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The Forest Troll: Digital Trickery

2012-01-24T17:00:00.000-05:00

I am working in Adobe Photoshop CS5 for the digital final for this painting. (You don't always need the latest and greatest in software, but CS5 is amazingly stable by comparison to CS4 or CS3, both of which would crash regularly based on alignment of certain stars and lunar cycles. And on Tuesdays. And really just any time that they felt like crashing.)

Up until the halfway point I work in only multiply layers. I am using these layers very much like thin transparent watercolor or acrylic washes.

Digital Work In Progress: Midway Point

After the midway point I will switch into other layer modes, like screen and color dodge for highlighting. And some normal layers for opaque details.

Final Digital

You will notice that I added a few elements to the image at this stage, like the extra foreground foliage. These were decisions made after letting the painting sit for a few days and then coming back to it with a fresh pair of eyes. It can be a risky business to always be going back and correcting an image. Sometimes it is better to just leave your first ideas alone and move on to work on new projects. (You hear me Lucas?) I will only do it if I feel I absolutely have to. In this case, I had lost some of the forest-ness of the scene, and wanted to recapture a bit of it.

Troll Detail

Dwarf Detail

Thank you everyone for all the support and really helpful feedback! You guys are awesome.

March 30th Workshop

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

This year I will be teaching at TLC Workshop's 2012 Professional Art Series.

These workshops are located in the Seattle area, and focus on one-on-one interaction and instruction from a working professional artist. See all the details at TLCWorkshops.blogspot.com.

The illustration workshops offered this year are:

Beyond Reference: How to Imbue your Characters with Character with Justin Gerard, Fri-Sun, March 30-April 1. $375.

Idealized Realism and the Human Figure with Terese Nielsen, Fri-Sun, August 24-26. $500.

Self-Promotion: the Portfolio and Beyond with Jon Schindehette (Senior Creative Director at Wizards of the Coast. Blog here), Sat-Sun, Sept 15-16. $300.

Planning Great Images, From the Ground Up with Greg Manchess, Fri-Sun, Nov 9-11. $500.

To inquire about availability, ask questions or to reserve your spot, contact Tara Chang:TLCWorkshops1@gmail.com

The Forest Troll Part VII: Watercolor

2012-01-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

13" x 21"

Watercolor and Pencil on Heavyweight Bristol

Next: Digital Trickery

The Forest Troll Part VI: Tight Pencil Drawing

2012-01-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

I am much happier with the composition this time around. Starting over from scratch generally involves an entire day of suicidal behavior and all-time-lows. So it's always a good feeling to know that it was the right choice.
The trees do what I had hoped that they would do and the image is a lot more comfortable to look at now.

(Well... unless giant trolls with clubs make you uncomfortable. In which case there may be no hope for the image.)

Next: Watercolor

The Forest Troll Part V: Bungling It

2012-01-10T12:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, in spite of all the precautions and idiot-proofing, I still manage to bungle things.

In this case, I got halfway through the initial washes of the watercolor before realizing that I had screwed up the composition and it was really hurting the image. Since I wasn't under any particular deadline for the piece and I hadn't gone that far yet, I decided to start over. Under other circumstances I would have tried to fix it by painting in the corrections or reworking it digitally. Since I had the time though, I decided to repaint it.

Here is why it was bad:

THE TRIANGLE OF DEATH

A triangle of death is an area of the image where the composition allows the viewer to get trapped and leaves part of the image as dead space. In this case, the foreground branches at the top left lead down to the troll's face, which then points down to the boars and the helmet. This would be ok except that the sharp verticals in the background trees pull us back up into those branches, creating a self-contained compositional form that splits the image, leaving the dwarves, who are a main narrative element, as a separate dead space.

The strong red arrow in the middle shows the line where the image gets split. This can still work if you have text that goes in your image, or if this image were to be intended for a wrap-around book cover. Since my goal was a stand alone poster image, this compositional dead space was a failure.

How to solve this?
I didn't want to monkey with the characters, because I really like their arrangement and relation to one another. So I decided to employ a classical solution that has been used by artists for centuries: When in doubt, add more trees.

Reworked Composition

By placing this organic tree shape over the boars I am able to break the Triangle of Death and keep the composition moving, while at the same time adding more interest to the image itself.

Next: Tight Pencil Drawing

The Forest Troll Part IV: Color Comp and Drawing

2012-01-06T12:00:00.000-05:00

The color comp is done as fast as possible. I don't want to get bogged down in the details here. This is all about the mood and atmosphere.

Color Comp

The main goals of the color comp are:

#1 Nail down the lighting.
(Sources, direction, strength. etc.)

#2 Nail down the value relations.
For instance, the tree behind the dwarves: is it more attractive as darker than the background or lighter? By exploring and solving this in the color comp I will be more confident when I tackle it in the final image.

#3 Nail down the color theory.
This image will be confined to a warmer spectrum, one that you might find at midday in an old growth forest with patches of sunlight breaking through the canopy. I wanted to make most of the tones fall in a rather narrow color gamut, and then choose a bright color outside this gamut as an accent. In this case, it was mostly golds and browns accented with a bright green.
In the color comp I just want to make sure this theme will work for my image. I go through this on almost all of my pieces because my brain is incapable of solving value/color mixtures on the fly, so I need a cheat sheet. The color comp helps me idiot-proof my image so I don't bungle it in the final.

Tight Drawing

The Forest Troll Part III: Troll Studies

2012-01-03T12:00:00.000-05:00

As some of you may remember I did several studies for our Forest Troll's bloodhound boars in a previous post. Check them out here.

Next: Color Comp and Composite Drawing

The Forest Troll Part II: Dwarf Studies

2011-12-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

Next: Troll Studies

The Forest Troll Part I: Thumbnails

2011-12-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

One of the great things about the worlds that Tolkien creates are the half-mentioned places and events that are going on in the background of Middle Earth. By hinting at them and leaving them a bit mysterious, Tolkien gives the reader a chance to use their imagination and place themselves inside the world and explore it for themselves.

Many of us, when we read stories like these, like to imagine ourselves there in the background as clever, dangerous warriors, or as powerful wizards and the like. We don't ever just place ourselves in there as hapless serfs who get ordered around a lot and eventually eaten. Or as complete bunglers for that matter.

Which led me to an idea for a painting that I plan to share with you over the next few weeks as it develops. Here's an initial thumbnail:

Makes sense right?

Let me explain:A few months ago, I went mountain biking with a few of my friends. At the beginning of the trail ride my friend Asher listed off the names of the trails we would be on which would lead to which, and I sort of heard, but mostly didn't. We started riding and things were going well until I got myself into a spectacular wreck that involved several roots, 2 large trees, a stream and possibly a rabid squirrel.
I had been in the rear of our caravan, and my friends hadn't witnessed my mishap (thankfully). While I was glad to be spared the embarrassment of having them see me wipe-out and then ask me if I needed training wheels or a squirrel-proof suit, I was dismayed to realize that I had lost them completely. I put myself back together and kept biking in hopes of eventually catching up with them, but it was no good. They were all experienced master Jedi mountain bikers and I was but a padawan learner. After a while I came to a fork in the trail, but the trail names were unfamiliar. Was it Firetower or Pipsissewa? I know he had said it was one of these trails, but I couldn't remember which one. So I took one at random and got myself randomly lost.

It occurred to me, while I was out there bewildered and lost, that if this were war, I would probably have just gotten us all killed. Had I gone to war, I would probably have fought very hard, and then died very fast because of something really stupid, like mishearing the coordinates on a map, and getting myself caught by friendly mortar fire.

This image was a result of that. If I were wandering around in the background of Tolkien's world, I'd probably have been a dwarf. Not a legendary warrior, or a powerful orc chieftain or a wizard, but A dwarf whose helmet hadn't been tied quite right, and who got himself and his band into a lot of trouble.

When I got back from the trail ride, I scribbled this thumbnail down:

This is often what my thumbnails look like, with little notes pointing out important narrative details.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting up the progress and development of the rest of the piece. And we'll see if our dwarf can make it out of the mess he has gotten himself into.
Stay tuned.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T04:00:00.000-05:00

Let's Draw Warthogs

2011-12-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

I have an upcoming illustration project that has warthogs in it. Before I begin, I am taking some time to familiarize myself a little better with these ugdorable creatures.

"I wake up in the morning, I look in the mirror, and I ask myself; just how did you get so good looking?"

I often do this before starting on a drawing that has animals or costumes I am unfamiliar with. (The drawings, not wondering how I got so good looking.) I like to do studies from life when I can, or photos when no models are available.

As I draw from my reference, I try to commit everything I can to memory. Most of this will happen automatically as you draw. Your brain beings to see certain things as correct and others as incorrect.

Studies from photos

After you have worked from the photo it is amazing how much information your memory retains. Details you didn't realize you were taking in come back to you as you draw.

From Memory

The next drawings, done from memory with no reference around, will lack the sharpness and realism of the ones worked from the reference, but they will have a little more personality to them and I usually find them more interesting.

Once I feel like I have a decent understanding of my subject I start on the final drawings for my illustration.

Warthog Tracker #1

Warthog Tracker #2

Later on, when I am into the final illustration I will bring out my reference again to fact-check, and make sure I haven't put an extra leg in there somewhere. My brain is good, but it has been known to trip over itself from time to time.

