Creative Collective of Ashley Webb and Mat Kaminski

Monday, September 30, 2013

Late Night or Early Morning?

Trying out New Techniques

Title: Trying out New Techniques
Date: September 27, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Scale: Varies

Notes: I found a new set of brushes for photoshop that I believe will help me a bunch when it comes to painting. It's an oil paint brush pack.

It seems to be good to just block in the colors with a solid texture brush and then be able to slowly build up the values with a different brush.

I would love to learn real oil painting, but I think that will be something that I learn through a billion youtube videos and a summer break.

The Duchess (WIP)

Title: The Duchess (WIP)
Date: September 28 & 29, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: Applying what I learned with the Oil Brush Pack to a more realized study.

It still has a bunch of work to go, but I thought I would share what I have so far...

Illustration 3 -- Spot Metaphors

Mathew Kaminski 6:39 AM illustrations , 0 Comments

Visual Metaphor Research:

Tony Huynh - "To-Do List" (Fusion)

Target - Everyone has some form of a To-Do List.
Source - Literal Staircase.
Ground - Both are considered stepping stones toward a common goal.
Tension - There is no literal staircase you have to climb to finish things you want to do... unless you're a staircase builder.

Tony Huynh - "Insomnia" (Replacement)

Target - Counting Sheep to get to Sleep.
Source - Insomnia.
Ground - This is supposed to work to help you sleep.
Tension - Imagine having a real room full of sheep. That would be insanely noisy.

Sachin Teng (Fusion)

Target - Cluttered Life.
Source - Cluttered Refrigerator.
Ground - Just like in food organizing, your life can be equally cluttered.
Tension - Life isn't always as simple as a game. And as you can see from the illustration, the pieces don't always fit together right.

Victor Calahan - "Smoking Gun" (Fusion)

Target - Smoking is Literally Suicide.
Source - Smoking Barrel of a Gun.
Ground - Think about it: In the grand scheme of things, how much different is this really?
Tension - Placing a cigarette in the chamber of a revolver might not exactly work right...

David de las Heras - "#3" (Fusion)

Target - Going Green
Source - (While not a waste of Paper) Many People are Considering Green Alternatives.
Ground - Ultimately, paper is made from plants, right?
Tension - To actually type like this would be a serious mess!

Christoph Niemann - "Shining" (Juxtaposition)

Target - Profits are in the Crapper
Source - Profit Margins
Ground - I think that to horrify someone with a knife with a simple piece of paper is really interesting.
Tension - Even in rock, paper, scissors, scissors beats paper every time.

Thomas Fuchs - "On a new generation of women being ambivalent about motherhood" (Fusion)

Target - Are Woman Facing Trepidation about Motherhood?
Source - Pregnancy.
Ground - As with all labors of love, there will always be questions about whether you are doing the right thing...
Tension - There is no literal question mark in your stomach...

Wesley Bedrosian - "Hospital charges can be all over the map." (Juxtaposition)

Target - Hospital Visits are Confusing.
Source - Varying Hospital Costs.
Ground - I'm just as confused about why the prices of hospital visits vary so readily...
Tension - You cannot charge someone this way.

Stephen Savage - "Design and Innovation" (Juxtaposition)

Target - Breaking the Mold.
Source - Innovation.
Ground - It takes a different mindset to have a breakthrough, sometimes boredom will breed ingenuity.
Tension - Designers are a different breed than the standard workers.

Theo van den Boogaard (Replacement)

Target - Sense of Beauty is Changing.
Source - Male / Female Relationships aren't what they used to be.
Ground - Change in sexual orientation has been an ongoing debate for some time now.
Tension - There is no way to simplify the human mind when it comes to sexual orientation.

Five Written Metaphors:

Bauhaus - "Slice of Life"

"Your standing on charisma again // God knows it cannot last // 'What's the difference'"

I believe this is a metaphor for age. Age is constantly fleeting and so is the physical appearance that goes along with it.

Depeche Mode - "Wrong"

"I was born with the wrong sign // In the wrong house // With the wrong ascendancy"

I believe that this is a metaphor for birthright. There is never an "ideal" moment to be born, no matter what parents may think. To play into the lyrics themselves, there is no right time to be born, nor a right time to not be.

