FlameDragon poses this question:
One person on gamefaqs a while ago criticized my drawing as not having much life in it, and I found this to be an intriguing critique. How does one make their drawing have "character" and feel alive? I know mine aren't since I was just drawing from photographs but what about in general? And what would I be able to do to get my drawings to have life?
Kev Ferrera provides his point of view:
Photographs capture the surface of things for one static moment. Art captures the artist and life force.
Try to get imbalance and tension in your work. Design the smallest items to the figures to the composition as a whole to have dynamic angles, lightning bolt shapes, spirals/helixes, stepping stairs, teetering shapes... have your figures caught in the act of moving, in between one movement and another (thus off balance), have torsional twist not just to the hips, but to every limb, the wrist the neck the shoulders the jaw, etc. Of course the torsional twist does not have to be a violent twist, it can be subtle... but investing your forms with torsional twist at all, will give it life, even in poses that would normally be static.
Think of everything as silhouettes. And think of silhouettes as black ghosts in a disney film. Think how much expression, without words, a black ghost shape can have. Then apply that to every aspect of your art, from the stroke of your brush, to the largest compositional shapes in your pictures.
Give everything character. Don't just render something so it looks like what its supposed to look like. Make everything personal. And your work will become personal. And this will automatically bring life to your work.
Seedling says:
Saying that a drawing "lacks life" is a lousy critique on its own. A helpful critique will tell you something concrete enough that you can actually do something about it without consulting a mystic. Some examples of better critiques would be, “this drawing lacks life because the interesting patterns created by the silhouette of the potted plant are lost against the patterned background” or “this drawing lacks life because the figure is in a stiff frontal pose that doesn’t tell the story as well as it could if he were turning at the waist and reaching dramatically for the McGuffin”.
Yoshitaka Amano, no reason his art is hereCreatix says:
Experience life first. This goes well beyond the idea of "draw from life". Sure, if you can sit in front of live nude models and bring a sketchbook to a park and sketch all you see that works but experiencing it is getting out there and really paying attention. Even if you don't have your sketchbook with you, just observe - constantly. Go to a club, a bar, a restaurant. Sit at a coffee shop. Walk around a mall. Go to places you don't normally go but where you still feel comfortable. Go to a Pet store and watch peoples reactions to the animals. Watch kids at play in a Chuck E Cheese. Hang around some old folks playing chess in a park.
I have to believe that the small details and nuances of life as it goes by is rewarded at some point in your work. Just as people say the key to great communication is to shut up and just listen, sometimes you just want to stop doing and start watching. To watch though you have to be there. Don't sit in front of the tv or at a video game all the time. Don't just look at people in cool photos sitting along the beach. Drive to one and experience it. When you start drawing you will remember those little experiences and they will show in your work.
As far as technical stuff goes, maybe focus on the hands and eyes. Hands show great emotion and are often neglected because they are difficult to nail down. Eyes show great emotion. If you draw something, think of the function behind it. Make it feel lived in and there for a purpose. Sure a gas mask is really cool but does his outfit reflect that? Does he have the marks of some chemical burn? Does his costume show his world is post-apocalyptic? A dude with a huge metal plate over his mouth might look cool and gritty but think about how he would eat? That might lead into other design choices (maybe tubes to absorb materials, etc.). Overall, it will make the piece feel more "real".
Okay, I just added these pretty photos because I like looking at pretty things when I read long paragraphs.
Check out Pixar movies and their behind the scenes stuff where they talk about why they made the choices they made. They do a fabulous job of giving life and emotion into everything - fish, robots, cars, whatever.
Kev Ferrera again:
I would suggest drawing from life a lot. And from your imagination a lot.
Copying over Bridgman's anatomy books will be a great help in the latter.
Maybe experiment and try out some styles of highly varied but all "alive" artists. Like Ralph Steadman, J.C. Leyendecker , Frazetta, Mignola, Djurjevic, Sienkiewicz, NC Wyeth, Fechin, etc.
You can always go back to photography once you find out what kind of things truly interest you visually.
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This is not to say that one can't make fantastic drawings and paintings using photo reference. But the fantastic-ness would stem from the artist, not the photo.
