I surely hope this 2finn uploads more of this work, I'd love to see more.
You'll have to catch the rest at the source do to embed restrictions, it's worth it though. Part 2
Check this space soon
-Peace
Content
Zack Snyder Watchmen Analysis (video)
Nicki Minaj Portrait
Haven't done one of these in a while.
Too busy not just with work but with a different nature of work. However that did stop my brother from all but threatening my life last week. Apparently he was off to meet miss Minaj at her first Toronto show date by wa of a little back stage meet and greet. I figured of all the reasons to do one of these, the celeb in question seeing the work in person would be one of them. It's been a lot of months since I went through the process and that's never good with any skill task. I literally had to sit down and watch some of my old videos to re-learn the procedure and of course try to improve upon it. What I did learn is that I must have been an idiot savant because it used to be so easy whereas it's mostly painstaking now. Moreover, low angles are never fun because the proportions and likeness curves are thrown way out of whack. Still there is that split second where I find peace(of mind) because it comes together and all that stress was for not.
I let the dude decide which hair style to give her, I deferred to his opinion for most of the decisions and I was probably done in half the time because of it. I think I'll give Nicki another go just to really capture her crazy stare with funky hair.
The focal point in this piece is the lips I think. Similar to my Tupac I give them the that extra "i don't know what"
Lighting gave way to flesh tone on this one, mainly because my brother wanted to "play it safe." Coloured folk have the hardest skin tone to nail perfect but at the same time you can get away with a wider range of tones. I remember my painting professor would always get on me to add purple. I never really cared for the approach but in this instance the lighting really re-enforced it.
My brother bought a new slr a little while ago so I'm slowly finding more and more ways to incorporate it in my my work. When I learn to speed up the process I may even do one of these vids live.
I might do a few more in the coming months, stay tuned.
-King
Too Close to the TV
Mother always said not to. She never said why though.
The concept here being an obvious one, taking an urban myth and mixing it with some kinetic energy and movement. Initially the kid had both hands on the couch with the remote in the air. I felt that gave me the highest n.r.g. to image ratio, but the communication didn't quite work. Not enough cause and effect.
The Final
-King
Transform
Just a little digital-sketch that turned into an unfinished digital painting based on a series I've really enjoyed over the past few years.
Getting back to that limited colour palette style that I don't enjoy so much.
This moment in the film with the cube I think was nail on the head for capturing the imagination of a child.
Peace
Spiderman Painting
Been sitting on this one for a little while. I couldn't figure out what kinda composition to settle on, I mostly wanted it to fit into my ongoing series. Pretty much no a simple comp with no background and a recognizable aspect. This Spiderman started with the graphic and line I posted earlier and I finished it off with the old Cs4 paint set. This being my second time with the web-slinger I wanted to tackle the dreaded classic rendition of his costume. Eyes are more streamlined and forms are more highlighted. All in all I'm happy with it.
When it came to the full comp I experimented with a ton of fodder shapes and eye moving framing, they ended up being mostly distracting.
In the end I went with a surgical cropping.
The Final.
A blue background blends with the blue in his costume and really brings out the design.
A blue background blends with the blue in his costume and really brings out the design.
-King
Superman StoryBoard Leica
So I needed to relearn After Effects for an up and coming project and decided what better way than to cut together a leica for those superman boards I conceived a few months back. I can safely say I've gotten the dude out of my system at this point. The most frustrating part was trying to build and edit everything together all while my workstation would crash when I hit save.
But hey, it all worked out in the end and more importantly I'm proud of my work.
SUPERMAN: Gravity from King Mugabi on Vimeo.
But hey, it all worked out in the end and more importantly I'm proud of my work.
It's quite the joy to finally see this plotting in motion. It's always stronger to convey your vision when you can control how long your audience views each panel/frame. Pacing really becomes apparent when you have a leica over 5 minutes, it really forces you to be away of scene that drag. Replay value goes down the longer the story so you try and fill it with interesting visual situations.
My favorite parts were the scenes I fully developed in real time. Mainly the car rescue. It's always cool playing with super speed and geography. When you do it in lieca form it really helps you convey your ideas...in "real time."
I've never been good with plotting hand to hand fights, and I don't do much to disprove that theory here.
What I really like about this piece is that within the span of 10mins(I know ridiculous), we cover some nice corner stones in typical superman narrative. The Kid stuff, the Lois stuff, the Lex stuff, some attempt at Humor and a few power displays. I also always love playing with traditional narrative; this is the story of a teen remembering when he was a kid having a vision of his future..or something pretentious along those lines.
I'm done with Superman for now, well till the movie comes out anyway.
-King
Naruto Painting
"where's the original?"
I really can't list all the ways I love the work of Masashi Kishimoto. Every Friday for the past several years I've found myself with a cup of tea in my left hand and my mouse in my right as I read through his weekly manga chapters. I find it fascinating how alienating the character and work seems from a distance only to be a true gem once you've become enthralled. Most anime/manga that exists in the western world had this issue. It's a shame really but I can't say I don't understand it. I more than anyone else thought this material looked jacked and unapproachable at first but after a few issues I was hooked for life.
