Of Multi-Cultural Steampunk, Showcasing Art in Faraway Lands and Agent Jiang

Hello all!  How are ya?  It's been a week and I've missed talking to you but I'm back with a couple of things to share while Nessa is getting some sleep before our busy weekend.

I had a great opportunity this week to send some of my art to Boston to be displayed in an upscale coffee shop.  Nessa's sister, Sarah got it all set up for me, the owner liked my work and it seemed like a slam dunk.  Once I did the research, I realized that displaying my art will involve a lot more preparation on my part.  After calculating printing one copy of each piece, framing them using the cheapest frames I could get away with using and then shipping, I found that it was going to cost a little over $300.  Then other questions arose:  What if the owner wants more than one copy of each piece?  How much is insurance?  What if they don't sell?  Having never done anything like this, I had no idea of the up-front costs.  The conclusion:  A little too cost-prohibitive right now but I will do this at a later time and I'll give myself time to save up.  Thank you, Sarah!  We'll definitely revisit this in a few months...

So by now you know that I have more than a passing interest in Steampunk.  It's new, (so to speak) it's groovy and it's rife with possibilities.  Most steampunk is geared (ha, ha, ha. OK, not so funny really...) towards a Victorian English setting.  So I started thinking, "How would you portray a steampunk character from a different culture?"  Now while I freely admit that this is not an original idea, it still opens a door to some interesting possibilities.  What would a clockwork samurai look like?  Would an Irish character look any different than an English one?  How would an African steampunk warrior dress?  It's all very intriguing!

To continue this thought, I pulled an older piece out of mothballs and revamped it with my eye towards doing a multi-cultural steampunk character.  May I present all the way from China, Agent Jiang - the newest member of Sargas Prime.  She has danced upon the Affinity Bridge of Fengdu and battled Tick-Tock Tigers in Wuhan. She stole the Omega Engine from Fu Manchu himself, which earned her the nickname, "Ghost." I caution you to treat her well because you will not see her coming if you don't.

This will be on sale in my Etsy shop very soon, but in the meantime, please comment and let me know what you think!  I'd love to hear from you.   :)  'Til next time...

- Chaz -

Buy my art here:
Look at my art here:
Listen to my band here:

Of Postponed Gigs, Quests, True Names and Happy Discoveries

'Allo my peeps!  It's been a few days since my last post but I've been drawing like a dervish all week and now I have stuff to share with you.

First off, the faerie convention Mysticon was postponed, which is a drag.  Pandora Celtica (my awesome band) was to perform but the director of the Con had to get emergency surgery.  He probably flew too close to the Balrog again and got his wings singed... again.  *sigh* I'll keep you posted on the rescheduled date, but in the meantime I'm keeping positive thoughts on his swift recovery!  (Rubiee says glitter fixes everything.)

Speaking of Rubiee... she's the soprano in my band and not only is she an amazing singer, but she has an extremely cool blog.  She also does some pretty amazing artwork her own self - you should check out her shop called, Silver Faerie Designs!

So I was on a quest yesterday, my friends!  I was searching around to buy this video called, "Alphonse Mucha, Art Nouveau Visionary".  (I am a HUGE fan of Alphonse Mucha and his work influences my art almost completely.)  I was having absolutely no luck, although I did manage to find the whole hour-long documentary on YouTube, which can be counted as a partial victory.  Apparently this video was made in Germany and there is no American distribution yet.  *siiiigh* 

During my search I sent emails and commented on many blogs to try to find this elusive DVD.  Maelle Jayet responded with a couple of helpful hints (Thank you, Maelle!)  and I discovered her AMAZING blog called, Color Me Mucha.  It's all about, you guessed it, Alphonse Mucha!!!  Woo Hooooooo!  She features not only Mucha's work but the work of other super talented artists who are inspired by him and the Art Nouveau movement as a whole.  A very happy discovery!

So as a quick side note - I've been referring to my beloved by both Emily and Nessa.  Emily is her birth name but I and those in the band prefer to call her Nessa, which she likes.  So since I thoroughly enjoy making her happy, she'll be known as Nessa from now on in my future scribblings.  :)

OK - I'm going to leave you with a couple of my recent line drawings for the upcoming Gaslight Underground Project. The first is Agnes & the second girl is Grace.  (Click on them to get the full-sized version)

So until next time, please check out a super wonderful site called The Steampunk Empire!!  The people there are extremely cool and it will make all of your gear-driven fantasies a reality!  I've heard that the site may even cure small pox and scurvy...  I'm also going to try my hand at interviewing and featuring other artists in upcoming posts so stay tuned!

