Focus on Living

NeoRedXIII

I've got quite a handful of work all piled up and unorganized. I thought I'd start a thread limited to a somewhat small selection of recent pieces for some input. I'm really hoping to focus more and more on creating work on skateboards for both display and street over the next year or two. I just got another shipment of 5 decks and have worked on a few the past couple of months. I'll start with recent ones:


acrylic, pen, and marker
A commissioned deck by a friend of mine and also for show to these guys. Handjob decks are originally just the white "Handjob" graphic on a green background.


acrylic
Another commissioned for a friend. A play with color(triadic) n' pattern. There's also a slightly noticeable third layer of each pattern with a clear paint when you look at it in person.


Sanded with acrylic and ink
An abstract board with the use of color and balance being a major goal. I plan on putting this up on eBay soon. I would like to sell it. If anyone is interested, please let me know. Recommended for display because I sanded the surface to the wood and painted/inked it. The liquid may have made the wood a bit less durable for skating.

I have another board I'll finish soon and then I will get started on the next five.

As far as what school has got me doing a bit of. This is what I've been coming up with:



marker
Trying to create a good composition with multiple perspectives of objects.


graphite
A self portrait that I got quite a few good comments on, but I pretty much hate... What do you think?


charcoal

acrylic

ink
This last one is a concept I may do again. A conflict and merging of two parts of my life with reflection. Overall, I really wanted a strong central point.

Ravenshadow

bah, damn plywood pushers...

paint my fruit boots...

that last one I think would look good on a board. The first board I think is the best in this thread. The other ones are kinda messy. The others lack a strong focal point and I think that hurts 'em a little. At least for skateboards I would imagine being able to pick something outta the art quickly would help the design (especially if your boards are for use and not just display pieces). I think you need something to grab the viewers attention and say, "Hey! I need to get me a board like that one too!"

[/$0.02]

Prospicience

I'm really liking the handjob one Neo. And Raven, painted fruit boots is so like... '95. I used to paint my K2's back then. I think senate even had paint pen kits you could buy.

Ravenshadow

hardly any of them were painted this well

NeoRedXIII

Raven: I think you're very right. I'll keep that in mind. Hopefully the next five decks coming up will all be rad.

Prosp: Thanks. Unfortunately, I have to be friends with some fruit booters. ;-)

Oh yeah, I fucked up on that handjob deck.... I forgot to clear coat it. It resulted in all the work on it smearing off quick. Hah, next time.

Again, thanks for the comments so far. I worked on this deck which is at one of those points where I'm really confused with what I was going to do or will do next. I only really like the second character from the left and the next one a little less. I might paint over most of it just to highlight the two characters:



Next is a sketch for a painting I'd like to start on a 2'x2' piece of ply wood. This is a personal messiah of mine that I had a dream of. Prosecuted by the beliefs of others. I'm thinking I might give it a dread look by making the hands bonier and dark purple:



Finally, here's a test collaboration with a friend of mine. What he has started doing is making picture frames out of old discarded skateboards. He had been interested in having me paint them. This is the first and we may continue to make more for display in a coffee shop that will also allow us to sell it and other items we would like to display. I'll have to get a shot of this with a photo in it of John who's been making these frames:


acrylic, pen, and marker

Up next, because of this frame project I will be doing a series on the next five decks entitled, "The Harbingers." Sketches to come.

Obilex

I really like the picture frame idea, I would like to see more of those!

RubberAC

Sweet, i missed your decks
done any other jeans/shoes or was that more of a one time thing?

NeoRedXIII

Obilex: Glad you like them as well. I'll have to get some more frames from John to paint.

RubberAC: I miss making them too. I also have a pair of each of those that should be done as soon as possible.

As far as my messiah painting. I am working on an experimental draft of it on a translucent piece of plastic that uses light to create a little depth. I should probably start on the original plywood. This is where it's at:



Throw some more darks in there?

Here's some quick and poor sketches for my decks. I think I want to make them look simple:

2 Marcus 2 Ravens

I love skateboard art. I never do anything too great with it, since I'm not very talented, and I also can't afford to buy a deck and not skate it. It's something I'd like to get into though.
I really like the sanded acrylic one. I'm kind of hurting for funds, but with some prositution that can be fixed. It'd be nice to have a deck on my wall that's not in two pieces.

NeoRedXIII

Bah! I'm on a roll lately...... Here's a WIP I'd really like to get some critiques on. Long toothed Jake.

http://neored.griftart.com/Art/2008/Sketches/March/RushhourTest.jpg

beavotron

now, granted i have quite possibly got the sickest mind out of everyone on this forum, but a lot of what you're drawing makes me think of cock and balls

for instance, the telephone image, big receiver back, middle?
totally looks like the underside of a cock with some balls

those two balls crashing in mid-air?
well that one's pretty obvious

first alien dude on the first set of board sketches definitely has a wiener

i'm sorry neo, but this thread is as a whole very phallic.
(the zebras are awesome)

NeoRedXIII

It's cool. While not intentional on my part, I really do enjoy finding cock n' balls in artwork myself. So I'm glad others can find it in my work. I know that's weird, but it's true if it's presented in a somewhat classy way. I'm weird.

