CTHULHU CALLING 2 August 17th!

The Stars have aligned once more.  We will be hosting the Second Annual  H.P. Lovecraft inspired art show, "CTHULHU CALLING 2"  This AUGUST 17th at LOGUE'S BLACK RAVEN EMPORIUM and CULT FICTION UNDERGROUND.

Tickets are ON SALE NOW HERE!

There is a very limited amount of tickets for this show. It WILL sell out! we will try to have a few at the door on the night of the show. but to secure your spot it may be best to buy your tickets online.

With an online ticket sale YOU GET A FREE SHOW POSTER as well as your name in the drawing for a piece of original art (TBA)

So come join the fun this Aug. 17th and let us celebrate the great Lovecraft's Birthday in style!

Stay tuned to the FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE to see any updates as well as teaser art and post show pics!!

CTHULUH CALLING: Merch is LIVE!

Well! The show is over but the party is still going! In honor of Mr. Lovecraft's Birthday today, I have managed to get most of the posters and things up in my webstore for sale! and even better.. 20% off EVERYTHING! All you gotta do is at checkout, type in discount code "LOVECRAFT"

SHOP NOW!

or see some cool things we got waiting for you on the other side......

What about now? See anything you need? GET IT NOW BEFORE IT'S ALL GONE!

CTHULHU CALLING : SHOW POSTER PRE-SALE!

Due to an alarming amount of interest in people who have mentioned they could not come to the show but wanted to buy a poster. I have added the show poster on my web store in PRE-SALE mode. which means they WILL NOT be shipped until AFTER the show August 19th.  But at least you get them on the cheap!

Two options to choose from!

• 24x36 - 100# natural cougar stock - $25 bucks!
• 12x18 - 100# natural cougar stock - $15 bucks!

BUY YOURS TODAY HERE!!

***PLEASE NOTE***

After Sunday August 19th 11:59pm (cst) these posters will GO UP IN PRICE!
So get it now while you can! :)

CTHULHU CALLING: the poster process

I have a few blog posts coming down the pipeline about our upcoming show Cthulhu Calling : A night of Art inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.  (psst... TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE HERE!) So first things first... the event poster I just recently posted, I'd like to share a few of the steps involved in creating this piece. Now let it be known, I'm a huge fan of the amazing Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha, so in his honor I wanted to do a poster that would maybe resemble something that would have been around when he was making art. (note: I did not say "a piece that would look like something HE would make... cause let's be honest, there is only one Mucha!)

It all starts with a few rough thumbnail sketches in the ol sketchbook. Here you can see the one I thought was the most interesting.





Once I find a rough design I like I jump to a little larger sized paper and go to town by sketching out the design and making sure the composition will still work on a larger scale. notice the face and feet.. they are terrible, I know, I'll fix that stuff next!









OKAY! we got us a good design going, lots of things to fix here so this is where I normally do one of two things.... either scan the sketch in and enlarge it to the final drawing size, print out and basically re-draw it agin, with much cleaner lines. OR take it into photoshop and digitally start drawing the final layout.  With this particular case I had just acquired a super duper sweet Wacom Cintiq so naturally, I wanted to test this bad boy out!  So to photoshop we go!











Below are the final inks for the poster. Not bad for the very first thing to come out of using a cintq.

As you can see here, I fixed my anatomy issues and drew a new face. Another great plus doing this digitally, I drew about 10 faces before settling on one that I liked, believe it or not, it's pretty tricky to get a subject as this to teeter on the verge of beautiful and creepy at the same time.

So, now that the hard part is finished we get to the fun stuff!! COLORS! Keeping with the art nouveau theme I chose to go with colors that were a standard i printing back at the turn of the century, with a few rule benders in there for the tentacles of course. :)

That about wraps this post up! Again, be sure to grab your tickets for the show here! It's August 18th at Logue's Black Raven Emporium in East Nashville. We have about a dozen artists all representing different aspects of Lovecraft. We will have original art as well as limited runs of prints, woodblock prints, sculptures, original independent films and many other fun things as well!  Not to mention we will be giving away art and have fun Lovcraftian trivia! So bring your Lovcraftian knowledge A-game as well as your wallets! Most of the art will be for sell ranging from "super cheap" to "totally worth it!" Cash bar and food too! See you there! :)

ALSO!! If you pre-order your tickets before the night of the show, you will be automatically entered for a chance to win a very special treat from me! (It has paint involved, FYI)

BUY TICKETS HERE!

