Mission Accomplished

I've really been getting onto Adobe Photoshop quite a bit these past few weeks. My official Photoshop training starts this week, but I love to experiment to see what tools do what. Let me tell you about the artwork below, which will appear for the month of April at Park Station. This is my first experiment with Photoshop CS5...

The Goal: Use a disposable photo and a pencil sketch to create a fresh "pseudo-real" artwork.

The Photo: This image was taken during a fall festival at Heritage Village. The old train station was one of the few buildings not being used for reenactments and the abandoned structure urged me to capture it's image. With little action, the old platform was not a gallery-worthy shot but has been a great reference for wood grain and trees.

The Sketch: Originally a pencil sketch of a young painter with windswept hair, the sketch became the foundation of a self-contained figure who meshed nicely with the perspective of the old train station.

Step one - The original pencil sketch was scanned into my PC and loaded in Photoshop. A transparent over-layer was applied and used to draw the outlines with the pen tool.

Step two - Editing. removing the original, edits were made to the outline. The flowing hair didn't look realistic and was replaced by a shorter sporty cut. The curvature of the legs and arms was re-done to give a more appealing image.

Step three - Base colors were added and then given highlights and low-lights with the airbrush tool. Multiple texture filters were added to the clothing to create a denim texture and ripples.

Step four - Using the train station photo as a guide a "high pass" layer was created and used to generate an outline of the scene. Then a slightly brighter color scheme was used along with the watercolor filter to generate a new background.

Step five - A small sketch of an easel was found and used with another photograph with good wood-grains to generate an easel for our painter. The same watercolor filter was applied to mesh it with the background. Fan brushes were drawn in manually.

Step six - After a Gaussian blur was applied to the edges of each figure the multiple layers were re sized, merged and given drop shadows to create a final image.

Conclusion: The end product is meant to flow from the caricature of the painter, through the easel, to the pseudo-reality of the watercolor train station in a manner that compliments the whole work. This is meant to suggest that the image on the painter's canvas is the watercolor we see as a backdrop.   

Art Hop 2012

The 2012 Art Hop at Largo Library was a stunning success. Set-up started at 3:00PM yesterday and, with some new display hardware, I was able to get my table visitor-ready in under an hour. That gave me enough time to finish a barred owl drawing and start an anhinga sketch - which I worked on sporadically for the remainder of the night. The Greater Largo Library Foundation was kind enough to allow me a table by the reference desk again this year, which gave me ample room to set up my print rack and my new wire-mesh display column – from which I hang my canvases. I had enough room to station a chair and an easel to give my visitors a live demo.

The evening was wonderful, I had the opportunity to socialize with a number of friends whom I’ve not seen since my last big art show – Arlen Thorensen, the oil painter, Mary Byrd the owner of Frame Factory, and a number of my friends from the Pinellas Park Art Society. The night opened with music by a local pianist and catered hors d'oeuvres from seventeen local restaurants. I sampled a full gambit of delicious samples – marinated mushrooms, herbed meatballs, chicken parmesan, vegetable stir fry, pad-thai, sushi, roast pork, Cuban rice and flan. Quite a selection of artists presented their work both indoors and on the patio and the genres of art presented spanned all aspects of the creative spectrum… Oil and watercolor painting, caricature and sketch, computer generated art and photography, pottery, jewelry and textiles, music and the culinary arts.

I presented a number of different genres – my wildlife and landscape photography, my canvasses, my sketches and my comics. I sold a few prints of beach scenes and enjoyed the visit of a couple who saw my juvenile burrowing owls and recounted the story of a clutch of owls who had called their yard “home.” For their time and an enjoyable discussion, I felt compelled to offer my barred owl sketch to them as a gift. The canvasses of the owls and the macaw garnered attention, the print of “Beach Boardwalk” was the top seller again, but the comics were my attention-grabber again. The laughs of my readers and their refrain of "Aww, that character is so cute" tell me my job is done right.

At eight o’clock the piano music ceased and a local brass band – the Treble Clefs – took over. They set up directly opposite me. A better opportunity for a few caricatures of musicians in action could not have been wished for. And I spent the remainder of the night sketching the saxophonist, the trumpet-player, the drummer, vocalist, and piano man. I suspect my friend Diann Franks, who specializes in jazz-themed art, would have been proud. At the end of the night each musician took home his likeness as a gift. The auction ended at ten o’clock and my 24x36 canvas – “Cape of the Twilight” – has found a new home and my family has acquired two new curio cabinets for ninety dollars.

The Art Hop is as usual among my favorite art events of the year and the only one to so involve the community and bring together so much talent under one roof. Every year the show gets better. My heartfelt thanks go out to all who make this night such a wonderful success year after year.

Thanks for reading!

(2 C More art go to www.artoflylepolyak.com or www.themindscapeartfoundry.com)

Bright House Networks takes in TLWH Comics

An August 23rd art exhibit, hosted by Bright House Networks Corporation, A Florida cable television provider, will feature a nine-frame collage of comic short stories and standalones from The Long Way Home: Tales from Eerie High. This exhibit is provided by The Exhibiting Society of Artists and seems an excellent way to raise awareness about my other artistic interests.

The Long Way Home is an original comic series utilizing photographic backgrounds alongside CG-drawn characters. It follows the story of two twins, Kayla and Nicoletta Long, and their comedic adventures in a High School staffed by eccentric faculty and populated by very unusual classmates. The comic is a satire of Japanese Manga and gives subtle homage to writers and personalities of the mystery and horror genres.

