Spotlight on Alberto Ruiz

 "I still believe women are the only subject I can never get tired of drawing." asserts Alberto Ruiz, publisher, ex-New Yorker, current midwesterner, husband, father and an amazing illustrator. Naturally, Babe Lab had to pick his brain.



Babe Lab : Hey, Alberto. What's up?

Alberto Ruiz : Nuts'n'Honey. (My genitals are very important to me.  I love them.)

BL : Understandable.  Let's delve back a bit.  What early memory of women cemented them as your favorite subject matter?

AR : I was raised entirely by women.  There were no male figures in any of the homes I lived in as a child. Women were all I saw, and pretty much all I care about, artistically and otherwise.

BL : So being around women from a young age didn't instantly demystify them for you? Seeing their hair up in curlers...fighting for the bathroom....

AR : No, quite the contrary, and this is perhaps the key to my fixation with those "trivial", seemingly unimportant and, for the most part, overlooked (read : "purposely ignored") womanly traits.  I wrote a few years back that my admiration for the female of our species went from thinking of them as supernatural beings as a child, to unadulterated infatuation as an adolescent.  I basically grew to love all those things that most people (including women themselves) find unappealing, such as that third roll of fat you're not supposed to depict.  



BL :  Well, that sort of leads neatly into our next question. The artist who spends enough time with the model has a lot of time to pick apart broad and nuanced aspects. Which of both have you fetishized, and why?

AR : I don't spend a lot of time with any one model in particular. While it's true that I have developed certain mannerisms, I do make an effort to not follow formulas and to not develop fetishes, something I may not always be successful at doing, but at least that is my intent. I have no fetishes that I am aware of.  If I catch myself "liking" some type of woman or body part over another, I do a 180. There isn't much fun in drawing the exact body type every time. There are poses or body types that are more fun or interesting to draw than others, but if I'm pressed to choose between broad and nuance, it would have to be the latter.

BL : So you don't obsess about the gaps between toes or eyelashes or little fatty creases at the belly? No recurring fixations? You've clearly found beauty in the hand.

AR : Yeah, sure I have.  I just don't see those things as fetishes, though. For instance, I also obsess about the clumps of hair and other less glamorous elements such as elbows and the back of the knees, but I believe I obsess about all parts of the body at various times.

Spotlight on Otto Schmidt

Moscow-based Otto Schmidt's art is shockingly direct, viscerally graphic and unabashedly sexual.  Sift through the many layers and you'll find generous doses of cuteness and humor as well.  Babe Lab was able to pull Otto away from his workstation long enough to ask him a few questions.



Babe Lab : "Schmidt" is a German name meaning "someone who makes things." "Otto" is likewise German. How did your family come to live in Russia? Or did you just make the name up to sound cool?

Otto Schmidt : I agree it sounds cool. But, from the other side, I never had a choice because my family has German ancestors who moved to Russia in Reformation times. They were Lutherans, which made their lives tough, and there were also a lot of military riots and conflicts between Germany's principalities. That’s why my ancestors decided to move to Russia. There they were given land on the Volga River area. In that hard time, a lot of people immigrated to Russia from Europe. Since then, they all lived together in a German enclave on Russian territory before World War II.


As for my nickname, well, there is no special intrigue. There was a hero, scientist and polar explorer Otto Yulyevich Schmidt in Soviet Russia. "Schmidt" is actually my last name, and my middle name is Yurievich, which sounds close to Yulyevich, so people were just confused and ignored my real name, Evgeny.  They kept asking me, ”Are you a relative of Otto Yulyevich Schmidt?” That's how I became Otto Yulyevich over time, or just Otto.


Later in my adult life it was funny to watch the reactions of people who found out that “Otto” is my nickname and “Schmidt” is my real last name, because everyone who didn't know me since childhood usually thought the opposite : that “Otto” was a real name and “Schmidt” was a nickname.  These days people might call me Otto, or by my real name.  I’m fine with both, but for an artistic nickname, "Otto" definitely sounds more interesting than "Evgeny." :)

BL : Russians and their complicated names!  So...level with me here...do all women in Russia look like your drawings?

