An epic digital art piece I had the honour of collaborating on with Jonathan Ramirez as part of his series of works titled 'The Mayan Prophecy', has been published in Catapult art magazine issue #15 on pages 102 - 103.
This piece is called Escatologia which is the spanish term foreschatology based on the greek word éskhatos: 'last' and logos: 'study'.
I worked on two pieces with Jonathan and provided a backdrop for his Mayan Warriors. This is an example of some of my digital art which together with Jonathan's digital genius we were able to create this modern vision of Quetzalcoatl the feathered serpent and the awakening of an ancient civilization.
'Mayan Prophecy' is the title of digital artist Jonathan Ramirez's big show opening in May at the WAAS Gallery in Dallas, Texas. He'll be showing a new collection of work and among them are some collaboration pieces which myself and Swedish based artist Larsa Bonden have been working on with Jonathan.
I've been working digitally this time, with my trusty Wacom pen and tablet.
It's great to be working with Jonathan Ramirez again as we've already collaborated on five pieces of art back in August 2011, which were exhibited at Debut Contemporary Gallery in Notting Hill, London. It's also great to be part of his Mayan Prophecy with another artist I admire, Larsa Bonden who I featured here on my blog in February.
Having got my hands on a second hand first generation iPad, I was eager to see how this would become a useful artists tool beyond a library of reference photos or source material. I wanted to see if it would serve me well in terms of sketching out ideas or working out colour compositions before painting.
There is a lot of exceptional iPad art out there but I only wanted to use it for basic playful sketches, not for finished masterpieces taking many hours or more to produce, but its nice to know it's possible. I like real paint and real materials, but this to me offered convenience.
My first sketch using SketchBook Pro app.
My first sketch on the iPad was with the app SketchBook Pro and my finger. I felt strange using my finger as I've spent forever using a stick, be it a pencil, pen, charcoal or paint brush - but you get used to it with practice. The app is great at mimicking real materials like the texture of a pencil etc.
The main problem with drawing on an ipad is that the tablet is not pressure sensitive... yet. So you have to learn how to play with transparency and opacity levels. The software tries to get around this by the speed of your movement, so the quicker the stroke the thinner it tends to be, not quite natural but you adapt to your tools.
iPad & Wacom's 'Bamboo' Stylus.
I decided to get myself a good stylus despite the fact that the iPad was designed for finger use. After some research I came across Wacom's 'Bamboo' Stylus and being convinced it would suit my requirements I purchased it. It is rather pricey compared to other stylus' out there but with Wacom being the leading industry in digital drawing tablet's, it has to count for something.
Wacom also has an app called Bamboo Paper to accompany their stylus, it's more of a notebook and very basic, like using gel ballpoint pen, but it works great with the stylus, no lag and it's smooth. I drew this character using this app and the stylus.
Sketch using BambooPaper app and stylus.
The stylus doesn't work well with certain apps like inspire pro, a great painting app when using your fingers only, I felt a lot of lag which is annoying. The app in itself is fantastic and worth getting.
I then tried the stylus using the app Brushes, I imported the drawing I did in the Bamboo Paper app as a base. The stylus was great and using this software was a pleasure, I liked it a lot.
So this was my initial experience sketching on an iPad and using a stylus over this weekend. Obviously there is a learning curve when using painting software and adapting to it but I'm pleased with what I've experienced so far.
The video below shows the painting process of my character using the 'Brushes' app.
These are the five pieces of art Carlos M Burgos and Jonathan Ramirez created. Combining the traditional hand drawn with the digital. Created via long distance in London and Dallas. Combining two artistic visions. Art has no boundaries.
These pieces were shown for the first time on Saturday 20th August at the debut Contemporary Gallery in London, England. Together with three new pieces by Carlos M Burgos and three pieces by Jonathan Ramirez, showing their work as individuals alongside their collaboration pieces. The exhibition was called 'World Within Worlds'.
A total of five pieces of work were created, each of which are available as a limited edition Giclee print of five. Printed on high quality 100% cotton museum grade Canson Aquarelle paper.
Detail from 'For What It's Worth' by C M Burgos & J Ramirez
Let's continue with the story behind the recent collaboration between myself and digital artist Jonathan Ramirez. Having approached Jonathan with the idea of him adding colour and continuing to develop my ink drawings, he said yes and our work began.
We communicated mainly by Facebook and email. He was in Dallas and I was in London, so time differences were a big factor, getting to know when we were free to discuss things etc.
