Rise of the Revenant

For this week's article we speak with Craig Roberts, a painter and illustrator from Indianapolis, Indiana about his art, Fountain Square Art Fair, and his creation Revenant Art Studios.

Starving Artist: Can you tell me about Revenant Art Studios, how was it created and what is your overall goal?

Craig: I created Revenant Art Studios to find a way to connect with other artists and help one another reach our goals.

Starving Artist: What are some of your inspirations, artistically and otherwise?

Craig: Music gives me a lot of inspiration while most of my inspiration comes from the people who I was fascinated by growing up, such as my mother and older brother.

Starving Artist: A lot of your pieces have a graphic novel feel to them, have you ever designed or worked on any comic books/graphic novels?

Craig: I’ve got so many good ideas that I’ve been wanting to start and even collaborate with others. I’ve seen that people connect with my work on many different levels and I’m always open for new ideas.

Starving Artist: You recently did a show at the Fountain Square Art Fair, can you tell me about the event?

Craig: It was great, lots of nice people. I met some new artists, it was a good way to get exposed. I love that so many artists were working together and showing their support for one another. I’ll be looking forward to doing more shows in the near future.

Starving Artist: Is there anything that you would like to say to our readers or any advice you might have for aspiring artists?

Craig: I find that painting for yourself is better because you feel more confident in what you are doing and that someone else will always see something different with your work than you. So don’t always get too wrapped up in what you think someone else might like.

A huge thank you goes out to Craig Roberts for giving us his time for this interview. To check out his art visit his page at https://www.facebook.com/ArtistCraigRoberts

Shadow Lune

Shadow Lune is a toy and jewelry maker from Moreno Valley, California. Inspired by gamer and anime culture she creates special items for people with creative minds.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Shadowlune

Greg Humphreys

Greg is a freelance illustrator from Leeds, United Kingdom. He left school when he was 16, having to shelve his artistic dreams to help care for his disabled mother and support his family, and has since rediscovered his love of art in his grown up years. Embracing the style of Pointillism by using saturation of dots to make up grey scale shade variations he creates illustrations of motorbike racers and portraits of pop art legends.

http://greghumphreysartist.jimdo.com/

Chep

Chep is a visual artist from London, United Kingdom. Aiming to create art that will make you smile she breathes life into cute paintings that will make your walls happy.

http://www.chep.etsy.com/

Sabrina Parolin

Sabrina is an illustrator from Toronto, Canada. Inspired by pop culture, science fiction, and cult oddities she is currently available for freelance and custom commission work.

http://www.sabrinaparolin.com/

Candace Mckay

Candace is a self taught visual artist from Los Angeles, California. Combining a stunning combination of color and form she creates amazing images that dazzle the eye.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/candacemckayart

Raven Red Photography

Raven Red is a photographer from San Antonio, Texas. Specializing in conceptual shoots, lifestyle, and wedding photography her talent with a camera pairs perfectly with her incredible editing skills.

http://ravenredphoto.com/

How To Produce Your Own Album

Creating and producing an album can be a difficult and expensive undertaking. First you have to have songs and get good recordings of those songs, then you have to have album artwork and finally you have to decide how you want to print your album covers and the albums themselves. The cost of recording alone can take hundreds of dollars, and when it comes time to get CD's made you discover that it's going to cost you even more hundreds of dollars. So, you might be asking yourselves, how can musicians produce their albums on a limited budget?

I set out to help find an answer to this question by speaking to one of our featured bands, The Lickers. A DIY oriented 4 piece punk band from Indianapolis, they not only rock the socks off of their fans but also, as I found out, are some all around really cool people. They were very friendly and willing to talk with us about how they make albums, shirts, and patches for their band and how anyone with the desire to produce their own albums could do so without having to spend a fortune.

