Retro Gurl- 2012
I suppose that this is my last post of 2012. It's been a year of hard work and self discovery. I've experienced some changes in my convictions and revisited a lot of old ideas as the months have passed.
This year was the most political that I've ever been and my art took a backseat for a little while. Now I'm back and I've got a renewed sense of duty to make as much art as possible. Any excuse that I can find I'll use. For instance, this picture is mainly driven by the desire to make something pretty. I used Bat for Lashes, Natasha Khan as a spring board and it changed into something new. This is a sort of composite of multiple images of her but it's really not her at all. I'm not sure of who it is really, but does it matter?
The colors are important to note here, as I was inspired by my long-time favorite comic artist, Paul Pope. He's my unofficial sensei. Mostly I stuck to simple & unnatural looking colors (not quite Fauvism but close enough). And what about the inks? I've learned so much about inking by reading his essays, watching youtube seminars of his, and just looking over every line that he makes. I've been messing with many styles lately, but his is a favorite of mine to return to again and again. (Remember my Portugal. The Man Poster?)
I've tried so many brushes in order to try and emulate his brush work and finally found that a lot of confidence and a number 5 watercolor brush will do the trick.
To conclude here, I want to have much more work in the coming weeks. I've been working diligently on getting City Girls off the ground (It's taking forever- I know!). Jake has been a huge help with the digital inks on that. Sometimes I just need a break and to experiment.
If you like what you see, please come back for more.
Have a Happy New Year!
God Bless 2013
-Josh
