Drew Brophy always seems to have something cool going on. Makes me want to move to California and surf. I check into his site every once and a while to see what he is doing, because generally he has something cool on the go, and that there is insight to the process itself, and often the business end of things (His wife also has a very cool blog on art business Click Here).

Anyways check out the mural post..very cool. Lots of process pics and insight, and always inspiring to see it’s a family affair. Click here to read the full post on Drew’s site.

I had noticed a couple weeks back that Blake, who most people know by the name of his studio Cross Eyed Airbrushing, had updated his website. Sifting through the pages of his new site I noticed that Mike Learn had written the forward and indicated that he had previewed the book last year during a course in Edmonton. I was excited. Blake’s shop is a few minutes drive for me, so I figured I would give him a call. “I just got the books in and they are sitting in boxes at my place,” Blake told me.

“I’ll be there in 15 minutes,” I told him. I was even more excited. I have followed Blake’s work over the years through bike shows, and events in the Calgary area, and he has been a huge influence artistically (whether he knows it or not). While excited, at the same time I was apprehensive. When I usually get excited about things, I find that my expectations exceed reality, causing me to feel let down, even though things are in reality really well done. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would be an instructional step-by-step book with a few different projects that were pulled directly from the pages of Airbrush Action, or would this be a totally different direction from the norm.

When I arrived I was greeted by Blake’s dog, and then Blake. We went into the shop and he pulled that book out, showing a beautifully embossed and centre cut cover page, pristine and sealed. Blake had worked three years putting the book together and spent hundreds of hours on top of his already busy schedule working on this book. It is a self-published deal, and not only had Blake spent hours creating the book, but had taken on the publishing role himself. He said that he wanted to write the book, the way he wanted, and not be restricted. Blake had been offered book deals, but he wanted his own voice.

The book contains so much work, that you will have to go through it several times to digest what you are seeing. Blake does an excellent job in laying oput this book, and representing his work. While in the book is a great gallery of work, it is also a great book for inspiration. Blake reveals in a sense his ‘Manifesto’ in his writings client interaction, stories about projects, how to maximize each job, and drive. The Drive section in my honest opinion is something that anyone who does custom work should read. Within the book it does contain some smaller “how to sections”, that contain some pretty valuable information.

There is so much meat in this book, both artistically and intellectually, that I really cant find the word to do this book justice. With a cover price $44 it is worth every penny. Each of the 237 pages contains so much information, and inspiration that it is a must for any artist. In fact it is probably best to buy two, so that you have another when you wear the first copy out. You can buy it online at http://cross-eyedair.com/store

I have just returned from Itay, and the Ferarri Factory in Maranello. I was lucky enough to get a good look at how the guys at Ferrari paint their cars, and their process, especially when it comes to the custom program. The first thing that I was surprised by was  that Ferrari uses water based paints for their finishes, and have a different process (Emu feathers) to remove contaminants prior to paint. Overall it was a great trip and great look at how they complete their high end finishes for their cars.

Phillips Studios can be traced back to the roots of skateboarding. To those of us who spent any time on a skateboard recognize the style from Phillips Studios, and the iconic ‘Screaming Hand’ from the mid 80′s that is probably the most recognized skate graphic ever created. Jim Jr. or “Jimbo” followed in his father Jim Phillips learning the ropes at Phillips Studios, as the studio produced more than half a century of skateboard art.

Jimbo latest work can be found on the 2010 Bell Helmets. Jimbo continues the style made famous by his father, but this time in a different sport that has to date, not been the most graphically progressive, sticking to basic racing designs for lids, or just strictly one colour. It will be intresting to see if this will catch on and influence some change to the mountain bike world.