Motorhead - "Ace of Spades"

"If you like to gamble // I tell you I'm your man // You win some, lose some // All the same to me"

This is literally a metaphor for living life on the edge. If you listen to the lyrics of the whole song you get the feeling of this all throughout, even the pacing and speed of the song feel that way.

I AM X - "Spit it Out"

"The past is weakness // Don't beg the question // When the answer is war // There are moments when I'm overcome"

I believe this is a metaphor for not saying things when you need to. Sometimes conflict is part of a relationship Sometimes getting into an argument can breed a closer relationship.

Kenna - "War in Me"

"Here its bittersweet for me to know // Fever, taking over // The status of my fear soars // I'm waging a war // War in me"

I think this is a metaphor for not only the physical torment you can get during sickness, but also a metaphor for fighting inner turmoil. Just trying to get things out on paper (especially for an artist) can be a literal war in your own head. The images want to battle logic and sense...

Saturday, September 28, 2013

Illustration 3 -- Silhouette Finals

Mathew Kaminski 12:06 AM art , digital art 0 Comments

Illustration 3: Critique Notes

Title: Illustration 3: Critique Notes
Date: September 23, 2013
Medium: Pencil

Notes: During critique I decided it would be fun to draw each person as they were getting critiqued. This is the order that we were critiqued. I tried not to move too much and just draw the people where they were sitting from my angle. It was actually really fun and a good change to get back into life drawing for a minute.

Illustration 3: Silhouettes

Title: Illustration 3: Silhouettes
Date: September 19 - 22, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Scale: Each piece fits on an 8" x 10"

Notes: This was actually a continuing even further from this.

I think these turned out alright. There are some serious wavy line issues that I need to address, but all-in-all I think that it was a pretty valiant attempt.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Comics 1 -- Cora's Meds

Mathew Kaminski 11:59 PM art , comic 0 Comments

Comics 1: Materials Test

Title: Comics 1: Materials Test
Date: September 24, 2013
Medium: Brush and Ink

Scale: Original is 9" x 12"

Notes: It was a classwork assignment that we attempt to ink some textures. We had to do a minimum of five textures in total.

I just wanted to do some ink as it was a minute and I didn't want to grow stagnant.

Comics 1: Cora's Medical Debacle

Title: Comics 1: Cora's Medical Debacle
Date: September 21 & 22, 2013
Medium: Pencil

Scale: Final is 8.5" x 11"

Notes: We were assigned to do a pacing comic in which we were supposed to do a comic that tests our ability to make a comic that can go really slow or really fast.

I thought it would be interesting to show her on one side getting decent sleep, and on the other side tossing and turning.

Independent Study -- Marionette Final

Mathew Kaminski 11:52 PM art , charcoal 0 Comments

Independent Study: Marionette in Charcoal

Title: Independent Study: Marionette in Charcoal
Date: September 26, 2013
Medium: Charcoal

Notes: Making an attempt to render out one of the marionette faces from memory in charcoal.

Independent Study: Marionette Gang Leader

Title: Independent Study: Marionette Gang Leader
Date: September 25, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: Because of the previous versions of the final that you see below, I got completely frustrated with the angle that I had. I thought it might work well to change the perspective or the angle of the character. This is really fast, but I think it could be interesting as a smaller sketch perhaps.

Independent Study: Marionette Final

Title: Independent Study: Marionette Final
Date: September 20 - 27, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Scale: Final is 17" x 11"

Notes: This piece was a huge frustration initially. I reworked this thing as you can see three times from start to finish... The third one is the one I'm going with.

Independent Study: Environment Studies

Title: Independent Study: Environment Studies
Date: September 24 - 26, 2013
Medium: Pencil, Photoshop CS6

Notes: Starting to gather up some reference for the environment possibilites for each of the character archetypes. Tons more of these to go...

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Comics 1 -- Cora's Ghost in the Shell Moment

Mathew Kaminski 6:41 AM art , battle angel alita 0 Comments

Comics 1: Cora's Ghost in the Shell Moment

Title: Comics 1: Cora's Ghost in the Shell Moment
Date: September 13 & 14, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: For this assignment it was a study in pacing in comics. We had to start small and insignificant, and build it up to a big climax moment and then give the piece an actual resolution.

