anime-mage.jpg
Pencil, Photoshop 7
2002
Behold, a mage, and magic. A spell being cast.
In 2002 I was 15. Evangelion had just broken my brain, and I had decided that instead of a fantasy writer I will become an artist, "greatest artist in the world", and that I will draw mangas. To get started I was trying to figure out how to get some colour onto my drawings, to post them them on Elfwood.
It was clear that colouring pencils or kindergarten gouache wasnt gonna cut it. The age of computers was here, and wise men on the internet told me the standing consensus was to either get Photoshop 7 or Paintshop Pro, both of which I immediately yarred over dialup.
Airbush, dodge tool, multiply layers.. it's all a bit of wizardry. The choice was clear and ever since then it's been me and Adobe. The Adobe life for me.
As far as I know this is my earliest Photoshop thing. My uncle had a scanner, I scanned the drawing and clicked buttons on the computer according to tutorials on Elfwood and went "yes okay this is something to do". After this came all the rest: sketchbooks, anatomy studies, the grind.
Rewiring the mind for hypertrophy of image. Smash oneself against the difficult thing, until adequate images start coming out, many many years later.
Art is magic, I’m a wizard, and other sane thoughts.
And so Fantastika is coming to a close!
I will let it run one more lap around the planet, the last day of the drop. And then some time tomorrow the shop will have closed. Then comes the work, I will print and check for quality, sign and number the series, post the art to go into the four corners of the world. Commision the frames for the Patron series.
Thank you! Thank you everybody that particiapted and read along, looked at pretty pictures and maybe bought something cool.
This will take a week, then maybe a week to rest, and a little time to set up the mid to late summer Drop 2: Portraitura. The portrait. The face. My eternal obsession. I will announce when I have the exact date.
Until then!
xoxo
Rozzo
Portrait of the Very Young Artist