The Artist's Portfolio: Kalamos *New 01/16/07

[MTJpub]

This title is no longer available.

 

[Wally West]

Looks great.

 

[Kalamos]

Looks great.

Er... thanks! 🙂

...

May I reply? Don't want to muck up the thread.

😀

...

Shouldn't be the one telling this, but there is more to this portfolio than meets the eye.

I tried to put utmost care in choosing as many themes and scenarios as I could - we range from gritty cyberpunk to high fantasy, from raw pencil to polished cgi, from upperbody tickling to feet and soles.

As soon as Morandilas gives me a green light, I'm posting more cameos, and tell you more about this portfolio's contents.

Don't want to give away too much, yet.
This is supposed to be a tease.
Morandilas would kill me big time. 😉

 

[rajee]

Congrats Kalamos!

 

[Kalamos]

Tnx! And best wishes for your own endeavours, Rajee! 🙂

...

Oh, btw, Morandilas gave me a green light.
Just a tiny thin itsy bitsy sneak preview pic.

😉

 

[rajee]

Cool preview.

 

[Kalamos]

Cool preview.

Thank you!
Ask away, and I'll start describing contents.
What's you fav so far?

 

[rajee]

Curious about the pink haired laughing woman.

 

[Kalamos]

Ah! Yes! She's a new char of mine! And I'm quite proud of her, cause I managed to blend some anime cyberpunk in.

The pics themselves contain some cameos from classical sci-fi anime series, and ppl getting the K-Folio are in for a surprise.
She's no ordinary woman.

🙂

 

[ftkl_haha]

Awesome stuff here, folks!

~FTKL

 

[Kalamos]

Awesome stuff here, folks!

Tnx, man. I'm flattered you liked it. 🙂

...

What about I shed some more light on that stuff of mine?
Right.

So, as I hinted, Kyshara, the pink haired woman isn't your "run-of-the-mill" human.
Hair colour and weird attire problably hinted that anyway.
She fills my "cyberpunk" quota by being featured in two different, upperbody and lower body scenarios.

Inspiration comes from Japan classics such as Casshern/Kyashan, and Space Pirate Harlock - plus some ideas from fundamental anime works such as Ghost in the Shell and Battle Angel Alita/Gally.
For some reason, ppl can't always agree on a single name eh?

...

Second row of the Cameo Pic features two sci-fi pieces, patterned after dystopian settings, such as Star Wars and Warhammer 40k, with a sprinkling of MS Gundam and Starshiptroopers for good measure.

Did them in monochrome, to better reflect the grittyness and moral ambiguity of the chars.
No, I wasn't being lazy... 😉

Just look at those tickling tendrils, and I can promise you, they took the better part of the afternoon to get right, painting pixel after pixel.

...

Finally, third row, with two high fantasy scenarios.
As you probably noticed, styles varies again, with warmer tones and subtler lighting.
I named these themed pics "Ritual", and you'll understand why, watching the pics.
Nobody said "Virgin Sacrifice" was meant to be carried out the "literal way", I guess.

As a fun fact, some of the chars are portrayed after real world ppl.
When you're lost for ideas, no better source than the world outside.

...

This sums up to 6 pics over 20 total.
Overall, we have a mixed bunch of upperbody and foot-tickling, plus a couple foot-fetish-friendly pics.

Themed pics as you can see come in pairs: upperbody and feet - while "one-shot" pics usually deal with either foot tickling or foot worshipping.
But this is by no means a foot-only portfolio.
A lot of breast, pits, side and belly tickling too.

...

🙂

 

[The Bandito]

wow...

I would have replied earlier, but I have been stuck at a hotel for two days - crazy crazy crazy weather in this part of the world.

Kalamos - I really liked these pics! I guess I never realized how professional looking your work was, and how much breadth and scope of characters you have created!

I 'specially loved the upperbody pics (my personal fav), but all of the pics had something cool to offer!

Seriously - great job - I look very forward to picking up your next issue!!!

Two thumbs up,

Bandito

 

[Kalamos]

I would have replied earlier, but I have been stuck at a hotel for two days - crazy crazy crazy weather in this part of the world.

I hear ya. It's rain and storm all over Germany, and it's going to be cats and dogs - and assorted iguanas - over Italy soon.

I guess I never realized how professional looking your work was, and how much breadth and scope of characters you have created!

Er... yes, well, they claim I've been good at this hiding thing.
Took Morandilas the best part of an afternoon and a sealed copy of Mercenariettes Monthly to draw me out of my hiding hole.

And on rainy days he's gotta prod me or I'm gonna hole up again in my hideout of lies and self-deception.

...

Seriosly, you guys rock, and I feel flattered I got your attention.
Wasn't even sure we'd made this.
Ask Morandilas: my accountant had us waiting till the very last day, before sending required papers along.
I overworked my system so hard, my older monitor broke down!
For reals. I'm now typing before this lcd thing, and crying myself a river, cause the blasted thing won't keep 85Hz refresh rate.
I'll be seeing dead ppl soon...

