State of the Artist 3/26/2014

View halloo, all!!

This week's update sees the fourth and final Work-a-Week Project painting, and the last week's Daily Doodle sketches. If you'd like to see these as they're completed every day, please Like my Facebook Page (HERE or search for Silvertales Studio in Facebook's search bar) or follow my Twitter feed (@silvertales) as I upload them there daily.

So sorry for the delay, post-con is always a rather crazy time!


Work-A-Week 2014 Project


Work-A-Week 4 (Day 27)

This piece didn't actually make the top 5 in terms of votes to be finished (it was in the top 7, though,) but I *really* wanted to work on it, and finish it in time to take prints to MegaCon (which I did!)

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Toning and building up my layers for the background with (you guessed it) Payne's Gray and Ultramarine Blue. I masked off the moon, figure, and city shape (which I added for the painting) with liquid frisket so I could just paint and not have to worry too much about keeping clean edges.

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More layers of paint for the cloudy night sky background, and adding in those defining shadows in the figure. I'm using the same mix of Payne's Gray and Ultramarine Blue for the figure.

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I used flat black India Ink for the body/mask and eyes and a mix of Cadmium Red/Alizarin Crimson for the hood/scarf thing.

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More tonal build up all around, both in the figure and in the background. You can see some of the salt sprinkled into the background for additional texture.

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Bringing the colors in the figure to life with more passes of color. I've dropped the Alizarin Crimson from the red paint blends now, to keep the hood/scarf thing warmer than the rest of the image. So, here it's all Cadmium Reds and a dash of Indian Red... and a touch of Copic markers to clean up some of the edges.

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Original Painting: $300
11x17" Watercolor, marker

Prints: $20

Like the other pieces completed this year, the sketch was enlarged from 9x12" to 11x14" and then slightly altered to work at 11x17" to take advantage of the format. I've done a lot of work in 11x17" lately, and I really like it! I've got another planned for 11x17" (that was always intended to be 11x17",) the next set of 4 in the Comic Nouveau series, and the other two Sketch-A-Day 2014 pieces that tied for 4th place that will also be done at 11x17".




Daily Doodle Batch #5:

This batch upload consists of the images from 3/17/14-3/23/14.

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I've included a commission or two from last weekend's MegaCon in the Daily Doodles, simply because I didn't really "doodle" while I was attending MegaCon, as I was busy manning my table and all the art I was doing over the weekend was convention/commission related.



If you have any questions or comments about any of the Daily Doodles, please leave them in the comments below, I'd be happy to answer any questions!! As the Daily Doodles Project is continuing throughout 2014, please feel free to leave prompts or suggestions, there are so many more days to go!! :)


I thank you for joining me again this week! Feedback is the food which fuels the creative discussion between Artist and Audience, please, feel free to comment or leave suggestions for new projects!


If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

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State of the Artist 9/30/2013

View halloo, all!

Wow, this will be the last State of the Artist update for September... where does the time go?!

Be that as it may, it is actually a SUNNY Monday here on Planet Kit, for a change! It's definitely a good thing, as I was starting to feel rather waterlogged here. Anywhoodles, on with the update!



Weekly Words

The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.
- Eric Hoffer, 1902 - 1983



Current Project

It's on to Round Two of the Comic Nouveau Project, and so, the first batch of Marvel characters are on the drawing board!

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TOP LEFT: Storm. Ororo Munroe, resident weather goddess. This is her Earth-616 costume and 'hawk hair.Storm has been through a boatload of costume/hair changes over the years, but if I wasn't going to do the 90's cartoon costume this is the one that appealed to me the most. There still needs a little tweaking before I'm 100% satisfied, but these are early stage sketches for the finished pencils.

TOP RIGHt: Phoenix. Jean Grey, telepath and telekinetic. I haven't decided on whether this will be the red-and-gold costume or the green-and-gold... either way, she was a much stronger character from a development and storytelling standpoint as Phoenix than as her otherwise perpetual second-fiddle role as Cyclops' wife.

