A Round Up Since Last Time I Blogged

Apologies for the extensive delay in blogging! it has been down to a mixture of being busy with commission work, other uni work, family life and I must admit a certain amount of procrastination.

In the early part of the summer I stumbled across a Japanese artist, Riusuke Fukahori, who paints three dimensional fish built up by layers of resin.
This stood out for me as I had experimented a couple of times during my course with sculpture,
(well shaping things from florist foam anyway) but after seeing this, the intricacy of the process and the skill of the actual painting I think I will leave it to the experts from now on!

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/01/riusuke-fukahori-paints-three-dimensional-goldfish-embedded-in-layers-of-resin/

                                      

Between working and chasing kids around this Summer I did manage to find some time to do some painting.

After years of working in black and white with the occasional cameo by one of the primary colours, I decided now was the time to blow the dust of my colour wheel and see what i could do.

I also let go of my anally retentive attitude towards painting and let myself be a little fluid and rough with my work. 

The results were quite a pleasant surprise and received some very nice feedback amongst the general public... these are the best of what I did over the time.

I also bought and began practising with an airbrush, Its a bit more difficult than I first thought but once I have figured out the process and played with it a little more the outcomes will be more exciting!

I have also set up a page on facebook for my own artwork, which was something I have meant to do for a long time, I finally got around to it and I have to admit it feels good to have another platform for my art work to be seen on. There is a link below.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mark-Stenson-Portraits/488031267911608?ref=hl

Apologies for the poor camera work! 

Things in the third year of my course, have started at full pelt, there is no time to waste, so my time management has had to be addressed, I even bought a diary!

so after having a little word with myself, it is the time to completely knuckle down and immerse myself in my work completely and with minimal distractions, to the extreme I gave my Playstation away.

Unfortunately though, nobody was as eager to take my children, so Im stuck with them. >ahem<

Finally, since being back at Uni in Sept, the College put me in touch with a graduate of the course from the year I started, this 'guru' or mentor, Chris Howker is a professional Illustrator and has offered some great advice and has made me question the relevance of my work and the direction in which it is going since I contacted him, emphasising the importance of evolving and trying new things.

Below is a link to Chris' site, It is definantly worth a look!...so look!.

http://www.howks.co.uk/

Research for 8x8 Project...

For the 8x8 brief, I was given a short story by a creative writing student named Adam Glennon, called Jack and I.
A brief outline of the story, which really caught my imagination is, a fight between a man and his inner demons, a darker side of his personality that is planning to take over and lead Jack's life for him.
this led me to start looking at split personalities and thinking about how I could catch this subject in an image.
After meeting Adam and a brief consultation we decided to work towards a sequential image, comic book style lay out,
I tried this and was struggling to make it work, even looking at Frank Millers graphic novel work, I was not happy with the direction and aesthetics of how it was developing.
Talking to my tutor, I realised, I could create one full image to 'sum up' the story, this made me quite a happy bunny and filled me with re-newed drive.
I began drawing up and digitally playing with photo's of classmates faces in order to put together a kind of 'morphing' image, showing the journey from one side of the personality to the other.
Again, it was a direction I was not best pleased with as it gave the image a 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' vibe more fitting of the Bruce Banner's transformation into the Incredible Hulk rather than the battle between to sides of a personality within a persons mind.

              Examples of Frank Millers Graphic work from the Sin City graphic Novel

                             

Examples, of the Jekyll and Hyde Images I used for inspiration but eventually decided to work away from.

After attempting to digitally create 'morphing' effect, I went back to the drawing board to develop other ideas as I felt this was not conveying the story correctly.

                     Some of the compositional idea, quick sketches that I deliberated over.

In the end, I settled on a back to back composition, to represent to sides pulling in opposite directions, rather than directly opposing each other.

I drew this out and painted it in my own style, which I feel didn't really work, the format was 2 small and make the image look 'blobby'.

So  I tried again using a washier paint and Ink mix as it would leave a sharper looking image, I also used this media for the banner as well.

This is the first painted rendition, the format left the image looking stretched, this was another reason that I went on and re did the painting using looser media.

I was much happier with this outcome, and decided to put it onto photo shop to see if I could further develop it...

The mix of digital and water colour works well as a contrast but still lacks something I feel.

I will keep experimenting and iron out all the kinks of this one, Lesson learnt, choose your own format if possible!

GO BIG!! 

Creative Review, Suli Breaks' American't Dream (The Purse Suit of Happyness)

In my last blog post, I ended with a link to a video of a young poet and spoken word artist from London, his name is Suli Breaks.
This young man has lit an inspirational fire beneath me.
His opinions and views are relevant, well informed and easy to listen to.