FOLLOW THE OTHER ARTIST'S PROGRESS ON OUR FB PAGE!


********* UP NEXT********

HE IS CALLING. - Join me as we step into the world of madness as we journey through the steps of my latest piece for the show!

Put a Bird on it!

WOW! what a great response I had from the Fiddlers' Jamboree last weekend! There is nothing more motivating than 20k+ people admiring your work and being able to hear immediate feedback about your work.  We sold out of ALL of our shirts I designed as well as took orders for a about 100 more!  I also printed up 100 posters (see previous post) that I signed and numbered.  I left with only 16 in hand!
I'm beside myself at the response I had from this year's designs.  I want to thank each and every person who came over to the booth and said hello and an even bigger thank you to all who purchased something! You guys are what keeps me wanting to continue this what sometimes feels like a  never ending up-hill struggle we like to call freelance art.







OH HEY! ALSO!!!
I've finally done it! I've got the gears in motion to have the ThinkBaker web store back up and running! It's not what the final product will be by far, but it's baby steps, right?

Either way, first thing in the store will be the remaining posters from the Smithville Fiddlers' Jamboree. So stay tuned as I get the supplies needed to start shipping these bad boys out. I should have it all live By the beginning of next week.



Now, as the title of this blog says... PUT A BIRD ON IT! I actually ended up putting two birds on this years poster. But I drew quite a few as I did not really know which ones I'd like best and which would have the best flow for the poster....

And here a few other items I drew separately for the poster. I like to do this sometimes when I have a rough idea in my noggin' but not a clear picture as to how I'd like to see it laid out. (Plus, now if I need to use a bird, or fiddle, or banjo, or a jug of the ole White Lightin'  for another quick design layout, I have a few good Hi- Res scans that I can choose from!)

Thanks again for viewing!

On my next post,  CTHULHU CALLING: A Lovecraftian Art show hosted by yours truly! :)

Smithville Fiddler's Jamboree Poster 2012

I was asked once again to create this year's official poster as well as other merchandise for the Smithville Fiddler's Jamboree.  It is held this weekend July 6th and 7th in Smithville, TN.

We are only making 100 of these bad boys so get them quick as I'm sure they will go fast.  They are 12x24 - 2 color on 100# French's Kraft Paper and will have variations of gold to blue to teal in color, I'll post a few pics of the final printed posters later this week. If some odd chance I have any left I'll find a way to get them online for sell. Otherwise they will go on sell this friday at the Jamboree. 

********* OTHER NEWS*******

As you can see below it's been quite awhile since I've bothered with this blog. Reason is.. I'm attempting to make a new site and with all the work I've been doing (both art related and Just moving into a new house related) I've managed to neglect posting things... again.   But let's be honest, I'm terrible at this whole blog posting thing anyways.  I've been doing lots of stuff I can't really post just yet but I'm also in the midst of a super fun project that will be loads of fun and I will attempt to document the shenanigans on here throughout the next two months.  Just be aware.. there will be lots of tentacles, fish people and Old Ones and Elder Gods.  But all of that in just  a bit. :)

Thanks for looking.

-b

Smithville Fiddlers Jamboree poster

So, remember when I said I had three pretty big projects all falling on or around the same time? Well, here is the poster for the first one of three!

I have been lucky enough to be the designer for the "Official Smithville Jamboree Merchandise". Talk about being flattered! I mean, we are talking over 50,000 people who love their fiddle and bluegrass music and what I like to call "front porch music"

So with this great responsibility comes high expectations. This year will mark the 40th anniversary of the Jamboree as well so I figured why not celebrate this special milestone with a limited edition signed and numbered hand printed silkscreen poster!





So if you are in the Middle Tennessee area this weekend stop by and say hello, as I will be onsite at the jamboree right next to the main stage selling these purty posters and many Tshirts that yours truly designed as well.

See you at the Jamboree!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.... So, sorry for the typos.

Delinquent Debutantes

I recently had the distinct pleasure of designing and illustrating the poster for an upcoming show by The Delinquent Debutants, a burlesque dance school here in Nashville. The show will be on June 3rd and it's a celebration of their one year birthday as well as the graduating summer student body class. You should REALLY come, I'm not just saying this because my super sexy girlfriend, Miss Bettie B. Cupp will be performing either. You can get you tickets HERE Get them now before it's sold out!!!

See you there!

Cheers,

Baker