EOC
- Mike Bohatch - "Frequently Asked Questions"
Intro:
Over the years,
I have received hundreds of inquiries from professionals, students teachers
and general interests regarding my work, process and methodology. Often I have
found that many of the questions are similar in nature, and hence have tried
my best to accommodate through interviews conducted both online and print. Though,
with the process of Q&A often involving typing that amounts to several hours
over time and many of the questions being similar in nature, I thought it best
to provide a small section on the site that addresses many of those inquiries
for those inquiring minds. So, to the best of my abilities, I present an "EOC
FAQ" to help those who find what I do and create of interest.
- Why
"Eyes of Chaos"?
Why ask why?, for I say...."Why Not?"
Eyes of Chaos is a combination of ideas...
- Artistic freedom
- Creation of something more intersting than still-life drawings of fruit
baskets
- An invitation for the viewer to make their own conclusions & interpretations...
- To open your eyes to a realm within
- To raise the question is "seeing believin" or is it "believin
is seeing".
- To take a neutral stance on the subjects of metaphysics, religion, horror,
& madness and let it evolve into what it is to become...
I would like to end this question by repeating something I've heard said that
raises questions in itself.
"Those who know darkness are that much closer to God." or
perhaps .... "Embrace the darkness, so that you recognize it when
it comes."
Something to ponder...indeed.
- How
did you get started?
I got started much in the way everyone else does. With
a desire and motivation to bring visual realizations to a style of imagery
that I enjoy creating. I can tell you I didn't start with the ambition to
become an illustrator. That part fueled itself over time and the day to day
requests I get. I think a simple portfolio was the first stage. A portfolio
that has evolved, grown, changed and been scrutinized to death. Then I had
to learn how to design a web page to "get" the images onto a portfolio that
was easily accessible. But of course, I'm getting a little ahead of the game....
Much of my interests stemmed from this general love for the horror and fantasy
genre. This combined with several years of both traditional and digital training
through colleges, self exploration, reading and asking questions became the
basis for what I do today. No, no overnight transition for me... it took years
of honing my perspectives, skills and understanding of the industry to contribute
to a "working" basis. I found myself investigating, learning and practicing
many related medias to form this global understanding to allow me more freedom
to produce and less time reading manuals.... this encompassed prepress, graphic
design, illustration, web design, video & motion graphics, 3D animation
and printing in general. All these disciplines have served in different aspects
of the whole. That's it in a nutshell.
- How
do you create your images?
This something
that I get asked alot, but not as easily answered. My
work is a culmination of traditional fine arts methods and digital methods. What this means is that I work on compositions "both" in the digital and
physical world. Sometimes 1 outweighing the other....sometimes small pieces
of a whole are composed with the end result in mind. To explain in details,
could possibly take bookloads of information as no image is done entirely
the same. That is probably the best I can sum it up at this point. Take
a look at art books, collage books, acrylics technique books (see recommendations
below) and a decent PhotoShop book. These books have bits and pieces of
the basis of my work...at least technique-wise.
The rest has to
come from inside......
Your mind.
Your perspective.
Your creation.
That's the most
important part........... let "that energy" drive the rest.
- How
do you decide on what images to make?
Sometimes its
just based on some ideas I had scribbled for that week, while others are more
revenue generated. By revenue generated, I am referring to the creation of
images to fit a desired market look. Such as maybe something dark and horror
driven for a underground audience or something more intellectually based for
a book cover. It's hard to tell what everyone is looking for, you just have
to try different things to appeal to different audiences. I figure as long
as I'm "not" creating stuff that "doesn't" appeal to me I'm pretty comfortable
with the change of directions and staying diverse.
- What
do you suggest?
Do the research..
What I mean by that is .... Have you ever noticed that book covers, magazine
covers and CD covers all have a certain look to them and format? To produce
a professional looking CD cover you must have a some perspective of "what"
professional CD covers look like. I suggest taking some time in a local
record store to analyze what covers really stand out and which ones don't.
Take note of how they are compositioned, the colors, the mediums, the content,
the context in relation to the band its promoting. It's not about having
a great piece of art, its about make intelligent decisions on the presentation
that is at hand. Some pieces are simpler, some more complex, some drawn,
some photographed..... the list goes on. Every piece you do "wont" necessarily
be a great CD cover. But, if you have some insight into what you are trying
to achieve, your end result may come sooner. In short - pay attention to
your mediums. Design "for" the material.
- What
applications do you use?
