A Burning Designer

Astrella's art on a new CD

2011-12-11T15:21:00.000-08:00

The second CD by the New England band, Deep 6, titled "2 DEEP" has finally been released and features my artwork on the front and back covers. I created the logo image on the front over a year ago which has a gravestone and a creepy-looking character I call "Red Skulleton" holding Jimmy D'Angelo's Jackson guitar and wrote about it here. I also had vinyl stickers made of RED for Dave Balcom's kick drums.

For the back cover, Jimmy asked me if he could use one of my paintings called "Moonbeam". I had given Jimmy a print of this painting and I was honored to let them place it on the back of their CD. They asked if I could make it black & white and I manipulated it a bit to conform to the size of the CD package.
Only since it's release did Jimmy point out to me that the beam of light from the moon creating the shadow on the foggy ocean actually forms the image of a "6", as in Deep 6.
Guess it was meant to be.

Hear the music of Deep 6 here.

Lighting "Kulanihako'i: Living Waters" -Part 3

2011-11-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

The premier of the hula drama, “Kulanihako’i: Living Waters”, at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center was very successful. The performance and the water effects created by my lighting went off without a hitch. Soon after, I had to pack up the effects units to take on the road. I managed to get everything into two suitcases which had to be less than the 50 pound airline baggage weight limit to avoid additional charges. They weighed in at 49.8 and 49.6 pounds. My carry-on bag was probably another forty. Socks and shirts served as protective packing material. As I expected, TSA officers did some dusting on the motorized units and I had to try to explain what they were used for. At least I made sure my underwear was kept separate. I didn’t want them pulling those out in front of everybody!

I was grateful to have a fine local crew at the Kasser Theater in Montclair, New Jersey for several shows that followed the premier on Maui. A week later, we were on the Big Island of Hawaii at the Kahilu Theater and by then I realized which lights were proving essential in my lighting plot and which ones I could probably cut if I had to.

I explained in Part 2 of this series how I created the acetate images to project onto the cyclorama as background to the scenes. The drawback to these low-cost gobos is that they will burn up if the intensity of the light goes up higher than about 40%.

Well, I’ve figured a way to increase the intensity a little bit by decreasing the amount of heat from the lamp. I did this by bolting two template holders together separated by a plastic bushing. The acetate image gets mounted in the template furthest from the lamp and I placed a cut of GAM Heat Shield in the other. The bushing gives the two templates just enough separation to allow the heat shield to slide into the gobo slot while the gobo image fits into the iris slot of any Source IV lighting instrument. By adding the heat shield and having an air gap between the two, I’m able to get another 10-20% intensity out of the light. Not a lot, but a welcome improvement. Profile lights with LEDs will no doubt replace the need for a contraption like mine in the very near future.

You can also see in the previous post, the acetate image of a waterfall in a Hawaiian forest that I projected onto the cyc during a particular scene. A GAM Film/FX unit was focussed onto the waterfall and run at slow speed. Below is a video of that segment where the waterfall is used for a hula. It’s a little hard to see from the angle but there is also what looks like a shallow stream that moves away from the waterfall across the stage and soft, blue swirling gobos on the hula dancers as they move.

In contrast to this, there are scenes that are bright and sunny with a burning sun and rainbow in the background. These visuals only serve to help tell the story presented on stage and enhance the audience experience of live theater. More pics and videos to follow...

See Part 1 here.

See Part 2 here.

Lighting "Kulanihako’i: Living Waters" -Part 2

2011-10-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

The premier of the show is October 15th and I received the shipment of new lighting gadgets that I’ll be using to create all the nature scenery for this “hula drama” just last week.

After opening all the boxes and spending a few solid days setting up the lighting plot, I think I’ve made the right choice in choosing this particular equipment. The Kumu came in and saw the effects I was able to produce and I think they were encouraged with the results. I even impressed myself on the waterfall. Using only lights, water pours off the cyclorama onto the stage floor and runs across the stage.

Here's your basic breakup gobo which I’m using to produce the effect of sunlight as it’s filtered through the trees. The metal patterns literally break up the light when inserted into a theatrical light between the lamp and the lens. Add yellow gel filter and haze the stage with a DF50 and you have a sunny forest.

To add a sun, I used a dual pattern rotator pointed at the cyclorama. When the motor is turned on, the two metal sun gobos rotate slowly in opposite directions.
The light passes through the hole and when the sun's rays line up, it looks as though the sun is burning hot as the rays oscillate around the sun. To look more realistic, I adjust the lens to a soft focus and add a light frost filter to the yellow gel. Of course, the cyclorama is also lit with blue cyc lights for sky. It also has clouds that move across the sky which I made using two GAM Film/FX units but I’ll explain how those work later.

My sunlight gobos are shooting from stage left to stage right from the upper corner lights referred to as the "high-sides".

I’m going to use the stage RIGHT high-sides for moonlight in the same fashion. There will be a moon projected onto the cyc using an iris to adjust its size with a light blue gel. I’ll add two more lights with gobos that will represent stars. These will be simple home-made gobos; black aluminum foil with holes poked through it with a thumb tack -cheap, but effective.

The light blue gel for the moonlight streaming out of the hi-side lights will also serve a second purpose. Instead of loading them with static breakup gobos, I’ll be using 6 more dual gobo rotators. These are GAM "Twin Spins" that have a spiral gobo matched with a large breakup gobo which will produce a swirling water effect on the stage. So in one scene, it’s moonlight. In another scene with the gobos moving, it’s swirling waters.

To produce another look of moving water on the cyc, I’m using a GAM "Prismo". This unit is different as it mounts into the gel frame slot.

The 3-facet prism glass rotates and projects three images that overlap and rotate around each other. After experimenting with different gobos, I decided to use a fire gobo that has flame shapes cut out of it. When I taped different colors of blue gel to the glass and moved the lens out of focus, the moving wavy shapes look like the way light moves when you’re underwater. To make it interesting, I’ve mounted the Prismo light on a floor base and placed it downstage left on the front edge of the stage. This means if someone walks in front of the light their shadow will appear on the cyc. Since we haven’t rehearsed the show yet with lighting, I’m not sure if it will play into the show or not. I just wanted the creative team to have this option as they work out their scenes. I can always relocate it above if it doesn’t work for them.
The most notable effect I’ve concocted is the waterfall. The few who have seen it have said “Wow!”
This is a GAM “Film/FX” unit. You can choose the loop you want from their online catalog. I’m using two of these babies loaded with moving clouds mounted horizontally into lights. The motors are flipped so the clouds move toward each other. This is so I can have clouds moving in either direction, but also because the script calls for heavy clouds colliding. Flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder and then it RAINS onstage! This is done using a rain loop mounted vertically in another GAM gadget called the SX4. It works the same way as the Film/FX unit but it’s made to withstand heavier usage. The unit shown above has a loop that could be used for fire with orange gel or moving water with blue gel. That’s what I’m using this one for -the river that runs away from the waterfall. The waterfall effect is another Film/FX with a special waterfall loop in it and focused on the cyc. My waterfall has to look like it’s in a lush Hawaiian forest so I made an image in Photoshop where I took a photo of a Maui waterfall and added some ferns and greenery from other photos into the scene. I sized it for the standard gobo holder which is about 3 inches in diameter and printed several samples on transparent acetate film which you can buy in most office supply stores.

I have a method of creating these that seems to work. I cut out three of the same image, overlap them on a light box so they line up perfectly and tape them together. Using a laser printer is fine but if you use only one, the colors aren’t saturated enough. By overlapping three, the colors become vibrant. One problem is that the temperature from the light is too hot and the plastic film will begin to melt when you raise the intensity level to about 40% using a 575watt lamp in a standard ETC Source Four fixture. So you have to be careful when you turn it on or your image begins to smoke and melt. I make plenty of backup images just in case.

My waterfall is going to be a jaw-dropper and I’ll hopefully be posting video of it soon so you can see the result. I hope to chronicle this lighting design as it evolves through the run of the show as an example of the creative process involved.
See Part 1 here.
See Part 3 here.

BIG Lighting Design challenge: Kulanihako'i -Part 1

2011-09-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

I’m very excited about a new touring show that I am designing lights for called “Kulanihakoi: Living Waters.” It’s a hula drama for the stage that will illustrate just how deep the Hawaiian culture runs.

Created by a consortium of Kumu Hula (Hula Masters), the show is bringing Hawaiian myths to life. The ancient people of Hawaii saw gods and goddesses all around them in these beautiful islands, in the sky, clouds, mountains, forests, and in the ocean, the streams, and even in the gentle mists. Their gods assumed the forms of living beings. These deities are instilled in the hearts of Hawaiians today. Their love for the land becomes evident in these stories. How they viewed the waters that formed the islands is fascinating when told in such a unique way, through the eyes of a noble culture that embraced the land and revered the waters that generated so much life.

The thrill of this show for me is that it calls for a host of lighting effects that will need to reproduce nature on a live stage. This is going to be quite a challenge, and I really need to get creative to pull it off.

After reading the script and discussing the scenes with the director, I found I’ll need to simulate swirling waters on the stage floor, a running stream and a reflective pool of water. That’s just for starters... A white muslin backdrop (cyclorama) will be hung upstage that will need images projected onto it as background for the scenes. They’ll consist of a moon and stars, a glowing sun, a forest, a field of Ohia trees, a mountain, a cave, a rainbow, skies ranging from morning to dusk and red clouds streaked across the sky.
Eh, no problem, I can do all that!

But wait...

I’ll also need to create what will look like a flowing waterfall in a lush forest, clouds that don’t just move across the sky, but at one point they need to collide with each other. OK, now it’s getting tough. Oh, and then there will be thunder and lightning and it has to look like it’s raining on stage!

Hmmm...okay, I'll have to think on that one.

Here's a sample of a page from the script. It seems dry and vague when it's on paper but after speaking with the Kumu who each have their scenes to choreograph, I asked about the moods of the scenes, the times of day, the colors they envisioned, and the colors of the costumes.

There are many options with modern lighting these days. I could accomplish much of this using a video projector for all the scenic elements on the cyclorama and moving lights to produce swirling waters.

Oh, but there’s one more stipulation...if I bring any equipment with me on tour it needs to fit in our flight luggage!

Well, that's gunna be a toughie...

But I think I've found a unique solution!
I had used a certain special effects unit on the Kahekili tour last year which produced sleepy clouds that moved slowly across the cyclorama. I really liked the fact that it did NOT look like video. This unit is called the SX4 and is basically a motorized ribbon of lightweight metal with clouds cutout of it that is placed into a common lighting fixture between the lamp and the lens. The SX4 is manufactured by an innovative company called GAM Products Inc. Researching some of GAM's other little contraptions, I figured I could probably create most of the effects I need AND they would ALL fit in my suitcase!
I've already ordered the gear and will report on what happens next week after I've received these little gadgets and have tried them out. The premier of this show is right here on Maui and it's in only 3 weeks!
If I succeed, I just may become the God of Stage Weather!
See Part 2 here
See Part 3 here.

Cool Objects

2011-09-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

Here’s some of the objects that I’ve been living with, because I just think they’re cool.

I saw this vase in a shop and had to have it. It’s a basic ceramic flower vase shape, but it’s got this metal covering over it. It's both feminine and masculine at the same time. See how perfectly the metal had been contoured over the vase. There are imperfections, and they give it that hand made look that I like.

I had to buy this teapot after seeing the classic shape and design. Hey, I’m a coffee drinker, but this needed to be on my shelf.

Once again, the combination of ceramic and metal intrigued me and the painted floral design and ballet pose of the handle and spout made it irresistible. I bought it with the idea that I could use it as an object in a still life painting someday.

A poised leopard stands guard over my television.

And a black cougar crouches near the bookshelf. He’s just keeping an eye on the books and the teapot.

There's a commotion over on a table in the corner. Two eagles are fighting with each other over who guards my wall paintings.

But they don't need to fight because the wall is protected by a large, metal warrior's shield with intricate details of lions and parrots.

I believe I am well protected!

The Hand Lettering of a Master Sign Painter

2011-08-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

Here's an amazing example of the lost art of sign painting. I came upon this old sign in a rental shop and stared at it to see if it was really hand lettered. Estimating it to be at least 40 years old, back then all signs were painted by hand. Computers weren't around to make cookie-cut vinyl letters.

Consider the "O" and how his stroke made a relatively perfect circle each time. Look at how his "A"s and "E"s all look the same! Unbelievable consistency here and on top of that, his lettering shows personal style. Its just beautiful!
Compare the actual Brush Script font here to the sign. It is so true to the font that I had a difficult time believing it wasn't vinyl. It's not! It's just incredible how he made those strokes perfectly and with flare.

When I was young, I had the privilege of being tutored by such a master sign painter as this. The method is to dip the paintbrush into the heavy enamel sign paint, then work it on a palette to get just the right amount of paint on the squirrel hair lettering brush, while mixing in just the right amount of turpentine in order to achieve the right consistency that makes the paint flow onto the metal sign. Too much turp and the paint drips. Not enough turp and the paint skips and gets gummy. The brush must be loaded with just enough of this mixture to perform each stroke with one pass and without stopping. The artist has to watch both edges of the stroke at the same time and move with the same consistent timing. His hand has to stay the right distance from the sign. Move the hand closer and the stroke gets wider. Move the hand away and the stroke gets thinner.

This was an art, and THIS guy, whoever he was, was truly an expert. I can tell by the flawlessness of the thin letters. Every stroke of every letter was done with one pass. A master doesn't need to go over the stroke a second time. Like many things, this art has been eliminated by technology. 'Faster, cheaper' has moved it aside and another piece of soul has been lost. What a shame!

Art Photos

2011-08-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a few random art photographs I've taken over the years. I love to shoot but I am completely clueless when it comes to settings on my camera. My general method is to blindly fumble through various settings until it looks decent.
I would say that I'm technically inept at cameras but I am a tech guy, so I have no excuse other than I don't shoot enough to remember settings that work and settings that don't. But I know what I don't like and I don't like flash. It's all about the lighting and a flash just destroys the image, -it's like being presented with a nice meal and then having a fly land in the mashed potatoes.