Tam

beavotron wrote: »

now, granted i have quite possibly got the sickest mind out of everyone on this forum, but a lot of what you're drawing makes me think of cock and balls

for instance, the telephone image, big receiver back, middle?
totally looks like the underside of a cock with some balls

those two balls crashing in mid-air?
well that one's pretty obvious

first alien dude on the first set of board sketches definitely has a wiener

i'm sorry neo, but this thread is as a whole very phallic.
(the zebras are awesome)

I think "Handjob" just snowballed down the perverted slopes of your mind.

beavotron

ahahah totally tam

and a very slippery slope it is, indeed
:winky:

lol that was gross even for me
i'm sorry to tarnish your thread neo
i still really like your work and have seen heaps of improvement since my last major stint at the ac

NeoRedXIII

Tam: Hah, very true. ;D

Beavo: Again, no prob. I thank you for stoppin' by and for the comments. I feel like there's a lack of dialogue in this thread.

I think this is done, unless someone can point something out.



Edit: Ack, hatching in the hair needed?

biiirdmaaan!

The only thing I can see is that the back of his head doesn't seem to have much volume and I think you should extend it back a bit.

Your line work is great, however. Is it entirely made up or is it a caricature of someone?

Chris W

Fucking spiffy boards, sir.

Long Tooth Jake is kinda scary, in a good kind of way though.

NeoRedXIII

biiirdmaaan! wrote: »

Your line work is great, however. Is it entirely made up or is it a caricature of someone?

The only thing I can see is that the back of his head doesn't seem to have much volume and I think you should extend it back a bit.

Caricature of a friend.

I thought hard about the space for the cranium and I think it's got a perspective on the frontal plane and side plane of the skull which suits its appearance.

Chris: Thanks much. As far as Long Toothed Jake is concerned, that's exactly what I want. Maybe trucker-creepy?

SunStreaker

I think Long Toothed Jake looked better without those lines on his hat, it' too distracting and it stands out more than anything else.

biiirdmaaan!

NeoRedXIII wrote: »

biiirdmaaan! wrote: »

Your line work is great, however. Is it entirely made up or is it a caricature of someone?

The only thing I can see is that the back of his head doesn't seem to have much volume and I think you should extend it back a bit.

Caricature of a friend.

I thought hard about the space for the cranium and I think it's got a perspective on the frontal plane and side plane of the skull which suits its appearance.

Chris: Thanks much. As far as Long Toothed Jake is concerned, that's exactly what I want. Maybe trucker-creepy?

Fair enough. Props on catching the likeness. Recognizable caricature always impresses me.

The only question that remains is why the hell you didn't keep the "Vaginas!" button on the hat?

NeoRedXIII

I'm keepin' those lines. They have a vibrant eccentricity about them that livens up the picture and adds to the personality of the character. It's all about the diagonals.

Edit: Biiirdmaaaan! I KNNNNNNNOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW I just thought it might be too cheesy, but I really understand how you feel about my leaving it out.

DekuStick

NeoRedXIII wrote:

I really dig this and would buy it in a heartbeat. Although I'm a long boarder and wouldn't get much use of it I definitely like that style.

NeoRedXIII

Another friendular portrait!

NeoRedXIII

I'm doing some design work for a local human resources company, Focus on Living. I'm trying to work on some logo work for the first time using illustrator (ugh...). That and I will be designing some shirts for them. The shirts will be sold in part for the benefit of a variety of foundations.

To start, this is what I've got for logos:



Camo design: http://neored.griftart.com/Art/FocusGear/Camo.html

Ribbon design: http://neored.griftart.com/Art/FocusGear/Ribbon.html

I'd love to get some feedback on this stuff. Thanks!

desperaterobots

Do some research on logo design. Quickly!

Your typeface is horrible. The kerning is all over the place. Right now I'm thinking your company sells shitty telescopes from the 1930s. Why is the c being eaten away?

Design logos with a pen on a big sheet of paper and do not stop until you have 20 concepts that are completely different -- most of them will be shit, but some of them will be good, and then start refining/developing the good ones.

This does not mean draw 20 variations of a font or cube or telescope.

NightDragon

Also, check these ooooout:

http://logopond.com/gallery/?month=&year=&page=6

Obviously check out the other pages, too. They've got 45 of 'em!

(pages, that is.)