Spider-Man
- Keep On Steemin On -
a Todd McFarlane Inspired Original ArtworkPhase 3 - Torment -
Earlier this week I began a new artwork series on Spider-Man. As the subtitle indicates it's mostly inspired by Todd McFarlane's Spidey days as well as describing some of this process, Torment. There was a series he did called Torment that had some very influential art in my earlier development, especially the cover, which helped form and inspire some of this original artwork you see in my posts here Phase 1 & Phase 2
I have documented the creative process and progress of the artwork from conception to design and now execution. This has been a challenging endeavor to say the least and not without it's obstacles. Some aspects have gone smoother than expected and other elements (I thought would be a breeze) have turned into nightmares. In this post I will ask you a few questions and would like to hear your answers in the comments!
As we look at the crypto markets fluctuating and see STEEM & SBD and our wallets going up and down in value it can be deflating for some. To be honest, I have been too busy Steemin On to really keep up with it all. If you aren't keeping up with any of the #DolphinSchool activities... you Should! It will give you something to occupy your time and mind. There have been some great posts and a growing community there thanks to @markrmorrisjr which leads me to the moral of the story to my post!
Keep On Steemin On
When I just show you a series of images you see the progress I make... and usually I explain what I am doing and why. In this post I will present things a bit differently. When you look at the next few images... you don't get to see the mistakes I have made other than the obvious ones I haven't corrected yet.
But Tim, "We don't make mistakes... Just Happy Little Accidents!"Point Taken!
As I was saying, You don't get to see the "Happy Little Accidents" or how much time passes between updated images. You don't get to see the interruptions or the challenges and obstacles that have to be overcome along the way. So today, I wanted to show you just one issue that needs a creative solution as well as persistence and perseverance in order to manage the crisis!
At this point you can see some progress and you can see some of what it takes to make this all come together in a cohesive way. Looks like a cakewalk so far doesn't it!? Got some pencil forms, inked some outlines, filled with red and blue for a base layer of color. Moving along pretty well!
By this time I have begun to get some darker blues mixed into the True Blue. This will give the effect of texture and shape. I get excited at this point in all my artworks because you get to make the art your own, truly! So, go figure, the worst case scenario emerges! If you didn't know, Blue and Red don't get along so well when they mix if you are trying to keep them separated. Blue and Red make Purple... and we aren't going for a Purple Spider-Man today.
Now, Imagine you are about to do some of the precision work around this piece on the clean Red Spidey suit and you are all full of momentum and excitement. You begin to get this thing rolling along and CRACK! You now have a broken Blue pencil to work with.
No Big Deal, Right!?
I am sure everyone has seen this before...
- You sharpen your pencil
- Your pencil tip breaks
- You Sharpen it Again
- It Breaks Again
- You Repeat Steps With Same Results
WHAT DO YOU DO?
We have a few options.
- We can quit and start something else
- We can look and see if we have a second pencil of that specific color in a sea of pencils
- We can switch to black and move along
- We can be stubborn and prove a point using the materials set before us that we decided to use originally (WHISPERS "Keep On Steemin On!")
Now, is when you get to see some perseverance and a little grit! I chose to balance the broken tips inside the wood and wedge them against the paper. This means that I had to hold the pencil with pressure at all times to hold the core in place. You have to align the broken tip along the break and keep it in it's original position at all times. This also means you have to hold the pencil almost completely straight up and down.
This is a very difficult and risky task. One wrong stroke angle, one wrong pressure application, one wrong slip of the paper, or one wrong slip on concentration or miscalculation and you will end up with a happy accident that can't be fixed. Here is the point of no return... Pun literally intended!
After I got to this stopping point (pun still intended) I was pretty pleased with the outcome even though it isn't what I planned or intended. If you think the obstacle was successfully overcome by the look of that last image... I want to encourage you to never give up on anything.
This story has been a microcosm for many moments in life. Frustration and challenges are just a part of life... but it's not what defines it! What we do about these aspects of life is what truly matters. Take a long look at this final image and understand that everyone has an unseen struggle they are going through! Never giving up is the best wisdom and advice I can share with you from experience! Either way, rather it be in life or on the platform....
Keep On Steemin On
Now, that you made it this far, I salute you! Did this post remind you of any of your own struggles? If so, feel free to share in the comments all about it! I also told you folks that I wanted your participation in the creative process also. I will be finishing this Spider-Man soon and was curious to know...
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE ME DRAW NEXT?
Answer In Comments Below For Your Entry
I will pick one comment suggestion that I like the most to draw after I finish what I am working on! I look forward to hearing your ideas and I appreciate your time stopping by!
&
STEEM ON MY FRIENDS
Lol I thought it was a great spidey picture until @mineolopy pointed out what is so obvious. Your dark shading help deflect my eyes from his butt. If its not the back end it must be the front end. Anyways awesome job on post and art work. Thanks.
I am going to be using this exchange of all of ours about the webs for my Day 4 post. It is pretty funny and I alluded to this a tiny bit in this post! It's actually pretty crazy! I can't wait to share the serendipity with you all! Thanks for stopping by... and don't worry the illusion is in the wrist!