- Chaz -

Buy my art here:
Look at my art here:
Listen to my band here:

Of Cirque, Vespertine, Le Style & French Clowns

Heya!  What a fantastic weekend and wonderful day I'm havin'!  My life is sweet, Emily is amazing & my family rocketh verily!  Awww Yaaaa!

My GF got me tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's Alegria for Christmas!!  (That's the amazing part!) The show was last Saturday in Colorado Springs and it was spectacular.  I'll hit you with the highlights: Band = awesome, Hula Hoop Girl = tall & flexible, Trampoline Act = Filet McGroovy, Bungee Cord Guy = meh, Mongolian Contortion Twins = mesmerizing and kinda creepy, Clowns = funny and talented.  If you have the chance to see any Cirque show anywhere, you should go.  I mean it!  GO, dammit.  Don't make me come over there...

Speaking of clowns... I had one of those performance dreams that night.  (insert sexual reference joke here)  I dreamt I was auditioning for Cirque to be a clown specializing in pantomime.  So there I was in a big room filled with french clowns and they're all staring at me as I go through my routine.  I say "routine" as if I had a plan... I will clarify.  I did not.  I was winging it.  Because they were french clowns, they couldn't speak so they all gave me disapproving looks.  The look that said, "I would hate you but you suck so much that I can't be bothered to actually have an emotion for you aside from pity."  I laughed myself awake.  Even now thinking back to it, it's still cracking me up.  :)

I made a new Steampunk friend on the interwebz and her name is Vespertine Nova Lark.  She's a wonderful artist from Detroit that makes spectacular jewelry!  Each piece is unique and Ves herself is one of the coolest people you'll ever meet... just sayin'.  You should visit her blog and read about all of the steampunk goodness goin' on in Michigan.  After that take a stroll through her shop and weep openly at the beauty displayed there.  I am still something of a newbie when it comes to the Steampunk genre - Ves and many of her compatriots have welcomed me in with open arms!

OK - last but not least I got to work on an ad for a brand new project called, Le Style Magazine.  It's an interactive, Anchorage-based lesbian fashion magazine printed bimonthly with a web-based counterpart.  It looks like a neat project and I know it'll be successful because Camden Yehle is super talented.  Go here to get more details and in the meantime... here's the ad I finished today: (Click it to see the larger version)

Bit of a long post today.  Thanks for hanging out while I rambled like I did last night at Bruce & Beth Telford's dinner party.  They were very kind... or rather polite... or rather... tolerant.  lol.  Anyways - I'm out and I pray that none of you get visited by apathetic french clowns anytime soon.

- Chaz -

Buy my art here:
Look at my art here:
Listen to my band here:

Of Escapes, Learning From Peers &... the BAND

'Allo!  How are you guys today?  I just finished working out and I feel better since I'd been battling a cold.  I will say that Aleve D is the best stuff I've found for kicking a cold's ass.

So I discovered a fantastic site for illustrators called, "Escape From Illustration Island" & OMG what a Godsend Thomas James is!!  This site has advice, podcasts, blogs, interviews, tutorials, resources, etc.  I feel like I just won the lottery!  It's one huge artistic community that exists to make sure that I succeed as an artist.  :)  (They are here just for me right?)  Seriously though, if you're an artist you owe it to yourself to bookmark this site and visit it daily.  I'm just sayin'...

I sent samples to a really amazing magazine called, "ImagineFX" in the hopes of being included in one of their future issues.  I also sent a letter and samples to Hydra Publications in the hopes of getting a cover gig for their upcoming Steampunk Anthology.  It's possible that I missed the deadline for that one but I'll keep happy thoughts just the same!  Anyways - keep your fingers crossed!  :)

Tonight we resume rehearsals with my band Pandora Celtica!!!  Woo Hoooo!  After finishing recording on our Yule album called "On Thin Ice" we decided to take a break for a few weeks. I've missed my band.  Since we weren't rehearsing I filled that time up with other things (drawing, self-promotion, adding new pieces to my Etsy shop, etc.) but it'll be great to see everyone again and get back to my other passion, which is music.  I'll keep everyone posted on our upcoming gigs and things.  

Before I take off, I wanted to share a quote with you.  "Don't make work to make money... that leads to crap work. Don't try to be fashionable. Make the art you'd like to see.  In other words, draw what you love and your audience will find you!"  This applies to more than just art, I think.  I believe the universal quote is, "Follow your bliss."  Until next time.  :)

- Chaz -

Buy my art here:
Look at my art here:
Listen to my band here:

Of Gaslights, Questions du Jour, Line Drawings & Google Alerts

Heya! HAPPY 1/11/11 to everyone!!  Emily and I had a "Question du Jour" session last night... No it's not some french pastry that you have in bed with your lover... (Although... hmmmmm.) It means, "Question of the Day."  So here's your question du jour:  "What has been your proudest moment so far?"

