A brief insight

Wow, I haven't done any thing on here in a while. I'll let you all peak into my mind--here's what I have going on in there; to show you all, and for future proof I was thinking of it about now:

• More artwork for Binarpilot (...once inspiration hits for it again...)
• Nature Reclamation Project: Basically, making things to look like nature and install them in very urban / non-natural places. Still in infantile planning.
• Completing a graphic to correspond with kills during this quarter's game of Humans Versus Zombies at WWU. (See my series on said game).
• Quilt Museum project. Hush-hush for now until later this year / early next year.
• Groups of animals and their corresponding group-name (Troop of gorillas, parliament of owls, etc.)
• Expanded / Deconstructed buildings - Illustrating buildings from a single vantage point. Makes them look like paper models.
• Possible collaboration with Deadcat creator, Kate Laster (still way up in the air at the moment).

And just for kicks, here are some random sketches I've done lately. I was very fascinated in my teacher's hand movements, as well as those of my fellow students.

Binarpilot / B-Sides

A few posts ago, I mentioned I was working on a project for the Norwegian musician, Binärpilot (Alexander Støver). Well, I can finally reveal the artwork for the said project. Hooray!

In the previous post (link above) I had a lot of sketches and possible ideas, which I narrowed down to this idea (and a few others that weren't used).

I really liked the idea of the albums as part of a map, so I sketched concerning that idea.

Once I had my idea down, I started going to town on it. First, I did mock-ups by hand, took pictures to put it into the computer, and then messed with it in GIMP. When I was satisfied, I converted everything into vector in Inkscape so it would be easier to manage.
At first I made the map rectangular, and colored, but then it was suggested by Alexander that I should do it in black and white--which was the technique I had used in his forums, and what a lot of the fans really liked.

I'm so glad that I went with his advice; it looks so good. I also reformatted it so that it was rectangular, like an actual album cover.

While I was creating the above image, I intrigued myself with the image of the ship (presumed to belong to Binärpilot). As you can see, I started sketching it early, and my mind latched onto it.

 Instead of deluging Alexander with tons of alternative art covers, I decided to combine two: the ship above, and the ambigram of "Binärpilot". That last image is me practicing with ink, as I didn't like how it looked when I did it purely digitally. The reward for my efforts lies below.

So, now that you see the album artwork, now you just have to await the album's arrival from go get it from Binärpilot on his website.

You are more than welcome to grab either of the two covers to use in your iTunes (and any other music program that displays album art).

New Art

I've been super busy this quarter. I've still been creating and sketching, and just got done with a bigger project (as well as started two others), but here's a little taste of what I've been up to.

The finished project I won't be able to show until it drops. Here's a hint.

I've messed around with stencils a little bit.

Had some printer stickers, so I created a stencil and transferred it to the sticker, then my notebook.

My friend asked for a tattoo design. Most times I just straight out say no because whoever is asking usually just wants me to draw a generic bird or tree because I'm artistic. I tell them the tattoo artist can do that. Occasionally though, my friends will ask for a specific, Alex Kramer original. This time my friend asked for Mjolnir (Thor's hammer) that would go on her wrist or ankle, so it had to be small, and she didn't want it to look like every other Mjolnir tattoo.

My friend's initials, LKC, make up the shape of the hammer. I think the color and flow really fits with the Norse theme. I sketched a rough version in GIMP, and then drew this version entirely in Inkscape with the other as a reference. I love how precise you can get this way.


Tonight I decided to stay up (since I have nothing planned for tomorrow--no finals) and ended up getting started on a piece I've been thinking about for a while. The following pictures are the work in progress inspired by my Ancient Greek literature class, after hearing the myth of Prometheus creating humans from mud dolls and butterflies. This is the image that's been in my mind all quarter.

 After completing a sketch on a smaller sheet, I grabbed this watercolor paper and lightly sketched the drawing and boundary lines.

Inked the pencil lines with a 50/50 ink and water mix to get more definition. Then used watered down acrylic mixes as watercolor paints. Here I was filling in the wing with non-watered black acrylic.

Added a darker layer on the mud doll, as well as acrylic-ed the opposite wing. Notice that the wings are different.

Bam, color! I got so into the mixing of colors and blending that I forgot to step back and catalog the process better. I'm still not sure what will happen with the background, but this isn't done yet.

Some macros for detail:

You can see where the 50/50 watered down ink still shows along the wings. I liked the texture and look of it, so I kept it partially revealed.

More to come.

Whirling Behind the Waves

Here at WWU, we have an excellent gallery (Viking Union Gallery) that is constantly bringing in awesome exhibits and art to the student community. Last week the "You've Got Secrets Show" ended a great run. If you are curious about that, I wrote about it on my other blog.

This week, the wonderful Gallery Coordinator, Allie Paul, has brought in another memorable show (read: experience); Dennis McNett's Whirling Waves & Wolfbats. 

