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AoM: Jay Rivers

Wow…it’s August. Does anyone else feel that the months of May-September fly by like nothing but the months of January-March crraawwll by? Here at BitB it has been hot, steamy, and busy. We are gearing up for our inaugural appearance at Intervention Con in September which we can hardly wait for. In the meantime, we are pleased to have Jay Rivers as our Artist of the Month for August.

We quickly decided that Jay was cool in our books when we discovered that he is a huge fan of Adventure Time and The Regular Show, just like we are…possibly even a bigger fan? Nah, that could never happen! Jay is a digital artist from Georgia. After five years in a retail job, he decided to quit and put all of his talents and energy into his true passion-digital art. With hopes of having his art featured one day featured in television, games, or movies, his art blends Eastern and Western influences.

Many thanks to Jay for his creative designs for the month of August here at BitB. Be sure to read the full interview to learn more about Jay and while you are at it, make sure you cruise his links on his page at BitB to see more of his work.

Bored in the Basement (BitB): Hello and tell us about yourself:

Jay: Born and raised in Bruswick, Ga. Lived here pretty much all my life. I have been drawing since I came out my mother. I never really knew what I wanted to do with my talent when I was younger; I just kept it as a hobby of mine. It was not until my 5th year of working at Wal-Mart that I wanted to do more and the doors of that place were slowly closing in. Now free from that job finally, I am now devoting myself to building an art business of my own.

BitB: So when it comes to shopping Walmart, Target, or don't shop?

Jay: Walmart for food, Target for gadgets and figurines

BitB: Describe your art style and inspirations.

Jay: I try to blend western and eastern styles together. I want to do more realistic drawings, but the anime style is too alluring to give it up yet. 

BitB: What caused your interest in anime so much? Also are you a fan of Chocobots!?

Jay: The fluid of the animation, the ideas that go into every flick, the boldness to put a little suggestive content in cartoons..something that shook our Western-ish ideas about what age group cartoons are made for. When I first saw Vampire Hunter D and Robot Carnival almost 20 years ago, I was SOLD. I don’t know about Chocobots..but I want a Chocobo..are they the same thing??

BitB: How long have you been doing this work and how did you get started?

Jay: I have been doing digital work for over 11 years now. I saw a tutorial Long Vo made about digital airbrushing and it was a wrap :-)

BitB: This stuff is above my head... So I divert to a different question…Clubber Lang, Mr. T, and B. A. Baracus... Kill One, Marry One ,F*ck One... Go!

Jay: WHAT!? NOOO SIR!! lol! Well…I guess you gotta marry Clubber...he will protect you from Mr. T after you had that one nighter...and you gotta kill B.A before he kills you…or after he kills off Clubber and Mr. T to win your affection…yanno?

BitB:Is art your main career or would you like it to be?

Jay: I am working on making it my main career. I don’t think I can be happy if it is not.

BitB: Well would you be happy with 2 Million dollars? But it’s just to hold...no keeps.

Jay:  You know what, that temporary feeling of not worrying about bills would be nice. I would be happy for a minute.

BitB: What were your inspirations for your Artist of the Month t-shirt designs?

Jay: Something cool, slick and new. Wanted to dazzle and show people what I can do.

BitB: I'm rarely "dazzled" however big fan of the Be-dazzler... thoughts?

Jay:  I would be a fan of Be-Dazzker too if I was either a grade school girl.

BitB: What is your most and least favorite mediums to use?

Jay: I love pencil and pen. Oh and I.LOVE.PHOTOSHOP. My least favorite is paint I can’t stand the mess.

BitB: Well.... now we have an issue... see there is an old saying going around that says if it can't be done with paint then it ain't worth doing. It's just a fact. Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, even most of Vincent Van Gogh's work was done with paint. I do a workshop on paint every other Tuesday of the month. However it just occured to me as Lenard just pointed out you may be actually talking about paint paint not Microsoft Paint... which for your sake better be the case... or else...

