Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2: Post Trip Recap

Hi everyone! I bet you thought I had forgotten about this blog didn't you? Well, I haven't! In fact, I've been wanting to post for a long time, and things have really gotten in the way. But, for now I'll spare you the details and dump a few photos from my trip this past weekend to Kansas City for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2!

 

The amazingly talented Jean-Baptiste Monge. He and Paul Bonner shared a booth.

They were super friendly!

 Cory Godbey and Justin Gerard. 

It was so awesome to finally meet them! They are terrific fellows and they had an incredible 

booth with incredible drawings, paintings and prints.

The insanely talented brush-wielder, Jeremy Bastian, creator of Archaia's "Cursed Pirate Girl".

His ink work is mind-boggling. Definitely worth checking out.

 Jon Foster did a great demo on his method of working with oils, then later 

gave a brief overview of his digital post-production process on the same piece.

 The finished oil painting.

 Oil painter Annie Stegg and her splendid booth. Her artwork is absolutely gorgeous, and she sold nearly all of her original oils, which you can see in the background. She also gave me a free print in addition to the one I purchased, which was really too kind of her. Thanks so much Annie!

 The one and only Manchess doing a demo. He was painting a Spock portrait. Live long and prosper, Greg!

 Terryl Whitlatch doing a Q & A panel about her work on Star Wars: Episode 1. She designed

one of my least favorite characters of the whole series, Jar Jar Binks, but she's so nice and her other artwork is so great, I was able to forgive her. (Just kidding).

She drew me a beautiful horse picture in my sketchbook. Not... Jar Jar.

 I was able to meet David Petersen, the creator of the comic Mouse Guard and his wife Julia. I really enjoyed talking with them and to David about his inking, page layout process and just the comics world in general. His original inked pages from the Mouse Guard series were simply amazing. I picked up the first title in the series which I'm super excited about starting.

 Justin Sweet, a concept artist for many films, including Narnia. He was very engrossed in his painting he was working on.

 Some work from the Muddy Colors booth, including some Jesper Ejsing prints.

 On Saturday night the Spectrum Awards Ceremony was held, and it was a fantastic show. You just can't help but feel happy for all the hard working artists who were honored. 

 The Midland Theater in downtown KC was gorgeous. The photos do not do it justice.

 The highlight of the evening for me came when Cory Godbey won a Gold Award for his piece "The Fishmaster" in the Unpublished category. I was so happy for him, and so glad to see his work getting the recognition it deserves. It was a great to be able to spend the evening with such terrific folks.

A very happy Award winner,  with wife Erin Godbey,  

and friends Zach Franzen and Justin Gerard.

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So, to recap, I would say that SFAL was an incredible experience. It was not so much about learning art techniques or practices, but it was more about networking, and community. I think it made me think differently about what the illustration community really means to me, and it made me realize that we all are trying to do what we love, and we love sharing what we are creating. 

I was able to meet old friends and make many new ones. But I think most of all, it was a motivator. My creative batteries have been recharged, and I feel ready to take on new projects with increased enthusiasm. Because as Zach Franzen mused about some of the art at the show, there is so much art that "displays gratefulness". Gratefulness for beauty, storytelling, and the ability to share them both. That is something to be passionate about!

Please be sure and check out the artists' websites that I linked to above and spread the love!

Morning Warmup

Here's a quick morning warmup sketch from the other day. I've been trying to warm up with my sketchbook every day. Not easy, trust me, but it makes a big difference, because you don't really have to worry too much about the finished product. The point is to have fun and get the creativity flowing.

I've been pretty busy with a few things: I'm working on a book cover for a friend, trying to plan some new personal illustrations (slowly), and also preparing an application for a mentorship with a program called Motivarti. You can check out the program here if you like: motivarti.org

That's all for now, hope to have some more art to share with you all soon!

Winter Explorers

Winter Explorers

pencil & digital

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that you're all finding lots of time to make some great art in 2013. I've been off to a bit of a slow start, but I'm resolved to make 2013 the most productive art year I've ever had. I finished this little painting this afternoon - it was the last drawing I did in 2012 (finished in the final thirty minutes of the year!), and the first painting of 2013. I'm really trying to find my way

in the color world. Drawing is all well and good, but I'm working towards becoming a more 

solid painter as well this year. 

Well, I hope you're all ready to grab your walking stick and head out into the Great Unknown to see what adventures and art we can find. I know I'm ready!

Onward!

P. S. Also, very briefly, I notified the winners of the Hobbit Giveaway around Christmas - Aedan Peterson won first prize - "The Forest Goblin" drawing, and @bigjohnjeep on Twitter won "Riddles in the Dark". Congratulations to the winners, and thanks everyone for entering! I'd love to do a giveaway again soon. I mailed the drawings early this week, so they should arrive soon!

