Wombat Revelry

2011-12-15T10:34:00.003+09:00

I found some more pictures from my year in Korea, and put this together. It's a panorama of the view from my rooftop in Seoul on a hot September night.

(click for a big version)

plein air at the park.

2011-08-27T18:20:00.000+09:00

My painting demo from today's lesson:

A level 8 techinque.

2011-08-12T00:22:00.001+09:00

I saw this sweet video of Rick O'Brian (whom I deeply respect) sketching with a quill pen, but holding in underhand, like you might a pencil, and I though to myself, "that looks wicked fun." It is. I will definitely be doing more of this. Here are a couple of the quickies I did this evening at a café near my place.

This one is a girl who kept staring at me. Obviously she picked up my pheromones, and couldn't help but notice what a wicked sex machine she was beholding.

And this one is my favorite apocalyptic equestrian enthusiast.

Edit: Here in the Rick O'Brien video. Obviously way better than what I am doing, but I will beat him one day!

Finally, a mock-up.

2011-08-10T09:59:00.000+09:00

I've had the past few days pretty easy at work, and decided to take a couple of hours and work on a mock-up for the WombatWeb site. Here is a sample page; let me know what you think.

Hey, I made this yak...

2011-07-23T01:31:00.000+09:00

...just for you.

Water-based media is fun sometimes. I don't do much of it, but current studio limitations what they are, it's either that or no painting at all. I think it's good for me, what with the learnin' and all. Sure beats video games.

Here's a detail for your optical nuggets:

Wombat Web, round 3

2011-07-05T21:34:00.001+09:00

It's time to play another exciting installment Design Matt's Website For Him!
I had a bit of a love affair with the Minuscule font family, but it's over now. I've decided to toss up a few other font flavors, and I need you to help me make up my mind. Minuscule is still very much in the mix, but it is now contested by 9 other champion fonts (none of them are quite as crazy, but they all are good). Let me know which you like best, or if you know of a typeface that would look wicked sweet that I have overlooked, throw it out there; I may have it. If I don't have it, and it's affordable, I may even pick it up! Thanks friends!

Hooray for crowd-sourced design!

Round 2

2011-06-29T10:27:00.000+09:00

After a few crits, I made some changes. More opinions, please!

Internets! I need your help!

2011-06-28T22:44:00.000+09:00

I've been working on this super-secret web design project, and I'm really enjoying myself. A lot. So I thought, you know, maybe I could do more of it. So I'm making this thing. I hesitate to call it a company yet, but that is the general idea.

Anyway... I need a logo, and after a bunch of sketches, I came up with this. This thing I like. The question is, do you like it? What bits are good, what bits not-so-much? Or is the whole thing rubbish? Tell me true, Martha... I can take it.

After we get this sorted out, I will get crackin' on the old homepage-o, and I will post my progress for further critique.

Without further ado, here is the vectorige (I initially spelled this "vectorage," but it seemed very angry; I though you should know):

p.s. I just realized the kerning on "web" in the upper left is total crap. Forgive me for being too lazy to fix it right now; I'm hungry.

Fantasy Landscapes - Now with 100% More Gouache!

2011-06-18T23:20:00.000+09:00

I thought I would give gouache another go. Both of these sketches are about 4"x6", and were completed in about 20 mins. Not the best things in the world, but they did make me want to play around with the medium a bit more, so there's always that.

Look ma, no eyes!

2011-05-28T00:04:00.001+09:00

Too tired paint. Still want draw. Nap draw. Shut eyes. Dream. Move Hand. Make thingies.

I haven't done any blind drawing in a long time. I'm much better at it then I was the last time I tried, but most of these are still real awful.

totally click it to make it bigger

My favs:

These are probably the best skull and T-Rex drawings I've ever made.

PAINT!

2011-05-14T23:43:00.000+09:00

warning: this one has the swears.

