My instagram ad was denied for "promoting tobacco use." Come on, instagram I'm not promoting tobacco use I'm promoting nihilism at best thats totally different.
Well basically all my art is on hold because I had to order two new rapidographs (almost $60) because both of my tiny millimeter pens got the filaments bent and became useless!
I'm just gonna post this from my Instagram since it's easier
I think I'm calling this done. My pen spit ink on the thing as I put the finishing touches on it and I felt 1.3 years of my life jettison out of my body. I managed to turn it into bushes, which I hate but whatever. Nobody can tell. I fucked my perspective up with that barn but also fuck that too because I am one million percent over this drawing.
I've already got my next idea sketched but I had to order special gilding size from Australia which cost like, $50 for 50ml.
Sorry you're in a funk about it (and scaring me even further away from ever taking up such a time consuming style myself), but I know from art directors dragging me away from doing a never ending series of 'one more things' on pieces that were pissing me off working on- both for scheduling and to protect my sanity reasons- it's perfectly possible to make work that everybody likes and thinks is great even if it makes you, personally, want to scream just looking at it.
More or less done with this aside from stippling in the dust, which I dunno quite how that's gonna turn out but I've already started so oh well. Semi inspired by the lyrics from a Rival Sons song that's stuck with me.
I've got the horns
I've got the speed
This motherfucker's going home dead
Like, just really aggressive. Full steam, no stopping regardless of the hits you take. It's kinda weird doing something with like, real intent? Most of my stuff is less about sharing an idea as it is trying to invoke some kind of vague feeling or hint at a sort of story that's open to interpretation. Anyway. It's close to what I saw in my head but a lot of it was hampered by having to figure out how to draw a bull and so my lack of bull knowledge kinda stiffened the image up a bit. Decided to not do any detail or anything and keep it solid black and hope the silhouette was strong enough you'd immediately know what you're looking at. Makes the red and gold pop more, too, which I think would've been lost had I tried to do my usual bullshit (ha)
I'm playing with this gold ink and I'm trying to figure out how to do black and gold blended washes with it while getting a smooth transition. That was my initial idea for the piece but the few times I tried it it resulted in a muddy gold instead of black to shiny gold.
Something about the head got weird from sketch to final inking and it's kinda off and I don't like it. But the whole purpose of this drawing was to let me test my new gilding size from Kölner. Results are... mixed?
The rep told me it was thin enough to use with dip pens and can flex after drying to allow for rolling up which makes it better for illustrative purposes. That said, it was still quite tacky and didn't really want to flow from my dip pen, and would kind of suck back in on itself when I was trying to "draw" with it. Thats why a lot of the gold looks crumpled and weird. Sizes also have different drying times so I had to figure that out. That said it's about the only size I've found that gets close to doing what I want.
It's a difficult medium to work with but I think once I start to hone in on it the effect is gonna be dope. I'm having to not only learn how to use the stuff I'm having to think waaay ahead with how to build the art around the leaf since it's such a powerful, eye drawing aspect.
Going forward I may not use actual gold leaf. Shit is about $50-60 USD for a small booklet, and since I'm still learning using the good stuff seems excessive. The faux gold is way cheaper and acts the same it'll just tarnish unless it's sealed. It'll also let me practice more. Like, I want to find a way to spray the size on to the paper and then use fine dust to create gold flakes or smoke or magic lookin bullshit.
Going back to a piece I started last year, around the start of lock down I think, and never finished. I got intimidated by the bottom half of the image and I still don't know how the fuck I'm gonna wrangle it.
This is roughly where I stopped
I've not made a lot of progress so far but I've filled in a few things.
Done with this shit. There's too much at the bottom that just isn't good nor is it worth sinking the time in to finish it.
Moving on.
I'm hoping maybe with this officially Done I'll have a little more motivation to work on something new. I just don't do art anymore. I don't have the time or energy and some of it is because I told myself I needed to finish this shit and no fuck it I'm not finishing this, I quit. It sucks and I don't want it hanging around my neck anymore.
Well for what it's worth, it looks great even if you've grown to hate it.
I hope whatever you do next, just lets you get back to feeling drawing can be fun, since this piece seems to have been such an arduous experience to work on. Even if it's just drawing dumb crap in Gartic Phone or something for a bit, I hope you can manage to get a smile out of yourself before heading back down into the stipple mines.
Not to be too boohoo whiney but a lot of it is just down to the fact that all I do is work anymore.