McNett is a Brooklyn-based artist that is known for his woodblock printing and installation art. Some common themes that run through his art include bats, wolves, and of course, Norse mythology. Which makes him perfect for WWU--the home of the Vikings.

As part of this new show, not only is McNett displaying a variety of prints on paper and fabric and skateboards, but also two installation sculptures--a model Viking boat, and a dragon pinata; although, the latter might not be recognizable after the opening reception...

ALSO, he has invited WWU students (art majors and / or otherwise inclined) to help with the project of constructing and building and preparing for the opening reception this Thursday night--specifically the dragon and a series of Viking-esque / -inspired helmets and masks. Because of the awesome collaboration, there should be an equally (if not greater) amount of awesome during the reception.

So, here is a small compilation of photos archiving the prep-work for the show, which will run from February 3-18 in the VU Gallery (5th floor of WWU's Viking Union). I will add more photos during the week, and look for a blog reviewing the show on my Seattle Whispers blog.

All the following photos were taken by me, and show work by McNett and awesome students. I will only credit work as my own when it is true.

Some prints and their skateboard-mounted versions.

Wall-height print on fabric.

The wire-frame for the dragon Fire Eagle.

McNett hard at work on forming the dragon Fire Eagle.

An example of a helmet's first layer (made by a friend and I)

Some more awesome examples of helmets in various stages.

Finished helmet by my friend and I. Last layer is a collage of hand-printed paper by McNett.

The fully-formed Fire Eagle, awaiting the sacrifice.

Viking boat model, T-minus 7 hours to the opening reception.

Detail of the ship.

Sneak Peek - Album Art

As promised, I'm shedding some light on one of my projects I am currently working on. I'm not going to give too much away since it's still far from being done, but I can still let you stare at sketches, concepts, drafts, and thoughts & segues.

This project is for the wonderful musician, Binärpilot (aka Alexander Støver), and an upcoming release. If you haven't already seen, I've been sketching on the forums on his site and have gotten positive responses from fans--So much so that Alexander asked me if I would be interested doing art for him in the future. As you can tell, I said yes.

Below are sketches from mid-December when I was first approached to create for a specific, upcoming release. I centered my ideas about things very much Binärpilot--parts of songs andreferences from the forums--while also putting my own steampunk / retrolution feel on the images. These three pages were created in rapid succession as the ideas were literally flowing through me.

As you can see, things such as billowing clouds / smoke, typewriters, maps, and record players intrigued me at the time. The original of the Kraken-fighting Robot can be seen here. I also tried playing around with different ways to represent Binärpilot.

By this time I was absolutely locked down on two different versions of the cover art. One pertaining to a map, and the other with the word Binärpilot as an ambigram. An ambigram is a word written / stylized in a way that you can read it from a different angle. A common way is so that you can still read the same word upside-down. A few examples can be found on Wikipedia, as well as in Dan Brown's Angels & Demons.

There are many ways to create an ambigram. When I try to create one, I spend a lot of time playing around how the word is composed. I superimpose all the letters against each other from two angles to try and see shapes that take form. At times it is a long, arduous process; but it can be fun as well. Below is the practice page, where you can see how I messed around with different variations.

I find it easiest to create ambigrams using stylized letters because I can bend and twist the forms into usable shapes, while still allowing readers to identify the letters. While playing around, I circle and box the forms and combinations that look the best to me. Then, I take a separate piece of paper and draw out a clean version. Once I'm satisfied, I'll put it into the computer and have fun with it.

I think this is a good place to close the curtain again on my process. Not too much revealed, but just enough to keep you interested. More soon!

Thread Art, Part Two

A continuation from my first thread art post. All of these drawings are done on a chat-draw program called Napkin, and on the threads for Binärpilot's Community--also, I use a 8x6 Genius tablet.

I'm just going to throw these up without specifying which thread they came from, since I've already spent enough time not putting these up as often as I should.

Some late-night doodles referencing images on a computer. Never done that before.

Some quick art for my bro's mix of Binärpilot's songs aXXo and Acrodysostosis.

You can hear the "clash-mix" here.

Some retrolutionary/steampunk images for everyone to enjoy.

Trying different styles of shading and drawing on the chat-draw.

Drawing of Binärpilot hanging out with Deadmu5. 

This has yet to happen, but one can hope.

New style/challenge: Don't use the "undo" (z) option on the chat-draw. Had me thinking in a new way.

Well, you all know what this was for. Sorry, Londoners for the crappy Big Ben.

For my friend, Rachael, who adores Friends and wishes the Norwegian title was just like this.

A teaser-map for the Binärpilot fans awaiting the new release. More later.

I was requested to draw "a t-rex with wings, grabbing some ancient aqua-dino out of a river with its giant foot-talons."I didn't like the first version, so I redrew it as below...

...and added in another side of the battle! The left side was created in Napkin and then spliced together with GIMP offline. The full pic above is actually hosted on my DeviantArt page.