Sometimes I do things so tremendously stupid that I stare back at them slack-jawed as a thin trail of foamy spittle makes a trail down my chin. For instance, not painting for months. Months. The last time I slung mud was the end of this past December. I've been living in an apartment best described as small. This has limited my opportunity to paint to, um, no opportunities. Unless, of course, I didn't mind a bit of asphyxiation (not even the erotic kind). I finally had enough though, and said, "Well, fuck you brain cells, I don't need you," tossed open my tiny window, and busted out the pallet.

Goddamn, it feels so good. Orgasmic. I forgot how much I love this thing I do. I went for about five hours without stopping. It was sweet.

(feel free to take that last paragraph out of context)

Anyway, here are the goods. One is the first couple of passes at a copy of the portrait of Cornelius Van der Geest by Anthony Van Dyck. The other one is the first coat of a picture of a awesome old photo I found online. Nothing says 'Merica like a nine-year-old girl with Old Glory and a Glock. Don't worry, her legs aren't as freakishly stunted as they look in the photo.

Here's the setup:

Palindrome!

2011-04-14T22:11:00.001+09:00

Made this during some down time at work. Panama!

reboot infinately.

2011-04-13T20:49:00.006+09:00

My computer has taken to crashing a good 10-or-so times a day. It especially enjoys doing this while performing such grueling tasks as, opening an email, or saving a text document. It does not do so when I have both Photoshop and Illustrator running. I don't understand, but I have made for it this visual ode:

click for adorable animated version

New computer is on the way, but man, my hard-reboot finger is getting tired.

The myth of the artistic gift

2011-03-22T19:38:00.001+09:00

Don’t tell me I’m gifted. It’s insulting. My ability to make pictures is not a gift. I suppose you could say that I have been gifted the faculties necessary to make art, sure; my hands, my eyeballs, they could be considered gifts. I did nothing to earn them, so I suppose that counts. Thanks mom and dad, and countless years of mutation and selection. But the thing is, pretty much everyone has access to those biological tools. If you are reading this, good chance is, you’ve got them too. Having strong artistic abilities, however, is no gift.

A gift is something given to a person. Artistic skill is never given to someone, and I am no exception. I busted my ass to get to where I am, and I’m not even good. I have been drawing for as long as I can remember, and when I am not making art, I am thinking about making art (or sometimes the sex – what’s a guy to do?). It’s not some talent I have; it’s a skill cultivated through years of hard work and countless failures. I was not born with this. It was not handed to me in some gilded chalice. I was not blessed with it. It was not free. Don’t call it a gift.

If you look at a truly amazing piece of art, know this: Whoever made that thing, poured everything they had into it. They may have made it look easy, but I assure you it wasn’t. It took all of the effort they have mustered over their entire lives to make that piece. Art is hard. Don’t ever be fooled into believing otherwise. If you are an artist, don’t let anyone make what you do out to be less than it really is. And if you don’t think making art is hard, then you are probably a shitty artist. If you are not exhausted after every painting you do, you’re doing it wrong. Everything you make should be the best you can make it, and that means working harder than you’ve ever worked before. Every time.

I know I am not very good at what I do. Not yet. But I intend to be the best. Maybe I cannot be the best artist in the world (art is subjective after all…) but I can certainly be the best artist I can be. The only way to become the best, however, is to throw the yolk over your shoulders and plow. The cliché goes, “suffer for your art,” and it is a damn good cliché. This doesn’t mean starve yourself, or that you have to be emotionally distressed, or be constantly filled with angst. No, it means something far simpler. Bust. Your. Ass.

That all said, it’s time for me to shut up and draw.

end rant

Flying Machine

2011-03-20T20:55:00.001+09:00

Here is a little drawing I did for sketch contest. The theme was 'flying machine.' It's not much, but it's something. Pencil and gouache on some grey paper.

He's got some pretty tiny hands.

Guess Who's a Bad Blogger, and Has Two Thumbs...

2011-03-13T17:44:00.000+09:00

This guy. I know, I know. I never post anymore. We've grown distant, you and I. I'm sorry. Please don't leave me; I don't want to hurt the kids.