Woah! Congrats on that perseverance! ... It's been such a long time since I did anything with a pencil but I do remember the frustrations of broken cores!
As for my own struggles... Well, as I described in my recent post, making a piece of art for me can take forever. The render process for a full resolution image can take hours, sometimes up to 20 hours! ... And as I said, the creative process involves me looking a a much lower res. image... So often, I will miss certain artifacts in a piece, and only notice them at full res. ... There have been countless times where I've had to re-render a piece because of this... And often, the artifact is something that can't be fixed and so the time rendered was wasted. Frustrating to say the least!
By the way, not sure if you noticed my Second giveaway in my post... You commented and upvoted, but if you resteem it too, you will be added to my mailing list to receive high-res. wallpapers every month that nobody else gets to have! =)
As for your next drawing project... How about a Mandala? I've found them to be endless fun, both to draw and to colour ^^
After seeing your post and the video, I can see how challenging and fun the fractal art can be. I can appreciate your frustration and tenacity for details! I know what you mean about the resolution issues too! It's one thing to make the art... and it's another thing to capture it properly (like the photos here in my case). I resteemed your post and made a comment on the video from my YouTube channel!
I really appreciate you stopping by and for your time sharing and caring. I will definitely consider getting one of those going. I have a friend that colors some awesome art and she is amazing at the madalas!
Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing more of your art!
Steem On My Friend!
<3 <3 <3
I saw your comment on my video =) ... So strange, seeing that notification after so long with no-one commenting on that side of the world anymore. Thank you so much for the resteem! Please send your e-mail address to mandelsage[dot]42[at]gmail[dot]com - so that I can add you to the wallpaper mailing list ;)
@castleberry. First, thanks for your hard work and contributions in dolphin school. Second, Thank you so much for resteeming my ridiculous post. And I guess my son was wrong... He does spin his web through his butt.
Hahahah What are the odds about having Spider-Man in both posts anyways?!? That's insane. I resteemed your post before I saw that we both had that in common. That should make you laugh right there! Thank you for your hard work in the #dolphinschool too! I am struggling a little to keep up honestly... but I THINK I am all caught up! I will give my attempt soon in your comments to make you laugh!
It's not his but in this one... that's the angle of the dangle illusion! hahahaha
I wish they would take the weekend off. Thanks. Take your time. Actually I have not laughed out loud although close on one. You are an angel.
You rock too! We have more in common than you realize! hahha I thought your poem was awesome too btw! See you around.
God Bless & Keep You =)
Thank you @castleberry. Our rep 52 was a great year. I didn't do anything this weekend on my blog ^-^ I will catch up Monday.
And may his countenance be upon you and be gracious unto you.
I never broked a pen tip🤣
Seriously , my choice for your question one is to dig into that sea of pencils and find a replacement.
For question two why not to try and test some personal crearive stuff ?
Keep struggling castleberry ;)
Thanks Draker! I probably should have if I was smart... but my stubbornness kicked in about getting a different pencil! Thanks for the suggestion. I have been thinking about testing some things soon! I always appreciate you stopping by my friend!
Steem On Brother!
Nice post! You've engaged your audience, made a connection with them and you're sharing something new, a more in depth look at your process, well done! The images are great, the Bob Ross spoof is hilarious. The offer at the end is good, but is it really as radical as you can do? I challenge you to up it. Critique. Title, I'd add "An homage to the Stylings of Todd Macfarlane" or something similar to get more attention. Mentioning a well known comic artist's name is a trick called TrustTransfer. They will want to see what you're doing. It could bring negative comparisons, sure, but you're already saying it in your piece, move it to the headline for more draw. And here is where I may be overstepping, I took one image and tweaked the exposure a bit. I think your images could do with a bit more light at creation or in post. It's hard to see your lines. This was an increase in exposure of about 23%.
Over all, excellent work, more votes than views, so you've got some fans. Good job!
Thanks for the feedback and critique. I think the most challenging thing has been folding in the lessons with what we already have going on. I almost find it easier to just create around the assignment and not say it's the assignment. My other biggest challenge is overthinking everything! That really slows me down sometimes... and getting behind doesn't help either! hahaha Hopefully I can get all caught up today.
I didn't know about the Trust-Transfer... but it makes perfect sense now that you have enlightened me. I only expect to have one or two posts max to finish this piece. I will update the title.. and in the Phase One post I did give more homage to McFarlane's work and inspiration. I definitely could have gone bigger on the offer for sure. I edited the photos and improved them already. Sometimes, the quality goes down when I tweak them too far. But, I am on a new laptop with different editing software than I am used to. I have noticed the images differ from desktop, to laptop, and then on mobile devices as well! I will try and adjust the exposure when I take the photos! Thanks for all the help Mark!
STEEM ON MY FRIEND #DolphinSchool to the Moon!
That's IT! Exactly. It's great to say, hey I'm in this thing, it's really helping, check it out, instead of making your audience feel like your doing product placement or something. You're doing great, and I know what you mean about software. I have creative suite, but I still use a damn bootleg of CS4 Photoshop, because I know it. It's a portable version I can keep on a thumbdrive and use wherever I am.
Clever Clever! Thanks Mark! I think I am all caught up finally!