Most of this method of handling reference with illustration I blatantly stole from the Disney artists. On some films, like the Lion King, they would have workshops where they would bring in an actual lion and do life drawings of it before they began work on the film. It was a very good way of both keeping the personality in the character, while at the same time making sure it is anatomically coherent and believable.

To see this process clearly outlined and executed, check out Ian McCaig's Visual Storytelling Tutorial from the Gnomon Workshop. It is a really excellent demonstration and has been very influential for me in my approach to using reference.

This article is a re-post from an article on MuddyColors.blogspot.com. To check out the original article and comments, click here.

Christmas Is Coming

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

So I am selling prints again. I currently have 4 up on my store, including 2 from the St. George Series and one from the AWOL Series. Check them out here.

All the prints are giclee on fine art paper and have been individually signed and numbered.

Holiday Bear Delivers Your Packages Safely.

The sketchbooks however... have sold out. We sold through 200 in 2 weeks.

And now that I have told that to the world, my family will be expecting absurdly lavish gifts for Christmas. Like the 14k gold kitten collar and the diamond-encrusted yacht that have recently appeared on their wish lists.

I am working on getting a second print run together and hopefully will have some in time for Christmas. Until then though, check out the new prints!

Sketchbook 2011 Shipping Out

2011-11-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today I am shipping out the first batch of sketchbook orders!

The response has been amazing. We sold through the first 50 in 3 hours! Of the original 250, we are down to about 45 left.

The first 50 drawings are individually numbered (using fancy roman numerals) and I will be shipping them out in the order received. So Fernando from Spain, (who somehow managed to order before the blog link was even up), you will be getting numeral I. Congratulations!

If you came in just after 50 don't give up hope. Thanks to my somewhat curious numbering system (pictured above), there are a number of extras who numerals aren't *exactly* standard that will be shipped out as well.

The sketches feature a lot of dragons, dwarves, elves and vikings. Why? Partially because all of these characters are interesting to draw. But also because I was watching Day[9] livestream Skyrim while I was drawing these. You heard it right, the future is now; I don't even have to play video games anymore. I can just watch other kids playing video games while I work.

Along with the fantasy creatures, there were also a fair number of monsters that managed to creep in as well.

Like the were-rabbit.

Note: XXXX is not a real roman numeral. Someone will be getting this as a bonus...

And some old friends from previous Quickhidehere posts.

Thanks again for all the orders and support! You guys are all awesome. I look forward to getting the books in the mail and I hope you enjoy them as much as I've enjoyed making them.

Sketchbook 2011

2011-11-15T17:00:00.000-05:00

Sketchbook 2011

9 x 6, 32 pages, color

For those of you who missed Illuxcon, I am selling a new sketchbook! I am really excited about how this one turned out (This year it's in color!)

The sketchbook contains a lot of work from St. George and other projects finished in 2011.

I am selling the sketchbooks HERE. All are signed, but I am doing drawings in the first 50 orders!

UVU Demo

2011-10-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

Last post I showed a few studies for a demo I was scheduled to do at Utah Valley University. I am back and today I will show how the painting progressed and eventually turned out.

Thumbnail

Digital Color Comp

Drawing on paper

9 x 15

Values

Color

Detail and Final Adjustments

I didn't get to the Detail and Final Adjustment stage in the demo because I am slow. This piece is relatively simple, but even still it ends up taking a little over 30 hours for me to finish. (Which was too long for the students because they apparently have other, non-art-related classes they are forced to go to.)

I will repeat Lesson #2 from the lecture: Draw all of the time. Especially in your non-art-related classes.

The lecture itself went well and only once did technology stab me in the back. (~~I'll get you Bill Gates if it's the last thi..~~)

No, really it was great. Nobody got shot or mauled or anything. I wish that every time I go speak in public it could go as smoothly.

It was a ton of fun and I hope to get the chance to visit again in the future.

AWOL No. 4 Studies

2011-10-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

I am currently on the road so today's post will be a quickie of some studies done for an upcoming digital painting demo in Utah.

This article is a re-post from a previous MuddyColors post. To see the original post and comments please visit Muddycolors.blogspot.com.

Flying Monkeys

2011-09-20T18:00:00.000-04:00

This is a digital, 1-hour speed-painting I put together recently to demo the brush sets I have been shamelessly plugging. It is Photoshop CS5 over traditional pencil.

I'm Selling Brush Sets Again!

2011-09-15T06:00:00.025-04:00

So I am selling Brush Sets again for Photoshop. And to kick things off, I am releasing the undead.

Er, I mean the undead brushes. When I started working on Resistance 3 I knew that I needed to create a completely new set of brushes to tackle this kind of work. As you all know, most of my previous work had to do with pastel bunnies frolicking in magical fields of clover. I hadn't done as much of this super gritty work before, and this called for something new. Something serious, something that could handle brains-on-the-wall mayhem and carnage.

So I created the Zombie Brush Set. It solved all my problems with how to deal with the undead, leaving me free to tend to my cactus garden and get back to painting adorable kittens.

Visit the Store

To see these brushes in action, check out the demo:

How To Paint a Zombie

Resistance 3: My Year with Zombies

2011-09-13T06:00:00.104-04:00

Some of you may recall this little post I put up a little while back:

I mentioned then that its purpose was to reclaim some balance in my life. I had been spending a lot of time in zombieland, and I needed some fresh air. The project (that I couldn't speak of or Sony would burn my farm) was Resistance 3, which was released September 6 for the PS3.

I'm excited to see it is doing really well so far and getting really good reviews. It was a fun project. I don't usually go in for zombies or slashers in general, and this was a complete departure from my usual style and manner of work. But it was fun to switch things up and jump into something really gritty for a while. It was also a great learning experience and I got to work with some super talented guys from Edgeworx.

My primary job on this project was to provide art for the opening cinematic sequence for the story. This explained in brief how things got to be such a mess and why you were about to go out into that mess and shoot everything in site.

I was really excited to finally get to see the work in motion and with sound. The guys we worked with at Edgeworx did some really amazing stuff with it. However, there was one thing that did strike me as odd when I saw the first videos after it hit youtube.

Resistance 3: Opening Sequence

At 1:25 in the video my friends Zach and Alissa get married.

Zach helped me out on this project, getting reference together and setting everything up for me. And when there was no reference, he would improvise. So in much of my reference, I find Zach being both the hero and the villain, and occasionally even the innocent bystander who gets eaten by zombies.

Here Zach posed for the priest and for the groom and Alissa posed for the bride. Strangely enough, Zach and Alissa actually did get married in real life shortly after this scene.

I was actually in the wedding too and so all of this kind of blends together.

When I watch this video, what I see is Zach and Alissa taking their vows, walking down the aisle together, and then Zach running out into the parking lot with a machine gun and mowing down the wedding guests who have inexplicably turned into mutant zombies.

Like I said, it all gets kind of fuzzy now that I'm thinking back to it...

Also, for those of you who have picked up my brushes in the past, check back in later this week. I will be selling the brushes I used for this project. They are zombie killing machines!

Note: This post is a re-post from Muddy Colors. To check out the original post and comments visit:Muddycolors.blogspot.com.

Reference Hunting: The Narrows

2011-09-07T06:00:00.040-04:00

In 2004 some friends and I hiked the Narrows at Zion National Park in Utah. Of all the hikes I have ever been on, this was perhaps the greatest.

During much of the hike, the 100 foot vertical sandstone walls of the canyon close in so tightly that you must hike in the water itself, which is murky, and full of bowling balls, making each step a perilous lesson in jujitsu.

When I was working on the St. George illustrations, I kept coming back to this place in my mind, and in the end, I used it very closely for the images of the last showdown with the dragon. Part of this, is that amidst all the natural splendor of the Narrows, there is an element of danger, depending on which time of the year you are hiking.

When we got into the park we were told that it would be very dangerous to hike the canyon because if it rained then there would be a good chance that it would flash flood in the canyon. This would result in either severe injury or death or both. But only if it rained. And it was suppose to rain.

Also, there were cougars.

After looking at the forecast, my friends were justifiably alarmed that we might get rained on half way out in the gorge and then be overtaken by a chocolate mud-slide of bowling balls and angry cougars. I was only able to convince everyone to go by showing them pamphlets for the hike, which offered glowing, happy pictures of elderly couples and very young children hiking in the stream, unmolested by mud-slides or cougars. If they can brave it, being elderly and infirm, surely we can.

(Confession: The pamphlets were actually not for the hike we would be taking, but a separate, safer one with guided trails. I lied and I am sorry.)

But in the end it never rained, and we weren't caught up in a flash flood or eaten by the indigenous fauna. Instead we witnessed one of the most amazing places I have ever seen on planet Earth and the most memorable hike I have ever been on.

If you ever get the chance, go to Utah, stop by Zion National Park and hike the Narrows. You will not regret it.

(But check the forecast first…)

Image: Jon Sullivan

Note: This post is a re-post from Muddy Colors. To check out the original post and comments visit: Muddycolors.blogspot.com.

St. George Final

2011-08-10T06:00:00.013-04:00

As some of you may recall, I planned to tackle one of these two final St. George pieces in oil. This was the piece I chose.

