MSR Suicide Party. www.suicidepartycomics.tumblr.com

A page from Dazzler #1.  This lady knows how to take care of criminal's bullshit.

Sketchbook work

The sketchbook is my first stop after I gather all my reference material. I like to take screenshots from DVDS and Instant Netflix. Adam West's Batman was always my favorite interpretation of the character. Here's Bruce Wayne and Joker, stripped down to lines and shadows (and smart lapels).

 

It's handy, with reference material, to make collage sketches. The guy in the front is a zombie from "Night of the Living Dead," and the girl on the building in the background is from a magazine. The cinematic posing is already there, which makes it easier for me to play around with my own quick sketch compositions.

J.B. Fletcher, from Murder, She Wrote, is my muse. Here she is solving a murder, sipping a Long Island iced tea. I draw her a lot.

The Sartorialist and similar fashion-on-the-streets sites are great reference sources for just drawing real-life characters with interesting, often layered and textural, wardrobes.

I come from a family of laborers.

This is the last painting I did at a two-day watercolor workshop this weekend taught by local artist, Don Gray.
Up until this weekend, I had never worked with watercolor very much, my preferred media being acrylic and ink. Don did a 10- to 20-minute demonstration to help us view the possibility of painting work as less sacred, and more of ... a bold exploration.
A photo of my Grandpa Art Kruse, sitting at the kitchen table after work, was the right source material to apply Don's lesson.

 

Eden found these rusted hardware pieces years ago along the train tracks. We always wondered what it was for.

I've never been much of a workshop-taking guy (Eden signed us up), but this one was worth it. I'm so slow and indulge in taking my sweet time when I paint with acrylics. With watercolor, you have to sit and work, but the work can be done and should get done quickly. 

It was a valuable experience being able to talk with and get advice and encouragement from a working, established artist, Don Gray.

Self-portrait with red forehead

I have a Superman read-along book from the late '70s that I, for some reason, felt needed improvement back when I was 6. When Clark Kent became Superman and started fighting Lex Luthor, I colored both guys' foreheads with red marker. My additions didn't stop until after Clark was back in the newsroom where Lois got the treatment too.

I think I remember that I meant that they were mad or meant business.

Venkman #2

Mapping

After I come up with an idea for a painting, I set out on the task of finding reference material. For "Best Friends," I walked around town and took pictures of simple-looking houses and buildings. I was also interested in spaces between and beyond these buildings. Usually by this time, I have an idea of the scale I want to work with.

For this painting, I imagined two figures that I wanted modeled after me and an old friend of mine. I described to him the pose I wanted him to take and he had someone snap a picture of him. I acted out the pose I imagined for the painting and Eden took a set of images. 

Next, I process these elements to make a mock-up I call a map. I simplify the objects that populate the painting and then arrange them, keeping in mind the dimensions of my canvas. I rearrange until I like it

Next, I do color blocking. 

Perfect weekend

I drew Peter Falk as Columbo in my new Moleskine watercolor notebook from Eden. The 5-inch by 8 1/4-inch pages are perfect for these little portraits I like to do. I get screenshots off DVDs I play in my laptop or use Instant Netflix, again on the computer. Sometimes I just hit pause on the tv, but while I was drawing, I let a long cut scene play in Metal Gear 4. I've played the game a few times, so I wasn't missing anything. I just wanted to get to the Shadow Moses act.

I used my Copic multiliner SP pen. It's waterproof, doesn't bleed and is really smooth. I can become attached to it too because the ink is refillable and the nibs are replaceable. It feels really good in the hand.

I've also been playing with my NES portable system (FC Mobile II) I got as a gift from Eden for Christmas. I'm loving revisiting all my old games and realize how much harder the old games are, but how good the music is.

J.B. Fletcher

Back to work

At the end of November, I submitted this painting to the West Coast Biennial Juried Art Exhibition at Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, Calif. Eden and I named it "Best Friends."

Jurors are now choosing 40 to 50 pieces for the exhibit from artists in California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. That means competition will be stiff, but it is the first year Turtle Bay is organizing this particular contest so less people know about it and I think my work is strong. Even if my painting isn't chosen, it's good experience to make submissions — to decide that strangers, rather than just my girlfriend, should judge my work.

One great technical aspect of this contest is that the organizers are notifying artists whether their work has been chosen or not by the end of December. I won't have to sit around wondering for months and months.

I could have submitted up to three pieces, but I decided to make new work for this contest and just focus on it.

I hope to post more soon about my process, which after about five years painting, is finally feeling productive, and at the same time, comfortable.

Vigo the Carpathian

Vigo in Marker

I spent my Friday off experimenting with my new markers, trying to recreate the Vigo the Carpathian painting from Ghostbusters 2.

Ted "Theodore" Logan

Anakin Skywalker

Wilhuff Tarkin

Rufus

Darth Maul

Khan

Kikaida