😀

I 'specially loved the upperbody pics (my personal fav), but all of the pics had something cool to offer!

I tried to diversify my pics as much as possible.
I'm well aware ppl with different preferences love to hate each others...
Didn't want to go one way, and make the other guys unhappy.
This way, I made everybody ambivalent.
And ppl love to diregard with lukewarm enthusiasm the unexpectedly unwanted.

Then again, I'll be fighting for good, freedom and rebated sales a week early.

...

Rambling again, rambling again...
So, where do I resume from?

Ah, yes.
Since you loved UB pics, I'm going to describe the laughing damsel with a wild hairdo, from row two.

Again, I came up with a themed pair.
The lead villain here is patterned after DnD's Liches, undead wizards of great power, with a twist: he is an elven sorcerer, somewhat of a rarity among elves, undead and magic-users.
Devoted some time coming up with suitably complicated jewellery and stuff - and the presence of the glowing owl construct might give away an aegyptian/khemri influence.

Plus, mummy bandages make for excellent restraining devices AND tickling appendages.

He'd be a perfect big bad guy for our ongoing RPG, over Tickle Theater.

...

Third row, pic #3 and #4, feature yet more fantasy chars.
Originally named "Aygomen Interrogation", I dropped the name because not enough ppl are familiar with my fantasy setting, yet.

I originally planned three to four Aygomen-themed pics for the portfolio, but chose to cut down a bit, and make space for different settings.
We have a posse of Kathic warrior - the Aygomenian equivalent of fantasy Dwarves - questioning Althwyran females for infos.
They probably think they are up to no good, and they are probably right, since Althwyran Elves are at war with Kathic Thanates...

See? Too much fluff. Not enough tickling.
Suffice it to say, I spent some time designing equipment and armour, mixing and matching history with fiction, and coming up with yet another boring take at fantasy chainmail...

😀

...

Gee, did 4 more over 20 total. Way too longwinded. 🙂
Next time, first row, two personal faves of mine.
More on those later.

Seriously - great job - I look very forward to picking up your next issue!!!
Two thumbs up,

Thanks, thanks, thanks. 🙂
Morandilas himself gave me ideas, and I might surprise you guys with something new, sooner than expected.

🙂

We'll see...

 

[The Bandito]

LOL...

Having a proclivity for loquaciousness myself, I can hardly fault your pleonastic reply

Yeah - Morandilas has a tendency to bring out the responsible artist in all of us. I can't wait to see what you cook up next.

And in regards to the upperbody/feet/belly button/what-ever-suits-you-fancy preference. All tickling works for me. I don't think there is a single spot which I "hate" or anything.

I think of it this way... if you love pizza, then you most likely love the whole slice, not just the sauce. Sometimes tickling gets a bit too foot heavy for my palate. I keep thinking, sure, he sauce is fine, but I ordered pizza - not just pizza sauce. So your decision to provide the entire deep dish pie with a variety of toppings made for a much more enjoyable meal, overall.

And yes, even the sauce was yummy.

Now it seems my little reply verges on the verbose.

Later on,

The other really cool tickle artist in a mask.

 

[D_E_S]

Yeah! Kalamos! Im so Freakin Excited i think i wet myself, i cant wait to check all ur artwork, but first i gotta pay my rent then im gunna order ur portfolio, You Rock Man..Yeah!

 

[Kalamos]

Having a proclivity for loquaciousness myself, I can hardly fault your pleonastic reply

I'm gonna post more char descriptions, later.
I think you'll like those chars. Morandilas seemed enthusiastic. Hope you'll agree.

Yeah - Morandilas has a tendency to bring out the responsible artist in all of us. I can't wait to see what you cook up next.

We'd like to try something more ambitious, such as a full comic.
I have germs of ideas for several different settings and plots.
Just need to know what ppl would like to see next.

...

Well... since we mentioned money... what ppl would *pay* to see next.
But I'm not that greedy.
I'm worse.

I think of it this way... if you love pizza, then you most likely love the whole slice, not just the sauce. Sometimes tickling gets a bit too foot heavy for my palate.
...
So your decision to provide the entire deep dish pie with a variety of toppings made for a much more enjoyable meal, overall.

I'm more of a foot-man, myself, and this leads to the unavoidable joke... the silly Monty-Pythonesque joke.
So I'll refrain myself.



Ooops...

Now it seems my little reply verges on the verbose.
Later on,
The other really cool tickle artist in a mask.

Well... it's more like a XV cent. open sallet...
And besides, I did draw myself without.
Was quite the shock for some ppl.

🙂

Yeah! Kalamos! Im so Freakin Excited i think i wet myself, i cant wait to check all ur artwork, but first i gotta pay my rent then im gunna order ur portfolio, You Rock Man..Yeah!

No hurry, man.
I'm sending my foot-men as we speak, so you better cough up the dough or else!

...

Er... sorry.
I mean, you can take your time, and get it leisurely at a later date.
Let the Lawful Evil side take over for a split sec.

😉

...

No, seriously, K-folio it's nice and fun, but rent comes first, second and third.