Jay: I'm a big Microsoft Paint fan... BIG…lol. I am talking about paint paint. I just never really have been a solid hand painter.
BitB: Where do you see your artwork leading you?

Jay: Hopefully, I could showcase my ideas in television, movies and games.

BitB: What kind of games would you like to see your artwork in?

Jay: Open world adventure and flight simulators.

BitB: What is the first random fact about yourself that comes to mind that you are not afraid of being shared on the internet?

Jay: I am a shameless procrastinator.

BitB: And the second and possibly fifth random facts?

Jay: I am a hopeless romantic, dreamer, nerd and a geek <<I use these natures to prey on women unsuspecting of my deviant nature :-)

BitB: In your opinion-most influential ninja turtle, food, and Simpsons character and why?

Jay: Michelangelo: free will, loved to have fun and the most gifted of all the turtles..but you can never tell because he goofs off too much.

Food: I love food...ALL kinds except liver..and orka..yucks. Why? Because it is food and I am  fat.

Simpsons? Maggie. She doesn’t say anything...but says a lot, lol.

BitB: Nuff Said.

BitB: Your favorite homemade remedy for the common cold (some of us here at BitB are sick this week).

Jay: Moonshine and honey.
BitB: You may have to send some of that Moonshine up here... You know for uhhh research.

Jay:  I do constant research. Oh yeah, 6th thing about me: I am a professional alcoholic.

BitB: Do you like the tv shows Adventure Time or the Regular Show?

Jay: !!!!....OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!! YEAH-YUH! ..I’m sorry I just had to. Those are my FAVORITE shows.

BitB:OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!! YEAH-YUH!!! /--:QI -- FISTPUUUMMPP!!

BitB:Any other information about yourself that you would like shared?

Jay: Thank you for this opportunity to showcase my work. :-)

BitB:And where can we find you?

Jay:  deletionofthesoul.deviantart.com / emblem.redbubble.com
BitB: And let us end with you giving a shout out to your favorite Grape Flavored Beverage?

Jay: Splyuck! gimmie some orange juice..or a margarita :-)

This months Q&A was conducted by our very own A&E, we hope you all enjoy!

Have anothe great month and keep your eyes peeled for BitB's upcoming contests for August and September!

as always,

Love

Tom & Ant

BitB Crew

Umm... it's Marie.

Our Featured Artist for December is Marie Clipson, who has been a close friend to the Velure boys for almost eight years running now. Somehow, she still manages to keep partial sanity throughout it all. So we took the time out of our busy schedule (Call of Duty: Black Ops) to sit down and really pick Marie’s brain…

***Please note the words in bold have been changed for my own amusement during the interview***

BitB: How excited are you to be December’s featured artist?
Marie Clipson: Meh, obviously not as excited as you are.

BitB: How about you get us started with a little bit about yourself? How about a long list of things you like?

MC: It really sounds like you put no effort into preparing this… but let’s see… I like long naps at least one a day otherwise I get cranky. I enjoy my ribbon candy, plants, Koi fish, and dragons. I spend a lot of my time watching cooking shows however, I don’t like to cook and you will rarely see me cook. I also have a lot of respect for Life Alert and I really miss the good ole days.

BitB: Alright, that gives us a good base about the type of person you are, but how about some dislikes then?

MC: Well to start off I hate ketchup I don’t like being by it, don’t like the smell of it, and I don’t like being in eyesight of it. Only thing I dislike more than ketchup is clowns…  

BitB: Quick question then I will let you finish, what do you think of this picture of a clown juggling ketchup bottles?

MC: Ugh… Anyway I also dislike socks with holes in them, annoying kids in my yard, cooking like I said before, being too cold, being too hot, and technology.

BitB: You’re starting to sound like one mean, old lady… but hey who are we to judge am I right?

MC: No, you’re not right.

BitB: Can you trust a fart?

MC: I never trust a fart, especially if I’m the least bit iffy…

BitB: What sort of art do you enjoy?

