Just wanted to share some good news. I got my first major art show in London. A limited edition print The Tip of Atlantis has been selected for The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition next month. Thanks to @Jake-Parker @Lee-White and @Will-Terry for giving such excellent illustration lessons. You guys rock! All have helped me tenfold improve my drawing skills. I went back, redrew and improved my final piece that got selected. And thanks to my fellow SVS students on here that offer great advice and support in the forums.

It's my favorite all-time art show, that I've been trying to get into for a few years. Never give up on your dreams. Be stubborn and carry on when being told that you'll never make it as an artist.

SNEAK PEAK:

It got framed an hour before I had to hand it over to the RA so I only have a photo of the Artpakk bag. :smiling_face_with_open_mouth_smiling_eyes: Top tip, don't leave framing to the last week for a show entry - give it at least 10 days to 3 weeks. Unless you can frame it yourself.

The art has a hidden Mermaid in it, so I'm happy it got selected in Mermay!

If there is anyone from SVS in London during the Summer and fancy a trip to the Royal Academy, give me a shout. The show runs Monday 10 June to Monday 12 August.

My favorite place to hang out at night. Brick Lane in London. Where Dr Jekyll buys his bagels.

1984 by George Orwell. Been reading this book over the last couple of weeks. A life changing book when I read it as a teenager and still just as relevant today. Would love to make a graphic novel of 1984 set in an alternate dimension.

@Chip-Valecek for me, this is a good one for a self-portrait!

Before

After

Took on-board what @Lee-White said about my penguin scene. I appreciate and agreed with the feedback.

Made my protagonist penguin a bit more flamboyant. He's of the Macaroni ilk. Spearheading the deep ocean dive I can feel his leadership qualities (His co-stars are based on Adelie penguins). They both hang out in Antarctic waters.

I think I got carried away with drawing penguins that it was hard to lose characters. I wanted them to all get equal billing. But that made me lose sight of the story of building tension and focus for the Moment Before brief.

Happy to hear any further comments. Have others made changes to their work after listening to the feedback?

Tick Tock. Am I OK?
The tracks in the snow were unlike anything Will had ever seen before.

So I'm making a Chinese Water Dragon mixed media artwork for Slowvember. No backing out now.
I thought I'd start posting and try to keep it to weekly updates. I don't want to slack off.
It's my biggest creation to be made on a wooden panel, as it was originally meant to be a mural a few years ago.
It got cancelled due to the venue backing out when I presented the cost!
The Dragon is going on a 140 cm x 70 cm panoramic plywood panel with a metal frame that prevents the wood from warping.
The poplar plywood is primed with Golden GAC 100 to help seal the wood.

So far I have sprayed the surface using a primer layer with Signal white Molotow Belton spray paint.
But I wanted a textured under-painting so I brushed on a titanium white Non-absorbent acrylic primer (by Michael Harding).
I did leave it outside to dry but it rained and messed it up a bit! : SO.. I gave it another coat.

For me because its a large surface I thought I'd do a smaller painting first. A cross section of just the dragons head.
Always best to do a test painting I reckon. I've ended up going for 2 tests.
One finished in black ink and white paint. Now working on one in colour to match the copic marker colours and acrylics I'm using on the final piece.

I used frisk trace down to draw the dragon head onto the surface as this doesn't leave any residue when inking/painting over the top.
I make it pretty quick and rough (from a digital printed to scale sketch).
First time I messed up as I did it in graphite and this smudged loads and was difficult to paint over the top.
Best option was in red as it's easy to spot when the blues go down and easy to paint over with lighter colours.

So this is where I'm at. Here's some of my other tools with the colours I'm using.
I like these pump action brushes even though they clog up quickly, the nibs are cheap and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
I use the refills as this saves money. Just hoping they play well with the Copic markers as I haven't tried them together before. I like to experiment!

Hope to have something a bit more substantial by the end of the week.

In Isolation, I have mostly been watching old films and TV shows. Then drawing pixel art all night long. The 8-bit lifestyle.
"I Can't Get No Isolation" featuring Pixel Kong.