OS : Yes, every one. But I’m not sure all of them are Russian ;)

Sensitivity Training -- LIVE WORKSHOP

"Babe Lab : Sensitivity Training" 



Sensitivity in art is vital, especially when women are involved.  Join concept artist / pinup enthusiast Paul Richards and veteran model Stacy E. Walker as they guide you through the do's and don'ts of portraying the female form.  


Where

January 26th, 7PM-11PM
Gnomon School of Visual Effects
1015 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90038

Schedule

Thursday, Jan. 26th
7:00 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.: meet-and-greet with Paul and Stacy
7:15 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.: Sensitivity Training (lecture)
9:45 - 11:00 p.m.: lifedrawing session



Stacy E. Walker is a professional figure model providing inspiration and visual reference for world renowned illustrators, major animation studios, video game developers, fine artists, sculptors and a variety of academic institutions.



Babe Lab : Hi Stacy! Thanks for descending the model stand to chat with us. Watch your step!

Stacy E. Walker : It's my pleasure. I'm thrilled that you asked. I'm a huge fan of the blog so I'm honored to be introduced to all your followers.

BL : Well, we're honored to have you as our first model! So what was the turning point in your life when you decided to start doing this? Something or someone must have emboldened you.

SW : I grew up wanting to be Batgirl or a professional dancer. I began studying ballet, jazz and tap at the age 5 and was dancing professionally in stage productions in NYC by the time I was 10. As I began to mature, I was getting more curvy than tall and was constantly being told I was not thin enough, not tall enough and too "ethnic." Sometimes I wouldn't even get the chance to audition. They would just look at you and send you away. It got very difficult to handle so I started looking for other things I could do. I always loved comics and fantasy art but had no idea how to get involved with the field until I saw an article in a magazine about Fabio. The rest is history, as they say, and my strong background in dance really enhances my modeling work.

BL : Wait, Fabio...the guy who did all those romance novel covers?

SW : Yes, [the article] showed you how he and a female model would pose for a photographer who would then supply the images to an illustrator. So when I saw they do actually use real models for this I began to seek out artists who needed models for their work.

BL : When a person draws you, they get the privilege of being before the nude, and a few pieces of artwork under their belt. What do you get out of it?

SW : I love to see all the different variations and styles the artists portray me in, but most of all to help inspire their creativity and tell their story. It's always amazing for me to see myself as some of the most amazing characters this genre has to offer, especially when I inspire an original character.

Spotlight on Danni Shinya Luo

Shanghai-born Danni Shinya Luo fuses high fashion, art nouveau and psychological tension in her elegant, unabashed portrayals of the female form. Babe Lab was privileged to conduct an interview with Miss. Luo at her booth at San Diego Comic Con 2011.

Babe Lab : Hi Danni! Thanks for giving us a moment out of your hectic schedule.

Danni Shinya Luo : Hi there! You’re very welcome! I’m using this as an excuse to not work for 30 minutes.

BL : "Psychological tension" comes from your own description of your work. Can you expand on that a bit? What should we be getting from your stuff aside from some pretty ladies?

DL : When I say psychological tension, I refer to the feeling the viewers get when they look at my paintings. Do they get uncomfortable? Do they feel puzzled or intrigued by what’s happening in the painting? Do they feel charged with emotions? Do the feelings make them question the root motivations for their own emotions? If you feel uncomfortable starring at the paintings then what emotions are you trying to hide from yourself? That’s what I meant, and that’s what you should pay attention to besides the pretty figures.



BL : You're involved with Girls Drawin Girls. [above] What do you feel is the primary difference between works from this collective vs. that of the "perpetually male-dominated world of comics and animation?"

DL : In the years I’ve been with GirlsDrawinGirls, I’ve seen all kinds of comments and criticisms from both sexes. Some people say the GDG organization is amazing; they applaud the recognition of talented female artist doing female pin-ups to empower the gender. Others say GDG is worse than men who exploit the female figure, because we are selling our own sexuality to get attention. I think the truth is somewhere in-between. Yes we are using our own sexuality as the subject matter, but unlike the “perpetually male-dominated world of comics and animation” we are doing these on our own terms.  It’s pin-up, from a woman’s point of view. One can’t say that doing so is worse just because some of our point of views overlap with the male gender’s point of view.