Groveling aside, I do have my excuses, namely that me new apartment is far too small to oil paint in. They make them mighty small in Seoul. I know it's not much of an excuse, since I could always draw, or do some sort of less toxic painting, but I am also just bad at posting the things I do make. I thought it was time I gave the sharks something else to nibble, so here you go. And don't be offended at being called a shark; they are noble, majestic creatures, and they get a whole week on the discovery channel to themselves. You should be honored.

Anyway, here is a logo I whipped up for my father for his birthday. He is a meat-smoking maniac. Which, it turns out, is nothing like a PokeManiac. Fact.

Here you go:

B&W and 3-Color.

Super limited edition woodburn.

Spelunker

2011-01-27T22:10:00.000+09:00

Here's a little fella for your eyeballs.

straight cavein'

Wombats!

2011-01-27T19:00:00.000+09:00

Here is a BibliOdyssey collection of wombat-y illustrations by Noela Young from the book 'The Adventures of the Muddle-headed Wombat' by Ruth Park. BibliOdyssey is a wonderful blog that collects vintage (and older) book illustrations, and has provided a good deal of inspiration for me. Check it out.

'The Adventures of the Muddle-headed Wombat' | BibliOdyssey

Site

2011-01-18T08:54:00.000+09:00

Hey everybody, sorry for the lack of posts this week; I've been really busy working on my new website, but good news! It's done. I really enjoyed myself, and I think I want to get good at this whole web design thing. Check it out, and let me know what you think.

French Ultramarine

2011-01-09T14:31:00.001+09:00

A friend of mine was enchanted with the color French Ultramarine, but not the actual color. He likes the name. He asked me to draw a French Ultramarine. I asked him if it should be a Napoleonic marine, or some sort of cyborg super-soldier. I decided a compromise would be best. I haven't done any sort of character creation in a while, and I almost never draw robots or cyborgs, so forgive the crappiness of it. Here he is, the French Ultramarine:

Yeah, he flies.

Sheep Mountain - Colors

2011-01-08T00:11:00.000+09:00

I picked up a copy of Jim Gurney's new book a while back, and it has proven to be one of my better book purchases. Had Color and Light been my college Color Theory textbook, I am certain I would be many times more confident with color than I am today. Well, it didn't exist back then, but now that I have read it, I decided I need to give it's lessons a go.

I thought that the sheep mountain piece would be a perfect opportunity to try out some of Jim's sound advise on how to handle both light and color. I started with a small color study, and decided to implement two of the color restrictions Mr. Gurney outlines in his book. The first is a simple color gamut based on the Yurmby wheel. For those of you unfamiliar with the Yurmby wheel (as I was until I read the book), it is a color wheel that employs six primaries of both the print and light spectrums: RGB and CMY. The wheel goes like this: Yellow, Red, Magenta, Blue, Cyan, Green. It provides a much fuller range of colors than is allowed with the standard Red-Yellow-Blue color wheel. Anyway, my color gamut looks like this:

(the image was made using photos of the wheels in Jim's book)

The idea behind the gamut is to limit the number of colors you allow yourself, in order to create a strong unity in the piece, and as a safeguard against overwhelming the viewer with too many colors. It also is a quick way to develop a strong mood in the piece. My gamut for this painting is fairly neutral, with the strongest chroma falling somewhere between pure blue and pure cyan.

The other method I am employing to limit myself is to use a very limited pallet. The only tubes of paint I am using are Vermilion, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Yellow light, and Titanium White. This is a huge hurdle for me to jump. I am really used to using about 10-15 different tubes of paint on any given painting, and cutting back to only three colors, plus white was a huge challenge. The color study for the painting turned out pretty ok though, and I am excited to get cracking on the actual piece. Here's the study (sorry about all the white spots, photographing canvas with overhead fluorescents is a bitch):

Oh, and I didn't forget about the self-portrait, I just am not at a point with it that I am ready to post anything. Maybe after the weekend.

A (bad?) habit.

2011-01-04T20:13:00.000+09:00

I have a habit. I tend to start a lot of paintings, and finish very few. Here is another beginning...