Oil Underpainting

Things started off really well. But after finishing the underpainting, I ran into some minor health issues...

Side effects may include...

And I turned into a monster and ate my neighbors.

Apparently my problem is that I cannot seem to manage to paint what I want without solvents and solvents just don't agree with me.

So, while I sit here filing down my fangs and waiting for the manufacturers to solve this problem, I tackled this piece digitally, in the same manner as the previous St. George painting.

Digital Underpainting

St. George #10

12 x 16

Pencil and Digital

Note: This post is a re-post from Muddy Colors. To check out the original post and comments visit Muddycolors.blogspot.com

St. George Process Articles on Muddy Colors

2011-08-01T06:00:00.004-04:00

Recently, along with a few secret projects that I am not allowed to discuss even under pain of death, I have been working on a small show for Gallery Nucleus. It is based on St. George and the Dragon and it goes up on August 6th.

To see some of the methods used in the creation of these pieces, check out the Muddy Colors links below.

Article 1 Link: Traditional Approach

Article 2 Link: Digital Approach

St. George Drawings

2011-07-12T06:00:00.002-04:00

This is some recent development work on the St. George project. I'm still not sure how I want to tackle these two pieces. Oil, watercolor, or all digital. Decisions, decisions....

Harry Potter Show at Gallery Nucleus

2011-06-14T06:00:00.002-04:00

For those of you who keep up with the comings and goings at Hogwart's, the Gallery Nucleus is having a Harry Potter Tribute Show July 9th - August 1. I was asked to contribute a painting to the show, and having thoroughly enjoyed the novels myself (via the fantastic audiobook performance by Jim Dale) I was eager to work on one.

When I started thinking, which scene should I choose? I realized that there were far too many great ones and couldn't make up my mind. In the end I wanted to focus more on a specific character.

I landed on the misanthropic house-elf Kreacher. His story of Master Regulus and the locket is one of my favorite moments in the latter parts of the series.

Drawing on Bristol

Inkwash over pencil

(I did not end up spray-fixing this one, and you can see the pencil has all but vanished.)

"Kreacher"

9x12

Watercolor and Ink on Bristol

Recent Project: St. George

2011-05-17T06:00:00.008-04:00

I have recently been working on series of paintings for a show at Gallery Nucleus in L.A. They are based loosely around the St. George and the Dragon legend. It's a project I have wanted to work on for a long time and it's been great fun so far.

The following is some of the early rough work for the first painting for the project.

Character Development work

Pencil on Vellum

Character Development work

Digital

Early Watercolor Stages

Strathmore Bristol

Thumbnail/Color Comp

Digital

Illustration Process: Digital Trickery

2011-03-08T06:00:00.005-05:00

Original Watercolor

In the last post, I focused on the traditional aspects of my process for watercolor and digital. This week, we focus on the digital hocus pocus used to complete these pieces.

My digital process is mainly derived from the Dutch-Flemish indirect manner of working. If I travelled back in time and gave the Dutch-Flemish painters an Imac with Adobe Photoshop CS5 on it and a Intuos 4, they might have promptly thrown it all in the lake and then painted an unflattering picture of me as a fruit basket. But then again, they might decide that their methods work well regardless of what medium they are executed in and they would go on to make some awesome work with the new tools.

The process I follow mainly involves first laying in the shadows transparently, and then working in the highlights opaquely on top of them. This is then followed by adjusting the colors and details.

Color Adjustment

I have an ancient Epson flatbed scanner, one that primitive man invented sometime after fire, but before the wheel. Like most stone-age equipment, it is quite reliable, but it does tend to get its colors off just slightly. The image always seems lifeless and dead to me after it has been scanned.

This first stage is just to get the image back to what it looks like to the naked eye in soft light.

Shadows

I work purely in multiply layers to establish the dark areas and shadow details. I work this up to slowly to kind of explore the nuances of the lighting in the image. This chance to explore the lighting is one of my favorite aspects of working digitally.

I use multiply (set to zero black) to add the color. You can use any of the other modes to achieve color, (color, soft light, hard light etc.) I just prefer multiply because it behaves a little more predictably and because it tends to look a little more natural over a traditionally painted image.

Highlights

After working up the shadows to a satisfactory level of darkness, I work highlights in to slowly refine the shapes and give them more dimension. As in the Dutch-Flemish manner, I tend to work opaquely at this point, and generally stick to the areas that are being lit.

Color Adjustments & Final Details

For the final details I work with normal layers to sharpen up details and focal points. I try not to overwork the whole image at this point though. This is both a blessing and a curse with digital. Since you can essentially zoom in forever, you could feasibly spend the rest of your existence refining every little hair. At some point you need to make decisions about what needs to be refined and what can be left a little vague.

Original post on Muddy Colors

Illustration Process: Traditional Work

2011-02-22T06:00:00.013-05:00

For this post and the next I will take a break from shameless self-promotions to share some process work.

Over the years, my process has mutated from the clear and straightforward approach of my early childhood:

Step 1: Tear page from coloring book.

Step 2: Turn page over and apply crayon directly to back of paper.

..And turned into an overly-complex and technically absurd mess that it involves hundreds of extra steps and expensive, new-fangled products.

So, I will break this into 2 parts to keep things more manageable.

Today's post is the traditional side, the place where I begin most of my work, and my next post will focus on the digital side, the place where I end most of my work.

Thumbnail

Ink on napkin

The conceptual stages are generally just exploring ideas to help find a compositional arrangement that seems pleasing. The tools used for this change from image to image. For concept-work I go with whatever works.

Rough Drawing

#7 pencil on copy paper

Once I establish a rough drawing that I like I do studies of most of the faces and figures. I will try to really nail the expressions that I am after. I always consider this one of the most important elements of the image. As Rockwell pointed out, "if you get the face and hands right, they'll forgive you for the rest." So if I have a face in the image, I try to make sure I have it established in a study somewhere.

And if it hasn't already been determined, these studies will help me to decide which lighting arrangement will be the most advantageous for the characters.

Study

General's HB Pencil on Strathmore Vellum

Tight Drawing

Pencil on Strathmore Bristol

For the watercolor stage I stick very close a process laid out by Peter De Seve in his excellent Step-by-Step Graphics article (Vol.10, no. 6) about his technique. (I highly recommend it if you can find it.)

De Seve's overall method in the article carries a great emphasis on preserving the drawing, which is one of the most alluring aspects of it for me. You can see from his work how well it allows him to play up his characters expressions and designs.

I will sometimes (and this is one of those times) apply workable fixative to the drawing before starting the watercolor. Fixative will leave the surface a little less workable for the watercolor, (the surface tends to be less absorbent) but will keep the drawing much more intact. Since I weep bitter tears to see the drawing slowly disintegrate, I am generally willing to risk it.

Watercolor over Pencil

The watercolor process begins with washes of earth colors to tone the paper, applied wet into wet. Then after this has dried color and value are slowly worked up with about ten thousand tiny washes applied wet into wet or wet into damp.

One of the nice things about this approach is that it allows folks like me, who have a foggy command of color at best, to experiment a lot as they work. If a color doesn't look right it is really easy to adjust.

After this I panic and then throw all the old illustrator tricks at the piece in a last desperate effort to save it.

These tricks include, but are not necessarily limited to: Ink, pencil, acrylic, markers, badgers, lawsuits, incantations, harsh language, oaths, gouache, threats and even blows.

Final Traditional Painting

Next Post: Digital Trickery

Imagine FX Issues #66 & #67

2011-02-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

I recently contributed a series of drawing tutorials to Imagine FX. The purpose of these articles is primarily to continue to fool the world into thinking that I actually know what I am doing. But secondly it is to pass along what information I have gleaned from other artists who actually did know what they were doing.

In issue #66 we focus on theory,

and in issue #67 on practice.

Find out more at www.imaginefx.com.

The Most Mind-Blowing Images I Have Seen in My Life: Part II

2011-01-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

On a trip in 2009, I had a chance to see the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. While there I beheld one of the most impressive sculptures created in the last 200 years. It was the Saint Marc, by a little known sculptor named Jean Baptiste Gustave Deloye. Why is it awesome and how comes it to be on a list of the most earth-shatteringly awesome art I have ever seen? Because it is of a dude who who has wrestled down a Winged Lion. And he did it wearing nothing but a tea cozy. The lion looks plainly furious, while Saint Marc looks like he is lost in abstraction, his mind already having moved on from the fact that he just mastered a winged lion. He might be thinking, "I wonder if McRib is back?" Or, "I wonder what happened in the last season of Lost?" But he isn't very concerned about the lion or the fact that he is wearing nothing but a tea cozy.

Note: Some stone-throwers will no doubt cry out that art like this promotes a spirit of senseless cruelty to animals. To that I will say that savage, winged-lions can generally be expected to take care of themselves against unarmed and stark-naked men.

Now the learned among you will say that I may have misinterpreted this particular piece because I couldn't read the placard, and yes, my Parle vous Francais isn't what it used to be.

Je ne parle pas français. Désolé, désolé! Je suis American! However, I do have a vague recollection of the winged lion being St. Marc's symbol and that the imagery has something to do with his preaching, (or one of the other apostle's preaching) being "like that of a roaring lion." The artist here has skillfully maneuvered around any appearance of stiff oration, and cut more deeply into the impression and sense of what the impact might be like to listen to a truly masterful and compelling orator contending for what he believes.