Jane, the bassist for The Lickers, spoke with me before their show at the Melody Inn. An all around modern Renaissance woman with a world of insight on album producing. She explained to me how the band starts by burning their songs to a CDR and then makes their own CD sleeves with their logo stamped onto the disc and the album cover. This provides versatility in printing, as you can change the design without having to have have more copies of your album printed by someone else.

"For this show we printed blue covers, for Bonnie Blue's birthday." She told me. This not only gives them the ability to make custom copies of their album, but it also creates a cool and unique feel to each copy. When you get a CD from them you don't feel like you're buying a mass produced copy in a plastic jewel case, you're getting a real hand made piece of art. "Plus when you order cd's you have to buy lots of them." She explained, which can be a very costly undertaking. We drank a few beers on the back patio, and over some cigarettes she explained to me how she also makes the bands shirts and patches herself using a cross stitching hoop, paint, and screen printing techniques. By doing it themselves they not only are able to keep their expenses to a reasonable amount, but they can also modify and make changes to each shirt without having to have multiple copies printed.
 
In summary I can say that it is definitely possible to make an album for your band without having to shell out hundreds of dollars, and in the process make a uniquely custom album for your fans. By putting production into your own hands you create your own limits and boundaries and free yourself from the financial constraints of companies that would be more than happy to overcharge you to print copies of your album. By doing it yourself, like The Lickers, you embrace the punk spirit that is all but lost in the world today.

A huge thank you goes out to The Lickers for giving us their time and insights for this article. To check out their album, 6 Tits and a Dick, visit their webpage at http://thelickersband.tumblr.com/

Rob Waldren

Rob is a portrait painter from Kettering, United Kingdom. He has a brush stroke that could make a wolverine purr and a style so fine it makes Pollock look like a hobo.

http://mistermook.deviantart.com/

Oliver Harper

Oliver is a painter from Cornwall, United Kingdom. Influenced by the scenery of St Ives in the United Kingdom his paintings capture moments of beauty in the landscape around him.

https://www.facebook.com/OliverHarperArt

Custom NES Guy

Custom NES Guy is a video game console artist from the United States. Using a high quality automotive base coat/clear coat system his work is unmatched in terms of shine, durability, and quality. He can paint any design on a video game console that you can imagine, and also does custom overlays for controllers and video game cartridges.

https://www.facebook.com/Customnesguy

Night Night Bright Light

Night Night Bright Light is a handmade night light maker. From characters that we all know and love to custom designed pieces made to suit your needs, Night Night can help to bring some light into your life.

https://www.facebook.com/NightNightBrightLight

Snoopy's Bird House

Snoopy's Bird House is a painter and birdhouse maker from Columbus, Georgia. Inspired by her favorite elements of pop culture she designs and paints custom bird houses with a hip and unique flair.

https://www.facebook.com/SnoopysBirdHouse

Tankpetrol

Tankpetrol is a stencil artist from Manchester, United Kingdom. Inspired by women’s portraits mixed with geometric shapes and animals he uses a combination of stencils, fonts, and traditional paint to create his pieces. Comfortable working across variety of media and projects, including painting, customizing, creating large scale murals, interior design, and carpentry his work always retains the finest quality no matter what form it takes.

https://www.facebook.com/tankpetrol

Dust That Hopes

 

For this week's Write Up Wednesday article guest writer Ian Walsh shares the full version of his story Dust That Hopes with us. A downloadable copy is available through Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/Dust-Hopes-Divinity-Rising-ebook/dp/B00CCJ098A/

Prologue:
I’ve always used words to provide some sort of structure to my personal experience; who doesn’t? Just like my emotional reactions to the world around me and the moments that fill our lives, I find that much of what I write emerges much like an emotional experience. The story you’re about to read is a reflection of such, the entanglement of my emotional self to my affinity of the word. I did not begin with an idea nor a philosophy, only that I was attempting to cope with an event which drove a wild frenzy of words tumbling upon themselves until they breathed life to this story. - Ian Walsh

Dust That Hopes

With a crafter's intensity wrought by a thousand, thousand immortal hours of shaping clay into artful geometry, Prometheus coaxed stolen divinity within his creation's breast like a loving father singing forgotten hymns to his only child. His breath rioted the spark of life, the crucible of creation itself, and proclaimed its joyous blaze as passion; as man's heart, whose steady rhythm would one day be that of its Sculptor's tapping hammer, a child’s first words to its father.