As if my stupid regular job wasn't difficult enough I've picked up a second gig on the side working at a friend's bar and helping them with the production side of things. I barely have time to go to the grocery store to keep myself fed let alone sink hours into art that nobody sees or really cares about. It ain't paying the bills.
But also it's like the one thing I'm passingly good at and it feels bad to give it up. Otherwise I'm just Juggernut: That Dude Who Maybe Has A Beard, I Think?
Posts
Art is pain.
I think I'm calling this done. My pen spit ink on the thing as I put the finishing touches on it and I felt 1.3 years of my life jettison out of my body. I managed to turn it into bushes, which I hate but whatever. Nobody can tell. I fucked my perspective up with that barn but also fuck that too because I am one million percent over this drawing.
I've already got my next idea sketched but I had to order special gilding size from Australia which cost like, $50 for 50ml.
Sorry you're in a funk about it (and scaring me even further away from ever taking up such a time consuming style myself), but I know from art directors dragging me away from doing a never ending series of 'one more things' on pieces that were pissing me off working on- both for scheduling and to protect my sanity reasons- it's perfectly possible to make work that everybody likes and thinks is great even if it makes you, personally, want to scream just looking at it.
So, <empathetic pat on shoulder>.
Twitter
But other people don't matter I see it
Twitter
Like, just really aggressive. Full steam, no stopping regardless of the hits you take. It's kinda weird doing something with like, real intent? Most of my stuff is less about sharing an idea as it is trying to invoke some kind of vague feeling or hint at a sort of story that's open to interpretation. Anyway. It's close to what I saw in my head but a lot of it was hampered by having to figure out how to draw a bull and so my lack of bull knowledge kinda stiffened the image up a bit. Decided to not do any detail or anything and keep it solid black and hope the silhouette was strong enough you'd immediately know what you're looking at. Makes the red and gold pop more, too, which I think would've been lost had I tried to do my usual bullshit (ha)
I'm playing with this gold ink and I'm trying to figure out how to do black and gold blended washes with it while getting a smooth transition. That was my initial idea for the piece but the few times I tried it it resulted in a muddy gold instead of black to shiny gold.
Something about the head got weird from sketch to final inking and it's kinda off and I don't like it. But the whole purpose of this drawing was to let me test my new gilding size from Kölner. Results are... mixed?
The rep told me it was thin enough to use with dip pens and can flex after drying to allow for rolling up which makes it better for illustrative purposes. That said, it was still quite tacky and didn't really want to flow from my dip pen, and would kind of suck back in on itself when I was trying to "draw" with it. Thats why a lot of the gold looks crumpled and weird. Sizes also have different drying times so I had to figure that out. That said it's about the only size I've found that gets close to doing what I want.
It's a difficult medium to work with but I think once I start to hone in on it the effect is gonna be dope. I'm having to not only learn how to use the stuff I'm having to think waaay ahead with how to build the art around the leaf since it's such a powerful, eye drawing aspect.
Going forward I may not use actual gold leaf. Shit is about $50-60 USD for a small booklet, and since I'm still learning using the good stuff seems excessive. The faux gold is way cheaper and acts the same it'll just tarnish unless it's sealed. It'll also let me practice more. Like, I want to find a way to spray the size on to the paper and then use fine dust to create gold flakes or smoke or magic lookin bullshit.
This is roughly where I stopped
I've not made a lot of progress so far but I've filled in a few things.
There's just some perspective stuff towards the bottom that's killing me and I'm scurrred to start inking it there.
Moving on.
I'm hoping maybe with this officially Done I'll have a little more motivation to work on something new. I just don't do art anymore. I don't have the time or energy and some of it is because I told myself I needed to finish this shit and no fuck it I'm not finishing this, I quit. It sucks and I don't want it hanging around my neck anymore.
I hope whatever you do next, just lets you get back to feeling drawing can be fun, since this piece seems to have been such an arduous experience to work on. Even if it's just drawing dumb crap in Gartic Phone or something for a bit, I hope you can manage to get a smile out of yourself before heading back down into the stipple mines.
Twitter
As if my stupid regular job wasn't difficult enough I've picked up a second gig on the side working at a friend's bar and helping them with the production side of things. I barely have time to go to the grocery store to keep myself fed let alone sink hours into art that nobody sees or really cares about. It ain't paying the bills.
But also it's like the one thing I'm passingly good at and it feels bad to give it up. Otherwise I'm just Juggernut: That Dude Who Maybe Has A Beard, I Think?