As you know, this site is about 3DX because it’s our passion. But that’s not to say we don’t love its big sister 2D. Before the digital age where computers allowed us to create works of art, we had the traditional way where art was created with either a brushstroke or by the almighty pencil. It’s still great to see this art form style still alive today, especially with today’s featured artist Shade. Shade, who just recently opened up his own site Project Pink, has taken the time from drawing to talk with us about his artwork, new venture, and how he feels about the 3D medium.
Tell us about yourself. Where did the name Shade come from and where are you from?
I’m originally from Southern California. I currently live in Arizona. Shade came from when I first started out selling art on eBay and decided to make a run at being a freelance artist. I didn’t want to use my real name since both by first and last names are very common and I figured that if people tried to search for me on the Internet they’d find 10,000 other Scott Joneses. I opted to go for some kind of pseudonym instead. I always had real sensitive eyes from spending lots of time with my eyes really close to art boards in my early teens when I started drawing heavily. I’d get headaches if I spent more than 10 minutes in the sun without sunglasses, so, sunglasses–shades–shade. I went with that. Although “Shade” is pretty damn common, too, if you search that word in Google. lol
I’ve been a fan of your work for the longest time because your style is very unique. What led you to becoming an artist? How did you start your career in the art world?
Around 2001 I’d just gotten out of the Navy and went to work in this convalescent home in Washington where all of these elderly people were living. It was kind of a crappy cleaning job. Some of the people there were sick, some of them just didn’t have any family to take care of them, or worse, they had family who didn’t want to take care of them. I was around a lot of these folks and I remember talking to one elderly gentleman who I’d visit when doing my rounds late at night. He used to stay up late watching the old WW2 documentaries on whatever kind of military channel they had back then. We’d talk about his early life; his kids, wife, jobs, .etc. He used to tell me about all the regrets he had about the things he hadn’t done when he was younger.
I realized then that I didn’t want to work for someone else forever. I had one infant son at home with another son on the way and I wanted to be with them as much as possible so I tried thinking of some way to make a living by drawing. My cousin was the one who suggested I try eBay. I didn’t even know what eBay was, but I signed up. My first drawing sold for $1.80. Ha! Then, my next sold for $7.50… $12.75… $20.80… and so on. I ended up selling one for over $150 and, boy, I thought it was a piece of shit. Somebody really liked it, though! I realized I could make a living by drawing and just decided to refine by work over the years.
Also, I don’t consider myself an artist at all. I think that’s actually an insult to real artists. lol Artists express themselves through their work and I don’t think my work expresses any kind of emotion, unless titillation is an emotion. I’m a penciler and an occasional digital colorist. I HAVE done personal pieces where I expressed personal emotions, but those are few and far between because artsy pieces don’t pay the bills. Not for me, anyways, so I’m content to draw boobies for people who want to see them. 🙂
I noticed you’re a big fan of comics. How big were they an influence on you? What character(s) do you consider your favorites? And I have to ask: Marvel or DC?
Huge influence. The comics of the 70s and 80s were probably the biggest creative influence in my life that helped define me as a person, along with science fiction and horror genre films like Legend, Dune, Blade Runner, Alien, .etc.
My favorite characters were Superman, Capt. Marvel, She-Hulk, Hal Jordan and this dude I remember reading about in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe called Champion of the Universe who was essentially the toughest warrior in the universe. The guy was a walking power fantasy.
I was definitely a major DC fan and still am.
You’ve just opened up your own paysite called Project Pink (congrats on that). I know the site has been in development for months and the big day is finally here. Tell me what led to this decision. And what can people expect to find on the site?
The site will launch on 2.14. It’s sort of been in a slow development for months until I decided to kick it into high gear a few weeks ago. What led to the idea of the site was that I wanted some sort of venue to show my art in a way that true “fans”(if I have any, lol) would be able to see my work and whom I could serve exclusively as members. I wanted to slowly get away from doing commissions as a primary source of income and just do original, titillating pinup art, comics and erotic stories and present it in a way where I could essentially draw what I wanted but still make a living with my art. The website is the way.
For pretty much the whole time I’ve been doing commissions, I felt a bit odd that the majority of the time the only people who would see my completed work would be me and the client who commissioned the piece. I’ve collected many hundreds, maybe thousands, of drawings and rough sketches over the years and have just been sitting on them. I decided to use them as content to share with whomever was cool enough to subscribe to my site.
The subject matter of the site will primarily be sexy, cute, flirty pinup art ranging from PG-13 rated to hard XXX-rated, so a nice range to choose from. I didn’t want to just have nothing but XXX stuff because I realized that states of arousal have just as much to do with what a character doesn’t show you which makes you want to see it even more! So, the site will be about sexy female characters, some original and others familiar, whose job it will be to entertain the subscribers. There will be a lot of b/w penciled pinups, rough doodles and sketches, full-color pinups, mini comics and even erotic stories, all of which will be updated on a weekly basis.
On launch day there will be a lot of b/w stuff but over the coming weeks and months I’m looking to add as much color content as possible. Members will really drive the direction of the site’s content, guiding me via voting polls, surveys and contact forms to let me know what they want to see. Plus, every member will have access to a form where they can make a free commission request and at the end of every week I’ll randomly select one and do it for the site. Basically, every member has a chance at a free commission every week. The site will grow, expand and evolve over time.