To be honest,
I use them all in some respect or another. Some applications I use merely
for the layout or prepress functions. But if your asking specifically about
the imagery, then Adobe PhotoShop is my main application of choice for compositing.
Though this doesn't mean that work is always "created" in PhotoShop. Take
note, as this is a big misconception. Even a painting needs to get scanned
at some point to convert it to a digital file format, color -correct it
and have the ability to deliver it to clients or prepared for publishing
formats. I like to think of it as a series of choices and decisions
on how to make the final image get to the desired result. Sometimes it may
require a digital approach, but sometimes a more traditional approach.
- What
do you recommend to those interested in getting into this professionally?
I think to
start with you really have to be willing to put in the work, stay determined
and have a general passion for creating the work. Your going to spend hundreds
of hours learning, experimenting, creating, communicating with clients and
constantly honing your skills, perspective and professional outlook. It's
not a career for the general hobbyist. Illustration is a serious competitive
business that involves far more than just creating cool pictures. There
is a Marketing factor, which is a core essential to the success. I will
stand by the statement that if no-one knows about your work, no-one cares.
Also keep in mind that many routes to exposure or to market yourself has
been tried and exhausted in some areas. Invest your time & money wisely.
In addition, don't think a cool website will disguise mediocre work. Also
don't think a poor website won't affect who sticks around long enough to
look at it. "Flash" sites are used and look great, but if it takes
2 minutes to load chances are you've lost your client already. (Food for
thought) . I believe in the idea that the potential client needs to get
to the information as quick as possible without to much confusion. There
is always a balance of many different factors as everything is relative.
My best advice is to get some grounding in both digital art and traditional.
- Where
do you get your ideas from?
Many sources,
film, comics, art, music, artists, books, museums..... I
like to keep a notebook or 2 available to write down ideas and work on them
when I find time. Sometimes, I enjoy going to the local book store or music
outlet to spend some time looking at covers. There are so many exciting
styles and variations that its easy to get inspired by what is being generated
on the market. I call this energy, the energy that inspires new ideas and
motivations. So to answer the question in the simplest form, it starts with
something like...... OK this week I want to focus on ghosts, maybe next
week "emotions", maybe after that something new incorporating combining
ink, bones and collage materials..... That's my agenda. A on-going to-do
list of idea starting points. It's not really a practice of finding things
to emulate, it's more of a proactive effort to keeping the energy going
to "want" to explore, create and put the time in to producing visuals.
- Who
are you influenced by?
Music?:
Many of my works are inspired just by listening - I remain fascinated by the
the sounds of David Bowie, NIN, & Gary Numan.
Earlier artistic influences?: Miran Kim - for being nightmarish,
Dave Mckean - for being inventive, Russell Mills for his use
of textural elements & Marshall Arisman for being stylistic.
I also am a big fan of Kyle Cooper's work in Motion graphics, a
true motion wizard.
Filmakers?: - Kubrick, Fincher, Stone, Cronenberg,
Carpenter, Craven, and especially David Lynch.
For Films: I recommend checking out a few lists I have created on Amazon.com
"Eyes
of Chaos" DVD recommendations"
"Eyes
of Chaos" recommends - old school horror greats!"
- So
why "Dark Art", "Horror Art", "Dark illustration"...etc?
Well on the
whole I've gotten the impression that everyone "gets it" more or less. I
get approached by Christian bands almost as often as death metal bands which
is an interesting contrast. I do however keep my interests primarily in
the horror genre as far as presentation. That's what keeps "my" interest
but I can tell you in general I don't take a particular stance on good or
evil with my imagery. Personally I think they can't exist without the other.
Which is indeed the paradox. It's a paradox which has been well documented
and well illustrated and will continue to be interpreted and illustrated.
I believe We need to "see" the darkness to recognize it. To make our own
calls about how we deal with things. To be aware. So its not so much to
promote any particular, its more to visually interpret . After all, artists
are merely that, Interpreters of reality, fantasy, humanity and nature painting
psychological interpretations along the way. Not everyone will like what
I create, but that's OK ......because I don't create for everyone. But if
you find yourself "relating" somehow to the mages, it is only because we
are all human and are connected in similar ways. I tend to feel if you create
something disturbing and your audience finds it disturbing then you have
suceeded in your quest.
- What
are your views or recommendations on the horror market?
This is actually
something that I learned over the years that is crucial to understanding
how to market yourself.
Often an artist will start with a few pieces of art that they want to learn
how to get noticed to attract clients, business, gigs or whatever... What
seems to be misunderstood is the difference in presentation, style or design
to market to a particular focus.
