Being in the shop with Blake and watching him work on my project was true privilege. As I watched my Grim Reaper taking shape I finally began to understand the thought processes of the artistic mind and the steps needed in creating truly outstanding work. The care and thought given in airbrushing this panel was no different than the attention to detail that is given to his motorcycle art.


It was an honor to watch Blake work but even better to start


to understand his creative process. The complexity of thought involved with this creation began with a unique perspective of the Reaper looking over his victim. We had discussions of what the Reaper’s cloak would look like, how tattered and blood soaked it would be and how it was constructed. We discussed the appearance of the stitching and the rawness of the garment as if the Reaper had made this cloak himself. As Blake worked, I was set up in another area of the shop practic- ing skill building exercises on the workbench across the studio. Occasionally Blake would come over to critique and improve my work adding his own embellishments as an airbrushing demonstration while providing mini lessons in color theory and neutralizing colors to better enhance my work. Periodical- ly, I would walk over and sneak a glimpse at the Reaper. Each “peek” made me feel like a kid on Christmas morning as each evolving detail was a gift to my eyes. It started with the scythe and the tribal like patterns carved into it. Then he added its worn metal handles and the coarse wood grain. I didn’t check the piece again for several more hours but the next detail was the body count notched into its side and finally the Reaper etched the name “Ugly” into the metal of his favorite instru- ment of destruction. I was fortunate in those few days to get an unplugged glimpse into the life of a gifted artist and his uncompromising attitude toward achieving detail at multiple levels. Watching Blake work allowed me to understand what was going through the artist’s mind. I watched his work evolve from the general to the spe- cific. This was not just the observation and recapitulation of reference material but the thought process. In this case Blake was not just creating a static being but trying to reason how that entity would think, act, and react to its physical environment. Consideration of these variables contributed to and elevated the level of detail and the overall mood of the final piece. An example of this can be seen in the face of the Reaper as the expression of his one eye carries the mood of his hypnotic trance as he slices his victim into tinier and tinier pieces. This action contributed to the physical environment with the resultant coarse blood splatter suspended in mid air in 3D fashion surrounding


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