So, I decided I would expand this blog to include more tips,
tricks and all around art information, which is actually the main reason I
started this.
Now first and foremost I have a Bachelor in Fine Arts (Which was nothing but a waste of time for me from THAT school.) I have attended some online
training with Computer Graphics Master Academy (CGMA http://2d.cgmasteracademy.com ) in
Concept Art, studied very briefly with the Safehouse Atelier/Massive Black in
San Francisco (http://www.thesafehouseatelier.com)
and am currently auditing classes online at smART school (http://www.smarterartschool.com )
for Illustration which is essentially a mentorship that others go through and I
get to listen in on. As well as all this sounds, and most of it was this last
year even though I got my degree in 2007, I am essentially self taught as my college classes left a lot to be
desired. That is good and bad seeing as you don’t know what you don’t know and
therefor can’t always be sure you are heading in the right direction or even
know what the right direction is.
That is actually where I have found myself until recently
thanks to attending the Spectrum Live Fantasy Art convention last year and
meeting a lot of great artists up to and including Ian McCaig, who designed
Darth Maul for Star Wars and is a personal hero of mine and spent quiet some
time talking with me about improving my art. There was also the workshop I
attended in San Francisco with Massive Black that started me off on really
improving my art and getting more of a direction to where I was going. Thank
you Coro, Carl and everyone else. Now I have Donato Giancola, Dan
DosSantos, Greg Manchess, Todd Lockwood, and Rebecca Guay from the smART school
to listen to each week and hear what they have to say about being an
Illustrator, very, very helpful.
Then there was my biggest problem
though – What the hell is the business side of things and where do I find work?
Well just recently I came across Noah Bradley who is an Illustrator and Concept
Designer. You can find him at http://www.noahbradley.com
. I will highly recommend you check out his sight and if you are interested in
Illustration or Concept Design as a career get his Art of Freelancing lecture
with all the notes and resources and sign up for his 12 week Art Camp. It is
$250 for the camp, less than half of what one month at the Safehouse cost, a 10
week class at CGMA, and 12 weeks of just being able to listen in on class but
not really participate at smART school all of which happen to be $600. Now the
next one starts in May so I haven’t actually taken it yet but looking over the
syllabus it is more in-depth than most anywhere for one class and seems to have
a definite Illustrator approach to it for the exercises. If animation is more
your thing then check out Chris Oatley at http://chrisoatley.com
where he offers constant free email information on improving your art and a 18
month program called the “Magic Box” that is a digital painting class for $18
yes $18 each month. These two guys are against the high cost of art schools and
are trying to make it easier for those of us who can’t really afford them to
still get a decent education in the field. Plus there is a ton of stuff on the
web that can help you depending on what you are interested in. I am into
Illustration and Concept Design. I wont list everything here I think is good
not all at once anyway, (I still don’t type that fast and don’t want to be up
all night.) but you should know
smART and big name
Art Directors
Gurney Journey http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com
- James Gurney if nothing else
read
his 2 books “Color and Light” and “Imaginative Realism”
The Art Order http://theartorder.com - by now former Wizards
of the Coast Art
Director Jon
Schindehette
Concept Art.org http://www.conceptart.org
- which is a slew of everything
With these four basic blogs/forums, Noah Bradley and
Chris Oately you should be able to find anything else worthwhile linked
somewhere from online life drawing sessions and still life lessons to designing
futuristic spaceships on alien landscapes. I must also recommend Riven Phoenix's Figure Drawing course. It breaks down the human figure into easy and workable measurements and guidelines that lead you pretty quickly to being able to create much more accurate sketches of figures. I have not got through all the videos offered as there are well over 200 if you pick up the course for only $45 at http://www.alienthink.com definitely helped me with even just the 1st 20 lectures.
So there is a quick bit of info on how to get an art
education for almost nothing online. I would also HIGHLY recommend
Andrew Loomis’ book “Creative Illustration”. Written in the Golden Age of
Illustration, mid-1940s, it is the definitive guide on making good art. If you
own nothing else own this book. It is in print again so if you are like me you
and like to read from a book and get away from the computer you can get a copy
or if you want a completely free education it is here http://www.fineart.sk/photo-references/andrew-loomis-anatomy-books/creative-illustration-andrew-loomis or download it here http://illustrationage.com/2013/04/02/free-andrew-loomis-art-instruction-downloads/
both also have his other books as well which if you are just starting off
drawing I suggest starting with his 1st “Fun with a Pencil”. It uses
simple caricature drawing as its means of really drawing but it shows you how
to use simple shapes to design and draw anyone or anything.
Now just because it bugs me - I don’t know if you use
blending stumps. I never do. I have tried them but didn’t really care for them
and never bother with it now. But if you are into it let me help you out
instead of paying whatever the outrageous price for rolled up paper is a the
art store do this instead:
General blending on a large area is easily achieved
with a soft paper towel or tissue. Something you should already have lying
around the house. Just remember the softer it is and more of a “tooth” it has
the more graphite/pastel/whatever it will pick up lightening your colors,
meaning you will most likely have to go over them again. I recommend those
crappy, hard and smooth brown paper towels in the bathroom to even out a
surface without really taking away too much media. If you aren’t at school or
work and don’t have some around a simple sheet of regular paper will do. Now
you don’t have to roll it up just put it on your finger tip and use it flat and
smooth. If you want something rolled to get into the tiny corners and don’t
want to fold up the paper here is what I did when we were required to have them
– lollipop sticks are great. They are the same thing, rolled paper. They are
tight, get good corners, can be peeled for new surface area and are a lot
cheaper and more fun to get. Try and eat your stumps when you are burning oil
in the studio and can’t stop it won't taste as good.
Finally, since I have been busy and this is an art
blog after all I offer up this piece, which served a 5 fold purpose.
1. Inline
with an assignment from Dan Dos Santos’ class to illustrate a book cover using
one of the pantheon of planetary gods and include their symbol somewhere on
them. I chose Artemis the Greek Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt.
2. ImagineFX
Fantasy art contest to do an illustration of one or more of the pantheon of the
Greek Gods. Got lucky on that one.
3. SketchTheater
monthly contest to traditionally sketch a Lover’s embrace.
4. It
was after all Valentine’s and I wanted something nice for my wife and it is so
hard to shop for gifts in Korea.
5. A
portfolio piece to hopefully help get some freelance Illustration work.
We’ll see how things turn out in a couple weeks with
the contests and hopefully soon with everything else. Everything in the piece
is a symbol for Artemis from the amaranth and asphodel flowers and plants
around them to the deer and hawk and of-course Orion her only love.