BL : I'd say the overlap is pretty significant in your case. Is there anything you feel you can get away with that a male artist might flub? Some subtle yet crucial nuance?

DL : Hmm... Well, personally, I think there isn't anything I'm trying to get away with, but if I have to point out something specific I would say it's the interaction between two female figures. When I have two nude figures interact with each other, I see the message behind the surface, and I try to convey that with symbols in the background and/or subtle expressions.

Project Focus : Gadget Sanchez

Josh Singh is a character modeler at Blizzard Entertainment, currently working on the top secret Project Titan. In his eight years in the video game industry he's worked on titles like Titan Quest, the upcoming MMO from 38 Studios codenamed Copernicus and as well as the upcoming MMO from THQ Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online. When not making games, he enjoys collaborating with his colleagues and spending time with his wife and four children.

Babe Lab : Hi Josh!

Josh Singh : Thanks so much for asking me to contribute to your awesome blog!

Babe Lab : It is awesome, isn't it?  Hey. You're the first 3D artist we've had here on Babe Lab. But perhaps that's pigeonholing you a bit. Your blog and CG Hub profile show you're just as capable in the 2D realm. Can you explain the advantages/disadvantages 3D has in the creation of a character like Gadget Sanchez [above]?

Josh Singh : So I concepted Gadget in 2D first. I rarely will just dive right into 3D, especially for something as exacting as a female character. My 2D process is pretty loose, though I just really want to get a general idea and a few visual “hooks” just to give myself a feel of what or who this character is.

Spotlight on Mr. Jack

Australian artist Luke Mancini is perhaps most widely recognized for his prolific work on the Starcraft franchise, the game that spawned his "Mr. Jack" handle and ultimately landed him a full-time gig at Blizzard Entertainment.

When not up to his infra-red visor in Zerg entrails, it's not uncommon for Luke to unleash some serious cheesecake. Case in point : Here's a piece he whipped up exclusively for his Babe Lab interview, "Ambition."



Babe Lab : Thanks for joining us, Luke! Beer?

Mr. Jack : Most definitely! A black Brazilian Xingu perhaps?

BL : I have Pabst...

MJ : *sigh*

BL : Let's get right down to it. A hydralisk, a T-Rex, or a Frazetta-style jungle princess : which would you be more likely to draw first? (No pressure.)

MJ : From the latter to the former respectively, I think - though preferably combining the tyrannosaur and princess - from purely a personal enjoyment perspective. After all, one's jungle women should surely have some sort of context, don't you think? And what better a context than a cretaceous one!

BL : You've just been itching to say that in casual conversation, haven't you?

MJ : Ha! Oh most definitely. You've got to take these opportunities where you find them.

BL : Your work shows a wide range of interests within the geek spectrum. (Note : This is not a put-down.) There's your sci-fi stuff, your dark fantasy stuff, your prehistoric stuff, your comic stuff...is there a universe you feel most comfortable in? Which do you think lends itself best to pin-ups and why?

MJ : As far as comfort goes I would probably have to choose the fantasy end, and I think I would say the same for pin-ups, probably because I feel the presence of 'magic' and the supernatural in whatever sense I see fit to accept at any given moment allows one to get away with the most. I do love science fiction of course but there is at least sometimes a rational part of me that finds it easier to accept a scantily clad angel than a girl in a mech suit with no armour from throat to mid-thigh. Though of course that's certainly not to say there aren't cleverer ways of going about sci-fi pin-ups than that, or that I'm not occasionally drawn to exactly that.  (Plus from a purely technical side when you're drawing sci-fi stuff you always have to pay a lot more attention to perspective and proper construction what with all that tech, so a warrior girl clutching a spear clad in naught but bearskin does one-up mech-girl in that respect as well.)

BL : The vanishing points are less obvious while you're being attacked by a mastodon.

MJ : Precisely! Or, at least, you get away with fudging them a little better in that case.

Spotlight on Amy Matthews

Amy Matthews is a freelance artist best known for "CartoonPink", an ongoing series of sexier-than-life illustrations focused mainly on adult industry starlets. For the past two years she's done calendar illustrations for XXX imprint Digital Playground.  The 2011 edition is on sale now.

