Hey guys, I came here to get some vape info and found the site to be wonderful. I posted in the "introduce yourself" forum but I might as well give you the shorthand here as well. I work as a mural artist for the store Trader Joes full time but also do freelance illustration as well as custom painted sneakers on the side. I have loved art since I could hold a pencil and I just never stopped. Anyway, here's a few samples of my work (hope this works) for you guys to check out. I always appreciate feedback be it good or bad so please dont hold back. I have browsed this forum and you all do wonderful work! I love when a site has a forum dedicated to art because art touches so many people in different ways. I also find that smoking and art go together like chocolate and peanut butter! Ill start with some custom painted kicks. These are all prepped with acetone so the paint bonds with the leather and then hand painted with various brushes using Angelus leather paint. Here is a pen and ink illustration done using a stipple technique done for a friend whos old bearded dragon passed away. Here is a couple pencil illustrations I did back in 95 while in art school. This is a print of a much larger painting I did in highschool using Luma colored inks. I would like to start painting with concentrated colored inks again. Its fun and you get a much more intense color than you would with watercolors.
The sneakers are ill man! Thats so dope! Love em. What paint did you use for them, and how do you get it to stay on them, doesnt the paint come off easy? As for the rest, The bearded dragon, i can imagine how long that took, i myself HATE pointilism, just cant sit there and make dots for 10+ hours. Props to you for that. Looks great. You got some good stuff here, i really like the clown popping out of the box, very clean. The guy looks pretty sweet too and i dont know if its the way the picture was taken or the glare reflecting off the pencil but it looks like the top of that drawing, like the hair and all, dont have as much contrast as the bottom, like his jacket. It would be sweet to see those darks all throughout the drawing. Hope this helps, sick drawings though!
those are all awesome, but the last one is my FAVORITE. I think I know what you are talking about with the technique that you used. Do you wet down the paper with your brush and then dab up some ink and let it bleed? Lol that might not have made sense I just remembered doing something like that in art class and it was really fun.
Thanks for the Good words guys! Much appreciated, so many great artists on here with "other" comon interests! Matt, Thos custom painted kicks will wear as if you bought them like that. You need to prep the sneaker with acetone using cotton balls. This removes the protective coat of factory wax that all sneakers have. This allows for the leather paint to bond with the leather. It will not crack,peel or chip. The paint I use is called Angelus Leather Paint. In the custom kick world it's regarded as the best and for good reason. You can buy anything you need to start painting kicks at turtlefeathers.com, they have nice brush sets as well. Before you give it a shot I would watch a couple vids on YouTube showing how to properly prep the sneakers. This step takes getting used to. That Jack drawing is all messed up That last picture was a fun one. I assume your talking about the background sky? Yes, that's exactly what I did. I sketched out the entire thing and then used a liquid mask to cover everything but the sky. Then I wet the sky are down with some clean water and started pushing the paints around. For the tighter stuff you obviously use less water to ink ratio.
I was about to say why the Jack is so messed up. Another student decided to lean it up against a steaming radiator for a weekend. I tried to clean it but there's nothing I could do. Just too damaged. Thanks again guys! We should all collaborate on something trippy. Buy a board and mail it around to the people here to work on. That would be a trip.
Those are all real sick. I'm really feelin' the Bob kicks; probably one of the best custom kicks I've seen.
Wow! Thanks a million for the props guys! I'm really enjoying all the various styles and forms of art in this forum. Lots of talented people no doubt!
fuck, son! there are plenty of various styles, dimensions, and forms in YOUR artwork alone! you got the lithos', the (for lack of better art knowledge) "Dali-esque piece with a modern urban funk twist, the sick sick SICK kick work, your line work on em is outstanding, and you can rug up portraits??? your like a rubiks cube of talent, kid! gully. someones gettin a Rep for this ish.
Mcinnc, Seriously, thanks so much for the props man! I am one of those guys that just can't stick with one style/medium when it comes to illustration. My wife thinks I have ADD lol but it really comes down to wanting to give everything a try (with art) atleast once. I never did take to oils, just not my thing. Anyway man, you're too kind. I very much look forward to getting to know all the other artists on this site. There's some great talent here for sure! Take care and keep medicated
I dont know exactly how to break this news to you man... You do have a seriously severe case of ADD. your shit is mega-man fuckin fresh ALL DAMN DAY. keep that ish up. or i'll find you.. i dont know what that means yet.. but. i'll figure it out. and find you. so keep it up!
Thats a sweet idea, i wonder how that would turn out! And i should upload some of my drawings i recently finished too, get some feedback.
Hey Matt, Maybe we can make a sticky for the project. I'll personally provide a Strathmore illustration board. I'll make a post on this to see how many people would be interested. I really think this would be fun.
Tight work, dude. Edit: Also, do you sell your work. I'd pick up a pair of those Marley kicks real quick.
this makes me depressed. I'll never be this good. I try and I try. I'm still never satisfied with the things I draw. Seems like I'm so limited.
Don't get down on yourself. People all have the same potential to become really, really great at whatever they want. Some people have different amounts of natural talent that helps them along, but EVERYONE has the potential. Also, never being satisfied with what you draw is not a bad quality to have. It's actually a great quality to have. You're only limited by yourself, so keep trying.
First let me say thank you for all the kind words. It's greatly appreciate it! Foodlion, You can't think like that man! Regardless of how good you are there is always going to be many others putting out work 10 times better. If I got discouraged by every artist I've met that was better than me I'm positive I would never have kept up on my work. Try and get inspired by great artists/works. Art is not a competition. If you enjoy it that is all that matters. Try and discover "your style" and build apon it. If you ever have any questions or you're looking for a tip or two I would try my best to help. Also, why haven't you signed on to the art fusion project? This would be a great way for you to work with other artists and see first hand all the other styles we have here on this forum. Think about it man. Like I said, skill level does not matter in the least. Allversusnone, I'm not sure what the rules are here and my intent with this post was never to solicit business. All the sneakers posted above were done on comissions for clients. Custom kicks are my side work. I should have my website up in the next month or so. If anybody would like to discuss this further please feel free to PM me. This thread is just to share some new and old works of mine. Thanks again guys! Keep at it!