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!

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   

#135 Mollie Greene's Make & Do Holiday Giveaway!

I love a good giveaway!
So I really want to tell all ye good folks about Mollie Greene's amazing paper work, and her cool new book which she is giving away on her blog here: molliegreene.com I love anything that re-purposes vintage paper into cool stuff that you can enjoy. So enter the giveaway and spread the Christmas Cheer! And thanks so much Mollie for this sweet giveaway!

About Make & Do:

Released in September 2011, Mollie Greene's paper craft book Make & Do: Paper Fascinations for Every Lovely Occasion includes tutorials for old Royal Buffet favorites and new soon-to-be Royal Buffet favorites, Mollie's best pointers for working with paper, and fabulous photography that walks you through each step of the way. A perfect gift for yourself or for anyone who can handle scissors.

Links:
http://molliegreene.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/royalbuffet?ref=top_trail

#132 IT'S COMING!

HERE'S WHAT I'M WAITING ON TO COME IN THE MAIL. GET YOURS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!

Justin Gerard Sketchbook 2011 (Get it Here)

#118 Gandalf Virtual Birthday Cake

Get your own! | More Flash Toys from TheoWorlds.com

Muddy Colors, a fine art blog with multiple contributors of great artistic caliber, has turned one year old today. They are hosting a giveaway in which you decorate a virtual cake, and then possibly win a cool prize. I decided to do Gandalf. Hope you like it, and I'm sorry, but no, you cannot lick the beaters.

#065 Jake Parker's 2010 Missile Mouse Giveaway

You need it. I need it. Everyone needs it! It's the 2010 Missile Mouse giveaway from Jake Parker!
Jake draws the amazing Missile Mouse, a space-traveling super-agent who stars in a his own brand new episode: MISSILE MOUSE: RESCUE ON TANKIUM3!! You can win this plus a ton of other cool cargo. Just check out how to enter over at Jake's blog, Agent44. Good luck!

#061 Performance

Here's a great little short film by Graham Annable to get you in a spooky mood!
I love this little duo, and I think they should get a manager and start touring together.

#052 Three Webcomics That Your Eyeballs Will Love

Today I thought I would highlight three webcomics that I have been enjoying the last few months that are definitely worth your eyeballs' undivided attention. So without further ado, here they are:

1. BIT AND RUN by Cory Godbey.
If you're a Mario, Zelda or Pokémon fan, you will definitely be in love with Bit and Run. A tribute to all things Nintendo, Bit and Run is now in its second "season", being written and published by Greenville, SC illustrator Cory Godbey on his blog, light night rains. While I'm not generally known as an avid gamer, I have been known to play my share of Kong on an old GameBoy Color, and the comic really captures the feeling of 8-bit color, characters, and environments of Nintendo. Cory has also stepped up the scope, color and humor of the series, which makes it all the more fun!

2. OH, BROTHER! by Bob Weber, Jr and Jay Stephens.

Bob Weber Jr. has been one of my favorite cartoonists since I was a kid, and now he has created a new strip called Oh, Brother! While this strip is being published in the papers, it does have its own website where you can subscribe to the strip, so technically it's a webcomic. The strip focuses on Bud and Lily, a brother and sister who just do kid stuff. Usually Bud gets on Lily's nerves, but they still love each other when it's all said and done. What I love about Weber's style is his simple line work, humor, and layouts. This strip feels like a classic, and I hope it becomes one.

3. COPPER by Kazu Kibuishi
I honestly can't tell you what the setting of Kazu Kibuishi's Copper is, but I do know that one look at these trippy, colorful animated pages, and you will be hooked. Each Copper installment is a whole page devoted to the adventures of Copper and his dog Fred. It seems as though the duo is nomadic; they are never in the same place twice. They explore forests, waterfalls, cities, flying machines, and all kinds of fantastic things. The best part is just getting to pore over page after page of Kibuishi's artwork. It is wonderful, and if you're interested, his site also includes a step-by-step explanation of how he creates his Copper pages. It's a gold mine!