To just copy a photo would not bring "the life" that FlameDragon means. (Assuming I have understood him correctly). Life is manifested in art by the will of the artist. If the will is to craft a duplicate of a photograph, the consideration of the artwork as a manifestation of personal force is bound to be neglected.
Chris Benett finally says:
Take a look at some good cartoons of famous people. Absolutely full of life and certainly using reference material but taking huge liberties with where things are that do not relate to the proportions on the ref material at all. When people ask me how I get likeness it is all to do with sensing the internal rythms of the structure - if you get that working then the thing will look right no matter how odd the proportions are. Have a look at Modigliani, El Greco, Giacometti, - stuffs all over the place yet feels 'right' and alive. Nearer to home, look at some of the character designs on here - nobody has the proportions and physiques of these things yet some of them are marvelously alive and 'true'. Look at the characters on 'The Incredibles' - proportions all over the place yet utterly convincing even in the static publicity stuff.
This is even going on in a Rembrandt or a John Jude Palencar, exactly the same principle, only it is a quieter version of it.
Some artists referenced by Kev Ferrera in his posts:
At first, Bill Sienkiewicz was an exponent of superhero-comic artists. Then he went deeper into comics. Together with writer Alan Moore, he created 'Big Numbers'. The acclaimed mini-series 'Stray Toasters' he did alone, and it became a big success (re-released by Graphitti Designs). With Frank Miller, he created 'Elektra Assassin', another successful series for which he received the prestigious Yellow Kid Award and the Kirby Award. He also produced the acclaimed artwork for the painted biography, 'Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix', published by Viking Penguin.Bill Sienkiewicz has won many awards, received two Emmy nominations, worked on many successful films, has exhibited all over the world, and has had a major impact on the field of comic books. His latest solo work, 'A River In Egypt', is published by Oni Press. (Lambeik, 2007)
Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N.C. Wyeth, was an American artist and illustrator. Born in Needham, Massachusetts, he was the star pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's greatest illustrators. (Wikipedia, 2007)Mike Yamada's Silhouette Tip
Everyone has their own way of using this technique to problem solve and to resolve their design. I cannot speak for them, but I can explain my approach to this technique as a design exercise/step. Let me first say that I was trained in industrial design and I first used this way of working to deal with my shortcomings with drawing the figure. By eliminating the constructing of the figure and all the little bits involved in that, it allowed me to focus my attention mostly on the design of the silhouette and to break that down into simple components - gesture, shape vocab, massing, etc. I also found by working in this method, you could work back in with white (either photoshop or real paint) to expand the same shape vocab to interior of the silhouette.
I think one of the most important things to have in mind when using this method of working is to have a distinct purpose in mind when starting your silhouette which can be accomplished by asking youself a series of questions - what proportion is it? is it angular? is it round? is it top heavy? is it bottom heavy? etc. You can also taking this exercise further and add additional values, 1 or 2. This process works extremely well with hard surfaced objects. One thing to consider is to keep what you are designing in a draft view. If you introduce perspective/foreshortening, your brain feels the need to describe form rather than focus on the design of shapes.
Many of you may have figured out that I don't use the term "concept" so broadly, I might as well call this site "all kinds of stuff" rather than "Concept Central". (Which is weird since the former name is already the name for John Kricfalusi's own blog)But since I'm running the blog, I don't give a frack. And right now, I want to talk more about... erm... Video game's fascination with making their games uber-sexy, and the who this whole trend to make impossibly sexy women. I mean, what's the deal with that? Is this because of the whole glamorization of the video game industry and its struggle to maintain that it is indeed a juvenile pursuit?? What the heck am I blabbering about??
Wait, let me collect my thoughts. I mean, have sexy video game characters isn't new. You got Chun-Li from the Street Fighter series so yeah, it's been done for a while. But thanks to a certain Ms. Lara Croft, the industry gained a little more ground in a fully polygonal video game babe. A lot of other wannabe videogame babes popped out here and there over the next few years, but none were as memorable or had an impact as these examples... Now, its 2007, and hell, seems almost every game's got a super hot babe gracing the box art cover, or trying to flirt with the video game protagonist, or whatever!