I did lighting for the Dalai Lama some years ago and had a limited opportunity to snap some close-ups as he walked by. All I got was blurry waves of orange. So I photo-sewed some of them together in this image.
It's actually kind of cool because it gives him a ghostly spiritual feel.

A spookier image is this carousel horse taken at night when nobody was around. I think I took this at the beach park in Santa Cruz. Funny how such a kid friendly image can become so scary under different lighting conditions.

Then there's this old fallout shelter door below that I happened by one night in Honolulu. So emotionally cold is the image and yet it's fiery hot yellow from the single incandescent bulb overhead. I think it's the peephole that made me pause and imagine what it would be like being inside... and then stuck outside pounding on the door to get in... Creepy!

Lastly, I'll end with a lovely fish pond image showing the colorful Koi frolicking about. Not so thought provoking but decorative and rather calming. I'll post more random favs in the future. Until then, if you see a guy swearing at his camera, that'd be me.

My Reggae lights could be seen from space!

2011-07-25T14:26:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I ran lights for the Reggae in the Valley 2011 show here on Maui at the Yokouchi Pavilion and got to use my favorite lights thanks to Bruce at Village Audio. Using 4 of these 2500 watt architectural wash lights I got to blast the entire pavilion with color. These babies crank! I also had 8 Elation Design Washes and Spots.

I focused some of the lights on the glass roof, the support columns and side grills and even the surrounding buildings and palm trees.

The backdrop is made of 5 white screens which deploy out of the roof above. Their motors are controlled by a computer installed in one of the pavilion columns.

I used the Elation moving lights to focus gobos onto the screen, overlap them and rotate them.

It made for some funky looks.
I had to program positions for the moving lights the night before, but it took a couple days before that just to get the lights into this new ETC Ion console. As I found out later, there's a glitch in the software that makes it difficult to record submaster faders with only moving light attributes. I prefer to run lights manually instead of using canned looks. This is what makes lighting fun, playing it like an instrument.

Bright idea?

2011-07-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

I printed my theatrical lighting plot onto a T-shirt. That way when I'm working on the lighting rig, I can just refer to it. Better yet, I can point out certain lights or circuits to the other lighting techs I'm working with. But I must admit that the old lamp doesn't shine as bright as it's aged so in those moments when you stop to try to remember what the hell it was you were working on, it pays to have the plan within view.

I KNOW you like it...

2011-07-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

A little over a year ago I had an idea for a custom bass guitar in the shape of a shovel. I created a couple of images in Photoshop and posted them on this blog here.
I called it the Gravedigger and followed this image with another of some guy playing it. Of course, I didn't actually build it but I'm hoping somebody actually gives it a shot.

What I noticed from my blog stats was that a lot of people were looking at the shovel bass, mostly from Europe. Musicians discussed its paint, pickups and design on a few guitar forums, like this one, and some people were actually questioning if it was real or Photoshopped, which gave me a chuckle. As the post received more and more hits I began to occasionally search for "custom bass guitar" in Google Images and recently found it had actually climbed to reach the #1 spot.

Currently, the two images I posted are #2 and #3. Not bad! Shows you're interested.. Now will somebody please make it!?

SLACKER

2011-06-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been busy with a project of my own the past 6 months or so and I'm ready to share. Turns out I ended up playing drums in a rock band. Three old farts and one hotshot guitarist. Of course at my age I don't take it too seriously. In fact, everything about it has been completely contrary to the norm. Oddly, not caring and doing everything the opposite of "the right way" has made things fall into place perfectly! Fortunately for me, I get to utilize all my skills on this project. I give you the band called, SLACKER.

I'm drumming on the video immersed in smoke but I'm also running the light show from the drum riser. I spent 2 weeks setting the lights up and another week programming them, which I cued remotely.

Now, if you really want to see something strange, you've gotta check out the band website, which... um... strangely looks like this one. The band and the site are run by the band's personal troll... a fat, grumpy, red troll with gas, named Guano.
Guano even has a Facebook page. How can you not love that grisly face? The band rehearses in his cave and Guano deals with all of the band's affairs. You can meet the troll at www.slackerband.com
A CD is out and is available on iTunes, CD Baby and all the other usual music download sites.

Who gives a Flying Flink?

2011-06-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

She claimed it was a unique opportunity to globally promote the work of artists by submitting graphic icons to be used as status updates by Flinkers.

Flink12 is a tiny social networking site that launched in December to try to shave off a piece of Facebook by exploiting the fears of FB’s privacy issues. Unfortunately, they’re making mistakes right out of the gate. I received an email last month from Brenda McEwan who wanted me, and readers of my blog, to know about Flink’s “Global Icon Art Competition”.

As a graphic designer who was a part of the brainstorming sessions from which the No Spec site was born, which warns designers of the pitfalls of crowd sourcing and art “competitions”, I immediately saw red flags.

I responded to Brenda McEwan’s email by pointing her to the NoSpec site and several other sites which explain why it is better to review professional artist portfolios and choose one who displays a style that fits the need. I explained that to ask people to spend their time creating original artwork and submit it for free with the chance that they may be lucky enough to be chosen, is demeaning to our profession. You don’t hold a competition to have plumbers install pipes in your house and then pay only one of them that you choose out of them all. The result is wasted time by everyone else, the profession is belittled and... a more important point, you probably won’t get the quality art you seek, because most people who join in on crowd sourced art competitions are not professionals. Some people, to their credit, have learned this the hard way.

Brenda says that, if chosen, Flink will commission you on a “work-for-hire contract” (another red flag). She has contacted many design bloggers with her offer, obviously meant to spread the Flinking name around. I warned her that there may be negative press in Flink’s future and told her to pass my response on to CEO Anne Crowley and CTO Darren Inksetter. Recently, I came across Matt Bors blog who also had an exchange with Brenda. So my warning was ignored and my prediction correct.

So why would I join, submit to, or recommend a new “social network platform” when it’s obviously run by people who just don’t seem to have any respect for me or my profession? Weeks later, they continue to run their spec work competition and snub the graphic design professionals they sought to participate and spread the word about their “send us free art” scam. And they don’t care if they get amateur work and they don’t care if people spend hours doing work for nothing.
Well, I don’t give a flink about them either. I’ll stick with Facebook.

Rant over!

Old and Worn is Sometimes Chic

2011-05-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

Some things laying around my studio that have developed a nice aged patina.

The Hawaii weather, especially right here next to the ocean, can be ruthless to objects left out in the elements, as the paint job on my Xterra proves. But sometimes things will seem to look better over time.
Wish I could say the same for humans... These jugs already had a cracked finish when they were new. Now they've got a cracked, peeled and chipped finish.

It's odd to see a old time-worn cherub.

I probably should have put this old children's book from 1895 in plastic years ago.

My personal brooding gargoyle figurine was given by a good friend many years ago and he's been perched next to my desk ever since.

2011-05-04T16:08:00.000-07:00

A couple old cartoons I did years ago turned up on Facebook. These were of the band "August" that I was doing lighting for back in the early 80's. As a road crew member, I had drawn 5 cartoons in 5 years starting in 1979 to be used to market the band.

August rocked the Boston area and the tumbling Marshall cabinets behind them were to illustrate the band's power.

The members changed a bit over the years. Guitarist Dave Amato shown in these first two cartoons moved on after the 1980 cartoon above and now plays for REO Speedwagon. The band was carrying on as a trio in the 1981 cartoon below. I gave drummer Louie Santoro a couple of "morning star" clubs to pound his drums with.

The late great bassist Jamie Pease is in all 5 cartoons as well as front-man guitarist Jimmy D'angelo.

Jimmy D is a living legend in the Boston area and in the 1982 cartoon they had picked up guitarist Scott Hanley.

The 1983 cartoon shows Jeff Houck on guitar and Dave Balcom on drums. Jimmy and Dave are still together in a band.

That same year, I had my first published cartoon in an international magazine. It was a cartoon for Elliot Easton of The Cars who had been writing a column for Guitar World magazine. It showed Elliot playing chess with his guitar. These early published pieces led me to realize how much fun it would be to make a living doing art and cartoons.

The energy of these musician friends was so inspirational to me and I love them for that. There were wild times, lots of laughing and, yes, hefty doses of debauchery, but there was also creativity, risk-taking and the thrill that came from the anticipation of potentially reaching success, wealth and fame.

Here's a watercolor drawing of Jimmy D'angelo from around 1980 that I may have gone a little over the top with. But to his credit Jimmy has a great sense of humor and still has it framed on his wall. Jimmy D is still the quintessential rocker.

I think I even found the photos of Jimmy that I used as reference. Keep on rockin', JD!

Cartooning Cactus Pete

2011-04-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

Cactus Pete was an old prospector who spent years pannin' fer gold in the desert without much luck, but the other prospectors sure did get a hankerin' fer his grub cookin'. And so ol' Pete's fortune began to change when he started rustling up them thar juicy steaks for the local cowpokes and prospectors.

Next thang ya know, Pete was wrangling chickens fer fryin' an' a-stewin' and servin' up the bestest ding dang whiskey and the coldest beer in da whole gobdern state o' Texas, DJAAAGNABBIT!!!

Well, that was the back story I dreamt up and presented to the owner of the restaurant after he hired me to create a cartoon character and menus for "Cactus Pete's Steakhouse & Saloon".

I drew the ol' coot on the cover of the menu holding up a sizzling T-bone over an open campfire. A friendly Saguaro cactus puts a needly arm on his shoulder and a nearby steer's skull gives an approving smile.

Can't ya just hear that coyote howlin' in the distance?

I lettered the entire menu by hand and peppered the inside with various tiny vignettes of Cactus Pete doing things like panning for gold and riding a bull. Then printed it on old parchment paper.

Yes, I love to do 'toons. Character creation is REALLY fun and I've come up with lots of 'em like ol' Cactus Pete. Just need to dig 'em up from whatever drawer they're hiding in. So stop by again real soon and I'll git aroun' to postin' em.

Y'all come back now... ya hear?

When Minimalism goes Wrong

2011-04-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

A few months ago in Japan, I bought some T-shirts in a little souvenir shop called Fujidoll in the Narita airport terminal and walked out with them in this bag with a great graphic of a geisha on it. Here it is months later and I can't even throw it out because I think it's so cool. I love graphic art like this. Lines are broken down to whisks of the artist's hand. The strokes become mere suggestions of a body pose and swirls for clothing portray a mood. This style works really well for fashion illustration. It's also the same mindset a designer takes on when creating a logo... to refine and simplify a design while maintaining a style, emotion or meaning.

Which brings the line art of Ty Wilson to mind. I was immediately impressed the first time I saw one of Wilson's posters.

He has a great knack for using only a few broad strokes of ink and spots of color to represent a scene. It's what is left out that is most intriguing. Who needs to draw lips to show a romantic kiss?

The thick and thin of the ink lines are important because of the way they can draw attention TO something or away from something. They lead your eye to follow the line somewhere.

While I was browsing a few Ty Wilson samples online, I noticed something really strange about one of his pieces... Titled "Impromptu", it depicts an art deco couple at a table sipping champagne. She's already had a few and I guess she's knocked over her glass to tickle the chin of her handsome date.

Apparently, he doesn't notice her glaring physical deformity, a left arm that has a right hand on it. I have no explanation for this... and I'm left to wonder about it. Either Ty screwed up or he did this on purpose...

If publishers are selling this print, surely somebody must have pointed it out?
Now I'm thinking of doing something like this on my own... maybe a painting of a guy with two left feet... just to see if anyone notices!

2011-04-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

There's a royal palace in Hawaii, a grand residence that was built for the Hawaiian royals, King Kalakaua and Queen Kapi'olani.

On a recent trip to Honolulu, I had a chance to venture off with my camera, snapping at anything that happened to catch my eye. Wandering onto the grounds of Iolani Palace, I passed through the wrought iron gates which had this royal seal mounted upon it. The seal depicts the coat of arms of the kingdom of Hawaii.
"Ua mau ke ea o ka'aina i ka pono" translated to English is, "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness".

A long walkway leads up to the palace with an inviting grassy lawn and huge monkey pod trees. The building was very appealing in character so I approached for a closer look.

The Florentine architecture is unusual in that it has an Hawaiian twist which makes it truly unique. The openness of the lanais on two floors reflects the tropical weather as compared to 19th century buildings in Europe of the same style.

The rectangular palace is the same when viewed from the front or the back.

Built in 1882, it looks the same now as it did then as you can see from this old photo.

Fluted Corinthian columns line the facade adorned with capitals carved into curled acanthus leaves.

Fine detail in the molding above the capitals.

As well as the stairs and arches at the entrance and the iron railings above.

Below, you can see the beautiful corbels, cornices and dentil molding on the top of the central tower.

Looking toward one of the corner towers I suddenly remembered that Steve McGarrett was supposed to have his Five-O headquarters in that upper corner room.

More beautiful design and character in the slate tiles on the turret roof.

These absolutely stunning etched glass windows are perfect examples of Greco-Victorian design, and yet, they're located here in Hawaii rather than somewhere in Europe.

Inside, the grand staircase is like a waterfall running down to a reflecting pool in a forest of koa wood.

Outside on the grounds next to the palace is where the coronation of the king and queen took place back in 1883. A lavish luau was held here to celebrate the event.

A photo taken at the time shows the decorations and another shows the actual event.

Bodies in Motion

2011-03-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

Phone photos of a dance group performing doesn't yield any details. I didn't expect it would. But I did become intrigued by the images. The blurred movement causes limbs to seem to bend in odd ways. They become like stick figures, apparitions skating on jet streams.

Elton John show at the MACC

2011-03-06T15:39:00.000-08:00

Like most technicians in the entertainment industry, the local Maui techs are a nefarious group of unique individuals. Somewhere between cowboys and pirates, they're thick-skinned, bruised and scarred, loud, gruff, and known to go wild on occasion. Here's my ol' buddy Mike who came to help load in the band gear. He enjoys annoying you all day long until you finally snap.

Summer was on the lighting crew and ran a follow spot for the show. Ever see a follow spot operator climb a spot tower in a dress?