I jumped into Google Alert a few days ago and it's really pretty cool, I have to say.  It allows you to monitor the web for interesting new content.  You can check it out here.  So when I type in something like, "Art Nouveau", it sends me all of the articles, blogs, etc. that talked about Art Nouveau today.  It's extremely useful for my business but it's also a HUUUUGE time sink.  (Must... resist... the.... shiny.....)  As if I didn't already have enough trouble staying focused.

Working from home is hard.  That is all.

I've been talking to Steve about some of the rules for his new game called, Gaslight Underground.  He has to put on quite the balancing act in order to please so many gamers who would like the game tailored to their style of playing.  The questions that come up: How do you please everyone?  Can you please everyone?  Should you try to please everyone?  I say make the rules fair and make the storylines AMAZING.  The rules don't matter as much when people leave the game going, "OMG! Who'd have thought that the librarian was actually a dragon stuck in human form?!?  See?  The adventure is everything!  Awwww Yaaaaa.

Creating a fun game for everyone is hard.  That is all.

Speaking of Gaslight Underground... let me introduce you to another artist on the GU project - her name is Magpie Bones and not only does she draw extremely well, she also does the website, makes awesome costumes and she sculpts!  Magpie's like the Michael Jordan of the art world!  You should definitely check out her stuff.  (By the way - you can click on her name to go to her portfolio... just sayin'.  Do it... Do it now then come back.)

OK now back to me!  Here are some line drawings that I've done for the rulebook's interior... I'm kind of pleased with them and junk.  :)

You should be able to click on these to see the larger image.  I'm off.  Feel free to comment.  Thanks to everyone who's been reading the blog - you guys rock!  That is all.

- Chaz -

Buy my art here:
Look at my art here:
Listen to my band here:

Of Steampunk Games, Krakens & Being Kind to your Engineer

Good Morning!  How are you guys today?  

I feel fantastic and I can't wait to embark on a weekend of gaming!  I play in a really fun D&D game run by my bandmate Rion & his wife, Sarah a couple of times a month.  Right now we're trying to beat up a bunch of evil dwarves who have stolen, among other things, huge amounts of cheese from the surface villages and towns.  I assure you all that my being lactose-intolerant will not quench my heroic fire one little bit.

I also run a steampunk/fantasy game about twice a month called RookeMare.  I've been GM'ing games for a number of years now, but they have always been fantasy-based.  I'd been dying to run a steampunk game but I'm having an interesting time of it.  I have to keep reminding myself that the setting is Victorian!  Here's an example of a typical encounter:  "You see before you a really mean-looking orc! Ummm yes... it's got a big 2-handed sword... oh, I mean rifle!  Yes... a steam-powered rifle.  With gears on it... ya... and ummm, he's wearing Victorian-styled armor and a bowler hat - ya, that's it... a bowler hat!  Oooh - and he's wearing goggles..."  It's a pretty new game and we're all having fun, it'll just take me a little while to shift gears.  Oooh - didja catch that?  "I said, "Shift Gears!" ha ha ha... never mind...

My girlfriend, Emily, her sister, Sarah (different Sarah) & I all went out to Mimi's for dinner.  (Mimi's jambalaya is amazingly good!)  Sarah had just gotten back from a biology conference in Salt Lake City and she was telling us about the various lectures she attended.  Really fascinating stuff, especially the knowledge that there are life-forms we have yet to lay eyes on because they live so deep underwater.  As you can imagine, being an artist, this really began to fuel my imagination. What if things like the Leviathan and the Kraken are still swimming around today?  Because no one really knows what lives down there, no one can say with any assuredness that those kinds of "fantasy" creatures don't exist!  Remember that the next time some silly muggle says, "Dragons aren't real."

Now for some art!  Yay Art!  I did a piece called, "Steampunk Sally" a couple of years back and while I loved how the figure came out, the muse was off eating a sandwich when it came time to do the background.  This year I vowed to do up a new background for her and I finished it Thursday night.  So here she is - all dusted off and ready for the new year!  Incidentally, you can purchase this piece here!  Let me know what you  think.  :)

And remember - always be kind to your engineer and other members of the support team when you're bounding about on your adventures! Saving the cheese is rarely a one-person job. 