This comic has previously appeared in art shows and lectures at Largo Library, Seminole Library and Park Station Gallery. Issue #2 Will release on September 3rd on my website and will be available for viewing at Park Station Gallery, Pinellas Park FL.

A selected page from Issue #1 of The Long Way Home

A visitor reads the biography accompanying Issue #1 at Park Station Gallery

Three story boards from Issue #1 on display at Seminole Library

Thanks for reading!

(2 C More art go to www.themindscapeartfoundry.com)

Fun Times with PPAS

My 15 page comic, The Long Way Home, was a runner-up at The Seminole Library Art Show. It's been a fun time and anyone who missed the show can still see Issue #1 at it's new home, Park Station. The Pinellas Park Art Society (PPAS) will be hosting the comic until September when it will be replaced by the nearly-complete, Issue Two.

As a member of Pinellas Park Art Society, I can attest to the group's continuing success and many intriguing plans for the future. I would also recommend membership to everyone to has an interest in art in any of it's varying genres. Thus far the group is composed of artists who dabble in photography, CGI, watercolors, oil paints, acrylics, pastels, scratch board, jewelry, clothing, and more. We even have regular recitals by some very talented musicians.

(2 C More Art go to www.themindscapeartfoundry.com)

SPC Lecture an Astonishing Success.

My lecture at SPC's Seminole Campus Library was extraordinary fun. Arrived at 10:30 to set-up - It was the first time since college that I gave a lecture with projector-assist and the screen dwarfed much of the conference room wall. Seeing the comics and the characters larger than life that was thrill in itself. The crowd was perhaps 20-30 attendees in size, composed of SPC students, a member or two from Pinellas Park Art Society and some curious visitors. Toting the camera along would have been a pain in addition to the laptop and equipment I needed to showcase, so for photos I relied on a member of the audience with a mobile phone camera.

Started off with a bit about me and my background. 1.) My comics originated at Streamwood High School when I attended art club and provided images for the School Newsletter. 2.) My greatest influence was Larson who produced the Far Side Comics, 3.) I was introduced to Japanese Manga in Eckerd College and fell in love with the expressive faces and simplistic design.

Got rather philosophical for a while while I discussed the two main characters of my comic series - Kayla and Nikki. Identical twins whose personalities and dreams are polar opposites, but ultimately the software that I use was the star of the show - as it should be. I gave the audience a crash course in how I use Smith Micro Manga Studio to produce a comic page - from start to finish
Start with a simple pencil sketch.

1. The sketch gets scanned into the PC
2. Then Manga Studio transforms the pencil sketch into a digital outline.
3. The outline gets filled with color and shading.
4. A photo background is added in using layering tools
5. Then dialogue is inserted with word balloons.

The audience seemed to be impressed and amused which was the goal. and I decided long before to go unscripted. I don't want to bore people by reading from a page in a monotone voice. Once the series is complete this July 6th there should be a vote on which of the provided comics is best in show. I'm hoping that I gained some more readers and that some of the new information I've gained might lead me to get published.

Thanks for reading!

 

(2 C More Art got to www.themindscapeartfoundry.com)

ComicArt @ SPC: Set up Photos

New Photos to show! The Comics are set up for all to enjoy! Seminole Library is hosting a large assortment of Comics on artistic display - mine included. My work, The Long Way Home: Tales from Eerie High, follows the lives of two twins in their introduction to W Maxwell Eerie High School, the most unusual "institution" in the 50 states. Visit Saint Petersburg College, Seminole Campus Library (9200 113th Street North, Seminole, FL) from June 3rd to July 6th to see issue 1. This show benefits the Thesis work of Brandi Stark, an SPC educator and PHD. I will also be giving a lecture on how to make comics with Smith Micro Manga Studio on June 25th. Hope to see you there!

(2 C More Art Visit www.themindscapeartfoundry.com)

ComicArt @ SPC: On Schedule and in the news!

The Saint Pete Times is now running the back story!

Seminole Library is hosting a large assortment of Comics on artistic display - mine included. My work, The Long Way Home: Tales from Eerie High, follows the lives of two twins in their introduction to W Maxwell Eerie High School, the most unusual "institution" in the 50 states. Visit Saint Petersburg College, Seminole Campus Library (9200 113th Street North, Seminole, FL) from June 3rd to July 6th to see issue 1. This show benefits the Thesis work of Brandi Stark, an SPC educator and PHD. I will also be giving a lecture on how to make comics with Smith Micro Manga Studio on June 25th. Hope to see you there!

(2 C More art visit http://www.themindscapeartfoundry.com/)

A ComicArt Show @ SPC!

A little known fact about me, in addition to Photography I also enjoy writing and illustrating children's comics. My work, The Long Way Home: Tales from Eerie High, follows the lives of two twins in their introduction to W Maxwell Eerie High School, a place whose faculty and students provide the comedy. Visit Saint Petersburg College, Seminole Campus Library (9200 113th Street North, Seminole, FL) from June 3rd to July 6th to see issue 1. This show benefits the Thesis work of Brandy Stark, an SPC educator and PHD. See the ad in the St. Pete Times! I will also be giving a lecture on how to make comics with Smith Micro Manga Studio on June 25th. Hope to see you there!

(2 C More art visit http://www.themindscapeartfoundry.com/)