Brutal Legend’s Tim Schafer, the game’s creative director, was inspired to create the game by his own past musical experiences. The game features the character of Eddie Riggs, voiced by and modeled after Jack Black, a roadie who was transported to a fantasy world inspired by the artwork of heavy metal album covers. Eddie becomes the world’s savior, leading the down-trodden humans against a range of supernatural overlords using a battle axe, his Flying V guitar infused with magical powers, and a customizable hot rod. In addition to Black, the game features voices of heavy metal musicians including Lemmy Kilmister, Rob Halford, Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford and other celebrities such as Tim Curry, as well as more than one hundred metal songs selected by Schafer for inclusion in the game.

The game reminds me of the binder’s that I had in High School, as well as textbooks that fell victim to my in class doodles. Horrific demons and machines, covered the pages. The drawing would also come to life further as often I was forced to do homework, but in actual fact I spent more time listening to metal and drawing, then I ever did doing math or chemistry. It is amazingly cool to see such a creation, with all the music and stylized art that went into this game.

The game has changed my working playlist for the month as I have been listening to the following thanks to the game:

• Three Inches of Blood – Deadly Sinners
• Children of Bodom – Angels Don’t Kill
• KMFDM – Free Your Hate
• Three Inches of Blood – Slay the Orcs
• Metal Church – Metal Church
• Judas Priest – Painkiller
• Death – Painkiller
• Ministry – Stigmata

I just recieved the four disk set for the Sons of Anarchy…I bought it on a whim. Any ways so far it is relatively interesting especially since the family drama is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet; indeed, star Ron Perlman has said, “I’m sure they’re going to stick to the structure of Hamlet all the way to the end” of the series. Clay is based on the role of King Claudius and Gemma as a Gertrude figure. Jax stands in for Prince Hamlet himself; his reflective questioning of the SOA culture, brought on by the birth of his son, references Hamlet’s melancholy over the death of the king. Additionally, Jax “communicates” with his dead father by way of his late father’s unpublished journal/manuscript; Hamlet, of course, literally communicates with the ghost of his father.The drama and characterizations are also enhanced by drawing on Macbeth, another Shakespeare tragedy. Katey Sagal’s Gertrude-like Gemma resembles Lady Macbeth because—while it is never entirely clear from Hamlet how complicit Queen Gertrude is in the murder of Hamlet’s father—it is obvious that Gemma has willingly participated in the cover-up of the death and may even have encouraged Clay in his treachery. Creator Sutter has said of the Shakespeare element, “I don’t want to overplay that but it’s there. It was Jax’s father who started the club, so he’s the ghost in the action. You wonder what he would have made of the way it turned out. It’s not a version of Hamlet but it’s definitely influenced by it.”

Very cool video on how designer Godmachine…who kicks ass…does his screen seperations.

Plugin for photoshop can be downloaded Here at Black Axe

Manga Studio Brushes

Originally uploaded by Ray Frenden

For those of you who use Manga Studio 4, make sure to check out Ray Frenden’s Blog. He has created some natural media brushes, which will be great for your work!

Ray has promised a tutorial for these brushes in the near future, and I am sure it will be great. Ray has had some awesome tutorials in the past. In fact it was Ray that turned me on to Manga Studio, a program that I would have never thought of using prior to seeing some of his work. Ray is also a great guy, in that I had some questions on pens he was using for inking, and he was more than happy to shoot me an email sharing how he would digitally ink and set up his custom pens.

As I had mentioned before the artwork Riggs did for Iron Maiden was a huge influence. So it is no surprise to me in an article over at Abduzeedo includes his work in there article which features 45 insane metal album covers.

Click Here to check it out!

I spend a lot of time looking at books. There is something about the physical connection between touch and vision, that makes me believe that no matter how far technology goes we will always have books. Maybe I am naive, and will never let them go, like guys who seek out vinyl records…I will seek books.

I do find that I can be particular about books that I will buy to add to my library (Yes, I have a library). My feeling is that a book has to be something that the internet tends not to be. Specific. I like to pick up a book and find that it covers the topic of choice, unlike google that many times I find more frustrating than anything with images with nothing to do with the subject showing up more frequently than the topic sought. Try searching for an ‘Asian Lohan Statue’ you will see what I mean. Read the full story