Moonwatch 3

Those eyes just aren't working. I was going to try to duplicate the layer with the creature and hollow out its eye sockets -- and I think I'll just stop there. Photoshop is gross, man.

Well, I'm closing in on it. All I need to do is to get the eyes right and then experiment with tweaking the overall color in a LAB file and I'll call it done.

I took a couple of hours off this afternoon at the behest of the missus. We went to see Star Trek. I thought it was a decent crappy movie, more Star Wars than Star Trek; the the missus and a pal of ours were a lot more enthusiastic. But then they're Star Trek fans. I'll admit my blood ran cold when the Live Long and Prosper sign got flashed and I glanced over and saw them both making the sign at the screen, but then I'm conflicted about my own geekitude.

Moonwatch 2

I am burnt -- been doing this since around six or so this morning. I think I'm gonna call it a day...

The look of this piece is taking me by surprise -- it's both kinda photographic and kinda Max-Ernsty. Getting the colors right is going to be a fun chore -- and as always the piece isn't really going to come to life before I go in and beef up the shadows and highlights by hand.

I'm also going to try some experiments with masked adjustment layers to add depth to the mountains. We'll see how that works...

Moonwatch 1

Next up is to create the masks and fix all the edges so everything inhabits the same space...

I'm deadlining it -- this print and (hopefully, fingers crossed) my Lycaenops need to be finished in time to print on Wednesday morning, so I'm gonna be pressed for time for the near future -- but I'll be posting the image as it develops.

Holy Smokes.

Huh.

It just struck me.

The combination of fiction and art that I'm currently executing is something more-or-less new.

It's not that illustrated fiction is new, or that art inspired by writing is new...

But the idea of creating art as a means to inspire fiction while making sure that the art is of a certain quality, well.

I can't think of anyone who's done this before. Christ, that can't be true. Someone else has done this.

Right?

So The Presentation Went Well, Aside From The Way I Dressed

The missus took this picture of me; I'm standing in a doorway in order to give a sense of scale. Since I never see myself in this kind of context it's a little unnerving to see just how big I really am. There are places in the world where people would look at me and go, "Hey, I bet we could get a canoe out of that son of a bitch."

And is it just me or does that outfit say 'Cop show?'

Well, I had my final presentation for the Art Marketing class Tuesday night and I think it went fairly well. Let me correct myself; it went damned well. The people on the panel were a working filmmaker, a graphic designer, and the chairman(person) of the art department at school.

Well, they said flat-out that my work is gallery quality. There was something that threw me a little bit, though. They also said that my art would have been a lot less interesting to them without the story behind it and the words associated with it. As I've mentioned many times before, these pieces were done as inspiration for the novel; in my packet the prints of my art also featured related paragraphs from my writing.

So it was suggested that should a gallery show come to pass it would behoove me to a) figure out some way of working the novel into the mix, say by posting plaques featuring the appropriate writing side-by-side with the prints, and b) make a video featuring either an interview with me or just me explaining the story behind the work. Today in class my instructor made a point of repeating this again. Okay, chief. Whatever you say.

The thing that gets me about that is that (that! that!) I learned how to make art because I wanted to do comics; now I'm contemplating a gallery show with fucking captions. You can't rise higher than your roots...

The other encouraging thing that came out is that I'm apparently very well-spoken. I was told in so many words that once your art is good enough to get you in the door it's your ability to present yourself that makes the real difference -- and made it plain that the way I come across in person is a real area of strength for me.

Go figure.

Afterward we went out for drinks and pizza. (I had a red ale that was a bit green and sour and a very dry and toasty porter that more than compensated.) It was quite nice; the class was small and we've gotten to be quite fond of one another. And one of the people in class works at a local bookstore. When I was being congratulated on the way I handled myself I mentioned that I'd been considering some kind of performance and that one of my writer's groups was talking about organizing a reading; he said that we should do it at his store. Details to come; I'll be talking to my writing buddies about this in half an hour or so.

Of course the grownup costume I wore was a whole other kettle of slimy disgusting fish that bite. I've never had a sports coat before; the last time I tried to wear a tie was in my twenties and I warped it when I tried to tie it. I haven't had a white long sleeved shirt since those days either. And my pants were polyester.

