Justice - 'D.A.N.C.E.'

Always enjoyed the visual imagery in this video. Directed by Jonas and François of 75 Music.

Also check out the unfinished version and Director's cut which feature a different and more interesting ending.

Happy ATC

We recently came across a fun little community called Happy ATC on Livejournal. Its premise is to swap hand made trading cards with other artists, with a focus on hand-drawn cards done with traditional media. It’s relatively new, so for right now the number of participants is fairly small but that makes for a more intimate feel and an easier time at making some new friends.

Artists on Tegaki E pt. 3

Continuing on our highlight of artists on Tegaki E here are some others who have caught our eye.

ptlau
hellebore
BB
QueenOfTheCute
JaB

Artists on Tegaki E pt. 1
Artists on Tegake E pt. 2

*Image © ptlau

Journey to the West

For anyone who hasn’t already seen it:






Also check out the BBC’s site for more goodies.

On that note, the Olympic opening ceremonies begin this Friday, August 8th.

Vacation Time

Rococo Flow is on vacation right now, however that being said be sure to check out the following links for art and comic related news.

http://www.comics212.net/
http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/

We'll be back soon with more interviews and features. Also be sure to subscribe to Rococo Flow on your RSS reader or livejournal using one of the buttons on the left.

Heroes Con 2008

The big event this weekend is Heroes Con which takes place in Charlotte, NC. Guests include Hope Larson, Matt Chapman, Jaime Hernandez, Bryan Lee O’Malley and so much more it’s impossible to list. Another big feature of the event is Indie Island which houses various publishers and creators for indie and alternative comics.

No doubt that it’ll be lots of fun for people of all ages. (Source)

Also at Heroes Con will be a table for the Mike Wieringo scholarship that was announced.

The scholarship will have a table at Heroes Con in Charlotte this weekend, where you’ll be able to buy Mike’s sketchbooks, comics, and original art, and get sketches and signatures from some of the top talents in comics. All proceeds from the booth will go to the scholarship. (Source)

Artist Profile: Risa Valdez

Risa Valdez is currently a rising senior at Cal Poly Pomona and currently lives around Los Angeles, California. Born and raised there, her interests include Japanese music with her favorite singer being Hyde. Also known as kurarisa on deviantART, the highlight of Risa’s work includes her portraits which often times are surrounded by beautiful imagery and subtle themes, not to mention the realistic detail with which they are rendered. At the moment she is majoring in the Fine Arts with hopes to one maybe become a teacher and having her work published.







Rococo Flow: Why fine arts? Was there anything in particular that got you interested?

Risa: I was determined to chase art ever since I graduated from elementary school. So in high school I was already excited to take art classes, by junior year I was already in AP art (though I don’t think I did my best, unfortunately).The first year of AP art, I did traditional art and the second year (my senior year) I did digital. I love doing digital works, but there’s something about traditional. I like how old fashioned and classic it is, but then digital has its upsides (I can do stuff I can never do traditionally, and it can give more power).

Rococo Flow: How were you introduced to digital art?

Risa: I can't remember actually, obviously it had to be the internet so maybe through forums or deviantArt.

Rococo Flow: Usually I ask how long they've been drawing but it's usually since they were little like you mentioned

Risa: Yeah actually that’s a funny story, I remember when I was in 2nd grade there was an art contest for us kids to draw our house. I remember I drew the sun with squiggle rays, and I thought for sure I would win because of how cool it looked, but I didn't, haha. Then in 5th grade, in art class we had to construct a scene out of construction paper. I worked really hard to make a room scene with a vase of small detailed flowers. I got a C and I was shocked. I vowed to get better at art from then on.

Rococo Flow: Haha… so revenge or something along those lines? Either way, that's a great sort of motivation. I think many artists may not want to admit it, but with communities like deviantART, I'm sure envy is a slight driving force at times.

Risa: Definitely, I know it can get like that for me. There'll be artists out there that blow my mind and I think 'wow, I'll never get that good, I should just give up'.

Rococo Flow: Certainly, that's why I like those rare times an artist will show their improvement, it gives others hope. Who have been your influences?

Risa: I can't give names because it's impossible. There are countless artists out there that I've soaked up to try and create my own style, from classical artists to recent ones.

Rococo Flow: Would you be able to describe your style?

Risa: Let’s see, currently I'd say it's a detailed collage portrait style with hidden messages (and I try to incorporate a lot of color when I color them).

Rococo Flow: What sorts of messages do you try incorporate?

Risa: Usually it has to do with the person, the theme. So, let’s say if I put certain flowers around them, some of them have a meaning. Then, I'll put objects in there that associate with them too. So in a way it's my take on the person, sometimes.

Rococo Flow: Can you explain how you go about drawing or painting a piece?

Risa: It always starts with the face, particularly the nose, I have no idea why haha. So from there I draw the rest of the face according to the nose position (I usually always have reference, so 'eyeballing' it is key). Sometimes I already have the composition in mind, but other times not, so after drawing the portrait, I add in the other objects around them.

Rococo Flow: What programs and traditional media do you usually use for your artwork? What's your favorite?

Risa: That's such a hard question! For digital art, definitely Open Canvas. I love how basic it is so I think it's easy for anyone to use. Unfortunately though you can only use it on PCs and I have a Mac now, so I haven't been able to use it. I know a lot of people use Painter but I don't even know where to begin there are so many tools and things, haha.


