=SHANE WHITE=

Relationships & Transistions: Things That Connect

2009-11-11T12:04:00.000-08:00

Lately I've noticed how relationships between two people, two colors, two story ideas are only as strong as the things that connect them. In an of themselves they are whole and identifiable but they're relationship to each other tells a richer deeper story.

I heard somewhere that Tolstoy believed transitions to be one of the top three most important things in writing stories. I've never read Tolstoy, not sure if it's out of my league of interest or intelligence, but usually the simplest of concepts are understood by all but used masterfully by few. At any rate, I got what he meant and I believe in service of the audience clarity and thoughtfulness is tantamount to putting one's ideas across.

I guess much like life, I've positioned myself along a path so that one job or career choice flows into another--always building on the last episode. I learn as I go and certainly don't take wild leaps of faith into the unknown. Risk is not a large part of my vocabulary but then maybe that says more about trust in one's self than anything.

Think about how things are connected in your life, the kind of books you read, the clothes you wear and the choices you make. You might start to see a bigger picture than what's right in front of you. Ask yourself why more and you may be surprised how it's all connected?

=s=

Oh, How Bazaar!...Repost: Haste

2009-11-08T15:58:00.000-08:00

If you think you've seen this before in an earlier post you'd be right. Lately I've come down with a bad case of "hastiness" and I've been steamrolling through a multitude of projects in a variety of styles and not taking the time...like I promised I would start doing...to pay attention to the details of "the finish".

Well it was brought up to me by my peers so I'm making considerable efforts to pay attention. Even though this is in my sketchbook there's a certain way that I have been finishing this work with a midtone digital pass. I also pushed and pulled depth as simply as I could without detracting from the ink work.

Hopefully you'll agree this works better.

=s=

Old and New

2009-11-07T02:33:00.000-08:00

I woke up one morning recently with this vision in my head.

Maybe it was my subconscious playing with me. Then again, it was like returning back to my roots as a t-shirt designer right outta college. Or perhaps even further back when I was in elementary school and I would race to the library to be the first to grab the latest issue of Hot Rod magazine. For whatever reason Kustom Kulture was something I was really attracted to as a kid. I would going to auto-ramas with a friend at the age of 8 . Now, I can't stand cars. They're boring to look at and the ones that are interesting are way outta anyone's price range.

=s=

Twilight Conjurer

2009-11-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

Sketchatorium

2009-11-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

It's like a vomitorium...but with sketches purged from the guts of my sketchbooks. How pleasant you say? I guess that all depends if you like these kinds of sketches. :)

There used to be a time, years ago that I would sketch like this all the time. These whacky ideas would sometimes make it to t-shirts but many times not. Those were creatively halcyon days of my youth, but I was so messed up in the head I didn't know what I was doing.

It's good to revisit this side of my brain, I think it still has some untapped resources to amuse if nobody else but me.

=s=

The Hard Choices

2009-11-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

Oftentimes I'm stuck when it comes to choosing between staying simple and adding a little bit...and then a little bit more. It's the same feeling I used to get in school when taking multiple choice tests--every answer could possibly work if reasoned out. It all depended on how you look at it.

For me it can be relentless when it comes to artwork. Unlike life I tend to be very black and white and react at a gut-level. I think it's a reaction to what goes on in my studio, as I'm often petrified with indecision. That's when I usually ask for outside opinions.

In these examples, especially this particular style which is what the bottom is in its raw form. I had told myself I'd never add anything more than a simple color for effect and leave it at that. The point being is you're basically burying the paper and you lose that wonderful texture. But as you can see, regardless the illustration looks just as interesting but in a different way fully colored.

What's nice is digitally I don't have to commit to anything that I can't undo. That's why I think my adventures in easel illustration are going to be helpful. I'll have to make those hard choices and stick to them come hell or high water.

=s=

4th Anniversary: Watercolor

2009-10-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

Just threw down a card for the wife over the weekend. Before the internets I was a mail hound. I would spend my time writing letters, making cards, and weird stuff and sending them to all my friends and families. There are several "Shane Folders" that I've heard people have where they've put a collection of all the stuff I've sent them. It'd be great to one day have everyone send me that stuff back so I can archive it. There's easily 15 years worth of stuff.

Then the internet hit...and the mail just didn't seem so important anymore. It's a damn shame really. Lettering writing and penmanship moreso is a lost art. When you think about it, it's as distinct as our fingerprints and says a lot more about us than we really know.