My child, he spake, I give you the tools of the Gods! Proudly casting aside his heavenly hammer whose head was made of the mountains themselves and whose handle the axis of which all creation spun upon. He lay his sanctified chisel, wrought from a splinter of his own rib, onto a workbench fashioned from the bones of the world. No, not the instruments of my will, child - I see your eyes burn with curiosity to witness their wonders! No my creation, I give to you these gifts;

My child, he spake, I shaped thoughts into your being. Why? So you might dream of the unknown and the un-made.

My child, he spake, I shaped the divine fire to form your heart. Why? So you might illuminate your dreams with passion!

My child, he spake, I shaped your hands as to be like my own. Why? So you might create the dreams of your passions.

My child, he spake, I shaped the gift of change into your flesh. Why? So you might know the quickening of life.

My child, he spake, I captured time itself to shape your awareness. Why? So you might recognize and safeguard the sanctity of all life.

My child, he spake, with all that I have given you, with all that I have told you, what do you say?

His creation gazed upon its shaper with eyes of stolen sky-gems, sapphires plucked from the forbidden Garden of the Gods. Father, the creation spake, I feel a yearning! A yearning to belong, a yearning to give of myself to all that I might know. I yearn for others like myself, to know the intimacy and secret of their hearts as you know mine. Tell me of this yearning, father, so I might do its will!

Prometheus smiled then, as broadly as the rising sun - for in those days, the horizon had been the crafter's smile and the sun the fierce burning of his pride for all that he had created - and he lay a tool-calloused, shaper's hand upon his creation's shoulder - no longer clay, but of warming flesh basking in a father's pride.

My child, he spake, that is love. I shaped you of mortality, so that you would find pleasure in the delicate nature of life. Mortality yearns for the passion experienced in racing the briefness of time, thus you flourish with your quickening of flesh. I shaped you to know that all creations must end, so that you might raise new statues to take place of my own. That sons and daughters might one day climb to the heights of their forbearers and gaze upon all that they have built - and desire to improve upon their great works. Life, my child, begets life and all life recognizes that to live without knowing love is to live without sacrifice. Without sacrifice, he spake, you cannot craft the key to the treasure that is found within the sanctum of your mortal heart.

My father, his creation moaned in dismay, how do I love? What treasure has been buried within my breast? The near-golem cried out, hands clutching its still blazing chest where Prometheus had nestled a stolen seed brought forth from a dying star, a shard of creation that would give life to mankind.

My child, Prometheus spake, you will create a better world than your predecessors. Sculpt with your heart, shape with your hands, give life to all things you dare to imagine with your dreams and breathe into it all of your passion. For you know time walks with you. To know love and for love to know you, you must embrace the coming of change, of death. Give everything that you are to all that you do. There, in the space between each beat of your heart, you will discover the wisdom of sacrifice.

There, he spake, you will discover the sacred treasure.

As Prometheus gifted his wisdom to his student, great chains of snarling lighting had split the heaven and the earth. They shattered the horizon - and thus the smile of Prometheus - casting the world into darkness as they stole his pride from the skies. They bound his wrists to the stone below while his creation gazed in fear, trembling to behold the fury of the divine and for the safety of its maker.

My child, he spake, the treasure locked away in your burning heart is hope.

The God-Rib – the only chisel suited for the divine is a piece of themselves - was lifted by savage hands of lightning and rage to be suddenly plunged mercilessly into immortal flesh, pinning liver to muscle and agony.

My child, he spake, you must never allow hope to escape your heart. Without hope, it will never know to beat with the rhythm of creation. Without hope, it cannot nourish the roots of your love which reaches deep into all the things you dream.