Elton's Yamaha piano was uncovered and positioned downstage while the rest of the band gear was placed behind and plugged in.
Drummer Nigel Olssen has a beautiful flame coated DW drum kit with sub-kick extensions attached to the kick drums.
I also noticed that he had a mixing console on his riser that he personally uses to mix his own in-ear monitors. Propped up on the console he had an Oscar Mayer wiener mobile toy and a cute Ashley Force doll.

When the show began I wandered out to see how it looked from the two Grandma lighting consoles at the front-of-house. The Yokouchi Pavilion was bursting with color from the moving lights and led strips. As a smaller outdoor venue, the Maui Arts & Cultural Center offers a good close-up seat for nearly everyone in comparison to most concert stadiums on the mainland which are sometimes 10 times the size. And the weather is perfect.

I made my way through the crowd to see the pavilion at a 45 degree angle. The view was great and the IMAG video screens on each side showed the musicians up close. The glass roof glowed in various colors. The opening numbers energized the crowd with Funeral for a Friend leading into Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.

Heading backstage I spent most of the show over on stage right and could watch Elton from behind as he played, which he did for nearly 3 hours straight. The audience blinders would wash over the people at the end of each song. All the conditions were right... weather, sound, lights, the place, the energy, and of course, the music.

Every once in a while he would stand, bow, walk around the stage or stand up on his piano bench, which just made the audience go nuts.

At the end of the show he hopped up and sat on the piano. As he slid himself off with open arms I snapped this picture of him with the adoring crowd cheering for a Hana Hou encore. What an amazing night that made the exhausting week all worth it...

The Yokouchi Pavilion and Elton John

2011-03-03T11:49:00.000-08:00

Here at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, the 13 million dollar construction of the Yokouchi Pavilion has been completed and was recently christened by two nights of music by Sir Elton John and his band, thrilling all who came out to see the show.
The huge glass pyramid roof sparkles like a diamond in the sunlight and has literally turned the MACC into the Jewel of the Pacific.

As the chairs were carefully being laid out on the lawn for the upcoming Elton shows, I took a picture from the roof of the Castle Theater's stage house. The open walls of the structure and intimate setting among palm trees make it a perfect venue to see concerts, especially when the sun sets into Iao Valley and a full Maui moon appears above.

Stage platforms were connected and several lighting trusses filled with moving lights were hoisted up into the roof.
There's a catwalk that was constructed up in the roof which I requested for access to the lighting rig. Early on, as the catwalk was being designed, I was asked in a 'by-the-way' manner, how tall I was. A little more than 5'7", I answered. That was passed on to the architect and now when I stroll the catwalk, the I-beams clear my head within an inch. It's a cool bit of trivia that I can brag about... but those I-beams are actually pitched and I've been reminded several times how hard that metal is compared to my fragile noggin when I've strayed from the center of the catwalk to one side.

The view from up there was much better before they suspended some padded acoustic panels from the beams of the roof but it still provides adequate access to my lights and circuits.

There is a secret room that was built below the concrete floor which we call the "vault" which contains dimmer racks, amplifiers, wiring, breaker panels and 2 large conduit tubes that travel underground and connect to the (FOH) front-of-house mix position. Sound, lighting and power cables are pulled from the vault through the tubes and out to a trap door in the ground at the tented mix position on the lawn where the lighting and sound consoles are placed. Backstage, these cables get connected to dimmers and speakers.

In the photo to the left you can see the hatch doors open to the air-conditioned vault below the concrete floor located behind the stage. This is pretty cool to have quick access to equipment should a problem arise.

When dimmers and power distros are brought in for a show, the area designated for the dimmer racks are sometimes called "dimmer beach" and coils of cables will often pile up there in a very orderly way but because there are so many, they may look like a mass of spaghetti. Here's a close-up of the pasta pile for the Elton shows.

Empty road cases are stored upstage behind the backdrop.

The line array sound system is hung from the downstage corners of the pavilion and the band gear will be placed onstage tomorrow. Video screens are setup on the lawn left and right of the stage that will show close-ups of Elton during the show.

The view from the sound console shows how everything is shaping up as the sun goes down on me. Hey, that's an Elton song, isn't it?

Logo design for The Comedy Hui

2011-01-30T19:41:00.000-08:00

The Comedy Hui is an improv comedy troupe that has been cracking up audiences around Maui for the past year. Their show is a series of skits based on characters created with the help of the audience, who get to shout out situations and define each character's odd quality. Then the real fun begins as the group improvises the dialog and acts out the scene until it reaches some hilarious climax and "Black out!" is yelled from the wing. The ringmaster of this giggle-circus is Amanda Taulere and after doing lights for one of her shows, I ended up creating a gobo/logo to project on the back wall and then helped her develop the Comedy Hui logo further.

It's a rather complex logo featuring multi-colored, semi-transparent type with shiny metallic outlines and each letter overlaps the next. Yes, it breaks some of the logo guidelines that many designers say one should NEVER veer from... gradients, bevels, raster image, etc. Do I care? Nope. While aristocratic designers insist that there are rules that are essential to good logo design they would also agree, after being pressed, that rules need to be broken sometimes. No matter what the list of rules consists of, the first is usually "standing out" and the last is "break the rules sometimes". Amanda and I discussed what logos should and should not be according to "the rules" and she chose to go with her gut instinct. I cannot dismiss the client's preference, nor my own, and the result has pleased us both.

See how the logo looks on The Comedy Hui website, and their Facebook page.

Home-made Gobos

2011-01-21T11:45:00.000-08:00

The musicians came up and asked; "Is there a way you could create a New York City skyline behind us? We want it to look as if we're performing in Central Park."

I had to pause and think about it because the show was the next day.
"Well, maybe I could create something in Photoshop tonight and project it onto the white cyclorama behind you."

"Great! Oh, and one more thing, ...is it possible to simulate the changes of the day? ...you know, like, going from morning to night?"

"Aaah, OK."

That night I manipulated an image taken in Central Park in three different ways to look like day, dusk and nighttime. The next morning I printed them on acetate and loaded them into three different Source Four Zoom leko lights. By overlapping the images I was able to change the mood at certain times during the show by fading from one image to the next.
No doubt there are better ways to do this but with little time, I did the best I could. I had to remove people from the park, alter the sky and play with colors. The client was happy and that was the most important thing.

"A determined soul will do more with a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools in a machine shop." Robert Hughe

WTF?

2011-01-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

One more Moron makes misery.
With a mug shot that resembles a cross between Uncle Fester and Jack Nicholson's Joker, crazy is written all over this guy's face.

All the more reason his visage becomes this month's feature on MORON Magazine.

courtesy of "The Mad Artist"

Crazy Babies

2011-01-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, we start off the new year with some hilarious twisted pics drummed up from a twisted mind. The Mad Artist has once again used his crooked claw to create evil. Who else would take something so sweet and innocent and turn it into an aberration?
On the other hand, they're still so cute!

Baby's First Barf

Spitting Baby

The Evil Twin

The Rabies Baby

The Big Teeth Baby

Long John Diaper,
the Pirate Baby

Sorcerer Baby

The Red Devil Baby

Messin' with the Mailman

2010-12-26T14:33:00.000-08:00

Came across this creative mailbox outside a home in Pukalani, Maui. You can't help but get a chuckle out of it. Obviously, the resident here has a great sense of humor and one idea probably led to another...

Now that I look at it more closely I have to wonder where the mailman actually puts the mail!

Wrapping up 2010

2010-12-25T22:50:00.000-08:00

The past couple of months included working on the lighting for shows with Peter Frampton,

John Mayall (joined by Mick Fleetwood), Hiroshima, Three Dog Night, Gabriel Iglesias, Los Lobos, and Hal Holbrook doing his one-man show as Mark Twain, among others. As you might expect, most of the links above to amateur Youtube videos aren't very good, but still give a sense of the shows, the venue and the lighting. I operated the lights for some of these shows. Some artists came with their own lighting operators.

Just the other night I prepped my lighting rig for a sold out Bruno Mars concert. This kid was #1 on the Billboard charts last week and this week he's got two songs at the #2 and #3 spots. He was ending his "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" tour here on Maui. Below is a shot of him arriving at the Kahului airport.

I had decided to try adding a few more rows of lights upstage behind the band, including some MR16 strips on the floor. In theater lighting terms, a truss or a batten pipe over the stage which has a row of lights attached to it is typically referred to as an electric, and they may be identified as 1st, 2nd, 3rd electric, and so on. Each of my electrics has over 30 lights on it. I had 10 electrics for Bruno Mars, plus 50 side lights and another 100 lights over the audience pointed at him. That's about 450 lights which would probably total something like 400,000 watts. Not bad for a little theater on an island in the middle of the Pacific.

Yeah, I'm boasting about having that much power at my fingertips! Of course, the lights are not all on at the same time, although I might slam on a good percentage of them on the last note of the final song. The squeals of the teenage girls have etched their memory into the walls of the hall. I could still hear them reverberating in the rafters long after the show ended as I was wrapping up my cables.

But since the Burning Designer is about design, here's a creation for a one-night Christmas concert that had no budget and very little to work with.

I scrounged up some fabric and rope lights and hung them upstage from a batten in the shape of a Christmas tree. I focused some green lights on the fabric and then threw some fiber-optic cables in front of it so I could add some colorful little points of twinkles. My moving lights added pizazz when I rotated gobo shapes and colors on it. The lesson here is that: it's never about the flash and it's not about the latest gizmos... What it's all about is finding a way to add an emotional gush at just the appropriate moment.

To give it another name, I'll call it... "romance".
Yeah, design is all about romance.

Retro Christmas Tree

2010-12-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

Instead of the usual Christmas tree this year, I've opted for something a little different. It's completely fake and yet completely authentic all at the same time. It's not just one of those gaudy aluminum Christmas trees... well, yeah, it is, BUT... it's an original aluminum tree, a vintage tree made back in the 1950's.

But it's more than that... this is the very same tree I grew up with, the tree I helped set up every year as a little kid. After sitting in a box for decades and stored in the closet on top of the heating oil tank at mom's house in Massachusetts, I shipped it to the Maui homestead.

I used to play for hours under this tree by the picture window in the living room. Those cold wintry nights were spent warm and cozy by the two floor lights on each side with the rotating color wheels that made the shiny needles change colors and filled the living room with magical light and cast moving shadows on the ceiling and fireplace. I think I can even attribute my interest in stage lighting to these two lights with the motorized color wheels.

The years may have bent a few needles but the tree even brought a big smile to the wife. In fact, she enjoyed decorating it with her butterfly ornaments and the clear balls with the beach sand and seashells inside.

Christmas is a time for making memories. Don't just give a gift to those you love, make it a memory for them to keep always.

Happy Christmas!

The Ressurection of KAHEKILI

2010-12-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

Artistic director Hokulani Holt created a stage production which tells the story of the great Hawaiian chief, Kahekili, who ruled most of the Hawaiian island chain in the 1700‘s.

Searching for a way to describe the show, she coined it a “hula drama”. While most people outside Hawaii might think of hula in terms of something they once saw at a luau party or in an old movie, this show let the public experience real hula, educating them in the process.

Audiences also got to see the members of her and other halau perform
authentic ceremonies and kahiko, and recite ancient chants. Speaking and singing in the native language they also acted out how the Hawaiians in Kahekili’s time lived before contact with the outside world. And then she went even further, to illustrate how they may have felt emotionally, how they may have thought and interacted with their king and with their environment, during times of war and times of peace.

This story gave a glimpse into the lives of the chiefs and chiefesses who were revered as gods, and the great Kahekili who raged war to gain political power. Precise attention was given to the costumes and weaponry, and the entire production was enhanced by live theatrical sound by Donald Nako’oka using a

top-o'-the-line Midas XL8 digital sound console. This baby probably cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $300,000 ... a very respectable neighborhood.

As for me, the lighting console I used was an older and more modest
ETC Express, which you could probably buy for 1/100th the price of the XL8. But for this type of show, it was all that was needed.

Hokulani Holt, a Master Kumu Hula, also tapped other kumu like Keali’i Reichel and Pali Ahue to help with the authenticity of the dance and chants. A kumu hula is a highly respected teacher, a revered master in the art of hula. The discipline of hula is far more than just dancing. It is the study of the Hawaiian traditions, language and history. It is the heart of the Hawaiian culture. Achieving the status of a kumu hula is a recognition that is bestowed by his or her own personal kumu, a blessing given as a privilege to one who has earned the respect of peers. At one point, as many as ten kumu were involved with this production, an unprecedented amount.

Early on, the National Endowment for the Arts chose the Kahekili production as one of the grant recipients for their American Masterpieces Dance Initiative which allowed the entire cast to travel to New York City for a performance in Battery Park. That was followed by periodic tours to theaters throughout the Hawaiian islands and the west coast. In November of 2008, we flew to Europe to perform at two major events, the Internationales Tanzfestival in Essen, Germany and the International Tanzwochen in Neuss. The Tanzfestival was presented annually by the esteemed European choreographer of modern dance, Pina Bausch. I previously blogged about my experience in Cologne.
This year the show was brought in the other direction... three shows in Tokyo at JCB Hall in Tokyo Dome City.

The top floor of the JCB Hall is at ground level, so you ride escalators down four levels below ground to get to the main floor.
The Japanese tech crews are always first rate and I was pleased to see that each member of the lighting company had a copy of my lighting design plot. I arrived at 9:30 am and we had the entire rig hung, colored and focused by 1pm, just in time for rehearsal.

When the show begins, the houselights go to black… then comes the sound of howling wind and the rumbling of thunder. Misty clouds move across a cyclorama. Narrator Moses Goods appears from the blackness and begins to describe Kahekili, said to be a brawny athlete of nearly 300 pounds who would dare others to follow him as he would leap into the sea from cliffs hundreds of feet high. Over time, he had one entire half of his body tattooed completely black. Such a sight made him an imposing warrior to behold and magnified his mana. As the sacred chief of Maui, he was regarded as equal to a god. Objects he touched or used were burned afterwards to prevent his divine powers from being transferred or stolen.

He trained his Maui warriors to be ferocious in war and his conquests allowed him to rule for three decades.