For traditional media, it's been watercolor. I love oils too, but since it's messy and smelly, I don't use it often, watercolor is friendlier, especially since I can just take it out, use it, erase with water if I make a mistake, blend and dab to give a cool effect, not to mention how beautiful it is overall.

Rococo Flow: Do you have a favorite type of drawing environment?

Risa: If I’m working with traditional media, I like working in the afternoon (with natural light) by the window. Digitally, it doesn't matter.

Rococo Flow: Out of all the pictures you've done thus far, which one are you the most proud of and why?

Risa: Ah which one! Let me see. It’s a tie between "Faith Gift 2006" and "Crown of Thorns”. Faith Gift because I actually painted it for Hyde (my favorite singer) when he came to California to do some concerts and it conveyed my image of him, but then the Crown of Thorns idea was something I had wanted to paint for some time because I felt any celebrity could relate, especially since Christianity was a recent theme of his so it felt very fitting.


Rococo Flow: Which piece took you the longest? Or was there any that was rather difficult, where you felt like you really had to push yourself to completion?

Risa: Oddly enough for most difficult, probably “37” because it was something I wanted to do to celebrate Hyde's birthday last year and I hadn't done anything all day. I was suffering artist's block and was unsatisfied with things I started, so I tried my best to crank that out and surprisingly a lot of people loved it! As for the longest time, that's a funny question because when I work on an art piece, I do so in long periods of time. I'll spend a good chunk of hours working on something because I get excited about seeing it finished. Crown of Thorns took a weekend to do though, so I guess that took the longest, probably.

Rococo Flow: Ah yeah, I remember 37. It's one of my favorites by you, definitely =)

Risa: Haha now you know it's secret.

Rococo Flow: *Laughs* It's funny how that works though. What are your future aspirations?

Risa: For some reason I'd like to teach art. My art teacher in high school was really laidback and actually didn't teach me anything, haha, but she believed in me and that was important so I hope I can discover and help other young artists too. Plus despite being a fan of deep and dark things, I have a good sense of humor and can be lively so it just sounds like a lot of fun (I know I'll regret saying this now, haha). Who knows though? Oh and of course I'd want to keep painting and drawing my own things to sell on the side.

Rococo Flow: Sounds good, I admire that, anyone who wants to become teacher, because there aren't enough good and inspiring ones. After all, without the teachers how would anyone learn anything to become artists, doctors, lawyers, etc.?

Risa: I know right, and then they can come back and thank me when I'm roaming around with my walker.

Rococo Flow: Haha. Do you have any other interests besides drawing?

Risa: I'm a huge fan of Japanese music, as you can tell. I listen to all kinds and hope I can pay homage to my favorites by drawing/painting them. I sound so simple.

Rococo Flow: No you don’t. So who are your top five favorite musicians? =)

Risa: Oh Nooo!!! Hahahaha.
1) L'Arc~en~Ciel
2) Shiina Ringo
3) Salyu
4) RIP SLYME
5) the brilliant green


Rococo Flow: If you could be any character from a video game, movie, novel, etc. who would it be and why?

Risa: Maybe Lily Chou-Chou from the movie All About Lily Chou-Chou, because in the film she was an ethereal singer that provided a mysterious power to very different people. Her music was beautiful, original and other-worldly, all while being very mysterious herself. I thought she was such an amazing character.

Rococo Flow: Do you have any other comments or things you'd like to address?

Risa: Ah maybe, I’m kind of embarrassed that most of my work is fanart of Hyde? Haha.

Rococo Flow: Another artist I interviewed Heather or Makani, if you've heard of her said something along the lines of, ‘draw what you like to draw’, I mean after all if it makes you happy, who cares? Whatever gets your pencil moving.

Risa: Ah that’s a good quote! It's true though and I respect Hyde a lot so I really find it easy to draw him often.

Rococo Flow: I didn't ask earlier but are you working on any sort of art related projects or something of that nature?

Risa: I actually worked on a doujinshi with a few other artists a few years ago, but I'm really embarrassed with my submission so I like to forget about it (I didn't do a good job). Most recently an idea was pitched between me and a different group of artists but nothing has become of that yet. I hope maybe in the future I'll have the confidence to create an artbook with other artists, or go solo.

Rococo Flow: I would really love to see more artbooks done by some rising young artists like Le Grand Grimoire Visuel, I think such a project would be awesome and I'd totally buy it.

Risa: Yeah I think there should be more out there, even if they’re small.

Rococo Flow: Do you have any advice for other aspiring artists?

Risa: There's a lot of things even artists you admire will learn so don't give up, if you love it enough and sincerely work hard on what you do, you'll improve in no time. Your best work is only the beginning to what you’re capable of doing so Good Luck!


To see more work by Risa visit the following links:

kurarisa@dA – deviantART gallery

You can also contact her at kurarisa [at] gmail.com

Artists on Tegaki E pt. 2

Reflecting on our last post about Tegaki E, we thought why not link to a couple more of our favorites. For those of you already on Tegaki E, there’s a book marking feature which allows you to easily follow others. Handy when no one really sticks out on the front page.

Anarahk – (even has a little Tegaki E tutorial which you can find here).

bunfats

CNWOLF

alexds1 (Check out Der-shing's interview here).

boopkit

chupachup (bonus points for being named after the lollipop).

