“I’ve been into drawing places that have left a deep impression on me and that I’m grateful to have experienced,” shares Santa Cruz artist Mike Bencze. “It’s been a nice way for me to process and relive past adventures differently than just looking at old photos.” Mike began drawing as a kid, attempting to sketch his favorite comics and video game characters. While he didn’t draw as much for fun in high school, those early years set him on the path of doing something in the visual arts. Throughout college Mike drew more and even published a couple of short-lived weekly comic strips with friends.⁠
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Mike is still very much aesthetically inspired by comics and illustrators in that orbit. His process sometimes starts with a thumbnail or two, but usually jumps straight into a sketch with loose pencils, referring to pictures he’s taken for key details and a sense of scale. After he’s refined the sketch a bit, he’ll ink all the linework and scan it in to work on digitally. Once in Photoshop, he removes the pencil work and creates a flats layer, “basically just solid color fills of the linework to make color selection and editing easier later on.” He then works on the final coloring, bringing in highlights, shadows, and textures until it feels done. All in all, Mike says it probably takes about 8-12 hours of work for each piece.⁠
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Mike’s hiking series is a great way to relive one of your own adventures. Whether it’s faraway like Joshua Tree or Thousand Island Lake, or close to home like Henry Cowell or Wilder Ranch, his attention to detail will spark all the amazing memories spent there. Check out Mike’s collection of prints, postcards, greeting cards, and stickers in store and online.