To clarify, a single piece of art does not necessarily "fit" into all categories
of media needs. For instance book cover have a vertical format that works
better on suggestive, emotional or psychological type of illustrations.
CD cover are Square, and might be more geared at shelf appeal or marketing
that a music act might need for there release, adverts ad t-shirts. DVD
covers tend to be more photographic, less artsy, and alot of times a focused
on the actors images. Halloween and haunted attraction art are generally
set up to entice you to attend.... a theme based design with a simple message.
Believe me, this is something I've learned about the hard way and am still
learning... but in short a little effort into thinking proactive goes a
long way and attracts the audience you are seeking..
- OK,
so I've read your faq, but I'm still stuck...where do I begin?
Unfortunately,
if you've read through my faq, and your still confused.... it's hard to elaborate
beyond that. Just like some people make better accountants, and others just
don't get it... it sort of falls into that line of thinking. I can't really
put ideas into your head, but I can point you in the direction to start So
if I were you ( which of course I was at some earlier point, new...confused,
curious, ...etc) here is what I would start with:
1) Do the research... look at book covers, DVD covers, and CD covers
at what is on the shelves Make notes about what you see, the compositions,
the shapes, the content, the colors, the positioning Make sketches based on
what you like, write down notes, examine the elements you see..... for example:
Bones, ink, paint types, message, environment, shadows, lights and darks,
color contrasts, types of art medium: collage, digital, watercolor..... It's
all there right in front of your eyes!
2) Technique..... look at various art books, chalk, collage, painting,
digital....sculpture Also write down approaches, and what you like, what you
would like to learn, maybe certain paint combinations Note: This part is no-overnighter.....
sometimes it takes months to years of development.
3) Start accumulating an image archive! Buy a digital camera, take
photos of everything interesting... from nature, to urban decay to fields,
flowers, bugs, car parts....use your imagination. Why? because you will always
need points of reference, if not the actual photos themselves to use in the
work. I "still" am accumulating photo references and its been 8 years.
4) Make notes about what you don't like! It's equally important to
know, what directions you don't want to go as the ones you do. The simple
fact is you can't do everything, so pick things that appeal to you and focus
on those themes, techniques and presentations.... this will be much more rewarding
than subject matter that is mundane to you.
5) Consider other options. OK, this way of thinking takes times, but
its where originality forms from. Let's take a for instance.... say your assigned
to do a book cover about vampires. Simple enough, something familiar..right
Now you already know all the regular traits, cliques and points of reference.....
so why limit yourself there? Maybe this vampire of yours has different animal
traits incorporated, a bear, a wolf, a lion, or such... Maybe you want combine
elements of nature, smoke, fire, earth, wind. Maybe you want parts of it to
drip, smear, distort, fade.... Maybe part of it are built from torn paper,
tape, food items, rust.... Maybe the eyes, nose or mouth are displaced in
non regular positions.... You see where I'm going?..... this is how you think
outside the box.
6) Gather and accumulate subject matter: Think like the TV show X-files.
Each episode they had to find new ideas for basing a hour show on. Do you
think they just had all this information sitting up in their heads? to write
a detailed elaborate script on even? No, they found books on different phenomena's,
subjects and obscure reports and generated a basis from that. Artist do the
same thing, a basis of reference. Is there a difference between a ghost, a
poltergeist, a spectre, a phantom, a rogue, a demon, an angel, a doppelganger,
a spirit, an apparition......?
Hope this has been helpful...... good luck in your quest.
- Are
you available for an interview?
Well, I figure
if your a student and you've found your way to this section. You probably
have all the information you were going to ask anyways...But
I'll answer the question like this. I'm
always happy to do an interview/ or Q & A time permitting. Though my
schedule is usually very busy and leaves me little time to address all the
inquiries that come in. I
have however created this section on my site to specifically answer your
questions and will add to it as I find a need to address other inquiries.
If you are
a publication or magazine, I'm always open to doing an interview. It
is a great way to expose the work, comment on specifics and the Marketing
aspect it serves is good for business. I'll find a way to make the time.
So just drop me an email with details about your needs for the issue and
thank you for supporting my work. It makes it all worthwhile.
- have a school project, and need some personal information as well, can you
answer some questions about your personal background?
While I do
appreciate your interest and inquiry, I consider myself a private person
and like to keep the questions focused more on the work itself. I believe
that quite possibly some of the answers your looking for might have been
addressed in some of my interview sessions that I have included.