I made use of the cyclorama to project images, moving clouds, a forest and evening stars as background. Red shadows of the fighting warriors filled the cyc during a war scene. I also uplit Kahekili as he stood on his riser and projected a moving, glowing aura around him.

The Kahekili production has been put away for the time being. He may rise again but there are new projects in the mind of Hokulani Holt that are being born. As cultural director of the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, this kumu is at the forefront of the re-emergence of the Hawaiian culture. I can only hope to be involved in the next project.

A Garden in Tokyo

2010-11-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

On my last day in Tokyo I remembered that there was some sort of park just behind the Tokyo Dome. I had to walk along the exterior walls for nearly a mile to find a way inside until I eventually came to a gate down a side street to enter "Koishikawa Korakuen". I paid the fee of 300 yen and was amazed to find a beautiful garden of nearly 18 acres located right there, smack in the middle of Tokyo.

It was like stepping into a different dimension. The noise of the city immediately faded away and the concrete and cars turned into strolling paths and plum trees. All I could hear were the leaves rustling in the wind and the faint cawing of distant crows. There were still the occasional screams from the nearby roller coaster, but the tension of a bustling metropolis had been abruptly transformed into a timeless, relaxed atmosphere of a Japanese garden... one that has existed in that same spot for nearly 400 years.

Designated as an important historical site, Koishikawa Korakuen is a blend of Japanese and Chinese influence. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the hotel room so these are my iphone pics.

This tree has been given special attention for many years using multiple supports on the limbs to help sculpt its wonderful shape.

A central pond is filled with koi and carp that swim up to you and blow bubbles with open mouths for bread crumbs.

Well-placed stones make up the cobbled pathways that wind throughout the garden and follow the meandering streams.

Stepping stones invite you to hop across the shallow end of the lake.

The bold vermilion color of Tsutenkyo Bridge glows in the shady forest.

Green tree trunks and gnarly roots caught my eye and gave a sense of the age of the land.

Nestled on a hill is the oldest structure in the garden, a shrine called Tokujindo. It was built by Tokugawa Mitsukuni, who lived in the 1600's, to house carved wooden statues that represent the characters Hakui and Shukusei from a classic Chinese story.

Its door may make you think it is car-garage size but it is actually only 4 or 5 feet square.

Another picturesque structure invites you to stop, walk up the steps, sit and contemplate the beauty of the area.

My favorite was Engetsu-kyo, or Full Moon bridge, so-called because it has a 180° arch that creates a moonlike circle when reflected in the water. The circle would have been perfect if not for a couple of ducks playing beneath it.

Unlike the orange of Tsutenkyo Bridge, this one blends seamlessly into the background. The design is enhanced by the patina on its surface where multiple green shades of moss grow and tiny weeds poke out from cracks.

This weathered lion-dog statue still stands guard over a temple that disappeared long ago.

Just outside the garden, I snapped a picture of his bigger and brawnier brother. Carved many years ago from a single stone block, he is one of a pair that stand over 10' tall.

Tokyo Dome City

2010-10-29T01:32:00.000-07:00

Back from a week in Tokyo, I plan to do a few posts on the show I was fortunate enough to design the lighting for, the venue, and other interesting things I saw in Japan.

The Tokyo Dome is in the heart of Tokyo and its big, pillowy roof can clearly be seen from space. It can seat about 50,000 people inside, which would only be a small portion of the 12.8 million populating the city.

I had a great view of Tokyo Dome City from the 24th floor of the Tokyo Dome Hotel, and when the sun went down, the lights from the amusement park lit up, flickered and changed colors. The trussing surrounding the outside roofing is beautiful and the triangular tile work on the floor extends into the amusement park area for acres.

Looking at the Google map, it occurs to me that they should take advantage of that big inflated roof and add some graphic symbol to it. After all, most of Tokyo is a graphic overload to the eyes with the manga characters, bold colors and signage everywhere you look.

So maybe they should consider throwing an image of Hello Kitty or Doraemon or Godzilla up there. Or maybe since the Dome itself is a symbol of Japan, it would be a perfect background for a "wa" character, since it's also symbolic of Japan... Hey, I'm just sayin'...

There's a sense of place you get when you find yourself standing next to a famous object or in a famous location. It's the type of feeling you might get as you're gazing across the Grand Canyon, or climbing the steps of the Capitol in Washington DC, or sipping a mocha latte in a Times Square coffee shop. Having found my way to the hotel's 3rd floor breakfast buffet, I enjoyed this lovely view of the humongus Dome while eating raw fish with my eggs.

From the pictures you can see the Ferris wheel and the roller coaster. But notice that the Ferris wheel does not have spokes. And the roller coaster runs around the mall, pops through a hole in the building and then, as the track turns completely sideways, it goes through the center of the Ferris wheel. The terrified rider's screaming was heard throughout the park every time it ran.

There's also a bowling alley, horse racing, a water slide, towers as high as 80 meters that you drop from, and a slew of more kiddie rides. I got another shot of a carousel horse, though I'm not sure why I'm drawn to them.

And I love this shot of the kid in mid air, who is playing where water squirts up from the ground at random moments and a mist pours up from beneath their feet, which just makes them want to run around and risk getting wet. It made me wish I was a kid again.

Artsy pics from the Big Island

2010-10-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

I took a flight over to Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii to do lighting for a show at the Performing Arts Center at the University of Hawaii, Hilo. I got up at dawn because of the noise outside my hotel lanai. At home on Maui all I can hear are the soothing ocean waves lapping the shore but now I was hearing hundreds of Coqui frogs, which have invaded the Big Island, peeping away loudly. Still, I thought I was getting used to them.

But as the dawn broke, the minor birds began congregating in the trees with their on and off chirping. Turn up your sound to hear the video of them laughing and carousing like drunken chickens at 6am.

I went out for a walk and caught a glimpse of Hawaii's "Pride of America" cruise ship just pulling into the harbor. It was a peaceful scene. That sun reflection of the huge ship on the calm ocean caught my eye.

As I turned around I also noticed the big finned roots of this tree right there on the ocean's edge.

SPAMMER!

2010-10-03T01:28:00.000-07:00

When a spammer invades a forum, somebody may point it out using one of these images or something similar, which lets everyone know there's a dirty low down spammin' skunk in their midst.

Well, I'm throwing a couple of my own out there for all to use since I keep seeing these same two over and over again.

Here's one to use when you catch a whiff of the stinking spammer.

And here's another that has Hillary Clinton ratting out that no-good spammin' scum!

Use 'em at will.

Cool Penguin Cooler

2010-10-01T01:13:00.000-07:00

This old ice bucket has an elegant art deco design.
The simple chrome ball shape is ringed with embossed penguins who seem to be in one of their migratory formations, following each other and trudging around the cold polar cap. A walnut finial ball knob is planted at the north pole. There are walnut handles on the sides that are stepped. The only awkwardness is that you sort of need three hands to serve someone a cube, unless you set it down first. No matter though, the design is classic and beautiful... and it has been chilling scotches at the bar for many decades.Just sharing...

Petrified Baby Dragon

2010-09-20T00:37:00.000-07:00

Here's another old project of mine that's been laying around for years. This one was an attempt at carving something out of stone. Gotta try your hand at new things, right?

Well, I had come across a hefty chunk of pinkish alabaster in an art store one day and decided to see if I had any Michelangelo in me. I then bought a set of stone carving tools. I had imagined that the blunt 2 pound hammer would be perfect for smashing the stone to pieces if I screwed it up.

Now, here's the fun part about being an artist... It's the thrill that comes from diving into a project without any particular plan but knowing that ideas will soon pop up, evolve into a design and eventually coalesce into some kind of creation.

The next thing I knew I was chiseling out some kind of baby dinosaur... or a young, beaked dragon. As a softer stone, alabaster would be easier to shape than, say, granite. The more I chipped away under his neck the more apprehensive I became that one improper smack of the hammer would crack off the entire head. I was nervous, but thought I'd have an inner sense about when to stop the chiseling and begin the sanding. Getting into a rhythm of chipping, I eventually got to a point where I felt I should cut back on the hammer and chisel, but not far enough into it to start sanding. And so I hesitated, and the little dragon just sat in a corner of my studio waiting to be finished. Actually, I've grown fond of him this way... like an ancient fossil, petrified in a half-deteriorated state. He eventually got wrapped in a blanket and put in storage when I moved to Hawaii. That was 15 years ago.

Well, he's been dug up and shipped to the new studio laboratory. It remains to be seen if I actually take the next step to finish him. But I do have a few drills that I could try out on him to develop some details like scales on the skin. We'll see if he let's me do it...

Rockin' from the Grave

2010-09-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

Deep 6 is a band based out of central Massachusetts. I've just completed an update of their band logo for them. The band is comprised of talented veteran rockers Dave Belcom, Al Gallo and Jimmy D'angelo. The logo stems from Jimmy's desire to be buried with his Jackson guitar.

My history with Jimmy and his band incarnations runs from The Joneses, Mad Angel, August, Code Blue and Deep 6. I was always a fan of his music and will be devoted to him as a buddy til the end. I toured with Jimmy D's heavy metal band, August, as their lightman back in the early 80's. Boston was the wild west of rock and roll back then. When I think about all the shoddy electrical panels and unsafe rigging in some of those clubs, (not to mention the other vices) it's a wonder I survived at all.
Fortunately, I had a good friend in Ron "Zaz" Pitts with me. Ron was the band's sound engineer and we had some wild and hilarious experiences working those gigs. He also lives on Maui now and is a regular contributing artist to Maui Time Weekly. Ron and I once went to Denny's after a gig and started cartooning on place mats and napkins while shoveling eggs and coffee down our throats. We had so much fun 'tooning, we didn't leave until noon the next day!

I created the image of "Red Skulleton" a few years ago and had used him on t-shirts and a few other products. After seeing it, Jimmy thought Red would look cool gracing his guitar, so I had decals made to fit the guitar and Dave's kick drums. Photos of the applied decals will be forthcoming.

The Face of the Sun

2010-09-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

Came across this large piece in a gift shop while on a recent trip. Those puffy eyes are so calming.

The latest edition of MORON Magazine

2010-08-10T01:26:00.000-07:00

I try not to be political, but I LOVE satire, and this is just too funny to ignore. Glenn Beck has made the August cover of MORON Magazine.

I've become a big fan of "The Mad Artist" who has apparently taken on Moron Magazine as editor-in-chief. He had previously allowed me to post his hilarious creations here and here. Some of those images have been steadily climbing in Google search results. Now he's already talking about the next issue of Moron Magazine. I have to admit that I love this idea, as mean as it may seem.

Glenn Beck is known for his emotion-based logic, on-air sobbing, and doomsday warnings. He seems to go way off the deep end sometimes. So I have no reservations about this image showing up in a Google image search list for his name. Whether I agree with him or not has nothing to do with satire. As someone who grew up reading and loving Mad Magazine, I'm willing to support offbeat humor. In fact, this has Mad Magazine written all over it.

If Beck has a sense of humor, he ought to get a kick out of this too! Or maybe he'll be sad and cry like a baby...

A Kiss of Clashing Colors

2010-08-05T16:31:00.000-07:00

That's what I've named this image. This is unlike anything I've ever done before. I was asked by the gallery director at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center to submit a piece for display in their administrative offices. I have eleven other pieces on display in the backstage dressing rooms and green room.

But this one is completely different. Many years ago, I did some freelance painting for a local sign shop, painting signs and lettering trucks. I noticed one day how certain hues of the red and blue enamel sign paint would mess with my eyes when they were next to each other. The two colors would cause an oscillation where they met on my painting pallette, a sort of clashing of the colors.

Soon after, I had a dream where I saw this cool image of two faces melding together. The hands of the figures sort of defines the ear of the other. As an experiment, I decided to paint the design using blue paint on red sign metal. The saturation and high gloss of these enamel paints really emphasizes the oscillating effect. What's really strange is that the image above seems to show a dark line between the two colors. But that is NOT present in the actual artwork. Very weird...
I've never shown this piece in the 25 years or so that I've had it. So I decided to drag it out and see what people thought. The reaction has been good and there have been various ideas of what the figures represent, such as man & woman, aggression & calm, war & peace, and racial intermarriage.

What's a Gobo?

2010-08-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

I'm often asked this question when discussing lighting possibilities with a client. A gobo is a template of an image or words that is placed into a lighting fixture between the lamp and the lens. Adjusting the lens will focus the image as it is projected onto a wall, the floor, or a backdrop.
I needed a couple lekos for the musical South Pacific which were going to be outdoors for a few weeks. I chose this beat up old Altman leko. The gobo template holder is slid into a slot on the top of the light fixture.
There are many theatrical supply companies that create catalogs of stock gobos which they offer in printed catalogs or online. The three largest producers are Rosco, Apollo and GAM. Typically, they're made from steel or glass, either laser cut or etched.

Whatever areas allow light to pass through is what becomes projected. Moving light fixtures will often have several gobos which can be rotated and overlapped with each other.
I've used these stock gobos many times and they will eventually disintegrate under the intense heat from the lamp.

Some companies use brass or a heavier gauge steel for longevity, but heat resistant coating on glass gobos also withstands the temperature. This multi-colored glass gobo is made from bits of dichroic glass and should last a long time under normal circumstances. I store my gobos in an old fishing tackle box with dividers.

The manufacturers will also create custom gobos from your design. A steel custom gobo will cost about $75+ before shipping. In a pinch I've had to create my own when there wasn't enough time or money to order the gobo. Sometimes I create the design and print several copies of it onto transparent film sold at office supply stores. I will then cut them out and overlay three of them and tape them together. This will work, BUT... the film cannot withstand the heat and it will begin to smoke and melt in the light. I found that in a standard Source Four leko, which uses a 575 watt lamp, I can raise the lamp intensity to about 30- 50%, depending on how much dark area is in the image which absorbs the heat, before it crumples up and smokes. This is NOT a safe thing to attempt if you don't know what you're doing.