Judging from what I see in contemporary examples of sculptures of mighty orators, I can't help thinking that if this concept were to have been attempted in the last few decades, we would either have a dull, square man in a dull, square suit, and a disgruntled finger jabbed in the air, or else we might have a loose collection of junk welded together to give the impression of a loose collection of junk welded together. Given the choice of the 3, I am always going to listen to the guy who has mastered a mythical creature, even if he is naked. And most people will generally prefer the place somewhere between pure representation and pure abstraction. This skillful communication of the idea of a mighty orator, an orator whose voice sounded like that of a roaring lion, is so much more interesting to me simply because it can be misinterpreted. Consider that without the title below "Evangile St. Marc" we might not know exactly who or what this was. (Though we couldn't help but be impressed.) But given the title and a general understanding behind it, it encourages a rethinking of the viewer's world, and his seeing everyday ideas with new eyes.

The artist may have undertook to make this sculpture simply for the pursuit of excellence in art. He might have done it for the money. Or he may have done this out of a sincere appreciation for a man who believed in something so strongly that he had to shout about it. Who knows? But I derive such pleasure from this sculpture.

Inspiration

2010-12-28T06:00:00.011-05:00

Every now and then I get asked what I do for inspiration. Some mistakenly believe that I torment my sister's cat for inspiration. Others believe that I methodically hunt down and destroy endangered species. And still others suspect that I build giant robots and plan an invasion of Mars.

I assure you this is not true. I like good music and fine literature.

But even more than music and literature, I find that camping trips provide some of the best inspiration.

Some might say; yes, but don't you spend most of a camping trip fighting mosquitos, rain, fires that won't start, and equipment failure all while being completely lost? And don't you spend most of your mental energy panicking about wether you will even survive this day because you have not exercised in a month and have been living on chic-fil-a?

And well yes, this is all true. But there are brief moments on these trips that make the whole experience worth the overall misery of it. When it is all said and done, I tend to forget how terrible it was, and how we almost killed each other that time the campstove broke, and I am left only with the impression of the spectacular views and the warmth of sun after being freezing and the taste of food after being starving.

Apart from being inspired by the raw beauty of the planet, hiking gives a person a chance to be alone with their thoughts in a place where they cannot help but feel small and cannot help but appreciate what they have. There is something about being freezing, and having to wrestle with building a fire and putting up a tent in the snow that suddenly turns a simple, everyday thing like a warm shower into one of the greatest technological wonders of all time.

I always bring a hardback sketchbook with me on these trips, and try to have easy access to it. Every time I come back from one of these trips I have hundreds of new thumbnails a ideas for new projects I want to undertake. The odd scribbles and tiny thumbnails made on the trail may get turned into something larger and they may not, but the impression of it all never quite leaves me. It will always be somewhere in the back of my head, waiting for a chance to find its way onto paper.

Articles

2010-12-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

Today's Muddy Colors Post is on Drawing and why it is important. (Especially if aliens come to visit earth.)

Also, I recently did an interview for the Innsmouth Free Press. You can read it here.

The Most Mind-Blowing Images I Have Seen in My Life: Part I

2010-11-16T10:00:00.001-05:00

What you see before you is the cover of Petar Meseldzija's Book, The Legend of Steel Bashaw. It is one of the most exceptional paintings I have seen in my lifetime. Like many of you, I first saw this image in Spectrum 9 where it dropped a nuclear bomb on my brain. Never before had I seen an image that so clearly articulated every feeling that I had ever hoped to communicate in art. And never had I seen one executed with such earth-shattering beauty. It was flawless, riveting, and the more I looked at it, the more I was drawn into it.

Now you will say, "Justin, calm down, it's just a picture. Its a dude, and he's on a horse. You're getting carried away." But this is more than a dude on a horse. It is a diatribe against mediocrity and an air raid call to the pursuit of excellence in art. When I saw this painting it gave me the same desire it has given many other artists who see Petar's work, it made me want to change everything. Not only did it instill in me a fervent desire to learn how to paint, but to make images that were worth meditating on, and not disposable imagery destined to be lost in the vast sea of imagery we exist in.
For a long time I had believed that it was essentially hopeless. The attention span for visuals shrinks as digital photography and digital displays increase and lead to a greater proliferation of imagery. In this new digital world the best images are those that are the most clear and the most brief. People are conditioned away from lingering for very long on a single image in the marketplace. There are so many other ideas out there, so many other things to see that it becomes almost morally wrong to create something that demands a person dwell on it in instead of moving directly on to the next idea. Meditating on a single idea becomes an anathema. Even movies find that in order to keep up with the shrinking attention span, they must make scene changes faster and faster to keep audience interest. But in the pursuit of communicating a quantity of ideas we seem to lose the ability to meditate on the quality of a single idea. This image was one I got lost in and never quite made it back out of. It defied the technology-perscribed cultural direction that I sensed was to be the inevitable demise of narrative illustration. After seeing this image I knew that I wanted to make images that were mediations on ideas, and not just flashcards of them. On top of being a artistic philosophical turning point for me, it was also a technical one. If you haven't already noticed, this painting is a city-crushing, Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla of technical achievement. It is at once extremely precise, with profoundest care taken in the focal points, such as the horses thrusting hoof, which focuses the action there for a brief moment as the eye moves through the composition. And then in the areas that are not meant to fight with the focal points, such as the body of the tree and the rocks beneath, there is an elegance and economy of brushstrokes that show a care in execution that borders on perfection. These subtleties are gorgeous upon examination but slip passively into the background when any of the focal points are examined. One might perhaps think that the success of this painting is the result of chance, that these are not mortar bombardments of awesome-ness but are rather just a few lucky strokes or the result of some secret medium that he mixes on the panel before applying the paint. The truth is more devastating.I had a chance to visit Petar in 2009, and while there he took the time to show me some of his drawings. I had always considered myself to have a passable drawing ability and felt that I knew a thing or two about the craft. I was a professional after all. When he pulled out his preliminary drawings that he did for his paintings, I saw the greatest drawings I had ever seen in my life and I blacked out. And while I was blacked out, I had a vision. It was judgement day, and I was giving an accounting of myself before the angels and saints. My art was being brought out and passed around. I learned that it was to be compared against Petar's art, which someone had decided was to be the standard by which all drawings from the era were to be judged. The saints and angels wore grim, unimpressed expressions as they shuffled through my pages of scribblings. Then they started watching the recordings of me playing video games instead of working on my drawings and I woke in a panic. I smelled coffee. (Petar makes a turkish coffee so strong that the mere smell of it would wake a hibernating bear who was frozen in a block of ice under 40 feet of snow and had just taken 12 Ambiens and was listening to Blue Danube by Strauss.) He handed me a cup and asked if I was OK.
As we looked through the rest of his drawings I realized that his paintings are not just the result of an excellence in the ability to apply paint, but that they are also the result of rigorous practice in drawing and extremely meticulous planning in the draft stages where he seeks to resolve the visual problems in his image. I realized that Petar is a genius. I felt like I was looking at the blueprints for the invasion of Normandy. While I could not expect to ever be so flawless in my approach I realized that if I was serious about this I would have to take drawing to an entirely new level that I had never even considered before.

If you have not already, check out his book, The Legend of Steel Bashaw from Flesk. In the back are included some of the drawings for the project. If they don't nuke your brain, they will at least knock your socks off. It is one of the most valuable books for the practicing artist to come out in years. Check out the rest of his work on his website here and his new blog here.

Muddy Colors

2010-11-02T09:00:00.001-04:00

I was recently invited by Dan Dos Santos to be a contributer to Muddy Colors, an illustration blog featuring articles by many of today's most influential illustrators. Many of these illustrators have impacted my own work a great deal, (Manchess, Donato and Jon Foster among them) and I look forward to their posts tremendously.

My own posts will focus on some of the topics and discussions that have gone on previously at Quickhidehere, such as the digital vs. traditional articles, as well as some new topics, which I lay out in the first post. If you have any special requests for articles or demos that you think might be interesting, let me know in the comments. I'm still coming up with my list of posts for the next few months, and I'd love to hear what you think.

Today marks my first contribution to the blog.

Check it out at MuddyColors.blogspot.com

Lovecraft Show: Oil

2010-10-16T09:00:00.002-04:00

Lovecraft in Innsmouth

9 x 12

Oil on Panel

Lovecraft Show: Oil Underpainting

2010-10-14T09:00:00.003-04:00

This is still wet (hence the pencils protecting the scanner glass). The underpainting was done in Holbien Duo water miscible oils with Raw Umber and Ceramic White on panel.

Lovecraft Show

2010-10-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

I was recently asked by Gallery Nucleus to contribute to a show based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft called At the Mountains of Madness.

Lovecraft's writing is generally themed around a character's mind slowly descending into madness as they learns too much about the truth of existence. This usually involves sleeping, malevolent, primordeal terrors who dwell forgotten in the depths of the sea, but who will one day rise again to destroy their planet. Lovecraft is wonderful for his use of this imagery in these stories. He has a nack for catching the horror of the deeps and the darkness and the unknown.

There was a wealth of really great, dark and horrific visuals to pull from for this project, so it is perhaps odd that I chose to go with the image that I did for this, which isn't really all that dark or horrific on the surface.