*Image © CNWOLF

Graffiti Contest: The Incredible Hulk and Jones Soda

Facebook Graffiti is holding two more contests. The first is based on The Incredible Hulk in which participants are to draw the Hulk or character of their own in various categories. Contestants compete for a grand prize of $250 Fadango or Amazon gift certificates.

The second contest is sponsored by Jones Soda and contestants are to create a drawing of a common object or place and make it into something better. Grand prize winners will have their picture printed on Jones Soda bottles, receive a track jacket, and Jones Soda gift pack.

Drawing Day '08

Hey everyone!! This post is to inform you about Drawing Day 2008 which beings June 7th. (Depending on where you live in the world that could mean today!) Held on the first week of June of each year, the purpose of Drawing Day is to remind everyone about the joy of putting pencil or pen to paper. In order to participate you need only to create a drawing, even something as simple as a stick figure and to share it online on a website such as deviantART or upload it to a host like Photobucket and share the link on a journal.

Solange - 'I Decided'

The following is Solange's new video for her single 'I Decided'.

I must say I love the old school feel of the video and the colors.

Artist Profile: Emmy Cicierega

When looking the art of Emmy Cicierega (Sis-er-ee-gah), one can never think of anything less than liveliness and joy. Also, know as b1ndi on dA, Emmy’s art can be characterized by a mixture of everything that was ever fun about being a kid. Currently 18 years old, she resides in Kingston Massachusetts where’s she lived her whole life and been home schooled since an early age. She also has three siblings: Leah (28), Neil (21), and Ben (14), and if you were ever wondering her last name is Lithuanian. (However, she does describe her family as being a family of ‘mutts’ with a passed on Lithuanian name). If anything, there’s no doubt that Emmy’s work is something to watch out for the in the future. Who knows? You may see her work on TV someday.




Rococo Flow: So how long have you been drawing? What was it that initially got you interested?

Emmy: I've been drawing since 10 and started getting really obsessed with it around 12 or 13. My Dad bought me a VHS of The Lion King and when I saw it, I flipped out. I decided that animation was the coolest idea ever and that I had to be a part of it. I would watch animated movies repeatedly and freeze the frames and go back and forth just mesmerized! Haha.

Rococo Flow: *Laughs* Who or what would you cite as influences as you've progressed over the years?

Emmy: I spend a good amount of time browsing deviantART every day, just going over all the different kinds of artists. There are hundreds of talented folks I admire there. Artists that stick out by name, though, well let’s see. Recently I got into Alphonse Mucha's stuff and Allesandro Barbucci’s work is pretty awesome. Hayao Miyazaki is always a favorite!

Rococo Flow: Of your peers, who would you single out as being one of the most innovative with their art?

Emmy: Hmm well you just gotta love Loish's stuff. She draws beautiful girls who have strong jaws and other strong features but still turn out just gorgeous. She uses colors I’d never think of using!

Rococo Flow: I have to agree, her use of colors and composition is amazing. How would you describe your own style?

Emmy: Uhh. Disney on vacation in Japan, attending a fashion show set to French jazz. I have no idea how to describe my art. Hahah, Cats. Lots of cats!

Rococo Flow: Haha. How do you get ideas for your drawings?

Emmy: Music! I love picturing what goes along to music and then drawing it. Music can really help me put a personality to a character. It's fabulous.

Rococo Flow: So is it any genre of music in particular or can it be anything?

Emmy: I love all kinds of music, mostly happy stuff. I'm big on Japanese Pop lately, but I also love sassy French stuff and some Norwegian punk, and you gotta love American geek rock! But yeah, foreign music is awesome to me because you get to apply your own meanings to the lyrics and still enjoy vocals.

Rococo Flow: What programs do you typically use for your work?

Emmy: Photoshop CS2! I practically live in Photoshop. Haha.

Rococo Flow: How about traditional media?

Emmy: I've always wanted to test the waters with that but it’s dang intimidating! No undo button! I do sketch with pencils a lot though. I plan on exploring watercolors at some point this year.

Rococo Flow: Could you go into detail about the process you have for creating a picture?

Emmy: It's pretty basic. Sketch, inks, flats, shading. Sometimes I’ll mix it up and do sketch, flats, shading (no outlines, ooh!). I'm trying to get more into digital painting lately though, which requires a higher resolution and lots of patience for fiddly details. It's slow going, Haha.

Rococo Flow: Ah I agree, I used to look for a lot of painting tutorials and watch event files and it definitely takes some patience, but the results can be quite beautiful.

Emmy: Yeah. Watching videos of people paint is the worst, because they make it look so easy! It never is! Hahaha

Rococo Flow: Not to mention it’s sped up.

Emmy: Yeah.


Rococo Flow: What's your favorite kind of work environment besides having music to listen to?

Emmy: A good chair, my tablet and a computer is all I need, really. And snacks, SO MANY SNACKS.

Rococo Flow: With the majority of your work, are you ever trying to portray any kind of message?

Emmy: I guess a reoccurring theme in my art could be "Happiness is chic" or "Adventure is just around the corner". I like my art to feel like it's playful and carefree, hopefully people pick up on that.

Rococo Flow: Looking back at your past works, what improvements and changes are you proud of?

Emmy: I think I am better at anatomy (hopefully, haha) and I'm quite pleased with how my taste for colors has developed. (I used to be the kid who would draw cats in rainbow colors with polka dots)

Rococo Flow: Haha... do you have any original stories you're working on or projects in general?

