kyteki

Drawing again.

2010-01-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

It’s been a hectic end to 2009. Painting and drawing took a backseat as I focused on happenings in my personal life. I felt so scattered figuring out how to present myself as an artist while my personal life was becoming a whirlwind of new relations and contacts. Once I got back into the painting groove it felt that I’ve truly started to master my craft and style of how I create art. There’s will always be room for experimentation but I am now armed with a fresh understanding of my technique and abilities. This became evident during some recently attended life drawing sessions. It’s been years since I’ve drawn models from life and was eager to test my abilities. I had the opportunity to draw digitally with my trusty wacom tablet and a laptop. The first night I did this I was drawing live on a large LCD for the entire room to see. I was feeling some pressure to bust some impressive drawings and once I was comfortable with my drawing setup I was pleased with my results.

Looking back at these sketches, I definitely should have pushed the values. There weren’t enough black and bright highlights. Anatomy was okay, I faked a lot of it. I’ve come to accept this as part of my quick sketching style. I always find it much more difficult when the model is actually clothed.

Here are examples from the second drawing session.

I remembered my value problem for the second sessions and I pushed out even better drawings. These sessions have been taking place at Evermore Nevermore in Mesa, AZ, hosted by the comic drawing and apparel crew Oddity Commodity. Check them out at www.evermorenevermore.com and www.odditycommodity.com

Chaaanges.

2009-10-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

A lot of new happenings have been going on in the past month. I’m no longer feeling that I'm working it alone. I wanted to use this space as a great big thank you and give credit to these particular people and businesses.

Website-
Thanks to my buddy Scott who helped me convert my design to a true website. I had my entire side laid out in a photoshop file and he took whatever I gave him and worked the whole deal for me. We went back and forth in a 12 hour work session till 3 am. It totally paid off! All I had to do was buy him Jack in the Box ^_^. He’s anti social networking so the only proof I have that he exists is his website that he doesn’t seem to update anymore. At least it’s something. Find it at 5secondstospare.com

Printing-
I had gotten the opportunity to put my work in shop but needed to get my digital art work printed out. I was sort of lost. I truly despise most printing businesses that I’ve dealt with and didn’t feel like they could deliver the types of prints I wanted. I randomly found a booth at Phoenix First Friday’s and met John who offered printing services. John and his partner run their printing business out of his house and have a number of options as far as size and material. My prints turned out fantastic! The entire experience of working with them was very personable and I would recommend any artist looking to get their work printed to talk to these people. Find them at favillephoto.com

Shop-
I met Amanda through a mutual friend. This friend showed her some of my art on myspace. Amanda’s had been looking for artwork from local artists to put in her new store. We talked, she likes my work and that’s how it all got started. Amanda has been so easy to work with. She’s super talented, dedicated, and an overall awesome person! I’m so happy to be part of what’s going on in her store and excited to see it grow. Find out about her store at evermorenevermore.com

I.

2009-10-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

The website has been up for about a week now and I’ve gotten positive feedback all around about it. Thanks to all. Like most of my “design” work, the scheme grows organically and I don’t have much pre-determination about the specifics until I work on it. It takes weeks for me to flesh it out. That’s exactly why I decided not to be a designer. My results are delayed and unpredictable. I didn’t want extremely perfect line work that looked too computerized. Impression and overall feeling that the design was hand drawn was a necessity. I wanted the site to feel as if it was an extension of my personality and influence.

So what does my design say about my personality? A quick observation would say I’m obsessed with skulls. Skulls are often associated with death and decay. Yes it’s true, I am fascinated by these things. In college most people interpreted my art as dark and creepy. But there’s contrast, I seek balance. There’s growth and life depicted as well. In my web design discover the floral designs and my other obsession of late, the lotus design. This feeds into the cycle. There are sides of everything we behold and experience. We can love, we can hate. We are good, we are evil. We are living, we are dying. I accept these notions, it makes me self aware.

In conclusion, I want to point that dark dying things are not all I have. Examine the other side.

About Becoming...

2009-09-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

I’ve considered myself done with my academic studies for over a year but I never left the “student of the arts” mindset. Most likely I never will. We continuously learn throughout our lifetime and it is a concept that keeps me energized in all aspects of life. This past year has been a definite transition. No longer have I been rushing to meet the deadlines and stressing over academic project criteria. I’ve had very little input and instruction from others. This was a relief, but I slumped because I needed a break. Through that period of rest I gained some self awareness. I’ve had to increase my personal standards. I’ve always felt I was my most harsh critic but really it was self doubt driving me all along. The doubt has become subdued. I have a strong belief in my capabilities to learn and meet emerging challenges. This year has shown me that I should not take myself so lightly. I’ve bought to life things within that I used to only imagine possible. I’m excited to find what other creations will unfold.