I scanned the drawings and sent him the files by email. I had decided I was going to trust his artistic vision and as a first time experiment was not going to say much about what to do, I wanted the piece to develop naturally. I would just tell him what I had in mind when making the drawing. I left my art work in his hands as to what he was going to do with them, the only thing I mentioned was the importance of the lyrics remaining visible. I was excited and nervous at the same time as this was my first collaboration with another artist.
Jonathan worked very hard on the drawings I sent him. It was now his turn to use his digital brushes and palette.
J Ramirez and his artistic tools
Jonathan:
"What i did on the drawings was use textures, also I'm into using colors but in a dark way, lots of vintage effects, make them creepy. I used Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Illustrator CS5 plus an Adesso CTZ12A Cybertablet 10x6" Widescreen Ultra Slim Graphics Tablet".
"I painted some by hand others by using tools like brushes and effects. Im a big fan of the 'Image Vibrance' tool, it brings life to my art, I use a high saturation on most of my artwork".
When collaborating with another artist it's strange seeing the results as you know and recognize your own art work but it's somewhat different now. It's interesting seeing how both styles fit and can complement each other creating a completely different image. Jonathan would send me each piece as soon as he finished it, I would take a couple of days looking at it, taking it in and getting used to this new style. We were both very pleased with our work and the results.
This was really my first collaboration, but i believe you have to respect each others work, methods and where its coming from. We had very different methods of working, Jonathan works digitally and I take a traditional approach, our styles differ. But I felt there were things we connected on. I think you have to have a plan of action, how will the work take shape, in what order etc. In our case I had created hand drawn art work and I decided I trusted in his artistic vision and gave him the freedom to then re-interpret the drawing his own way. Our common ground was our love for the same kind of music, so we were drawing inspiration from the same sources.
Jonathan: "Trust in the art of the artist you are collaborating with, Just think you are doing a collaboration where both artists enjoy each others art work. Never think of selling for a client or making it big into mainstream".
I had been a bit worried about the distance thing, but Jonathan is a great guy, sincere in everything he does. I trust his abilities and that to me is rare. Where you can trust and share your own artistic visions with another artist. We didnt talk much about what we were going to do, over thinking things, we just poured ourselves into our art.
Jonathan: "This is my first collaboration with an artist, and I'm glad it was Carlos, you have to believe in someone or something to be part of it, and Carlos believed in my talent and art, I think I enjoyed the fact that we are both far away. I mean collaborations don't have to be in the same room at the same time, in the same city under the same sky. We try to bring art together no matter what part of the world you are in, it all becomes one".
We created five pieces of work, each of which are available as a limited edition Giclee print of five. Printed on high quality 100% cotton museum grade Canson Aquarelle paper.
Approx print size: 710 x 550mm
Next I'll be showing you the full set of work. You can also see it here: Full Set
J Ramirez injects his style to my art work, 'Boot Camp'.
Saturday 20th August saw the results of a collaboration by myself and Jonathan Ramirez displayed at Debut Contemporary Gallery, London. Jonathan Ramirez (interviewed here previously) is a digital artist based in Dallas, Texas, and together we have produced five exciting new pieces of art.
In the next few posts I will be telling the story of this special long distance collaboration.
But let's start from the beginning. As some of you may already know, I've been working on a series of drawings inspired by some of my favourite songs or bands and incorporating their lyrics directly in to the art work. Songs by Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Guns N' Roses, Buffalo Springfield and Soundgarden. Making the lyrics form shapes and objects creating a narrative amplified by both the pictoral and written elements. These are images that can carry powerful meanings, messages and emotion.
These are drawn entirely by hand, taking up to a week minimum to design, develop and execute. Using technical drawing pens to be able to incorporate very fine details and text. Not much room for any mistakes and these drawings continue to develop as I progress.
I had always planned on adding colour at a later date to my drawings. As I wanted to keep these black and white versions as they were, I had thought about colouring them digitally as I had done with other pieces in the past.
However, time did not allow me to as I was also creating a series of paintings at the same time.
Busy Painting
Previously i had come across the amazing work of a digital artist called Jonathan Ramirez. He had posted a link to his work on a Facebook page at Juxtapose Magazine. The link was to a piece he called 'Tales of a Scorched Earth'. This got my attention as it reminded me of a song by The Smashing Pumpkins, I looked at more of his work and noticed that most of it was inspired by songs and lyrics, by bands that I also liked or knew. We turned out to both be Smashing Pumpkins fans and so I contacted him to make friends.
