The Kolblog

I think this is my first impulse post… So I’m doing...

Mon, 21 May 2012 20:46:00 -0400

I think this is my first impulse post…

So I’m doing a bit of research for a project and the internet got in the way, but then it parted like my hair in the 90s and offered THIS!

THAT is a link to a crazy amount of scans of all the Power Rangers/Super Sentai robot concept art! I admit I wasn’t much into the show (It was weird to me that the robots moved so much like humans…oh the eyes of childhood), but I can’t help but droooooool over the illustration and design work here!

Anyways, I’m hoping someone else appreciates this as well.

As today is the middle of the week it’s actually a great...

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:33:00 -0400

As today is the middle of the week it’s actually a great time to post this (I’m all about themes…you’ll see)!

So I’ve posted about the Pokemon Battle Royale show previously. While it has indeed wrapped up, I just couldn’t let go.

The starters’ middle evolution don’t seem to get enough love, in my opinion. I mean look at them! So cool. Anyways, after completing the first of three I went ahead and did the other two middle children (see…middle of the week….middle stages…INCEPTION!)

While most of the signed and numbered copies of 002 were sold at the show, I have a handful of them left for sale. Those, along with the full run of 005 and 008 are available HUZZERE!

Thoughts on Effort & Results

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:48:00 -0400

It’s Friday. I suppose I have work to do but…you know…it’s Friday.

So I posted about my interview with Ape on the Moon earlier in the week and there was a lot of lovely feedback! A consistent point of discussion was regarding my thoughts on how results of your efforts relate to each other. I wasn’t expecting such a response but hey, internets.

Because of this I figured I’d share it here as well (with new and improved visuals! Procrastinating from real work oh ho ho). Before I get into it I would like to stress that this is not gospel. This is simply what I, Andrew Kolb, have experienced upon getting into doing what it is that I do.

So let’s do this.

I don’t claim to know all that much about the world, but early on I did think that as you put in effort, results would follow (the above chart). Now I don’t want to dwell on what really defines “effort” or even “results”. What I do want to communicate is that my motto is that you really only get out what you put in. I think Newton’s law of physics is kinda on my side on this.

Anyways, I figured that as you continued to put in effort, you would consistently (albeit slowly and steadily) see the results of what you’re doing.

To me, this is wrong.

Here me out.

Instead I offer this revised graphic. What I’ve come to see (and again, completely personal…allow for variation), is that the results don’t change at a steady pace but instead have blips and jumps. I’ve realized that you continue to put in effort and you may see results, but not necessarily proportionate to what you’re trying to do.

Very important. I want to stress this: DON’T GIVE UP! The reality is that the true jump in results is somewhat out of your control.

I say it’s magic and it’s out of your control but in reality, I’m kinda lying. The only reason this jump happened is still because of you. Maybe you were featured on a website or an image/song/photo (I think this applies to all creatives) caught on social media! Whatever it is, it’s broken you from that slow incline and taken you to another level. So in a way it’s out of your control (with whomever features you and so on) but it was still because of what YOU did that brought them to you.

Just keep in mind that the job is not done.

Now that you’ve made that leap to the next stage of where ever you’re heading, you’ll still have to keep putting in work. Now you will have to do as much as you did before if you want to keep going.

Remember when I stressed that you shouldn’t give up? (It was like 2 minutes ago, stay with me.) Here’s another reason why. The hardest part of this creative gig you’re in will come right before the next jump. You’ve been putting in all this effort and seen a little increase (and be sure to appreciate this, great and small) but it feels like spinning wheels in the mud. You may think that this is as far as you’ll get and that there’s no more magic.

Well when you stop believing in fairies they surely die.

What I’ve learned is that you have to keep going because if you stop putting in effort you won’t see results. If you stop creating work then there’s nothing to feature on a blog or there’s nothing to be shared around online or off. And if you DO stop, there won’t be anything to hook on to and take you to that next stage.

KEEP AT IT AND THE MAGIC WILL HAPPEN. BELIEVE.

