As a teenager, I worked at a gun shop. I was stuffing bullets into bags for shooters who hand load, and was told 52 bullets. I asked why.
Because they always bitch when there’s 49, but never say shit when there’s 52! My boss shouted. This began an early reminder of the business proverb, always over deliver.
You’ve seen the B-side of Good Slave for the coaster show. Like old 45 singles, it is the side I really wanted, but probably couldn’t get away with. Now, there were four coasters provided. I intended to do all eight sides. Time did not allow for that. It also turns out the B-sides are there for a reason. That is where the title of the piece and the name of the artist are supposed to go.
Soooo….
Now, one could say I’ve reduced the material provided by the biggest name in pop culture art galleries to the equivalent of a high school Pee Chee folder…
Wait, I’m old, do high school kids even use Pee Chee folders anymore?…
But actually, given that La Luz is the biggest name in pop culture art galleries, I have to say that this may be the most appropriate thing to do.
It is fun. The doodles and art on the back to kick it up a notch and in my opinion add creativity and value to the piece. You’re getting a little bonus for your $50.
And there’s two major reasons to do this. One is I got ink on the back of this one by mistake. So I kept on with it and added some thorns and lines to cover it.
The other reason is experimentation. Did you notice that Purple Pain has dark spots around the hooded subbie with the red ball gag on the B-side and around the banner I drew over the text. That’s a varnish. I needed to see how some things will perform on the material. The difference between art and illustration is illustration doesn’t allow for experimentation and pushing boundaries. Art demands risk. So when the stakes are high, how do you experiment? Test your techniques and materials first.
But wait, the pieces are accepted. All I have to do is deliver them, right?
Kinda sorta. You see, unlike pen and ink, there’s a lot of reflective surfaces here. It has been very tricky getting these scanned. So now, I need to add some clear media here and there for effect. Plus, I also wanted to know how micron pen would act directly on the untreated surface of the coaster. Sure enough, there’s a lot of ink bleeding. I still have one last blank coaster, which I intend to submit in 2017.
Always think ahead.