Bal Ingenieux: 4th Annual poster

It's that time of year again to unveil the Bal Ingenieux poster!  Each year I try to pay some tribute to the Illustrators who came before me from Cleveland's own, Kokoon Arts Club.  They were a group of Artists of every discipline who band together from the late 19 teens into the 1960's.  Many, fabulously talented Artists exhibited together, studied together and once a year threw these amazing costume balls that quickly became the place to be in mid-century Cleveland.  

The Bal Ingenieux was brought back as a kind of tribute by Ingenuity Cleveland and for the last few years I've had the honor to create a poster for the event.  This year I decided to go a bit more jazz age and kinda Futurist for this piece and it all sprung from this dress.

This photo is from one of the Kokoon Art auctions from the 1930's.  Not exactly the style you think of when you imagine a dress from the Thirties.  It does however fit very comfortably in some of the art from that period.  See Viktor Schreckengost if you would like to see some of the best examples of that style ( proud Clevelander and someone I was EXTREMELY fortunate to meet when I was a student at CIA).   Check out his Jazz Bowl series:  

It's graphic, playful and just moves your eyes all over the place!  

Another inspiration for this piece that may be a bit out of left field but once you see the art I think you will understand, Laura Dumm is another fellow Clevelander who I've also been EXTREMELY fortunate to meet through our regular Drink and Draws. Her and her husband Gary Dumm (himself a GIANT in the Indie comic world) keep churning out some of the most lively art you can ever set your eyeballs on.  What struck me is their use of color and pattern, I frequented dummart.com for inspiration in the early phases of this piece (and you should to!).    She is certainly not a contemporary of the Kookoon Arts club but her and Gary certainly imbibe that spirit!

So there ya go another year's Bal Ingenieux on off the board on on the wall.  As you can see the event is this coming weekend and if you are able to go I would highly recommend it.  For more information check out balingenieux.com

And be sure to check out some of the in process drawings here!

Ohio: The Heart Of It All.

The Monsters are cooking up something giant for this years Ingenuity Fest, and it involves Robots.  I've decided to add a bit of local pride into my contribution to our loosely guarded secret project. I couldn't draw a nuclear power plant head without thinking about Perry, Ohio.  With any luck, I'll have stickers of this dude at Ingenuity, and you know he'll make your lunchbox the coolest. 

Just remember. Monsters + Robots + Giant, I KNOW you like those things.

Your Pal, 

Randy Crider 

Engine, Engine No.9

It's not commonly known who invented the caster wheel nor that the inventor was a genius of pure evil, exceptionally inept but still pure evil!  This is his Evil Engine No.9, minion and "guy Friday" to Professor Caster for most of his career.  Not quite adept loathsome or dirty deeds, or turning corners for that matter,  No.9 could port heavy loads, mix drinks and developed a knack for all manner of courtly and Gentlemanly behavior.  

Most of the wonders of this massive machine has been lost to time, only the lowly caster wheel remain to carry the Caster name.

Bal Ingenieux 2014!

That time of year is here again, Bal Ingenieux is coming back to Cleveland!  The annual fund raiser event for Ingenuity Cleveland filled with live music, Vaudeville entertainment, costumes and just a ton of awesomeness.  For us at the RBMC it's an event close to our hearts, it was at the fist Bal Ingenieux that we did our first live mural and got absolutely addicted to it!  

All in all it's an amazing event, if you are anywhere close to Cleveland you should go, it's like stepping back in the past.  You can find ticket info here.

I have been fortunate to be asked for the last three years to provide the poster for the event.  To be part of a grand Cleveland tradition is really humbling in the best kind of way.  If you are interested in the past year's posters you can back track at least last year's in this blog OR I'll be posting the whole process back at my Facebook page, here and linking them onto the Rust Belt page as well.