#otherwise I mostly just watercolor my sketchbook sketches sometimes? which is its own whole thing

[blujayonthewing]

video: number one mistake beginner watercolor artists make

me, started using watercolors like 20 years ago: what the heck I already know this

[comicteaparty]

June 13th-June 19th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from June 13th, 2020 to June 19th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is your physical and digital workspace like when you’re working on your story?

🌈ERROR404 🌈

LOL it really depends on what stage I'm in of the process - My storyboarding space is at home, as comfortable as I can be, a beer and some food at the ready and pure silence. The cats have to be freshly fed, otherwise I'll be harassed and lose my headspace entirely LOL. I usually work on my story boards digitally, just at a very small scale, with my script/outline on my computer and working on my ipad! The double screen helps a LOT, although i would just print out the script if I had access to a printer, haha. When I'm working on the actual page itself, it's a very different story. I usually just try and work on it in tiny little batches during the day when I'm stuck at home, and usually work around the animals as best i can, lmao. Truthfully, I really prefer to be in a coffee shop when I'm working on finishing pages, it makes me so much more productive than i am in this house with so many things to take care of right in front of me, but, obviously, that's a bit difficult to do these days. ;; I usually reserve food and drink until after I pass a milestone in inking/sketching to help motivate me to keep going for as much as I can before taking a break, and I need some kind of music or video playing in the background to keep myself from being absolutely bored out of my mind. My shading process, since it's in black and white, is very easy and i can finish it in one setting, easy, no matter what I'm working with. I also work digitally for my pages, of course, although I don't need more than my ipad and clip studio for it!

DaeofthePast

freshly fed cats

🌈ERROR404 🌈

They are BEASTS when hungry, the little bastards (love them)

I may only work in peace when they're post-food napping lmao

DaeofthePast

we only have one, but same

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I work almost entirely in the corner of my IKEA couch at home I used to work at a proper desk with a Cintiq, but when I switched to Procreate on an iPad, I migrated to the couch and surrounded myself with a nest of clothes and blankets and books and... here I am, bein' cozy. With terrible posture But when I was between jobs last year, I did rent a little coworking space down the street so I could get out of my pajamas and go get comic stuff done there. It was a godsend. I like drawing at my favorite coffee shop every so often too, but I tend to hide my work while I draw, and there, everyone can look over my shoulder The coworking space had a tall artist desk that was rarely used, so I often grabbed that one. Not cheap, but to stave off cabin fever, heck yes, worth it.

🌈ERROR404 🌈

Ahhh I've been really thinking about getting a studio space one of these days I really shouldn't rn, with my finances as they are, but I could REALLY make use of one recently

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I loved the space I used last year. They recently had to close for... current-event reasons... and are going to reopen with all sorts of plexiglass barriers between the desks I feel so bad for them. Good studio spaces are wonderful, I would support them again if I ever was out of a job!

🌈ERROR404 🌈

it's good they've found ways to make it safer, though!

carcarchu

My old workspace was in the basement of my home in canada and it was always perpetually freezing even in the summer and i was frequently visited by spiders so my current workspace is a huge improvement in that regard. I do miss my old ergonomic desk chair though. I'm definitely not the kind of person who can draw in bed or on the couch. I need to be in workmode and having a designated space just for that is necessary for me to get in the right headspace for that.

DaeofthePast

my workspace rn is just my desk with my laptop and my drawing tablet. my laptop is stacked on top of a pile of books so i can see the screen (otherwise my tablet blocks my line of sight). it's kinda simple

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

Depends. I have a Cintiq Mobile Studio, so I can draw pretty much every where and sometimes in the oddest position, but most of the time I am on my desk with the cintiq hooked up to a second monitor so I don't have to look down so much.(edited)

Holmeaa - working on WAYFINDERS

For Wayfinders: Thumbnails are somewhere cozy and the only physical work. Me and Q sit and plan them out together. The rest of wayfinders are made on Photoshop, and flat colors in clip paint studio. In the world I would love a nice studio place in an office with others. During corentine I have been working from home, and I am not that good at it, being quite the extrovert. Before corentine I was in a artist residency where I worked on Wayfinders which had a workstation and all the programs we could need. It is so nice and me and Q are going to return there when it opens up again!