The sculptor's workbench was shattered by a lashing bolt of white furor, the bones of the earth groaning their protest and quaking the very world with their voice - and this is why the earth shakes, for the echo of the bones reverberate deep to this day - from those earthen splinters where all of creation had once been forged upon, great un-Eagles were fashioned, mindless golems given furious life that descended upon the shaper's suckling wound; forever devouring the cursed-healing liver -as we are made in his image, so are our livers similarly immortal - ignoring the creation’s pleas.

My child, he spake, as dreams are given shape by your thoughts..

His beautiful, heavenly hammer was lifted high. Once a tool to shape, it was now held with destructive intention.

My child, he spake, as your dreams are made real by the power of your passions..

With a ringing blow, it fell upon immortal hands with all the rage of Heaven behind it.

My child, he spake, as your visions are brought to witness by the power of your hands..

Again and again, the ringing of its chaotic blows became a symphony of betrayal and punishment, filling the creation's heart with a terrible foreboding knowledge of things to come - and this is the ringing we sometimes hear in the quiet times, which is the echo of that betrayal -

My child, he spake, so it is that love is given shape by hope...

At last the dreadful unmaking was silenced. His creation looked upon the ruin that had once been the sculptor’s clever, tender hands and the tears in his kindly eyes - eyes that had envisioned the sun and made it so, eyes that had watched the birth of all things. Eyes that even now gazed upon the God-King’s hand as it plucked the shaper’s heart from his divine breast, turning the beating flesh into cold, rugged stone and casting it into the heavens to shape shadow upon the Maker’s pride - and thus did the King of the Gods give us night and day in his rage -.

My child, he spake, I have sacrificed all so that you might live. So you might dream. So you might know passion, life and love. My love, I gift to you one final divine gift; the treasure of an immortal heart; all of creation.

As Prometheus became one with the stone of the mountain, the heart of his creation swelled with a burning necessity. The stolen seedling of a star quickened with urgency, taking root to fill its mortal soil-of-flesh with life's vitality; from clay to flesh and from a cosmic seed to glorious life. Now with a shaper’s mortal purpose, the child crafted its own vision from all that it had seen. It stoked the passion springing from the crucible within its chest and knew comfort from the steady rhythm it found within; that of a steady hammer, crafting creation. With a gaze and a smile set toward the horizon; the once-golem, once-child and now finally orphaned mortal stepped out into a world beyond the shores of a dead God’s dream with the words of Thunder at his back;

Hope’s child, Thunder spake, you climb carelessly upon the path of the Gods; heed my fury!

Hope’s child, Thunder spake, misbegotten clay-thing, for this path, it is lined with briar and despair to pierce mortal flesh and spirit!

Hope’s child, Thunder spake, You will tumble, torn and broken, from heights not meant for hearts that cool. You. Will. Fall.

So did the creation turn to look upon its maker’s destroyer, this being of lightning, thunder and frothing rage.

Old God, Mekave spake, our dreams grant us wings; what need have we to climb, when we shall soar into heights higher than your mountain peaks?

Old God, Mekave spake, our hearts are of the stars themselves, the fonts of creation from which all things spring from; hearts such as these shall never cool and will crowd the very heavens with their righteous light, turning back the darkness in which you dwell.

Old God, Mekave spake, our passion burns for as long as we may dream, turning even divine briar into ash and memory.

Old God, Mekave spake, our hope shall cast aside all of despair and open even your lofty gates.

So it was that Mekave turned his back upon the Old God who raged with lightning and roars of cracking thunder, impotent before the might of hope and dreams.

Humanity begins to dream and Gods begin to quake. The dreamer stirs and the galaxy spins onward. A man-thing stepped out from a sanctuary, finding a world draped under the blanket of night. It’s here that he sets out to find himself and to find those that have misplaced hope.
 