Emmy: Well I've always got stories in my head that I develop just to entertain myself, but I've been working on making them more public. It's hard, seeing as I'm a terrible writer. I've got no solidified projects planned, but there are always at least a hundred IDEAS for projects in the back of my head.

Rococo Flow: If you ever had the opportunity, are there any artists you would love to work with?

Emmy: On a large scale, I'd LOVE to work with a team of artists on some sort of amazing project like a movie or something. On a more personal scale, there are too many people to list by name! One on one collaborations are really fun, though, if you're working with someone with a similar taste in art and style as you, or even a complete opposite style!

Rococo Flow: Since you seem to have a love for animation, do you have any particular thoughts on the industry?

Emmy: The industry needs to bring 2D back with a classy comeback. Studios should focus more on a good story, and less on what would entertain an obnoxious child for an hour. Pixar is really good at making good stories, and I wish they would branch out into 2D!

Rococo Flow: Cannot agree enough!! I hate how people are sort of dismissing 2D when in reality a good story is what's necessary for a solid foundation regardless of if it's in 2D or 3D. However, I'm curious to see how the Rapuzel movie by Disney will turn out

Emmy: Exactly. Yeah, Disney is trying to get back in the game, it's been shaky, but I’m still reserving judgment.

Rococo Flow: Yeah, I'm crossing my fingers. Haha, I really do want them to succeed.

Emmy: Me too :-)

Rococo Flow: So what are your future aspirations? Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Emmy: I see myself with a robotic left arm that can shoot lasers and brew coffee. Honestly, though, I see myself involved with a movie somehow! Storyboarding or character design sound pretty cool to me. I'd like to be involved in both animation and live action

Rococo Flow: What are some of your interests besides drawing?

Emmy: Film, comedy, traveling, writing, photography, fashion!

Rococo Flow: If you could be any character from a video game, movie, or novel, etc. who would it be?

Emmy: Tough one! Let's see, Kiki, from Kiki's Delivery Service. I identify with her a lot. I'd also like to be Hermione from Harry Potter, I suppose. I think it would be loads of fun to be any sort of Disney Princess, especially if you get to sing all the time. But mostly I want to be Voldemort. Yeah.

Rococo Flow: Give a list of your top 5 favorite movies and your top 5 favorite songs.

Emmy: Hahaha. No fair, they're always changing! Uh let’s see. Right now some favorite movies of mine are Stardust, Spirited Away, Mirror Mask, The Incredibles, and Singing in the Rain.

Favorite songs: Lets see, ‘Kimi Ga Suki’ by Ram Rider, ‘Dancing with Myself’ by Nouvelle Vague, ‘That’s How You Know’ from the Enchanted soundtrack, ‘So You Say’ by The Bird and the Bee and ‘Somewhere Beyond The Sea’ by Frank Sinatra!

Rococo Flow: Nice =). Now you have singing ‘That’s How You Know’. *Laughs*

Emmy: Haha yeah, that song is addictive!

Rococo Flow: Do you have any advice for any other aspiring artists?



Emmy: A big problem I run into regarding young artists is subject obsession. They learn how to draw like, say, wolves, and that’s ALL they draw in like one style. That’s no good! I'm not saying to stop drawing wolves, I'm saying draw wolves in more styles and draw humans and trees and all kinds of things, don't limit yourself at all when it comes to art, ever! But don't cut back on what you love to draw either!





To see more work by Emmy check out the following links:

http://www.emmyc.com
b1nd1@dA – deviantartART account

You can also contact Emmy at emmybindi[at]yahoo.com

Creep Machine

The Creep Machine is a popular webzine that often features alternative and underground artists from various fields including traditional art, illustration, and photography. Run by webmaster Josh who also writes for the San Francisco weekly, the Creep Machine hopes to expose various artists to a more mainstream audience.

Artist Profile: Ed Tadem Pt. 2

In our previous post we had the first part of our interview with Ed Tadem. In this second part he talks more about his current comic project '76 with B. Clay Moore as well as his other experiences with art and comics.

[Click here for Part 1]

Rococo Flow:Do you use any other programs besides Photoshop?

Ed: Not really. I used to use this Japanese program called OpenCanvas but we used Photoshop exclusively at the architecture firm and one thing about a place like that, you learn to get really fast really quick and you pick up a few tricks. I found there wasn't much you couldn't do with Photoshop.

Rococo Flow: Yeah and Phostoshop has improved so much over the years, but I like OpenCanvas a lot.

Ed: Yeah I saw some screens of OC4 and it looks kind of like it's getting into PS territory, the last one I had was 3 and the thing I liked about it was it just had the essentials.

Rococo Flow: I have both OC3 and OC4 and 4 has a lot of added tools, but I still use the default brushes so it’s like I’m using 3. I should probably play around with it more. *laughs*

Ed: I've heard good things about Painter X too but yeah, there’s a ton of things in Photoshop I never touch. But you know, just talking to friends and asking how they do things, you sort of build up your own tricks.

Rococo Flow: Do you use custom brushes?

Ed: Yes, almost nothing but at this point. I actually even made actions to select the most used ones, from F2 through F10. I try to make most of my digital paint look like natural paint. I just kept messing with things till I had brushes that didn’t look digital. It took me awhile to configure it all.

Rococo Flow: I can imagine. Speaking of programs, have you heard of ArtRage?

