Gallery Feature Vectors Are Forever The Color Vector World of Mike Mahle "I admire your artwork Mr....." "The name is Mahle, Mike Mahle" (cue cool theme music) Mike Mahle is talented American professional digital artist with a specialization in 3D vector art, bringing new life to the James Bond movie series via colorburst movie poster style art that details 50 years of the Bond Lexicon along with classic American comic book characters, vintage movie posters and OC's We discovered Mike's work from a link in Pinterest and have requested his awesome art here at Gunsexy G: Agent Double O' Mike ! Happy to see your Bond Girl movie poster style vector art you've shared with us here at Gunsexy. What made you join DA ? MM: I just wanted a way to share my work with others artist, and get some much needed feedback. I love seeing all the unique and talented voices there are out there and the great art they're doing. DA has been great for me and I'm a huge supporter of it. I can't imagine any artist who wouldn't want to be part of such a great online community. G: To date myself I grew up in the Roger Moore era, and I own all Bond movies on DVD . Your new direction in move poster brings the Bond saga alive, and it's fantastic how your art does capture most of the book/movie story Do you have a favorite media influence for your art? MM: I'm there with you, I grew up in the Moore era as well. I'm a huge movie lover so I would say that movies have always been a huge influence on me. Comics are another big way I reenergize my creative side. I've been reading them since I was kid and love that style of artwork. G: So why vector art ? MM: For years, I'd been doing traditional pencil and ink drawings. I was happy doing them but as I got older I wanted to do things that incorporated a bit more design, typography, and digital coloring. When I transferred my work onto the computer I was never quite happy with how it turned out. There were just too many limitations and problems that I couldn't solve and didnt like the eventual outcome. After seeing a couple of different artist and their vector work I was inspired to give it a try and immediately I knew I had found what I had been searching for. Suddenly all of the issues I had been struggling with were solvable and my work finally looked the way I wanted it to. I guess my favorite aspect of vector is the absolute cleanness of the lines, and how editable everything is. The scalability is a huge factor as well, it looks great no matter how big it is. G: Your ladies have a very sultry , semi dangerous look to them. The eyes are drawn wonderful (love the effect)and I often see a bit of former Victory Secret model Stephanie Seymor in their faces. Who's Your Fave Model/Actress ? MM: I don't have a particular model I use, but I do use a lot of reference. Usually after I've worked out the concept for a new piece I'll peruse through my reference and see if there is anything that strikes me. Sometimes it's a hand, or an expression, or a hairstyle. G: Do you use actual humans as a shape study model ? MM: I always try to keep a little distance from photo reference, it's a good start and I definitely use it, but I like for my pieces to be a bit more stylized. Depending on what I want to accentuate, I'll often make the legs a little longer, hips wider, breasts bigger, etc. Sometimes I'll attempt to make something more accurate, but most of the time I'm going for a more animated or exaggerated look. Though even exaggerated things still need to have a basis in reality on how they move, bend, and feel. G: Favorite Bond Girls ? MM: Well, I would have said, Honey, Pussy, and Solitaire, which are still some of my favorites, but after Casino Royale I'm a Vesper man all the way. G: Your art, illustrator history, are you formally trained or self taught? MM: I have a bachelor's in graphic design and that's my day job. So yes I'm formally trained as a designer. As far as illustration goes, I've definitely had some formal training, but I would say that I'm 80% self-taught in that area. I've been drawing since I was a kid, it's my outlet, my stress reliever. G: Are you able to produce vector effects first shot with a tablet like a Wacom or done with after processing? (PhotoShop, DigiMod, etc) MM: On some smaller things I'll dive right in on the computer, but most of the time there is more of a process. In those cases I always, always start off with a loose thumbnail sketch, usually no bigger than a business card. This is essential for determining layout, and keeping it loose allows you to not care if it's any good or not. I find that most of the time it's easier to keep things in proportion if you're working small and fast. From there depending on how complicated the layout is I'll either scan it directly into the computer or do a tighter sketch about triple the size then scan that in. From there I use my sketch as a template to build it in the computer. I always find that the looser the sketch, the better results I end up with. If my sketch is too tight I tend to be a slave to it, on the other hand if it's loose I can more easily discover it as I'm building it digitally. G: Fave rendering software ? MM: Mac, Adobe Illustrator, and a Wacom tablet. I used to use the mouse, but it&rs so much easier and quicker using a tablet. For anyone debating on switching to a tablet, it took me about a day to get used to, so dive in. G: Is it difficult creating the color palate and arrangement of characters? The Goldfinger poster with Gold Painted Jill back from the dead and crying is epic and what you did with with Talisa Soto as Lupe Lamora, WOW ! MM: Thanks. The character arrangement comes in the thumbnail stage. Sometimes, like with my Skyfall poster I'll hit on it right out of the gate on my first thumbnail, scan in the 2x3 sketch, and that's what it becomes. Other times Ill be doing dozens of thumbnails until I find one where I say, yep that's it. The expressions and character;s moods always come once I;m in the computer. That is something I've learning not to plan and just find it as it comes. As far as a color palette, that's my first step after scanning in my rough. I usually have a good idea of what the colors should be, and after I build a color palette for a particular piece I stick to it. Rarely do I ever add colors mid stream, that'll get you into trouble. Make sure the colors work together all by themselves before you start applying them. G Do you find it difficult to draw accurate lingerie on a female body ? (I never get it right) MM: I think when it comes to lingerie it's all about the details. For me it's always difficult in knowing how much detail to put it without going overboard. G: Who is your favorite comic artist? MM: I'd have to say my love of comic art started with John Bryne's run on Uncanny X-Men. For me that was the perfect blend of art, adventure, and character, fantastic stuff. Jim Lee, Frank Cho, and J Scott Campbell are also some of my favorites. G: Who is your favorite action movie director/producer? MM: I'm a Spielberg fan all the way. The man can pretty much do no wrong in my eyes. My favorite film of his is by far Raiders of the Lost Ark, pretty much a flawless movie and the best adventure film ever made. Nuff said. G Looks like you launched an independent effort to your sell art at mikemahle.com/. (I going in and I buying) Any details you care to share, like how you got the web page started ? MM: I had a much smaller site for a couple of months, but I was never happy with it. I wanted something that was easy to maintain so I could focus on creating new art, but I also wanted something that looked professional. There are a lot of outlets out there that will do the heavy lifting for you in terms of coding and established shopping cart software. That was the route I went. G: Last Question. Any advice for those wishing to enter the world of commercial art and illustration ? MM: Be prolific. Create, then create some more, then some more. Find the artists you like and study them. I have a few artist that I love and I use their art books and websites like textbooks. Thanks Mike I hope EON Productions (movie company behind all cannon Bond films) finds your art... and PAYS you ! Need a cool art present, Gunsexies ? mikemahle.com/