=s=

Study Phase III: Establishing Composition and Story

2009-10-29T00:12:00.000-07:00

Being able to think on my feet is probably the best thing for me. I need to find the confidence that I can execute on an idea and grow it beyond it's initial conception. Too often I find that I'll bail on an idea when I get bored with it. And that's usually when I've done thumbnails and roughs until the composition was spot-on. Like in this case, I thought the piece was headed in the right direction, but if you look back at previous versions of this...I keep pulling the camera further away. It starts lacking the intimacy of the battle and the lead character. So I went back in cropped accordingly. Again...trying to keep the possibilities open.

It's the spontaneity that gets lost in most cases. Being a self-taught illustrator, the work is littered with obstacles that many in academia have addressed time and again. So now I'm playing catch-up.

My new motto is:
Hold off the "finish" until the very end and even then leave room to make a decided shift that will bring it all together.

=s=

Study Phase II: Color Throwdown

2009-10-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

This is still against my better judgment. I guess the play part of my brain is still trying to keep fun as the number one goal. I suppose no matter what the final piece is I am initially considering this palette. I may throw a bunch of other warriors in an overlay battling alongside the Hulk. Yes...it's the Hulk if you couldn't tell. I think he was on another planet in a storyline called World War Hulk. I don't know...I never read it, just saw the covers.

=s=

Putting the Stud in Study

2009-10-19T15:59:00.000-07:00

Working on a digital color piece for this though I might not finish it as it's not the illustrative direction I want to be heading. I fell for the, "I like the look of this let's develop the drawing," and not "what story is this image telling?"

=s=

5:00 AM And You're Still Not Home?

2009-10-11T06:31:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd try something new for me.
Personally I'm not a fan of colored pencil work in comics. A) It just looks bad if the penciler is especially adept at comic book-looking art. B) It fails when the shading in large areas is not homogeneous and C) Personally it looks lazy and cheap, especially with digital colors added to it.

I've only seen two examples that I thought were quite stellar. One was Dark Horse's CONAN book with Tomas Giorello on pencils. The lay down is even and consistently black. Second and to a lesser degree Simon Bisley on Hellblazer. The interior pages work because they're printed on softer paper. Not glossy and not quite newsprint, but it's soft enough for the colors to not rob the pencils and yet they blend while being distinct.

I'm usually the only one in my circle of friends who cares about the way things print. So maybe I'm alone in this.

Anyway, I thought I'd give it a try to see how hard it is to do and if there's any benefit from it. I like it overall. It has a realm of realistic lighting which I like. All the value was taken care of in the penciling phase so coloring has to be subtle and rely on temperatures. Even though this was a quick test I think in the end it depends on how it gets printed. At the very least I'd like to try a pinup.

A full book would just be more work than I think anyone's willing to pay. :)

=s=

The 12 Year Story

2009-09-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

When it comes to writing and story construction I tend to be very slow and deliberate. Which is quite the opposite with my art. Though I'm trying to adjust them both to serve me better.

These two concepts are from a project that 12 years ago would certainly not be called derivative. Now it's run its course but it's taken me this long to come up with a story worth telling. I've yet to hear of a successful "girl and robot" story. So maybe I still have a chance.
Funny thing is I actually published the characters in back-up feature for Funk-o-tron publishing. I doubt anyone ever saw it way back in what...2000. Suffice it to say, this is still not my next project...unless someone's willing to pay me my professional rate. :)

Either way, I'll be working on it in between things while I do a rewrite of "my next project".
More later as things start to develop.

=s=

Things Undone: The Development Art

2009-09-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

Blistering Excitement

2009-09-28T22:35:00.000-07:00

This is a photo from the Windy City Comicon. See how exciting these things can be?
More of the show photos can be found here. It was held at the Gay and Lesbian Outreach Center on North Halstead.
No really, it's true. Who knew?

My friend Pav, in the lower left, helped man the table which is a huge boon because being trapped with all your wares makes for getting to food and toiletries a big hassle.

=s=

Marketing Machine

2009-09-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

THINGS UNDONE should be in your store waiting for you. Read what others are saying…

Comic Evolution, local retailer in Washington state, put it on their must have list and “…sold 8 copies just this morning.”

Comics Bulletin says: “… it’s a very thoughtful and creative book with a tremendously satisfying finish.”
Read the full review here.

I hope you consider giving it a look.