Miranda

I have an iPad so usually on the couch, cozied up with coffee and pillows and blankets. But sometimes at the table. But usually on the couch like the gremlin I am

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I have a large drafting table, a mini drafting table, and a lapdesk in my papasan when we ink/draw! Toning and letters are all done on the desktop in its own space

Miranda

I need to get a good lap desk. But that sounds like a grand setup!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

My first time hearing about a lapdesk

Omg I need one

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

They are the best things ever Mine has just the pencil holder !(some come with cup holders and its a waste of space imo)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Wow I like your setup of the drafting tables

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I wanna show pics of them....if im allowed in this chat?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I hope so, I'm not sure which channel we can post studio photos at? I did see some did before?

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Ill post in shop talk since creator babble gets archived

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

my current space is uh.... a bit better than my last one. I used to work on an old writers desk for a decade and I did most of my comic work sitting there cramped up with my desktop taking most of the space. Now I have an L shaped desk where I have my desktop on the shorter end. The longer end it's my pen, pencils, and watercolor stuff. my display tablet occupy the space at times so switching from digital and traditional without worrying about setup hassle is a lot better than what I dealt with before lol.

I'm glad the days I had to curl up and draw with no privacy are long gone now

kayotics

I’ve got a little drafting table where I draw all my comic pages. I’m messy with my pens so they’re kind of strewn about until I start to lose them. Then I put them back. I’m not particularly neat. I spend most of the comic process off the computer, so most of my digital work is just on an iPad where I can sit anywhere. I try to keep good lighting around my drafting table and there’s always loose eraser shavings all over.

Natasha Berlin (Pot of Gold)

I got myself a lil corner desk by the dining table. Not as well-lit as I'd like, but it's decently ergonomic and I started putting posters on my wall Plus I can leave work mindset easily by turning off my computer and forgetting about the dark corner in the dining room XD(edited)

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

My desk is really sloppy and covered in all kinds of junk. I have a harmonica, a ball of yarn, a bunch of ink bottles, etc on my desk. I have my sketchbook under my tablet and usually a notebook somewhere for writing. My tablet sits to the right of my laptop (on top of sketchbook) while I'm not using it and when I'm using it it goes over my computer keyboard. I sometimes have a glass of water or some food sitting to the lefthand side

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

The only thing I wanna share about my workspace is this

once i spent over three hours looking for that damned pen

never again

🌈ERROR404 🌈

Ajkdhfkjs the models for hte magazine im crying

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh my God

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

mad giggling

Deo101 [Millennium]

youre gonna manage to lose the string

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

omg

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i know in my heart deo is right but still i hope

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

You should weld a metal chain to it

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Watch me lose the whole tablet

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh nooo

I believe in you!

TaliePlume

My workspace is a black table with a white, yellow, blue and green tablecloth with 3 black chairs. It's next to the kitchen. On it, is my laptop and the left side is my clipboard, 3 blue folders full of writing. Then above it, is 3 sketchbooks and another blue folder from a class that I took in community college.

June 16, 2020

sagaholmgaard

I have one long desk at almost three meters. On the left side is all my coffee and tea supplies, in the middle is my work space and on the right is my dining table xD I get everything done from there, despite having a mobilestudio so I COULD sit anywhere and work, lol. It's a blessing during holiday seasons to be able to bring it everywhere, but at some I like my designated working space. Although I am moving in a few weeks, so who knows what my new workspace will be

Moral_Gutpunch

My workspace is anywhere I can draw or write. It's more of a "Will I be interrupted over something petty or stupid" issue than space. Not that I don't want more space.

Mitzi (Trophallaxis)

My workspace is a big, broken corner desk I managed to lug out of an old apartment when it was gonna be trashed. Before then, I'd just draw in bed. I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure the folding chair I sit at is a similar affair. It's got a Dollar General throw pillow on it so I can at least say I'm trying to save my back. The top of the desk is a mess of mostly old bottles and cans, pencils, incense ash, and my old tarot deck. I love this setup dearly. This is the first time I've ever had my own desk space, much less a space I can decorate or leave as messy as I want. Got my own art up on the walls with sticky tack and all! Also the cat's scratching post is directly behind me, because we've learned the cat won't use it unless it's as in the way as possible. What can ya do, lol.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh cats...

