Endangered Species

These are some of my postage stamps created in 2012-2013. They are all dedicated to the endangered species of birds and animals, which is a very popular subject among the stamp collectors. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introducing Postage Stamps

If you follow my blog you probably know that I got a full-time job as a postage stamp designer in 2012. Our company specializes in designing, producing and distributing postage stamps mainly for African countries. In more than three years of working on postage stamps I've accumulated quite a collection of design materials. You can stumble across them on our website, on Ebay, by simply googling for African stamp images, but nobody actually knows they're mine. So I guess it's time to start introducing some of my postage stamps to the world as my works. People have a right to know what on earth I was doing for the past three years, after all.

So, this is my very first postage stamp. It's a so-called super stamp (SS) dedicated to the 85th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe. I didn't have much skills with the Wacom tablet back then, so I heavily relied on Photoshop filters like Pixel Bender. The only thing in this design where you can actually see my "tabletwork" is that golden statue of Marilyn, inspired by the Oscar she never received.

And this is my first traditional 4v + SS (four stamps plus super stamp) work. Nothing much, just some African butterflies. Again, no actual tablet skills to be seen here, just more Pixel Bender. I mean, who needs over-painting butterflies, anyway – they are pretty enough as they are.

I think this Whitney Houston tribute was my first work where I actually started showing tiny gleams of hope as a digital artist, but still I had miles to go.

Ah... the Ancient Egypt... who can resist its charm? Nobody actually cares about digital techniques as long as there is some Tut and Nef to be seen...

Sometimes we do so-called "art themes," which basically means we put some paintings inside the stamps. Virtually no tablet skills are required for this, but it still takes some design work. I think Tingatinga was my first art-related project.

But mostly we do celebrities, like Queen Elizabeth II, for instance. Expectedly, they are selling really well.

And scientists and inventors, of course. They are also quite popular. Not as popular as Popes, but still...

 

 

Also, there are some "problematic" themes, like fighting malaria, for instance. Featuring stuff like that in postage stamps increases global awareness to the problems and generally is good for your karma.

And, of course, we remember you, Amelia! How could we forget the first woman who flew across the Atlantic. By the way, this particular monochromatic version was never actually printed, it was changed to a more cheerful colored version, which wasn't really how I intended to handle this theme. Well, such things happen quite often in our business, unfortunately. People prefer colorful stamps. Period.

And, finally, my favorite early work. For some people people it would be just another art theme, but for me it was very important, because the artist in question was none other than Salvador Dali himself. As a surrealist, I basically worship the man, so I really tried my best when working on my first stamp issue dedicated to him.

But funny thing happened with the SS on this one. Back then I didn't know that Togo (the country which ordered the issue) doesn't approve any kind of nudity in their stamps, so I was dumbfounded when they asked to do something about the naked Dali in the super stamp artwork. Our art manager advised to dress him up, so I did exactly that: I painted a leopard-skin dressing gown in the spirit of the famous artist. It fitted nicely and the project was saved!

OK, I think it's enough stamps for one day. Expect more in the future, though – there's a lot more where they came from.

Journey Through the Skies

A few months ago The SKYS, a Lithuanian progressive rock band, asked me to do the artwork for their upcoming 20th anniversary album Journey Through the Skies, which would feature re-recordings of some of their previous songs, as well as some new material.

I immediately saw the opportunity for a "road-trip" concept and proposed just that – a continuous folding booklet featuring the illustrations to each songs seamlessly joined together, like a big journey through my surreal visions based on the lyrics. The recipe was simple: – a low horizon for a surreal flavor, a richly colored sky, slowly changing between day and night, and some repeatable elements for the scenery, helping to maintain the integrity. Add some symbolism and... voila! you have the fresh-cooked album art à la Dalí.

The unfolded booklet reaches a whooping 96 cm in length, so folding and unfolding it could be easily used as a morning exercise.

We had a transparent jewel case, so for the inside artwork I came up with the idea of the empty scenery, which would "accommodate" the CD.

Here's the CD, separately.

And, finally, the back side. Some people noticed that the CD number is RK05CD, so I'm telling you straight away: no, those are not my initials, although I surely appreciate the coincidence.

This is how it looks all printed and finished. Sorry for the bad quality: I took the picture with my phone and just cleaned it up in Photoshop. I can assure you, in real life the final product looks a lot more impressive.

Marlboro Mincer

Okay, I understand this is not exactly what one could have expected from me after more than two years of dead calm. But hey, gimme a break here – at least it's something!

As you can see, this is a Marlboro mincer. Why? Mostly because I can. Also, because I used to collect empty cigarette packs when I was little (purely scientific interest) and Marlboro pack was my absolute favorite. As for the meat grinder, for me it's a symbol of emerging masculinity: You see, as a boy, I always helped my mom grind the meat, because it required a man's strength (or so I was told), therefore it made me feel like this big, strong man who could grind meat, open tightly screwed jars, mix concrete, stuff like that.

Does it make any sense? No? Excellent! Because it shouldn't.

Technical stuff: 200 x 260 mm, color pencils, 0.35 mechanical pencil, some black and red ball-points (used mostly on the pack).

 
On the early WIP scans you can see how meticulously I modeled each cigarette strand, despite the fact that most of them were doomed right from the start to be buried underneath their brethren.

The Face of Winter

A drawing! Finally. After months of artless life it feels so good to be back on track. But I kinda got rusted, so I needed something plain and simple to re-crank my engine. What can be simpler than a winter landscape in graphite? So here it goes -- The Face of Winter.



Actually, there are two faces in there, but I'm sure you've already noticed them both. If you haven't, here's a hint: sometimes clouds are just clouds, but not in this case.

I know, it looks a little depressive. But this kind of winter, dull and sunless, can be really depressing sometimes. But it also can be almost erotic -- all that untouched, curvy snow...

And here's the real life inspiration for this drawing: our snowy backyard with that weird apple tree.

Dad

This is my father. We have never lived together, he has another family and so on, but we're on good terms. I took his photo in December 2009, a couple of months before my departure from Tbilisi. Usually he wears only a moustache, no beard, but he had quite a stubble on that occasion. I really liked his grizzled beard and told him that I was gonna take his picture and draw his portrait from it when I had time, so he gladly posed.

I haven't seen him for 16 months and I really miss him. Last month I decided to finally sit down to the portrait. It dragged on, as usual, but now it's finally finished.


I believe it's my fourth attempt in oil pastels, and it seems I'm slowly getting my hand in this medium. I usually try to develop the colors and shades evenly and gradually, as I was taught back in the art school, but this time I chose to proceed in a different manner, finishing separate parts almost completely. As you see from the WIP shots below, first I rendered the central part, then the top area, and lastly the bottom part.

The drawing was done on a grey pastel paper with a smooth finish. Colors blended easily and I didn't have to use any chisels or such for blending, just an occasional finger-work. Here's a zoomed detail to show the technique up close and personal.

Spring in Your Eyes

It seems that spring has finally come to Lithuania. It's in the air, and it's irresistible. Yesterday, on the last day of April, as I was planting some potatoes in our kitchen garden, I felt a sudden urge to draw something for the season, quick and simple. So here's my humble tribute to the beauty of spring.

It's done with H, HB and 5B pencils and a mechanical pencil. The model was Diana, of course. Below you can see the work in progress and a zoomed detail.