Circus

A bit of mash up practice before starting with the next task for school ...

 


Using paper we painted in different colours, we had to create a mash up illustration either for the theme 'circus' or 'carnival'. After doing some try-out concept sketches I decided to go for a circus illustration.

I had a lot of work to do during the last to weeks (which is not online yet.), thus I put the picture together on two evenings just before the deadline. First, I thought this would be somewhat impossible, imagining myself trying to go into detail, creating difficult lighting situations, etc. 

While working on the picture, I just didn't do it, though. It didn't seem necessary anymore, considering the structures and patterns already provided by the papers I worked with.

Thus, everything went rather smoothly and I can present a new, finished illustration. :D

The reaction of my mother was: 'Oh, you drew another happy picture ...'

I guess I just can't help it XD

I Like Pretending

I'm an IAMX fan. In case you haven't noticed yet.
Still, I really didn't do any direct fanart because the music does not inspire me to do pictures. It inspires me to live, really, find a purpose in live, take interest in politics, in art. IAMX helped me through some really dark time of my teenage life during which I so much wanted my brain to just shut up for once and not have to think anymore. Enlightenment to hell, thinking sucks!
So, I found IAMX and the music and somehow the philosophy (IAMX is for me not only about the music.  It's bigger than that.) challenged me to take on this fucked up world differently.
Basically IAMX challenged me to think.
Thus, heavy influence on my life, but no IAMX dictated art. Some scribbles here and there, drawings of Chris for practice in my sketchbook, that's all.

Yet, last summer the IAMXart page on Facebook announced a fanart competition and since I somewhat fancy msyelf an artist and a fan, taking part seemed a sure thing.
The competition was at first somewhat Halloween related with 'I like pretending' as theme and the 31st October as deadline. So I really did not know what to do for a picture. Drawing Chris or Janine or whoever IAMX related in a costume seemed somewhat cheap to me.
'I like pretending' in a really personal context seemed to personal (No, really ...?) and not enough IAMX related and the song itself is not easy to illustrate because it's all about interpretation and I don't like to get things wrong. I don't like to be wrong.
Now the deadline changed and was based on the IAMX likes on Facebook.
IAMX drawing closer to the 100000  likes everyday and me having holidays pushed me to finally sketch a concept down. I based it on the song, trying to stay close to the lyrics.

Before I go into interpreting and explaing why I painted what and why (I don't do that often. I usually paint things because I like them or they look good.), I better show the picture.

Alright, explanation time ...
As nearly all songs from the Kiss&Swallow album I like pretending is one way or the other sex related.
There's this silver skinned person reminding the narrator why to stay alive, while he suffers of this ever constant death wish. In short.
'Silver skin' seems important, so I knew I had to draw naked skin in one way or the other. But taking the overall feel of the song, the album, album artwork in consideration it couldn't be some beautiful model or princess type girl. I wanted some wasted looking girl, more heroin-chick or broken Barbie doll. In some way still seductive, but just a broken as the narrator. More like finding some hidden beauty in this overall fucked up world with all the 'insanity, bleeding hearts and tragedies' in the smoke of her cigarette (which I fucked up more than a bit.), being present even in their bedroom, motel whatever.
Yeah ... and then there's the deathwish part. I tried to get a dark atmosphere, using the album artwork colours, but that didn't seem enough. Just as the 'I like pretending' bit. My goat, that's the competition theme! So I put this face hidden in the sheets. On second thoughts it's also similar to the album artwork.  Not intended but alright.
Right. And there's the symbolic mask at her feet, which is really rather cheap. Um, yeah. Cheap is cheap is cheap. Just as the puppet strings are, although I like them far better.
I think it's prabably this finding something good somewhere in the mess and pretending to be free and everything being alright while everything that's dark and cruel is still there. Some kind of escape. Dunno.
I'm not really satisfied with the outcome of the picture. It could have been a lot better, I think. I mean, it's not bad, but something about the facial expressions is not the way I wanted them to be and as I sad, the mask is really cheap. And the cigarette; it's more like a sixth finger >.>

Well, nevermind.
Have a nice day and a quiet mind.
Don't fall into Winter depression or something. ;)

The Glass Violin

Die ersten 14 Seiten+Vorzeichnungen der 15.&16. Seite sind in 24 Stunden entstanden.

Seite 15 und 16 in einer 25. Stunde.

Das Cover habe ich als 'Übergangscover' abgespeichert, aber irgendwie glaube ich nicht, dass da mal ein anderes kommen wird :D

Ist auf Englisch, weil mir so das skripten leichter fällt.

Ich hab haufenweise Patrick Wolf Fotos als Referenzen für geigende Menschen benutzt.

Vor beginn der 24 Stunden habe ich ein paar Übungen gemacht, weil ich zwar noch keine klare Story hatte, aber schon wusste, dass ich super viele Bilder mit Violine+Benutzer zeichnen müssen würde.