What is it about erotic art that interest you more vs other styles of art? And what is it about drawing sexually explicit art that you enjoy working on the most?
I have to be honest that most erotic drawings don’t actually interest me. It’s weird, I know, but as far as erotic art, only a few comic artists really inspire me. Adam Hughes, Stelfreeze, Paulo Siguiera, guys like that. But as far as erotic art, I draw more inspiration from photography like the models at Suicide Girls or The Chive. I don’t think there’s a more beautiful work of art in the entire universe than a beautiful woman. My drawings are poor attempts to pay homage to the art I admire most: real beautiful women.
I enjoy drawing “babes” because they get a lot of attention and it offers a decent living, too! Getting paid to stay at home and draw boobies isn’t exactly hard labor!
You have your own original characters known as the Luminaries set in the world. Can you tell us about them and how they came to be?
The Luminaries are my attempt to bring a sense of erotic realism to the world of superheroes. The idea was inspired both by my childhood of growing up around everything superhero, from toys to comics and cartoons as well as being in the Navy and living aboard an aircraft carrier. I realized that servicemen and superheroes have much in common. This impenetrable image of honor, valor and courage is foisted upon the serviceman and, especially in America, they are endowed with this mystique of heroism. That’s the sort of outward face of a military person. In the comics, too, superheroes are only shown to the public in the kindest light. When I used to live on the ship and we were out to sea, I’d be walking around at night and would notice some of my fellow shipmates, guys and girls making out in a dark corner of a hallway or something. They used to call them love boats because when you get 3-4000 kids in their late teens or early 20s, stick them on a boat and shove them out to sea you can imagine what will happen.
Similarly, the Luminaries delves into the private lives of the most powerful superheroes on the planet and what they do when they’re not saving the world. A few hundred young, virile superhumans stuck together on this impenetrable base is just asking for the inevitable. The big, world-changing fights will take a back seat to the more carnal, interpersonal relationships between the members of the team.
Depending on the response to the story, I may produce pinups of the characters and maybe even start up a comic exclusively for the site.
Who are some of the characters that you’ve created for the project?
The characters are all meant to be nods to existing ones, more notably the Justice League: Ubermensch is the leader, a Germanic god-man. Astraea, a beautifully voluptuous African queen. Pharos, a terrifying hooded vigilante and Scooter, his vivacious 18-year old female ward. There’s many more characters but that’s a handful of them. You can see them here.
We always wonder about the process an artist takes into creating their works. Can you tell us how you create your art? What are your tools of the trades? Do you have any advice for anyone learning to draw?
Lots of rough doodles and refining vague concepts into sharp detail. I use .3mm and .5mm HB tech pencils. As for advice… stop asking questions and draw! Let your love for drawing motivate you to draw everyday and improve steadily every single day.
You’ve previously told me how you’ve gotten commissioned work from a 3D Artist and how you were impressed by the art form. Tell me what is it about 3D that impresses you. Do you see yourself working in the medium in the future?
Yeah, I really love 3D art, specifically because I have no idea how it’s done. I can look at a drawing done by J. Scott Campbell or Jim Lee and, while I may not be able to replicate their awesomeness, I know HOW they did it; every technique and shortcut and method I know. 3D art is beyond me. I use Photoshop everyday but the CG stuff is really cool. I love how it’s all very precise, like how you can create a background and have the perspective be perfect. The tech, in many ways, allows an artist more freedom to just explore ideas than pencil and paper. I like how CG can produce stuff that looks nearly photo-real but can make it surrealistic enough to have an artistic voice to it. The texture, the lighting, everything is impressive. Then again, I’m a PC gamer and what some would call a “graphics whore” so, to me, CG 3D art is like screenshots of a really cool video game.
I don’t think I could ever work in the medium because it’s a completely different tool set. It’s taken me years to grow the patience to use Photoshop because I’m a very instinctive penciler and I like to just experiment with lines on paper sometimes where the impulse to do this line or that line can be serviced instantly. In a program like Photoshop, you decide what you want to do, then you have to compromise with the program and find the little icon that will allow you to do that, then click here, click there, find another icon to click and so on. Once computers can read minds then the feedback loop between an artist and the computer will be as quick as the feedback loop between an artist’s mind and his hand, then that will change the game. We’re not there yet so I’ll be confined to sticking with pencil and paper. 🙂
Who or what inspires you?
My kids, the universe and everything in it.
Any last words you want to say to our Affect3D readers?
Umm… Mazel tov?
Where else can we find you at?
Driving around in my windowless van that reads on the outside “Chloroform Smelling Test + Free Candy”. 😛 People can find me on DeviantArt and Twitter.
leelone
November 16, 2012Is really good
renderfan
April 10, 2012Wow. Long interview. (-.-;)
You have to visit Shade’s Deviantart site for a funny gif. (^,^)
morisson
March 4, 2012Your art looks really great! I’m always amazed at how much skill must go into a piece of art like this considering you draw the whole thing from scratch.
hzr
February 23, 2012Nice interview and now we all know what aircraft carriers are really used for! 😉