Summary: Video essay sharing fun techniques for custom lettering, watercolor, and illustrated storytelling details. This journey highlights the joy of finishing projects that were once left behind.

Transcript:

Today I’d like to share with you this painting, Sky King, which is a personal piece for me. Originally, this started as some ideation and sketching. I brought up this pencil drawing, which I really enjoyed, and I started the painting but never really finished it. One of my goals this year has been to start finishing things and bring them to a completed state, and this was a great opportunity to do just that.

Hand Lettering

I also created this text. You can see here that I took my original sketch, scanned it in, and used Illustrator to create a custom grid. Then, using tracing paper, I refined the letters. The letters only end up being about an inch high in the final image, but it was still a lot of fun.

I took my original sketch, scanned it in, and used Illustrator to create a custom grid. Then, using tracing paper, I refined the letters.

The early process for this piece is based on a prompt, sort of a randomly generated character prompt. I just take a pen and start writing down ideas, story ideas, associations, etc., drawing these little characters and heads. I came across this one, which is sort of like a keyhole shape, and I really liked it. I kept drawing and came up with other ideas, like this floating hairball with a mask on.

For myself, one of the things that works well is to build on things I like in my sketches. I drew that key-shaped head again and started to develop a body to go with it. I ended up with this Frankenstein-type body that’s scarred, battered, and bruised. The story for this character, to me, is maybe that of a Korean War-era pilot who got shot down, but even after being shot down, he’s still trying to make his way home to his love. The only way he can do that now is to ride one of these coin-operated rockets.

Story Details

Some of the things I really enjoy about this piece are all the little character details. You’ll notice the poster in the background, which says “The Sky is the Limit.” That’s one of the details. Then, there’s also the patch on the arm. I’m a fan of Rick Griffin and his ink work, and he has a flying eyeball design that I really think is cool, so I used that as the flight patch on the side of his arm. The number 23 on the bag is a lucky number for me, so I included it there.

More on Rick Griffin:
A Beautiful Pandemonium

How Rick Griffin, South Bay surfer and artist, became the unlikely herald of the Psychedelic Revolution.

https://www.surfersjournal.com/editorial/the-archivist-rick-griffin-beautiful-pandemonium/

This section was a lot of fun to paint. Off to the side of the camera, there’s a large puddle of this blue-gray color that I mixed. It was fun to charge up the brush with that color and start laying in the shadow. In my other hand, I have two other brushes: a small one for creating little nooks and crannies so I can get right on the edge of the character, and another filled with clear water. When creating large shapes, adding little openings or passages makes the edges much more interesting than a single hard edge.

It was really fun to create a piece just for entertainment. When I was younger, I would create drawings and work in my sketchbook, not because I thought I’d do it professionally, but simply to entertain myself, have fun, explore, and create whole worlds. This piece helped me get back in touch with that.

All right, we’re bringing this one in for a landing. I hope you enjoyed the process and watching the painting come together. I certainly enjoyed making it. If you’ve made it this far, please consider liking and subscribing to the channel; it helps as I continue to build my audience. Speaking of audience, tell me in the comments: do you have things you’re curious about regarding the process? Do you also create fantasy worlds for yourself? If so, let me know in the comments below. All right, see you next time—have a good one!