As always, I began with a dozen or so thumbnails of various ideas. Primordeal terrors, leviathans, dead fish walking the streets, giant-tentacled-schoolbusses-of-doom, that sort of thing.

But in the end, I found the thumbnail above to have the most personality.

From this crude thumbnail I went straight on to the digital comp below.

I work on comps like this one as fast as possible in Photoshop. The above image took about an hour or so and I worked from the tiny obscure thumbnail at the top. The point is to get down the basic composition and mood that is in my head as fast as possible. I want to catch the image in my head before its gone, or before some new disaster strikes and I am pulled from the studio by air raid sirens. I also don't want to get caught up in the details here. I hate to retread the same ground twice and would rather save those details for the final execution of the image.

Sketchbook 2010: On Sale Now

2010-08-11T09:00:00.003-04:00

I am very pleased to announce that my Sketchbook 2010 is finally on sale.

The art inside the sketchbook, some of which has been appearing recently here on the blog, is all developmental drawings related to a larger story that I wrote a while back but have never been able to fully finish as a full narrative.

The Sketchbook is being sold by Gallery Nucleus. I love these guys. Along with selling great sketchbooks, they put together what are for me some of the most interesting shows and panels going on right now. They make me wish I lived closer to the California. The Sketchbook is 32 pages, each is signed and is priced at $14.95. Check them out here.

I recently contributed to their Terrible Yellow Eyes show at their gallery, which was curated from Cory Godbey's project of the same name. I will be contributing to a few other shows in the future, the first based on Lovecraft and his writing, and the second based on the Harry Potter novels. I am really excited to have a chance to contribute to these as both of these writer's highly imaginative works have been very inspiring for me. So unless I am eaten by a giant sea monster or undead frog-men I plan to start posting some work-in-progress shots of the Lovecraft inspired images in September.

Check out the Gallery's full list of upcoming shows here.

Sketchbook 2010

2010-07-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

Sketchbook 2010: The Strength to Break the World

2010-06-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Sketchbook 2010: Skies of Albion Sketch

2010-06-23T09:00:00.001-04:00

Sketchbook 2010

2010-06-17T09:00:00.001-04:00

Sketchbook 2010 and the San Diego Comic-con

2010-06-15T09:00:00.006-04:00

The San Diego Comic-con is slowly creeping up again this year, and in observance of long-standing tradition, I am completely unprepared for it.
So for the next month, while I am busy panicking about getting myself together over here, I will be posting up some of the developmental images from some of the stuff I'll be bringing.

The first few posts will be from Sketchbook 2010 with the later posts focusing on developmental work for the prints I will be bringing.
As with last year I will be sharing a booth with Cory Godbey, who is bringing an entire monster truck full of new work. Along with all new stuff to show, we are excited to be up in the Fantasy Illustrators section this year, and not off in the demilitarized no-man's land from the previous 2 years. I love this new section, both because now it won't require a gps, a troop of monkeys and a local interpreter for you to find us, but also because it is in the very heart of the action. Around Donato's and the Spectrum booths you can see amazing demos and check out what the best artists in the world have been up to during the year.

Orcs, elves, Boba Fett and armies of the undead, I am really excited to be in the thick of it this time around. Come visit us at booth #4616!

Tor.com LoTR vs The Hobbit Post

2010-05-26T09:00:00.003-04:00

Gorbag of Mordor

I recently contributed to an article on Tor.com written by Irene Gallo on which of Tolkien's stories illustrators found most interesting for subjects to illustrate.

This is of course, a little like asking if one prefers chocolate chip cookie dough, or baked chocolate chip cookies. But there is an interesting difference in the two that begins to rise to the surface when you begin to discuss it.

The Hobbit is told from the viewpoint of a charming and not altogether reliable narrator in Bilbo, and the Lord of the Rings feels like it is told from the viewpoint of several different poet-historians who are not as given to the same vagaries of imagination as Bilbo. Because of this I find that the Hobbit allows a little more creative expression, especially in regards to the monsters. (And I love monsters who are just a little human.)

But The Lord of the Rings changes that, and the monsters there, are indeed monsters with only rare instances of humanity. But the humans there are deeper, and there we find the issue flipped, where now we find humans, who are just a little bit monster. Especially as they deal with matters of sons dying, or addiction. This too makes for an interesting vantage point to work from. Donato in particular writes that he finds that there are more opportunities that reveal the compassion and humanity of the characters in the Lord of the Rings, and so it presents a greater source of inspiration for his work.

Its an interesting article with contributions from Howe, Nasmith, Donato, Bosma, Adolfsson, Hickman, Kaluta and Miller.

The Minotaur

2010-04-28T09:00:00.003-04:00

"Know thee well, that thou shalt never leave this place alive."

Study no. 2 from Theseus and the Minotaur

8 x 10

Oil on Panel

ImagineFX #56

2010-04-12T09:00:00.004-04:00

ImagineFX recently asked me to do a painting of a faun for the cover of Issue #56.

It is out now in Europe and will hit Canada and the USA in about 3 weeks. Along with a short demo on how I did the cover piece above, there are a some great articles by Brian Froud, John Howe and Julie Bell. All of whom are AWESOME. I am really looking forward to getting my own copy.

Portrait of a Monster: Avarice Milpond

2010-03-22T09:00:00.005-04:00

11 x 14

Oil on Panel

Milpond Detail

FFA DEATHMATCH: The Results

2010-02-27T16:47:00.012-05:00

Oil: 26

Watercolor: 5

Digital: 37

Digital wins and retains the title belt for another season.

Or does it?

It appears that there were a number of issues and "voting irregularities" at the ballot box. An angry mob has been at my door for days and the press is calling for a recount.

The grievances are as follows:

First, some clever lawyers have counted up the votes independently, and have noticed certain "discrepancies" in the final tallies.

The reason for this is perfectly explainable. While the votes were being cast on the blog I also was receiving several votes through emails. Now, I realize that admitting phantom ballots which only I have access to could be considered sketchy but this is why I am in the visual arts and not in politics.

Secondly, many of you pointed out that the sparks and hot spots in the watercolor and digital piece were what pulled you over to digital, and that these effects could have been easily added to the oil piece. This is an excellent point, and I was remiss not to have included them in the oil.

Finally, a number of you wished to invent a 4rth category for digitally affected oils. (These digitally affect oils actually received 5 direct votes, and many more implied votes.) Many people suggested that if this category had existed it would have won out over its watercolor and digital counterpart.

Digitally affected oils is a very interesting idea to me. It seems like an excellent way of utilizing the best of both mediums while at the same time minimizing their respective weaknesses.

I will talk more about this later.

Back to the polls. The general consensus appears to be that

Oils seems to have the benefit of superior texture, beauty and as LuisNCT said, "oils supports a longer observation."

Digital for color, clarity and contrast.

Watercolor for the grit and the mood.

While these each have their merits, I would love to find a synthesis of all of these. And an airship full of all the treasures of ancient egypt. But a method that allows for a synthesis of all of these will do for now.

This brings me back to a digitally modified oil. I like the idea because I am still in love with blending classical methods and with modern technology. And one thing that has afflicted me as I experiment with oils is that people no longer see art in the way that they saw it 300 years ago. We no longer have to travel all the way to Paris to see the Musee D'orsay (which everyone should), or even across town to see fine art, but instead we now generally take in art through the glowing squares of digital media.

So if any of us decides to execute a painting and show it to the world, it is probable that 4 out of the 5 people who see that painting will view it through a monitor. The world is fast becoming predominantly digital.

So does this necessarily mean that images created digitally will have certain advantages over their traditional counterparts as it is disseminated to the culture at large?

Consider this example:

You may recognize it from a previous post.

This is an oil painting of the acrylic and digital painting from December. This time I did not paint directly over a watercolor as in the Doomhammer posts, but rather started on a new masonite panel and copied a new drawing over, and then executed the piece in oil over the course of a few days. It took longer, but I enjoyed the actual creation of it more.

What is frustrating however, is that the original piece has a luster that cannot be communicated by the digital copy here. The charm of the original is that when you look at it and see it from different angles, the various pits and nicks in the paint catch the light and give it a sense of depth. This is because it literally is made up of layers in space, which light passes through and before then bouncing back to your eyes, creating an effect that you cannot get any other way. The glazes give the shadows true depth and the highlights are actually closer to you in space and so appear even brighter. It is a dimensional object with a life to it that cannot be communicated through a digital image. I love this about oil and it seems tragic to lose it through digital copies. Yet, almost everyone who sees it will see it digitally.

But on the other side, the mere ability to display an image digitally is 100% certified actual magic. The technology that allows you to see this on your monitor is light literally being projected into your brain through your eyes. It is the coolest thing since the invention of fire.

This is a debate that has plagued me for some time, but I am certain that there is a synthesis of all of these out there that is worth pursuing. I also think that we are only just now beginning to really explore the possibilities in digital art for merging the classical with the contemporary with technology.

So that said, my next few personal projects that I hope to post up here will be experiments in the digitally affected oils.

Note: The best exploration and debate on the traditional vs. digital art topic that I have come across on the web can be found on David Apatoff's blog, Illustration Art in his January and February 2007 posts. It's worth a read.