Quantum leaps in processing power and rendering technology has helped fuel this trend to push these virtual vixens out. Now women in gaming don't just look like sexy mannequins, now they're even more life-like, sexy mannequins. And now we have a nice, healthy demand from teenage boys and young adults wanting more of this stuff. Whooooa!Anyway, you might think, the Japanese have been doing this with their videogame characters, but I say the Japanese are irrelevant because they've always been a very... "sexual" society. (As evidenced by their anime and manga alone). I guess it comes with the growing age of most gamers - and society's increasingly liberal attitudes towards this smut (That sounded weird)
So what's the point of this post? Well, basically to ogle at this trend the entire entertainment industry is going through. Sex has always been a big seller of media, and now it has completely invaded my beloved format. Yay! Which then makes me think of the applying it to my own project! You know what that means... Crap.
To round out this really, really weird post (minus all the other weirdness in my other posts), maybe you should watch this old list of video game vixens, and this other video intro for an old Xbox360 game that I have never played, but have admired from the distanced for quite some time. Yeah. Maybe you should do that. What do you think, Void? You wanna give feedback or something? Should I go back to talking about Robotech?*PLEASE NOTE* Playboy don't like their crap being uploaded on Photobucket. Woohoo!
Yeah, yeah. Nobody really bothers with this blog. But hey, I'll keep posting until Robotech actually becomes RELEVANT in today's fast-paced, attention-deficit facebook/ myspace/ blogger-based society. Anyway, I stumbled upon this really great interview by a certain blogger by the name of Donata Giancola. The article discusses something that has interested me for quite a while - and its these novel/series things. You know, like the Dune Chronicles or all those other more-hardcore sci-fi geekery stuff I said I wanted to learn more about.
Long Excerpts from the articleAbout great looking novel "Cover Art"
Anyone reading fantasy and science fiction knows that the genre is dominated by series. From my end of the business, series are both a pleasure and a curse. Once you get the look of a series down, its continuation is relatively easy for me -- so many decisions are already made, the type, the artist, the tone. I get a few new details and basically sit back and let the artists work.
When a series starts off looking good, it usually sails along nicely, but then, of course, the reverse can be true as well. If you don’t hit the mark on the first go you set up a sizable hurdle for the following books. Unfortunately that means rather conservative decision making up front. While I may want to try out a new artist, I don’t always feel comfortable committing to 3, 6, 12 books with someone that I have never worked with before. Not always, but often enough, I tend to stick to the guys that I already have proven relationships with. This, in turn, often leads leads to scheduling conflicts down the line -- an inevitable alignment of stars and planets will end up with a bunch of one artist’s titles in the same catalog season.
I’m glad for the ease of some series, and when they go well I really enjoy seeing the paintings as a collective whole, but I can't help but to wish we had more stand-alone books and different points of view to explore.
I asked a few artists what they felt about working on series titles:
"Series are cool because it gives you a chance to fill out the world you're building in some more detail. I also feel more connected to my character after several portrayals. It can be a shackle when the marketing crew is sure that a particular portrayal is responsible for selling the book. It's best when the AD gives you latitude to be able to show the world from a different view each time. I also think that the tendency to "brand" authors with a single artist can make the biz of illustration tougher. Instead of book assignments, you have series assignments, and that makes the ebb and flow of work more extreme. Your flow is also greatly effected by how prolific your authors are, and that can vary enormously." DAVE SEELEYPlease note that Dave Seeley was featured artist in this blog!
"From an artist's standpoint its quite nice. You become familiar with the characters. That means less time worrying about accuracy and more time developing story." DAN DOS SANTOS
Geek fact: Dan Dos Santos makes art for the Warcraft Trading Cards game.
“A series is a good thing if you're an artist. You want the books to look good and do well, so you'll get the next one--that's the pragmatic, economic reason--but you're challenged to keep the series fresh, which forces you to think about the approach, to try to see things from different perspectives. Even a series has to have variety and flow. It's a restraint that can help you to grow. It also lets you explore a direction more than once. A series of books can become a collection of paintings, each with a slightly different flavor.” TODD LOCKWOODGeek fact: Todd's behind the great artwork for Dungeons and Dragons.
Kristina, Stephan Martiniere, and Donato Giancola at SDCC 07 Just thought you'd like to know what this Donato looks like“Series are neither harder nor easier to undertake, as I approach each and every commission as a new start. The goal of each image is to convey a compelling representation of the content of the book, and considering the variations most authors place on the content of their novels, I do not see how it is possible to use the same approach every time. For me, continuity in a series, if there is any, tends to be more formally based than anything related to design.
