SHARE YOUR ARTWORK thread eleventy-seven..

[Necrometer]

looks awesome

so much respect for everyone working with actual media - lately on the web I've seen so many "paintings" and "drawings" that are done in a computer and it almost always makes my heart sink, especially when people are trying to emulate stuff that simply doesn't work in that format

[kelly]

Can I put this here? Made a phone case for my Nexus5. I improvised some durable plastic sheeting into the walls for shape and durability, there's some extra insulation as well. Mostly just made it to keep debris from sticking to the screen or in crevices while it's floating around in a tote bag or backpack.

[james]

[elephants gerald]

assplay- I've been loving that coffinworm artwork. a friend showed it to me because he thought it was so fucking cool, didn't know it was you for a bit

[Assplay!!!]

Shirt design I did for Corrections House.

[How Are Mortiis Goatse?!]

"Monstrum civitas" 140 x 64 cm ink & marker

[RY4N]

new desktop background

[chris narcosis]

ALREET BALLBAGS IM BACK LADS HAVE A SKEN STILL AINT FINISHED THIS!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ungodlywarlock]

looks awesome

so much respect for everyone working with actual media - lately on the web I've seen so many "paintings" and "drawings" that are done in a computer and it almost always makes my heart sink, especially when people are trying to emulate stuff that simply doesn't work in that format

(yeah, I know...this was from a couple months ago, but I still wanted to reply to it)

My first reaction is to just be sad (because there are some incredibly phenomenal digital artists out there that don't deserve to have their work called "drawings" and "paintings" because of their chosen medium).

My second reaction is to attempt to try and defend digital art (While not traditional paintings, are hand painted...digitally.).

But I simply don't have the energy to try and go through all of that.
What I will say is that there is a big reason why you see less and less traditional art in heavy metal these days. Because it's expensive (i.e. paint, canvas/illustration board, gesso, etc etc etc) which cuts into your profit as an artist. Also, in general, it takes a little more time (or a lot more time depending on the artist), and the band or label doesn't distinguish the difference in time/cost of materials. They just want a cool piece of art and they are gonna pay what they are gonna pay. Whether you say "But, this is a traditional painting!" won't matter to them if the end result is the same skill level. With physical cds/albums being less important, labels care a lot less about what they pay for the art.

Derek Riggs said it best in an interview for Metal Band Art last year...

"I am still doing art for metal bands sometimes, but nobody wants to pay me to do it any more, they think I should do it all for nothing. I get people who email me and say they want a picture like “somewhere in time” and they want it for three hundred dollars. Now, that picture took two months to do, can you work for two months for three hundred dollars? I can’t. so they don’t get a cover because they don’t live in the real world at all. Actually a band making their first album really shouldn’t be doing covers like “Somewhere in time” because it’s too complicated, they should be doing something much more simple and striking, like the first maiden cover. they have to make an impact and get attention with their first album, not fade out into a haze of hyper-complex artwork"

I think it's awesome that people like Scott are still able to do such awesome work traditionally.
But for the price folks are willing to pay and as fast as they usually need it, it's hard for a lot of people to do. This is why you see a lot of digital art.
Results will always vary with any medium - you are gonna have incredibly shitty artists and incredibly good artists. I don't think that the choice of someone's medium automatically makes them inferior to another artist. If someone has the skills, programs, and custom brushes to make their digital art look traditional I say more power to them. But I am biased.

(And that piece is fucking awesome, Scott. Love it to death).

[Assplay!!!]

I have had this discussion many times.
Just as Dusty is biased towards digital... I am towards traditional. That's just par for the course. In a lot of ways I wish I was more proficient at digital, but in the end I prefer looking at traditional work 9 times out of 10 so I work that way.

That said... he hit the nail on the head with a lot of his commentary. I get FUCKED on supplies. The only way I hope to make any money back is to sell the painting I've done for a band out on my own after they have commissioned their art for their record.
This is one thing that I think a lot of digital artists overlook though... the concept of there being only one original in the physical world. I've heard tale of Ray Ceasar doing a print and then deleting all of his files for it to emulate this feeling... Which I suppose is somewhat analogous, sort of?
I'm sure digital artists sell prints and such (as do i), but in a way... the traditional artist doing work for a band gets paid twice from the same piece. Once from the band and once from the buyer of the original painting. So it really can work out okay, depending on the market.

Anyhow, I don't care either way. I've seen amazing digital artwork. And I'm super jealous of that apple+z and the ease at which you can alter your color palette and contrasts digitally.
Digital is superior in so many ways. Hell... I do digital for a living. I just don't connect with it the same way.

I need paint on my hands. I need the splatter on my hoodies. I need to feel the texture of the canvas. I need to have an argument with it that can't be undone except by real destruction.

To each his own.

.

[Necrometer]

Good posts!

I wasn't trying to trash digital work in a general sense, although I completely see how it came out that way. And I am coming around on the terminology; that element was mostly naivete on my part.

I mostly wanted to say that it seems like the artists on this forum are NOT representative of the artists on the web in general, and that it's refreshing.