To recap (because this bit helps me make sure I covered everything I wanted to say):
• Results are rarely (if ever) a steady incline
• Results may be slow, but are still happening
• Keep doing what you love and magic will happen
• That magic will push you to the next level
• The last two steps keep repeating so long as you don’t give up
• The hardest part of it all is right before the magic - push through this
• I think you’re super rad

And that’s it (I think). Yeah.

All that I love about cartoonery and Marvel in one amazing...

Thu, 10 May 2012 20:17:31 -0400

All that I love about cartoonery and Marvel in one amazing package by Junaid Chundrigar.

Junaid Chundrigar, you’re the coolest.

Junaid Chundrigar.

INTERVIEW WITH APE ON THE MOON!

Mon, 07 May 2012 08:56:46 -0400

It’s Monday. Don’t start working (or schooling) yet. Instead I suggest you peruse apeonthemoon.com and, if I may be so bold, the interview I did with them!

I don’t want to give away all of the content, but I reveal the secrets of life. I’ve been sitting on them for like 3 years now.

Oh hey. I figured I’d reblog this directly from the...

Wed, 02 May 2012 13:28:47 -0400

Oh hey. I figured I’d reblog this directly from the Pokemon Battle Royale Site as there you can chiggity check all of the work from the show! Go look at them all right now.

Wait! Finish reading this and THEN go look. So it’s been out for a while, but this is my sub to the show! I’m all about the middle evolutions of the starters. There’s still so much potential! Sure the starting forms are cute, and the last lap is usually epic, but man the middle stage is like the best of both worlds! And I’ll admit, the Bulbasaur line peaked in high school (Venusaur has seen better days).

Anyways, prints of this and a whole heap of the other pieces are available at the shop here until May 11!

Get out of my head amazon.ca!

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:05:39 -0400

Get out of my head amazon.ca!

imnot12: greaterthanorequalto: I just added the trainers to...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:35:14 -0400

imnot12:

greaterthanorequalto:

I just added the trainers to the Light Grey Art Lab online shop. You can check out what Pokémon are left after our HUGELY successful opening this past Friday, and pick up your favorite trainer or Pokémon. Things are flying fast, so if there’s something you want you should snatch that baby up!

Everybody should check this out!

Agreed! There is so much great work still available at the shop and be sure to check out all of the entries here!

greaterthanorequalto: Hanging the Pokemon show!...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:21:19 -0400

greaterthanorequalto:

Hanging the Pokemon show! #pokemonbattleroyale (Taken with instagram)

This is todaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Gah I should have saved up more dollar dollar bills to purchase artworks!

g1988: Next month at G1988 (Melrose), celebrate 8 years on the...

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 09:25:40 -0400

g1988:

Next month at G1988 (Melrose), celebrate 8 years on the corner of Melrose and La Brea with “Memes,” where one of the largest line-ups in gallery history will reinterpret your Internet favorites. Stay tuned for more information. LOLz.

Wanna learn more about memes? Check out KnowYourMeme.com.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand I’m honoured to be one of the 100. It’s going to be better than a double rainbow trailing a pop tart cat (and no, not a real pop tart cat. Chuck Testa).

So I’ve mentioned the latest issue of Timbuktu Magazine...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:30:00 -0400

So I’ve mentioned the latest issue of Timbuktu Magazine before, but here are a few spots from the article I illustrated.

There are plenty more if you’re interested to check the app out. If you have an iPad, go and have a download. It’s on me (It’s not really on me. It’s free. I’m cheating.)

Well if this isn’t just the best way to kick off the...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:34:00 -0400

Well if this isn’t just the best way to kick off the spring: Chalktrail (here’s their Kickstarter)

Via swissmiss (who got it from design mom)

This is how you internet.

One of the many things in this world that make me happy is an...

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 09:46:04 -0400

One of the many things in this world that make me happy is an animated GIF. I can’t explain the fascination any better than I can explain why Pluto is no longer a planet

Anyways, a quick bit of history. My parents are the second generation owners/operators of Kolb’s Green Thumb Nursery, a family-run landscape and design business. I fit in as their designer and overall brand developer. We just launched their website this season and it features as many animated GIFs as I could justify! The above image is just one of them.

