Week 9: Porcupine Concubine

The only redeeming factor of the film Night Breed..(that is until they release the new directors cut...if that ever happens) were the sets of this film. The upper level gated graveyard...and the underground dwelling of the city of monsters, Midia. Nightmarish, dark and incredible. Kind of a more grown up version of Monsters Inc...And the creatures of the film. From the serial killing therapist, played by Croenenburg, to the monsters themselves.  
 I've been trying to stretch and grow with my painting skills...So I chose the female form. For me personally, a much harder canvas to paint. No hard edges..no bulking muscle masses. Soft, supple...and in this case..full of poisonous quills. I chose Shuna Sassi. The concubine of the Night Breed...hiding in the city of Midia. This is pen and ink, acrylics. I've been studying a lot of an artist work, Gabe Leonard...and want to try a few of the techniques he uses. Mainly inking with paint instead of ink...if that makes sense. Next go around for sure.

Tim, W9: Ralph McQuarrie Tribute Concept Vader!

awesome finished update post:

Hey Look! I got my act together and actually finished this tribute piece! It has been a really long time since I drew Darth Vader, I used to draw him a lot when I was a kid, he is probably my favorite film villain. In all of those many adolescent drawings I always tried to draw him on model from the movie, with this drawing I wanted to give him more of his pre-film Ralph McQuarrie concept look (there are many), I went with the longer mouth that almost resembles a wolf snout, and a wider samurai influenced helmet. 

For all of you sadists out there (you know who you are) I posted a few process images of this piece on my personal sketch blog: timswitalski.blogspot.com 

and a larger version of this image can be found here: timswit.deviantart.com

original lazy unfinished post:

Well... in the never ending battle of Tim vs. Art, Art has won...for now mu-hu-hahahah (evil laugh). This one just got the better of me, and I'm tired and I'm gonna go to bed. This image is just a place holder until I'm finished and post the final in all of its Sith-y goodness (yes, I know "Sith-y goodness" is quite a contradiction (remember I'm tired))!

Week 9: Roots

I spent a few days looking through Mr. McQuarrie's work, and as much I tried I couldn't get away from that elongated Vader helmet.  The Dagobah paintings were a close second, so I did what I could to combine the two.

Thank you for the inspiration.

Rancor Babies, they make your dreams come true!

I wasn't sure which Ralph McQuarrie design or movie I would choose until I saw this painting he did for Jedi:

And then - it came to me in a flash. I would draw one of the most powerful love stories ever... told...

This is just a quick Adobe Illustrator sketch. Maybe 2 hours? Ta da!
Rest in peace Ralph...

McQuarrie Tribute: IG-88

It was difficult finding what of Ralph McQuarrie's to draw that wasn't Darth or Boba. Those 2 character designs are so strong it's hard to escape their gravity, but then so many of his designs are instantly iconic. Sure his Darth wasn't exactly like the final one we know but the cannon he set for the character was unmistakeable, he set the beats you had to hit to get that character right. Same goes for Boba, Stormtroopers, all of them. Even with the side characters.
I've seen a lot of drawings of IG-88, they are all different but all IG-88. Tall, thin, conic head and too many red eyes to count and it's ol' Iggy. The reason that works speaks to McQuarrie's understanding that when you design a character, keep it simple stupid. Make 'em so you could pick them out from a distance. That's what makes his stuff fun to draw for the rest of us, hit the beats he set and you got it.

This piece I confess was pretty quick, ballpoint pen drawing and colored in Photoshop. I've been playing a lot with the halftone screen lately thanks to Tim's influence and a more lively line thanks to Jim. That's one of the things I've enjoyed a lot doing this weekly blog, playing with things I see in the work of the other Monsters. It's like getting to play with someone's action figures.

Ralph McQuarrie Tribute: Jabba Watcher

I was looking through the various concept paintings that Ralph McQuarrie did for the Star Wars films when noticed a large, lumbering figure off to the side of the Jabba the Hut painting.  I was pretty sure the character was never represented in Return of the Jedi so I thought I'd give him a shot.

For this piece I decided to work on paper again and try drawing "bigger".  I was spending a lot of time on smaller drawings with a limited amount of line mileage.  Thought that this time I would try and change it up a bit.  If I had to change something, I would try to better represent the length of the characters head.  I'm not sure that it comes across as well as I would have liked.  Next week I'm going to try and finally crack into a couple of books on color theory as I feel like I may have hit a wall with my rendering.

Here is the Jabba painting and the character I referenced:

UPDATE: Thanks to a member of deviantart.com, I now know that the character's name is Hermi Odle.  Guess he was in the movie.  My Bad.

See the original sketch at my blog: Still-Reaching.blogspot.com

Twitter: NeedYourDisease

Week 9: A tribute to Ralph McQuarrie

This past weekend legendary concept artist Ralph McQuarrie passed away. Many of you may not know him by name but, you know his work.  Ralph McQuarrie created concept artwork for a huge number of beloved films including  E.T., Total Recall, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Back to the Future. Any of those films alone would place Mr. McQuarrie squarely in the upper echelon of designers, but he is perhaps best know as the artist who George Lucas first hired to conceptualize the "Star Wars" universe. Ralph McQuarrie is responsible for visualizing characters and concepts that have ignited the imaginations of generations of artists and undoubtedly will continue to do so long after all of us reading this are gone. For all of these reasons, we here at "Rust Belt" central have decided to pay tribute to the work of this amazing artist.

For a better understanding of Ralph McQuarrie's art and life PLEASE check out his website www.ralphmcquarrie.com, and to see excellent examples of his "Star Wars" work and read a touching tribute by George Lucas,  go here Ralph McQuarrie Remembered (this one is very much worth it)