Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Thanksgiving Story - Illustration Contest

Here's the final collection of entries for the Thanksgiving Contest. Thank you everyone for participating in this contest. Great work.

                                                                         Kristi G.


Yesterday I walked into the kitchen and noticed Liezl and Quincy working on a project together while Ava stood watching, hoping to join in. I asked what they were up to, and Liezl responded by saying they were planning a Thanksgiving play. She was the Indian princess and Quincy was the beautiful pilgrim girl. I asked them if they could include Ava in the play, and they both said she already had an important part. Ava was thrilled to be their turkey and did a terrific job. I am so thankful for my silly girls!!!!

                                                                Nate S.

For about a year now, really it began about when I began this blog, I heard a story that just made me laugh, it was so sweet. My niece heard about the wonderfully magical properties of turkey wishbones and began scheming how she could insure she was able to make the wish and also presure her younger sister to wish for the same thing in case. I wanted to make some story off that idea somehow, about a girl that wants to make a wish or that does and the zany things that follow. So far I've only had ideas on this story, no direct storyline but the girl would have to be a compeling character.

                                                                            Scott W.

I almost didn't have time, but I do have some quick sketches. I have been toying with the idea of vegan twins...my family liked the fat ones the best...the idea for thanksgiving would be that they don't want to eat the turkey, but I'm also toying with the idea of the same twins not wanting to be secret agents - as a short story. Could be fun.

(Sorry Scott, I have attempted to fix the squashing of the picture. I have attempted to repost this and add the image in various ways but it comes out squished horizontally everytime. Great picture though.)

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Illustration / Story Contest: Thanksgiving Adventure

Hey group, let's get going on a quick contest. I want you to do a quick sketch and/or story idea centered around the wonders of Thanksgiving. You can explore the idea as you wish but I want it to center somehow around the famous holiday for food, family, and fun (for most). Have fun with it and don't feel like you have to develop the story or illustration past a rough sketch.

Deadline: Sunday, November 28th at midnight.
(If you send them in to me before Thanksgiving I'll do my best to post them before Thanksgiving as a visual treat to munch on while you're digesting turkey or cranberry sauce.)

Monday, November 8, 2010

Final Book Cover: Book Illustration

Here's what I've received thus far for the final developments of the book cover contests. I've been promised some more entries...well, ha ha...that includes my own final copy. It's all on the way. Keep up the hard work everyone.

 *Edit* Here's another entry that came in a little later.


                                                                           Kristi G.

I am happy with the characters and am feeling more confident in my drawing skills, but once I pull out the paints, I feel like I ruin the piece. I am a little frustrated with my picture - I have the intended look in my mind, but totally failed when trying to put it on paper. The background was not supposed to look that way, I just thought if I filled it with doodles, it would cover the shabby painting job - but I am afraid it just turns out looking way too busy and messy. I know this is a working progress and I am excited to grow and learn more every day. -Kristi




                                                                           Nate S.

I continued with the Tooth Fairy book cover. After thinking about the critiques that were given I decided on the design with the border, somewhat subdued. As for the character in the middle, I am going with the tooth fairy by herself, looking at the tooth…the one in the middle from the last submission. I stayed up too late and I have to get to bed tonight for Biochemistry tomorrow morning at 7 am. I’m still working on this one, specifically with my costume designer (my wife) on exactly what she will end up wearing. It’ll be done soon; I promise. I wanted to see what everyone thought of the border first as I spent a whole day on it. Whew!

*Edit* I added two more pictures above with words to show two diverging ideas on the background, either fading the objects or leaving them in all their boldness. I brought the tooth out to make it stand out better. Let me know if either are working for you. After spending 3 or 4 hours on it last night I gave up on the picture of Nellybug, the tooth fairy for the middle of the picture. I'm going to try it another way.
 

Scott W.


I'm going with the bottle. I wasn't going to at first, but it became a great part of the story idea...and I love flipping the whole situation on its head. Thanks for the suggestion! Sketched in Pencil, rendered in Photoshop.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Illustrator Highlight: Heather Dixon

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing a very talented artist named Heather Dixon that is working with story and illustration. She was kind enough to let me ask her a few questions about her work, background and process. Some contributors to the blog provided some questions, thank you. And I would like to extend a big thank you to Heather; your work is wonderful and we're highlighting it with the intention of inspiring future illustrators, story writers, and other forms applied artists. Below you'll find her responses to our questions and some examples of her work. Please check it out using any of the links below her pictures. (The Poppins pictures on her blog are my favorite.)
                                                                                                     - Nate

You can find her blog here.

What has been your journey in developing your artistic skills, starting from childhood on through educational endeavors? Where did you study?  What did you graduate in?

"I actually wasn’t a very good artist growing up. I was never the best artist in my class, but I enjoyed drawing quite a bit. I feel I never really started to draw and improve until I was accepted by BYU (Brigham Young University) animation at the tender age of 21. I got several internships while I was there, one at 8fish, an advertising studio, then at a feature animation studio, where I was hired after I graduated. Right now I’m working freelance, which is a lot of fun. Even as a professional artist, I still feel I have a lot of catching up to do."