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TOP LEFT: Wolverine. Logan, adamantium-fused skeleton, short, grumpy, and chain smokes cigars like they're going out of style. Resident Canadian. I struggled with Wolverine a great deal. I've long been a fan of the X-Men (well, certain incarnations of the title) and, as such, had a concrete headcannon regarding Wolverine and none of the sketches I was playing with were making me happy. I think I went through 7 iterations of Wolverine before I ended up here (which is actually the FIRST sketch of Wolverine I produced, with a handful of tweaks.) I'm still working on refining the costume, so this rough sketch is no where near ready to be cleaned up for final pencils.

TOP RIGHT: Gambit. Remy LeBeau, resident Ragin' Cajun. Out of the plethora of Marvel characters, Gambit is my absolute favorite (another character TPTB insist on %*%&$ing around with... mostly with regards to the disastrous relationship with Rogue they keep insisting on pushing. It's truly painful and keeps messing with his characterization.) This is the second sketch for Gambit. The first one was ok, but just didn't have that Gambit *feel* for me.



Monthly Postcard Project

The Monthly Postcard Project is still going strong, new artwork produced every month for delivery to people's mailboxes! The August Monthly Postcard Project original is available for sale to the general public!



This piece is 5.5x8.8" on toned art paper completed in ink, white ink, and marker. The original is available for $30USD + $6USD for domestic US shipping or $9USD for international shipping.

Please reply here, or send an email to silvertales[at]gmail[dot]com with "August Monthly Postcard original" in the subject line if interested.


Near Future

Aside from working on October's Monthly Postcard Project original, the 2013 Holiday Card Project original, and round 2 of the Comic Nouveau Project, the near future sees me preparing for a convnetion appearance at Necronomicon in Tampa, FL October 18-20 with MCA Hogarth!

Well, I think that's all for this week's State of the Artist update here on Planet Kit.

I thank you for joining me again this week! Feedback is the food which fuels the creative discussion between Artist and Audience, please, feel free to comment or leave suggestions for new projects!


If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

Feel free to post links to this journal/community if you feel there might be interest in my artwork!

State of the Artist 9/16/2013

View halloo, all!

It's yet *another* soggy Monday here on Planet Kit... yes, summer is the raining season for South Florida, but this is ridiculous. I swear, it's been raining nearly every day since mid-April. -.-;;; But, be that as it may, though it's a little late, it's time for the State of the Artist update, so here we go!



Weekly Words

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

-Herman Melville, 1819 - 1891




Current Project

So, last week, I posted the line art for the first set of the "comics nouveau" series I've started. There's been a number of Real Life interruptions, that precluded them all being done by now, but, I'll have the finished 4 posted for next week's State of the Artist, after PalmCon this Saturday.

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TOP LEFT: Batman in his full grayscale "glory," as it were. For all 4 I decided to go with the DC's New52 costume redesigns, and I'm not entirely sure why... O.o

TOP RIGHT: Nightwing in New52 color... I have to admit, I had a thing for the pre-boot Nightwing's shoulder stripes, so I know that's why I went with the latest redesign for Nightwing. Thanks to Brett Booth for bringing back the fingerstripes... even if they are red this time around.

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TOP LEFT: Superman's New52 redesign (by Jim Lee)... which looks a bit more structured than his previous renditions. Clark has definitely got his whole Primary Color Scheme going on, though.

TOP RIGHT: Wonder Woman's New 52 redesign (also by Jim Lee,) still keeping the shorts and bustier.

I've been poking at the next three for the series: Gambit, Storm, and Wolverine (Marvel) and I've got a couple of starting sketches I think will work well... if I could just get Wolverine to cooperate, then everything would be fine. -.-;;;

If there is interest, I'll take print orders for these after PalmCon.



Near Future

Well, the very Near Future sees me manning my Artist table (#16) at PalmCon this Saturday, September 21st at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. It's a one day con, and it will be my first appearance at this convention, so if you'll be attending, please come by and say hi!

