Estrella Vega

Alien Encounters: The tree of life

May 5th, 2012

Here is my latest project which I managed to finish for Mocca last week. It’s a “double book”, the cover page is a long piece of paper folded into a z which allows you to fit two books. The two books have the same story, the same artwork, the difference is that one book is 3-d, and the other is just in color…although if you look at the color with the 3-d glasses, the colors really vibrate. I’m told it’s like being on drugs.

I originally wanted the book to have text, but silkscreening text can be tricky. I’ve never been successful at it, certain letters won’t print or the ink from one letter will merge with the next. So instead of potentially ruining my artwork with badly printed text, I opted to put the story on the waistband, with the 3-d glasses (by the way , the text actually printed perfectly which really surprised me). You can only read the story with the red lens.

This book is heavily inspired from the EC sci-fi comics of the 50s, so I tried writing the story as dramatically as possible.

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Oil Painting class

May 5th, 2012

Last week my oil painting class finished. The portrait you see above is the culmination of 30 hours of work. This was my first painting class ever. I did some acrylic paintings when I was in middle and high school, but I’ve always been more focused on drawing than painting…so don’t judge too harshly. Admittedly the girl above looks man-ish, but she was a tough model to capture.

I took the oil painting class with Marvin Mattelson at SVA, and I recommend it to anyone interested in figurative painting (and who can afford it). The teacher is really great. One of the things I find about art teachers in general is that some of them don’t give a lot of instructions, and if they do, the instructions are very vague. But Marvin gives clear instructions. Which is not to say the class is easy. The supply list is very exact and huge, you have to premix the color palette before class every week, and then carry all your painting gear to class…also it’s one of the most expensive continuing education class SVA offers.

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Romance comic

April 30th, 2012

I submitted a comic to issue 14 of Rabid Rabbit, which had “romance” for a theme. As it turns out I’m not in issue 14 of Rabid Rabbit. I honestly didn’t know there was a judging process after submission but I guess that makes sense. Anyway, here is my two page comic.

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Etchings from the museum

April 23rd, 2012

As I mentioned in a previous entry, I’m taking an etching class. I’m focusing on learning basic techniques, because the first time I took an etching class I felt overwhelmed with all the different techniques. The etchings are actually based on the dioramas at the Museum of Natural History. Basically I went to the museum with the metal plates covered in ground. I drew up a pretty loose composition on my small sketchbook which is the same size as the plates. Then I ripped out the sketches, taped them over the plates (along with transfer paper) and finished up the drawings. I etched the plate once I got back home. The panther plate took a bit of time to do because of the amount of detail in the diorama. I’m thinking of making a whole series of museum etchings.

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Etching class

March 26th, 2012

Apart from the oil painting class I’m currently taking, I’m also doing an etching class. I’ve taken etching before, but I forgot everything. Truth be told, I have some difficulties with drawing on a metal plate with a metallic stick. I’m trying to get the hang of it. Here are some etching prints I’ve done. The first print is using soft ground to draw the horse on the plate. The second print shows me adding aquatint to the same plate plate. I messed up the aquatint, so there are white spots. I did the aquatint again to add a sort of forest.

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Rabid Rabbit submission

March 11th, 2012

I was invited to contribute to the comics anthology “Rabid Rabbit” for their fourteenth issue. By the way I helped in building their new website last year, which I think is why they let me contribute a comic. Anyway, the theme for the upcoming issue is “Romance”. I had to think long and hard on a story that would fit two pages. All I could come up with were depressing stories, but then I remembered something I saw months ago: a japanese artist who did these sequential images on a simple scene. I wanted to do something similar, so I came up with a simple scenario of a married couple having dinner.

Drawing the comic ended up being harder than I thought. Drawing people in profile is tricky, for me a least, because profiles can look flat. After drawing many people in profile and not being happy with the results, I ended up modeling for myself. That means I drew myself 11 times for the woman’s part, and 11 times for the man’s part. Then I collaged my sketches together and redrew them, making sure to bulk up “the man” and add the little girl between the couple.

Below you can see one of the collages and the final art for two of the panels. Rabid Rabbit 14 makes its debut April 28, just in time for Mocca.

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