Refuse To Be Usual

Nicky Hwang, the creative force behind Refuse To Be Usual, is a clothing designer from Taipei, Taiwan. Offering a wide variety of clothing and accessories she utilizes unusual Japanese style Punk Rock, Gothic, Visual Kei, Kawaii, and many more styles in her pieces.

http://www.refusetobeusual.com/

Liam Shaw

Liam is an illustrator from Wigan, United Kingdom. Drawing his inspiration from cultural icons of film, television, and video games he recreates classic heroes and villains with stunningly vivid detail.

http://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LiamShawillustration

Kerrigan Renniegade

Kerrigan is a visual artist from Glasgow, Scotland. Firing off paint like Optimus Prime fires off lasers she ignites like C4 onto canvases and sketch pads.

For information on her pieces please contact kerri180@hotmail.co.uk

Paul Thompson Art

Paul is a sketch artist and painter from Chicago, Illinois. Fascinated with the methods we pick to conceal ourselves from each other he approaches his work with dark tones and a playful childlike manner to get people thinking.

https://www.facebook.com/PaulThompsonArt

Steve Kaminski

Steve is a photographer and digital artist from Chicago, Illinois. Integrating his experience with silk screens and block prints he intentionally removes the reality from digital photos in the style of impressionist painters, where more concern is shown to color and form rather than reality.

http://www.stevekaminski.artspan.com/

Megan Biffin Photography

Megan is a Horror Photographer from the United Kingdom. Utilizing extremely spooky subject matter and a wicked flair for photo editing she creates monstrous marvels.

https://www.facebook.com/meganbiffinphotography

The Fear of Failure

Failure is one of the most terrifying aspects of creating art. Deep down we truly are our own worst critics, and no matter how amazing one of our creations may be we will almost always judge it as imperfect. This fear of failing keeps a lot of us from ever attempting to create, from ever even trying. This, in and of itself, is it's own form of failure; The failure to even try.
 
What do we do to overcome this? How do we accept that our art, or literature, or music may not be very good but that it's still worth trying? How do we defeat the fear of failure?
 
In my experiences I have made many a shotty piece. I'm not exceptionally gifted at drawing, or painting, and I struggle many times with properly expressing myself through written word. However I have learned that every time I create something it's a little bit better than the last piece I made. That through practice I have become more skilled and therefore more confident in my own work.
 
The first time that I ever played guitar on stage was at an open mic night. I had assumed the crowd would be small, it was not. They also had an outdoor seating area with speakers facing the street, so that people passing by could hear the performers. I froze up. I got on stage in front of the microphone with all of those people staring at me and I absolutely could not play. It took me what seemed like an eternity before my fingers started to pluck the strings and my voice started to sing, and I pushed my way through what was a very unimpressive three song set.
 
Since then I've spent a lot of time playing and practicing by myself, or in front of friends and people I feel comfortable around. This has helped me to build confidence. As absolutely horrifying as it was I needed that experience of complete terror, that embarrassment of facing a crowd of strangers with a guitar in my hand. Without facing that fear I may never have tried performing and most likely would have let my musical dreams go to the wayside.
 
In summary, fear of failure is very natural but it can and must be overcome. Practice your art in a comfortable setting and don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself sometimes. The worst thing that can happen is that you'll be embarrassed, and when you weigh that against the joy of success and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with it then you can see how small of a risk that really is.

Juan Jose Surace

Juan is a painter from Barcelona, Spain. He began his work as a self-taught artist experimenting with oils, watercolors, and prints. His paintings are extremely surreal and magnificent, and sometimes even disturbingly beautiful.

http://jjsurace.com/

Craig Roberts

Craig is a visual artist from Indianapolis, Indiana. With an amazingly creative style he breathes life into incredible creatures on sketchpads and canvas. From recreating and honoring comic figures that we know and love to manifesting new and amazing monsters and heroes he expertly blends the line between imagination and creation.

https://www.facebook.com/ArtistCraigRoberts