October sees me appearing at Necronomicon in Tampa, FL, October 18-20, where I'll be sharing a table with MCA Hogarth for the weekend! The trilogy I did the covers for will be available for purchase at her table, along with many, many other titles, most of which feature her own artwork on their covers! Come by and say hi!

In between these conventions (and afterwords) I'll be working on expanding the Comic Nouveau series, along with continuing the Monthly Postcard Project and gearing up for the 2013 Holiday Card Project. I should be posting the open request for the Holiday Card Project in mid-October, and keeping it open through mid-November. So, be on the lookout for information about that project!


Well, I think that's all for this week's State of the Artist update here on Planet Kit.

I thank you for joining me again this week! Feedback is the food which fuels the creative discussion between Artist and Audience, please, feel free to comment or leave suggestions for new projects!


If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

Feel free to post links to this journal/community if you feel there might be interest in my artwork!

State of the Artist: 9/9/2013

View halloo, all!

Posting late, I know (but, it's still Monday!) It's been a rather busy day on Planet Kit. My great aunt celebrated her 101st birthday today, and as such, there was much food, much music, much crazy Cuban chatter and arm-waving... it was all good. :)

But, it's time now for the State of the Artist update, so let's get to it!



Weekly Words

Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, or a new country.
- Anaïs Nin, 1903 - 1977



Current Project

Yay! Today, I'm posting the WIP series of images for the book covers completed for author MCA Hogarth's Jokka trilogy completed during the month of August! This was another abstract acrylic project, and very exciting for me! Maggie and I have known each other a long time, and I was thrilled to be asked to produce new covers for her expansive Jokka universe trilogy.

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TOP LEFT: Stage 1 - freshly-primed canvases with heavy gel medium for texture. The concept behind the covers was to have a textured "keyhole" design on each cover (for a medallion to be placed in each cover's center) with a textured streak to indicate where in the series the book falls: book one has one streak, book two has two, etc.

TOP RIGHT: Stage 2- Adding depth and tone by applying a thick layer of flat black acrylic paint over the top 1/3rd of the canvas and the (now dry) texture medium and thinning with a light application of water from the very top of the canvas, letting it run down the length. This method thins the black paint unevenly, which is what I'm going for here.

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TOP LEFT: This is known as the "Royal Mess" stage... when the paintings are looking their most dubious. The first applications of color. Book One: yellows, oranges, reds. Book Two: blues, greens, yellow. Book Three: greens, yellows. I'm keeping my brush strokes broad and messy to preserve texture as I continue to apply thin layers of paint, both to build up color coverage and intensity.

TOP RIGHT: Building up the color. Most of the tonal variations under the bright colors are getting lost as I keep building the acrylic layers, except for where I've placed my textures. I'm building up layers to deepen out from the keyhole design elements.

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TOP LEFT: Adding brighter, deeper, more intense yellows to the center of each keyhole.

TOP RIGHT: I realized what I'd originally planned for these covers wasn't going to work unless the textured areas were the same bright yellows as the center of the keyholes. So, I obliterated my tonal tinting and covered the texture with the same bright, flat yellow... which I fine-tuned in the next stage. (This project actually went through a few "Royal Mess" stages... but, that's kind of the joy/frustration of traditional media!

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TOP LEFT: Yay! Tonal tinting restored to the textured areas, to provide depth, pulled the deeper colors from the lower corners of the paintings in closer to help set off the yellow poured element on each textured streak, elongating them through the body of the painting.

TOP RIGHT: To give the paintings a bit more expansion, I edged each canvas in the darkest shade used all the way around. There are least 6 different, independent, colors of paint in each painting, plus adding Dioxazine Purple or Payne's Grey (depending on the canvas) to deepen the darkest edges. (This picture was taken before increasing the yellows to the textured areas on the canvases.)

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TOP LEFT: The Jokka medallions for the keyhole element on the paintings. I did these independently of the paintings to allow Maggie to align the paintings whichever way she felt worked best for her covers, instead of restricting her to any specific layout in case the initial idea (keyhole on the front, streaks wrapping around to the back) didn't end up feeling right. Good thing, too, since that's not what ended up happening!