For South Pacific, I needed two gobos that would project, "Thanksgiving FOLLIES" onto a white parachute (see one of the stage photos in my last post). I hand-cut these with an exacto knife. Having the lettering look rough and hand-made was completely acceptable for the scene. I tried a number of materials but ended up using black wrap, which is basically heavy aluminum foil painted with heat resistant paint. They also make it with an adhesive backing, so I stuck one to the other to make it a little heavier and it was just the right thickness for cutting with the razor knife. I also used the black wrap to make what's called a "donut" or a "cookie" to place in the color slot at the end of the lens barrel. Cutting a smaller hole helps to sharpen the image being projected.
Feel free to file this post under cheesy theatrical tricks...

South Pacific - the musical

2010-07-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

It's quite the challenge to pull off a show like this in the middle of an empty field. But Maui grants us good weather and beautiful surroundings, especially at the Maui Tropical Plantation, where there is a gently sloping clearing they call the Field of Dreams.

It does have a small stage in the center and the field is ringed with a variety of tall palm trees. There's also a windmill off to one side that helps to irrigate the 60 acres of garden.

The musical was put on by The Maui Academy of Performing Arts under the direction of David Johnston.

We met at their offices months earlier where set designer Caro Walker brought in a mock-up of the stage set.

When load-in began, some authentic WWII vehicles were parked near the stage. This army truck's bed held the musical director. A vintage military tent held the props and wireless mics and a classic jeep flanked the audience.

The lighting design was very simple, and I hung instruments from scaffold towers placed out front and on the corners of the stage.

The towers were draped in camo material and two towers on stage had wheels that allowed the actors to spin them in between scenes to create different locations within the play.

Once lights were hung, patched and gelled, I climbed the towers to focus under a beautiful starry sky.

Blocking began at dusk and rehearsals followed as the sun went down.

The show was magical and the weather held up nicely, except for one brief downpour, which happened appropriately as the song "Wash that man right out of my hair" was being performed.
During the song Bali Hai, I bathed the ring of palm trees around the field in green, yellow, and red. I also lit the windmill and the towers. It's a blast to light objects in ways that nobody would ever expect!

Leaders in Nose Pickin'

2010-06-18T15:41:00.000-07:00

Another report from the "Mad Artist".
This time he's giving us a beak at his collection of various leaders picking away. It all started years ago when he got this famous shot of Harrison Ford on the set of Indiana Jones searching for buried treasure.

Then there was this shot of Rep. Henry Waxman... a chronic picker, as you can tell by his stretched nostrils that a truck could drive into.

And daughter Liz Cheney was mortified while her nose-pick'n daddy, Dick Cheney, was drilling for oil while chastising the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...

...who responded in much the same way... With a defiant finger, he illustrated that Cheney should stick it where the sun don't shine.

More recently, President Obama stuck his nose into the issue, without a tissue, and supported a nasal blockade of ships flowing from Noseran, Iran to the Schnozzle strip in Gaza. He then referred to Iran's leader as Mahmoud "Ahmadigmyschnoz".

Mahmoud quickly blew back saying Obama was acting arrogant and snooty, and he couldn't put his finger on it but something smelled fishy.

Of course, blowhard Rush Limbaugh weighed in by snorting how he had found substance in what Ahmadigmyschnoz was smelling.

The Dalai Lama said Rush must be sniffing glue, and he pointed at the internal passageway to finding the source of inner piece.

That made the pope chime in to say that the Dalai Lama has hit it on the nose... "We must dig deep within ourselves, dislodge those inner obstacles and let the spirit flow."
The pope then honked out a booger, dropped to his sneeze and said, gesundheit!

Sapporo Beer Commercial - Legendary Biru

2010-06-14T00:52:00.000-07:00

I came across this unusual ad for Sapporo biru. Not your typical beer commercial, it's a visual feast that moves you through time in a vertical motion to show the brewing process of Sapporo beer using bits of Japanese legend and culture.
Lavish scenes of flowing streams, caverns and temples with Daiko drummers pounding on beer casks, humongous sumo wrestlers, and fire breathing dragons heating the vat. It's refreshing to see a commercial that doesn't bore and cause me to flick the remote, which I do compulsively, because 99.5% of tv commercial suck!
For a larger view, here's the Youtube link.

Custom Bass Guitar from hell... or the farm

2010-06-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

Here's an idea I came up with for a custom bass guitar, made in the image of a classic shovel. The body is still crafted from hardwood but painted with a metallic finish to simulate metal. Using shades of gray on the face gives the illusion of being curved like a spoon shovel. In addition, it is tastefully decorated with a lovely sinister skull and his bony hand which seems to be strumming that ol' deep, dark devil music. I call this bass the "Gravedigger".
In case you're wondering, yes, I am serious...

As Frazetta would say, why the hell not?

Yes, it will bury the competition, and people will dig it, and there are probably a thousand other puns that'll accompany such an odd-looking guitar. But that's the point, isn't it? Gaining attention any way you can is exactly what a band needs and it's what a bass player should want. Standing out from the crowd is essential, and I guarantee that if it's made with craftsmanship, this is the type of thing photographers will shoot while you're playing on stage, the type of thing that will get mentioned in magazines, the type of thing that gets talked about, simply because it is unique and unusual. Not only that, it's easy to carry, easy to hang on the wall of your garage, and easy to swing at the drummer's head.

Stay tuned for upcoming pics of the Pogo stick bass guitar. :-)

How Van Gogh burned my eyes out

2010-05-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

Seeing my artwork appear in digital book form is a little unnerving. The reproductions are reproductions of reproductions of reproductions, and that has made colors stray quite a bit from the originals. This is one reason why I've decided to learn how to make my own prints, so that I can proof every one and make sure the colors stay intact. But images are reproduced in many different ways these days and different formats have advantages and disadvantages.

I'll never forget the first time I saw an original Vincent Van Gogh. I had never been to the Fogg Museum at Harvard University before, and I wasn't expecting any "wow" moments from the impressionist section we were exploring. The Fogg has a fine collection of impressionist paintings including works by Picasso, Monet, Manet, Matisse, Renior, Degas and Cezanne. But I didn't expect to be impressed by the impressionists.

Strolling through the rooms I came to a doorway and turned my head to the right to look inside. On the other side of the room was an entire wall with only one painting hanging in the center. It was a Van Gogh self portrait, painted in 1888 for his friend Paul Gauguin. That green background... I was slammed in the eyeballs by this weird, lime color. I started walking toward the painting, drawn to it like a moth flying into a campfire. It radiated off the wall like an emerald.

As I got closer, I saw that he placed paint strokes in circular patterns that emanated away from the head, as if he was radioactive or something. Hell, he even used the lime green in his skin tone. Wow, that was creepy-weird. "Yeah", I thought, "This guy was nuts!"... or, he was brilliant... or more likely, a bit of both. Vincent had painted himself in the image of a Japanese monk, with a calm exterior on the surface and an inner intensity beneath. He knew exactly what he was doing.
But he painted this just weeks before lopping off a chunk of that ear. I remember thinking that this was the oddest, and yet, one of the most intriguing paintings I'd ever seen. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I stared at it for quite a while. Also odd, is that the eyes aren't looking at you, unlike most self portraits where an artist looking in a mirror is likely to paint the eyes looking directly back at the artist.

That painting changed my opinion of the impressionists. I finally began to get it. I began to see in a different way... which was the whole point of what they were doing. Design was not the goal, they were exploring emotions, through color. Van Gogh had painted himself with an aura. The image gave off an energy. I had this surreal feeling as if Van Gogh's soul had been painted right into this painting. I realized that the painting itself had an aura. Some images do that to you. I'd felt it with other paintings, but never like this.

Getting back to the point, seeing an original painting is important, even though time may give it a bit of a patina. Googling images of paintings will inevitably bring a variety of versions, most of which do not accurately represent the original, and most likely will not reproduce that aura, if it has one.

Comparing examples of another Van Gogh portrait taken from the web, it's clear that accuracy is lacking. Design is present but color is random. How would anyone know which is closest to the original?

Photoshop CS5

2010-05-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

After several months of waiting, Photoshop CS5 has been released and I've downloaded it to my imac. The beauty of this is that I can now plug my Cintiq into the imac and use both screens. This allows me to place Photoshop tools on the left screen and paint on the right. Having all that space clear on the Cintiq screen is really helpful. Being able to draw right on the screen has been an adventure. I've grown accustomed to it and marvel at what it can do.

As nice as this setup is, I do miss the days of smelling oil paint and linseed oil. I own a complete set of Old Holland paints and new sable brushes which have been sitting unopened in my studio for several years now. I've been looking at painting easels and if I get one, I'll have to rearrange the entire work space, but I'm looking forward to creating things the new way AND the old way.

My working space here on Maui has been a lot smaller than my previous studio in Massachusetts. Here are a few photos of my old studio which was on the top floor of an old brick factory building in Worcester, complete with skylight and huge windows.

My cat, Nerf, was quite at home among the painted animals on the walls. In the corner was my drum set on a riser where the boys would rehearse on Wednesday nights. The space was beautiful. Unfortunately, it had a downside... it was located in the city of Worcester. I got tired of the cold weather. I got tired of hearing gunshots and sirens at night. The back windows overlooked a small lake... which often had trash and broken shopping carts all along the shore. In 1995, it was time to move on to greener pastures. Not many artists get to have such a cool studio as this one, but I'm going to try it again... if I can afford it!

Frank Frazetta 1928-2010 (Part 6)

2010-05-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

As I was writing a final post in this series about Frank Frazetta, I have just learned of his passing. Very sad day for his family, and for his admirers who were inspired and amazed by his artwork and talent.

Hanging on my living room wall is a fantasy painting of a deer with wings. The deer was my first attempt at a fantasy oil painting, inspired by Frazetta. While it wasn't monsters or warriors, the deer originally had a rider on its back. She had a dagger strapped to her leg and a spear in the other hand. And she didn't wear much else (hey, I was a teenager). It was only my second attempt at using oil paints and unlike the first attempt, a still life painting, I wanted to create something purely from my imagination, thanks to Frank. But I never tried to copy Frazetta, I just wanted to share in his world. Three years I spent on that painting, fussing with the wings so that you could still see the beautiful, primitive huntress. Eventually, I decided to paint her out so the wings could unfurl. That was around 1980.

At the same time, Frank Frazetta was at the pinnacle of his career and had sketched this drawing about five years earlier (my guess). When I came across this little gem for sale, I couldn't help but fall in love with it. I purchased it and framed it in a bronzed wood with black velvet and gold inset.

It's quintessential Frazetta... Conan posing with a battle axe, a quick sketch that he inked in with all the little pen noodling that I love about his line work. The pen seems to have zipped along his form with just the right touch, getting lighter and heavier at times. The stance is solid, the angles are perfect, the pondering attitude on his face, and his classic signature off to the side. Maybe it's me, but I see beauty in that squiggle that runs up the ax handle. Never have I seen a better portrait pose of Conan.

Or is it something else that draws me to it? Could it be his depiction of the raw nerve of the barbarian that just gets my testosterone up? Yeah, that's me inside. I'm certainly no muscle dude. In fact, I'm all of 142 pounds. But a part of me is that guy, poised and ready to give life a good swipe. That's me making a decision... do I guard myself or do I just attack?
But I digress...

I now own a drawing by one of the greatest artists, in fact, thee grand master of fantasy art, who has now passed on in flesh but he will live on in his magnificent art. Frazetta's Conan drawing shares wall space with my Deer painting, a tribute to the artist who inspired me so much. Rest in peace, Frank, you'll be missed.

Links to the other posts in this series about Frazetta are found here:
Frazetta Part 1
Frazetta Part 2
Frazetta Part 3
Frazetta Part 4
Frazetta Part 5

To see the most recent posts by Mark Astrella, click on the header at the top of the page (A Burning Designer)

Frank Frazetta (Part 5) More sketches

2010-05-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

I'm posting a couple more examples of Frank Frazetta's preliminary sketches to compare with his final illustrations, That he traced some of his initial drawings onto his canvas before painting is in no way an unusual practice among painters, in fact, it is one of the most logical ways to transpose a drawing that is best created on a substrate meant for drawing, over to a substrate meant for painting. To re-sketch it from scratch onto the canvas could run the risk of losing the essence of the sketch. The whole point to sketching is to flush out the design. It's like a wire frame for a sculpture. If the final is not to be painted but finished with ink, he may have traced the sketch onto Bristol paper, which is a very smooth paper made for illustration. It's especially good for inks. I've been using it for all my airbrushed acrylic illustrations because the smooth surface is ideal for using Frisket film.

Above is Frazetta's pencil sketch side by side with the final ink drawing. I've laid the sketch over the ink drawing and merged the two at 50% opacity to show how closely they match up. He seems to have stayed close to the original sketch and it leaves little doubt that he traced one onto the other.

That he traced some drawings over to Bristol paper doesn't mean he always worked in this way. He doesn't really have one set method. In some instances he sketched right on the canvas and sometimes he sketched with paint rather than pencil.

In this example of about a dozen people fighting, you can see the darker lines which were most likely the lines he traced over and applied pressure in order to get an image on the paper beneath it. Then he'll have a clean surface to begin inking it in and he can refer to the drawing for shading if he needs to.

Again, I merged the two to see how they fit together and how closely he followed the drawing.
There's no real point I'm trying to make here. I just find it interesting. Frank Frazetta is known as the Grand Master of fantastic art and the most influential illustrator of the 20th century. He is without doubt one of the great artists of our time. His work has had a profound affect on many artists, including me, even though I can't say my style is anything like his. I've simply admired his genius and talent. He wowed me, as did Norman Rockwell, Maxfield Parrish, Michael Whelan and Roger Dean, among others.

Here's one more sketch by Frazetta that he did for Savage Pellucidar. The parts don't necessarily line up exactly with the painting so he must have reworked the design on the canvas. But there are some heavy lines that seem to indicate a transfer. You be the judge. I just love the way the shadow under the tiger becomes an abstract shape. Pure genius!

Links to this 6-part series on Frazetta by Mark Astrella are found here:
Frazetta Part 1
Frazetta Part 2
Frazetta Part 3
Frazetta Part 4
Frazetta Part 6

Click on the header at the top of the page (A Burning Designer) to see the most recent posts by Astrella.