Some time passed and I still really wanted to add colour to these drawings. Then a thought occurred to me, it may be interesting to see what would happen if I asked Jonathan to add colour to these pieces. Although his style was different to mine, he understood where this work was coming from as he too was influenced by the same music. I really admired his work and style so I thought that it would be even more interesting if I let him continue to interpret the lyrics and my drawings in his own way, adding his unique style and vision. Fusing our styles and talents. I also thought our collaboration would be interesting from a cultural point of view too, he was from Mexico and I had roots from El Salvador, both from Central America.
I contacted him and asked him if he would be interested in collaborating with me, he said yes and our work together began!
I recently came across the amazing digital art of Jonathan Ramirez, and we are currently collaborating on some pieces together which we will be exhibiting at the Debut Contemporary Gallery, London in August.
So here's a little chat with the man himself about his work.
Tell us a little about yourself and your background.
Jonathan Ramirez, 28 years old, been doing digital art for 10 years. I was born in Monterrey Mexico 1983,I moved to the USA when I was 16, now I live in Dallas Texas, but planing to move to a city with more art and music...
How would you describe your work?
I describe my art work as industrial, dark and Gothic with vintage touches. I dont get inspired much by other artists because I try to stay away from whats new, fashionable or the current scene, all that the 'new' generation is into these days. So I try to stay away from that and get my inspiration on music and lyrics from my favorite bands which are PinkFloyd, The Smashing Pumpkins, Tool, Radiohead. The Beatles are also my favorite.
What does being creative mean to you?
Being Creative means being different from others, being in a jar where no one gets in and I cant get out. I cant breathe the same air, i dont taste the same as others, Im just there alone, no space no gravity no light.
What inspires or motivates you?
Music is what inspires me, also dreams I have and some times just the mood I'm in like when I'm sad or depressed.
Whats playing on your mp3 at the moment?
Right now im Listening to Pink Floyd “The Wall” full album. I need some depressing music to create a darkfeeling on this new art piece.
The lyrical warrior and the landscape of a hybrid London in ruins come together now, with Aztec sun stone designs in the background. A mixture of cultures.
A few further changes were made via Indio Lyrico's direction to keep with his concept for the art work which you will see when he is ready to release it... a special alternative version.
Here's a look at the next aspect involved in the art work for Indio Lyrico. In the layout you can see a large figure looming over the landscape, this is where Indio Lyrico will be portrayed as a lyrical warrior. The sketch only shows the pose and some basic key elements that were discussed, the rest has to be developed.
The warrior will have armour of some sort and other details and be in keeping with an indigenous feel and look and concept.
I came up with a design for the warrior mixing various aspects of North, Central and South American indian culture with a look tailored for Indio Lyrico. Using the decorative aspects of the curved blade in hand and headgear and staff, I incorporated this lyrical aspect of his character into each one.
A page from my sketch book.
These decorative details are very important, such as on the headphones making it feel part of the head dress and the face mouldings on the blade and staff, as well as the type of microphone used to be in keeping with this old world meets new look.
Now the drawing can begin. Starting with a sketch of the warriors pose I began adding the armour and details and making any corrections on the way. It was decided from the start that bold dark outlines were wanted.
I now start adding washes of colour and adding light and shade to the picture. I begin with skin tones and then start rendering the other aspects of the costume.
The next step now is to bring these two images of warrior and empires together.
I wanted to share a little bit of work I've been doing recently for London based Bolivian rapper Indio Lyrico (myspace page).
The concept is a mix of civilizations or cultures, London in ruins along side the ancient Aztec/Mayan pyramids. It's not meant to be anthropologically or geographically accurate, just a little bit of fantasy. I'll be showing you the full image very soon.
This is a bit different as its a combination of traditionally hand drawn work with digital painting and rendering. I wanted to show you a little bit of the process involved in the making of this image. The abilities you have for drawing or painting are transferred to the digital canvas using a digital brush as its basically the same. In this case I use a graphics tablet and pressure sensitive pen and software called Corel Painter. This program simulates all types of traditional art mediums and the possibilities are up to you and your ability in using them. A bit of getting used to is the eye-hand co-ordination. I prefer drawing traditionally on paper, so thats where I start.
This is the initial composition sketch to use as a guide to start from.
After thinking about perspective and proportions etc, the idea and layout develops a bit further, but its basically the same still.
Spatially it continues to take shape and become more defined... Also good visual references are a must. This is now the base for the entire picture.
I continue to draw and then add a bit of tone and scan it.
Once scanned I open it on my computer and continue to build it up and make adjustments by painting digitally. Adding light and shade and continuing to render the image with the digital brush.
There you have it, a very quick and brief overlook at some of the process involved.
