The Human Canvas - If I had a Songhammer...

 

...I'd Songhammer in the morning.

 

 

I'd Songhammer in the evening.

All over this la-and.

 

Okay.

Enough of that.

I just got done watching 

a really cool documentary on the 

Greenwich Village folk music scene.

Maybe that explains that.

 

 

I was at
The Vault Martini Bar in Redlands,
participating in Artists in Action.
Tables get covered with paper...

Patrons drink n' doodle...

There's some live painting
and drawing with other artists...

All connected to,
and put on by Rob Mardis and NerdPop.
Find out more about that with a click HERE.
This was my second time at one of these events,
and a couple of the guys from Songhammer said
they'd come by and get inked.
WAY cool!

Songhammer is a
TOTALLY rockin' band
which draws inspiration from,
and pays homage to, World of Warcraft.
An EPIC website with a click HERE, and
a link to a video of their BlizzCon winning song,
We Are the Horde with a click HERE.

 I had just
finished inking Shredhammer.
That's him in the opening shots. Croonhammer
was next with much the same design, but each hammer
was at least a BIT distinct from the other.

Still though,
we really only need a step by step
on one of 'em. Stacking those little brown ovals,
heavier and darker on each edge, until it starts
to resemble a leather-wrapped handle.

Then it's a matter of
laying in the head of the hammer.

A couple of tones to play with,
and a bit of freedom as to the final look.

 

Some accenting...

 

 

 

Add some flames...

 

 

Step back and look.

Done?

 

 

Nope.

Go back in with more

of that wonderful yellow-red blend.

 

 

 

After a touch more black,

this next bit of red was simply to give

the brown a hue that wasn't just...

well, brown.

 

One final accent, then it's time to play.

 

 

 

And now both of 'em.

 

It was an EPIC night.

 

ANYTIME you're around Songhammer...

 

 

It's GONNA be epic.

 

 

Thanks guys!

 

 

 

The Human Canvas - Unchain My Heart

Or actually...

Unchain Karen's heart.

This is similar, 

in a way, to a piece I did some time back. 

One of the earliest pieces actually. That one 

was called The Human Canvas - The Bra Strap, 

and you can link to that session with a click HERE. 

That was fairly basic. Lydia took down 

her bra strap, then I drew 

it back in.

Pretty much the same idea now with Karen, 

though now with a couple metallic 

Sharpies at my disposal.

So...

Unchain that heart...

Draw it back in...

And RE-chain that heart - 

With a BUNCH of TINY circles and arcs.

Step back for a quick shot...

Then back in 

to SUGGEST what's written on the heart...

And add a bit of shading - 

Heavier on one side to give it just a bit of shadow. 

A touch of 3-d.

More so when turned a bit to the side...

And quite realistic when zoomed out.

Even held up for inspection in the mirror...

BUT...

I REALLY need to clean 

that mirror before anymore shots like this. 

Anyway...

Thanks again Karaen. 

Looking forward to the next one(s).

Check back, folks. 

Some COOL stuff on the way!

The Human Canvas - My Heart's in Pieces

Six pieces.

And it was Yesi's heart.

Or Albert's. More on this in a bit.

I was drawing

pieces at a fall festival, put on by

the water conservancy of Riverside County. 

I put a lot of thought into having plenty to

choose from, yet still go with the theme of

the day. I had all sorts of fall related

themes ready to go. I had all

things water-related. 

 

Until this one girl asked for a pink trumpet. 

Then another - wanting something to go with her

Dia de los Muertos outfit and face-paint. 

And another... 

 

Simply a heart.

 

Now, more recently,

I was at a festival put on by

Autism Society Inland Empire.

I was there to draw puzzle pieces,

but after having done some 25 or so

puzzle pieces back at KVCR, I was looking

at ways for a BIT of variety. Many of the people

attending the festival were wearing some

sort of autism-related shirt.

 

A few of these involved

a heart and puzzle piece combo.

 

 

There were a few variations of the shirt,

so there were a couple variations

on this... variation.

 

 

Now meet Karen.

She was amongst the first

at KVCR to get Sharpied with a puzzle

piece this year, and she wanted something special. 

 

So I gave her this flaming puzzle piece,

inspired by one I'd done at yet

another autism festival.

 

It was only AFTER I was done

that I found out she loves hearts, and

when I did these heart pieces at the festival,

I  felt like I was doing images that

shoulda/coulda gone on her.

 

So again,

next time I had her under the pen, I needed

to try something special.

 

This raven-like bird was

using I method I had wanted to

experiment with, and actually went pretty quick.

Much quicker than anticipated. Only thing

missing - to add a heart. And inside the

heart - a small puzzle piece missing.

 

Karen liked it,

and I enjoyed playing with shots in the mirror.

 

 

Okay, now back to Albert.

He wanted to include Yesi, a

 former co-worker.

 

 

He emphatically told her he'd

get one for her, and asked what she wanted. 

 

 

She said she wanted

a heart made up of puzzle pieces.

Albert made sure she knew he'd have her

name written on it.

 

 

 

Ya know, I REALLY like how this one turned out.

Not only for the variety on the puzzle piece,

but for the vivid colors and blending.

 

 

Albert liked it too,

but got in trouble with a lady

who DID-NOT-APPRECIATE him

having another woman's name put on his arm.

 

 

I thought the intentions were good anyway,

and I don't think he really lost anything

on that exchange.

One more heart in the works.

That'll be the next post. Please check back.