- Chaz -

Buy my art here:
Look at my art here:
Listen to my band here:

To Norm... A Good Man

A bit of a shocker today.  My friend Norm passed away today.  

I met him while I worked and played at the Colorado Renaissance Faire.  He was a very cool person - a true viking prince.  He always tried very hard to stay positive and he treated people with kindness, compassion and love.  He was a marine, he worked hard and he played harder.

I can't really say much more than that.  I never really got to know him very well, yet his passing made an impact on me and many others who knew him better. A friend of mine put it very nicely when she said that he will not be going to Hel... he'll be fighting the great battle in Valhalla.  He was a valiant warrior, a boon companion and a noble-hearted soul.

To sum it up, he was a good man.  Norman David Morris, you will be missed.

- Chaz

Buy my art here
Look at my art here
Listen to my band here

Of Workouts, Twitter, Steampunk & Josephine

Heya, world!  It's me Chaz Kemp with another installment of my blog.  Woo Hoo!  That makes 2 in a row!  I'm on a roll.  :)  Thanks to everyone who read my inaugural post.

A good art tip is a cool way of starting off a blog ya?  
Exercise.  Ya, I said it.  Exercise.  I try to do it first thing every morning so that I feel really good all day.  You know all of the benefits so I won't get into that... All I'll say is that it puts me in a confident, positive and happy frame of mind.  Simply put - I draw better once I've done something physical.

Yesterday I got to hang out with an old friend of mine named Jyoti. He runs his own business as well and we talked about ways to stay inspired, goal-setting, motivational techniques, etc.  We hadn't really seen each other in quite a few years and a few weeks back he called me out of the blue!  He's a really great guy and though his business is different than mine, I got a ton from our conversation.  Life really does rock!

I created a brand new Twitter account and I'm clueless as to how it works.  I understand Facebook, MySpace, my email, the internet and this blog.  I'd jump on Twitter and ask for help but that'd take up some of the 150 letters that I can use to create a tweet. siiiigh  I only joined it because the Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market 2010 said I should.  It's a very good book, by the way, and the one for 2011 should be out now so buy it here.

On a side note - my girlfriend Nessa & I love to have little role-playing side adventures over email. They're like creative writing exercises for our own amusement. Today's was a rousing steampunk adventure wherein we fought a whole dirigible filled with cross-dressing villains. I won't get into too much detail except to use the words: Leather harness, cowboys, exploding tapioca, unibrow, pump, job opening, spiked whip and cake.

Moving on... Here's a line drawing I'm doing for a project called Gaslight Underground, which is a steampunk live action role-playing game.  It's going to be so completely awesome your head might fall right the heck off.  Anyways, I promised I would show you guys some work-in-progress kinds of things so you can see my work as it's happening:

I call her Josephine, which is a groovy Victorian name.  I've decided to make her elven and give her a sweet jacket because that kind of puts the "punk" in Steampunk.  When my client is ready, I'll do up a version with just the base colors, I'll tweak the outlines, do the shading and then do the background to give it the Art Nouveau flavor that I love so much.  I'll make sure I post drawings at each stage.

OK - until next time... DON'T eat the cake - you really don't wanna know where it's been.  - Chaz

Buy my art here:
Look at my art here:
Listen to my band here:

Welcome & stuff!

Heya!

My name is Chaz Kemp & I'm a freelance illustrator.  There.  That will just about sum it up.

Well... maybe I should expand upon the theme a little - maybe even tell you why I'm writing a blog.  I want to share my adventures with you and I want to promote my art.  

I thought that it might be cool to share my experiences as a freelancer so that maybe... just maybe... they can help someone be a successful (insert your particular freelance field).  When I first started out a couple of years ago - I had to figure things out for myself.  I took steps forward and I stepped on a few landmines too.  I'm still learning... which is why I say, "The continuing adventures..."


With the new year I feel like a new person.  This is a new start to a fantastic career and an incredible life.  That's why the blog is called Chaz Nouveau... nouveau being the french word for "new".  Not terribly original, but hey - that's why I'm an artist, not a writer.  

I'm also going to show you my art at various stages of development and give you a link to where you can buy the finished piece.   Just in case you feel like throwing a little support my way.


I'll wrap this up by saying that you are all very welcome to comment.  Please feel free to let me know what you think.  I'll leave you with a recent piece entitled, "Battle Faerie: Sera and chat with you again very soon.  :)

 - Chaz
Buy my art:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/Avarra
Look at my art: www.chazkemp.com
Listen to my band:  http://pandoraceltica.bandvista.com/