I was looking into some places here in Korea that I could visit, and I came across the island of Ulleungdo, which looks just beautiful. A bit like New Zealand, and I cannot think of a prettier place on the planet than New Zealand. Anyway, I found this picture:

I thought, "Man that's a cool mountain. You know what would make it cooler? If it were more shaped like a wang, and had goats in the foreground." So I made this sketch:

I liked it, but decided I have painted a lot of dicks in my day, and maybe I should tone down the phallic nature of the peak a bit. I came up with this drawing, on MDF:

It is only a start, and I will let you know when I finish the drawing/start on the painting. Here is a close-up of dem sheepies and their shepherd friend:

Self Portrait in the Key of Hale, Part Two: Hate painting and effing hatin' it.

2010-12-30T15:18:00.002+09:00

I talk when I paint, and not to people. To the paint. I assume this makes me a candidate for institutionalization. I talk more and more the more emotional I feel about the project on which I am working. Sometimes I giggle, and and make jokes about my painting. I tell it it's cute. These are the good days, the paintings I am really loving, not because they are particularly good but because I am throughly enjoying myself. Then there are the other days. The days where I wonder how I have failed myself so badly.

These days are filled with angry grunts and curses under my breath. There is a lot of the self-depreciating language they warn you against in grade-school, and a lot unjustified verbal abuse directed to the painting itself. A sample dialog is as follows, it's a crazy person dialog with only one animate participate, but whatever:

"Ugh, underpainting why do you have to be so damned dark? You're obscuring the drawing, dammit!"
*awkward silence as I battle with my inner dialog*
"Oh, because I painted you that dark? Well f*** you, painting. Maybe if the paint wasn't so dark out of the tube... mumble mumble"
*angry grunt, then furious mixing of paint*

The painting I am working on has produced a good deal of these kinds of days. Here are some of the crappy photos of my crappy work. I know that it is supposed to look the way it does, but I cannot help but feel like a failure at this stage in the painting process. It happens every time.

Anyway, here is the first coat of olive green over the primed drawing:

As you can see, it's very dark. Too dark. Hence the above madman dialog. At that point, I was still happy. This changes quickly when I start to add my whites.

And now I'm pissed. No matter that the painting is supposed to look like that at this stage. I am irrationally angry with myself, and with the painting, and no amount of logic will pull me out of my self-hatred. I know the only way to save myself is to keep painting...

So, I paint and paint and come up with that piece of garbage. I thought adding some Vandyke Brown would make it suck less; Vandyke brown always cheers me up. I was wrong. It made me so ill that I had to take the photo at an angle that made me not want to throw the painting out the window along with my own frail body. Instead of initiating my personal demise, I did what I usually do when I am upset. I kept painting.

Glaze some color (mostly Vermilion, Yellow Orchre, and Viridian) into it, tighten up some of the shapes, and Voila! I don't hate myself anymore. After hours of angry, blood-thirsty painting, after countless minuets of clawing away at a chunk of wood with a hairy stick covered in colored mud, I come to this. This thing I don't love, but that I can stomach looking at. And now I can continue on into the painting, hoping all the while that my inner Lou Ferrigno stays quiet.

Now for some close-ups, if you are into that sort of thing:

Self Portrait in the Key of Hale, Part One: The Drawing

2010-12-27T21:25:00.003+09:00

I took this photo a while back and decided it needed to be a painting. It has a very Phil Hale feel to it, and considering my infatuation with his work, I thought I should pay some homage.

I decided to begin the painting by drawing the image directly onto the MDF that I would be painting on. Here are a few steps of the drawing process:

The final drawing (below) was then spay-fixed to the board using a Korean equivalent of Crystal Clear (it is hard to find name-brand art supplies over here), and coated with several coats of Liqitex clear gesso. Those of you unfamiliar with clear gesso should know it is fantastic stuff. It really is nearly transparent, though it does need liberal sanding to keep it from feeling gritty.

Tune in next time for the first few coats of paint.