🙂

 

[Dave2112]

This is a really good publication. I've loved the idea of the "Artist Portfolio" from the start, as it gives individual artists the medium to express themselves outside of the constraints of story, theme or set-up.

This is especially true with artists like Kalamos. His work has always been somewhat abstract and extremely imaginative, outside of the usual walls of tickling fantasy. This doesn't even touch upon the art itself...colorful, different and deep.

I was really impressed by this one. Excellent work!

 

[Kalamos]

This is especially true with artists like Kalamos. His work has always been somewhat abstract and extremely imaginative, outside of the usual walls of tickling fantasy.

Well, I tried to inject some hint of humour, in most of my pics.

Tickling is all about laughing, an unbearable torment that leaves no scars or wounds... so it made sense to poke fun at the predicament, the victims or the situation itself, and "draw" a joke, however twisted, out of the whole thing.

I mean, "poking fun at tickling" is a pun in itself.
The whole fetish lends itself to light-hearted humour: when you tickle your 'lee, he/she/it is laughing yet suffering - and that is twisted and paradoxical.
When gods, aliens or evolution gave humans ticklishness they knew all along they'd be in for some cheap, cruel, subtle fun.

😀

This doesn't even touch upon the art itself...colorful, different and deep.

Hope it was good too!

😉

I was really impressed by this one. Excellent work!

Thanks!
And hope you're ready for my third lecture on cameoed - is that even a word? - characters.

I'm going to talk about cameos #3 and #4, row #1.
Hope you guys are still following me: I'm referring to the pink girl and the blond woman with a golden halo.

...

Since Dave mentioned my penchant for the abstract, I thought I'd mention these two surreal pieces.
Named them "Dreamland" and "Heavens or Hell", and they have a dreamy, outlandish quality about them.

First pic is inspired to ... well, you guessed it ... dream sequences and drunken visions.
Pink fairy women having fun, over a shifting expanse of, well, I think they could resemble purple soap bubbles or giant boobs.

The kind of vision a stoned fetishist would love to experience during drunken stupor or trip...
Without the problems of actual intoxicants, for the low price of...

No, wait, I'm rambling.

...

Second cameo comes from a traditional good vs evil scenario.
Wanted to go against established art tradition, here, and went for a sexier, full bodied char.

Won't reveal more.
Just posing you with a philosophical dilemma: who's tormenting whom?

😉

...

I'll be leaving my remaining pieces, pics #5, 1st and 3rd row respectively, for my next post.
Hope you enjoyed the trip.
I sure enjoyed the compliments!

🙂

 

[StocksareBest]

Great art......did I mention that it's great art 😉

 

[Kalamos]

Great art......did I mention that it's great art 😉

Eh, you did, indeed. 😀
Thanks. 🙂

...

Alas, this brings us to the last two cameos, "Protest", first row, rightmost pic, and "Torture", same position, third row.

Protest came to me as a tribute to hippies, make love not war types and pacifists around.
Well, some kind of twisted tribute, since they are on the taking side...

More a sketch than a true illo, it's Staedler water marker over pencil. Several pencils, actually...
First rendered with a medium point for basic shapes, then further worked upon with a softer tool, finally detailed in with mini-point, medium-hard.

Thin-point felt pen for the ink-work - a tad too hard for my tastes, but great for tiny details, and Staedler tan and grey for shading.

...

Finally, Torture, actually was one of the first pics I did for this portfolio, but since it wasn't a paired, themed pic, I had to wait till now to describe it.

It is a re-rendition of an old pic I did in the '90s.
No, I'm not peddling used wares...
I re-did the whole pic, after a concept of old... you can find the original pic in my classic archive... somewhere, out there.

No pencil work here, well, yes, basic shapes and some details, but most of the shading here is done with water markers. Well, I think they are "water" makers.
I can't drink them, but they leave a mark, so they fill at least half of the agreement, and they sure have the job done.

Since it's an old school, all analogic, no computer-coloured pic, highlights were done with a white water crayon.
A lot of water, and yet I'm dry.

...

Setting itself is somewhat vague: went for the token non-caucasian character, just because I love painting exotic skin colours.
Well, they are exotic to poor old bleached myself... 😀
And I don't really know much about the setting.
Could either be fantasy, modern or sci-fi.

Your call. Chars won't complain much. Neither I will.

😀

...

Ok, that's the end of it.
I'm going to post a larger cameo pic as a "parting" gift, and I'll post further portfolio related contents, over TTC - and my personal gallery.

Thanks for you business, guys.
It's been a blast so far, and Morandilas told me it was great too.

Glad you've been my guests, and I'll hope you'll join me again in my next e-zine from MTJ's - due out soon.
Stay tuned for promos and sneak peeks.

🙂

 

[rajee]

Great previews Kalamos. 😎

 

[Kalamos]

Great previews Kalamos. 😎

Glad you liked them.
Here comes a higher res preview, just in case.

 

[klang]

A satisfied customer thanks you 🙂

Yesterday I bought your Portfolio, very good job.
Wonderful illustrations and a touch of softness terribly erotic.



A highly recommended purchase.
😀