So: go out and read some comics!!

#047 These People Create: Tycho

Scott Hansen is back in the studio...

You may remember a post I did several months ago about the amazing design powerhouse ISO50, headed up by designer Scott Hansen. What you may not realize is that Hansen also fronts a band named Tycho. The band, which is signed on the Ghostly International label (Phantogram, christopher willits, Choir of Young Believers), has a distinctive sound, using warm synth tones, sampled vocals, acoustic guitars, all painted onto a warm bed of softly crackling analog tape noise. The sound has been compared to that of Boards of Canada, but to me Tycho feels much warmer and friendly than starker electronica music.

But the great news is that the band is back in the studio working on brand new batch of songs that could come out in early 2011. Hansen mentioned in a blog post about the new album's progress that he recently came out of an extended period of songwriting, in which he developed a few album's worth of material. Now he says that "the past couple months have been the most productive of my musical life". Needless to say, I am eagerly anticipating this release, and am confident that my expectations will definitely be exceeded.

See the progress post with more pictures and a detailed report of what's going on here at ISO50's blog.

#037 These People Create: Cédric Delsaux

It seems that the universe is getting smaller all the time... and here's proof.
I recently stumbled onto the amazing work of Cédric Delsaux via ISO50's blog (read a previous post about them here), and needless to say this stellar project is beautiful, mysterious, humorous and terrifying all at once. The seamless way Delsaux blends the vehicles and characters of Star Wars with real world photography from photo shoots in France, Dubai, and elsewhere is no less than stunning. Although I don't know much about his process, I am %99.99 sure that Photoshop is involved, with maybe a little Maya, Lightwave, or Modo 3D modeling software thrown in. But what really sells these photos is the sense of realism, and a phenomenally original and creative idea, which seems to have served Delsaux well.

Posted above are a few of my favorites. Lord Vader looks particularly stunning and Gothic beneath those imposing European windows. The good old Millennium Falcon is more spry than ever. Jango Fett is about to make an arrest in the headlights of a Citroen.
And the last photo just really sends shivers down my spine. Let's just say if you ever see this in real life, you're in big, big, big trouble.

Visit Cédric Delsaux at his website here.

#035 These People Create: N. C. Wyeth

I have long considered N. C. Wyeth to be one of my inspirations, but until yesterday I never realized the magnitude of his work. Working on a discussion for my class, I stumbled upon the official Catalogue Raisonné website that features virtually every painting, drawing and illustration done by this amazing artist. The most interesting to me were the various magazine illustrations done for publications such as Ladies Home Journal, and Progressive Farmer. These were fascinating and covered a wide range of genres & periods. Another surprise was the numerous Bible stories illustrated by Wyeth, which were very unique in their concept and rendering.

It seems to me that Wyeth's work resembles the work of Dutch masters in color and the treatment of light. It was so insightful to see some of his work other than the famous Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Pilgrim paintings that he did. Discovering this diverse and lively portfolio was like opening a treasure box, and it gave me a fresh motivation to be active in understanding light, color, composition & figure. I would be honored to follow in the footsteps of such a patriarch of modern illustration.

_____________________________
Above:

N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
The man with the hatful of cards picked a hand out of his reserves, put the hat on his head and raised Bill a hundred. Bill came back with a raise of two hundred, and as the other covered it he shoved a pistol into his face observing: "I'm calling the hand that is in your hat."
1916
Oil on canvas, 32 x 40 in. (81.2 x 101.5 cm)
Private collection

N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
Marget was cheerful by help of Wilhelm Meidling
1916
Oil on canvas, 40 x 32 in. (101.5 x 81.2 cm)
Private collection

N. C. Wyeth (1882-1945)
There she was, the Dancing Bess , holding a taut bowline to the eastward. And there were the two frigates, but they might as well have been chasing a star.
1911
Oil on canvas, 45 1/2 x 37 1/2 in. (115.5 x 95.2 cm)
Location unknown

Please visit the N. C. Wyeth Catalogue Raisonné and click "Catalogue Search".