Ed: Ah yeah, a friend sent me the demo and it looks pretty fun. I actually did finish a painting in it. It was on my list to get a full version at some point, then I kind of forgot about it.

Rococo Flow: *Laughs* I have messed with it but it does look pretty fun.

Ed: The interface took some getting used to.

Rococo Flow: So what about traditional media? Which do you typically use, any favorites?

Ed: Well all my comic work is eventually inked with a sable brush and Sumi ink. I still love pencil and ink for all my drawing needs. As far as painting, I’ve been trying to get into acrylics. I haven't had too much time to sit down and do something decent though. I was taught to paint with oils in school, and it sort of influenced the way I painted digitally. I still love that look, but I can't deal with the mess and the fumes. One of the reasons I want to get into acrylics is if you do it right you can get it to look like oil.

Rococo Flow: I think with the influence of the internet and these readily available programs, lots of kids are learning to paint digitally before they even touch paint but, looking at your work and other artists out there, it's sort of easy to tell who's learned how to paint traditionally because you transfer it over to the digital canvas.



Ed: Yeah, I think it's too easy at this point to just learn digital techniques without an understanding of what it's founded on but at the same time, that problem exists whenever anyone gets too married to style over substance. Even with traditional media and stuff, you can tell when someone can't draw or doesn't understand storytelling, etc. and are falling back on inking with lots of detailed little lines or something. A lot of kids learn to run before they can walk, and it shows. There are so many sites I see and the painting and colors make me jealous, but then underneath it, the drawing is weak and doesn't hold up.

Rococo Flow: I like to think that some of that is ok, because I don't feel like the majority of these people are trying to have an art career and it’s just a hobby.

Ed: True but I am kind of referring to people who actually do work, as well. They get by because it's flashy work that sells. It goes back to when I met Eric and the artists I had never heard of, but these were artists that ARTISTS respected and looked at, regardless of it they were in the Wizard top 10 or whatever. I mean you can’t knock a guy for making a living, but you’ve got to choose at some point if you want to be an artist or just a commodity to be sold at face value?.

Rococo Flow: That's true, I guess there's a lot of background politics behind it too? What are your current thoughts about the comics industry and anything that ties in with that?

Ed: As far as comics. I don't know if I'm qualified. There are only a handful of comics I buy at this point. I don’t know if there are really any background politics but I think some people don't mind being Paris Hilton you know?

Rococo Flow: *Laughs* True. Some people draw just for the popularity and that's how deviantART seems to be sometimes. However, I like it because I do find people when I dig through all the other ‘crap’.

Ed: There’s also the money. I mean, people that go into interviews literally with photocopies of someone else's artwork. Obviously that's an extreme, but I guess there's just levels of integrity as far as what you want your art to say about you and if it's something you want to devote your heart and soul to, or if it's just a paycheck. Haha and I feel so old when I check out DA. I don’t go to many forums anymore these days.

Rococo Flow: I find DA really funny because a lot of people are starting to 'discover' a lot of artists I've know about and admired for years but I like seeing that they're getting a bit of the recognition they deserve. I used to link hop from site to site because one artist I loved would like all the ones they loved and I’d end up loving them too.

Ed: Haha yeah, it’s a dangerous way to lose an afternoon.

Rococo Flow: Yes!! It’s horrible.

Rococo Flow: The other part to my comics question, or art in generally if you want was what are your thoughts on it, also with the younger generation and the great surge in Eastern influences.

Ed: Well hopefully those kids will grow up? I think it's the same as back when I was growing up and it was all about guys like Jim Lee, etc. I mean there's good anime and bad anime, and eventually you just hope kids will be able to tell the difference.

Rococo Flow: I think for the ones serious about art, it happens.

Ed: It goes both ways though, there's a lot of dismissal of anime or manga, because there's so much bad stuff that gets put on TV. That also relates to what I said about being influenced by everything around you. Hopefully anime or manga will be a bridge into just loving all kinds of art. Lots of guys do that well, people like Bryan O'Malley and Becky Cloonan are their own artists

Rococo Flow: Yeah, definitely. So what are your goals for the future?

Ed: Mainly I'd love to just do comics fulltime. And sideline in illustration or cover work, just because painting is fun too. I'm just taking it one project at a time at this point and trying to improve and do better on the next one.

Rococo Flow: Out of all the work you've done, is there any that you're the most proud of or if not, was there anything that was particularly difficult to completely?

Ed: *Haha* Most sequential pages for me are difficult to complete, only because they mean so much to me. A pinup or whatever painting is usually easier, but pages that tell a story. There's so much that goes into it, I'm still trying to get a hold of it all. I like to think whatever I'm doing right now is the thing I'm most proud of. So at this point, it's '76. I also just did a short story for the Pop Gun anthology, and I like some of that pretty ok too.

Rococo Flow: Care to talk a bit more about '76? Like how'd you come to work on it and what it's about exactly?

Ed: Sure. Well, my buddy Jason Latour worked with Clay on another Image series called Expatriate. Jason was kind enough to introduce me to Clay and recommend me for '76. The book is actually split in two, with the second half being written by Seth Peck and drawn by Tigh Walker. Both are set in 1976 and our half is called Jackie Karma and takes place in New York. Theirs is called Cool and is set in Los Angeles. Basically, Jackie Karma is a white kung fu master who used to fight crime in the '60s.


