do a lot of mental planning, to quite a freakish degree and to the point where I'm thinking about colour/texture seperations in Photoshop, actually imagining doing the work before I do it. My girlfriend will often catch me staring off into space and say, "You're thinking about Photoshop aren't you?"
So yes, I usually know how many colours I will use beforehand, and how I will set up 'floods' and 'traps' for my colour seperations.
Obviously this applies primarily to work that will be screenprinted, but I also apply to most things I do. When I first started screenprinting I found it very hard to use so few colours but now it's a habit I'm glad I have developed.
The ability to do 'more with less', and edit and strip your work down to the essentials without losing any of the impact is the sign of a good designer, imo, and something I continually strive to be better at.
All the elements on the screen are actually black; I use colour overlays to assign colours to each layer while I'm working. Even though I will only use 3 or 4 colours, I tend to spend a long time trying out different combinations of those colours on the elements of my image (i.e. will this character be solid blue with grey linework, or just blue outline and no fill, or solid fill and white linework, etc. etc.) until it seems balanced and comes together.
I use layers obsessively. With the Hold Steady poster above, I used about 70 layers.
I sell Gigposters for around $20-$30 (although I sometimes put the price up if I have only a couple left), "art prints" are typically a bit more but have smaller edition sizes.
(and for info: all my gigposters are commisioned by either the band, label or promoter/venue and are used to promote the show or as merch for the band to sell. I don't just make posters for random bands I like, as that would be bootlegging.)
My rates for commissioned design work vary depending on how much fun the project sounds and the budget of the client.
Hope that answers the questions. :^:
Great suggestion, thanks J -- fixed.
It also means that the top elements now follow the curvature of the ground, which feels more compositionally sound.
The Night Marchers gig (poster above) was all kinds of awesome, a few friends and I put the gig on and were worried about losing a tonne of money but fortunately, all costs were covered, the band got their guarantee and everyone twisted the night away.
I made 4 huge posters of the Night Marchers skull, which were displayed either side of the stage and they were grabbed by fans before the gig was even finished. I should be doing screenprinted versions of this at some point (with the band's approval).
My Hold Steady poster got printed up (yay) and then the band cancelled the entire tour due to sickness (nooooo) but fortunately they've rescheduled and I can amend the dates by hand.
My work appeared at another exhibition, which was well attended. Spoilered for looong pic:
And finally, a local band's record came out which I did the art for -- although it was a while ago, it's nice to see the finished CDs:
and a poster I did for their release gig:
That's it from me... back to doing no work and playing Fallout 3 instead. 8-)
*asspat* Your stuff's really inspiring man... if I already said that... well, I don't care, it is.
My Portfolio Site
Personal update time:
I've been on a break from design work while I stress about the day-job and obsess about playing squash... BUT I'm working on a new site and some new work to go on it.
Please leave me encouragement itt; it is gratefully received.
I would love to try screen printing. To that end, I'm going to come and harass you when I visit my mum in the UK later this year. Be prepared.
I didn't do any of the pinning/set up -- just sent my stuff in a tube and forgettabouditt!
Yep, they're pinning using bull-dog clips and yes they probably left marks. But, these are the prints that sold, so people don't mind so much. The marks can be smoothed out with the fingures... and besides, one of the good things about printing is that you have plenty of prints left if any get damaged.
As for visiting the UK -- dude, you are more than welcome to come and harass me! Where are you visiting? If you can spare a day up North, then drinks ahoy matey!
Edit: look how strange I spelled the word 'fingers'...
And hey, wow, that space looks awesome! I'm in another show tomorrow, I must get some pictures this time. I never take a camera because I dont want to lose it when im drinking so heavily
Between Manchester and Liverpool and not that far away from Leeds where I am -- would be easy to meet up for a few pints!
I've taken the 'never take a camera' stance one step further by simply not turning up at all. ;-)
Pretty happy with it, although I'm probably going to redo (or possibly ditch) the "everything is falling apart" text, and hand-draw the other text at the bottom.
Hopefully this is now looking a bit more compositionally balanced than the first draft I posted -- though I'm aiming for the chaotic look.
Comments and crits are most welcome as I've been staring at this for way too long.....
Very happy with how these turned out - you can read/see more on my process blog.
EDIT: Just as I posted this, my friend emailed me this: http://dazeddigital.com/ArtsAndCulture/article/3139/1/Gallows_Art
I fucking love this.
That is a balling fucking poster though. Then again, I do love some magenta.
man i even liked the melvins
i just assume it wasn't THOSE melvins
My Portfolio Site
Not only are they still aorund, they added a drummer and a bass player (they absorbed Big Business).
Their last album was incredible.
The last two albums, for me. Senile Animal and Nude With Boots are both great, great records and the Melvins have, very cleverly, almost reinvented themselves by absorbing Big Business and going down the dual-drums, dual-vocals route.
And finally, they are fucking amazing live -- I'm lucky enough to have done 2 posters for them and seen 'em on both tours I did posters for.
As for the Gallows poster -- I just got a cool email from the printers saying it's their new favourite poster and it was a pleasure to print!
Also -- Mully, you are far too kind! I am neither a genius or a superstar but I am glad you like my work.
Cheers doods. 8-)
Also, I will probably purchase one.
Or several.
I tried to really simplify my style with this one, and convey everything with just shapes and textures.
Love the Gallows poster
The Scoundrel & The Bastard
My Comics Thread
This picture is pure awesome.
The beefstock poster probably won't be screenprinted but I think I may rework it into an illustration without the text and do a print of that. I'd like to add some layers of ground underneath and play with the perspective some more.
EDIT: I bumped myself off...
i don't feel i tell you enough.
your work has a quality and style that just blows my mind.
I think your newer stuff is killing my newer stuff at the moment though... I need to get working on newer-newer stuff!
i refuse
i will fail miserably