Skullairy Ink & Design

  References, References, References. These are the wise words of Marc Brunet and Aaron Blaise. Both of them are getting special shout-outs this month.  Marc is a former Blizzard Artist now a full-time Art instructor for his Youtube ArtSchool series. His knowledge of how the process of learning works, the science behind it, and how to effectively hack it to improve has gone unmatched across his platform space. Armed with this knowledge I feel I can make Proper use of my study time and dramatically improve my results. One of his biggest key takeaways is that I always have a reference, and the more the merrier, because without information to go off of there is no learning being done.  Aaron Blaise is my Disney ANimation Idol has the same takeaway but with life. Go out in the field for raw references to draw from. Zoos, parks, and aquariums are all good places to go just for a sketch at something giving you raw information.  These are all perfect lessons as now in the m...

It’s been over a month of just non-stop fundamentals lessons from a lot of the role models from last month's masters & Mentors blog post. Specifically, in the realm of fundamentals I mean as follows; Shape         Form             Perspective LIne Weight/Confidence     Dynamics   Light & Shadow So my first shout-out will be Mathew Mattessi as he is a great instructor when it comes to these fundamentals. He teaches a new way of thinking when it comes to lines and their representation of Shapes and forms through the forces and mechanics to which the worlds are tied. Giving new ways to push shapes more dynamically without losing. Shape The premise sounded simple and it was in ways. Basic shapes are circles and Triangles, and lots of them.  Some say square goes in that category, but I say rectangles and squares are just two triangles loving on each other. The most accurate use of the ...

    It comes as no surprise that after all this time the rusty muscle memory is real. The first few drawings I was working on with chalk all looked great until I noticed how much flatter and disproportionate everything was. I truly felt like I was starting over from ground Zero. Normally this would depress me. Thinking of the years wasted and wondering if it was gone forever. Instead I was in a position where the opposite felt more true. I found myself excited, I thought to myself. “With what knowledge and skill was lost… So were the bad habits from the past, therefore starting at a blank state gives me nothing but improvement. I could map out and plan ahead of time what art directions I needed to focus on vs whatever the flavor of the week is I got from school. IF I wanted to do this right, I am going to ned the right influences in my style, habits, and workflow. Throughout this research I came up with an extensive list of individuals, all whom provide some sort of train...

  Since the last time I posted I pondered on this for a while “ what to post, how to post, and even though I have already initiated my first post, you wouldn't think that I could still feel like the first post. So what better way to start the blog than a small trip into my artistic Journey… or just a quick montage of me growing up. [Insert pic] Okay maybe just a tiny bit more info than that. SO for the majority of my childhood, I was always told I had a talent when it came to drawing. Yay all parents are proud. Even if it wasn’t my most passionate thing to do at the time I had fun doing it none-the less. Every year and semester from Kindergarten to becoming a senior highschool student. I made sure to have a art class. Still dto this day I remember there names, and a quick shout out to them for if not for our Art teachers that were there while were were still being raised, we may not have the passions or skills we have now. To Mr. Fritzler, Ms. Foot, and Ms. NAME.. My memory is vagu...

  Me at the playground at a local park using chalk on the ground to keep my mind and hands busy while my son enjoyed the company of other kids. I have not done anything to creative since my short lived game design school experience. Even before then was a dry spell of creativity since 2009 drafting up a flag for my MOS class.  I believe the last true art experience before this was highschool and the past is best left to a separate post I may do if I can’t think of what else to write. It is here when I placed the chalk on the cement slab of a ping pong table that the ancient dopamine receptors began to reawaken.     This chalk is finally an opportunity to further something I nearly forgot I loved. Art. It was cheap, nondestructive, and portable. Perfect for the current minimalist lifestyle. The stick felt rough but the adrenaline of reentering the creative world of art pushed me through. [During this upcoming year the wife and I decided to camp and live remotely ...