Dusty, your stuff is incredible and you are absolutely adept at making digital work for the pieces. And I am stoked that (as I understand it) you have been able to pay the bills by making art. The only piece of art on display in my home is the Defender/Redeemist mini-poster that is on my fridge. I had never thought twice about its origin and it always "felt" like it had been painted to me. It stands with all the Heavy Metal cover art I've loved since I was a teenager. Your stuff certainly doesn't qualify for my bitching: you go cartoony when it's called for, and have a keen enough eye to make things feel less digital when it's appropriate.

The shit that rubs me the wrong way is the really jarring attempts to be epic and falling flat, like this:

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

I absolutely understand the insane gap in feasibility/efficiency between the two approaches, which I hoped went without saying when I put my support out there.

[ungodlywarlock]

Oh trust me, I didn't take any offense to anything at all.
I didn't take anything as some kind of personal attack. After all you didn't say "Btw, that Dusty guy...man...his fucking art is digital shit!". And even if you had, that'd be okay with me, because while I don't think an artist's choice of medium makes them superior or inferior depending on what they choose, there is always going to be an aesthetic preference by the person looking at it.

For me personally? I vastly prefer the look of a traditional painting, believe it or not. That is why I go to great lengths of study to "paint" (haha...see I do it too) digitally where it looks like my preferred aesthetic as much as humanly possible.

As for Scott's comment about "feeling the paint", I totally understand that feeling. I miss painting. I miss sculpting. I miss airbrushing (with a real airbrush). I miss using shop tools. The only reason that I don't paint traditionally a little bit more is simply time. And that is a really lazy thing to say and it's actually something that I intend to change once my kid (EDIT: haha, had to replace the word) gets older. I want him to be able to decide what he likes in life by putting a lot of different things in front of his face. Paint, clay, pencils, instruments, sports equipment, whatever. He'll find his interest that way (naturally, I hope it's something creative). But I don't think plopping him in front of a computer with a Wacom is the best way to start those creative juices flowing.
When I get to that point, I'll be doing traditional work most exclusively, I am sure.

I see your point about the image above, Ross.
You can blame movies for that slicker concept art feel. They need to be incredibly fast for hundreds or even thousands of images and the speed of digital software allows them to do that. But then the younger generation sees all of their favorite movies' promotional art in that style and it inspires them to do more like it.

I haven't seen too many album covers with that "speed paint" style, though.

The kind of art that I have the biggest problem with will always be this kind of shit:


Some artists do amazingly at the photo-collage work. I love Travis Smith's work, for example. He's got a style and it works for the clients he works for. But other folks just start busting out layer effects, bevels, and "grime" overlays until something looks half presentable and they sell it to the label for 100 bucks. Then that label gets used to paying 100 bucks for covers and decides artwork like the Dragonforce cover is simply "good enough".

Metal should never be about "good enough" with the art or the music, imo.

[ungodlywarlock]

I have new art to show!
It's been awhile.



This is for Hoth (http://hothmusic.bandcamp.com/) for their new album, Oathbreaker.

[james]

Amazing shit dude. Landscape-to-venusflytrap-to-fingerbones-to-ribcage-to-monstermouth. I want to play a video game that takes place there.

[ungodlywarlock]

Landscape-to-venusflytrap-to-fingerbones-to-ribcage-to-monstermouth.

Haha, thanks man. I like that description.

[RY4N]

monster face looks like knife head kaiju

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

[Necrometer]

I have new art to show!
It's been awhile.



This is for Hoth (http://hothmusic.bandcamp.com/) for their new album, Oathbreaker.

that looks seagreat, if I may coin a compliment...

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

but actually I guess it evokes Whelan more, who did the Cause of Death & Arise art... the latter misattributed to Seagrave here:
http://metalinquisition.blogspot.com/20 ... ffins.html

[ungodlywarlock]

That is a massive compliment, actually. Thank you!
Michael Whelan is easily my favorite artist of all time.

I'd say my art style is almost completely ripped off of him and Wayne D. Barlowe as much as humanly possible. At least as far as monster-y landscapes go.

I like "Seagreat", though haha.

[How Are Mortiis Goatse?!]

De Manticora Corporis Fabrica - felt tip pen on 70 x 100 cm red cardstock

[ungodlywarlock]

Geeeezuz.

My hand hurts so much looking at that.
Nice work.

[How Are Mortiis Goatse?!]

Thanks!

Finished a new one today. "Eros" - felt tip pen on 70 x 50 cm gold cardstock

[ungodlywarlock]

I also have even newer art to show. The last one I posted was actually done last year (just couldn't show till now). But this is the piece that I have been working on most recently.

Personal art - "Nigh II"

[Ghost Dad]

to both of you.

[ungodlywarlock]

Here's a little side thing that I have been doing on my lunch breaks lately.
One day, I drew this chubby little guy that I named named Wrinklestacks....


From there, I just started using him as sort of a paper doll and giving him different outfits. Really, just whatever sounded fun for me that day.
This is all of them so far...

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

Feel free to gimme your requests...always looking for more.

[james]

SICK