It was an epic night of diabolical delight for my It’s A Crüel World After All! collection exhibition opening at D-Structure. Many good friends, family, and fellow artists in San Francisco came out to see the new character collection and get their hands on some originals from Beery Method. After working tediously for 3 months and pumping out 50+ new pieces of artwork that ranged from screen printed vinyl records, stencil work, hundreds of layers of aerosols on collaged vintage comics, and hand made wooden installations the show popped off without a glitch. Fans and collectors alike wonder how I produced the new collection and were dying for more insight into why I produced the collection in the manner that was bestowed. This first follow up to the opening night shows a bit of my process and delves deeper into the concept of the Crüel World collection statement from conception to showtime.
Let’s begin with the process. Every piece for the show, excluding the wooden character cut outs, are produced on boxes otherwise known as art cradles. Every cradle I work on I make by hand. Each piece for the Crüel World collection was produced on boxes made from recycled walls and wood of my former studio gallery Coalesce Studios. Not only is a buyer of the collection buying an original piece they are also getting the actual wood that once built the framework of my old studio. When building cradles my studio turns into an assembly line. Cradles get built, then primed and are ready for application.
It is a tedious process when mixing stencil and aerosol work with collaged media such as vintage comics. Since the collection references Disney the comics from my personal collection used as backdrops are mostly Marvel. The concept that these Disney icons are merely anti-heroes to the free associating brain of youth seemed like a perfect fit. Every piece has a different comic book title and characterization that is somehow aligned with the mutant Crüel World character on the face. The vintage comics range from the year 1979 – 1982 which are the inception years of my own visage into the creative mind and of course represent a huge chunk of my pop culture adolescence.
Once the cradles are primed and the original comic book elements adhered every box gets 3 coats of lacquer which soaks into the paper and fortifies the inks and further protects the delicate first layer. This inevitably turns my studio into a massive toxic vapor chamber when the exhaust isn’t fully pumping. All proper safety attire is a must when spraying such large amounts of lacquer with clouds of fumes engulfing you.
After the lacquer has fully soaked and dried a thick coat of polyurethane varnish is applied. This oil based poly further protects the vintage comic collaging from UV and water. To test the limits of my spray gun I even spray oil based media for nice even coats. This fourth layer also protects the under backing from chemical in the aerosols, acids, and from tears that can be caused from peeling off vinyl stencils and tape in the latter processes.
After the drawings are scanned and vectorized I print out multiples of the black and white line work to use to cut my stencils. All the pieces in the Crüel World collection have at least 5 different layers of aerosol applications which means a lot of time cutting with exacto razors, taping, painting, and more cutting. Each section of a face of a character is typically 1-3 layers of aerosol applications alone and color mapping is required to cut specific elements from the stencils strategically so I am getting the best use out of the paper stencils.
Here is roughly 7 layers of aerosol application with patterning.
The final aerosol layer is the outline of the character which is bold, smooth, and clean. This really separates the character from the busy comic book background and gives better definition to the line work. The line work used is reminiscent of the founding animated character designer Ub-Iwerks which the collection is also a tribute to.
Once the final outline aerosol application has fully dried I apply my standard NB Splat signature in the corner. The sig is done in 14kt gold and the title, year, and volume of the vintage comic used is written on the back of the box for good reference. 3 final layers of acrylic crystal clear is applied to protect the aerosols and further watertight the artwork.
The final piece is then scanned in pieces and put back together digitally. A final step in the process to create reproductions is necessary. The scans are edited and most seams are lifted from the face of the character for optimum output for limited edition prints. All prints for the Crüel World collection are archival stock printed with vinyl inks making them extremely detailed and stand up with integrity over time. All limiteds are hand signed, numbered, bagged and boarded and ready to ship to the gallery.
The vinyl records were a very similar process omitting the stencils and utilizing 2 color screen printing techniques instead. Cradles are primed and patterns are applied using aerosols. The cured character vinyl records get mounted with a super adhesive. This small collection of limited character vinyls are split into color editions. The Smokin Wolf and Goon Face characters are available only on the pop art vinyl pressing cradles.
Here are the stencil pattern cradles ready to receive the vinyl records.
Here are a couple of close up shots of the screen printed vinyl record characters.
The wooden cut outs were a singular feat of laborious love. It’s a fact that I like to build everything that I create. Forget your CNC cutting machines. Beery does it all old school. Using recycled lumber the wooden characters are projected to the sheets to layout the line work. I cut everything with a jigsaw with surgical maneuvering. After the pieces are hand cut they all get primed. Then I move on to the time intense painting of details, textures, and splatters. Paints range from acrylic, aerosols, and even automobile fleck chameleon paint to reinstate that Pop Candy effect I so love to do with layering.
Here is Penicchio without the final automobile paint and line work paint layers.
Here is Snow White Girl without the automobile paint and final line work layers.
A Lil bird told me so … “It really is a cruel world after all!”
The gallery of photos below shows the process for all the character pieces from the Crüel World collection. You will get a sense for the amount of work put into each and every character piece by looking at the gallery. There is no estimation of time put in for such an endearing project. I’ve put them into one gallery as the amount of photography and work itself is immense.
It is personal passion for creativity which drives my work ethic and it becomes the catalyst to teach young creatives the importance of self motivation which is the launch pad for vital expression.
All photos and images ©Nick Beery | Beery Method Studios | All rights reserved.