                                                          Artwork by Heather Dixon

What has been your biggest obstacle with your work and how did you overcome it?

"Two answers to that. The first is an ongoing obstacle—fighting artist’s depression, trying to improve my work and become a better craftsman. I’ll never overcome it, but the best way to battle it is to constantly work and improve.

"Less philosophically, the other big obstacle was learning how to do things digitally. I entered the animation program with no idea how to use a computer. I remember staring at a computer screen, at a loss of how to even scan something in. I was pathetic! So you can imagine how enabling it was when I learned, piece by piece, asking friends for tips and doing projects digitally, how to work Photoshop. And then Corel Painter, and then Illustrator. Each new program became easier and easier, and my art turned out better and better. It’s amazing the whole new world that digital opened for me. I felt like I could do anything!"


Do you make a living at writing and illustrating? How do you make your artwork work for you?

"I do! Being a starving artist is great! I’m a terrible business person though, so I don’t have much advice other than: Work hard improving your skills, and the rest will follow."


Work and Process)

What is the creative process you use for your illustrations?

"I gather references first and put them in a project folder. Using them I do a whole bunch of thumbnails, and then I work the composition and sketch from there. After that, I mess with the color and value and work on rendering.

"I’m a fan of “the best at each stage” method, which means I try to get the best ref pictures I can, draw until I have the best thumbnails, the best sketches, etc. Which means it’s really relaxing when I can just open up a canvas and make a quick, raw picture for kicks."


Do work mostly with your computer, or pencil and paper?

"I start out traditionally, doing thumbnails and the basic sketches with a .9mm blue pencil & regular paper. Then, I scan it in and render it in Corel Painter, Photoshop, or Adobe Illustrator. I love doing things digitally. It’s the undo button, I think I’m addicted."


We'd like to know how you think about style: whether you work to push past your emerging style or whether you just let that come naturally. How do you keep your work looking fresh?

"I always try to push myself into learning new styles and trying new things, and trying styles of artists I admire. The first few times I do something new it’s super ugly. Eventually, though, it gets better. I like pushing myself to do new things because it keeps me from feeling boxed in, and it helps me improve quickly."

                                                                Artwork by Heather Dixon

Inspiration)

Where do you find inspiration for your illustration work?

"The Internet! How did we live without it? I am constantly looking up tutorials, artists’ blogs, google image searching. One thing that every artist should do is build a picture file. Find pictures from the artists you love and gather them all together in a resource file. My picture file also has textures, tutorials, screen shots from movies, and links to my favorite blogs."

                                                            Artwork by Heather Dixon

What helps you to release your creativity when you’re having a block? (Or do you never experience blocks in creativity?

"Creative block is my evil shadow. To fend it off, it sometimes helps to take a break and go to the library and look up books, or watch movies with great art, something to inspire me. A lot of times it just means I need to work on a different project, something a little easier & smaller. Sometimes it means I need to relax the art for a little bit, and spend some time with family."

                                                          Artwork by Heather Dixon

What recommendations would you make to others aspiring to add to the world of illustration?

"I’m reminded of Sebastian Gallego’s parting advice to us, the last day of digital painting class. He told us to work hard and be humble, but what really stuck with me was his last advice: 'And remember: be a good person first, and a good artist second. Don’t be like Norman Rockwell, who spent his life in his studio painting happy families scenes and never spent time with his own'.”

For someone who cannot go to school at the present time, what kind of self-teaching approaches would you recommend?

"Learn and teach yourself to improve. Take Internet and library resources and apply them to your artwork. Every morning I get up and spend an hour drawing from anatomy, cartooning, storyboarding books and blogs, then spend 30 minutes on an animation background speedpaint. This has helped me improve fast! It helps after that to analyze what makes the artwork you like appealing, and to bring that appeal into your art.

"Also, try to learn Photoshop. There are lots of tutorials and online help for that, and I think you can download a trial version, too. Photoshop is the foundational building block, and I strongly recommend that every artist learn it."

                                                        Artwork by Heather Dixon

What other artists/illustrators inspired/inspire your journey in illustration?

"Sam Nielson, who taught me how to digital paint http://www.artsammich.blogspot.com/

"Adrian Ropp, who I still learn storyboarding from http://www.toonbaboon.blogspot.com/

"Bryan Beach, who taught me retro style & adobe illustrator http://www.bbeachouse.blogspot.com/

"Kelly Loosli, Ryan Woodward, Kevin Keele, Brittany Lee, Nicolas Marlet, Sebastien Gallego…Some awesome blogs: http://www.animationbackgrounds.blogspot.com/, http://www.todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/, http://www.characterdesign.blogspot.com/ …much too many to list!"

Thank you once again Heather, your work is inspiring.


Sorry for the delay

Fellow contributors, I'm sorry we haven't had the most recent contest entries posted. A small emergency emerged and I'm sorry for getting this delayed. This does mean however if you wanted to email me your book cover final draft I'll extend the deadline through this next weekend. I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused but life demands flexibility sometimes. Please get those in if you haven't yet so far.