He does not lose the listener in a rising tide of deliberate linguistic showboating,
yet does enough for the listener to not only appreciate his point but also the manner in which he delivers them.
His accent is one of a young man from a urban working class back ground, that may be a slight stereotype on my part, but its my opinion and what I got from listening to him, the fact he sounds the way he does, lends itself to the surprise aspect of his poetry's nature, intelligence level and content, in a sense that it makes me feel, that if was Stephen Fry for example, reading Suli Breaks poetry, I feel it would lose a vital component and not have half of the impact it does when he reads it himself.

below is a link to the video on youtube,.. take a short break and listen to him speak.
Here is The American't Dream (The Purse Suit of Happyness)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzcxOl4b7IA

The way Suli Breaks uses language to get his point across is another impressive trait, a trait that would not have the same effect if you was to read the poem as opposed to listening to it.
when he says 'its not how much change you make, but how much change, you, make' is a perfect example of what I mean.
The words accompanied by his tone and gestures makes the quote more powerful than when the same words are read, after watching the video, I'm confident you will know what I mean.

The formative and matter of fact manner in which Suli Breaks delivers his scripture gives his work an essay feel, as he makes a point and in most cases backs it up with fact often enough, quotes.
Quotes from people such as Shawn Carter (Jay-Z) through to Confucius, showing a degree of intelligence and a research level of impressive standard.
I felt connected as he signed off using a favourite quote of mine, from the ancient  chinese philosopher, teacher and politician, Confucius, who said...
'if you find a job you love, you will never do a days work in your life'.

Not only his work but his calm and matter of fact demeanour are both enviable traits, as well as his informed subject matter, making him a very appealing creative mind and thinker, leaving me quite giddy in anticipation of his upcoming EP.

I hope you enjoyed his work and found him as inspirational as I did, after finding truths in what he is saying.
The American't dream left me with re-newed vigour and a little extra fire in my belly to go forward, try a bit harder and achieve what I set out to achieve when I signed on for my higher education course.

1,2,3 Advice

Another post at the request of the course gods at Stockport ,... 3 pearls of wisdom that I have heard since I started my course, besides, Mark...put the pencil down!

Well the first pearl is somewhere along those lines, Experiment and embrace accidents instead of screwing up yr page and binning it in a sulky rage.

Thats exactly what I would have usually done, instead of using the mistake as a learning curve,

that advice has to be accredited it to my course leader, Joanne Spicer, and probably one of the most important lessons that I have learned in my two years, and one Im glad i learned so early on.

The second pearl of Illustration wisdom, comes from Ben Wachenje (I know I sound like a fan boy, but so what, sue me), after asking him how he balances life between his work and family, something that I had spent so much time sweating over for the first 14-18 months of the course, he told me, he does not balance at all. 

This gave me so much relief and confidence that I began to work freely of the shackles that the predicament had caused me since I started the course. 

If a very established Illustrator cant find a balance and still produce work to the level he does then its most certainly not something that I should be sweating over.

And since my post up to now has been a lot of reading my third pearl comes in the form of a video, 

and I'll leave you to decide wether you agree or not, but personally I think its brilliant.

Its a young poet from London Named Suli Breaks,... Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-eVF_G_p-Y

I Wish I'd Done That

When asked to blog about an artwork I felt 'I wish I'd done', initially I felt quite over awed,
how could I possibly choose one piece of art from the many thousands I have seen and felt that small pang of creative jealousy over!?
The feeling of 'wow, why did I not think of that'.
After toiling over it for a while, I remembered a quote from my interview with Benjamin Wachenje.
The quote was regarding a piece he had done of his son.
He told me...'I had just turned down a job with the US army worth over $100,000. Since I had decided not to help them create recruitment posters I thought I had better make some pro-peace images. It really helped take my mind off the $100,000 I had kissed good bye too and made me consider how powerful art can be'.

The Image above is the one Ben referred to in his quote.

Now, my 'wish I'd done that' is more of a 'hope I could do that', meaning that if the chance arose that I could also be as true to my beliefs and uphold my integrity in such a way.

Considering the current financial climate around the world, to be upstanding and strong enough to turn down such a sum of money for doing something you love to do is a feat not found in many humans, and those that can do it, are of a moral fibre that is rarer than the proverbial rocking horse droppings.

In a point in history where I feel money is the main motivator of people and the thing that really does make the world go round, to be able to make such a choice would make me the a very proud man.

Without a doubt, money IS a motivator, after all its one of the main reasons people get out of bed in a morning, wether it be to go to work, or to 'sign on' at the job centre, making money is at the forefront of 90% the populations life long 'to do' list.

A person in the other 5% is a very rare find, so to feel like you belong within that small percentage would be an achievement in itself.

If I'm honest, and ask myself would I be able to turn down such an offer, I'm not sure I could, but I like to think I would.