Frank Frazetta (Part 4)

2010-04-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

Wow! I found so many amazing Frazetta drawings to show that I may need to stretch this out to a few more posts.

Frank Frazetta's drawings are as fascinating as his paintings. Looking closely, we get to see the real, raw talent at work. We get to see how he constructs his characters. Sometimes it's hard to believe that he doesn't use models to draw from, and even Frazetta himself says he doesn't know how he does it. Besides, it would be too difficult to stage these scenes. It simply wasn't necessary as it just always came natural to him to illustrate on the spot. He just "sees" the images in his mind. And that allows him to create moments of action, straight from his imagination.

On close inspection, you'll find every stroke of the pen has energy, and they mimic the fury of the scene. The initial layout is done in pencil. It may be just a scribbling of an image where the pencil hardly comes off the paper. Having a highly developed sense of what will work, he doesn't need to use the eraser much, which is something that comes with experience. Then he begins inking over the pencil lines. Sometimes you can see a few pencil lines where his ink pen didn't follow them.

The sweep of his line work in the shading is fantastic. Notice the lines that make up the legs of the leaping Tarzan. See also how he put leafy shadows on the body of the girl. While his style is purely original, it may be reminiscent of some of the great Renaissance masters. He may have studied the work of Peter Paul Rubens and Michelangelo below who drew with a similar fluidity of motion, but he doesn't claim to have been influenced by anyone. That may be true to a certain extent but every art student is exposed to the masters and Frazetta's work also has shades of Goya, Pyle and N.C. Wyeth. To my eye, Frazetta has many compositions that are based on a circular motif similar to the great Raphael.

A distinction should be made between the drawings that Frazetta intended to be inked in as the final product, such as the Tarzan illustrations above, and preliminary sketches like those to the right which served as a study for a character. They are preparatory sketches he made to zero in on a pose. They can be "loose" or "tight" in their execution depending on his mood or the amount of time he planned to spend doodling. The term "doodling" may be applicable because sometimes that's just what it looks like... a playful moment where the artist is picturing the character in his mind. He's experimenting with different poses to find a composition that works, and in this case, it looks like for the Pellucidar series. I'm not sure if he was inspired by Raquel Welch here in her 1966 movie One Million Years BC, but he seemed to have settled on the pose here and then used it to paint the Pellucidar book cover. This painting is dated 1974.

After looking around at Frazetta art on the web it occurs to me that I've not seen any sites that specifically show the preliminary sketches side by side with the final pieces, so I've gathered a few to compare.

Here's an example which shows a pencil sketch for the concept of Luana along with the final painting as it appeared on the cover of Vampirella. There are some minor differences, such as the position of the panther's paws, but it is essentially the same. What I believe Frazetta did here is something I do myself, that is, once the sketch seems to be right, I transfer the sketch to my canvas or illustration board to paint. So I'll turn the sketch over and rub the backside with the pencil. Then placing the sketch on the canvas, I'll retrace the lines which leaves traces of the graphite on the canvas. That would explain the heavy lines on the sketch above and if you were to overlay the two, I believe they would line up with only minor shifts in position among the elements. If I am right then the back of this particular sketch would have graphite rubbed on it.

On this one, the sketch of the Mahar and the virgin shows no direct transfer of the two. We can see how he kept the concept of confrontation based on the notes and improved it, including the contrasting dark area behind the virgin.

A sketch for Lord of the Rings went through some obvious changes, added clothing for one, but the improvements to the final just goes to show how great Frazetta is. First, you can't help but wonder what she can possibly do to defend herself or escape at this moment. The added strength and motion he put into the evil guy and his outfit, and the line work itself are in the same league as those Renaissance masters I mentioned earlier. Despite how lowly the comic book artist has been perceived in the past, behold, the work of a living, modern master.

My other blog posts about the Master:
Frazetta Part 1
Frazetta Part 2
Frazetta Part 3
Frazetta Part 5
Frazetta Part 6

For the most recent blog posts by Mark Astrella, click on the header at the top of the page (A Burning Designer)

Frank Frazetta (Part 3)

2010-04-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

I've just had my original Frazetta drawing framed and it looks great! How this Conan sketch falls within the body of Frazetta's career is fascinating to me. There are many Conan images to show, but before we go into battle with him, here's a few samples of what Frazetta is also known for depicting uniquely... his women.

They're typically young, gorgeous, naked and waaaay over-developed. They may be in mortal danger, or out hunting with a fang-toothed pet, or clinging to a hero for protection. Sometimes, they're just out having fun, enjoying nature in all its glory, and in all THEIR glory.

In The Castle of Sin, three lovely wenches are shown leading a knight's horse toward the castle, which may be a trick because there seems to be a Death Dealer ducking just inside the entrance. Frank took his time on this one, to happily paint the detail into the knight, the horse and the ladies. The lighting on all of them is exceptionally executed and the expressions on their faces tells you a little about what's going on... if the title doesn't.

Now, if Tarzan the Ape man was a great subject-model for Frazetta's ink pen, his brother Conan the Barbarian was the perfect model for his paintbrush. The sinewy Tarzan was leaner and more adept at swinging the vines of the jungle while Conan was brawnier and more apt to kick your ass for no good reason. The painting of the Ice Giants, which Frank created for the cover of Robert E. Howard's Conan of Cimmeria shows a couple 'o huge red-bearded Norse giants taking swings at the puny Cimmerian. The weight of the battle axes and the weight of their limbs bogged down in the ankle-deep snow is apparent, which gives an edge to Conan in speed and he gets a piece of one of them in the throat. With the lavendar backdrop and majestic ice peak, it's another scene of beauty and beast.

But maybe this is all too cute for a real barbarian. Howzabout a little more blood 'n guts?

What happens when you aggravate Conan by accidentally bumping into him at the local bar is shown in The Disagreement. More than a bar brawl, everyone goes for their weapon. The room becomes tense and everyone reacts. One cool item to note is the frothy beer stein in mid air.

Frank must have felt good about Conan's back swing pose as he also used it in The Indomitable. In this painting, Conan has very little expression on his face. Like a pro-golfer, he's concentrating on his swing. And when you want to get close to the pin in just one shot, you need to put a little extra oomph into it.

That's what Frazetta did in Conan the Destroyer, where his enemies must be dying of fright just looking at how far back he winds up his ax arm. The body pile in The Destroyer is more developed than in The Indomitable and Frazetta put more detail into the twisted torsos and helmets.

Now, if Conan actually looks like anybody you might recognize it would be Jack Palance. Palance had played a warrior in several movies in the 50's and 60's such as Attila the Hun and he played Revak in a movie called The Barbarians. It was a good choice. With a square jaw and high cheekbones, Palance had a great face to use for Conan.

Sometimes the battle comes to you and sometimes you need to go to the battle. Below, Conan rides to the enemy lines and when he gets there he must have decided to just dive into it with horse. No wonder he called this one Berserker. It was actually created for Howard's Conan the Conqueror. Not many of Frazetta's original paintings have gone up for auction. Frank and Ellie Frazetta opted to retain ownership of nearly all of his book cover paintings and had them displayed in their own museum in East Stroudsburg, PA. Of those that were sold, one went for $250K. Then just this past November, Berserker went to auction and was sold to a private collector for a cool MILLION, which says a lot about how much some Frazetta fans treasure his work.

Another well-known iconic Conan painting that really grabs your attention is simply titled The Barbarian. Here we see a pensive Conan standing atop the usual mound of dead enemies and looking mean enough to wipe out your entire town. His muscles bulge, his veins are swollen and he is seen scowling while a female admirer finds comfort with his calf. Perhaps it was her presence that had him stop the butchering and take a moment to reflect on the day's work. This is Frazetta creating an image of one super badass. A sexy scar on his cheek and a lovely bird skull and fang necklace make great accessories for his weaponry. Once again, certain areas around him are painted with less detail which only magnifies his awesomeness. The background of fire and skulls was poster perfect and imitators went into over-copy mode to try to get a piece of the action.

There is a biography on DVD of Frank called, Frazetta, Painting with Fire and the trailer for it has a cool animation of The Barbarian in the beginning... It is worth a look.

The next posts of this series will delve into Frazetta's drawings and I will soon reveal my Frazetta treasure!

Links to this 6-part Frazetta series by Mark Astrella:
Frazetta Part 1
Frazetta Part 2
Frazetta Part 4
Frazetta Part 5
Frazetta Part 6

Frank Frazetta (Part 2)

2010-04-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

Frazetta has a finely tuned sense of contrast, better than most painters, and it's easy to see why. It came from years of working in black and white doing comics. But going from pen and ink to oil paint has differences. With ink you're starting with white paper and adding the darks, and usually working from the foreground to the background. With oil and acrylic paint, you usually do the opposite, starting with the background and working to the foreground. For something like a black horse, ex. The Moonmaid above, you might start with a dark base and then add the lighter shades and highlights to define the muscles.

The Outlaw of Torn at right is an awesome display of how Frazetta can create a design where everything seems in motion and all elements are at odd angles, but balance out with each other wonderfully. Notice how the horse leans to your left and the angles and lines of its legs and neck and the knight's shield are all tilted one way. And then tilted the other way are the horse's foreleg, the sword and the clouds to counterbalance. He also has made great use of a fiery red cape in more than a few paintings to help with the composition and contrast and it directs your attention to the character.

When it comes to needing valiant warriors on beefy horses, or sexy sorceresses accompanied by ferocious animals, Frazetta's your man. There are gorgeous snarling tigers and lions, black panthers, wolves, bears, gorillas, snakes, dinosaurs and monsters of all kinds. Anything with big teeth is a candidate for a Frazetta pet... or nightmare.

One of his most beautiful designs is The Silver Warrior. This big dude is coming over the crest of a snow peak riding in a crazy, stylized ski-chariot which is being pulled by a team of polar bears. How cool is that? This may be another example of Frazetta creating an image for a story which turns out to be more intriguing than the story it was created for. Such paintings have actually inspired rewrites and new stories centered around the characters Frank imagined.

The warrior is central to Frazetta's world and the swords they carry have two edges. A warrior may be a hero who protects maidens from harm, or he may be a viscious villain who will slice you to bits for breathing his air.

That leads us to one of Frazetta's most evil, badass warriors of all time, The Death Dealer, who became famous after appearing on Molly Hatchet album covers in the 70's and in countless magazines and posters afterward. The Death Dealer is a seriously nasty-looking character who has ridden out of the burning, smoke-filled landscape, or what's left of it, and has stopped momentarily to gaze at you with glowing red eyes. He has noticed that you are still breathing... and he can't have that. His panting horse is actually snorting smoke. The horned helmet and that hooked axe, which would surely make a clean cut through your neck, are enough to make you unknowingly relieve yourself before bolting in the opposite direction. The way in which Frazetta painted the detailed metalwork on this medieval grim reaper is absolutely exquisite. A dent in the shield is perfectly placed.

But then when you look at the paint strokes on the hind side and legs of the horse, they are terrifically loose and seem as though they were hurled onto the horse with the skill of a marksman. It's amazing how much intensity he can put into a faceless figure just sitting on a horse. Another stroke of brilliance is the edges of the Dealer himself. Hair and cape blend into the background paint and help to give him the sinister spookiness he deserves. The rocky foreground looks practically unfinished. This is a choice... knowing when NOT to add detail... knowing when enough is enough. Vultures are following him for a meal. Like the Outlaw of Torn and The Silver Warrior, this is another pure masterpiece and could be his most famous image... or should I say infamous? Later paintings of The Death Dealer have him actually swinging that bloody battle axe.

For more on Frazetta and posts featuring Conan the Barbarian, click on these links:
Frazetta Part 1
Frazetta Part 3
Frazetta Part 4
Frazetta Part 5
Frazetta Part 6

Click on the header at the top of the page (A Burning Designer) to see the most recent posts by Mark Astrella

Frank Frazetta (Part 1)

2010-04-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

There is little doubt that Frank Frazetta is the king of fantasy adventure & science fiction art. I've always found Frazetta's art to be stunning and recently, I became the proud owner of a signed, original sketch by the master of fantasy art himself and I am VERY excited about it. But before I show it here, I'm going to write a few posts about him. In doing some research to try to date my sketch, I've discovered Frazetta all over again. If you're not familiar with his name, you've probably seen his work somewhere.

When it comes to talent and technique, Frank Frazetta is like Bruce Lee. He just kicks out the light bulb on the ceiling with an unexpected motion of intensity and precision. His style is truly unique and his power makes your eyes widen. There's been a long line of Frazetta imitators, some of them very good painters... but their over-posed heroes turn out looking cheesy in comparison. We shouldn't be too harsh on them, however, because they've also been mesmerized by his amazing compositions.

Frazetta began his career doing comics, and in the 50's he began illustrating Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan books. His illustrations of the seriously-muscular Conan for Robert E. Howard's books were so eye-catching that sales went ballistic.

I first saw Frazetta's work in a 1978 calendar and was so taken that I bought one of his art books soon after featuring the Egyptian Queen on the cover. An intriguing composition that has this sensual beauty slinking up against a massive marble column. She makes you feel the cold stone on her skin. Originally published on the cover of Eerie magazine, there's a tenseness in the room with the crouching cat and the figure in the background.

To the right is a preliminary sketch for this painting. It's interesting to see how he developed it from this stage to the final painting. Even Frazetta's pencil sketches are like little jewels that reveal his enormous natural talent and they are now going for thousands of dollars. I can't remember ever buying the work of another artist and I would only hang my own art on my walls, but that all changed when I came across a little sketch of Conan that I just couldn't resist.

One thing that fascinated me is the way he would leave detail out in certain areas... something I've always had difficulty doing. I'll nitpick over every toenail whereas Frank won't even include the lower legs. His choices of what to leave out are brilliant. The details just fall away into the shadows. They become obscured by smoke or fog or the dust kicked up by the battle. Creatures emerge from the canvas similar to the way the presidents on Rushmore emerge from the mountain.
Neanderthals rush toward you from an orange mist... and they have only one intent... to club the life out of you.