One of my most successful series was for Isobelle Carmody, where the unifying factor was the scale of the figures to their architectural environment, and the passage of time 'through' the images: the beginning of the journey; the journey; and the final recuperation/rejuvenation. Each image stands alone and has very little, in terms of design, to do with the others. As a painter, I look to challenge myself and find new ways to reinterpret similar content without appearing too incestuous within my style.” DONATO GIANCOLA
A toast, to Donato Giancola, a really talented artist! (As always.) He won the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist. If that means something to you.
http://igallo.blogspot.com
This is yet another post which I hope I actually made you care about. I myself am just watching in the distance as this art industry plays out through this monitor. Hundreds, no... thousands of artists flock to art conventions, seminars to learn from these artistic gods, and here I am. How I wish I can be those lucky few. Anyway, enough with this ramble.
You know what looks nice though? It's that overplayed trailer for an Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game called Tabula Rasa. I say overplayed because it is - it seems waaaay too hyped actually (at the time of this writing). Just because its done by some guy named Lord Richard Garriot, doesn't mean its going to be a classic. Or will it?? Who knows? Enjoy this awesome, albeit cliched trailer! Hot women abound!
It's like looking at a modern update of a classic serial poster or something. It either has something to do with the use of a lot of great photo-referencing in Photoshop, or I'm just weird. In any case, I will admit I've been a great admirer of this artist's work for quite some time now, because it looks so darn purty. Plus, he does science fiction art for Tor and other well-known publishers. That's always a great bonus.
"I'm far more influenced by modern day sci-fi noir that by illustration in the industry today" he says. Some of Mr. Seeley's greatest influences have been artists like Dave McKean, John Muth, Kent Williams and George Pratt. Of course, he also admires the works of Caravaggio, Egon Shiele, Robert Graham, and many more personalities I can't care enough about at the moment. Maybe in the future.
Damn, this guy is good.
Many of these images are also found in various digital art books such as the "Spectrum 10" and "Painter". His work is definitely an inspiration. What do you think?
Title: The blues singer leaves townCountry: Portugal
Software: Photoshop
If there is one thing I can't stand, its seeing art that evokes such depth and emotion, it makes me sick-- no wait, it makes me glad. And here is one artist that does it quite well. I'll make this a new regular thing in my blog, just a post where I can admire all the little nuances of a particular unknown artist's work. Not much is known from this Melo fellow, but as you can see, his art is simply vibrant and teeming with character.
The artist described this piece:"A little tribute to the memories from an old anime series i used to love - Tom Sawyer. Although my picture doesn't refer to the same time. It's also a celebration of music and summer."
What's made me so interested in this piece is the colors. It's almost like from a Hayao Miyazaki flick or something. And the overall pleasantness of it is actually a refreshing change from all the grim and dark fantasy/dark fantasy/ science fiction pieces I see all over the net.
Every area is so lovingly detailed... I hope the artist pursues more subjects such as this. Oh, before I forget, he also did a piece this other piece on August 2007, called Like Summer.
In his own words:"Trying to go back to an animation style. I was looking for a feeling of carelessness, and of going to meet nature, when everything tries to force you to stay home."
From this piece alone, taking a closer look at the fine details of Mr. Melo's works, they can almost tell you a story. They're beautiful that way, especially with his current cartoon style.
I need not tell you that this trip through the rain isn't going to end well for these two punks. Hey, how about some feedback or comments, eh?Why are you so cruel, Void? Why can't you offer any words of encouragement, or feedback or anything? Well, I'll be waiting, dear Void. Sooner or later, your heart will soften, and you will see that yes, I will... no, I must give good constructive feedback! For I am here, sticking it out, reading this fool's words. I am here to see this idiot make a spectacle of himself, as he has done so in the past!
But for now, let us all gaze at the beauty that digital art age has offered us. This ugliness, the raw evil of the real world - as well as this virtual world, has made the likes of me... somewhat tired, somewhat... disenfranchised. Mine eyes long for the sight of this calming beauty of art and grace - to forget for a moment that, you, don't care, Void. I present, the awardees of the CG Choice Awards.