There were two issues that contributed to the disgraceful quality of my appointment. First, I've got a bit of an unusual build and it's difficult to find clothes that fit me well. I'm sort of menhir-shaped -- short legs, long torso, narrow shoulders, wide hips, long thick neck, long arms, and general behemothosity all make me long for the day when I can afford to have my clothes tailored.

I'm not criticizing my body here -- I'm very pleased to have the kind of physiognomy that lets me walk anywhere at night. I just don't have the kind of form that dresses well.

The other problem was that... well, when I got home from the thrift stores the missus started moaning, "Why did I let you shop for clothes all by yourself?" The answer is simple, my beloved -- you wanted to play video games.

Interestingly, by the end of the evening I'd started to feel comfortable in my new duds -- the poorly-fitting ugly formal wear made me feel threatening in a new way, one that seemed more in fitting with my current prospects. One of my school pals said, "You actually look kind of punk."

I can live with that. But maybe I need to get a shoulder holster to round out the new look. I'm just saying.

Further Bonelands Information, For The Curious

This atrocity is explained in one of the posts to which I link below. (I adore the brutality of the gratuitously unsplit infinitive.) The artist Glendon Mellow has spoken of a developmental phase in a work of art that he calls 'the uglies.' This would be an example.

So next week I'm gonna be presenting to a group of people who might actually be in a position to aid my cause -- this is the final for my Art Marketing class. Here's what I wrote for them about the series in my submission packet.

The Bonelands is a series of digital prints done in conjunction with my novel-in-progress, The Songs Of Stray Souls. Rather than illustrating passages in the story these pieces are intended to inspire settings and creatures and events. This process lets me harness my visual imagination and create without the limitations imposed by verbal thinking.

This was the first time I used photography as part of my process – prior to this, I never even took snapshots. I borrowed a digital camera and made use of the collection of bones and succulents that my spouse and I have accumulated over the years. In order to achieve the effects I desired, I had to carefully pose and light the individual elements with the finished composition in mind.

This was a breakthrough for me. I learned more about light in two weeks of taking digital photos than I had in twenty years of drawing. Although drawing does play a role here; since I make use of cropping and distortion in order to fit the elements in these pieces into a preconceived design, the process felt more like drawing with photographs than traditional collage.

Many of the pieces in The Bonelands were originally published in Swill Magazine as black-and-white pieces intended for xerography. As always, the limitations imposed by the process of reproduction proved to be sources of inspiration rather than limitation.

The use of hard black-and-white made it possible to cleanly reproduce these images at any desired size, and when I began to color them I found myself in a position to experiment wildly. From flat, muted colors to vibrant, highly saturated renderings making use of strong, almost violent contrasts in both hue and tone, the shared origin of the pieces allowed the series a unity despite the varied moods and impressions of the individual prints.

Man, I can talk a ripe old load of bullshit when needs must.

If you're interested here are some previous posts that go into the process of creating The River King in a bit more detail.

Deep In The River One
Deep In The River Two
Deep In The River Three
Deep In The River Four
Deep In The River Five

The Bonelands: All The Images From The Series

Totem

The Tower

The River King

The Mask

The Last Tree We Saw

The Island

The Gates Of Horn

The Gate Of Dreams

The Elders

The Canyon

Ozymandias

Natural Bridges

The Kicker

Guardians

Dirty Windows

Blossom

Right now I'm in the process of finishing off the final project for my art marketing class. It's a request for a grant to print, mount, and show my Bonelands series. Part of this involves putting together a CD with jpegs of all the images from the series. Most of these have shown up on this site before but this is the first time the whole shebang has been visible in one place at one time.

Now imagine a gallery with these images printed 3' x 4' on canvas. That's what I'm hoping to be able to do...

Dear Mr./Ms. X,

I am writing to introduce you to my artwork with hopes that you can assist me in getting a grant. The work in this package represents a finished series of digital prints entitled The Bonelands. I would like to be able to display these images in a gallery show. In order to do this, I need funds to print, mount, store, and ship these works. In addition, if there is no specific gallery space available I would need funds to promote this work by printing and mailing out packages like the one you now hold.

If you’re interested in seeing more of my work, I’d be happy to send you further samples or arrange to show you prints at your convenience.

Thank you for your attention,

Sincerely,

Sean Craven


Grants. Hmm.

Grants.