..and proud we are of all of them

2015 Bay Arts "Interns" mural

Like the Big Lebowski we too get to work with a fine group of Junior Achievers!  The last three years we've been invited to work with a few select "interns" for a couple weekends.  First weekend getting them comfortable working as a group and the second week, painting in front of an audience at the Bay Arts Fest!  We love working with these budding young talents and are always impressed with how well it comes together.  If you would like to see these in person all three are lurking at Bay Arts in Bay Village, Ohio!  Enjoy!

2014 Bay Arts "Interns" mural

Behold The Triple Lindy

Click the image, count the lines. 

Hey Folks, Randy here sharing the first of many previews of the upcoming "Triple Lindy" art show Oct 9th at BAYArts.  The show is a collaboration between fellow monster Jim Giar and our good pal Ryan Finley. All three of us teach cartooning at BAYArts, and they asked us to come up with a showcase. 

This is one of our buddy art pieces.  It was made by all three of us penciling and then adding the finishes all by myself.  While the show is really a 3 part solo show, there'll be a lot of buddy art with Jim and Ryan applying finishes as well. If you're in the area, and you like things that are cool, you should make it out. 

But, if not, we'll post more from it along the way.    

The Devil Loves Life Drawing

Sometimes you put something in your sketchbook that sums up your life perfectly.

Your Buddy,

Randy Crider

Ben: The Monster At The End Of This Book

I was recently asked (months ago) to participate in a gallery show at Bay Arts by my friend Erin Schechtman.  The general theme of the "Old Friends Gallery Show" was to reference a beloved childrens' book.  I immediately knew I wanted to do something for Grover in The Monster At The End Of This Book, I just had no idea what.  Having planned on doing it at the last minute, like all of my projects, I had plenty of time to ponder my approach.  The more I "pondered" the less I thought about the story and more about the title.  "Monster At The End Of This Book" taken out of context sounds much more like a classic pulp novel than a children's book.

And that's sort of what happened.  Here is my Pulp/Film Noire version of Sesame Street.  Work in Progress at my personal site : NeedYourDisease.com  

-Ben

...cue action music

Probably the most asked questions we get while painting a mural is,  "What are you going to do with it when you are done?" "Are you going to sell it when you are done?"  Well part of that answer happens OCT 11, at BAY ARTS!!!!  We've painted on nearly everything and now you can take it home with you!  Want a piece of a mural?  Want a whole mural just not as big as our full murals?  WANT A FULL SIZED MURAL FOR YOUR WALL?  Want a painting of an eyeball with lightening coming out of it on an old hard hat?  If you answered yes than come to Bay Arts in Bay Village this Friday night.  Say hi, see cool stuff, have a great time at our FIRST gallery show!!!!

BAYarts 2013

The 2013 BAYarts Art & Music Festival was a few weeks back. There the Rust Belt Monster Collective painted this mural, with the help of our monster squad of interns: Grace Harms, Emily Neroni, and Nate Overlow.  Like our other murals, prints are on the way, and video of the event over at the main site soon! 

Red is for Roses

Second verse, same as the first. A little bit louder and a little bit worse.

 This is my second painting for "The Apron Covers It", an exhibition at the BAYarts center in Bay Village, Ohio that celebrates women by focusing on the theme of aprons. Is is a sister show to another one on the campus which features art about dresses. All of the women in this show are BAYarts faculty, including myself.

This painting uses the same models and encaustic painting techniques as in my previous post. If you want to learn more about how to paint this way, click here. I will also be teaching a workshop on Encaustics at BAYarts during the first week of August. If you are interesting in attending, you can get the details by clicking here.

"Red is for Roses"  • 18 in x 12 in wood panel • Colored Pencil, Watercolor, Marker, Gesso, Handmade Paper, Beeswax, Oil Paint • On Display at BAYarts in Bay Village Ohio Until August

Available through the gallery for $275.00 

Come see it live on Friday, July 5th at the gallery opening.

Thanks everyone!

- Erin

Encaustic Painting Demo!

"Fadeaway" • 10 in x 22 in wood panel • Colored Pencil, Watercolor, Marker, Gesso, Handmade Paper, Beeswax, Oil Paint • On Display at BAYarts in Bay Village Ohio Until August

This week, I have been creating work for a group show at BAYarts in Bay Village, OH. The show opens on July 5th and features art that honors women's roles by focusing on a "Apron" theme. I am thrilled to be in the company of 9 other amazing female BAYart's teachers for this exhibit.

The painting above is the first of my two entries for the show. The model here is my beautiful friend Laura, who is an incredible photographer (and is super cool too!) 

Here's how I made it: I started with watercolor washes and marker over my vine charcoal drawing. I love how it bled into the wood!

Started working in the colored pencils. I ended up using a very limited pallet overall: White, Light Peach, Mandarin Orange, Dark Brown, and Terracotta Prismacolor pencils. I did pull out some reds of course when I got to her dress.

 The face is colored pencil over my watercolor wash with a touch of marker here or there. I used fabercastelle markers - 3 different shades of brown and red on the dress.

The white at the top here is gesso

Kitty break!

 

 Marker and colored pencil hair with washes of watercolor

Once I was finished rendering, I added the key element of this composition - some pretty handmade paper glued on with elmer's glue and water. It was very hard to wait until all the drawing was done since I was so excited to do this!

Time to add the beeswax. I brushed on the wax pretty roughly because I wanted a lot of texture to show, but I did smooth out the wax on and around her face with the heat tool. My favorite part is that the wax turns the white of the handmade paper translucent!

 

This is what it looks like with the beeswax... not much different yet

 

 This is a cool part - to get the texture of the wax to show, I brushed on burnt umber oil paint. The paint is diluted with Liquin medium so it will dry quickly.

This is what the painting looked like covered with burnt umber.

Using a paper towel (and gloves) I started removing the paint layer.

The paint sticks in the rough texture I created with the wax and to the wood like magic!

You never really know what you're going to get in this process and the randomness is exciting. You can always fix parts that don't work, of course!

I wanted the final piece to be a little bit brighter, so I continued to wipe some areas of the paint off using a paper towel soaked in turpenoid, making sure to preserve the textured areas I love.

 Final Painting - "Fadeaway" (named in honor of Coles Phillips' famous illustration technique)

Come see it live on Friday, July 5th at the gallery opening.

Thanks everyone!

- Erin

Monster Internship: Day 1

Our first ever collaboration with young artists got off to an amazing start this weekend.  The Rust Belt Monsters were joined by 3 students in the creation of a new mural.  Each artist added their own special flair to the mural which will be completed June 15th at Bay Arts's Annual Art and Music Festival.  Scroll down for more photos.