I emailed Dustin last night letting him know that I was interested in having more work done by him. I explained my idea a bit and told him that I wanted it to be cohesive with the puppet. My vision is still a bit fuzzy and unrefined (probably thanks in no small part to the fact I've taken two pretty strong knocks to the head in as many days), but the general idea is more roses up the back and side of my arm that will frame the top of the puppet. He was definitely up for doing more work on me and he wanted to make sure that Russ was okay with a "semi-collaboration". I told him I'd explained the basic idea to Russ and he was receptive. I'll probably go into more detail once he starts the puppet. Dustin will be back in town in late February or early March, so I guess we'd work on the roses sometime after at least some of the puppet is done. I'll probably end up alternating who I work with just to give the various steps time to heal. The puppet (she really needs a name) is probably easily 6-7 hours of work and the roses, and anything else I decide to add in there, are probably 4-6. At least Dustin is a little cheaper than Russ. ;)
A true collaboration piece requires both artists to work on the same piece. These are two different pieces done by two different artists, but the end result will be something that looks like one piece, thus making this a "semi-collaboration". Collaborations can be tricky because it requires getting two artists who are willing to work together, have a similar style, and both personalities the client can get along with. Russ and Dustin have distinctive styles, but there's a lot of technical similarity. Russ has a lot more experience than Dustin, but what Dustin may lack in years, he makes up for with enthusiasm and commitment to the client's happiness. From a philosophical standpoint, I think they're a perfect pair to work on me. When my left arm is done, it's gonna be epic.
More thoughts bubbling to the surface, but I want to give them more time before I post them. So much for not getting sleeved out. :P Plus, I want to give my head time to unscramble, just in case.
Edit: I gave Russ a quick call and ran the idea by him. He's totally cool with a collaboration and when Dustin gets in town, we'll try to schedule something. He sounded busy and rushed, so I tried to not ramble. Things will be more clear once Dustin's in town and knows what his schedule is. Russ said "Let's consider it a rough plan". So...yeah...we have a rough plan.