FFA DEATHMATCH: Digital vs Watercolor vs Oil

2010-02-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

Its Battle Royal and the rules are anything goes. You are the judge.

Which of these do you like the most?

Digital

Watercolor

Oil

Note: Both the traditional pieces are being displayed as they were scanned in, with no digital effects, magic filters, or cheat codes in.

Doomhammer 2010: Digital Final and Problems with Labels

2010-02-01T09:00:00.002-05:00

Malacoda

12 x 18

Watercolor & Digital

I label this Watercolor & Digital, but as was mentioned before, the watercolor label is a bit misleading, as I am actually using acrylic inks. Likewise, I feel like labeling this "digital" is also a bit misleading because I have not done any digital painting here.

Adobe Photoshop was originally conceived to be a photo-adjustment tool and not primarily as a digital painting tool. While Photoshop does digital painting very well, (and this years Spectrum Fantastic Arts will show that quite clearly) I find that Painter X feels more suited to digital painting. And over the years it has embraced this difference from Photoshop and developed its software into a quite exceptional tool for building compelling, traditional-looking images digitally. Meanwhile, Adobe adamantly refuses to really invest itself into the digital painting aspects of its software, focusing instead to continue to further develop its photo-adjustment and web-related aspects.

That said, I have begun to prefer playing to Photoshop's strengths as opposed to wrestling against its shortcomings. (For instance, why oh why Adobe do you have such drastically inferior color mixing and blending to Corel?) But what Photoshop does phenomenally well, is what it was originally intended for; and that is photo-manipulation. That said, I no longer feel like I am painting in the brush and canvas sense when I work in Photoshop. If I need to do that Painter X is the tool. But for adjusting a traditional painting to pull up the colors, adjust the contrast and to refine the lights and shadows, nothing out there can beat Photoshop and I love using it for this.

So this is probably about 5 hours of "digital-adjusting" over acrylic inks. But that seems like a far too complicated label for how it was done.

I say all this because I have received some flak from students at a few conventions recently saying that they thought it was watercolor this whole time because of what I was labeling it here on the blog, and that they have been trying to recreate the effects in watercolor and having a terrible time with it. I was accused of running a scam and spearheading an effort to undermine art education world-wide.

So I'd like to be able to be less misleading in my labeling if possible here.

Anyone know a better label for this type of painting that is correct and at the same time not confusing to people unfamiliar with the tools used?

And now, labeling aside, on to the next step:

I will be posting the oil version of this and a comparison of the 3 methods this on thursday. I will be sealing this acrylic and then working oil directly over it. I'm curious which of the three images you think works out the best, and looks the most visually interesting.

"Watercolor", oil or digital?

I look forward to hearing what everyone thinks.

Doomhammer 2010: Watercolor

2010-01-28T09:00:00.007-05:00

Man vs. Machine

12 x 18

Acrylic Ink on Bristol

So by watercolor, I actually mean to say Acrylic Ink. I have started using FW Inks for the last few paintings. And if you dilute them, they feel just like watercolor, except that once they are down you can't pry them up. No, not with a thousand golden crow bars. Their only down side that I can discover is that if you apply them straight, with no dilution, they will begin to take on the plastic feel of acrylic after several heavy layers. Other than this I really love them. Perhaps most of all because they preserve the underlaying drawing perfectly.

I am finished with the Acrylic phase, but I am not planning on stopping just yet. I am going to do an experiment:

I am going to do render a digital version of this watercolor, in the same manner as the Hobbit pieces. And then I am also going to take the original watercolor, and after sealing it in a few layers of acrylic polymer, I am going to finish it in oil.

Afterwards I am going to compare the 2 to see which looks superior and post the results here.

I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on these and which you find more attractive. (or less hideous, as the case may be)

Doomhammer 2010: Drawing

2010-01-25T09:00:00.012-05:00

Man vs. Machine.

I initially drew this image to be about the guy. Specifically about his left foot. The entire composition and action of the image was actually meant to revolve around that foot. But it was fundamentally about this guy leaping down at this assault mech. It was a cry against the tools that have turned into systems too vast to affect any longer and that slowly dehumanize us and demand that we become more and more dependent upon them.

But as I continued to sketch I got drawn in by the machine.

I began by thinking:

Idiot-machine computers... Absurd, plastic-jurassics built by sea monkeys out of bailing wire and kitty litter to be soma for the masses and flimsy replacement-brains... We must rise up, we must smash our television sets, hurl our phones into the sea and scream, "I'm a human being! Not some plastic toy, not just some number. MY LIFE HAS MEANING!"

But soon it changed to:

Hmm... If I was piloting a 15-foot mech, I would want a 30mm chaingun. And all kinds of communications equipment. Lights, computers, fiber-optics. And it would need to have smoke screen launchers, otherwise it would get chewed up by the air support. Yeah, ... and it would need to have a missle launcher. Laser guided... Something manageable though, maybe a javelein launcher to counter armor... And then it would need....Wow, I love the modern era...

And so on. Soon I forgot about the guy, who was the whole reason I started this piece. The audacity of some guy with nothing more than a pair of handguns, leaping out at a giant machine, at THE machine. I really liked that.

But now I began to see the image from the Machine's perspective:

Who is this anarchist leaping down at me?

I defend society.

I hold the line here.

I keep the torch of civilization lit.

I keep the forces of nature at bay,

and this bomb-throwing anarchist is attacking me.

I will crush him.

So now I identify with both of my characters, and it has seemingly become a matter of perspective on who exactly the protagonist is and who exactly the antagonist is.

In the end I found that anarchy was easier to draw. The guy was finished quickly with no problems. I felt like it just worked. Getting the forces of civilization together on the other hand, took a bit more.

I wanted to really make sure that this machine was convincing. That it looked usable, that it had been battle-tested. That it could survive full-scale war in densely urban environments.

Reference of modern technological wonders: Sikorsky Pave Lows, AH-64 Apache Attack helicopters, M1 Abrams Battle Tanks, 30mm Chain Guns.

Doomhammer 2010: Comp

2010-01-21T09:00:00.005-05:00

I hate technology.

But not as much as I love it.

I've gotten away from doing action perspectives in recent years, having been so taken by the formal compositional arrangements of the Romantic and Victorian painters. But every now and again I like to go back to my comic book roots and do something really outlandish.

I liked the perspective in my original thumbnail, but something about the arrangement of the bridge pylons kept bothering me. So I decided to try to lay out my scene in Google's free 3d program, Sketchup to try and solve the problem. It only took about an hour to figure out, and after that it was pretty easy to work the scene out and solve the perspective issues.

It seems fitting that I would end up using technology to help me work on my piece about how much I sometimes hate technology.

Doomhammer 2010: Conceptual

2010-01-19T09:00:00.003-05:00

Sometimes a person paints to communicate to other people a specific feeling or emotion they have experienced in their lives.

And other times, a person may paint for themselves, to make sense of all the fire in their head. To turn the static upstairs into something they can better understand.

Last week the Mac Pro, the Xbox and the cell phone all died on the same day. I found myself terribly frustrated at my circumstances. Why can't things just work? What idiot monkeys even made these things? Oh! Miserable life- it is better for me to die than to live.

...

Then I remember that people all over the world have lived happy and full lives without the benefit of this exotic technology for a long time and I should do some yoga, calm down and find inner peace.

But I drew this instead:

The Buccaneer

2009-12-30T09:00:00.001-05:00

6 x 9

Acrylic Ink on Illustration Board

Fine Literature: Acrylic Final

2009-12-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

Fine Literature

2009-12-08T09:00:00.003-05:00

Elderly Faun Framed

2009-11-12T09:00:00.001-05:00

Oil, 9 x 12

Elderly Faun Underpainting

2009-11-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Elderly Faun Acrylic Stage

2009-11-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Elderly Faun Sketch

2009-11-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

November Conventions

2009-11-03T09:00:00.005-05:00

Unless you are an evil villain, you will be pleased to learn that I am no longer making zombies. And now that PS3's hunger for carnage is momentarily satisfied, I have some time to work on a few new oil paintings and make my plans to survive the rest of this year's conventions.

The first is Illuxcon in Altoona, PA on November 12-15. Illuxcon is a show dedicated to fantastic illustration and will have the largest display of original fantastic art to be found on this planet. I am really looking forward to being there. If you are in that neck of the woods stop by for a visit.

Then our tour of America continues as we hit CTN in LA on November 20-22. If you are there, stop by booth #37 where we will be rocking California's socks off. I will be giving demos and taking part in a few panels. I will also be stalking the floor looking for a copy of Peter De Seve's new book.

So with these conventions looming ahead I have been in the lab working on some new gems. Over the next few weeks I will be posting some process shots of the ones that I will be taking to these conventions.

Hope to see you there.

AWOL Digital

2009-09-09T09:00:00.002-04:00

AWOL

10 x 17

Digital over Watercolor and Charcoal

AWOL Watercolor

2009-09-07T09:00:00.005-04:00

Watercolor and Charcoal on Bristol

This week, I've been making zombies; millions of zombies.

I have begun work on an animation project for an upcoming PS3 title and it has consumed my every waking moment. It has been a steady diet of profound carnage, terrifying mayhem and Chic-fil-a chicken sandwiches.