I was just learning some stuff on blender and this tool came up for quickly putting reference images in order.
I'm using it to make mood boards and put my thumbnails together from my sketch book.
I thought other artists would find this useful. I've been trying to organise my ref photos, as they are all over the place! It's called PureRef on windows, linux and mac. I love simple software like this. It just does one thing.
They let you choose what to pay.

https://www.pureref.com/

@Lee-White I managed 48 thumbnails on poking a collapsed drunk Cyclops in the eye with a shard of his shepherd's staff.
Buzzing. Top tips.

@carolinebautista For reference, here is the license page for New York Public Library with prices for usage - https://www.nypl.org/help/get-what-you-need/photographic-services/obtaining-images

@carolinebautista I've sold photos on stock sites and it averages about £3 ($4.20) per picture to license commercially. If you were using a photo of mine for reference and emailed me to ask I wouldn't charge anything. You're making an artistic transformation so I wouldn't want to charge for that.

It's inside a public building though and if you were selling it commercially then it would be a license/permission from the location and perhaps the photographer. But I wouldn't consider it for this illustration because you have transformed into your own background by adding other elements, colour change and removing details like the signs/flag, stone pattern and inscriptions.

@xin-li brilliant news. Totally deserve it! Quality art.

@NessIllustration But I think a tattoo can become part of someone's identity. The skin is the biggest organ on the human body. It's alive. Tattoo ink is injected into that organ and becomes a part of it.

Like Mike Tyson's face tattoo was in a lawsuit after the Hangover movie used it on a characters face in the film. There are sportsmen who get image rights in computer games and their tattoos become an aspect of their likeness. If their tattoo wasn't included in the game some of those people wouldn't be recognised.

Not saying the person who has the tattoo on their body should be in this lawsuit but they could be affected in the future by the results of this case.

Tattoo copyright cases:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/tattoo-artist-looks-show-value-625509
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=0530aa49-8fd3-403f-ae8b-8f4decaed7bc

@xin-li I like these the most 1,2 and 4. As they show off a range of skills and competence in covering a range of subjects. 1. People interacting with nature, culture and motion. 2. Animals, ideas and concepts, 4. Epic creatures, magical storytelling and grand scenes.

Oh yeah that tracing will defo not help Kat win the case.

Who owns the actual tattoo? I understand the design tends to be in the hands of the artist. But the tattoo surely must be under the ownership of the person who's body it's inked on. If Kat Von D loses the case does the design become unusable or can the result of the case include paying a license fee to use the design on another body (although she probably won't want to see it again).

@NessIllustration Yes it's like where I've hear a lot of "why would I buy digital art when I can just right click save?"

@davidhohn Would it be possible to force a tattoo removal?

Removal of Content Management Information
In addition to copyright infringement, Sedlik also asserts a claim for violation of 17 U.S.C. § 1202, which prohibits the knowing removal or alteration of “content management information” (CMI) with the intent to conceal infringement. CMI generally extends to such information as the photographer’s name and any copyright notices appearing on the photo. Generally, section 1202 claims arise in the context of removing credit information from photos which are then published on websites or social media.

I’ve never seen a 1202 claim brought in the context of a tattoo before. If it’s valid, this would mean that tattoo artists would need to include credit and copyright information on their clients’ skin, or else face additional liability. And while this may be a stretch, it could also potentially raise a 13th Amendment issue to the extent that it suggests that the copyright owner has the right to ensure that a tattoo subject is forcibly branded in order for the artist or subject to avoid liability.

@davidhohn Personally I do side with the photographer on this one regarding it being a derivative work. But I'm a bit alarmed about some of the things in the case. Like potentially tattoo artists having to give credit to the photographer and tattooing the copyright notice under it. Like if it was printed in a magazine/newspaper! I think that's going a bit too far.

I think it being on skin isn't transformative enough because it's not the surface that makes the creation transform as she's still copying the same pose from the photograph. If I painted that image on the side of a brick building as a spray paint mural, that would be a difficult task. But I still think i'd need to pay a license to use it. Or at least change the pose and composition.

Tattoo Artist Kat Von D is being sued for using a photograph for fan art tattoo of Miles Davis without permission. I know @davidhohn loves a good copyright conundrum.

Who do you think will win this case, Is it transformative enough?

More details about case in article on PetaPixel:
A photographer has filed a lawsuit against celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D, accusing her of infringing on his copyright by using his photo of iconic jazz musician Miles Davis as a tattoo for a client.
https://petapixel.com/2021/02/15/photographer-sues-kat-von-d-over-miles-davis-tattoo/