Mario In Japan
I really suck at writing shit but, I did finish up a really sweet sleeve the other week and wanted to go through a bit of the process of how I get to a final piece.
For this one I went back to old school paper to get things going, I feel that there is a lot more creative freedom and expression in a tool that has no “smoothing”, “stabilization” or simply just trying to replicate something it physically cannot. No tablet drawing will ever have graphite crumbs rubbed into it by your hand as you’re working on it, and to me, that’s what makes for my best sketches.
Once Bowser, Mario and Yoshi had been drawn and the layout had been roughly decided, switching to the tablet to prepare a stencil and move things around to fit this particular arm made the process pretty simple.
Tracing paper sketches, each layer gets refined.
All in all about 12 hours went into the draw time and layout of the sleeve before we even got to skin, then a couple hours of sharpie on background and scales to start off a day of linework.
It’s not a fast process but it’s what I feel I need to do to turn out the kinds of work that I keep working towards. After hitting the 15 year mark, and realizing that the vast majority of my work is quite extensive n0w, has encouraged me to keep pushing my art to better tell the client’s story and fulfill my own desires as an artist.
As my rambling continues with these subsequent “blogs?” I’m sure I’ll get better at conveying whatever the hell it is I’m trying to say, but for now hold on with me while I figure it out, haha.
This sleeve was completed in six sessions each about 7 hours long, over the course of seven months.
First sessions usually consist of getting the stencil on, drawing in any background or additional elements with a sharpie and then outlining using light grey to create a “permanent stencil” for me to work from as we go forward. On the next appointment black shading and bolder outlines, followed by a few days of color packing…everyone’s favorite.
For this sleeve the consulting was done while working on a previous piece, but if you’re looking to get something done by me, have a story that you need told in the form of a tattoo or just have a sick idea that you think I could make happen, the best way to get ahold of me is stop in and talk, no appointment needed.
PM