Considering this, you might wonder then how the above image came into being. The truth is that while I enjoy zombie-killing havoc as much as the next guy, there came a point where I had to paint something completely different or I'd lose it.

This was done while waiting for my files to upload to the client. I used charcoal and watercolor this time to try a new approach in my ongoing campaign of finding the perfect illustration medium to work digitally over.

***

Side Note: The PS3 game I mention above is going to be awesome. I wish I could show you the illustration work done on it thus far. However, the lawyers tell me that the company who has hired me will have the legal right to come and toss a pack rabid baboons into my studio if I let anything slip on the blog. Stay tuned.

Portrait of a Monster #22 Final

2009-08-31T09:00:00.003-04:00

Portrait of a Monster #22 Watercolor

2009-08-26T09:00:00.002-04:00

Portrait of a Monster #22 sketch

2009-08-24T09:00:00.006-04:00

#22

Portraits of Monsters.

I have always loved painting portraits of monsters. I find that monsters are largely misunderstood.

Monsters are people too.

Or rather, maybe a monster in a suit reflects the sentiment that every human has a bit of a monster inside them. And that I think that people nowadays prefer that it is on the outside, rather than on the inside.

Many of you have inquired wether or not these portraits will ever be made into prints. I am pleased to announce that The Grenadier and Grimsby Foulbottom prints are now available at www.justingerard.etsy.com.

Portrait of a Monster #12 Final

2009-08-15T09:00:00.002-04:00

Portrait of a Monster #12 watercolor

2009-08-14T09:00:00.003-04:00

Portrait of a Monster #12 sketch

2009-08-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Portrait of a Monster #17

2009-08-12T09:00:00.002-04:00

Originals for Sale

2009-08-10T09:00:00.001-04:00

I will be posting 3 originals on the store for sale tomorrow morning at 10AM est. I will be posting original watercolors later this week! www.justingerard.etsy.com

Justin Gerard Arts Store is Finally Live

2009-08-07T09:00:00.001-04:00

I have made a great deal of prints to offer at the conventions that Portland Studios and myself will be attending this year. Comic con is over, and we still have CTN and Illuxcon to look forward to, but those conventions are still a ways off and I have been left with an over-abundance of prints and books that are now stacked floor to ceiling inside my very modest house. So this seemed like the perfect time to open an online store to sell some of my work.

Right now I am offering a few prints and sketchbooks, but I will also be putting some of the originals that have appeared on the blog here during the upcoming months. There are also a few other new pieces in the works that I am planning to make prints of as well, and those should be making their way onto the site soon.

The sketchbooks are ones that were originally made for the 2008 Comic Con and have a lot of developmental and conceptual sketches and studies from that year.

Drop by and have a look at www.justingerard.etsy.com and let me know what you think.

Photos from Comicon 2009

2009-08-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

So then he looks right at me and says, 'No Disintegrations.' I mean, seriously? Say, have you seen Portland's new Booth?

Justin: "That print is overpriced."

Cory: "Yeah, great. Why aren't you wearing any pants again?"

Giving the SDCC Committee for Awesomeness some straight answers on being awesome.

Looking Good. Taking Care of Business.

San Diego was rocked again. It was an fantastic convention, and I am worn out. We met a ton of great people, got to see a lot of really incredible art and ate entirely too much awesome food in the gaslamp district.

We didn't really see much of the floor this year, because the booth was a madhouse. But we did make it out to see Donato and Manchess bring some shock and awe again this year with their demos. (Check out their work on Irene Gallo's blog here.) We also had the chance to meet and talk with Peter DeSeve. He has been a huge influence on me. I learned how to illustrate in watercolor from the Step by Step guide on him. (The one that Cory stole) Peter DeSeve is a great guy.

For the action in video format, head over to Cory's blog and watch his yearly Comic Con recap.

Photos by Matt Silver and Kitty Mach

Steampunk Wizard of Oz #3: Final Digital

2009-07-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

Steampunk Wizard of Oz #3: Oil Color

2009-07-20T09:00:00.002-04:00

Work in Progress

Steampunk Wizard of Oz #3: Underpainting

2009-07-17T15:38:00.004-04:00

Underpainting

Oil on Masonite

18x24

A few years ago, some friends (who shall remain nameless) and I broke into an abandoned chemical plant that had been damaged by a fire. It was huge complex, that stretched over the better part of a square mile, it had its on rail yards, depots and an underground labyrinths of pipes and crawl spaces. In the passage-ways there were hazard signs on rusted, pressurized-doors that read, CAUTION: DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. Oily water dripped and pooled in the hallways. Everywhere we were surrounded by an atmosphere of latent deadly chemicals and the feeling that maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. We crept through this labyrinth in complete darkness using headlamps. Everything was dripping, dank, ruined, and everywhere lay twisted steel girders, collapsed ceiling tiles and rusting electronic equipment.

But in one burned out rooms, we saw something that didn't fit in with all the rusting, man-made structures and machines. As we came into the room we froze, stopped breathing, and backed out the way we had come. In the room, we had seen large colonies of fungus several feet high covering the ground. One of my friends had worked in water and smoke mitigation before told us not to breathe in the air anywhere near there. So we crept out of the room and back into the relative safety of rooms labeled, TOXIC CHEMICALS PRESENT with their friendly MSDS diamonds on them. This struck me as very strange. Here in the midst of this dangerous man-made place, was something organic that was more immediately dangerous to us.

When I began to think through possibilities for this particular scene, (which you have probably recognized by now) this experience of seeing organic decay creeping into the ruins of man-made industry inspired me a great deal. The idea of 'don't breathe the air' in this industrial decay fit the mood of the scene for me.

Tomorrow we begin glazing.

Steampunk Wizard of Oz: Color Comps

2009-07-16T09:00:00.006-04:00

The Steampunk Wizard of Oz idea was such an appealing concept that I ended up doing several dozen conceptual sketches before arriving at the piece I did for the previous entries and the 2009 IMC.

There are 2 concepts in particular that I would like to do in oil, if you all will permit me.

I'll be finishing the previous watercolor and digital piece tomorrow, but I will also be posting a progression of these pieces in oil during the next few days leading up to Comicon.

For those of you who will be attending Comicon in San Diego, stop by and visit me at the Portland Studios booth. It is going to rock. For some shots of last years immaculate action, check out these shots of awesome people. This year, on top of being publicly awesome, Cory Godbey and I will be rocking the convention center's socks off by painting original pieces on site. On top of this, we have also caved to the overwhelming public pressure to deliver new limited edition prints of recent works. And I do mean limited. While they last, we will be selling them like it is our duty to mankind at the convention.

Catch the action in San Diego. Booth #1032.

Steampunk Wizard of Oz: Digital Work

2009-07-14T09:00:00.001-04:00

Digital stage 70% finished

imC 2009: The Lady of the Lake

2009-07-06T09:00:00.000-04:00

Transfered Drawing on Masonite

Underpainting

Oil Painting in Progress

IMC 2009: The Lady of the Lake

2009-07-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

Conceptual Sketch

At this point in the week, I decided to begin a second piece in an effort to take advantage of the fantastic oil demonstrations that were being given. For this one I chose one of the other options that had been given, which was the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian legend.

Tight Sketch

IMC 2009: Steam Punk Wizard of Oz

2009-07-01T09:00:00.001-04:00

Drawing on Bristol

Underpainting

Note the difference in the two pieces. The composition works much better in the one on the left, and the image begins to make more visual sense. (click on image to see larger version)

This was after the advisement of the faculty who pointed out the dead spot there in the lower left and how knocking back the corner would improve the overall composition.

Final Underpainting

ImagineFX

2009-06-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

For those of you who have been wondering about the specifics about my method of working, (and I know there are at least 2 of you) this month my work has been featured in an ImagineFX workshop.

IMC 2009: Steam Punk Wizard of Oz

2009-06-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

For the Illustration Master Class we had some homework to do before we arrived.

Our assignment was to choose one of several stories that the faculty had provided and bring a tight sketch to show the faculty on our first day. This image would be critiqued and then we would spend the rest of the time during the week executing the piece. One of the choices was to do a steam punk version of the Wizard of Oz, which is the coolest homework assignment ever.

Thumbnail

Sketches

The Cowardly Lion

Rough

Final Sketch for monday. Off to IMC...

Illustration Master Class 2009

2009-06-24T09:00:00.006-04:00

Last week I attended the 2009 Illustration Master Class in Amherst Massachusetts. The faculty included the amazing talent of Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Greg Manchess, Charles Vess, Donato Giancola, Rebecca Guay, Irene Gallo, Scott Fischer and Dan DosSantos along with guest appearances from Michael Whelan and Jon Foster, among others.

Donato Giancola elaborating on the finer points of galaxies

Dan Dos Santos showing some mad skillz.

Michael Whelan about to go to work

Charles Vess showing us how to do magic tricks with paint

It was a very intense week of lectures, demonstrations and projects with the faculty working very closely with each student to give very personalized guidance. It was a highly rewarding week and I cannot thank the faculty enough for so generously giving their time and efforts to the students. I learned a great deal from the course and I will be posting some of the work I did there in the coming days. It felt like going to Hogwarts where all the professors are literally teaching the students how to do magic.

And in case you were not yet convinced. FLYING MONKEYS.