-Will

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all you wonderful blog readers out there a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This is an illustration of a changed Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge and a grateful Tiny Tim that I did for a Christmas card this year. I was pushing it for time, and barely got it sent to the printers in time. But I managed to send several out to friends and family.

Here's a bit of the process I used to create it - I used this project as a chance to

apply what I'd learned from Cory Godbey's "Fox" demo (which I really can't recommend to you enough). I look forward to continuing to explore more digital/traditional techniques in the coming year. Here's a bit of how the project progressed:

 Final drawing, scanned, cleaned up, and levels adjusted.

 Linework adjusted to a warm color, sepia underpainting on the characters.

 Flat color added.

 Adding in some lighter colors.

 Pushing the light and dark colors.

 

Painted texture applied over the characters with a layer mask.

Texture applied over background.

Color balance layer applied over the background, with local color added to the background elements.

And Finished!

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Merry Christmas everybody! Looking forward to sharing some new projects 

with you in the coming year!

Hobbit Giveaway!

Announcing: The one and only Hobbit Giveaway!

 I am giving away two, (yes two!) brand new Hobbit drawings.

How can you win them you say? Well, all you have to do is enter my drawing! Here are the prizes:

Prize number one:

1 (one) "Riddles in the Dark" original drawing - pencil on bristol

8.5x11"

 

 

_______________________

 

 

 

Prize number two:

1 (one) "Forest Goblin" original drawing - pencil on bristol

8x10"

 

 

How to Enter:

 

There are 2 ways to enter. Here they are:

 

1. Leave a comment on this post saying something like "I have got to have one of these drawings" or "I hate these drawings but I just like to win stuff - count me in".

Or to make it easy, you could just tell me your favorite character from The Hobbit.

Make sure your comment profile has an email address, so I can contact you!

 

2. Send me an @mention on Twitter using the hashtag #hobbitgiveaway This way I can see that you want to win something, and all your Twitter friends will know that you are an official member of the Drawing the Sword Fan Club.

 

The drawing will end on Friday, December 21st 2012 at 11:59PM!

 

When I finally drag myself out of bed on Saturday, I'll select 2 winners. The first winner will be contacted via email, and they will get to choose their drawing. Then I'll contact the next winner, and they will get the last one. If the first winner does not respond within 12 hours, I'll move on to the next winner.

 

Good luck! And I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Riddles in the Dark

 

Riddles in the Dark

pencil on bristol 8.5 x 11"

"Now he drew it out. It shone pale and dim before his eyes.

'So it is an elvish blade too,' he thought; 'and goblins are not very near,

and yet not far enough.' ...

 Now Bilbo was in what is called a tight place." 

Drawing number two in my Hobbit series. Hope you like it. I think I'm getting a little better at this drawing business. I still think I fuss over a great deal too many things that don't need to be fussed over, and ignore quite a few things that need desperate attention. Ah, well. I shall keep pressing on. Until next time, here is an excellent video of J.R.R. Tolkien himself, talking about his Lord of the Rings trilogy (and Hobbits too if I remember correctly. Watch for the 1960's college kids talking about what a Hobbit is, and the red-headed girl who rambles on about the story. You'll know what I mean, you can't miss it. Enjoy! And stay tuned - next week, I'll announce the BIG GIVEAWAY. Don't miss it!

Part 1:

Part 2:

Hobbit Month!

"Forest Goblin"

8.5 x 11" pencil on bristol. 2012

In approximately 26 days, Peter Jackson will release to the world his vision of Tolkien's first tale, The Hobbit. I am very excited to see this interpretation (as well as its two proposed sequels), but like many other artists, I have found myself wanting to get down on paper my own unique perspective on the story. For me, the book has a fairy-tale quality that is not seen in the Rings trilogy, and somewhat unfortunately, a quality that I fear will be missing from the film. It is a bit more rosy, full of rich imagery of smoke, firelight, laughter, hearty meals, wine, ale, coffee, seed cakes, maps, keys, gold, dragons, treasure, caves, secrets, and mountains. When I read "the pines were roaring on the heights" in Thorin's song in the opening of the book, I can directly relate that to my own experience with pines in a fierce wind, and it gives me chills. Tolkien & I have experienced the same thing, only in different places and times. So his tale instantly makes an impression on me.

Well, enough of me talking in intellectual circles. I hereby declare the next 26 days to be Hobbit Month here on Drawing the Sword. I'll be posting as many Hobbity sketches and drawings as I can in the next several weeks in anticipation of the film, and in celebration of J.R.R. Tolkien's wonderful little tale.

