2014 In Retrospect

I've been lax in posting to my blog and even missed an entire month (no activity in November - shame on me). Life does get in the way, especially this time of year and adding my son's 18th birthday and the conclusion of my daughters first and most turbulent year of high school to the mix, makes for busy times indeed.

It has been one hell of a year.

2014 has been the most creative year for me in decades. It has been the most trying, the most difficult, the most eye-opening, the most uncertain AND the most rewarding year I've had in a long, long time. I am a creative person, whether it be illustration, painting, motion graphics, photography, music or tangible items that can be felt, seen and experienced - I like to create new things. Even if it's only new to me.

I have spent over a decade being creative for other people, by proxy as a graphic designer for agency's, printers and signage providers. Even though, I do take professional pride in the work and find a sense of fulfillment in the doing design work, it doesn't ignite my creative muse as much as art and music. It always comes down to those two for me.
Music is always the answer.
What is the question I hear you ask?
The question is life?
Music is always the answer to life.
And art? Art explains to us what life is.

...

2014 in retrospect, if measured in terms of creative output, it looks a little like this;

• I have created more artwork this last year, than I have in the combined 12 years prior.
• I presented a portfolio of my work to US publisher, IDW and received positive feedback (I'm still working on getting my work published through IDW - just looking for the right fit for both of us).
• A fan of my work requested a private commission. This is the first time I have ever been commissioned to produce artwork. This came at a very crucial time, as I was starting to doubt my skills and this request validated my work as an artist for which I am humble and appreciative.
• Sales of my art prints increase at every show I attend.
• I have generated leads in producing custom displays backgrounds for action figures and statues (more on this in the new year).
• I have had more music jams with bands and other musicians these last 2 years than I have in my entire life.

It's been a busy year. Lots of late nights, lots of rewarding work, lots of experimenting and being surprised at how the final art turns out, enjoying new mediums and trying out new techniques.

Here's a loose overview of what I have planned for the next year;

• I have an album or two worth of (new) songs waiting to be recorded / mixed.
• I have expressed interest in showing my work in a Gallery next year.
• Continued work on artwork designs (Donnie Darko, Zatanna, Captain Cold, Birds of Prey, Daredevil and Batman Villains are next on the list).
• Continued work on the serialised graphic story RUST.
• Continued work on my original graphic novel SUBSTANCE.
• A small art/sketch book for sale at shows
• Artist alley presence at Supanova June next year.

As one of my favourite artists, David Mack, said "do the work first - the rest will come later".

To all that follow my blog, thanks for reading. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season. May 2015 bring you all good health, good living and prosperity. I leave you with an overview of art I produced during 2014. I hope you dig it. Next week's blog post will be my favourite comics, graphic novels and art books for 2014.

...

Best wishes

Damian K. Sheiles

www.dks.net.au

BATMAN - I AM THE NIGHT 75th Anniversary Artwork Print

Batman 75th Anniversary Print.

"I am the night and sometimes the very, very, very late afternoon"

Sketch Idea 1a

Sketch Idea 1b

Painted Art

Line Art

City Scape - Grunge Painting

Text (Black & White Bitmap)

Digital Colour Progression

FINAL ART

Best wishes

...

Damian K. Sheiles

www.dks.net.au

DKSid - META Progress

Tonight's blog post will be short and sweet. Last March I provided a sneak peak at DKSid, a small publication I am working on with the intention to showcase my illustrative design skills to the IDW lads at Perth Supanova this June.

Further progress has been made this week. Here's another preview of some pages.

META - page 1 pencil rough

META - page 1 without text

META - page 1 complete with text

META - page 4 illustration (ink)

META - page 4 without text

Best wishes

...

Damian K. Sheiles

www.dks.net.au

Pop Culture, Film & Comics Amalgamate! (part 2)

Continuing from my post yesterday I now present the evolution for the Metropolis Pictures presents Superman in the City of Tomorrow poster design.

The iconic design by Schulz-Neudamm for Fritz Lang's film, Metropolis is unforgettable and served as inspiration for many artists and designers. The original design for the Star Wars character C3PO by concept artist Ralph McQuarrie was based on the android 'Maria' from the Fritz Lang film released in 1927. The city design from the film Metroplois is heavily based on Art Deco stylings of the time period and provide the perfect environment for any pulp or science fiction character to exist in.

 

Robot comparison - C3PO's (right) design was influenced by Maria (left from Metropolis

The similarity to the world of Metropolis as portrayed in the pages of DC Comics Superman was too enticing a proposition and my curiosity to see these two universes cross-over needed to be satiated. I sketched up a handful of poster roughs for 'Metropolis' at the same time I sketched out the '30 Days of the Dark Knight' poster designs.

Concept Sketching

I knew that I wanted to design a long vertical poster so that I could feature the main character in the foreground leaving plenty of room for the city in the background and the poster title treatment above. As I wanted to pay tribute to Superman in the environment of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, the first character developed for the poster was Clark Kent's alter ego, Superman. The modern version of Superman would look out of place in this concept and time period so I looked to the Max Fleischer design from the 1940's animated series for character design inspiration. I combined this classic style with a mix of steam punk costume design embellishments to obtain the 'right' look for this amalgam of pop culture icons.

Max Fleischer's Superman / Clark Kent

DC Comics Steam Punk Figurines

The images below show the evolution from pencil sketch to inks and finally to digital colour of my Steam Punk 1920's Superman. I experimented with a monochrome version rather than colour but in the end, felt that the colour version (Blue, Red and Gold) contrasted much stronger against the yellow/orange/gold city/star-burst background.

  

I wanted to create an Android character as well, further tying the Metropolis concept back to the Fritz Lang film. I experimented with a Brainiac design with Machiavellian mustache but decided that a battle damaged and world weary Metallo with exposed Kryponite heart would be the right Superman Villain for this design.

As the colour version of Metallo is primary gold, orange, yellow and burnt red and contrast against the yellow/orange/gold city and background would be poor, I changed the background to black, enhancing the overall design, resulting in the two 'Metropolis' prints complimenting each other in chiaroscuro fashion. Below are the inked and digitally coloured versions of Metallo.

After the completion of a graphite star-burst pattern on textured board and a technically inked city-scape, finished in Photoshop and Illustrator, I was ready to composite the poster using InDesign.

The two poster designs now complete are  were completed with the addition of Title text and a custom Art Deco border drawn using Illustrator.

Metropolis Pictures presents Superman in the City of Tomorrow

Superman in the City of Tomorrow

Metropolis Pictures presents Superman in the Menace of Metallo

Superman in the Menace of Metallo

I hope you enjoyed seeing the design process and evolution for these poster designs. Please check back here soon for another look at art and design projects I'm currently working on. You can follow me on Facebook too if that's your thing.

Best wishes

...

Damian K. Sheiles

www.dks.net.au