Babe Lab Disclaimer : Non-proprietary  photos and illustrations featured on Babe Lab appear for the sole  purpose of review.



Babe Lab : Thanks for taking the time to be interviewed on Babe Lab, Amy! It's great to have you with us.

Amy Matthews : Yes! Thank you for discovering my work. It’s fun to be among all of these wonderful artists you have collected here.

BL : Can you describe how and when CartoonPink took root, and how porn/erotica has shaped your take on art and sexuality?

AM : CartoonPink began as naughty little drawings in my sketchbook. I found that using porn as my figure drawing reference was really educational. There are always some very unusual and challenging positions depicted in porn, as opposed to the typical figure drawing poses. My focus quickly became seeing how far I could push the explicit nature of my drawings while at the same time maintaining a sweetness and beauty to the image. As the number of sketches grew, I decided to turn these themed images into something of a collection. That’s where CartoonPink started.

It’s been a way for me to explore a fun subject matter in a style that I enjoy. I like cartoons and I like porn, so it made a lot of sense. I was excited to see that other people were enjoying it too! I think people are a lot more open to sexual images now. After all, you can’t type anything into a search engine without getting something pornographic as an image result. We’re just more exposed to it, so I think we’re becoming a little less shocked by sexuality.

Spotlight on Milenko Tunjic

Milenko Tunjic draws a mean girl.  He also bakes a mean cake.  He loves his games, his TV and his comics.  He's a real man's man!  Recent art credits include concepts for games : 'Legend of the Guardians : The Owls Of Ga'Hoole', 'Destroy All Humans' (1 and 2) and 'Rocket Power Beach Bandits', as well as many cancelled projects.  In the late 90's and early 2000's he did conceptual designs for Saturday morning cartoons on behalf of Columbia Tri-Star-Adelaide Pictures (via Brisbane based Zoonimedia) including 'Godzilla', 'Roughnecks : Starship Troopers Chronicles', 'Max Steel' and 'Heavy Gear.'   He's also done a couple of Hallmark specials and Adam Sandler's forgotten animation 'Eight Crazy Nights', not to mention illustration and comic works for various magazines including Australian Mad Magazine. He lives with his family in Brisbane, but is originally from Bosnia, affectionately referred to on his blog as "The Old Country."



Babe Lab : Let's get this rookie question out of the way.  Where did the pseudonym Ferdinand Kreozot come from?  Is this just your comic alter ego, or is there more to it?

Milenko Tunjic : Well, that story is old, and itching to be told. It all started many years ago.... I was an immigrant refugee, fresh off the boat, with a young family and desperate to take care of them. After a mild posttraumatic stress episode during which I lost my government supplied job of bar assistant in a hospitality industry (which in itself is a meat for another story) I lost my social support payments and was left with no money to live.

At that point I resorted to wandering various bus stops and train stations hunting for the loose coins people with too much money unwittingly drop around. During my coin hunting exploits, I met a shady individual who was on the same quest as me. After a brief fight we had over a half eaten Big Mac which was discarded by some fool who did not see its nutritional value and had abandoned it on a bus bench, we decided there was no point to fight and we shared a hearty meal. The guy was overweight and quite unshaven, but he moved and spoke in a dignified manner. He introduced himself as Louis Oswald Dimsdale, a descendant of long line of Dimsdales, a game designer and an entrepreneur. I was a bit ashamed of my petty East European name and also did not want him to find where I lived, so I introduced myself as a Ferdinand Kreozot, a descendant of long line of Kreozots, an artist and a free spirit.

We had a long talk, both bitched about how the coin collecting industry was going down the drain, being killed by the plastic credit card boom. We agreed we were in a dead end and decided to start a business and get ourselves some of that plastic card stuff. Since Louis had some experience in board games and I had some art skills, we decided to join our strengths and start a company which would supply new and unique board games to the world. We called the company 'Dimsdale And Kreozot United Games Manufacture' and spent several months developing our first board game. It was called 'Face Paint Dart Board' and consisted of an instruction booklet (proudly illustrated by me), a two tone jar of face paint and a packet of cheap darts. We hit the flea markets of the neighboring towns and managed to sell tens of our products.  But then the disaster hit. Reviews of our game were not stellar, and due to some unforeseen injuries that occurred during the game play, we had to put our second game ('Family Anarchy') on hold indefinitely, disappear from the board game market (as well as the flea markets) and go back to living our lives under our real names.