TOP RIGHT: (Photo courtesy of MCA Hogarth) the completed, printed, ready for purchase covers! Cover layout is 100% MCA Hogarth and she ended up flipping the paintings "upside down" (if abstracts ever really have a right side up,) which put the keyholes at the bottom! Given her text arrangement, this ended up working beautifully!

There is something viscerally satisfying about seeing your work on the cover of a book.... This project was a wonderful collaboration, and working with Maggie is never like work, it's always a fun exchange of ideas that feed off each other. I got terrific and enthusiastic feedback from Maggie as I set her the progress photos from my kitchen table at all hours of the night over the course of the project. I was very happy I managed to complete the paintings in time to deliver them in person when I saw her for a short visit after AFO.



Near Future

The Near Future sees me continuing work on the Comics Nouveau series I posted the line work for in last week's State of the Artist update. I've started scribbling out the lines for the second set of Marvel's Storm, Wolverine, and Gambit, but I hope to have the first four (Batman, Nightwing, Wonder Woman, and Superman) done in time for PalmCon on Sept. 21.

After PalmCon, I'll be sharing a table with MCA Hogarth at Necronomicon in Tampa, FL October 18-20.

Necro should be my last convention appearance for 2013... and while I'm already set for MegaCon (March 21-23) in Orlando, FL, I'm hoping to add Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, WA (March 28-30) to my convention roster... and possibly Chicago Comicon and Entertainment Expo in Chicago, IL (April 25-27,) but I'm not 100% sold on C2E2 just yet.


Well, I think that's all for this week's State of the Artist update here on Planet Kit.

I thank you for joining me again this week! Feedback is the food which fuels the creative discussion between Artist and Audience, please, feel free to comment or leave suggestions for new projects!


If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

Feel free to post links to this journal/community if you feel there might be interest in my artwork!

State of the Artist 9/2/2013

View halloo, all!

It's a rather soggy Monday here on Planet Kit, and it's a bit late (but it's still Monday) so it's time for a State of the Artist update!



Weekly Words

Writing is a socially acceptable form of getting naked in public.

-Paulo Coelho (1947- )

This is true for all the creative endeavors, really. Regardless of the medium, as a creator, you infuse every project with a part of yourself. Some are titillating glimpses of what lies within, while others are gut-wrenching expositions that put it all out there. Either way, we expose ourselves to the world, accepted or rejected.



Current Project

A few weeks ago, I had posted a poll for all of you to chose which of the DC heroes poses would be turned into completed images for upcoming conventions. Thank you very much to everyone who took the time to vote, it is much appreciated!

Well, the winners were tallied and the lineart, complete with Art Nouveau frames, and are ready for posting! If people would like to see these as they progress, please let me know in the comments!

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TOP LEFT: Batman / TOP RIGHT: Nightwing
BOTTOM LEFT: Superman / BOTTOM RIGHT: Wonder Woman



Monthly Postcard Project

It's time to release July's Monthly Postcard Project original for purchase by the general public!



July's postcard original is 5x8" mixed media (ink, marker, white ink, white conte crayon) on toned drawing paper. It is $30USD (plus $6USD domestic US / $9USD international shipping.)

If interested, please reply in the comments!



Near Future

Coming up mid-month, I'll be appearing at PalmCon in West Palm Beach, FL on September 21, 2013.

In October, I'll be sharing a table with MCA Hogarth at Necronomicon in Tampa, FL from October 18-20, 2013.

Next week will see the start of the WIP postings of the latest batch of abstract acrylics completed for author MCA Hogarth to be used as covers for her Jokka trilogy. It's so very exciting to see these completed paintings as shiny, in-print book covers!