Frazetta loves to toy around with our fears. Of course, years of creating covers for publications like Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella had him working from that state of mind.

In Bran Mak Morn to the right, he again uses top light to accentuate the big brows on the primitive's apelike features. The long, dark shadow under the tribal leader's face creates powerful contrast. Top light like this is used often in theatrical lighting to create drama on the figure.

The painting of the Captive Princess below skillfully plays with contrasts between cool and warm colors, light and shadow, soft and hard textures, and between what is in motion and what is poised in place. She reaches in desperation for something to grab onto that isn't there.

The musculature and veins are exaggerated but believable, and the color choices are unorthodox... geez, Frazetta would hurl big splotches of green and purple paint right on the skin, but you don't even notice it! It all just works in some dynamic way and seems to emphasize the action.

Just look at the patchwork of paint dabs he lays down on the back of Conan in his painting called Chained. Those muscles aren't real. Frazetta didn't ask a model to pose for him for this. That's just his mind imagining the muscular back of Conan. It works! Because of the passion he brings to the canvas.

Read the rest of this series on Frank Frazetta by Mark Astrella.
Frazetta Part 2
Frazetta Part 3
Frazetta Part 4
Frazetta Part 5
Frazetta Part 6

To see the most recent blog posts, click on the logo header at the top of the page (A Burning Designer)

2009-11-20T11:34:00.000-08:00

I was asked to create these little characters for Rational Acoustics, a company that makes software for acoustical analysis. For now, they're using the 7 Bad System Dwarves on t-shirts. Each dwarf represents one of those nasty tones that need to be flushed out of a sound system.

The 7 Bad System Dwarves are called Tubby, Muddy, Boxy, Honky, Barky, Edgy, and Sibilant. Getting rid of them usually involves a sound man incessantly repeating some inane phrase into a microphone like "checking, one two". He'll repeat this about five hundred times followed by even more annoying tooth clicks and kissing noises until everybody within ear shot is ready to beat him senseless with his own microphone. But I digress!

Hopefully, Rational Acoustics technology will help make this annoyance no longer necessary. Click on the image to check out the details in the dwarfs.

The Copper Spot

2009-11-04T10:05:00.000-08:00

This old 1000 watt Times Square follow spot was given to me about a year ago and it had been gathering dust and rust in a corner. Last week I was asked to do some scary lighting for a Halloween party and got the idea that maybe I could somehow insert a gobo of a witch or a ghost into this follow spot and then have it fly around the room as I move the light around.

Unfortunately, on closer inspection, this light was an accident waiting to happen. The wires were frayed and the socket was arcing. It was too dangerous to even turn on. So this past week I took it completely apart, cleaned it, replaced the socket and power cable. Unable to find a lubricant that is non-flammable, I used powdered graphite to lube the shutter, iris and sliding focal lens. Then I repainted it using high-temperature Rustoleum spray paint. The hardware store carried 3 chioices of high-temp paint; black white and this copper color. The original color was a dark grayish-brown so I thought the copper would really jazz it up. After all, it's an antique (probably from the early 60's?).

I think the copper color really emphasizes the retro look. I love it!

Setting up for an Aerosmith show

2009-10-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

A long-anticipated Aerosmith show on Maui began to take shape yesterday with the scaffolding and stage being erected in an open football stadium. Today is the day before the show. The lighting and sound systems were being put up and I took a few pictures of the local crews working on it. These are some of the people who work long hours behind-the-scenes to make shows like this happen in the Hawaiian islands.

Bonnie of Hawaii Stage & Lighting stands in front of her stage & lighting equipment.

Dado throws a shaka after coming down off the spot tower.

Vance shows off a bicep on the stage.

Trevor tries to outdo Vance's bicep and succeeds.

Jonny G surveys the line array before it gets hauled up.

Pete gets ready to ROCK!

Lastly, the Blimp of Bruce's head is inflated and sent aloft over the tent.

Water Found on the Moon!

2009-10-13T00:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, there IS water on the Moon.
That means I'm going ahead with my latest entrepreneurial venture... to bring back the finest, purest water from the polar regions of the Moon, then bottle it and sell it to the entire planet!

Moon RiversTM bottled water will taste like no other water on this Earth... pure, crisp and completely free of pollutants and bacterial contaminants... and with just a slight hint of fine, aged cheese. It contains minerals rich in calcium, iron and magnesium... the original Moonshine!

The low gravitational environment of the moon's polar regions has given this premium water a unique characteristic that will make it go down very, very slowly, filling the craters of your soul.
Stored in a frozen state for over 4 BILLION years, Moon Rivers lunar polar water will soon be Shuttled to your local dealer who will deliver it to your home or business each lunar month for your healthy enjoyment.

We hope to get the endorsements of the likes of Buzz Aldrin or Neil Armstrong to appear in commercials accompanied by background music playing the Andy Williams favorite, "Moon River".

Sing along with Neil:
"Moon Rivers, wider than a mile,
I'm drinking you in style some day."

Now YOU can get moonstruck by this exciting enterprise and become a part of it.
Caspian Sea Wells, LLC is currently seeking capital investors to help finance this new venture. Don't miss the opportunity to get in on the ground floor! Only a few have walked on the moon, be one of the first to wade into the ocean of opportunity in the southern pole basin where the tides of wealth await your investment. Shoot for the moon! Send your investment check to me personally and I'll send you a share ($100 dollars = 1 share).
BUT WAIT! That's Not All... for only a limited time, I'll also send you a nifty Moon Sponge©!
BUT WAIT! I'll send you a second Moon Sponge Free! Act Now!

Halloween Celebrities

2009-10-01T12:21:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of "The MAD ARTIST"

Al "Gory" Gore

ZOMBAMA!

Wolf "the Wolfman" Blitzer

HELLARY CLINTON

ANN GHOULTER

CONANSTEIN

Oprah, Queen of Snakes

SARAH IMPALIN'

Morning in Maui

2009-09-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

The view from my desk each morning is of the ocean in soft amber light. The sun has risen but Ma'alaea Bay is still in shadow. Between November and May the humpback whales are playing in the bay.

The Myna birds are singing and the tourists are leaving the harbor in boats heading out to Molokini to snorkel for the day.

Here's an aerial shot of Molokini island which is about 2 miles away from the harbor. This is actually an old volcanic crater. The island is a bird sanctuary and the water below is a marine sanctuary which has about 250 fish species.

As the sun rises over Haleakala (which translates to the "house of the sun") the atmosphere becomes yellowish and the ocean gets bluer. The colors of the sunsets are spectacular but the mornings are subtle.

I'm glad I get to see them both each day.

Real Class Acts

2009-09-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy couple o' weeks for me, working on shows for John Legend, a Hula competition and a dance show featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Anna Laguna, who are probably the most famous dancers in the world.

But one of the funnest shows I've ever had the pleasure of working on was Slava's Snow Show which occurred at the end of August.
I had worked with them many years ago and was blown away by the simplicity of the show that comes over so big. Piles of paper snow gets blown into the faces of the audience with the help of a plane prop. That scene is followed by huge balloons rolling out into the audience from the stage. Both of these scenes are visually stunning.

I watched from the back of the theater as the snowy walls of the set begin to move in response to the cold wind being heard. The blue stage lights flicker and Slava the Clown raps himself in a piece of the quilted wall. Then there's a sudden blackout , the music swells, your pupils dilate in the dark and then as the music reaches a crescendo a bank of intense white lights blind the audience and a mass of snow particles propelled by a rush of wind and billowing smoke explode like a bomb from the stage and slowly envelop the audience row by row. Really trippy effects that will make you say WOW!

The "Ball of Balls" follows with huge balloons being battered around by the audience members for at least a half hour until all they have enough and filter out of the theater. I had to personally take steps to make sure there were no sharp objects within the theater that might puncture the balls.

Slava Pulonin is the creator and performs as the main clown. The Russian tech crew worked in a completely different way than we were used to. Snow machines had to be hung over the stage and over the audience. These were no hi-tech gadgets. Basically, it was a motor hooked up to a 5-gallon water jug with holes cut in it. The jug turns and the snow falls through the holes.

All I can say is, THIS IS THEE SHOW you should go see if you ever get the chance. You can take this from someone who has seen thousands of shows. This is something completely unique.

Ghosts!

2009-09-20T01:19:00.000-07:00

Halloween is approaching and the ghosts are beginning to creep out from their dark corners.

Why is it they want to haunt the living, anyway?

Maybe they're in need of something... something they've lost and hope the living can return to them. Chances are they either seek atonement for wrongs they perpetrated in life, or restitution for wrongs committed against them.

I fear no ghosts. What they really are, are just old memories... regrets, missed opportunities... poor choices. They're shadows of inflicted pain, misery and fear... remorse for broken promises... remnants of a conscience that continues to struggle with past sins. They are human shame seeking forgiveness for betrayal.

And they pop up every now and then in the hope that the wounds they once inflicted have healed and those they've betrayed no longer hold them responsible. What they really need to do is to make amends within themselves.

Shoo, ghost!

Crap Fish

2009-08-31T22:21:00.000-07:00

What happens when a graphic designer gets served a bad meal? Do they summon the waitress over and complain about the dry, tasteless fish? NO! That'll cause embarrassment. It could also initiate something even worse. Something that nobody would know about except the scorned cook! Best to just take the crappy food away, pay the bill and never come back.

Hmmm... must think of a way to communicate displeasure with the food without actually having to whine to the server. A-HA! Redesign the presentation! The message will get passed on to the cook, but the angry reaction will be tempered by the creative re-use of this culinary catastrophe.

OK, now walk fast so the cook doesn't see you...

2009-08-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

Took this photo last year in Old Wailuku Town, Maui, on a quiet Sunday morning.
I spent many years painting signs when I was young and so I tend to notice hand-painted signs. I've also grown to appreciate that weathered look. This sign isn't a masterpiece by any measure, but I guess it was the setting that caught my eye. This section of Wailuku Town is just off the Main drag and has several pawn shops, cafes and antique shops. By the looks of the attached Coke sign, they both have probably been hanging there for over 50 years.

I used to go to a nearby coffee shop every morning, order a muffin and coffee, read the paper and sketch out ideas. Then the wise town officials tried to revitalize the neighborhood by widening the sidewalks and adding benches and trees along the road. That resulted in fewer parking spaces. Now there's rarely a place to park and I've stopped going there. What a shame. I miss some of the funky charm it had when the sidewalks were crumbling. Some of the patina is gone forever. It's as if someone were to replace the Bungalow and Coke signs with modern lookalikes. Sooner or later they'll be taken down, so I'm appreciating 'em now, by freezing them in time through photographs.

Angel Melody's Art

2009-07-30T00:28:00.000-07:00

I love to see drawings by kids. Occasionally, I get them in the mail. Kids will send me their own versions of the paintings they see in my children's books. Sometimes teachers send me drawings from the entire class who have been reading one of the books.
But I recently came across some drawings that I had scoffed up about 12 years ago and saved. They were done by a local 8 year old girl named Angel Melody and they were packaged as note cards for sale in a gift shop, and I was so enchanted with them that I bought 'em. I had also noticed some of Angel's drawings posted on the bulletin board at a local coffee shop in Lahaina. and I must confess I actually stole a couple off the board because they were so good. I had the feeling she would someday become an artist.

Such happy beings inhabit this little girl's world. The characters interact with each other. Her mermaids take a couple of girls into their underwater world while a well-placed fish tags along.

Angel's Halloween drawing was similar as the girls in costume party together while two of them toss candy and a heart to each other.

I scanned these drawings for this blog post and then I thought I'd google Angel to see if there was any news about her.

Now, I don't know her and I've never met her.
Sure enough, I found a newspaper article that shows a photo of her standing in front of a mural she did at her high school. That was a few years ago. Angel Melody Bode is now 20 years old and shows her paintings on Facebook. She also has illustrated her first children's book, Kalani's Wish.

Hey Angel, I hope you google your own name someday and find this post about you. I'm glad to see you're still painting and getting some attention for your talent. You've got a fan here so keep up the good work!

Revisiting the Reclining Nude Drawing

2009-07-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

Johnny H made a great comment on a previous blog post of mine about a reclining nude drawing where he suggested, "...make a version with her in curious situations – on the floor of a grocery store, on the back of an alligator. Or as a "miniature" on a pencil or something."
Knowing John personally, this guy is a creative genius. So I'm running with it.

Now, I couldn't drum up a decent alligator photo, so I did the next best thing... I threw her into a walrus pod. I think she seems very relaxed and fits in nicely, don't you?

But John suggested something else to me... that I could think of her as a 3-dimensional object... like a sculpture.

So maybe she could be made into a nudey guitar...? (easy on those high notes, there, Izzie...)

...or how 'bout some unique bathroom towel hooks...?

Well, I'll never look at her the same now...
Thanks, John. You've commercialized my nudey...
damn creative directors... Hmmmph!

I love to cook musicians

2009-07-11T12:46:00.000-07:00

Mick Fleetwood's band baking in my lights

New images have been added to my website portfolio under the heading of "Stage Lighting". Over 50 photos from live performances display a variety of lighting techniques along with some explanations of how I created the looks.
I've lit just about every type of show... rock bands, symphonies, plays, musicals, ballet, worship... everything from whirling dervishes to Chinese circuses. At an average of about 3.5 shows per week for the last 3.5 decades, that's well over 6000 gigs. I reckon I have more show experience than most of the performers I light. But it's all about them, not me. The purpose is to express and enhance what is occurring on stage.

Unless the show is being taped, it's only for the moment. These are snapshots of some of those moments.
See them listed under "Stage Lighting" in the portfolio section.

Thanks for the plug Eddie

2009-06-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam, was performing a solo concert on Maui last night when he took a moment between songs to personally thank me for giving him a couple of books for his children.

Earlier in the day I was working with Eddie's lightman, Dan McDonough, and during lunch we began talking about some of my paintings which are currently decorating the green room and dressing rooms backstage at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. He seemed impressed with the artwork and I explained that some of the paintings are published in children's books. Learning that Dan has two children, I later gave him two books. Thumbing through the books he mentioned that he thought Eddie would really appreciate the artwork as well. I asked if he had kids and it turns out he has two, one being 5 years old, which is a perfect age for the Ocean book. So I signed a copy of Hello Ocean and a copy of The Desert Alphabet Book and Dan took them backstage to Eddie's dressing room.

