Strange Sea Tides Pt. 1

Got a series of drawings of underwater creatures that will be one big drawing in the next coming months.
Here's some previews.

The lion fish is a photocopy. Hence the line. 

-K

70s Disco Boa Constrictor

Going along with the last post filled with "scaled" lizards, here's another reptile to top it off. I tried to put a little bit of variety in the scale pattern to change things up. Eventually i'm going to get it right where I can make detailed scales and implement them onto other things. Repetition is always challenging.

I also worked on a colored version in marker as well. This was fun. I just went nuts, but tried to keep it uniform in a sense. If I ever saw a large boa with these colors......man.

Also here is the video that inspired me to work on this. Hope you enjoyed!

-K

Leviathan Tattoo Process

Hope everyone's starting the new year off right! Most likely it's the same thing you were doing the year before and more, but still...:-)

I wanted to share the process of a tattoo I recently designed for a friend. I went through several steps of the design process that I wanted to share with everyone, because this piece was actually challenging and a lot of fun. I've always had a thing for dragons and was highly fascinated with the mythical lore behind them. I feel dragons represent a certain dignity and ancient presence that most mythical creatures don't seem to harness. They come off as feared, sacred, sheltered and free at the same time. Ancient beasts with the breath of a volcano, but the innocence of an elephant. I tried to keep this in mind when designing this.

DAY I:
Unfortunately, I don't currently have the pre-rough sketches I did, but i'll start off with this in-process final version. I slowly made decisions as I went along filling in all the small details such as the scales and chain details. Most illustrations i'll start by spreading out where I add the contour, but for this I started in one area and kept going.

DAY III:

This is the final version in pencil. I was actually unsure of how to shade everything in, so I left it alone for a few days and made a photocopy to practice. 

DAY VII: 

This is what I came up with for a shaded and inked result after about 3 tries of different layering. I put more emphasis in the scales (which felt like it took years) compared to the small minor details in the chain. I wanted the dragon to feel as if it had a weight to it. Of course, since i'm always looking for something new, I decided to add color to it...

That's where I came up with this...

DAY VIII:

I wanted to keep the colors traditional, because I felt the design of the dragon itself wasn't very traditional. If it were personally up to me though, the whole thing would be purple. Ya'll should know I have a thing for everything purple. Matter a fact this is a good time for some grape drink baby...

Hope you enjoyed this and much as i did! 

You can only obtain as much information as you will yourself to. There's never a limit when it comes to potential!

-K

More work coming in the next few days!

New Year, New Start

For those who have been waiting for new work, my apologies. There is tons of new material i'd love to show, but unfortunately now is not the time. That time will be saved for 2012. It's going to be a big year for me and I want to share it with everyone in the best possible manner. There will be brand new blog, new material for the blog, guests spots, and plenty more I have cooking in my mind's kitchen.

Hopefully i'll be able to learn about your wonderful life experiences as I showcase mine.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck around. Look forward to a more and improved ME! 

-K

Update September 2011

Soon, there will be more posts with artwork. For now, i'd like to update you on why you don't see any new posts.


- I spent about 3 weeks moving between two places during the end of the summer and beginning of the school semester (Lucky for me, i'm done with school, WINNING...for now). Still taking time to get situated, but it will produce even greater artwork by the time I do. I'm always growing artistically!

- My laptop works again thanks to a good friend. This means more things to post and more things to learn. Took the time to watch "Beats, Rhymes, and Life: Travels of A Tribe Called Quest," which is a documentary about the rise and fall of the hip hop group, A Tribe Called Quest. Being the huge hip hop fan that I am, this movie was brilliant. Just to be able to see the growth of a movement of people spreading love through music, understanding life, and living righteously. It's hard to look at any hip hop artist and think that, but that's one of the core examples emotion expressed through hip hop. Tribe created some of the best music and it's a shame we won't see another album...or will we?

- Speaking of hip hop, The Carter IV sucks. It doesn't necessarily SUCK, it just lacks quality material. When you have punch-line, after punch-line, after punch-line, you start to take away the value from them. In other words I felt the entire album was repetitious. The breath of fresh air came from "Interlude" featuring Tech 9   (who I never thought had a decent flow until now) and Andre 3000 (whose one verse is better than the whole album). Clearly there's people that like the album for what it represents in today's society, then there people who don't like what it represents...people like me. :-)

- Last week I happen to come across this blue van by the Copley Library. This van was actually a grilled cheese vendor called Roxy's (I think). I'll tell ya...that was some damn good grilled cheese.

- I recently watched 127 Hours (with James Franco) and Buried (with Ryan Reynolds). These are two of the best current movies i've seen. So well directed and carefully filmed without dragging past the point, that it's almost an experience watching them multiple times. This must be the age of the comedians. 127 Hours is a brilliant movie about human potential and the will to survive. Buried on the other hand, was a clever thriller with a VERY surprising ending (in my opinion). As for films currently out, Warrior, (Tom Hardy) and The Debt (Helen Mirren) also were two solid movies. Those of you out there expecting The Dark Knight Rises to be incredible, go watch Warrior and see how big of a monster Tom Hardy is. The Debt's main problem is that it dragged for a very long time throughout the movie. With such a good story, it should move at a better pace. Overall it was interesting.

- Finally, I have quite a few new illustrations for my Natural Selection story. Finished doing the Wolf, Eagle, Dolphin, Bat, and Constrictor. These will be posted soon.
I'm always being creative even when i'm not active. Always expect something new and full of life!

-K