=s=

A Reason for Living

2009-09-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

Finally after much waiting, my book THINGS UNDONE is finally at your local comic shop. It's a dark comedy about a guy whose turning into a zombie and perfect for the Halloween season. Buy two they're small. :)

=s=

Got that Dead Feeling

2009-09-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the Windy City Comicon where my book, THINGS UNDONE debuted. And I can't sleep...again. So...I felt compelled to throw down a color sketch. I have several digital illustrations in the works but they're not far enough along to show.

The book sold really well and had a lot of compliments. It's certainly eye-catching and practically glows in the dark so...watch for it this Wednesday.

=s=

Treading Water

2009-09-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

Yeah...that's what it feels like sometimes.

=s=

Rock Out!

2009-09-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

Word on the street is my new book, THINGS UNDONE won't be in stores for another 2 weeks. Boo. At least it's coming out.

=s=

Travel Gouache

2009-08-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Below is what I take when I travel these days. I used to lug around my oil paint box but it seemed to take longer to setup and kept me from being able to paint in more challenging spots like steep jungle passes in Thailand or while I'm indoors in places like Costa Rica during the rainy season.

This all fits in a mid-size shoulder bag or waist beltbag. You can see how well this collapses down. The water bucket was a real win. I looked all over the place for one of those large Popeet things from Ronco because they're made of durable plastic and have a lid, but this was the best I could find.

The extra paints are when I'm in the studio mostly or if I have a lot of excess green that I don't want to mix on location.

The orange and cobalt helps when I need to punch some things up like caucasian flesh or sky/water.

I only use W&N colors because I have a lot of them. I might try Holbein in the future though because I hear such good things about them.

=s=

Phantasy Islands

2009-08-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

Doing my part to clog up the internet with more images of lost worlds.

=s=

Dropping Some Color

2009-08-16T11:38:00.001-07:00

Just a round of stuff I've been throwing color on; trying new techniques and such.

=s=

Girls in Space

2009-08-09T22:56:00.000-07:00

I love the work of Gil Elvgren. He was skilled at painting pretty girls. Though his images were idealized versions of women he knew what his audience wanted and delivered with blistering panache. Like those before him, Vargas and Petty, he focused on the form and rendering, but carried it to the next level. His incorporation of setting and story pulled the viewer in and created scenarios, some believable and some not, that put his heroines in precarious pert situations.

This is me just playing in the sandbox. Wishing he'd flexed his abilities beyond the realm of realism. I actually did a painting of this as well...though it didn't turn out quite as nice.

=s=

Die Fledermaus

2009-07-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

Like many of the stories I have this one has been rolling around inside me for a very long time. It's one of those stories I doubt would ever see the light of day because of the Herculean effort it would take to coordinate.

However I think the premise would be very cool.

=s=

The Middle One

2009-07-23T00:07:00.001-07:00

So I learned something valuable today while doing this painting of Savage Dragon. With the luxury of Photoshop I am able to work in layers and try things I wouldn't normally try in traditional painting. Or most likely I would try it and end up with the expected result of killing the inspiration. What I found is that I fell in love with the first rough in drawing. That inspirational moment where it said everything I wanted it to, yet, I wanted to "legitimize" it so that it was more than a sketch. So down the path I went all the way to the end, saving layers along the way. What occurred to me as I was nearing the finish and detail, highlight phase was the more life I'd put into it the more it died. See the example below:

The first image really had all the tough sincerity of the character as I percieved it. And while it's fair to say that it works as is, why bother well...I'm not Mitchell Hooks, and I set out to do a painted piece come hell or high water. But by pressing on to where I normally go (3rd one in the lineup) it became a dead polished thing. Almost as much as knowing how to paint is knowing when to stop...or when to let the painting speak. Granted...the first one really is the best, but the middle one is the armistice I'm making.

It leads me to wonder, for years people have always really liked my sketches and my looser work. I'm attracted to looser brushwork and very naturalistic drawing. I'm also really attracted to strong drawing and structure.

The piece below was a cast-off. No thought what so ever but it ranks as one of my favorite recent pieces. Is it because it involves the viewer to wonder about its construction? Is it is just pleasing to look at? Or does the organic quality speak to us first?
So why is it so hard to adapt to a philosophy of letting go?

I think I have integrity issues. Like if it's not the way my mind perceives it then it's not right. It has to be like "something" I've seen or desired. I don't think people who pioneer a certain look or feel or persona really cared about anything or anyone else than what they were doing.

They got inspired but then they went off and found that synchronicity of creativity and motor skills.

=s=