I find it important to share with you a bit of my process when it comes to putting together a themed gallery show and how I translate my original concepts into original pieces of fine artwork as well as refining them into digital graphic outputs for prints, tee shirts, and other printed products. As I put together my Hobo Eaters: Agents of Chaos show for February 2010 I was able to document the process and can now shed light on the toil of time, blood, sweat, and joy that goes into each character design.

For the intro to my process I am going to breakdown how I created Cascade Vagabond which was one of the first characters created from the theme. Cascade Vagabond not only was created as an original piece of art but also ended up as the winter 2009 shop deck for Snowboard Connection.

All designs begin with a light pencil sketch to define the linework that will eventually be the parameters for inking and coloring digitally:

After a sketch that defines the characters details I move on to hank inking the characters with Pigma Micron pens on vellum:

Here is a side by side view:

After inking I scan the image and vectorize it in Adobe Illustrator. Once all the character is vectorized I move on to adding colors and gradients:

Below is the final image put to product. In this case it is a pro line skateboard. See the blog archive for more close up details:

Here is a breakdown of how I created Rubix Dude who is another character from the Hobo Eaters series:

Here are some close up shots of the materials and process:

The original piece was done utilizing the sketch by projecting on wood, tracing, hand inking with brush, and painting with wood stain and finish:

The fact that the above piece is hand inked makes it the “original” and one and only. I can create variations on this design by utilizing the sketch and inked drawing, but every new edition will be different. No one version is alike since I ink by hand using brush and pen. Some versions sit on finished wood, while others are absorbed directly into the grain of the wood piece.

Below is the digital version with added hues, gradients, and tones that make it very different from the original:

Last but not least I printed up limited edition tees of Rubix Dude by printing transparencies from the vector output and screen printing to garments:

I still have a few of these limited edition tee shirts available. Printed on silver AA fashion fit tees. Please contact me if interested in purchasing!

To continue this thread the following will be most of the characters from the Hobo Eaters: Agents of Chaos series. As to not be redundant I am simply posting the details of the sketches, inked versions, originals on wood, digital versions, and any products created with the designs. Enjoy!

The Shambler:

45 Mack:

Blood Life:

Coded:

Ol Timer:

Rocket Rocker:

This design actually started in reverse. I did a digital rendering in Corel Painter which I then vectorized in Adobe Illustrator and added halftones. This design was eventually picked up by a Seattle skateboard company Nomadic.

Bummin & Runnin:

This design started as a pencil rendering which I then scanned and added a couple layers of highlights and midtones. It was originally created for soft goods production and ended up on tee shirts which are available from Portland OR based Tilteed.

As this post has become lengthy with photos of my process from concept to finals and even products I am going to put the rest of this series of characters in the following post regarding the Hobo Eaters show and series…

It was extremely fun putting together this show for Urban Light Studio. Kevin Law and his wife Julie were an amazing help and the space was the perfect compliment for the semi-grittiness that is inherent in my oil work. The gallery was filled through the night with a great mix of art enthusiasts and urban night-lifers who came out to partake in the social-art environment. The other spaces in the Greenwood Collective were also filled with an eclectic mix of works from various local Seattle artists. It was a “Bad-ass” event to say the least.

Original Artist’s Statement:

AGENTS OF DAWN

This particular series deals with alternate pasts, unforeseen futures, depravity of humanity,
mechanical objects, foreign landscapes, and the sequestration of progressive human intentions.
We live in a world bound by connectivity which is almost always fortified through invention and
technology. Evolution and our process of sensing our surroundings is merely incubated in all
catalysts of technical development. Although our mind-shape is expanding through vibrations of
cause and effect, science, as well as the cosmic, macro and micro we are experiencing our
surroundings numbified by our constant installment of so called technological advancements.
Through time and space we transcend in our intuitive and delicate nature via the hub of
conciousness that is today. Planets, virtual epochs, archaic meditations, and dubious psuedomutations
all align to create tones of irreal but nonetheless naturalistic strands of reality. Our
pragmatic interventions on unrefined countenance brings our blindsighted shortcomings straight
into parallel with the toxic and perforated multi-verse that is expanding all around us at every
moment. Here today, gone tomorrow, but imprinted on the veiny pulp of existence.
There is an end to every beginning. Domiciles of lost tribes protrude through the terrain like
insentient megaliths constructed by a wavering society of unholy and illegitimate union. The sky
turns tepid and cracks to reveal the displacement of our sins. Ageless is the world we live in.
Passive is the response of immortality. Time to let the stained hovels of our currency become
one with post-apocalyptic aeons and return to the sand and dust from which our mineralized
bodies came. Fashion the tourniquet of falsehood and let our prophets vapor.
Octopoid locust sapping life of a quasi-autonomous golem. The android of industrial youth now
a cold, rusting fixture of placid galactic ambiance. We came to seek. They came to assist. The
long hard journey is behind us. The past is repeated. Rescuing our master was no easy task.
Beyond all hope is adrift. The orb like chitonous shell contains the fragments of a fossil that can
only have come from the ethereal borders of time. All is dry and grows dark in a sea of
cantankarous bile. The ship has landed and no one is on it. The odyssey ends.
A product of retro-contemporary passage through the enigmatic, capacious, piousness of man…
N. Beery

Photos of the arrangement and space prior to the opening:

Tapping into the nether worlds and parallel dimensions through the culmination of time, ageless
forms, and beguiled minstrals this show of work percolates the tingling sixth sense . Vividly
surreal landscapes, twisted characters, and dripping textures coalesce to create a wild
integration of soul and strange beauty which invites all viewers to consume and envelope a
host of visual suggestions that break through the ego-shell of humanity.
This particular series deals with alternate pasts, unforeseen futures, depravity of humanity,
mechanical objects, foreign landscapes, and the sequestration of progressive human intentions.

This show was a smattering of past and new works. The oil paintings and illustrations chosen worked beautifully together. We had a great time hanging these pieces. The illustration walls focus was enhanced through the 45 degree angle at which the pieces were hung and cast a nice drop shadow from the direct overhead lights. It really made the work “pop”!

Here is my statement regarding the process involved for the illustration works:

The Illustrious Illustration

A moment to reflect on the martyrs, the blind beings, the bastards, and the omnifarious intellect…
Portraits of passion and reverence come into light particularly when the passing of a trend, a
jet-setter, a conscientious objector, or a so-called role model is eliminated from the mainstream.
Documenting the indelible qualities of such idiosyncratic individuals is necessary to properly file
and tuck away cherished memories, mysteries, and legends. Time is the essential factor on all
sides of any one life. Whether the spark burns fast and hot or whether the flame resides eternal
is only a matter of the muted dust settling after the ash has blown over.
The illustrations you see before you are originals from the holy-banded library of Nick Beery. To
better serve the question of “how was that achieved?” here is a breakdown of the process and
media which is so required of the artist to produce an aged aesthetic and visual mystique :
It all begins with the board. A cold press illustration board is the “blank canvas” which becomes
the richly colorful image before you. Once a board is selected and the subject matter is identified
Nick moves on to picking up the cornerstone of all artist’s repertoir, a pencil.
Graphite takes it’s place and an under-drawing is rendered to the board. After a few coats of a
spray fixative to hold down the graphite a base color is selected. A typical base hue selection
Nick uses is a natural burnt sienna tone. A layer of oil paint with the said pigment is rubbed into
the precious graphite drawing and board leaving an even mid-tone coating which resides just
on top of the original rendering.
Upon rubbing in and wiping excess oil from the surface the next step is to define the highlights
that give form to an otherwise two-dimensional sketch. A strategic blending and lifting of the oils
then ensues with the use of a kneaded eraser. The face now begins to show volume and life.
After pulling out all the highlights and allowing the paint to dry the final measure is to redefine the
drawing and form by reinforcing the contrast and adding color. Shadows are burned with dark,
organic hues while crisp highlights are redeemed and softened through the touch of a pencil.
Full color palettes reinvigorate the image giving vitality to anatomy and focusing in on intricate
details. Finishing touches may include the use of acrylics , gouche, or watercolors to add smoky
effects or smooth finish. The end result is a grainy texture that gives a vintage look to the work.