Page 2 of 3

Re: Some of my art.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 6:41 pm
by OneNineSix
:moshock: *jealous* Your artwork is soooooooo cool. After seeing all these pieces, I am having a total fanboy moment right now.

Re: Some of my art.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 7:19 pm
by Ken Davis
Hi all--thank you again for the comments.

I've been working in the animation biz since 1985, started out as a inbetweener/assistant animator. I segued into storyboarding in 1990-ish, and have been doing mostly that ever since.
I've worked on about a 100+ different shows/projects over the years, from Ren & Stimpy, Action Man, 101 Dalmatians ( series) Freakazoid, Chaotic, Johnny Bravo and and brief work on Batman: the Animated series, Transformers: Rescue Bots, and all kinds of animated shows for kids and adults.
My style tends to transmute to the style demanded on the projects being worked on, but perhaps the closest "pure" examples of my own style are the the first two images shown here above.
My work is frequently hidden under the talents of others, but ends up amalgamated in the overall styles of the each of the various shows. If you see something "familiar". that's probably what you are seeing.

I've dabbled in comics, assisted some guy named Todd McFarlane for a summer back in the late 80's, I've co-founded and co-owned an animation studio, taught cartooning, comics, animation and storyboarding at a handful of art colleges in western Canada.
And I didn't go to school for this, I'm self taught and learned on the job. It's been an interesting career, working alongside some very talented people, and seeing some very equally talented young people come up and enter into the biz.

The stuff shown here is from last year, and I've got a few pieces on my drawing table that I'll be completing in the comings days, weeks, months. I'm working on storyboards for web-isodes for "Don't Feed the Humans" on You Tube right now, so gimme some time to get that outa the way. I'll share what I'm drawing when I can.

Thanks again!

Re: Some of my art.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 7:29 pm
by packerbacker180
Woah, Ken. I had no idea about the depth of your career. I'm in awe. I almost went to school for art but they said my portfolio wasn't big enough, and life took me in other directions. Your stuff is amazing, sir.

Re: Some of my art.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:56 pm
by AcidDragon
WOW! Freakazoid and Batman TAS??? You're my hero. :batshock:

Re: Some of my art.

PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 2:04 am
by Webslinger
again, incredible stuff... very talented indeed.

Re: Some of my art.

PostPosted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 4:10 pm
by HectorHall
It's official Ken, you are in danger of Fanboy worship. Not our fault really, you just happen to have talents that drive our collective wheelhouse. Thanks for sharing your work, I enjoy seeing the pencils as much as the finished work.

Re: Some of my art.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 12:45 am
by Ken Davis
Here's a sneek peek at a piece meant to illustrate an article on the Batman '66 TV series for Punch #5.
Just finished colouring it in photoshop, and I'm going to sit on it for the night. I might augment or pull a couple of layers in the morning, and clean it up a bit more. But we'll see.
Image

Re: Some of my art.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 1:12 am
by OneNineSix
Man, Ken. That's another beautiful work of art. You do great expressions. I love all the wrinkles you have on the blue parts of Batman's costume!

Re: Some of my art.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:14 am
by Doctor Fate
Ken, I just loved that picture of Batman and Robin there. Incredible Colors and Amazing Details too. :batsmile:

Re: Some of my art.

PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2015 9:41 am
by Ken Davis
Thanks for the comments guys, always appreciated.
This one was mostly an exercise in "textures". I tried to capture the likenesses of West and Ward, but not be slaved too much to their photos--just aiming for the general looks/caricature of their bodies and faces--enough to convey who they were without going too cartoony.
Then came the details of their costumes---namely the sheen and the wrinkles, and how to pull that off.
Here below is the black and white inked drawing that I started with, and you can see how the wrinkles were handled in in a stark way.
Most of the magic here, I guess, is via using photoshop to add the colours. I'm still learning how to be more "painterly" and it's terribly crude work compared to others, but it gets the point across, right?

One funny thing: I took me YEARS to realize that Burt Ward wore leotards on his legs. The TV resolutions I was watching the show on never made that apparent--and was always puzzled by the jokes about the leotards. Even watching the Blu-rays of the show now, it's not always obvious he's wearing them. But it's a detail I made sure to add and accent with colour.

Image