I don't know why looking back I didn't start smaller, but I was reading the Battle Angel Alita graphic novels and for some reason in the third book there is this sweet roller blade fight that works out in a similar layout (top panel a double-page spread, and then a bunch of them below). I don't know, it just stuck. Because of it the rest of my layout followed suit. Honestly, I just drew the first and last, and then just started filling in the middle. Maybe making comics could work just like how I write stories: write the beginning, and then the end, and then try and fill in the blanks in between.

Comics 1: Cora's Costume Textures

Title: Comics 1: Cora's Costume Textures
Date: September 18, 2013
Medium: Brush and Ink

Notes: This assignment was a quick in-class one. We were supposed to draw our character posed, but with no less than five different materials on.

Since Cora has a wacky outfit that is constantly getting refined, I decided that she would work really well for a materials test.

Independent Study -- Maris 3 (Refined Thumbnail)

Mathew Kaminski 6:30 AM art , concept art 3 Comments

Independent Study - Maris 3

Title: Independent Study: Maris 3
Date: September 12 - 17, 2013
Medium: Pencil, Brush and Ink

Scale: Each 'page' is 9" x 12"

Notes: Yet again, just pushing more and more forward with the marionettes.

The bottom-most refined sketch will be the pencils for my finalized 11" x 17" poster. The first of three actually. I'm going to have to paint this one to look awesome. It's got so much detail! I've actually been trying to make everything about the composition lead back to the main character of the piece. It will really have to be reinforced when I start to color, but as it stands this is what I'm going with.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Cracks

Mathew Kaminski 10:27 AM art , digital art 0 Comments

Freestylers - "Cracks (Flux Pavilion Remix)"

Vampire - Round 2

Title: Vampire - Round 2
Date: September 10 - 13, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: Continued on from here - just painting away. Trying to see if I can keep up that technique that I describe previously.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Comics 1 -- Will the Real Cora Please Stand Up?

Mathew Kaminski 12:15 PM art , comic 0 Comments

Comics 1: Will the Real Cora Please Stand Up?

Title: Comics 1: Will the Real Cora Please Stand Up?
Date: September 7, 2013
Medium: Brush and Ink

Notes: This assignment was restricted exclusively to four panels in which we were supposed to show four different scenes. The scenes in a way were supposed to be a tie together to show some form of story-arc using characters that invented.

I'm still a newbie when it comes to comics in general, but I'm trying my damndest. In this comic I was using Cora to show that there are two versions of the same person. Plus I was trying to do the whole flip the color schemes, etc. I hope it reads right... Of course I'll know tomorrow during critique.

Illustration 3 -- Communication Arts and Silhouettes

Mathew Kaminski 12:09 PM art , digital art 0 Comments

Communication Arts Thumbs

Title: Communication Arts Thumbs
Date: August 20 - September 3, 2013
Medium: Pencil

Scale: Each 'page' is 9" x 12"

Notes: For this assignment we are required to submit to an annual with an illustration. It's pretty much all about making something that is not only promotional to you, but to make a piece that you really enjoy. Of course it's also a form of promotional material.

So I thought we were supposed to make a minimum forty, but I missed the mark slightly. I ended up being short like three I think. It's actually harder than you think when the stakes are so open. For someone to just come up to and be like, "Draw stuff that you enjoy." Sounds easy, right? Well it's actually harder than I thought. I just started drawing random stuff by the end of it because for some reason I work best when there is some sort of direction I'm supposed to follow. Oh well though, I ended up with quite a few pieces that I actually want to pursue for this and maybe doing them further will spawn even more pieces.

Silhouette Refining

Title: Silhouette Refining
Date: September 2 - 9, 2013
Medium: Pencil, Photoshop CS3

Notes: This is actually the continuation of this assignment. I'm just trying to push it as far as I can.

I thought that turning nature objects into war scenes would be really interesting so you have a rose turning into a soldier shooting an assault rifle, a bush turning into a huge explosion, and a lily pad turning into the aftermath of the soldier, where he is becoming homeless and wandering.

Soon this assignment will be full pieces and I'm excited to start showing more finalized work!

