Sunday, December 30, 2012

Weathered Old Lady..



I've decided to pour in some more personal insights into the art book... Enzo was actually a separate book I think will fit better into the art book. Not a re-hash of history... when I read an art book I always wonder, what free floating thoughts, music, smells or seasons occurred when such and such a page was drawn?

That's the plan. We'll se how it all jells together. At least it might make it worthy of a second read rather than just be a big 'picture book'..



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Meanwhile... here's something else I tried.









I decided to 'age' the paper I drew it on, just like her skin is aged.

You can see I wanted her scarf to cover more of her head so I clumsily pasted over another piece of paper.









I love the leathery skin ones gets as they ages.









Tried to 'blur' her mid way down the body...


....trying for some feeling motion?








actually, could almost be an old man. Funny how depending on the body type, the gender almost disappears in some people.


Hey, I have to throw in some quasi -normal portraits between all these abstracts I do, eh?







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Btw: Thanks for the kind comments.. it's flattering when fans see my whole body of work as a whole piece. More and more... it feels like that to me too, even if some of it was work for hire or owned by a publisher, and some i own, it all bears my thumb print in some way, eh?


Hopefully.


Have a cool holiday everyone!
Sam








ps: .....lastly hear it is... scanned... without all the wacky dutch camera angles.
















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Two Bonus "Chewed up Stuffed Animal" Post from the Cap'ian:













Thursday, December 27, 2012

Chewed up Stuffed Animals..



Here's a goofy little thing i *was* going to throw up on Tumblr, but instead we'll throw it up here.


While i'll try to resist posting those annoying *cute pet photos* most folks post... I don't mind showcasing occasional pics of dismembered stuffed animals our little dog has his way with.

Besides, it gives the Cap'ian something to do, doesn't it?

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I know, i posted this Hollows Preview already - but I had used up some space, so I to bought some extra gigs on the blog so the photos should open bigger again now. For a few posts they weren't opening as large. So that's fixed.


Figure you won't mind clicking and see this a little larger.

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Pre-New Years Resolution: I have promised myself to start making things out of all the piles of crap material in my studio - new rule is, before i can buy anymore paint, fabric, clay, or bristol board, i need to dig into all the *unused* stuff longing to be made into something.

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I briefly tried out Tumblr last week, but i found some of my other fans had thrown up tons of my art already. Hey, they've done  a far better job than i could, which is way cool because it saves me the trouble.

Any fans who get my art out there for other folks to see, that's totally cool by me!






Thursday, December 13, 2012

Maxx Commissions and Death's Wall.



Because I'm still swimming my way out of comic pages before the Holiday hits... here's a few extra commissions you may missed, or I forgot to throw up.


This is the first Maxx i've drawn in a ga-zillion years... but don't get your hopes up i'll do the book again. I know it's a losing battle fighting fan's nostalgia, but ere's a few myths about the Maxx:



Myth One: Maxx made sense, sorta... at 2am, if you weren't stoned. Truth: Maxx didn't even make sense to ME... so it's doubtful anyone else could make sense of it. I had a few rough ideas of how 1-20 would end... but you could tell past that i kept trying to cram other non-Maxx stories into Maxx, which didn't work...  and is why it's GOOD news i moved onto to Zero Girl, Four Women, Ojo and Bimbo. Plus THOSE suckers made sense. Mostly.

Myth Two: This was my 'peak'. Creative freedom wise? Possibly.  Ideas we're flying out like sh*t from a goose. So to speak. Skill wise, nope. Maxx was *very* hit and miss. And most fans I talk to agree it the most inconsistent art of any comic I've drawn. Some really ugly wretched panels, and pages... don't believe me? I'll dig a few up someday and show you.  Tiny little line wise: Marvel presents had more tiny lines ( if that's the sophomoric narrow permitters we're measuring 'good' art by) - but Epicurus is actually the best ( detailed ) art I've done in my book.



I know ratings are silly and subjective: But detail wise... I'd rate Maxx art as a C plus, Marvel Presents Covers and a few other pieces as B-, and Epicurus as A-.

Inspiration wise: I'd take some of the paintings I've done over my blog, (and some older ones too) as being valid in their own way. The point of he Museum show is for me to stop quibbling and just be gracious any body likes all four sams: 'Vintage Epicurus Sam',  'Classic MCP covers Sam',  'Underground Maxx Sam', Storyteller Sam ( Bimbo, Zerogirl, Ojo), or ' Weird-ass-Patings Sam' .



I think I added an extra 'Sam' in there somewhere. Oh and there's Weird Antiques Sam, and Trout Sam, and Dana and Nola Sam ( probably better filed under Storyteller Sam, or maybe Trout Sam.) Gets silly in a way... but when someone asks you

Do you like Sam Kieth? The question that spring to mind is:

...which Sam?



Thanks to all the folks who requested these commissions in the first place.  (Hey...Is that SuperMeatBoy in there??? ) And I promise, no more bitching about Maxx.  Ignore any gripes I make. Hey, If i didn't have *some* affection for Maxx (or all my other creations), i wouldn't have dreamed them up in the first place, right?

Just trying to bring all my halves... or fourths... (or sixteenths?) together. That's what all these art books are trying to do... as a shift from 'middle age sam' into 'old man sam'.  Looking for a little Closure. Rest. Compassion on myself.... and for all my various 'drawing highs'.... and 'drawing lows'. It's the lows that make the highs possible. Sublime and Grotesque, that's my art in a nutshell.


Here's Lastly... an old commission I did Neil threw up on his Tumblr account and had a nice word for it.

http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/37688416396/travisellisor-deaths-trophy-wall-by-sam

Getting a 'wonderful' from Mr. Gaiman... is kinda cool.