MC: Well along with painting I get enjoyment out of making my own jewelry and glass fusing.

BitB: Who would you say influenced your art the most? Also, I know the answer to this so I’m going to go ahead and place your first two answers into the blanks here…

MC: Ughhh…. So the people who influenced me the most were Tom Velure, Ant Velure, and third artist not as good as Tom and Ant.

MC: You do know this is why I can’t have nice things.

BitB: Dually noted. So if I was a mugger and I was to theoretically steal your purse off your arm on the street, what am I likely to find in it?

MC: Nothing you would want. Most likely my reading glasses, Werther’s Originals, some balled up Kleenex, and a copy of Murder She Wrote on Betamax.

BitB: Okay, so winter is on its way to Wisconsin and you got a plane ticket to anywhere within the continental United States where you going to go?

MC: Florida, it’s warm there.

BitB: How does it feel to know that by the end of this interview, if people take the time to read it, that most people will think your well into your 90’s?

MC: Well that’s because you changed all my answers you assholes.  So whatever, I’m writing my own bio then.

BitB: Well that’s all folks! Marie is 25 by the way!

Now that the interview is over, let's show the people what they came to see!

As always,

Love,

Tom and Ant

BitB Crew

BitB Proudly Presents, Michael Borkowski!

Mike is one of those people for whom talent just seems to come naturally. After developing a love of drawing at a young age, he went on to take some college-level courses through the art program at his high school. Other than that, he says, he has no other "formal" training. He tells us that he was lucky enough to form a relationship with some professional comic artists while still a teenager in high school and that their guidance along with on-the-job training he got while working with them were, for all intents and purposes, his schooling. This is a lucky break for anyone but especially for him, because it seems that his main career aspiration prior to that was to become a 3rd baseman for the New York Mets. He made no mention of whether or not he has an actual talent for the game of baseball, but does say that at some point he realized that being an amazing artist was likely a more realistic goal to work towards. Not bad, really, especially since he says that from his childhood, he had also wanted to find a way to turn his art into something he could get paid for.

When we asked about what other types of art Mr. Borkowski enjoyed creating, he told us that he really doesn't have much time for anything outside of the art he creates as his job. (Well, besides showing his loyalty to the Syracuse University sports program through his art.) Since he was gracious enough to take some time to create a few designs for Bored in the Basement, we figured we'd try to keep things as short and sweet as possible so that he could get back to entertaining the masses.. As opposed to humoring our ridiculous inquiries. We tried to get all of the important stuff out of the way first, so if Mike got tired of answering questions at least we'd have all the pertinent information. And since he knows more about himself than anyone else does, we're giving you all of his important answers uncut and unabridged, straight from the horse's mouth.

BitB: What changes, if any, do you have to make in your drawing style when switching from still art like Iron Man to animated stuff like the Venture Brothers?

MB: Basically everything I work on professionally isn't my personal style at all, whether it's animated or not. I need to make sure everything I draw for animation or the Iron Man books is "on model". It has to look like the reference material I'm given since I'm not the only person who works on these projects. Of course, some of my personal style does come through a bit. That's almost unavoidable.

BitB: With well-established and highly recognizable characters like Scooby Doo and the Gang, Iron Man, and Wolverine and the X-Men, when you first started did you feel like you were under a lot of pressure to live up to previous artists? Like maybe some nerd somewhere was going to cause a ruckus because Wolverine didn't look quite right when you drew him?

MB: Well, I have to draw them specifically how they're supposed to look. And in animation no one is really going to see my exact drawings. But I do feel pressure to make an action sequence as cool as it possibly can be.  Or pressure to make a gag as funny as it needs to be (or funnier). Or something scary or intense, etc.

BitB: Do you still feel any of that pressure now?

MB: Of course.

BitB: You did your first work on a major motion picture last year, for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. What were some of the big differences, if any, between animating for a movie and animating for a television show? Was it a fairly easy transition for you?

