A new piece for my next series: “I Suck at Drawing Marilyn Manson”

Hey Everyone! I know I posted last week about a drawing series inspired by my inability to draw David Bowie, but this past week I’ve done a lot of thinking; Bowie is a complete hack. I mean, what kind of guy releases an album after 10 years?! And what a sell out: he did not even take a new picture for his album art. He’s probably just ashamed of his mismatched eyes. Laaaame. It became clear to me that Marilyn Manson was a much better choice for an art subject, so I’m revamping the series based on him. Sadly, I suck at drawing him, too, it seems. At the very least, here are a few more attempts that will probably please you far more than those Bowie drawings ever could!

PSYCH! Yeah, this was a super lame April Fool’s joke. I actually have been continuing the Bowie series. Here are a few more of those from last week…

Bowie and a kawaii Neko :3Bowie and a kawaii Neko :3

Disapproving Bowie does not like my attempt to draw him.

Throwback Thursday Style: look at that hair!

A Reality promo pic from 2003. Has it really been 10 years?!

For good measure, here is a little doodle that I came up with when I drew that Throwback Thursday one.  I was amused at least.

He is liek so sexi

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First in an ongoing series called “I suck at drawing David Bowie.” Black and white with grey marker, drawn in my current moleskine.

I admit it’s been too long since I have posted anything in this dang blog here.  Life kind of picked up around me the past few weeks, from my work as an intern on Parkland to my family road trip over spring break.  I have prioritized sleeping, goofing off, and playing around in favor of writing for this blog, but I need to remember writing for this blog can be another form of play; a form of practice play, and the same kind of play I am hoping to bring to my drawing practice.

Here is a little Bowie doodle that comes from a recent re-obsession with the living legend after the release of “The Next Day” (remember how one of my first posts was a review of that first single?  The weeks flew by!).  The album is pretty much absolutely excellent, and I want to write a detailed review of it soon.

As the title of this post and the accompanying art piece reveal, I suck at drawing David Bowie.  It’s a painful irony for one who both loves this man and loves to draw, but it’s an irony that I intend to make temporary.  Since Bowie is my obsession of the moment, I will be drawing him everyday (or working on a painting that is now months overdue!) and sharing the fruits of my labor here and on my art’s facebook page.

Let’s see how long this lasts.  Let’s see if I improve.  But above all, Let’s Dance!

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Andy needed a nice grey helmet that could pass for a mountain climber’s for a brief shot of a character.  Since this was a self produced endeavor, we had a tiny budget.  However, a little cleverness and creativity made it an easy enough task.  It helps that Andy is such a great guy and director!

So, Let’s begin the process!

Step One:  Assess your prop in its original format.  It’s an ugly, black thrift-store find with gunk and scratches.

It ain’t pretty yet.

Step Two: Clean and remove gunk!  Realize that you are going to have to get rid of some of that gunk.  I used my keys for this.  It was pretty easy to get most of the junk off with this method.  Sometimes, use of a blowdryer can also de-activate whatever the original adhesive was. Get rid of that junk!

Gunk junk

Step Three: Sand that thing!  Next, you gotta sand the plastic down a bit.  Since I chose to go with spray paint, I needed to make sure the plastic surface had a bit of grit to it so the paint could adhere to something.  I used this 3M Sanding block I found at a hardware store.  Got the job done, and can definitely be utilized for future projects.

Buff buff buff

Step Four: Separate the guts.  Or at least remove the styrofoam padding from the helmet shell.  You don’t want to get paint on it.  This photo also shows off the newly buffed surface of the plastic shell.

Gutted!

Step Five:  Tape face ties down and out of the way. Again, you want to remove and/or cover up parts of the piece that you don’t want to paint.  I used an eco-friendly (…it’s green anyway!) painter’s tape.  Painter’s tape, usually blue, is good for this kind of thing because it’s meant for temporary jobs.  If you go with something like duct tape, you will run into another sticky junk problem!

Earth friendly tape

Step Six: Safety first!  Obligatory, post-apocalyptic photo.  What this really is is protecting the eyes, noes and face from any spray paint fumes.  I took it outside for the spraying bit, but you can never be too safe!

Ready to brave the apocalypse

Step Seven: Spray that first layer. Make sure you are in a place where spraying is cool.  I did it outside of my front door, but on a block of cardboard.  You don’t want to upset your neighbors. 

First coat

Step Eight:  Admire your spray can, spray another layer. So, this was another shot to show you what the helmet looks like so far from afar, as well as the type of paint I used.  It’s a Krylon Dual spray paint that includes the primer!  Saves a step! 

Krylon!

The best photo of this series

Step Nine:  Allow to dry. Once you’ve made sure the paint job is even, give it about an hour to dry. 

Coat 2!

Step Ten:  Add the final matte coat. Once it’s dried a bit more, apply a finishing coat of acrylic.  This will seal in the paint.

Aaaand we’re done here.

And there you have it!  What did I learn from this process?  I have an urge to spray paint everything!  I also realized it didn’t take too much to make something cheap look much nicer.  The entire process was completed in a couple of hours.  Make sure to let any spray painted items dry for a full 24 hours before actually handling.

If you have any questions or need production design ideas, feel free to comment here and we can start a discussion!

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Digital painting of Jack Frost

My first portfolio post of the year! A cheery Jack Frost illustration I made in photoshop. I am happy for the most part with the colors, although I want to improve my speed when it comes to this kind of thing. I also want to draw smoother lines. Even though I used the tablet, and I’ve had one for years now, I still struggle to get the curves that come easier on paper.

I still haven’t settled on a schedule for what days to post what, but I will probably write about music tomorrow, feminism on Wednesday, and food on Thursday.

Cheers!

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