I was recently looking around my office for a reference for a piece I’m working on, and after a short search I came up with what I was looking for. But when I was done I came to an interesting conclusion.
I sure do have a lot of stuff.
Now, I’m sure many artists, writers, and in general creators, have large collections of various items. In that, I’m no different. Many of the items I have are for reference, like the plaster skull I have I my desk for example. Other things I have just to give me comfort in my office.
I know it’s unusual to many folks out there that the big, mean looking gargoyle that looks down over me and my computer as I work (well, as I work digitally anyway) gives me comfort, but it does. The little monsters, creatures, and various things make this studio mine, and all of it is for me. That comfort allows me to get comfortable as I’m working on art, and pay less attention to the area around me.
Some of the items I have though are a bit more unusual, or in some cases mean a bit more to me than they normally would as just random objects. I’ve also seen online where a few artists are joked at, usually by those that don’t really get it, why they have so many things in their studios.
So, I thought I’d write about some of the oddities in my office. They are all either references to pieces of art that I have or will work on, they have some special meaning to me, or they just set a good tone for my office, allowing me to concentrate on my work.
Here it goes.
I think as a Poe fan and as a horror artist, a raven is required. It's good reference though for birds.
I have actually sketched this one before, and the tentacles really have come in handy. I also giggle whenever a guest asks why it's on the world.
It's not exactly a "bucket" of skulls, but they have come in handy as a reference before. Ideas where there might be a pile of skulls, or anything round (with the eyes), and they help.
I haven't drawn or painted anything yet using the scorpion, but it's coming soon.
Believe it or not, I have at least taken this off the shelf for reference. That, and it's funny.
I've been considering using this in a comic story I have in mind, so the lantern might come in handy.
I have lots of sculptures and action figures, many of them above my desk. I can look up, be inspired in a moment of doubt, and continue forth.
The skull chandelier has indirectly influenced a few images, and there's one in mind that it will help a great deal with.
Believe it or not, I have an upcoming project that means I'll be drawing monkeys a lot. This is one of the references.
The last house on the left? No, just a cheap, but useful, reference house.
I do want to go back to this last one for a bit. The house is there, sure, and it has been helpful. To the right in the background is the first magazine I was in, so that makes me feel good still. Beneath that you can see Gaiman’s Anansi Boys and American Gods, both signed. He signed and remarqued Anansi Boys when I met him, and it’s still one of my treasured objects. So, lots of great things in this shot.
Save one.
Behind the house sits a long, lost, forgotten sculpture I did many years ago of Wolverine. It was based on one of the famous comic covers, and, in its original form, was one of my best sculptures.
Over time though it was forgotten. Only 90% finished, I never went back to it. Over time it also was beat up pretty well, parts snapped off, scratched, and generally treated terribly.
When I came across it again, I debated finishing it. But then I decided not to, and that it needed to stay just like it was. It is a reminder to me that no matter how good an idea I have, and even no matter how well I execute it, if I’m not willing to finish it then I’ve still failed.
I try hard not to start something I don’t intend to finish. In many ways, it explains my driving desire to get things finished quickly, to not move on until that one project is done. Hopefully in the long run that leads to better and better things, but as with everything, we shall see.