Years passed.  I got to make a living from my drawing and Louis disappeared off the radar. I forgot all about it, until one day I got an e-mail from him suggesting we revive Dimsdale And Kreozot United Games Manufacture as he has heard about these new, so-called electric games people play on their computers and he said he had an idea about one of those. He also finished some community course and learned to do so called "code" and we got together once again, much like the Beatles, and started ploughing on our new product.

And so 'Tito The Bouncing Alien' was born. Sure, we invested a year of our life in making it, but payout was great - we had hundreds of satisfied customers and made hundreds of dollars from it each! Success was too much though so we decided to take another break. 'Dimsdale and Kreozot' is in hibernation now, but after all the things I've been through as F.K., I decided to continue to call myself Ferdinand Kreozot on the Internet.

Boy, what a long and boring story, hey? Funny thing is that more than half of what I just said above is truth :) I also promise that, as of now, I will stop trying to be silly, and try to answer your questions in a professional and dignified manner.

Spotlight on Matt Dixon

Matt Dixon is warrior many helms. He's a freelance digital illustator, part time headbanger and fulltime father. His new book 'Girls On Top' collects his adrenalized and wickedly playful pinup work, and comes hot on the heels of 2008's 'The Fantasy Artist's Figure Drawing Bible.'



Babe Lab : Greetings, Matt. Thanks for taking the time to talk with Babe Lab!

Matt Dixon : Hello, Professor. No problem. I’m very happy to be your test subject for this session. Please just be gentle when you attach the electrodes.

BL : In the intro to 'Girls On Top' (and please tell us any other titles that lead up to this), you mention "Attitude is something I try to give my pinups plenty of. Generous scoops of hell raising, fun loving, ass kicking, lip curling, high volume heavy metal attitude. With rainbow sprinkles and plenty of chocolate sauce." That sort of says it. You don't go into this with an air of seriousness, and your work has the look of someone it'd be fun to have a beer with. What's your secret?

MD : There’s no secret that I’m aware of. My personal pin-ups are fashioned from straight up, honest self-indulgence. I think that might be what attracted me to the genre – there’s no pretence that the image is anything other than entertainment. No one strokes their goatee meaningfully in front of an Elvgren and ponders on a deeper meaning or what ol’ Gil was trying to express. We know exactly what he was trying to express – “Hot damn! She’s a babe! Schwing!” That’s not to say there can’t be some depth to the piece, but fun comes first and foremost.

BL : There's a mini-tutorial at the end of the book that shows how one of your pinups takes shape from concept to completion. Let's talk about the concept part. How much of it is premeditated and how much is left open-ended? "Today's theme is 'Queen of the Jungle.' GO!!!'" vs. "Let's see where the wind blows."

MD : I used to sit down with an empty head, start scribbling and just react to what was happening in front of me. There’s still an element of that from time to time, but I found that approach would often see me journey deep into the painting process with unresolved elements in the image. This invariably leads to tedious mucking about trying to sort those areas out when I should be focusing on getting the painting finished which is distracting, time-consuming and, crucially, not fun. These days I tend to chew ideas over in my head for a while so I have something more solid to work with once I have a pen in my hand. Sometimes the images are fully developed and just need to be downloaded from brain to canvas, other times they need work once I’ve started to squeeze them out, but most of the thinking has been done which leaves more grey matter free to steer the pen. There’s usually several concepts rattling around inside the noggin which I’ll pull around when my brain is idling – driving, watching Desperate Housewives, on the can, etc. In fact I’ve been kneading the ‘Queen of the Jungle’ theme while tapping out my reply. My twist is that the jungle in question is the concrete jungle (see what I did?) which makes our Queen the Queen of the ‘Hood – a bootylicious, streetwise honey in her court (basketball court, of course) surrounded by a posse of ghetto fabulous jungle animals.