And because Space is fascinating, here’s why Pluto is no longer a planet (but I still can’t articulate my love for animated GIFs)

Process Process Process.

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:46:00 -0400

Oh hey. So I’ve been getting a bunch of emails and questions regarding my process. While I’m all about the personal replies (and you’ll still get them, don’t worry), I figured I’d prepare this post for easy reference in the future. Time travel was soooooooo tomorrow.

While this is by no means the only method to my madness, it will (hopefully) cover some of the consistencies across much of my work. Today, class, we’ll be going over how I made The Neverland.

I usually start with scribbles on scraps of paper. With this image I had a pretty clear vision in my head so after a couple of sketches I was comfortable moving on to the next stage.

I find working at a VERY small size early on ensures that the purpose of the image is communicating. Without any extra details or distractions I can usually determine if it’s strong enough to move on to the next step. Think big and draw small. I’m sure someone, somewhere, said that before now.

At this point I’m happy with the very rough layout, so I’ve moved on to working at a larger size. Details can now be introduced. For a while I tried working through this stage on the computer but found I was wasting a lot of time. Apparently computers are good for this. I’m not the first (nor will I be the last) to swear by putting pencil to paper, but dang if it isn’t just the best! There’s a sort of alchemy to it that I can’t explain.

If you notice the blue lead, that’s me redrawing the basic forms from the small sketch. My favourite pencils are those mechanical ones (and the cheap ones, they’re just the right size). They never dull and that is awesome. Time for pencil sharpening is a luxury I don’t have.

Computer time! After scanning in the tight sketch I’ll use the dark arts of Photoshop to work with colour. Again, I had a pretty clear idea before getting into it but sometimes hiccups are worked out at this point.

Now that I’m happy with the colours, it’s time to get down to business (and by “business” I mean “draw Captain Hook’s head to look like an island”). Much of my past was spent in Illustrator before I purchased a tablet and I think it’s really shaped my workflow. I tend to work in multiple layers based on the objects. I try not to have overlapping elements on the same layer (and you’ll see why later). For example, the brown rocks and red part of the sun are on one layer. The purple land and the pink part of the sun are on the layer above. I build up my layers until I’ve completed all the basic shapes.

Now that the simple objects have been drawn, it’s time for texture! Since each shape is on its own layer, this allows me to lock the transparent pixels (in Photoshop’s layers palette there is a little checker board beside the word “Lock”). Doing this allows me to paint only where there are already objects. Now I can start using a few brushes I’ve made (in the above image there are two: a scatter brush on the clouds and a gouache brush used on the land) and not worry about keeping inside the lines.

There are times where I don’t want to keep to the solid forms. Sometimes the image calls for texture that just can’t be contained. The “foliage” is on another layer (maybe I’m overly neurotic with my layers, but hey, I do what I want). And again, you can see the rocks as a good example of locking the layer and then painting freely to introduce texture (it’s kind of like using a stencil to contain everything).

And after all the big texture stuff is done I go back in and add the details and small elements (again, another layer…so sue me).

And that’s it! So to recap (because frig this was a long post for me):

Rough sketch at a very small size
Tight sketch at a larger size
Computer time with colour blocking
Create shapes in flat colour
Texture it up!
Write blog post and worry it’s all incoherent

That wasn’t so bad, eh? If I’ve skipped over something that you want discussed further, use that hand ask feature.

Oh and there are still a handful of prints of this left over hurrrrrr.

Congrats on Radar! Your stuff is truly neat!

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:21:00 -0400

Well thanks and ditto on the general awesomeness.

And a second thank you for helping me solve the mysterious flood of followers!

Case: closed.

Now that it’s April I might as well share how I wrapped up...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:07:24 -0400

Now that it’s April I might as well share how I wrapped up March!

Ten Paces and Draw’s monthly mixtape (art inspired by a fantastic music) featured a heaping amount of awesome. March was the month of Nancy Sinatra and Queen! So the above image is my take on Killer Queen.