Desnik

I got spoiled with an adjustable desk. It is six feet long, and has a whiteboard top for noodling with dry erase markers

my main computer is set up on an adjustable stand so it floats over the desk, and then I have my cintiq, which we tried to mount on a similar stand but then it was just too heavy

I keep my dice collection nearby because fidgeting helps think things through sometimes

and rolling to make odd decisions never hurts

lately during the quarantine I've been sharing the office with my spouse so we've had to establish rules over when it's okay to bug each other(edited)

oh yeah and we also have a whiteboard installed in the office, and it rules!(edited)

Shizamura 🌟 O Sarilho

Mine is pretty simple: I have a laptop that's long stopped being portable and is now mostly just sitting at my desk at all times and a 19 inch Ugee as my display. I usually keep a lot of stuff on top of my desk, but it's mostly just a mess because I have been using it for work too for a while now

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I suppose I'll talk about my setup too :) My main setup is where I do digital art. I share an office with my SO, so we both have workspaces on opposite walls from each other. I work on a corner desk that holds my beefy computer, two monitors, and a Huion Kamvas GT-191. That's where I draw my comic and pretty much everything else done digitally. Ngl, it's a mess right now. I have comic notes and location floor plans in sketchbooks and DnD character sheets spread out all over the surface, and random pens and sticky notes. In the corner of the room, we have a nice large-format printer where I produce prints for conventions. I actually sketch my pages on an iPad pro in Procreate, so during the sketch phase, sometimes I'll just bundle up on my couch and do it, or before quarantine, sometimes I'd sketch on the go. My other workspace (which hasn't gotten much love as of late tbh) is a drafting table in the corner of our living room. I keep a tabletop easel on it and my Copic markers, as well as whatever I'm working on at the moment. (RN it's some ink washes.) The drawers hold all my ink, pencils, erasers, etc. Next to the drafting table is where I keep all my large charcoal, graphite, and oil pastel drawings (mostly school projects), and my large paintings. Other than that, I have a nifty little cart where I keep painting supplies :) I will say, this setup is by far an enormous improvement from my previous setups.

[houseofvans]

SKETCHY BEHAVIORS |  Kris Chau (Los Angeles)

Poetic, fluid and much like a song or ballad, the artwork of Los Angeles based artist Kris Chau sings a visual story on paper, focusing on symbols, shapes, and story-telling. We've been following Kris’s various watercolor and acrylic works, and have fallen in love with the murals she’s created for local shops in her neighborhood. We’re excited to chat with this very talented and magical lady about some of the artwork she makes, what inspires her,  and her upcoming projects for 2017!

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Tell us a little bit about yourself. What’s a little known fact about yourself?

My name is Kris Chau, or Chau, or Chauface. My friend Emilia who does this amazing thing called Pony Sweat, simply calls me FACE. I am from Honolulu Hawaii and currently reside in the fine city of Los Angeles. More specifically the land of Echo Park. As for something weird or strange, I’m pretty sure my cat is my Grandfather re-incarnated. Mostly because my Grandpa loved cats and was a Chinese herbalist. My cat carries a Datura flower in his mouth and leaves it for me in the morning at the door. 

How did you first become enamored with art and drawing?  Do you remember what your first drawing or doodles were like?

My parents are very stoic, refugees from Vietnam, who laid the groundwork early on in my life that no one is special. So even thought I was drawing things that looked like things as a little kid, it went by unnoticed. And I just thought everyone could draw. It wasn’t until teachers at school or other students started to comment on my assignments or doodles as something different that I realized it was ‘something’ if not special. My first doodles were circle people with legs and arms, and lots and lots of horses. I recently saw some old kid drawings I made my cousins which mostly consisted of Yoshi the Dinosaur and X-men.