To everyone who cares:

2010-12-27T20:21:00.001+09:00

I realize I've been pretty awful about my presence here on the interwebs. I intend to fix that. I've been living in Korea for a few months now, and I am discovering that unless I improve my self-promotional efforts online, I might as well fall off the face of the illustration world. So without further ado, let the posting begin.

Oh, and for those of you who visit my terribly maintained website, I will try to get on updating that too.

mutant Naga

2010-04-22T03:13:00.001+09:00

Here is a drawing I crafted of a creepy naga-type thing. Graphite on bristol.

Anna May Wong

2010-04-20T05:07:00.000+09:00

Here is a little ala prima I did on canvas, of the classical actress Anna May Wong.

Hey, it's finished.

2010-04-18T10:20:00.000+09:00

Here is the final version of Exodus. Thanks for following along.

Exodus, nearly done...

2010-04-12T10:46:00.000+09:00

Almost there. Color this time, more to come.

Late to the Party

2010-04-06T22:39:00.001+09:00

These images are a few weeks old, and I have made a good deal of progress on the painting since then (it's nearly done, actually), but I thought it was due time I posted something. The actual piece in 36"x24", oils on board. I am nearly done with the color, and will post an image when I am.

Here's upcoming.

2010-02-18T04:51:00.001+09:00

This is the sketch for the next big painting I am working on. It's gonna be pretty sweet. I'm am using a classical compositional layout, which is kind of silly, but it does make for a pleasing composition. Those old masters, and doin' things that work really well, what jokers. The actual drawing is 12"x8", the painting will be 36"x24"

My Work is going to NYC, Baby!

2010-02-13T13:50:00.000+09:00

So, this study (posted unfinished earlier, though admittedly still not exactly finished) made it into the Society of Illustrators student exhibition in NYC. It may win a cash prize, but the competition is pretty stiff. Anyway, it means I get a free trip to New York for the awards ceremony, where I will get to meet some pretty big names in the industry, so I'm pretty stoked. I'm on the up and up folks; stay tuned.

and another thing... the number one threat to america!

2010-02-07T09:17:00.000+09:00

alla prima oils on board

China

2010-02-07T09:02:00.000+09:00

So, I am going on a trip to China with the school come May, and I need to make some fat cash to pay for it (around 3000 dollars). So, to any of you that have some extra cash lying around, and would enjoy some early work of a soon to be famous artist, let me know. I am selling most of what I've posted here, as well as a large number of pieces not on the site (I can make a image list for any interested parties), and am also able to take commissions, so let me know if any of that would be an interest to you. You can contact me at matthansenart@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.

Floatin' Eddy

2010-01-22T12:43:00.001+09:00

Cute little fella'
Alla Prima Oils

Hugs and Kisses

2010-01-22T12:25:00.000+09:00

final painting for my Fantasy/Sci Fi painting class. Hope you like it.

big ass grisalle paintin'. First time trying that method to completion.
24"x36" oils on board

Also...

2009-09-30T05:10:00.000+09:00

I am working on a 24x36" piece for one of my classes, I will post in-progress slides. For now, here is the start of a grisaille exercise (the big piece will be done in the same manner) for the same class:

It's been a long time...

2009-09-30T05:06:00.000+09:00

I'm back in school now, so more stuff will be flying out my fingertips. Here's a taste:

first alla prima asignment: self-portrait; oils on board (it's a poopy slide I know, but what can you do)

New Heap

2009-08-03T07:20:00.000+09:00

New artheap, theme: illustrate a type of joke. I went with an obvious choice:

Oils on board, about a half hour.

Old fogy.

2009-07-29T08:47:00.000+09:00

I did a aged self portrait for the hell of it. Me in 30 or so years. Here it is:

You may call me Col. Hansen.

BEAR SHIRT IN THE HOUSE!

2009-07-29T08:29:00.000+09:00

I am getting published, in a way! The kind folks over at Ript Apparel have been kind enough to feature my art on a shirt some day during the first week of August. They are only 10 dollars, and for each one they sell I get one dollar. The shirt will only be available for one day (24 hrs), so if you want one jump on it. The art is pictured below:

EDIT: The official release date got pushed to Aug. 20. BUY BUY BUY!