You can see all of the other great interpretations here.

greaterthanorequalto: pokemonbattleroyale.blogspot.com This is...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:56:02 -0400

greaterthanorequalto:

pokemonbattleroyale.blogspot.com

This is going to be…the very best. Like no show ever was. Not only am I honoured to be a part of this show, but I miiiiiiiiiiight just be featured on this promo! Use your Silph Scope and check out all that is about to come from this show!

So this is my offering to the Fables & Fairytales show being...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:08:06 -0400

So this is my offering to the Fables & Fairytales show being put on by Acidfree Gallery!

The show features heaps of amazing illustrators putting their own spin on classic stories. I was fortunate to snag one of my favourite tales: Button Soup (or stone soup…or nail soup).

The gist of the tale is basically “sharing is caring”, a personal motto of mine. The Wizard of Wikipedia explains it so much better.

Anyways, I wanted to work in a few new brushes, as well as scan some ink work as they gallery is printing it and daaaaaaaaaaaaaang do they do a good job with the finer textural stuff! I’m super excited.

Much of the work goes on sale at the shop today so be sure to watch their twitter and facebook feeds if you want to snag up some awesome stuff.

greaterthanorequalto: First off I’d like to say we’re doing...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:05:28 -0400

greaterthanorequalto:

First off I’d like to say we’re doing great with our Light Grey Art Lab Kickstarter Project, and appreciate everyone who’s contributed thus far, but we’ve still got a long way to go, and we need a big boost!

So we’re going to have a series of limited, exclusive prizes to get some new people to contribute ASAP!

I’m pleased to announce our very special ‘Daily Pattern’ reward tier! For the next week, anyone who donates $40* dollars or more to our Light Grey Art Lab Kickstarter Project will get to choose a Daily Pattern topic and have a Daily Pattern made just for them!

All of us at Paper Bicycle and Light Grey Art Lab really want to hit our goal of $10,000 (remember, if we don’t hit the goal, we get nothing!!), so we wanted to do something super special to get you to contribute! In addition to your own, personalized pattern, you get a special ‘thank you’ shout-out when it’s posted on the blog! And you get a high-res file to use as you’d like!**

Print it out and frame it! Use it to make wedding invites! Print out fabric and make a quilt! Make it a background on your blog or twitter page! Print out wrapping paper to wrap presents for your mom! It’s totally up to you!

This is a very limited offer, both in quantity and time! We’re only doing 50 custom patterns and when they’re gone, they’re gone! Starting as of right this second, you have until Sunday, April 2nd to reserve your pattern!

Please hurry over to our Kickstarter page and contribute now!

Then you can have your own special Daily Pattern to impress your friends with!

*If you’d like to donate more than $40 and still receive the custom Daily Pattern, please email chris(at)paperbicycle.com to arrange it. We’d be more than happy to oblige!

**These Daily Patterns are for non-commercial use only. Once the Kickstarter campaign wraps up, we will contact you about what pattern topic you’d like. We will begin making the patterns at the close of our Kickstarter campaign, doing at least one per day, so please be patient until we get to yours.

***Please note this is a Limited Time Offer to entice new contributors. This reward does not apply to previous contributors.

So here’s why I want to spread the word and help Light Grey Art Lab get their needed funding.

ONE:
Alyssa Nassner is part of the LGAL crew and she’s the coolest.

TWO:
Patterns are awesome and this is a steal. A STEAL!

THREE:
LGAL is putting on the Pokemon Battle Royal Event! We need more awesome things like this (I know I’m a part of that show but even if I wasn’t I still think that it’s a great event. I mean look at the work from it! Exhibit A. Exhibit B. Exhibit C. I could go on.)

Happy Tuesday!

I’ve only just started checking out the website REASONS...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:47:46 -0400

I’ve only just started checking out the website REASONS FOR OPTIMISM but I’m already picking up what they’re throwing down. The site’s crew is doing a great thing by curating the best of what’s happening in the world.

I know there are those who say that negative news is the news that gets known (well, maybe they don’t say it exactly like that) but I think if you eventually find what you’re looking for. So look for the good, mes amies.

Thanks to Swiss Miss for the tip.