He's retired now and working as a lawyer when his old arch-nemesis comes into town, and he's forced to re-don his street-fighting outfit from his hey-day. The outfit, by the way, includes among other things a leather coat with a lion-head graphic on the back and a white belt with the same lion-head buckle. In another writer's hands, it sounds like it could be a recipe for disaster, but in Clay's, it's pretty much a recipe for awesome. I'm also doing covers for the book, and it should be out from Image Comics in January. (RF: Check it out here).

Rococo Flow: Sounds great. =)

Ed: Hehe. =) I think the book will offer something for different tastes. Clay and I are a bit more grounded with the story, and Seth and Tigh are pushing the crazy factor more.

Rococo Flow: Do you have any other projects in the pipeline?

Ed: Well I have a short story in another Image anthology called Pop Gun, nothing else fun to speak of, just things to pay the bills until '76 comes out. =)



Rococo Flow: Do you have any other interests besides drawing?

Ed: Well I still play guitar. It's a great stress reliever. I try to play tennis, but I was in a hit and run last month and my back hasn't been letting me. I love movies, concerts, typical type of stuff. My roommate is an aspiring screenwriter and he's gotten me hooked on JD Salinger, so I've been reading a bunch of that.

Rococo Flow: So ok, what's the strangest comment you've gotten regarding your art?

Ed: Uhm, you know, I've been lucky to have met a lot of really nice people in the industry who always have nice things to say. It means a lot to me whenever anyone has a kind word. I don't post much at boards and such like I mentioned so it's just nice to hear. But on that note, it's extremely gratifying when your writer gives you honest praise.

Marcus White wrote the short story I'm doing for Pop Gun, and he said he didn't think the story would have turned out as well with any other artist. Clay says a ton of nice things too. In fact, I'll paste something he just said to me tonight that just made my day. "What I always tell people when I'm talking about you guys is that it's a combination of three things: raw talent, an almost ego-less desire to improve at your craft, and genuine intelligence."

Rococo Flow: That's quite a compliment.

Ed: Us guys being me and Tigh. Yeah. just makes me want to keep trying to kick it up a notch every new issue. Clay's a guy that appreciates the underpinnings of what makes good comics and storytelling, so even though we're rough around the edges and we both know our weaknesses, we try our best to understand how to deal with problems and just constantly improve. Or in my case, get less sucky.

Rococo Flow: Any advice for aspiring artists?

Ed: I'd say to be open to everything, and be influenced by everything. That's what will make you your own artist, instead of an artist that sort of looks like so-and-so. And remember to never stop learning. Even, if you're 14 or if you're 40, there's always something new to learn and try or improve. Always. The worst thing you can do is get comfortable with yourself and think you've got it made. The reason Eric Canete still holds my respect and awe isn't because he was awesome when I was 17, it's because he's grown and evolved and is still awesome. Whenever I think I've finally caught up to him, he's already got new tricks up his sleeve.


Every artist should be like that. I mean there are artists that are awesome, but they've gotten comfortable and after a while, you realize you've seen it all from them. Yeah, this new piece is awesome, but it's the same awesome as the first thing you saw from them years ago. And at that point you wonder, what's the point? I don't need to buy this comic. It's the same as the ones I already own. I like seeing work from artists who always have something new to offer. I don't mean even drastically changing their style or anything but maybe they adapted a cool new effect for rain or maybe they've done a neat new camera move and it's easier for me to talk about comics that way, but the same holds true for painters and illustrators. Evolution and growth is essential. Uhm, The End.

Rococo Flow: *Laughs* I think you’ve answered everything. Thanks so much.



To see more work by Ed check out the following links:

http://edtadem.com - Main portfolio site
Chepeng – Group blog with friends
http://76blog.blogspot.com/ - the '76 blog
edtadem@deviantart - dA gallery

You can also contact him through his e-mail on the portfolio site.

Artist Profile: Ed Tadem Pt. 1

When Ed Tadem agreed to do an interview with Rococo Flow, I was beyond delighted. For many years, he has always been one of those artists whose work brings something new and gratifying. He is someone who is always trying to push his own boundaries and never ceases to want to improve artistically. This 26 year old was born in the Philippines and at the age of 4 his family moved to Cerritos, CA where he grew up. Later, he would eventually go to California State University, Long Beach before dropping out.

During the interview he talks about his reasons for leaving school and his experiences before landing his first major comics gig. Not to mention, he also goes into great detail about his work habits and his process in creating pages for the ’76 comic. The interview has been divided into two parts and every word that Ed has to say is worth reading. He is truly a talented artist whose work I hope to see lots more of in the future.

Rococo Flow: So what were your reasons for dropping out of school?

Ed: There were a few. Walking around campus I'd always hear kids talking about just wanting to get their degree and get out of there. But I mean, aren't you supposed to be in school to learn? The degree is useless if you haven't learned anything. I was sitting in some biology class and I realized that I wasn’t learning anything. At some pointed it stopped being about learning art and just in classes I was told to take so I could get my degree.

Rococo Flow: So what did you after you left school?

Ed: I got a job at an architectural illustration firm and figured I could work on stuff at night and weekends. Also, sometimes you learn more once you're out of school, just by doing work.

Rococo Flow: How did that set up work out? Do you still work at the firm or are you just working on your own stuff?