If there is interested expressed, there will also be forthcoming WIP pics of the Superhero Nouveau series as it progresses. Right now, the 4 pencils pictures above are the only ones in progress, but Marvel comics' Storm, Wolverine, and Gambit are next on the drawing board to be followed by Batwoman, Supergirl, and Jean Grey... with the likely additions of the 4 Robins together (Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Robin) and Captain Marvel [Carol Danvers] and Wiccan & Hulkling.)

I'm still taking suggestions for more heroes (to be done either as individuals or teams,) I might start doing villains if there is enough interest, too... if so, Joker and Harley Quinn are definitely on the list!



Well, I think that's all for this week's State of the Artist update here on Planet Kit.

I thank you for joining me again this week! Feedback is the food which fuels the creative discussion between Artist and Audience, please, feel free to comment or leave suggestions for new projects!


If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

Feel free to post links to this journal/community if you feel there might be interest in my artwork!

State of the Artist 10/1/2012

View halloo, all! It's Monday, so welcome to another State of the Artist update! Weekly Words In youth we learn; in age we understand. -Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, 1830 - 1916 Current Project As I said last week, I'm posting WIP pictures of "The Eastern Star," the second in the crew lineup of the Lofty Pursuits airship brothel. I'll start with the clean line art image, full of lots of little details guaranteed to drive me nuts: and move on to adding in base coats of the skin tone colors, gradually building up color in layers, and the border. While working on "Red Light Flights" (the first in the series) I found I'd get some pigment bleed if I left the pale border colors for last so I did it first this time: ... adding in costume pieces, again in light layers to build up color depth and intensity. I used to work straight from the final color I wanted only to realize it usually made things very heavy and blocky, without any kind of luminosity. Next week, moving on to the background! O.o Near Future Not much different here than last week's Near Future plans: more Necro con prep, commission work to do, and Holiday Card ideas to consider.... Ack! Thank you for joining me for another State of the Artist update! Please feel free to leave comments below, a LiveJournal account is not necessary to comment here, and feedback is always appreciated, it makes for a Happy Kit! If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

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State of the Artist 11/28/2011

View halloo, peoples!

I hope all my fellow American followers had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday, and that my international followers had a lovely weekend!

It's Monday, folks, and you know what that means! Yes, it's time for another State of the Artist update!


Weekly Words

Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.

-Abigail Adams, 1744 - 1818



Current Project


Current commission work: (clicking on the thumbnails will take you to the larger version!)





I was commissioned to complete a set of character sheets for an RPG character, and these are the roughs. For those of you who don't know, character sheets are mockups of a character's appearance with relevant color information and data for developers to use to keep a character consistent. They're predominantly used in the video game industry.

These two pages are the roughs for a character named Kavanaugh: front and back, in skivvies and in his normal daily dress. Right now, it's just the pencils, but when done, they'll be inked and filled with color (digital) along with HEX code color "splotches" for continuity and any pertinent character profile data.

I really hope to have these two pieces, along with the character cover sheet done before it's time to take the family holiday trip! *keeping fingers crossed*




From The Archive




Kitsune Dawn
August 2005
Mixed media: alcohol pigments and ink

Kitsune Dawn is the companion to last week's Geisha Moon and a continuation of the Japanese aesthetic and theme. I decided I wanted to keep a common thread running through these two pieces, regardless of the foreground images and colors, and that was the iconic Mt. Fuji in the background.

Original (A4, ink & alcohol pigments): $150
Prints (8x10" giclee): $12

*Please note me if interested!*



Near Future

I'm happy to say that the Holiday Card artwork has been sent to the printers and now it's just a matter of getting them back before I head out of town for the annual family holiday shenanigans!

Thank you to all the generous people who donated for the cost of production and postage, it is much appreciated! I'll be contacting you over the course of the week to send you a little special something for your generosity!



So, folks, that's all for this week's State Of The Artist update, I do hope you've enjoyed this week's offerings! As always, feel free to comment on this, or any other, post!


If you enjoy seeing posts of new or in-progress artwork, please consider a donation.

Become a patron of the arts!

Feel free to post links to this journal/community if you feel there might be interest in my artwork!