process: the brother's freeze: workin' the skin

this is the brother's freeze, hip hop producers and brothers ray ray (left) and alanso; and this is the process i took to paint them.


i'm mainly focusing on the skin tones in this blog, the funnest part of painting for me.

first, the drawing:



i then blow the finished drawing up on a xerox machine, and trace it on to a gessoed board with transfer paper. spray the pencils with spray fixative (outdoors and with your nose and mouth covered) to keep the pencils from smearing.

coat the board with a thin layer of burnt umber thinned with gamsol over the pencils. i've painted on white boards before, and the white areas you miss while painting will really shine out.

there are two small arrows on the top right of the painting, that's going to be where the light source is coming from (a hanging lamp or something that's out of the frame).




i have references from magazines and photographs, but having a digital camera on-hand can be really handy. i stood under the lamp of my easel and shot these.


reference 1


reference 2




here's an overall blocking in of the colors. i want the side and top border to be red brick, and a receeded door in the background. the overhang will have the name of their studio, 'the freezer,' (the original drawing said 'entrance', i decided to change this after i began the painting) and will also cause a shadow on the top part of the door.

the skin:

here i start to work over the dried underpainting. i start laying in the shadow area (which doesn't come naturally to me, it's easier for me to visualize the highlights first), keeping the shadows warm (i'll lay in some cool highlights last)-




then the midtones. i block everything in roughly-



and blend it with dry blending brush.



here's alanso after the first round of shadows and mids, blended.





adding some other mids to alanso, some greens, some reds to the cheeks and nose.









adding some highlights to ray ray:







here's alanso with his his, mids and lows (sorry about the glare).



same approach goes for the arms. shadows and mids, highlights last. also, trying to get some other colors in the mids - greens, blues, reds; otherwise it looks like too blah.






the main work of the skin is done.

the last step is glazing the darks to make them really drop down in value, i glaze in some colors over the midtones - more reds, brownish-blues, and some green, and some highlights on the areas that would catch the most light.

the brother's freeze, copyright 2007 jw miller

process: sculpting: ron marko

ron marko has been making characters that he is a fan of for about 3 years.
the following is the process he takes to make his statues. molds are crafted from polymer clay, then duplicates are made with steel reinforced and with latex and plaster. they are each buffed and smoothed by hand, then painted with non-toxic acrylic.
his online store can be found here on e-bay.
and he can be contacted via email

this is a quick outline of his sculpting process:


i begin with a styrofoam core for the head mounted on a sturdy base.





the core is then covered in clay (i use "Chavant" oil based clays. I buy it in 12 pound blocks). i use oil based clays for all my projects because it never dries and i can constantly re-work the subject.





a quick rough of the face begins.





i then start to concentrate on essential bone-sructure characteristics.








throughout the entire process good reference material is extremely important!











once the head is done i start on the body.





the head is then glued onto the body. i use 'proBond' glues for this process because it's strong and somewhat flexible. gorilla glue is also a good one.





after forming the neck and doing some overall smoothing (i use lighter fluid, it's great because it does a great job of smoothing out the fine lines left over from finger prints, etc... and it evaporates, leaving no residue) the character is ready for the mold making process. i also spray it with a thin layer of shellac and let it cure for at least 24 hours.





I make about a 3" flange out of more oil based clay. The flange is the dividing line for the mold - It's what makes up the large outer portion of the latex mold. If it is not carefully mapped out first by dividing the mold exactly down the middle it can ruin the entire project. It's a very important step in the process and takes some fore-thought.
i used red this time to help me better see where the model stops and the flange. it's extremely important that you make sure the surface of the flange is smooth, consistent, and joins the model perfectly.





the entire thing will be coated in several layers of a liquid latex, one side at a time, built up over several weeks (I use disposable brushes for the latex layers).
After one side is covered in latex and dried, the flange is removed, leaving the latex and the other side of the mold. I then coat the latexless side with a release agent so the latex doesn't stick to itself and then begin the latex layers on this side of the mold.
ssssssslow, i know, but i prefer latex for it's superior strength and durability. many other products exist. i like latex. the same process happens for the other side once the mother mold is built around it.





the box is built around the model and the negative surface is filled and leveled with sand and some plaster. the blue clay was used for registration keys and to till any undercuts that may have existed (an undercut occurs when the model curves back onto itself).
The registration keys make the mother mold and the latex shell line up for the new mold. Without them it would be impossible to exactly line up the two halves.
it's important to be aware of undercuts. they will lock your mother mold in place and it will be impossible to remove it without breaking it! believe me there's nothing worse! the mold cannot curve in. make sure you can pull the mother mold straight off! i also coated the entire thing in 'kit' wax. this acts as a release-agent and allows the mother mold to be removed smoothly.





plaster and burlap make up the mother mold. burlap is important for overall durability, you layer it just like 'paper-mache.'





the end result of many months of work! the halves can now be re-joined, clamped and poured. Plaster is poured into the mold (upside-down) and after it has set up a little, I stick 1/2 inch steel rods down the legs for added strength and rigidity.
i usually make anywhere from 50 to 100 individual pieces. a very limited run. each individual piece takes anywhere from 4 to 6 hours of clean-up and painting.





dean is happy to see a new pal!





ok... next!

all images copyright 2005 ron marko

the idea

so, here's the concept, a small zine devoted to the local art scene of phoenix, az. not too original, but i don't see a lot of zines like this around. there are some that have a few articles about the art scene, but not many for the artists. this should be an arts magazines for artists by artists.
crete, shortened from concrete. art that's a little rougher.