Now if I refer to an actual piece of work 'I wish I'd done' im going to cite an image I came across last  night on facebook of all places.

Its a political piece which in itself is not something I would consider, but this is to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the awful Murder of Stephen Lawrence in London, in April 1993.

The creator of the piece is Mr Jon Daniel, working out of London.

http://www.jon-daniel.com/home.html 

Not only is the Image relevant, its important. 

Done in such a simple way, but carries such an important message to not just those who remember the heinous nature of this racially motivated murder of a young man who did nothing to deserve having his life cut short but its done in such a minimal and simplistic way.

If a picture paints a thousand words, then here is the evidence.

This definantly gave me that creative 'jealousy pang' I mentioned earlier in my post.

The image has undertones of Noma Bar's work, one of the first Illustrators my tutor, Joanne Spicer, introduced me to on first joining the course, this is probably another reason it stood out to me.

Before I began my course, my choice for such a topic would probably have been an image of a transformer or Spiderman fighting with The Incredible Hulk, or a graffiti piece (not Banksy, thats a whole new blog post!) but since I started the course I have had my eyes opened to eclectic world of illustration and what Illustration actually is.

So there it is, not only what 'I wish I'd done, but what 'I hope I could do'.  

Benjamin Wachenje Interview...

This is the Interview, I conducted with A personal Inspiration of mine, The established Illustrator, Benjamin Wachenje on 21st January 2013, I found him such an approachable and friendly person, who answered all of my questions in a full and honest way, It was quite an honour for me to get this opportunity, so I hope you enjoy reading it and find it as helpful as I did!

ME: Hi Ben, 

Instead of sending a block of questions, I figured I'd send them one at a time,

it seems less formal and leaves room for to chop and change the questions if your answers allow.

Hope thats ok?

O.k, my first question.... As a dad to 3 young kids myself, I was wondering how you find a balance between your work (as its obviously a time consuming

working method) and your duties as a dad.

Do you think you have achieved a perfect balance or is it something you are still working at?

BW: No balance whatsoever. Sometimes I work so hard that I sleep on the sofa in the studio. Other times I will be having so much fun with my family that I will end up pushed to the limit to meet a deadline.  For the last two years I have worked from home 90% of the time. As a family I think we are much stronger now, but finically we are weaker than when I would spend 90% of the time in the studio.

ME: You wouldn't believe how much relief that answer has given me,

As I struggle to manage the time between the my art and family so to know such an established Illustrator as yourself also has not got a balance,

I can stop letting it be such a major issue and just crack on as I have been, thanks!

I struggle to compromise on my Creative Ideologies when working in a team so end up quite defensive and stubborn

Do you collaborate with other Artists and Illustrators often? and if so how do you find working in a team?

BW: I do lots of collaborations. Sometimes, humbly, I disagree with the direction and will try persuasive arguments. When these don't work I take a step back to see if I might be missing something. Usually you collaborate with somebody because you respect their artistry so I look into their suggestion to see if I have overlooked what they are driving at. I learned from painting the importance of viewing your work from a distance and from different angles. Even when I am not collaborating I consult the opinions of my wife, children and others in the studio to get their take sometimes I don't like what they say, but I still listen and continue to ask their opinion. That said, I think its equally important to cultivate solitude and create spontaneous work, even if nobody else likes it. 

ME: Maybe I just need to be a little less protective and actually learn to compromise more,

I understand what you mean though, my Brother is my fiercest critic but also one of my biggest supporter, it was him that actually pushed me to finally going to uni at the age of 28.

I First came across your work when i saw the Billboards for GTA San Andreas, and its influenced and inspired my art since.

Did Rockstar enlist you for the new game and where do you find inspiration for such a fictional and dark subject as found in 

games?

BW: But also at uni you don't always get to chose who you collaborate with so it is a little different and sometimes more problematic.

Good for you. My wife is studying again at 38. I would like to go back and develop my animation skills maybe when my wife is a qualified teacher I will be able to do a part time course. Where are you studying? what course?

With the GTA billboards I was only ever commissioned to paint the backgrounds from already existing screen grabs. All of the subject matter and character development is done at Rockstar and then the paintings are commissioned. The characters are developed by Steven Bliss who is the Art Director. In the 90's and early 00's I couldn't get any agents to represent me. Steven Bliss was already established and being offered so much work that he was turning it down. The Central Illustration Agency offered to represent me knowing that I could pick up the contracts that Steven was turning down. I was surprised when they called me because I had taken my book to them 6 months earlier and was told that I wasn't the right fit for their agency. I have been with them for nearly 10 years now. I have worked with Rockstar games on 2 GTA titles and also Red Dead Redemption. But the long and short of it is that I do donkey work for GTA, the creative genius belongs to my stable mate mr. Bliss. 