Ed: Well, after about a year or so of that, and saving up money - I forgot about that. That was part of the plan, live cheap, save enough money to freelance. Anyway, after about a year or so, I had maybe half the amount of savings I needed and a friend at Upper Deck contacted me about doing some artwork for the Pirates of the Caribbean card game. Except, they needed a ton of art in a month's time, so I took a month off work, and decided to just give my two weeks notice when I got back.

The money from that job basically set me up to freelance. As for the working on stuff at night and weekends - I found out pretty quick that having a 9-5 desk job kind of tires you out. It was kind of the same feeling as school, I'd look around and everyone there had come out of art school or something and wanted to do other things. We all had the same idea of working after hours, but most of those people had been and probably would be stuck there for years. I kind of wish I grew up back in the day of apprenticeship.

Rococo Flow: Did you ever have a mentor?

Ed: Yeah actually, there's a whole story/entry on this in my livejournal. (RF: Which you can find here). Back in high school I met Eric Canete at San Diego Comic Con ’98 and it turned out we lived in the same town. He kind of showed me the ropes a bit and took me under his wing.

Rococo Flow: So you just knew you were going to be an artist? Was there anything that initially sparked that interest?

Ed: Haha, actually it was those Marvel trading cards, series 1. Before I even had comics, I had Marvel trading cards. I didn't even know what comics were but I soon found out! And then I started drawing. Although, as a kid you still kind of think you'll do other things too, like being a baseball player or something and then as a teenager I thought I was going to be a rock star. At 13 I was actually pretty split between guitar and art and I decided I was better at art.

Rococo Flow: *Laughs* Who have been your strongest influences throughout the years? Obviously there's Eric Canete whom you mentioned earlier.

Ed: Yeah, Eric kind of turned me onto a whole world of art and comics I didn't know existed. At the time I was just a kid and all my exposure came from Wizard magazine so I was into Joe Mad and Jim Lee and all the typical stuff. Eric's friends Byron Penaranda and Sam Liu, both of whom are animation industry veterans were a pretty big influence at that point too and of course as I grew up and consumed more art, I have a ton of influences now. I think the worst thing an artist can do is try to be a clone of one or even two or three artists. There’s a whole world not just of artists but of nature and other media even that should inform your vision.



But to answer your question, comics-wise my main influences are guys like Tommy Lee Edwards and John Paul Leon. There’s also Jorge Zaffino, Andrew Robinson, and I discovered a guy by accident Domingo Mandrafina, I think he's Argentine, who knocks my socks off. I love stuff from all disciplines. I've always loved Rodin's figures. Egon Schiele, Klimt and that stuff and as far as illustrators, Dean Cornwell is a painter I adore. I'm doing covers for a book I'm drawing called '76, and I'm painting them digitally and looking at a lot of Robert McGinnis for that stuff. I dunno. Like most artists, I think the list could be endless. There's guys who I was friends with online who are now making names for themselves like Chris Brunner and Jason Latour, and definitely I think I've learned a few tricks from them too. Sorry, that's enough of that. =) Go on.

Rococo Flow: *Laughs* So you have all these influences, would be able to describe your own style?

Ed: Describe how?

Rococo Flow: If you could give a couple of words to describe the type of art you produce, could you pinpoint it? Is it dark, bright?

Ed: Haha well, my friends always joke about me being emo. Let’s call it retro emo? I like drawing characters who look like they came from a decade or more ago

Rococo Flow: Yeah, I love that! I wanted to ask what your favorite era to draw is?

Ed: I think anything between the ‘40s and ‘70s is pretty awesome. When I had cable, Turner Classic Movies was always my favorite channel.



Rococo Flow: How do you go about developing the ideas that you have for your stories and comics?

Ed: Well lately I've been drawing other people's stories but typically I'll have an idea and it'll just be sort of images or specific scenes without a story and I’ll scribble those down and build a story out of that. I did a short story about a boy and a girl in a tree. and I pretty much just had an image of the girl up in the tree by herself and an image of them together silhouetted against a sunset and it kind of developed into an allegory of relationships, specifically every relationship I'd ever been in.

Ed: Or were you asking more about the process from script to final art?

Rococo Flow: I was interested in both actually.

Ed: Well, I'll talk about the process for that '76 comic I mentioned earlier. My writer on that is B.Clay Moore and I couldn't have asked for a better writer for my first major comics work. I get his scripts and print them out with 1" margins and I make notes right on the prints, drawing little 2" high mini pages and try to figure out the panel flow. At that point I almost want the panels to be able to tell the story themselves with the beats that they set up, long panels, tall panels, etc.

Also, if part of the script immediately suggests a camera angle or shot, I scribble that too. I go through the whole script that way, then go back and look at any new characters or settings that I haven't drawn before and do fairly rough designs for them, just enough so Clay can get an idea of what I'm going to do. If I need to reference something, I've stocked up (thanks to eBay) on various 1976 clothing, Sears catalogues, and books with photos of New York street scenes from 1976 (our story takes place in NY of that year).

After I've designed everything, I do 1/3ish size page layouts. I have a template format that I borrowed from Andrew Robinson and Chris Brunner that fits 4 to a letter-size page. I try to do those layouts as tight as I can, and make sure most of the perspective, construction and composition issues are taken care of early at this stage. I figured out pretty quick that being lazy in the early stages just gives you more headaches later on.


Once the layouts are done, I scan them into Photoshop and blow them up onto an 11x17 template, and convert the lines to a very light blue. I then print out the whole thing onto my final board. (Another trick I learned from Chris). Then I ink all the panel borders and pencil with a blue Col-Erase pencil. I scan those in to show Clay, as I also forgot to mention I do with the layouts. And thennnn…I get to ink the pages and and scan. Clay then letters them and gets them ready for press.