The Destined Child
Nartuo is the story of a boy, living in a village occupied by both "ninja" and civilians that have ousted him for the simple fact that he is the obligatory host of the same demon that periodically attacks said village. He has no family and it's his life long goal to become the greatest shinobi of the land. To do this he has to go to school. We follow him in his journey to achieve this goal, along the way meeting peers, rivals and mentors each with a story of their own. No summery can do the work justice, and at a distance even I can see that this looks like the same old eastern ilk that has been trying to infiltrate our fiction for years. It really is up to the reader to jump in or not. What can be said is that it's arguably the most popular ongoing series at the moment and when completed it will have a place right next to the great ones.
Like many other stories Naruto's birth is marked by his parents death and the whole ordeal is not only covered up from the village but the hero himself. However, it is when the truth in the matter is finally revealed that one understands how much planning it really takes to pull of these kinds of concepts. Naruto effortlessly out does Harry Potter, Superman and even DBZ in this terrain all while weaving it's own mythology. Yes, we've seen the hyper-destined boy adventure his way through wizard boarding school, but it's great to see the equally uniform Japanese school setting at play. What really makes this setting shine is how much of a hated underdog the hero is. It provides for a lot of catharsis when he outdoes the low expectations everyone has set out for him. Actually the series is full of losers simply trying to make it. It could be said that this aspect is both the flaw of the series as well as its most endearing theme. Everyone, antagonist or otherwise is has a similar troubled past as the hero and they're just trying to fix the world the live in. It gets kind of redundant watching the hero find common ground with everyone he fights but that's serialized thematic plotting for you.
Speaking of fixing the world, there are a lot of themes at play here. One of the more powerful themes is revenge bread war times. The world of Naturo is made up of about 6 villages that reside in about 5 feudal lands. There exists and economy that is pretty much run on ninja related conflict. I can't help but believe Kishimoto modeled this world based on his own cultural history. For instance, the manga begs the question; can the children of China forgive the children of Japan for the rape of Nan king? The entire conflict brought about by the misguided older wartime generation. Kishi weaves around this theme beautifully by making his protagonist, whose situation is a direct result of these wartime tactics, travel around forgiving and changing these very people. The (north) Korean land having to deal with the fallout of the larger adjacent warring states breeds a different kind of hate and in turn village destroying villain. One that fancies himself a god. This is social commentary at it's finest and it's distributed directly to children. I love it. I also love the theme of generations. Not only do the old have to die to make way for the new, but the new eventually become the old and you see these kids become the very same assertive sensei's we were so impressed by in the beginning, We even get to experience these older folks as young kids, and that’s where the magic really starts. Every death isn't just beautiful but it's permanent. No wishing back 17 times and an 18th time with a halo for good measure. The action in this saga is both inventive as well as emotionally grounded as the drama. There's nothing like watching your friend save the village right in front of the very people that would throw rocks at him in his childhood. It's also cool seeing this boy become the (endearing) man his absentee father was. On a personal level, there is something relatable in the idea of an orphan learning the true nature of his parent’s sacrifice where before he only saw absence. Sorry Jor-El, you've been outclassed..big time.
Admittedly, I've both cried and cheered out loud whilst viewing these stories. This eastern comic book/anime speaks to me in such a way that the comic books I read growing up only touched upon in broad strokes. Weekly installments probably help with that. It’s interesting how may people down anime, tragic really considering there really is no comparison in quality story telling for serialized animation in the west. Our best stuff was in the 90’s and even then Gargoyles and Batman stunk of corporate merchandising. But people will still champion our stuff over theirs whenever presented with the option.
I'd kill to meet this Kishimoto.
Pirates
I Gave the Pirates of the Caribbean films a second viewing recently. In turn I was inspired to whip up a few sketches.
Personally I don't get what the deal is with the films. It seems like the first one was a pretty entertaining film that the public was told to go crazy over(this happens often these days and no one want's to be left out). The second two films somewhat loose the magic, but when does that not happen. They loose the magic and the scripting isn't as tied down as the first, so the zeitgeist was of course reversed and everyone felt the need to hate them, some in order to fit in. Myself personally I think they're is too much hyperbole surrounding the saga. However I do think the director, Gore Verbinski is violently talented. As far as my take on the medium, this director is pretty much making live action animation. His film Mouse Hunt plays out like a pixar storyboard complete with powerhouse character actors and depth filled imagery. His take on The Ring is made only more powerful by his vivid use of visuals and atmosphere. His Pirates of the Caribbean series has some of the most beautifully rendered imagery and scope of the past decade, it's like he's a mad genius of set design.. The former compositor is made talented and johnny Depp owes much of his career resurgence to him(yes I said it). I've yet to see Rango, but I'm almost certain it's something special. In another reality he's the Tim Burton of industry, which explains his connection with Depp all the more. Burton being one of the other live action animators.
Anyways here are some of the board like sketches I conjured whilst watching the films. They're hardly special or inspired by this series, in fact you would think after my rant that they would be ultra relevant and inventive...nah.
-King