"GameStar cover-artwork for the SEGA/ Creative Assembly game "Empire: Total War". Completely done in Photoshop and Painter. I got some reference for the costume by CA's art department. Used myself as a reference for the pose and face (I did some poses with a hoovertube :)"
A bold piece, with a very classic pose, and the cool colors add so much to the overall atmosphere. The strong silhouettes of the infantry help give a nice tense atmosphere. You just have to say, aaaaah. Oh, and that guy's face is super detailed. I forgot to check if this guy merged CG work with Photoshop. Maybe he did - then that's cheating! Hah! No, just kidding. Crap, I feel like I took too much coffee now.
"Well, that's a quite old piece originally done for ImagineFX Issue 22. It can also be seen in the upcoming Exotique 3. :) This version, however is quite different, as I came back to the painting after a longer while and reworked it a LOT. Overall, it took many hours in Painter and Photoshop. I also used some references (especially for the fish and the sea)."
Now If only I can paint like that! While talking about it won't improve my skill, I like to whine, so there! This is a blog remember? A place where I can put in my innermost thoughts and desires... Okay, shutting up.
"hello, I'd like to present my attempt in the sci-fi environment field. I wanted it look like a cover illustration for some classic s-f book. Strong colours are intended. One of the forum mates called it "a big sewing machine" :) Photoshop and about 12 hours of work."
Whatever this man's inspiration, is - this piece is certainly... inspired! Brilliantly warm use of colors, with great composition as well to tie the image together.
"Oiran" by Srisuan Skan
"OIRAN" was created for S magazine japan in oiran theme issue, Oiran is high class prostitude in EDO that wearing a georgeos clothes. This piece was done photoshop 7 and ball mouse as I used to do for long.... this piece make me think of further progress for my works and make me decide to use wacom. welcome for any comments and notice, thank you."
This piece was created by an artist based on Thailand. Wow. I don't live anywhere near the States, so like... cool. The girl's face isn't the focal point of this picture, which I find odd - it is a bit of a mess but whatever - if I ever had a technique like that...
This, you damn Void, is "Iron Grip: The Invasion"
"Here's a piece I did for the Iron Grip project by Isotx.
The scene takes place in a baroque/industrial like world yet with with powerful "next gen(?)": ) ww2-inspired machinery. Props goes out to Keith Thompson who did the airship-design. He's been doing some great concept work so it wasnt a problem working after this design at all. But I wouldnt mind doing my own take on this myself. As refreshing it might be doing all sorts of freelance projects, sometimes I wish I could spend more time with certain projects following them from beginning to end.
Hope you like!"
Oh, I like floating subs! Sort of reminds me of a show called "The Southern Cross"! Hell yeah! A unique and refreshing take, especially for this particular era, which is kind of languishing or something...
"A sudden idea, which resulted in a combination of references. Some slummy architecture on a cloudy day in a dream place. Took a long time, considering my attention span capacity :\ hehe"
Oh, I love Photoshop/Painter pieces about cities that make me feel like the insignificant insect that I am. Beautiful, I feel so small right now, and you Void. Oh, why do you do this to me?
"Heyho, I haven't been active on CGtalk for quite a while so I reckoned it was time to change that! :) This was started back in autumn last year, hence the theme of the image.
I had been practising 3D modelling in the hiding, so this is one of my first combinations of 3D modelling and painting. The tank was modelled in Wings3D which is a very powerful but free tool! All the rest and overpainting was done in Photoshop. I like the pilot... :)
- around 15-20 hours maybe, no reference"
You hear that? A true German-based artist! No visual reference to help him out in perspective or texturing of this piece! I wonder... can I achieve that? Huh, can I?
"Hi! This one comes from my WIP called "An Improbable Travel". I had fun with the jungle 'trip'... I hope you 'll like it! Pencil sketch, Psd, approx 7 hours.."
This is what you get if you spend your whole life just making art. While you wither away, something beautiful or grand appears on screen or on canvas. That is the beauty of art - And I have no idea what made me think of it that way.
"This piece is my new image from "Utopias" series. It is my free interpretation of one of Moscow's squares. All legends on the buildings are composition names of the poet-futurist who has poetized at the beginning of the twentieth century. I created the image in Photoshop CS with custom brushes."