ME: Im doing a BA Hons in Illustration at Stockport, I agree with you, not being able to choose who I worked with Immediately put a dampener on my creativity,

I did learn to grin and bare it but refused to compromise on my Ideas,

But in the end it just caused conflict and the final outcomes suffered, so I suppose I learned the lesson the hard way.

I'll be having a look at Mr. Bliss' work a bit later as well!

Donkey work or not, its Inspired a whole artistic chapter in my life so thank you!

while we are on the uni subject i'll show you my reproductions, the card player, is probably one of my favourite pieces of your work, thats why I chose that to copy,

and after realising how pain staking it was, (i quit on the pinstripes before my hair went grey) and the woman with the guitar was paint on canvas as im much comfier using that media! digital is fairly new to me so i resorted back to what i know, but my question is do you have a particularly piece that you are especially proud of?

BW: Wow these are great. The card player is dope. I hate pinstripes.

I don't really have any work that I am proud of. Nearly all of my work is commercial or commissioned. I think I will be proud when I have created some of the conceptional work that has been buzzing around in my head.

I have just finished working with TY (UK based Rapper) the 3 pieces on Magenta are parts of the new EP art. Please be desecrate with these as the artwork is still under wraps. I like these because it is a return to my first days as an illustrator. In 1997 I was commissioned by Vox magazine to do an illustration of Jarvis Cocker. I cut bits of coloured paper out and stuck them down on a sheet of black leaving parts of the black to show through and divide the colours. I worked like this for several years before getting my first mac in 1999 at which point I recreated the style digitally. Its nice to go back and cut out card again. All of the typography is paper engineering. I also enjoyed the 2010 project with TY because I got to sculpt him out of wood. The GAGA illustration was fun because I subtly characterised her. I like the picture of my son with the AK47 because of its political connotations, I had just turned down a job with the US army worth over $100,000. Since I had decided not to help them create recruitment posters I thought I had better make some pro-peace images. It really helped take my mind off the $100,000 I had kissed good bye to and made me consider how powerful art can be. I like the Jameelia Jamil portrait for purely superficial reasons. Bruce Lee because it is solid colours no tones, but it still works. The painting of Logic because it was quick and fun to do. The woman on the sofa because it was so technical, my wife and I also got to stay in that hotel and it was lavish. Oh and one of my favourite clients is Jonzi-D and Breakin' Convention. Its a B-Boy festival that is celebrating its 10th year in 2013. I have worked on it since the start.

 

           

                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                      

          

The images above, were included in Ben's final E-mail, an example of just how helpful he was throughout the Interview, I have also, kept in touch since and still find Ben to be friendly and accommodating considering how busy he is, left me a very grateful chap indeed! so once again,

Thanks Ben!!

                                                        

The Big Sleep!

February, I was given a brief that I really got my teeth into!
It was to develop and design the cover for the Penguin Published book, 'The Big Sleep' by Raymond Chandler,
First things first, I had to familiarise myself with the story, so borrowed the book and locked myself away with it, until I had read it, this wasn't a hard thing to do as it's actually a good and engaging read.
The Ideas were flowing as I was reading, until somebody told me, (as I was halfway through) that Humphrey Bogart had played the main character,  A Private Eye named Phillip Marlowe, In a movie adaptation, this stemmed the flow a little as Bogart was hijacking all my thoughts and appearing in every idea!

And so after reading the book, and making notes of key points, characters and other things I found to be important, reoccurring themes etc.

after building a 'sense of place' file for everything related to the story, from fashion and buildings to cars and decor of 30's America, I was itching to get started!

This is how I got going...

 

Some quick sketches working with objects that play parts in the story, 

I was trying to be experimental as usual, so as well as pencil, I was playing with water colours and crayon as well. Not the kind of media I'm used to using.

I was playing with lots of ideas the book gave me, stained glass was another...

I was enjoying the Ideas and thought process's that was producing these piece's of work but did not feel they would translate well enough into a book cover so I kept going.....

I really liked this drawing, it was more representative of my own personal style but still didn't think it would work well, as I would struggle to work a typeface into or around it, so kept going, and came up with this one as a rough idea....

So, using layout templates, I developed this idea, added some hand rendered type face,...

Eventually, settling on the type in the bottom left corner, I took my ideas to the computer, and after smashing my Ideas together, with some help from a friend, I settled on a layout for my final piece,...

Apologies for the wonky photography, this is the first draft of my final piece, it needs some polishing and refinement but the process of toying with numerous ideas rather than attempting to just develop my first idea, left me with a sense of pride rather than a thought of maybe I could have done more, so this brief gave me much more than just a challenge I welcomed but a new understanding of work process's that will serve me well in coming briefs!.

And...Just received an E-mail from Benjamin Wachenje, Giving permission to publish the interview I conducted with him, that will be up shortly!