MB: It was a major difference and, no, it was not an easy transition for me. Thankfully I was surrounded by ridiculously talented, helpful and supportive people at Blue Sky Studios.

The main difference was the scope of the project. In television you basically stick to the script and board what's there. On Ice Age there's a little more freedom and time to explore each scene. There's also a lot of technical things that are done differently that I had to learn on the fly.

BitB: How did your partnership with Cartoon Network come about? Any plans to do art for other shows sometime in the future?

MB: I don't really have a partnership with Cartoon Network. I was hired by World Leaders (then Noodlesoup) to work on The Venture Bros. and by Warner Bros. to work on Scooby Doo. Cartoon Network airs those shows but I've never actually worked for them.

BitB: We don't want you to give away any secrets or potential future plans, but if you had the opportunity to do your very own TV series.. you know, complete and total creative control, what would it be like?

MB: I struggle with that. Sometimes I'd like to do a straightforward super hero show. Other times I'd love to do a whacked out comedy. Maybe a combination of the two?

BitB: What heroes/idols of yours have you gotten to meet over the years?

MB: A few. I was a big fan of Bart Sears when I was younger and he's actually one of the guys who took me under his wing. I try not to look at people as heroes or idols anymore, though. I've realized that we're all just people trying to do some stuff. Of course I still admire people for who they are and what they do. I just don't hold anyone up to such a standard as maybe I once did.

BitB: What is your favorite work environment, or the one in which you feel you're most productive? Do you have a home office set up? Do you listen to music to get the creativity going, or do you prefer complete silence? If you do listen to music while drawing, what's your favorite genre/band to listen to?

MB: I do have a home office. Usually I listen to music. I love Ben Folds, The Rolling Stones, Jenny Lewis and stuff like that.

BitB: Do you ever participate in any charity work, such as auctions?

MB: I did some sketch cards a few years ago for the March of Dimes.

BitB: What was your first paying job?

MB: My first paying job was helping out on a Namor toy design. Basically I just tightened up the drawing done by my bosses.

BitB: You're a big sports fan. Favorite teams? Are any of them more of a loyalty thing as opposed to how good the team actually is? (No offense meant!)

MB: I am a massive Syracuse University sports and New York Mets fan. I am a fan no matter how good or bad they are. In my mind, your team is your team through good and bad. If you can't be a fan through the bad times, you shouldn't be allowed to be a fan in the good times.

Now.. While all of this information is certainly compelling, we all know that there other things to life besides paying jobs and charity. For instance, erotic art. Who doesn't enjoy that? When asked if he'd ever been requested to create any art of this fashion, Mike tells us that although he has been commissioned to do some pieces that "got a little nutty" (his words), nothing that could ever really be considered erotic, like.. Oh, say, Wolverine in a g-string (our words.) Imagine our disappointment at this news. He did, however, make us feel a little better when he mentioned that he sometimes gives actual pen (or pencil) and paper sketches away on Twitter! If you would like to be privy to the next time he starts feeling generous, you can follow him at twitter.com/MBorkowski. He also does sketches like that at conventions sometimes, so if you keep up with his schedule on www.michaelborkowski.com and you're in the neighborhood of his next one, you should most definitely stop by and tell him that you'd like a sketch of Wolverine in a g-string.

We have saved for last a word for word transcription of Mike's response to our most important question, one that you readers should also ask yourselves sometime. The importance of preparedness in situations such as the one presented in this question cannot be stressed enough.

BitB: Your entire family has been massacred by the mob. Through careful surveillance and recon, you've managed to discern the location of their secret mob hide out. What song plays as you're busting through the door, ready to take bloody revenge on those who have wronged you?

MB: For some reason I keep thinking of "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones.

After you've broken your brain trying to come up with the perfect answer, go take a look at the sweet designs Mr. Borkowski came up with for us as October's Featured Artist. Stay classy, internet.

                                                                        -- RR