His interpretation? This beautifully made piece of s**t? How I envy you! Your warm use of colors, your grand use of perspective, its all come together, so well - and this - this is it. I have no idea what the f**k am I saying. Is nothing sacred? Can art heal the labored mind? Can it calm frazzled nerves?
So okay, that's just a small set - of art that I found most striking around the net. I ask you again, Void. I asks you'z nicely now - do you want more posts like this? Do you want anything from me? ANYTHING?! Huh?!? Answer me! (StudioMMG apologizes over this tirade, but I blame the Void anyway for this blogger's condition)
Thank you, and have a good day. Oh, and here's the old Final Fantasy XII intro. I don't play PS games so I place it here because it's pretty. So there!
The 39 year old Californian native attended Pitzer College in Claremont for two years before studying product design at the Art Center College of Design. Mullins soon found that he was better at drawing cars, which led to 6 months at Ford in Detroit. He also discovered that his design sense was a little too weird to be of value to the car design industry and returned to Art Center to study illustration, where he finally finished his degree in 1990.
In 2002, while working for Bungie, Mr. Mullins produced art for the cult-classic PC shooter Marathon's spinoff comic/novel thing - and as you can see in these two shot (top and bottom), it has a lot of his later Halo concept work touches (Halo 1 was released 2001)The guy's anatomy was a little funky, since these pieces were made in 2002, but you can already see where this artist's future style is going. From this, to...
To this. Behold, Master Chief looks better than ever. The following concept art were made around 2006, so you can see how big a difference four years made in Mullin's style - the muted colors are fantastic, the strokes are bolder and more confident - there's a beautiful painterly feel to his work for Halo - and its really a great evolution in style. (This might sound like the simplification of a lot of factors, but I will focus on his works for these two properties for now)
Many of these pieces were for promotional purposes, but as you can see from these concept pieces, even the overall stylings of the original Halo have been vastly improved, with more depth and focus in the designs for the Covenant aliens, the Marines, the settings - Fantastic!
Straight from the Horse's MouthIn an old interview from Ballistic Publishing (Folks behind the Expose Art Book Series), Craig answered some cool questions - the first being about how he developed his style:
Craig Mullins: "My style is a sum of hundreds of influences, and a few (just a few) ideas that I came up with. I think that in a way way, my everyday life contributes a little. I'm a bit of a dinosaur, and I don't want to think too carefully about the wisdom of using these great new digital tools to produce work that was cutting edge 150 years ago.
The idea of 'originality of concept' being the highest value in art is a legitimate one, but there are other ways to look at things. The master apprentice model is as good a way as any. But being labeled a 'revolutionary' is sexy. I guess I am just not."
And his influences in art..
Craig Mullins: "I like learning new things -- not just about art, but the world in general. The more I know, the better. Except composition, the more I know about composition, the less able I am to compose well!"
And then he rambles on how he got into Photoshop, and his later works and influences. He's quite an interesting fellow, and like the guy who interviewed him said, everytime you look at Mr. Mullin's art, you always "find something new and profoundly interesting"
Craig Mullins: "I had first used Photoshop to touch up some physical mattes for a British Petroleum commercial, and remarking what a cool program Photoshop was. John Knoll (the co-creator of Photoshop) suggested that I try to do the whole thing in Photoshop. Just having started with it, I had no idea of how to paint with it, or even if you could. It was an experiment for all concerned. It was pretty much kluged photos, but it worked OK.
I bought a 33MHz Apple Quadra 700 with 36 MB RAM back in 1993. My idea was to scan in color roughs (I did little paintings before committing to blocking in a huge final piece) and play with them in Photoshop. You can try so many variations so quickly.
Eventually, the computer took over more and more of the task. At first it was very hard convincing clients to accept digital illustration work. I think they had visions of a contrasty mess of procedural textures, but I kept at them. I remember driving into town to set up a clients AOL account so I could send them works in progress.
Now I am trying to stay in as many areas of illustration that I can. I think it is better for me as an illustrator and it makes good business sense as well. There is a lot of mutually supporting aspects to the different areas of work that I do."
While I admire this artist sooo much, it also helps that he was commissioned by Bandai to do this piece (Below). Man, this is one artist I aspire to be - and will probably never end up being.
Do you want more artist profiles? Comment! Give feedback!