New Heap

2009-07-10T05:34:00.000+09:00

The Spaceman cometh, cometh down. New art heap. Oils on board.

New Heap

2009-05-30T04:07:00.000+09:00

In an attempt to revive the poor beast, I submit to the jury: the Sharkaroo.

Swim Little Guy!

Engage!

2009-05-30T03:49:00.000+09:00

I did a couple paintings this past weekend. 4 hours each, ala prima style, in oils. Picard 4 Lyfe.

Again with the life drawings

2009-05-13T09:17:00.000+09:00

Here is yet another Life IV homework piece. The assignment: create a costumed figure.

The Result: I wanted to try working on exposed wood panel, working ink, oil glazes and varnish over it. I think it had an interesting effect. You really need to see it in person to get the effect of the shiny, shiny varnish.

Working backwards

2009-05-13T09:14:00.000+09:00

here is another life drawing IV project:

Just a quick and dirty portrait of a buddy of mine. Done in oils.

Attempts at Alla Prima

2009-05-13T09:03:00.000+09:00

This triptych was created for my final project for my Illustration Life Drawing 4 class. Our only direction was that it be figural, so here it is:

(it's desktop size)

I wanted to try my hand at some alla prima painting (I have a class in it next semester, and want to have some experience going into it). It's a bit of a tribute to Phil Hale, and Ashley Wood; Enjoy.

Extreme Heapin'

2009-03-29T12:00:00.000+09:00

New art heap. Subject: Mundane Activities to the EXTREME!

Mine: Extreme Sheepin'; herding to the max!

I know, I know...

2009-03-05T09:06:00.000+09:00

It's been a while. Sorry. Not that there are any of you who actually care, or that I have any real remorse over it, but still, I should be posting with better regularity. Anyway, here are some new images for you hungry beasts. Yes, they are made of delicious candy. Go ahead, lick the screen. I won't tell.

Life Drawing 4 Homework: Still-life

Life Drawing 4 Homework: Self-Portrait

Life Drawing 4 In-Class Drawings:

that pear is CRAZY!

2009-01-16T12:50:00.000+09:00

This is a painting I did for my rendering class, last semester. It's an oil painting. It is probably the work that I am most proud of (currently). More on this later.

DINO HEAP

2009-01-16T12:42:00.000+09:00

its a heap of dinosaur. The theme was prehistoric, so here you go.

The Wedding

2009-01-03T07:34:00.000+09:00

Here is my most recent painting. It is a reproduction of a wedding portrait of my Grandparents (mother's side). I, in the near future, intend to do a painting of my other Grandparents wedding as well. The slide isn't great but it's enough for now.

UPDATE: Posted a better version

New Art Heap

2008-12-31T12:20:00.001+09:00

This week's challenge: Create a Disease. So here it is: the dreaded Salmon-Arm. I wanted it to look like one of those old-timey medical booklets. Done in Photoshop.

Tacofoot (is a legend)

2008-12-08T10:28:00.000+09:00

Art Heap post number 2.

Old life-drawing projects

2008-12-03T02:46:00.000+09:00

Self Portrait (of a sort)

Bag o' Feet

Hand Stabbos

The title has it. Here are a few gems from my life drawing two class.

First Art Heap Post

2008-11-21T14:36:00.000+09:00

Here is my first art heap project. Art Heap is a bitchin new project a group of us started up. Check it out (it's in the blogs I am following). The goal of this project was to create a a header banner for the blog, so here it is.

And so it begins...

2008-11-16T16:07:00.000+09:00

Finally, I can start to suck a little less, by showing you just how much I used to suck. I am finally entering the sociopath-soaked realm of the blogger. Fun right? Well, Let's start things off by showing you some early tasties (that make me want to retch... sort-of). They are real gems from the early days of my studenthood at Kendall, and it shows. Anyway, here they are:

Self-Portrait & Kim Jong Il in Prismacolor Pencil followed by a Watercolor