And as an added bonus, toward the end of this 26-ish days, I'll be hosting a Hobbit Giveaway. I'll be giving away one (or maybe more) original sketches to a random winner. More details on that later! Also, if you'd like to join me in doing your own Hobbit-related drawings or artworks, let me know because I'd love to see what you're up to. And if you wouldn't mind sending me a link, I'll feature you here on the blog in a post!

That's all for now! Happy drawing and check back soon for more!

-Will   

The Illustrator Grows Slowly as a Tree

Great Horned Owl

Prismacolor brown pencil on toned charcoal paper

Hello all. I am here to bring you an update from the frontier! The wild uncharted moors of Illustration Land! It is here that I, the intrepid illustrator, have fought many foes to create images that will inspire and uplift! However, in the recent weeks I have been in a slimy bog known as LIFE. Yes, my friends. It takes hold of you, and drags you away from your paper and pencils and paints and computers. It makes you work hard every day at a job that pays your bills but has nothing to do with making pretty pictures! It makes you sleep for a very long time. It makes you walk around in a groggy stupor saying: where am I? I am not an illustrator. I have never been one. 

And then, to your great astonishment, a large kneaded eraser hits you on the head, and something pops inside of you. You remember that you were made to make art, and you will stop at NOTHING to make more of it. The bog will not hold you! You reach! You Pull! You FIGHT! You shake off the mud, and start running across the moor - anywhere! You must find your work again! You must find some blue sky! You - run right into the phosphorescent Hound of the Baskervilles. GAME OVER.

Yes, friends this is me. The recent weeks have not been kind. Some of you have gone on to read more interesting art blogs. Some of you are ready to tie me to a stake and flail me for not finishing INKtober. Some of you do not care. That is fine. I will now continue to make art. And maybe even some great art. I want to make pictures for people to enjoy. And I will. So stay tuned. I HEREBY RESOLVE that I will make many more pictures, and put many more here. I want this week to be full of blog posts (hopfully not as dull as this). So prepare yourselves for what is to come!

NOW. Enough of this silliness, and on to some IMPORTANT things.

#1. The Lamp Post Guild

Please help fund The Lamp Post Guild! It's an exciting new learning platform that will teach professional art skills to ANYONE. That means you! And me! And it's a chance for someone who might not be able to afford art school to learn that they can make a living doing Illustration. And it's taught by my 3 favorite illustrators: Justin Gerard, Cory Godbey, and Chris Koelle! WIN.
The project is fully funded, but there are only 56 hours left in the Kickstarter as of this post, so you can still help out and fund some exciting stretch goals, like some new classes to be added to the list! I was the first one to back the project when it went live in October (pats self on back), so I've been taking it very seriously! Thanks in advance for helping out, and even if you can't back it, be sure and check out the courses. If you're even remotely interested in improving your illustration skills then these are most certainly the classes for you.

#2. Fox Demo by Cory Godbey!

     I wanted to quickly turn your attention to a video that I purchased this past weekend (and watched all last weekend). This is Fox, by Cory Godbey, a 1 hour video demo of Cory's digital coloring process that he recently made available on his new digital shop on his blog, lightnightrains. I am not being paid to say this, but let me say it's the best $30 I've spent in a long time. The video is extremely well done, and it's very easy to follow. I have seen Photoshop demos in the past that were insanely confusing (partly because they were so sped up, and partly because the commentary was terrible). NOT SO with Fox. Cory very kindly explains his process, things he finds useful, and encourages you to experiment with what works for you. I think that you will be highly rewarded, as I have for checking this video out. It just might change your approach to how you illustrate. 

And that's all for now. I'll be back very soon.

-Will   

Inktober Day 22

A daring rescue is made by the members of the Victorian Explorer Society!

(And with the help of some flying friends of course.)

The pirates scatter in confusion, trying to defend their ship.

Inktober Day 21

This poor young lady was a member of another expedition to find the Lost Relic. But when she was captured by the Sky Pirates to interpret their map to the location of the Relic, she refused to help them. Of course, they didn't appreciate this very much, so they decided they didn't really need her help after all. This means a very nasty fall for our poor heroine. I hope someone will come along quickly to rescue her.*

*Someone probably will, I imagine.

Inktober Day 20

My! What a lot of little rooms are hidden in that mountain. It must be a secret hideout.

Pirates love hideouts and secrets, so this is pretty much every pirate's dream.

Well, every SKY pirate's dream, that is.

But oh! Wasn't someone about to walk the plank last time? 

Let's hurry and find out what's going on!

Inktober Day 19

 

PIRATES!

And it looks as though someone is about to walk the plank - but no watery grave for them. Something far worse. And what a strange little triangular doorway there below the anchor.

Perhaps next time we will see just what is in that door.

And soon we will see what the fate of the poor soul on the plank will be...