Some folks have been drawing from since they were kids, and some folks keep with it and some bail on it.  Did you continue drawing in school or was it something you put away and found yourself doing more and more, till it became your identity and life? 

I am a drawer. There’s no way around it. I knew early on in life and then when I figured out I could trade my drawings for happy meals or erasers in school, it was on. I sometimes wish it wasn’t so much my identity. That this stirring you feel towards such a specific act, didn’t exist. Then maybe I could hold down a great job and not daydream otherwise, or maybe just come home to watch TV instead of turning into a garage art troll. There’s a natural fluidity to your work and some reoccurring imagery.  Can you tell us a little about the things you like to draw?  

Well these days drawing and painting is more about expanding my visual language than it is about just practicing a skill. So if there is a feeling, a story, or a loss, I try to figure out how to sing this song on paper. Lately I’ve been toying with the idea of a universal quiet language that consists mostly of simple symbols and shapes. But I can’t deny i love drawing ladies and weird animals.  

What were some of your early art influences, and who are some of your influences now? 

One of my all time current art heroes is my dear friend Ako Castuera, and when we became friends we realized there were two books that we had in common that definitely defined my art drawing trajectory. One was the Ordinary Princess by MM Kaye and D’aulaires Book of Greek Myths. Later on in life it became Ben Shahn, Andy Warhol’s old illustrations, and pretty much all art from indigenous peoples. And as kindred spirits in terms of their pursuit of their craft and making their way in life I would have to say people like Hellen Jo, Nathaniel Russell, Yumi Sakugawa, Rob Sato, James Ulmer, Chances With Wolves and Jesse Moynihan. 

Can you take us through your artistic process? And how would you say it has changed or evolved since you started?

Well lately I do a lot of meditating and thinking about something before I draw anything. I do lots of research. I try to not be hungry and mostly very comfortable. In the Past I would do sketches or preliminary drawings but these days I think for a very long time and I draw. Very boring, very simple. I try to keep a routine that’s very mundane, so that the rest of my energy goes towards making things. So there’s not a lot of social events or chilling with too many humans. Mostly being alone at least 2-3 days a week, with not too much stimuli. Lots of watering plants and organizing sock drawers.

Artists seem to either keep a sketchbook or just occasionally keep up a sketchbook. Do you keep a sketchbook?  

Keeping a sketchbook is important, it’s not as much a part of my life as it once was, but I keep one that might span a whole year. I think the tactile act of writing stuff down in something you can hold is getting lost in this current world. I normally carry a little travel set of color pencils, a sharpener, and my sketchbook. I try to do more life drawings of wherever I am in those books, or color theory tests. What would be your dream collaboration?  Is it easy for you to collaborate or do you find it can be difficult?

I feel like I am living the dream! I recently got to do some artwork for my dudes at Chances With Wolves and I am currently working on some things with my heros Ako Castuera and Hellen Jo! Lately, I’ve been looking at all my illustration jobs or more commercial jobs as collaborations. Or if its a job where I am just a drawing gun for hire, it had better pay my rent. But since I no longer have the fortitude to be someones drawing monkey, everything has to be a collaboration between me and a client.

These days I feel like the people behind the desks are like, okay we are here, who can we help on the come up and feed some integrity into our design or product. So thank you to those golden hearted desk homies, who are pushing against the tide in terms of the corporate design world. 

You work with various mediums from - ink to acrylics.  What do you particularly love about these mediums or one specifically.  

I’m very curmudgeonly when it comes to my supplies. I use Dr. PH Martin’s Concetrated Watercolors, Lascaux Acrylics, and FW acrylic ink. I like trashy paint brushes that I don’t have to sweat, and if I am doing an ink drawing its with a #2 nib crow quill. I don’t like watercolor paper, i use printmaking paper for all my paintings. Although these days I’m more interested in shapes than any linework.

Is there something material wise new you’ve been messing around with or are looking to experiment with?

A new medium is I would like to go 3D at some point with either fabric sculptures or paper mache. 

Illustrations have been something you’ve been doing for a while with magazine and various clients. Can you share with folks what that process is like? 