During the concert Eddie was seated on a stool centered on a round Persian rug with a small table that held an old 1970's type reel to reel tape deck. Surrounding him was an array of vintage amps and stringed instruments. I was watching from the lighting booth when he ended a song to a rousing applause and then proceeded to pick up "Hello Ocean" from the table and held it up to show the audience. He explained that he was given some books for his children by the theater's lighting designer and began to praise the illustrations. He then mentioned my name, thanked me and told the crowd that they should be proud of "one of their own". It was very gracious of him and I certainly appreciate that he would take the time to say those things right in the middle of his show. He then continued putting on a great show playing a variety of instruments and wowing the crowd.

My thanks to Dan and to Eddie. I hope their kids really enjoy the books. I can imagine parents like them reading these books to their children and talking about the illustrations. They probably point things out to each other, talk about the skies, trees and colors or ask questions about the animals and the feelings they get from the scenes. Those are treasured moments for parent and child and it feels good to know that I may have played a small role in that.

Earth Day

2009-04-22T22:41:00.000-07:00

This image shows a brand new steamin' Earth emerging fresh from the mold. We've become more aware of how easy it is for us to screw it all up, so I thought this would be a good image to revive.

Originally painted in acrylics, I scanned it and reworked it digitally using my Wacom Cintiq. Wacom is known for making "Intuos" tablets that allow digital artists and designers to use a digital pen instead of a mouse. This makes painting a more realistic experience on the computer. For years I had used a large Intuos tablet but the drawback was that you move the pen around the tablet area while you're watching the cursor move around the monitor. It's an awkward hand-to-eye experience to anyone who has spent a lot of time drawing with pencil and paper. But their latest Cintiq technology allows you to use the pen right on the computer monitor. For the serious digital artist, this is a must. The hand/eye coordination is more true and very sensitive.

I've sold several prints of this image which I reproduce on Ultra Premium Photo paper by Epson. The dark black and blue areas of this image needed to be deep and rich and this paper really gave me what I was looking for (after several failed attempts on other papers).
Available on my website at MarkAstrella.com

Celebrity look-alikes

2009-04-10T01:07:00.001-07:00

Ever look at a person's face and think to yourself, "He's got a face like a weasel!", or "She looks like a frightened deer in the headlights"...?
No?
Well, I do.

The great thing about Google is that with a few clicks, one photo of a face can be coupled with a critter for a comparative giggle that can be emailed to friends. The following images were shamelessly ripped off for satirical use only.
For example,

Based purely on looks and demeanor, I'd say there's some odd resemblance, but any other comparisons to personality are not intended.

How about these others...?

Andy & Sandy

2009-04-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

This pair of Palmate Geckos are from the deserts of Namibia and have the strangest coloring. Their skin is somewhat translucent and one of them is shown wiping grains of sand from its eye with its transparent tongue.

To paint the sand I masked off the geckos and airbrushed the background with layers of yellow and brown. While I wanted to show the detail of the sand grains I wasn't about to paint each one by hand. So one method was to lower the pressure of the airbrush tank until it caused the paint to spit from the airbrush. It worked but the drops were still too small, so I grabbed a toothbrush, dipped the edge in paint and began flicking the bristles using my thumb.
This image was published in The Desert Alphabet Book and also shows a desert snake hidden in the sand that usually hunts these geckos. The original painting is available on my website and there are limited edition prints available by contacting me.

Cartoon -Biketoons

2009-04-03T13:36:00.000-07:00

Stony's Pizza is a mobile pizza business owned by a long-time friend of mine, Steve Cohn, with his son Tony. These two guys make the BEST pizza in Austin, TX. Steve had me do a cartoon of himself riding his home-made motorcycle while delivering pizza which he uses on t-shirts and promotional material.
You can check out Stony's Pizza here. Steve just loves that I made him look like a PSYCHO HILLBILLY.

And speaking of "billy", Steve recommended me to a friend of his who wanted a caricature of a well-known chopper builder to put on t-shirts. He wanted me to put this tough biker on a one of those Big Wheels for laughs. This is fun stuff to do, so I agreed and came up with this...
Actually, the tricycle says "Big Whine" on the side.

Recognize him? The guy made up a batch of t-shirts as a joke to wear at a chopper show where the famous biker was appearing. I think he gave a few to his friends but became squeamish to carry out his original idea to sell these shirts at the show. Maybe he wasn't really sure how the guy would react. (Was the puddle of pee-pee going too far?)

Satire sometimes has consequences so you gotta be careful. Hopefully, this Billy has a great sense of humor!

Amazing Cologne Cathedral

2009-03-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Germany has an incredibly beautiful cathedral in the city of Cologne. The Koln Cathedral's classic gothic architecture is a symbol of human devotion. The stone blocks have darkened over the years making it look even more ominous. Six centuries of artisan handiwork went into this huge building. And it IS massive, as these aerial photos will show.

Stepping out from the train station, its presence will smack you in the face and you wonder if you're at Hogwarts Castle. I managed to get a shot of myself on the steps of the plaza with the amazing spires and facade details (including gargoyles) in the background.

But the interior was even more incredible. I moved among throngs of tourists to view the religious carvings, alters, floor tile designs, and stained glass windows. This place is a photographer's dream. I generally suck at it, but taking hundreds of shots means I'm likely to get at least a few keepers. The arches and columns were symmetrically elegant and the windows, just glorious.
-

After hours of gawking and snapping away, it suddenly happened... For a few brief moments, the sun found its way through the clouds and this huge room became even more surreal as the rich colors poured themselves off of the stained glass windows and spilled onto the columns and concrete walls. It was SO cool.

The central alter made me think of what a great stage, with built-in drum riser, it would make.

There are nooks and crannies that hold dramatic carvings and ancient treasures.
-

Then I climbed the south tower... a spiral staircase of large stone blocks as steps. The stones were worn down an inch or two in the center of each step from centuries of monks and visitors going up and down. I paused at the bell tower, caught my breath and continued up the 500 stairs until my legs were weak and wobbly.

When I reached the spire, I looked up and the sunlight just streamed in through the open designs in the roof.

What an amazing experience.
I hope I get to go back someday, and if I have a heart attack from climbing those steps... ah well, it's not the worst place to die.

Life Drawing

2009-03-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

One of the most valuable exercises for an artist to tackle is the human figure. When I was fresh out of school in the late 1970's, I took several life drawing classes at the School of the Worcester Art Museum. I was struggling and couldn't afford the course fees, but fortunately for me, they had a wonderful scholarship fund. Year after year I signed up and was repeatedly given the opportunity to attend these courses for free. I took illustration, painting, sculpture and life drawing classes. It remains a great museum school with great courses and great teachers.

Below is one of the drawings I did from a live model. I sketched it in about 20 minutes with a large black crayon.

I just love the way her legs and feet get bigger as they get closer. The lines are simple and clean with a minimal amount of shading. It's one of those drawings that I couldn't bear to toss out (or should I say, "bare"?)

The human figure is an amazing thing to draw and the most gratifying part of it is being able to give her life... she's not just a drawn object, but alive. I look for that in other artist's work and strive for it in my own. It's something more than accurate proportions. It's many things; flowing lines, composition, form, weight, the pose, the attitude, the technical aptitude...

I've been keeping this drawing in a portfolio book for decades. Over the years, the paper has slowly developed this wonderful sepia-toned patina which, to me, has increased its beauty. I've scanned it and touched up a few tears and marks but it remains fairly just the way I sketched it all those years ago.
...And that girl never grows old.

Three Moonbeams

2009-03-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I keep painting this. i suppose it's because I want to get it right. This is the third time! The first was in the late 1970's. I was about 20 and wanted to try painting a moon scene using oil paints where the moon silhouetted a craggy mountain with a hole in it and a beam of light coming through the hole was casting a long shadow. It was very blue and dark and foggy. It did not include water or palm trees, just a lot of fog.
It hung for years in my studio. I was never really happy with the fog but the mood was very intriguing to me. I just love what moonlight does to the landscape. It was entirely Ultramarine blue paint and I either added black or white to it.

Over the years, I moved a few times and the painting got banged around. Eventually, I put it in storage (which damaged it further) and having moved to Maui, I noticed that I was missing it. I decided to paint it again only this time in acrylics since I had become more proficient with the airbrush, and living on the west side of Maui right on the water, I had a wonderful reference to paint from. So I added the ocean and the palm trees.
The result was a 24" x 36" painting that I immediately had professionally framed and hung up in my bedroom.

Five years went by and I moved to central Maui. That's when I noticed a smudge on the painting which I hadn't noticed before. Looking closer, it became obvious that it was a splotch of mold. On ALL my acrylic paintings, when they were finished I sprayed them with a protective clear coating. I forgot to do that with this one. I hung it up at the new place and figured I'd pull it out of the frame someday and try to wipe off the mold. As the years went by it got worse, but I really didn't notice because it hung in a darkened hallway. But mold LOVES the tropics.

A few months ago I was preparing for a show and trying to put together some new digital work. That's when I took a good look at a surface covered with mold. I mean it had its own ecosystem in the frame. I think I saw buffalo roaming the grassy plains in there. It was so bad that I took it out of the frame, scanned it in sections and tossed it in the trash.

Working in Photoshop, I had to piece the sections together and began repainting over every square inch, every pixel. Amazingly, it slowly came back to life within a couple of months. I tried to make a print of it on watercolor paper and was disappointed. Watercolor paper absorbs ink and the blues and blacks were just dull and flat. Then I tried printing it on photo paper and was pleasantly surprised. The blues were rich and the blacks were deep. It's the best version yet, and hopefully, the last.
Prints of "Moonbeam" are available on my website on glossy photo paper, limited to an edition of only 100.

Evolution of a Book Cover

2009-03-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

When I was first asked to illustrate the children's book "Hello Ocean", it had a different name. The author, Pam Munoz Ryan, had written a poem about a little girl experiencing the ocean through her five senses of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste and she had called the manuscript, "The Five of Me".

The publisher may have thought it was too vague and other possible titles were being tossed around. I was doing pencil sketches to illustrate the poem and this was the first sketch I did for the cover showing the little girl holding a starfish. I thought the starfish could be somewhat symbolic of the five senses.

I sketched a second one that looks over the girl's shoulder as she reaches for the starfish. At least this one showed a bit of the ocean. There are also five fingers, five toes, five shells and five seaweed leaves!

Coincidently, I sent them five sketches to choose from. I had the third sketch focus more on the ocean and I was getting ready to paint a nice beaming morning sky.

For a fourth sketch, I thought I'd give them my own suggestion for a title. In the five sections of the book, the little girl says that she loves how the ocean looks, she loves how the ocean sounds, she loves how the ocean feels, she loves how the ocean smells, and she loves how the ocean tastes. So I thought it might be beneficial to have a more emotional title like "I Love the Ocean!".

At the last minute, the editor at the publishing company said they had thought "Hello Ocean" would be a good title, which is the first two words the girl says when she arrives at the beach. This last sketch turned out to be the one they chose.

Also, sketch number two was a close runner-up and turned out to be the Title page which is the first page inside the book.

Using a frisket to paint

2009-03-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

"Cold and Lonely" is the title for this piece. The background sky, snow, and water reflections were painted using an airbrush.

It can be tricky to use an airbrush because when you spray one area, it requires that other areas around it be masked off. In this case, I completely covered the smooth bristol paper with a frisket. A frisket is a clear plastic film that has a light adhesive on one side. Covering the entire sketch, I then used an Exacto knife to gently cut through the frisket film without cutting the paper beneath. First, I used a metal ruler to cut along the four sides of the entire painting. Then I cut along the mountain ridge following my pencil lines. I peeled up only the sky area and sprayed it blue. The frisket masking still covered the mountains and everywhere else.

Once the sky was colored, I replaced the piece of masking I had pulled up from the sky area. Next, the masking covering the mountains was peeled up and sprayed. Replacing the sky-masking kept over-spray from going into the sky. Laying in blocks of color like this throughout the painting is a tedious process. After each section is sprayed with color, all the masking is removed and the fun of adding the details with brushes begins.

Spraying just the right amount of paint is the tricky part of airbrushing. Spraying acrylic paint through the tiny nozzle of the airbrush requires that it be thinned down. Spraying it on too heavy could cause it to seep under the edge of the masking. You don't notice this until all the masking has been peeled up and you suddenly find an ugly blotch of dried paint. In time, I learned to paint in several thin coats letting each one thoroughly dry.

This painting was published in "The Butterfly Counting Book". What does it have to do with butterflies? Absolutely nothing! The author, Jerry Pallotta, thought it would be fun to start this counting book with the number Zero. There are zero butterflies in Antarctica -the only continent where there are NO butterflies.

I decided to title it "Cold and Lonely" because the Emperor Penguin seems like he's all by himself in this cold environment. With the global warming awareness, it could also seem like he's watching his world melt away. What do you think?

The original painting is for sale on my website.
A limited edition of 100 prints are also available.

Light is the Root of All Beauty

2009-03-16T01:33:00.000-07:00

Every morning when I get up, I go to the window to see what the sun is doing to the sky and to the ocean. When I leave the house I can't help but notice the moving shadows on the sidewalk from palm trees dancing in the wind. I'll pull over on the highway to photograph the mountain if the clouds happen to be doing something interesting. I try to catch every sunset and every moon, because every time I see these things, it's like seeing them for the first time.

I've been drawing and painting since I was a kid. And lighting everything from heavy metal rock bands to ballets. Lighting a stage and painting a canvas are very similar activities in that they both deal with color, contrast, symmetry, timing and execution. Sometimes it's all about impact and other times call for subtlety.

I'm using this opportunity to blog about the craftsmanship of my painting for anyone who might find it interesting to read about the process, the inspiration, or the purpose behind the paintings, Linked to my art portfolio website, you may find a piece that you like and maybe you'll read a little more about how and why that piece came about. There's a place to comment if you like.