In the first of a series of articles, I'd like to introduce you to Thanos, aka Blerc, and his Runner Up winning entry based on "visual bombardment" and featuring a very famous Australian landmark.
Getting to Know Blerc
Could you tell us about yourself, where you're from and what you do for a living?
My name is Thanos, that's the short name for Athanasios. I live in Xanthi, a small town in the Northern part of Greece. I am 37 years old. I am a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, with an additional year of studies in Valencia, Spain. I work as an arts teacher in a public primary school. I teach children aged 7 to 12. I like working with all kinds of mediums, either analogue or digital. My wife Olga and I recently became proud parents of a tiny little man, who we adore.
I love fishing, reading books, and mostly electronic music. Occasionally I work as a freelance graphic designer. This is how I discovered GraphicRiver some years ago. Because of work and my recent responsibilities, I am not currently active as an author, but I always keep track of authors I follow. Browsing Envato is very inspirational, and a habit you can't stop!
Your entry was the only one which appeared to be done using traditional media—why did you go this route? What equipment/media did you use?
Sketching is one of my addictions! Every day I sketch for at least 1 hour. I always catch myself doodling while on the phone. Additionally it helps me ''defrag'' myself, it's a stress-free procedure. I guess I felt the urge to express myself with what I do on a daily basis at home or at work with those lovely children. As for the equipment, I used a normal 2B pencil for the sketching, 0.5, 0.8, 1.0 pigment ink markers, and colored pencils on a 35x50 matte schoeller paper. Oh, and of course an eraser, because you cannot undo in real life!
Your entry has a surreal theme to it—can you explain the concept behind it and what inspired the theme?
The general idea was the constant ''visual bombardment'' of images someone would have while reviewing in Envato. Too many images to fit in one mind! I tried to visualise this thought with a set of random images floating above the subject's mind. Of course, not knowing the subject in person meant that I either had to guess, or sketch whatever I had in mind at that point. I also tried to illustrate the vastness of the Australian landscape in the picture, combined with the figure's outlines. I hope it turned out well!
The Envato ecosystem is massive, so which corners of the community can people find you in? How long have you been involved in the Envato community? Any experiences to share?
Time flies! It is already 4 years since I signed up in Envato. At the moment I only have some items in GraphicRiver, and am planning to do some more when the school is out. My son is 3 months old now, and the responsibilities are quite a few! I just want to point out how helpful and inspiring the community has been. Totally addicted to GraphicRiver!
Any parting words for the Envato community?
I just want to to congratulate all the participants of the contest, and say hello to my GraphicRiver inspirations, Mangustas, Stylewish, Gnazlis & Kontramax!
Parting words: Always start with a sketch!
A Brief Case Study: Blerc's Remix
Thanos has given us some insight into the workflow of his Remix with a series of photos. Although not a tutorial, we do get a great sense of how he put together his submission. He's written a couple of sentences to accompany the case study.
Let's first remind ourselves of the starting point of the remix, so you can see what he had to start with.
Stage 1
After downloading the asset, I opened the AI file with Illustrator and set a black stroke with no fill to the group of paths. This way it would be easier to see the outlines of the sketch. I was watching the image in my tablet so I could have a guide while sketching.
Stage 2
Sketching is done! Now let's outline everything with those markers.
Stage 3
Almost every pencil line is now inked. My first try with the colored pencil.
Stage 4
Further coloring with colored pencils.
The Final Piece
And here we have the final piece.
Follow Blerc Online!
Has this inspired you? Want to check out more of his work? Thanos can be found on:
