BLAST FROM THE PAST

Below is an excerpt from an article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune about a studio I once shared with other young artists. This was where I was during the speculator boom of the 90's in comics. I did lots of painting and learning from my fellow artists. That studio is long since gone and they recently demolished the building which sat across the street from the art school.

The Dude Ranch

In the mid-1980s, the building at 2721 Tamiami Trail was a pawn shop and adult video store when seven Ringling College students moved in upstairs.

They called it The Dude Ranch, and it was part dorm room, part art studio -- a party spot that attracted crowds of hundreds.

"They were chaotic and expressive," said Jill Hoffman-Kowal, education director at the Art Center Sarasota. At the time, Hoffman-Kowal was a local artist who made a documentary about the studio as she tried to land grant money through a state arts program.

The seven roommates living upstairs were young, ambitious and unorthodox. They would spray paint old trucks and Volkswagen vans -- "moving art," they called it -- and exhibit them in front of the building.

They held parties every month, drank a lot of beer and talked a lot of art. Every once in a while, someone bought a painting.

The art shows had names like "Fourteen Legs" and "Beat a Dead Horse." It was the beginning of successful art careers for a few Ringling graduates.

Rafael Kayanan went on to illustrate comic books, including a Spider-Man cover. His roommate, painter Christopher Skura, now has a studio in New York City.

When the students moved on, The Dude Ranch died.

"Things started changing," recalled Mitchell, who taught at Ringling College for 39 years before moving to Chattanooga, Tenn. "It lost the charm of what was once there."

The whole article by Roger Drouin can be read here.

EXPERIMENTS

Experimenting with color textures over ink art.

DON'T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME

Several folks asked for a closer detail shot of the original pencils sans the digital coloring.

ALTER EGO 80

Roy Thomas has included some of my artwork in an upcoming issue of Two Morrow's ALTER EGO (August 2008 )

Here's the content description - the list reminds one of how many excellent artists have dabbled in the sword and sorcery genre:

ALTER EGO #80 (100 pages, $6.95) spotlights Sword-and-Sorcery in Comics! Awe-inspiring new cover by RAFAEL KAYANAN! Conan the Barbarian was only the tip of the iceberg! Learn about Crom the Barbarian, Viking Prince, La Reina de la Costa Negra, Nightmaster, Kull, Red Sonja, Solomon Kane, Bran Mak Morn, Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser, Beowulf, Warlord, Dagar the Invincible, Wulf the Barbarian, Ironjaw, and more—with rare art by RAFAEL KAYANAN, BARRY SMITH, JOHN BUSCEMA, GIL KANE, JOHN GIUNTA, BERNIE WRIGHTSON, JERRY GRANDENETTI, MIKE PLOOG, FRANK THORNE, FRANK BRUNNER, HOWARD CHAYKIN, TIM CONRAD, FRANK FRAZETTA, JERRY BINGHAM, MIKE GRELL, PABLO MARCOS, NEAL ADAMS, RICARDO VILLAMONTE, JOE KUBERT, JESSE SANTOS, LARRY HAMA, MIKE SEKOWSKY, et al.—plus other comics features, including P.C. Hamerlinck’s FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) section with Marc Swayze, C.C. Beck, and others, Michael T. Gilbert and Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more! Edited by Roy Thomas.

PULSE

PULSE KAYANAN INTERVIEW


THE PULSE: You said you were penciling it with ink and adding tonal work … how long does it take you to create each page?

KAYANAN: It takes from a day to a day and a half. I draw the art on a board that is a third smaller than the typical comic art boards and the tonal work is really refreshing because instead of trying to add gradations or textures with line weight or feathering I can accomplish it by using various shades of gray.

More Drizzt art and interview featured at the above link.

DRIZZT THE DARK ELF!

I was first introduced to Drizzt Do'Urden, the Dark Elf when I was commissioned by an art collector over ten years ago to sketch their favorite character. This led me to read some of author R. A. Salvatore's books set in the Forgotten Realms. Drizzt was a creation that I immediately related to. So when Devil's Due editor James Lowder asked me if I was interested in doing some work for them I inquired about possibly drawing a Drizzt story. For the past few months I've been working with colorist Lovern Kindzierski (Sandman, Hellblazer, Elric) to bring the short story "The Dark Mirror" to the paneled medium. I'm adding tones on my black and white ink work using traditional media and the computer. I wanted it to look gritty, less polished - a rough place to be in.

The Dark Mirror is an excellent tale that is not only filled with Salvatore's unique brand of action, but is a great jumping on point for those who are unfamiliar with Drizzt's character and his world. The story is adapted to comics by Nick Schley and will be part of issue one of Worlds of Dungeons and Dragons available at your shops and online at Devil's Due.

More about Worlds of Dungeons and Dragons:"Each issue of Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons will feature two stories from Wizards of the Coast's bestselling fantasy settings, including the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Ravenloft, and Eberron," Lowder said. Issues 1 and 2 will adapt R.A. Salvatore's "Dark Mirror," starring the Forgotten Realms' most famous drow, Drizzt Do'Urden, with a script by Nick Schley (Abiding Perdition, "Red Lotus") and art by Rafael Kayanan (Conan, Star Wars, Spider-Man), and Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's "The Legacy," featuring the world of Krynn's most infamous wizard, Raistlin Majere, with a script by Neil Kleid (Brownsville, Ninety Candles, X-Men Unlimited), and art by Javier Sanchez Aranda (Hellina)."

STRUCTURE

Used a Duofold Parker mechanical pencil for this one.