For more images Irene Gallo's Flickr pages for a look at the mayhem. They have a great overview of the whole week as well as images of Greg Manchess being awesome, Fantastic art in progress and myself in a fight to the death with Allen Williams.

And for the run-down of the event she has also posted a number of entries on her blog. If you are interested at all in possibly signing up for the event in 2010 you should check it out.

A Dark Horror from the Last Age

2009-06-16T09:00:00.002-04:00

I show you just this portion of the piece because the rest is too horrifying to show.

What could possibly make it horrifying? After all, its 2 friends wandering in a sparkling tunnel with bright lights. It should be a recipe for the warm, happy feelings one might associate with Tolkien's literature.

You should sit down for this, and you should be prepared to run from your computer the minute you see the images below. (I have already run from my computer 3 times just trying to post this.)

Here is the sketch:

Nothing unsustainable yet, right? So far, so good. I drew this while in a dank subway car in the bowels of France.

It seems harmless enough right? A simple, straightforward composition with medium figures in a dark environment.

And so I thought, this will be a great first piece to do for an illustration based on material from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I have wanted to paint some illustrations based on this awesome story for a while. For the first piece I wanted to attack what for me, has always been the most terrifying and gripping in the story: Shelob's Lair.

Page 3 of my collection of nightmares.

My thumbnail seemed solid enough, and seemed to have the right amount of tension in it. So I started doing my developmental sketches for this. One of the first things I did was to draw several hundred gestures of spiders. This is a mistake.

At about number 36 I realized just what soulless terrors spiders can be when seen close enough to make out distinguishable features.

Unholy Terror # 36

(BTW Thank you Uglyoverload.com for the excellent reference and for the regular updates on hideous creatures that I was perfectly fine before I found out existed.)

In spite of the general horror of these sketches, I persevered. I thought, "well, these are terrifying and I now have the shakes and won't be able to sleep for weeks, but hey, I'll bet I'll feel a lot better after I knock up a more finished sketch."

(Now is a good time to stop looking at your computer screen)

I do not feel better.

After I did this I took several large steps away from my desk and looked for an adult. Finding none but me in the house, I took 3 showers, then ran back in like batman and smashed the painting with my giant book of mythology. It has sat there, crushed, until just now when I worked up the courage to see if I had killed it or not.

Not convinced that this isn't the most terrifying thing you have ever seen?

LOOK CLOSER.

Maybe I'm overreacting. In general I like spiders, of all the creatures with chitinous shells and more than 2 eyes in the world, they are among the most interesting. But what did me in was the way she was holding her legs up. In my mind I had seen it as the spider shielding her eyes from the light and trying to blend in with her surroundings until the Hobbits past her so she could sneak up on them from behind. But after I drew it out, I realized that what was really in my head, was her playing a weird and altogether horrifying peek-a-boo game with the Hobbits. As soon as I got that far my brain exploded and I had to put the drawing down. A 12 foot spider playing peek-a-boo with its prey was just too much. I could not bring myself to finish this painting.

There has always been something terrifying to me about a predatory creature that is sneaking up on you as if you don't see it. Like a lion creeping through the grass towards you, its eyes fixed, about to pounce, but acting casual. You know its about to kill you. Seeing it in stalking mode, and knowing that it is stalking you freaks me out.

I know this is a strange thing to freak a person out, but well, there it is. This drawing freaked me out. The spider hiding her eyes behind her limbs, and peaking out had some deep, primordial sinister perversion to it that crossed whatever internal threshold I have for, is going to wreck your brain if you go through the process of staring at the piece for the 25 hours it will take you to paint it.

But you are probably saying, "Well, what were you expecting Gerard? You are drawing a 12 foot spider in a dark tunnel that eats PEOPLE. Last spawn of Ungoliant, the terror of the pass of Cirith Ungol in Morder, where the freaking shadows lie. What did you think it was going to look like? A Watercolor of ducklings in a quiet pond? Adorable puppies frolicking at the beach?"

All that being said, I am not sure what I am going to do next. I will have to think about it.

---

Next Week: Adorable Puppies Frolicking at the Beach.

Terrible Yellow Eyes: Final

2009-06-12T09:00:00.003-04:00

There has been a lot of really great work showing up on the Terrible Yellow Eyes site.

One of my particular favorites is Peter DeSeve's contribution. It is perfect.

***

After finishing this piece, I went back and began working again on some more Tolkien-related work. This time from The Two Towers. I had planned to do a piece in oil.

But the sketch I came up with was terrifying. In fact, it was so terrifying, so utterly horrifying, that I actually had to put it down. And now I don't know if I will finish it. It's still there, under the stack of books by the pencils, recluse and staring at me with beady eyes.

It's been a very long time since I did anything that genuinely freaked me out to the point that I had to stop.

Tune in next week.

Terrible Yellow Eyes: Watercolor

2009-06-11T09:00:00.000-04:00

Terrible Yellow Eyes: Drawing

2009-06-10T09:00:00.003-04:00

Terrible Yellow Eyes

2009-06-07T09:00:00.005-04:00

Recently, Cory Godbey put together a collection of paintings inspired by Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. It showcases the works of a number of really brilliant artists and is a great tribute to Sendak.
It is one of the most outstanding stories that I can remember from my childhood. It is a great pleasure to be able to contribute to this collection.

Preliminary Sketches

I've always loved the characters of the Wild Things. With simple, clear design they manage to communicate the perfect balance of emotion for what you would imagine giant wild animals on a far-off island might look like.

I love that Sendak doesn't fill in all the details, he leaves it just vague enough so that it is a pleasure to wander around in the world, and to imagine the possibilities for yourself. I respect him for this restraint.

European Tour

2009-06-03T09:00:00.009-04:00

I recently did some traveling abroad to visit friends and see some of the galleries in France and the Netherlands. I have always wanted to see Paris, to see the galleries, and to see the city itself and experience the culture. But most of all to see if everything that everyone said about the place was true; that the food is spectacular, the art is legendary, the city is the most beautiful on earth, and that the people are all very rude.

We found that the food lived up its reputation, that the city was indeed beautiful, and the people were only rude if we ran around like drunken apes.

In general people in Paris were wonderful, and really helpful. And using my astounding knowledge of the french language, I was able to successfully negotiate my way through at least three meals, two subway rides, and get myself completely lost everywhere I went.

Here I am on the phone, lost.

If it weren't for the kindness of our friends Olivier, Loren and Annebelle over at the Daniel Maghen Gallery we would have spent most of the trip lost in the subways with the drunken apes.

Aside from the stunning palatial quality of the city, (touring Paris from the Senne river one would think that it was built of nothing but palaces,) it was the statuary that was the most strikingly impressive for me. I would love to spend several months drawing and doing studies from these. There is so much knowledge to be gleaned from these works. They are some of the finest examples of the human form in art that I have ever seen.

The Hunt For Petar Meseldzija

After leaving the wonders of Paris, we journeyed to the Netherlands to seek the counsel of the mythical guru, Petar Meseldzija.

We saw him in the distance, biking over the fields and canals and windmills in the far north. We tried to catch him, but after days of unflagging pursuit, our legs gave out and our bikes fell apart. As we lay exhausted in the marshy fields night came. It had been a wasted trip. The next day we would return to france, defeated.

But as the moon began to rise we heard the creaking of an old bike drawing nearer and nearer. A shadowy figure came through the tall grass. Petar Meseldzija. He stopped in front of us and laid down his bike, which was magical and had only one pedal. He told us that we could not have caught him, had we ten thousand horses, or dragon's wings, or even canondales. He had a magical bike. Then he sat down with us and explained the mysteries of time and space and served us flaming hot Serbian coffee.

The next morning we ate belgian waffles and toured the Rijksmuseum with him to veiw the Rembrandt paintings.

It was a privilege to see these paintings with Petar. Along with being a mythical guru, and owning a magical bike, he is also a phenomenal oil painter and hearing him explain the methodology of Rembrandt's work was worth a decade of college education.

This is Rembrandt's, Jeremiah Lamenting the Burning of Jerusalem. We sat in front of this painting for hours. There is the wealth of a thousands of years of artistic knowledge wrapped up in this single little gem. I hope if you ever have a chance to go to Amsterdam that you will stop to see these paintings.

MicroVisions Auction

2009-05-03T20:25:00.005-04:00

The Ebay auction for the Microvisions show is up!

Check it out here.

The Mad Bull Developmental Work

2009-04-07T09:00:00.001-04:00

Concept Development work of city scene

Early production still from city scene

Building our city and assembling the Minotank

This was most complicated scene in the project and was the one I had the most fun assembling. It was like building cities with legos as a kid.

The purpose for building lego cities is self-evident; they are built to be destroyed.

The real tragedy for me is that all this work is only up there for a few seconds.

The Minotank was also great fun to assemble. I love steam-powered, clockwork machines.Or at least, I love the idea of steam-powered, clockwork machines.

Danny, who constituted the entire animation team on this project, worked some real magic in making the Minotank come to life. I gave him a baffling assortment of gears and plates and pistons and smoke and I think it nearly killed him, but he pulled it altogether. It was really exciting to finally see this thing stomping around, knocking over buildings and billowing smoke.

Early storyboards

There is a story contest for this on the Portland Studios Blog.

I am really curious to see what people submit for this.