Independent Study -- Maris 2

Mathew Kaminski 11:58 AM art , concept art 0 Comments

Yay! My scanner is working again!

Independent Study: Maris 2

Title: Independent Study: Maris 2
Date: September 6 - 10, 2013
Medium: Pencil, Brush and Ink

Scale: Each 'page' is 9" x 12"

Notes: Continuing on with more refining of the Marionettes. I think I have their anatomy more finalized with a newer piece that I am currently working on (robot nudes are a bit more complicated because of all the interconnecting plates than dealing with human soft flesh). I have to finalize it with ink and then I'll have that one up and ready to go.

So during critique last Monday I was tasked with taking a portrait of the male Marionette to full fledged piece and also with finalizing the anatomy and making the males a bit more distinct than the females (I still want them to have a certain amount of androgyny compared to the females). And lastly to take the gang leader and begin transferring it to a full sketch. I will need to find good reference material for the motorcycle as well as pose reference, but that will come very soon.

Working working working, that's the name of the game!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Anyone?

Mathew Kaminski 8:07 AM art , digital art 0 Comments

Moving Units - "Anyone"

Vampire (VERY much WIP)

Title: Vampire (VERY much WIP)
Date: September 10, 2013
Medium: Photoshop CS3

Notes: Power painting before school... kind of found out a new technique yesterday that I didn't think about. My teacher actually tossed me a suggestion of sketching everything in it's fullest, and then gausian blurring the linework to get spots for the value. I had actually never considered this. It works suprisingly well because I have an unfortunate crutch of being a sketcher before a painter.

Either way, this has a ton of work yet to go, but this is it so far...

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Illustration 3 -- Ten Student Illustrators

Mathew Kaminski 6:17 PM andrew theophiopoulos , arielle chandonnet 1 Comments

For an assignment for Illustration 3 class, we are to interview a few artists that are currently students, or have graduated very recently.

*** NOTE: None of the artwork portrayed below is owned by me. Each piece is owned by their respective artists. ***

I. Mathias Kollros -- TAD

II. Arielle Chandonnet -- Ringling

Arielle Chandonnet, painter/ Illustrator from Massachusetts, focuses on figure and portrait painting inspired by old and new masters. She also works digitally, carrying over her ideas and techniques to the computer screen.

III. Andrew Theophiopoulos -- Ringling

IV. Diego Penuela -- SCAD

I was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and received a B.F.A. in visual arts at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Currently I am a graduate student majoring in the M.F.A. Illustration program at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) Atlanta, GA. I mostly work in editorial illustration, although I enjoy working in other fields like animation and visual development.

V. Nick Sadek -- SCAD

Nick Sadek is a dedicated and passionate illustrator and designer. He received both his B.F.A and M.F.A in illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. His illustrations have been recognized by groups like Applied Arts Magazine and The Society of Illustrators in Los Angeles. He currently lives and works in Downers Grove, Illinois.

VI. Breanna Welsh -- SCAD

VII. Isabella Morawetz -- University of Canberra

With my parents working in graphic design and I.T, I grew up drawing, painting and playing computer games. I haven't changed much. I discovered Photoshop when I was around the age of 12, and began teaching myself from then on. Pretty much everything I know about Photoshop has been self-taught. 10+ years on and I still have that thirst for anything digital post-process. My passion to ameliorate new techniques and skills (whether it be digital or traditional, photography or painting) is immeasurable. Creating art is when I am most happy. I like looking back on previous works and seeing that noticeable improvement. The satisfaction of bettering myself and being able to instil certain thoughts, notions and states of mind is the sole reason I enjoy creating.

VIII. Joshua Newton -- Ringling

Hi, I'm Joshua Newton and welcome to my tumblr. I am a 24 year old currently studying illustration at the Ringling College of Art and Design. I have a wife(tara) and two pets, a dog named frodo and my cat who is desperately fighting for my attention while i right this little bio---Oh and her name is luna. Right now like most art students i am trying to figure out what i would like to do with the rest of my life. I know its in the field of art/illustration. But i dont know what i want to get into be it concept art, editorial, children's book what have you. So until that time when i find my place in this crazy world, i will upload my artwork...my journey.