Und dier 24 Stunden Countdown startet. Ich habe weder Skript noch Storyboard. Bei Kurzgeschichten entwickel ich oft beides gleichzeitig, aber das hat in dem Fall nicht wirklich geklappt, weil ich mir noch nicht sicher war, wie ich anfange, etc.

Also erstmal ein grobes Skript.

[Und ich gehe nicht ernsthaft davon aus, dass wer Interesse hat, mein handschriftliches Gekritzel zu klauen, aber ich mag halt mein Wasserzeichen :D]

Das war zumindest schon mal 'ne Grundlage für mein Storyboard. Wer das tatsächlich lesen kann und liest, kann erkennen, dass ich die Geschichte im Prozess noch umgeworfen habe, weil mir andere Ideen dann doch besser erschienen.

Danach habe ich dann auch gleich mit der 'Reinzeichnung' begonnen, obwohl das teilweise auch noch recht skizzenhaft war. Da ich im Grunde keine Hintergründe hatte [Da ich durchaus das Ziel hatte, den Comic fertig zu kriegen, habe ich von vorneherein auf die Umsetzbarkeit geachtet. Okay. Und ich bin grunsätzlich ein Hintergrundsmuffel.], ging das dann sogar verhältnismäßig schnell [Von 14 Uhr bis 1 Uhr morgens oder so ...].

Eine Portion Motivation um 00.30 Uhr ... Da ich während der Schul/Unizeit meist sehr früh aufstehen muss, bin ich Nachtarbeit nicht gewohnt.

Mehr habe ich von den Vorzeichnungen auch nicht. Die Zeit sitzt einem im Nacken und so ...

Also wären hier dann auch schon die fertigen Seiten ...

Okay, fertig.  Jetzt verbreite ich das mal noch in meinen Alternativwohnungen.

Train home

Listening to these children made me want to throw up.

4Days

I fell and scratched my knee. Didn't do that in years. 

Catcontent

Relaxing, simple watercolours. After all the comic pages I did, this was a very much needed treat.

little red glowing lights.

Doh, for cigarettes, yay for glowing lights. Why do pretty things tend to be disgustingly disgusting?
My Photoshop skills seem to be quite rusty ...
Unfortunately I don't have the time to do some decent practices ...

Random

X
Censorship got me.

Sad Reflections

Lots of stuff I'd like to write. Unfortunately it would be quite stupid to actually post it. Hate this situation so much.
I just wanted to say ... I need ...
Ah. Never mind.

Here's a first piece for an arts project for my arts advanced course at school.

"The man in the moon tells her the story of the world."

Gotta get myself some glass of milk now.

Alter Skizzenblock Seite 43-48

Left page: Lyrics from Gavin Friday's Man of Misfortune
a) Sketching a songbased concept for a picture.

b)I was obsessed by trying to catch some special way of looking up/smiling I had in my mind. I even made a video trying to get the facial expression right. Didn't really work though. Best try is still the boygirl in the centre of the page.

Right page:
Sketched some pages from Hiroki Endo's EDEN. Love his style.

Rather boring sketches.

Left page:

a) Rather early character sketches for Yvette, Val and Sky from Zeit ist Geld.
I don't really think neither Val nor Yvette changed very much, though.

b) Sketched the concept for a picture that came to my mind walking home alone some Winter evening. I was unsure whether my friend wanted me with them or not. It was stupid anyway [They scolded me afterwards. Where would I be without them?]. But I tend to do stupid things and believe stupid things from time to time. And as far as I can remember I wasn't very well at that time, anyway.

Right page: Lyrics from The Fray's Little House.
It's about keeping things for yourself and never telling people. Hating yourself for keeping quiet.
Yeah, seems I really didn't have a very nice time. [Strange writing about stuff that happend now quite some time ago [Autumn/Winter 2010]. Shows how old those sketches actually are. I really should get through this sketchbook so I can start with my new one as long as that one still up to date.]

And how many concepts did I have that I never worked on properly?

Pink

As it happens I found some time to share whatever there was on my USB-Stick.
Thus, here's a birthday present for a dear friend of mine. Alright. It is part of a birthday present, since I failed big time and had to hide the uncomely parts of the image by plastering it over with some close up.
Ah, so much to learn.
Characters are Shiki and Akira from Togainu no Chi, probably artistically mutilated beyond recognition.
Nevermind, tried some more experimental computer colouring this time.
And is it just me, or is pink a rather dirty colour?
I mean, when I was younger I associated it with dolls and being girlish and whatever; now it's nightlife, porn, prostitution and drug abuse [and maths. Different story, though.]. Funny how things can change.

Doing some more propaganda stuff for church. This time I was asked very kindly that is. And not by church anyway, but by my lovely fellow students. So, no problem.

Winter

Looks like autumn, is winter.
Have a new camera, takes pretty pictures.
New drawings by the time my computer [I have an own one by now] has internet. I can only use it for working at the moment. Thus I have to transfer all the stuff from one PC to the other to upload it. It's totally annoying, but here are some photos to shorten the waiting time [she says and no one listens].

/Over and out.