Bryan K. Malley, Blog – retoid.com

Dwyane Clare is a very talented illustrator, conceptual designer and a good friend of mine. This guy is filled with creative talent, never does he seize to impress me and others with his unique loose lines that come together to form amazing expressions. Check out his website to see what he’s been working on.

Artist: Dwayne Clare
Title: Illustrator / Conceptual Designer
Web: dwayneclare.com

1. Let’s get personal, how would most of your friends describe you?

Short and ugly. haha.
Not sure. They probably think I am a bit odd, probably too red-neck for my
artist friends, and not red-neck enough for my red-neck friends. I am
pretty outspoken, and strongly opinionated so they probably think I am a
bit of a loud mouth too.

2. What inspires you to express your artistic abilities?

For me its all about bettering my craft, and making something I can be
proud of. Its a bit of an unattainable goal, so I get frustrated quite a
bit, and tend to descend into funks which can go on for weeks or even
months when I never draw, but eventually I come out of them. I have a real
hard time coming up with inspiration, which is what holds me back the most
I think. That and laziness. Why do I do it? I think mostly this is my best
bid towards immortality.

3. Mediums and methods, what’s your secret?

I have been drifting away from any traditional mediums, which breaks my
heart, but laziness wins again. The computer is just too easy. No set-up,
no clean-up. On the computer I have an intuos2 4×5 stylus. I draw with
photoshop. I have experimented with manga studio and painter, (which came
with the stylus) but I just can’t get a good feel for them, and keep coming
back to photoshop.
When I do draw with paper I use a staedtler clutch pencil, (hb, 2b) Copic
sketch markers and India ink. I have two kolinski brushes I use when
inking. I have had them for over 20 years. My paper of choice is muse
paper, which I can only find in Japan, so I get my wife to buy some on her
yearly visits. Barring that a nice hot pressed paper for inks works well.

4. What else do you do in your spare time?

I waste way too much time on the computer, but when I can get my butt in
gear I like to work around my house, read sci-fi, and build models.

5. If this was a high traffic blog, what would you shout out to the
world?

Please don’t forget to tell your favorite artists how much you like them.
We all try to be thick skinned, you have to be, but it means oh so much to
us to know people like what we are doing. Sure, if you are someone like
Audrey Kawasaki you probably don’t need your daily affirmations, the prints
flying out the door tell their own tale, but for those artists who haven’t
made it we can go a long, long while wondering if anyone even cares. A few
words can go a long way.

My buddy Adriano recently setup a shop online where you can purchase some awesome custom made collage type posters all in mixed media. Not only can he mix up some cool shapes and colors to create nice art but he also creates music. You can download a few of his albums for super cheap! Great tunes!

Go check it out! shop.antiuser.org 

Artist: Christopher Bonnette
Location: California, U.S.A.
Website: www.macula.tv

Q1: How long have you considered yourself an artist and what got you started?

I have considered myself an artist all of my life. It is the only career I have ever wanted to pursue. If I must be technical I would say since 1998 when I graduated Otis College of Art and Design. Watching cartoons really got me started on the artists path. I would watch Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry and try to draw my own cartoon characters. The Sunday news paper comics also provided much inspiration. My mother was also very crafty, her involvement and interaction with me really helped mold me as an artist. She would take me to see feature length cartoons at the movies, we would always go to the library and participate in summer reading programs, and hang out at the museums.

Q2: What mediums do you find yourself working with the most?

Whenever I have an idea, I always start with pencil and paper. I work with Adobe Illustrator or paint in acrylics the most.
I also work with soft sculpture (Plush), Paper Engineering (pop-ups, origami, and paper toys), clay, pen, ink, and watercolors.
For most of my digital work I use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. As for my traditional painting, I tend to mostly use acrylics on handmade panels. The panels have a boarder made of 1 1/2″ poplar wood. The frame is glued to 1/8″ hardboard (Masonite). I then sand them both together to create a seamless box. Using this process you do not really need to have my art framed. It has a nice depth away from the wall and creates a floating effect. I use to use canvas but I tend to be heavy handed. That lead to the canvas becoming saggy over time or I would poke a hole in it. With panels I can really lay down some paint or draw directly on it with out any worry.

Q3: What are your biggest inspirations when you create art?

Many, many things inspire me as an artist. A large focus of inspiration comes from old fantasy and sci-fi movie posters, B-movies, American 1950’s & 60’s ads, tattoos, cartoons and toys. I really like the seedy underbelly of society and things that have a kind of shady feel.

Q4: Did you go to school for art or are you self taught?

I went to Otis College of Art and Design from 1994-1998, I graduated with a BFA in Illustration / Graphic Design. College was great, I meet a lot of close friends that I still keep in contact with. In the art field a lot of times it is all about who you know and I am happy to have met many of the students and teacher at Otis.
I also consider myself to be self taught because I am still learning everyday. I have amassed a very large art book collection that I am always referencing and learning new techniques.

Q5: What else do you do other than create art?

I try to look at everything in life as art or at least being creative. I also love to spend time with my wife Jean, and my 2 dogs Odin and Tengu. Fixing up the house, traveling, cooking, eating, and watching television and movies are other things that I like to do.

Q6: What did you want to be when you were 10 years old?

An artist, stuntman, or barbarian.

Christopher Bonnette is a member of styl.us, an artist collective, forum and blog website started by Ray Frenden. This is how I came to meet Christopher. I really enjoy browsing though is online portfolio. This guy can create some monsters! He has a great imagination and a unique style. Check out his online portfolio to see his illustrations, paintings, sculptures, pictures, animations and more! I guarantee they will make you laugh when you see some of the funny, crazy ideas he has come up with.

Ray Frenden, a good buddy of mine is growing in popularity in the artist industry. We (his friends) gave him the nickname “The Drawing Machine” because this guy never seizes to amaze us by his art output. Not only quality but quantity. I have never seen anybody able to produce as much art like Ray in the short amount of time he does.
He was first introduced to Robotface, an artist collective started by Julie West. This is how I came to know Ray, he quickly amazed several of us and began to expand his friendship with many others. Now you can see Ray’s artwork on several websites, buy custom made t-shirt’s designed by Ray and visit his blog styl.us.
Go check out his website and leave him a comment!