Rococo Flow: So you're actually able to print out the 11 x 17 size onto your board? Do you have a special sort of printer?

Ed: Yeah, just a regular large-format printer will work, something that does 13x19. I had to do a few tests to get it to print right in the middle where I needed them and I screwed up a few boards, but it’s worth it in the end. =)

[Continued in Pt. 2]

i vote fo art

I vote for art is an online gallery that launched about a week ago where users can vote for their favorite art, as well as buy and sell their work. The concept is not unlike deviantART where the more ‘popular works’ are found one the front page. However, unlike dA there is some quality control to works that can be submitted. Regardless, it provides a new venue for artists to get their work out to the masses.

Tokyopop Manga Pilot

With as much progress the company Tokyopop has often taken towards pushing the envelope for aspiring comic artists, they too often take an insane amount of steps backwards as well. It’s almost impossible to ignore their latest scheme which is the Manga Pilot program, as the contempt against it has been posted onto several blogs, most prominently Lea Hernandez’s. Reading through the comments and through the contract itself, potential writers and artists should definitely proceed with caution if considering to enter any binding contract. If you can’t afford your own lawyer, it doesn’t hurt to use Google or to get advice from people who have been or are in the industry. Tokyopop is NOT the only company out there.

Graffiti Contest: Save the Bees

Facebook Graffiti currently has a 'Help the Honeybee' contest going on in which initial submission and voting ends May 25th 12pm PST.

As stated on the contest page:

This contest is part of a large effort to raise awareness about the disappearing honey bee populations . From the flowers they pollinate to one-third of the delicious foods we eat, honey bees enrich all of our lives. We hope you’ll join our mission in keeping these little heroes buzzing.

There are various categories and interestingly enough the grand prize for this particular contest is a year's worth of Häagen-Dazs ice cream.

More Interviews Coming Soon

In the last couple of days Rococo Flow has been updating with various links and recommendations, however we know what everyone's really been waiting for: Interviews.

We have lots more in store and are currently working on editing and getting them published. However, we'd still love to get more input on ways to improve the site as well as ANY recommendations on any people or websites to feature. As always our email is rococoflow[at]gmail.com.

Also don't forget to check out the side bar with buttons to add Rococo Flow to your livejournal or any other blog reader you're using.

Tutorial: Removing Blue Lines

Have you ever found yourself in class, doodling away on your notes, only to find that you absolutely love a piece? Unfortunately lined paper doesn’t give your work the most polished look.

LMP has created a wonderful tutorial to help get rid of those lines, which you can find here.

*Tutorial was originally linked from from LMP's art jounal.
*Image © LMP

Blogs We Enjoy

Besides visiting individual galleries, there are quite a number of artist blogs we enjoy visiting. Whether it’s hearing news of their upcoming endeavors or simply seeing some of the creative process, there’s always something a little more intimate about a blog.

*Image © Stephen Hetrick



Bobby Chiu’s Sketch Group Blog - Blog featuring several artists and their sketches during their time on the subway.

Chepeng - Sketch blog group that contains the work of various artists including Robin Chyo, Kevin Dalton, and Stephen Hetrick

Bugglefug - The art of Tim Mcburnie and former home of the dailyscribble blog (still has archives).

Zombie Jam - The art of Christy Lijewski, (you’ll have to friend the journal on lj to see the art).

Pyawakit@LJ - The art of Ashleigh Firth Hetrick

http://www.edtadem.com/ - The art of Ed Tadem who’s an artist on the comic ’76

Movie by Loish

Love watching this showreel by Loish:

Artists on Tegaki E

In an earlier entry we mentioned the website Tegaki E, which allows users to make handwritten entries. Since then it has grown tremendously just as we expected and often times it’s hard to navigate through all the ‘junk’ entries. However finding artists like bloodypepper, Beli, diana, and Pibity is worth it. Below are links to their respective dA accounts (or lj).


bloodypepper
Beli
diana
Pibity

*Image © diana

Muto by Blu

Check out this amazing animated mural by Blu:


MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Tegaki E

Long time no post, eh? Anyway, we have a cool site to give a shout out to called Tegaki E. Based on an original concept found here. Tegaki E allows users to make handwritten blog entries and comments. That said, it's already brimming with a lot of awesome artists and for right now the community is fairly small but will probably grow within the coming weeks. One warning though: You'll probably lose a countless number of hours getting caught up in all the fun.

No Love for the Guys?

So we’re sure some readers have been wondering: Does Rococo Flow have something against male artists? Remarkably all of our past interviewees have been females except one, featuring RYE-BREAD. The fact is: There are just a lot of talented female artists out there. You’ve got Makani, Joanna, Alexds1, Maidith and everyone else we’ve had the pleasure of talking to.

Also, many of these artists tend to recommend other female artists, especially when they're friends or have worked with them on a project before. It’s not an intentional thing and many people probably don’t even realize it. It’s actually funny to think of, considering that a lot of the prominent artists you often hear about are male. Especially if one were to think of the American comic industry. Either way, Rococo Flow just wants to point out, we love the guys too!! In fact we have some interviews we’ve already done with some our favorite male artists. However, always feel free to recommend any to us at rococoflow[at]gmail.com.