#031 A Winner Every Time!

I just checked my email and was pleasantly surprised by a message from Jake Parker of Agent44.com... I won the Missile Mouse 2009 Giveaway!

Here's what I've won:

1) A signed hardcover copy of Missile Mouse: the Star Crusher.

2) A signed copy of Flight Explorer.

3) A signed print of the cover art for Flight Explorer (13 x 19 in).

4) The original inked art for the back cover to the Star Crusher (11 x 14 in).

Thanks again so much Jake, and I will definitely be loitering around the mailbox for the next few days!

___________________________________

In other news I've just started a new job, which will probably be consuming most of my time before school starts (especially since I'm working 2nd shift - yawn -), so there may not be too many posts for a while, but I'll keep you informed.

Coming Soon (or maybe Later): What I Got for Christmas and What's on My iPod 2010.

#028 These People Create: ISO50

This fantastic graphic design has been magically crafted by San Francisco's Scott Hansen. I could hardly catch my breath when looking through his electrifying portfolio and his amazingly gorgeous website (I might say here that too often portfolio sites are poorly managed, but here I was pleasantly surprised).

The ever-informative and inspiring GrainEdit featured an interview with Hansen on their blog, and I was struck by the effortless way his work shifts in to the vintage realm without seeming outdated. His use and love for 1970's era Swedish typography, the slightly distressed appearance of vintage photos and stunning linework make his posters, prints and design irresistible.

One of the most interesting things about this multi-faceted designer is that he creates music on vintage recording equipment. Using synthesizers, tape recorders, and acoustic guitars, he sculpts beautiful electronica music that has a welcoming warmth to it that many artists of the genre reject in favor of cold, harsh, computer noise. He then presses these recordings onto 45's, as well as MP3's, creates sumptuous cover art, and then sells them on his website under the name Tycho.
Will somebody please, please, please get me an introduction? I would scrub toilets for this guy for 50 cents a week if it meant I could spend time in his studio.

______________________

You can read the full interview at GrainEdit here, and you absolutely must see Scott Hansen's ISO50 website which is here. Sit back, and be amazed.

#017 King Ottokar's Sceptre

This is my beloved copy of King Ottokar's Scepter by Hergé in his Adventures of Tintin series. It is the first Tintin book that I had ever seen. My mom bought it for me when I was about seven or eight, and I loved it. I devoured the story, and of course the pictures. As a kid, I never really read comic books (and still don't as a general rule). But the Tintin albums were different than just comics, they were realistic, and far more adventurous than superhero stories. The vehicles, clothes and places were drawn from real life.
These days my Tintin collection has grown to include about eight or nine different albums, and a pane of commemorative stamps from Belgium. I hope to someday create graphic novels that draw from that same vein of realism and drama. Sequential art is definitely an acquired skill. In its finest form it's more like watching a movie on paper. And Hergé certainly mastered that.

#016 Tintin Inked Panels

These are uncolored ink panels from King Ottokar's Sceptre one of the Tintin books by Belgian artist Hergé. I love his artwork, but this is the first time I have seen the bare inkwork. His lines are so precise and fine. What great stories! I found the link to these over at Agent44. Check out the brand-new Inktober book while you're there! I have got to get a copy...

#014 The Lepidopter

Last night I discovered a very beautiful painting by James Gurney of Dinotopia fame. It is an amazing painting blending imagination & realism so well that you can feel this Lepidopter taking off into the night sky. With you in it!
As anyone who knows me well can attest, I have been a big fan of Mr. Gurney's work since I was very young. I was thrilled when he left me with the kind encouragement that follows on his blog:

Thank you very much Mr. Gurney. I'll certainly try. (Spectrum is an annual album of imaginative art that features artists' work from all around the world).
Go to http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com to see more great art like this, and to get a peppy dose of artistic instruction and inspiration.