Behind the scenes process of one long job.
May 7th, 2013
This was a project to illustrate an essay on “taste” for Washington State Magazine. I thought it would be a good demonstration of my 3D process – since it turned out to be a real struggle.
The essay covered a lot of ground as far as taste goes: food, art, literature, relationships, music and more. It was written in “three acts” to give some structure to the ramblings.
To begin with I just focussed on the idea of taste and the author’s disdain for the way our culture inflicts its tastes on us. There was also a lot about the collision of high and low culture.
runway rundown.
Adam and Eve even made an appearance in the text.
Disdain for “star ratings”.
a lowbrow wine taster
snob analysis
I guess these were too crazy and needed to stick more closely to the text. So I was asked to focus on the theatrical idea of the author’s “three act” structure and the clash of high and low culture.
Here is round two of sketches.
These didn’t go over so well either. I guess my visual metaphors were clashing with the essay’s verbal metaphors.
Now I really feel like I’m letting my client down. Sorry John!
John has the idea of using the imagery of Beethoven and a banjo. Both of which are part of the text. So I suggest maybe we could do some sort of dada mash up of the two (like Lautrémont’s chance meeting of a vacuum and a sewing machine on a dissection table).
Or maybe we should just do Beethoven playing a banjo on a stage.
Approved!
Now to roll up the sleeves…
first a very rough color sketch in photoshop.
then I project the line drawing onto illustration board from a projector and mirror system I have mounted in the ceiling of my studio. The projector is tied directly to my computer then bounces the image off a mirror onto my drawing table. Projecting straight from the computer allows me to easily adjust the scale and position of the sketch to work with different found materials I might use in the finished piece.
Here is the projected image which I trace onto multiple pieces of illustration board which I will cut out with an exacto knife.
My first thought was to try carving the borders of the stage out of wood but that went disastrously wrong. So go for the sculpey.
rolling out slabs of an even thickness.
traced and embellished the border onto tracing paper. then I go over that with ball point pen to imprint the lines onto the clay. Flip the tracing paper to make the other side symmetrical and repeat.
same for the sides.
It’s not the same as wood but much easier to shape. Building up a few details here.
Now for Ludwig. How would we ever recognize him without the hair?
Baking the sculpey pieces.
when they are cool enough I start painting them with acrylic. The paint dries quickly when the clay is still warm.
a layer of gold acrylic.
had to run to the fabric store to get velvet for the curtains. Woman at the store thought I was making a santa suit (this is just before Christmas).
Hot glueing the fabric onto painted illustration board background.
Now adding the finished frame pieces.
Now for the banjo: a piece of balsa wood, some sort of vent cover from the hardware store, a cut circle of illustration board and shelf support hardware.
Carving the neck.
fret wire.
finished (almost) banjo.
testing the banjo with the background.
trying all of the pieces with the background before painting.
Need to make a stool. More balsa wood.
Painting the pieces of the figure with casein. I usually prefer casein because it doesn’t glare at all when I photograph it. Though sometimes (like the gold acrylic on the frame) I want some good reflection to happen.
grey highlights for the hair.
Watercolor paper for the collar and some white rag for the neckwear. I glue the pieces together with foam core supports.
The pieces are together. Now I need to work on that face.
Yikes! Not going well. Aside from looking like an ommpaloompa, it doesn’t feel serious or historic like beethoven – just feels like some contemporary guy in a costume.
I try making an ink drawing for the face with hatchings sort of like an old newspaper. Then copy it onto different colored papers.
First diagnosis: jaundice.
the fracturing was starting to work a bit better for me here. Seemed more like a crazed genius (maybe I should have fractured it more).
hmm. That banjo needs strings.
thread from my travel sewing kit.
complete and ready to photograph.
Right next to the projector you saw before, I have my digital camera mounted in the ceiling. It too tethers thorough a usb cable in the wall into my computer. I have remote view monitoring to adjust the lights and positioning of the art and seeing it right on my screen.
leveling out the camera.
both ways.
I take several shots with different lighting. Then I bring it into photoshop. Then I create clipping paths in photoshop to make that background perfectly white.
Adjust some levels and here you see the finished file.
Well, for better or worse, That’s my 3D process. It always changes depending on what materials are involved but that’s basically it. It’s a pretty crazy way to make an illustration and it drives me crazy too sometimes. Thanks for your patience John!
class="post-366 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-assignments" id="post-366">
Washington Post: Capitol Business
December 5th, 2012cover image and an inside piece for the annual “Washington 200″ issue. The Washington 200 is the list of 200 largest companies in the D.C. area. This issue’s focus was on sectors which added jobs to the economy.
Scouting: Recycle-Regatta
November 5th, 2012For an article about a scout activity where they find things in the recycling bin, make boats out of them and race them in rain-gutter lanes.
Washington State Magazine: Big Money in College Sports
October 5th, 2012
The Progressive: Freedom Riders
September 5th, 2012I never knew about the freedom riders movement but Nick Jehlen, the Progressive’s art director, pointed me to a great PBS documentary in order to get informed for this illustration for the Progressive’s 2012 calendar. It was a powerful experience learning about the determination and sacrifice of both black and white bus riders to change America.
The style her is more along the lines of my body of work I cal “Dig-Brut”. It’s sort of my version of art-brut with photoshop. You can see more at www.davewheeler.com/digi-brut.
class="post-357 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-assignments" id="post-357">Box Rocket: homepage image
July 5th, 2012this is for an educational website under development which encourages kids to think creatively and scientifically.
LA Times: risks of investing in foreign currencies
May 5th, 2012
Scouting: the lure of the great outdoors
May 5th, 2012the crux of this story was about encouraging more participation in scouting by getting scouts and their families to outdoor activities.
This time I decided to keep everything digital instead of the mix of digital and physical work I’ve been doing lately.
economic recovery?
April 20th, 2012
out of the box
April 12th, 2012A bit of self promotion.