Oh man, this is the age old crux of making money off the creative thang you do. Listen up kids, old people, dreamers, fakers, and doers. You make what you make regardless of who is gonna look at it or buy it. I feel very very fortunate that I currently have jobs and clients that are supportive to whatever it is that I currently make and do. But it took a long time to develop my own language that lended itself to peoples needs. When you feel like the act of creating needs to be validated by money or recognition, you end up not giving yourself space to hone your language.

What did you or do you enjoy the most and what are some things you dislike about it?

That being said, my favorite part of illustration work is telling the story or solving the problem with my specific language. The things I dislike about it, is just being someone’s drawing monkey, which can be okay if someone knows what they want. When people romanticize what you do, like you’re a creative unicorn and everything you do will be easy and fun so make me these five logos or graphics in a week. Maybe if I was at home making logos every night for fun, but I’m trying to make paintings, so the day when i make rent with just paintings, maybe the logos will be fun. 

You’ve painted on various surfaces and things–how has been making works on a larger scale been for you? Did it come easily or was it something you had to work through and adapt with?  

Oh man, I love painting real big on something thats not paper or a canvas. Theres something about it that just feels good, which is why graffiti exists I suppose. Well painting big, exercises  the communication between my eyes, brain and hands outside its normal paper sizes. I freehand everything too, no projectors here! Its also athletic in a way that sitting at a desk all day isn’t so conducive to. All the murals and big thangs I’ve painted forced my visual language a certain way, that would read well large scale. 

What’s been the weirdest or coolest thing you’ve put your art on, so far?

One of my very favorite big things I got to paint, is a Pussy Party on my friend Garet’s Van. He gets a lot of attention. What are your thoughts regarding social media for artists? What has been your approach to it?

Whoa heavy topic. Well as someone who was born in 1980, i’m in between. I love how it distributes your work further than you could’ve gotten it just by having shows. I definitely get to live and work from a weird garage and have people find me because of it, so for that I am eternally grateful. What I don’t like about it, is that I feel like people are forgetting what good things look like in real life. Things have to look good on a small screen. So things that pop off or are high contrasted, tend to work very well. But maybe a large scale watercolor won’t translate. Its the same way I feel about going to the movies VS. getting it streamed at home. The ritual of intention is getting lost. Then this new format dictates whats successful out there in the world, when the real life version might be very different. The feed, which does allow for new discovery and wider spread audiences, is taking away the in real life visual impact. 

Having lived in various cities but now residing in LA, what’s it been like and what are your thoughts about the art scene here?

I really love LA, there is a certain magic about this place where if you will it and work hard it might actually be possible. I have my own small community of people who make things that I feel very close to, and keep me working. I always say when the times are hard, that we are all lucky to be here in this city right now in this time. I used to share a studio with James Ulmer in Philadelphia at Space 1026, who really helped me push my drawings and paintings on a bigger scale. But when he moved away to take over New York, I was sort of left without my drawing people. So in my heart I knew all my drawing people, who had the same life ideals when it came to making art, lived and flourished in LA.

What’s a question you never get asked but would love to ask and answer yourself!

Your work is often described as whimsical, how do you feel about that? I actually hate that word and in no way do I identify with that, though I understand where you are coming from when you say it. Look Deeper and allow yourself to hear what you see.

What are your favorite Vans? How would you describe your personal style?

Lately I have been wearing the white cracked leather skate hi slims. But I think the 90’s surly teenager in me is looking for some brown authentic with some black laces.

What’s some of the best and worst advice you’ve gotten as an artist?

The best advice from Ken Rignall : Your problem is that you can draw really well, so that is holding you back. You give up if it’s not easy or you don’t have to try very hard to make things look ‘good’ but all your making is decoration. The worst advice from anyone in the world these days : You gotta work on your brand and your social media presence.

What upcoming projects or collaborations do you have coming up for 2017? 

Guys in the Fall of Los Angeles get ready for a power packed show with Ako Castuera and Hellen Jo. There will be events so get ready for that sign up sheet! It will be only show of 2017 because my brain is very fried. 

Follow Kris Chau Instagram: @chaucfacetime Website: www.krischau.com Tumblr: chaufacetime.tumblr.com