- So
what do you consider your favorite piece?
I get asked
that alot, but to be quite honest...my favorite piece is the one I havent
created yet.
Which always gives me something to strive for.....
- What
books or sources of information do you recommend?
I recommend the following: A good PhotoShop tutorial book. The books
I've read when first starting on it are obsolete, but stay with a current
one on the market and you should be fine. I highly recommend the following
books for a great basis and understanding of collage work. My style relies
heavily on collage ideas so even those these are in-direct they do serve
as a basic fundamental and translate well when bringing the theories into
digital realms:
"Art Effects" by Jean Drysdale Green
"Collage
Techniques" by Gerald F. Brommer
"The Art and Craft of Collage" by Simon Larbalestier
"Composition" by David Friend
"Album Cover Album" #5 by Roger Dean & Storm Thorgrson
(great reference just to get a feel for different CD cover styles
that work)
Other inspirational
books by artists:
"Dusk Covers: The Collected Sandman covers" by Dave Mckean
"Spilling
Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself" by Sabrina Ward Harrison
"Extreme Graphics" by Kathleen Ziegler, Nick Greco
"ARh+" by H.R. Giger
"The Fallen" by Miran Kim
"Gonzo The Art of Raph Steadman"
"Neurotica - The Darkest Art of J.K. Potter"
Some of these
are getting harder to track down but start with www.amazon.com
to look up their information. I will add more as they are relevant. Basicalyl
the idea is to be inspired enough from them to venture out on your own devices.
- Do
you have any advice on using Adobe After Effects?
Please click HERE
to access the Nighmare Kinetics page on Adobe after Effects - Production
Tips, Tricks
- Where
can I find any books with your work ?
My work has been published in many publications mainly as a feature /
interview or accompanied illustration work. This includes CD covers / packaging,
book covers...etc. those can be tracked down by mentions on the site. I post
pretty frequently published works in the "News" section of the site.
My illustrations have found inclusion in over 300+ publications worldwide.
Yes, 2 books are now available!
" Dark Visions Vol. 1" & "Inner" exclusively
in the EOC
Dark Art Store.
Plans for a new release in late 2006 called: "Madness on Parade"
is currently under development.
This is planning to be a more complete larger edition!!
- What
is the status of BMBTV?
Eyes of Chaos , Nightmare Kinetics and Mike Bohatch are presently not
involved or affiliated with the project.
Please contact EOC directly
for all inquiries, illustration or video work.
- Can you explain your various divisions of EOC and how they are related?
Yes, for business & branding reasons I chose to give each particular focus
of work a separate identity. (but not separate websites)
EOC is the main website & is the primary umbrella for all these divisions,
but the focus of EOC is geared mostly towards illustrative needs.
Illustration runs the gamut or publishing, CD art, magazine illo's,
covers, DVD art, web art & so on. Nightmare Kinetics, although with
illustrative bases is all video, editing and authoring focused. This is a
completely different service and an entirely different process. Haunted
Attraction Design is a more seasonal service which is expected to have
activity in the fall months. It is entirely possible for one division of
EOC to exceed the other and if perfectly fine by me. The expectations of
these divisions is to grow into something greater. By defining the focus
of each - they have the ability to find there places in the industries and
the service needs they can offer.
- You often provide DVD reviews in your news section, are you a
professional reviewer or have aspirations of expanding that?
I don't have immediate intentions of providing an exclusive review portal,
but it does make for an interesting idea.
In short, I have grown up watching horror films my "entire" life and
consider myself a prime example of the "horror community consumer" that
the market is trying to appeal to. I'm not biased by marketing needs,
payoffs or promotions so I choose to give my "perspective" of what I feel
is worthy and what is crap...easy enough. I think reviews I've read
on-line are either on the mark or completely off base..and at times way to
critical and rude without much creditability. The fact remains that not
all crappy horror movies are "entirely" crap. There is still hard work,
long hours and great expectations that went into some of those films and
some of that should be still acknowledged. Another interesting fact is
there are alot of reviewers who are "not" really horror fans simply
dismissing decent horror releases. Hopefully people will drop by,read my
thoughts on releases and let that perspective help determine how they want
to invest there time......
- What
projects are you working on now?
Please refer to the news section as new works, projects and special
announcments are released.
With the increase of work in the "Nightmare
Kinetics" division, I have alot of film related projects under
development.
Most of them don't get announced until press releases are made.
Thankyou for your interest and support in my work, I hope this section was
informative or useful