12/31/11
Ann
A quick post of a drawing I recently did for my father in law of his mother Ann. I found this great picture of her and thought it would look pretty cool as a drawing.
10/23/11
Virgo GC Reference
Here are the references I gathered for the book cover
The first thing I gather are references for the cave drawing because it is going to be a prehistoric sort of drawing I dont need any real poses just a general idea of the things and what they look like so I just do google searches for the elements.
Just a general reference to the overall pose, wanted to basically see the position of the knees and feet
Grabbed this for the position of the arms
Grabbed this for the style and roughness of the cave drawing and the lines, ended up using less of the line quality and more of the color palette
DNA
The Sombrero Galaxy.
Astrological symbol for Virgo, which wasnt a part of the authors original sketch but I thought it would add a certain something.
The next thing I start collecting is references for rocks. Basically I am looking for a real jagged style of rock, with nice cuts and breaks. I am basically just thinking jagged. I got these from a mall as I was walking through I saw the rocks and started taking pictures of them.
Love these planes, you can see I use them in the rocky part near the character on the cover.
I also wanted to get an idea of how light interacts with the rock, how far away the light falls off, how the color degrades the further away. I also was not sure at this point what kind of light source he was using. I figured it was a torch but I thought it could also be a whiter light, so I grabbed a few of those references too.
For the torch references I used candles
I also wanted to get reference for the back cover in case she decided she wanted that done. The idea was that multiple people were walking into the cave and each holding a light.
The last reference I gather is the actual pose. I tend to pose myself more often then not when I dont need a face reference. I know what I see in my head as far as how I want the body to look, and I dont know if I could really communicate that to a model. Especially one that isnt getting payed.
I knew from my sketches how I wanted the body to basically be, but what was most important was how the light played off my back. Each of these poses were used for different parts of the final character.
This was utilized mostly for the hair light. This was not something I was going to use at first but after I had turned my digital piece in the author asked if I could give the guy long hair. So this was the reference I used most to get the idea of how the light would be hitting the side of my head.
This pose used for the left side of the body
This was for the hand on the wall and the shadow cast
Overall pose and basic lighting, I also liked the position of the fingers more in this one on the right hand.
This one I used for the color, I thought it felt most like what an open flame would be doing to a body and its color.
And this last pose for the lighting on the left shoulder and the triangle of spilled light on the trap.
The first thing I gather are references for the cave drawing because it is going to be a prehistoric sort of drawing I dont need any real poses just a general idea of the things and what they look like so I just do google searches for the elements.
Just a general reference to the overall pose, wanted to basically see the position of the knees and feet
Grabbed this for the position of the arms
Grabbed this for the style and roughness of the cave drawing and the lines, ended up using less of the line quality and more of the color palette
DNA
The Sombrero Galaxy.
Astrological symbol for Virgo, which wasnt a part of the authors original sketch but I thought it would add a certain something.
The next thing I start collecting is references for rocks. Basically I am looking for a real jagged style of rock, with nice cuts and breaks. I am basically just thinking jagged. I got these from a mall as I was walking through I saw the rocks and started taking pictures of them.
Love these planes, you can see I use them in the rocky part near the character on the cover.
I also wanted to get an idea of how light interacts with the rock, how far away the light falls off, how the color degrades the further away. I also was not sure at this point what kind of light source he was using. I figured it was a torch but I thought it could also be a whiter light, so I grabbed a few of those references too.
For the torch references I used candles
I also wanted to get reference for the back cover in case she decided she wanted that done. The idea was that multiple people were walking into the cave and each holding a light.
The last reference I gather is the actual pose. I tend to pose myself more often then not when I dont need a face reference. I know what I see in my head as far as how I want the body to look, and I dont know if I could really communicate that to a model. Especially one that isnt getting payed.
I knew from my sketches how I wanted the body to basically be, but what was most important was how the light played off my back. Each of these poses were used for different parts of the final character.
This was utilized mostly for the hair light. This was not something I was going to use at first but after I had turned my digital piece in the author asked if I could give the guy long hair. So this was the reference I used most to get the idea of how the light would be hitting the side of my head.
This pose used for the left side of the body
This was for the hand on the wall and the shadow cast
Overall pose and basic lighting, I also liked the position of the fingers more in this one on the right hand.
This one I used for the color, I thought it felt most like what an open flame would be doing to a body and its color.
And this last pose for the lighting on the left shoulder and the triangle of spilled light on the trap.
10/4/11
Process Virgo G C Sketches
Just wanted to go through the steps that I took with the book cover to get to the final imagery. I love to see the whole project from start to finish. For me it is almost as fun to see the journey than the final piece... well that is not really true, I guess knowing the journey makes me appreciate the final result even more than I already do.
So here it is a look at the beginning through to the end of the book cover design process for Virgo G C
Authors Initial idea of book cover. She wanted a plain solid background with pencil sketches made to look sort of like cave drawings. You can see she had an idea for this woman being surrounded by planets and DNA.
During that first meeting I asked her about the story and asked if there was actually a cave where people saw these cave drawings, and she informed me there was. So I suggested we actually go ahead and depict a scene. I also thought that having a cover done in pencil, while could work for some things, didnt really seem right to me. I felt like of all the genres Fantasy and Sci-fi books are probably the most judged on the covers look. If it does not have an exciting looking cover, it is more apt to be passed over for something else... with say mice with swords or something on fire.
These are my initial sketches.
You can see that in this one the cave is very cavernous, and the people fairly generic "scientist" people. I also spelled the name of the book wrong. Classy! I wanted the cave to appear massive and include other small cave drawings on the walls.
First Front Cover Sketch
although Cynthia never asked for a back cover I figured I would do one just because. In the end she decided to not utilize the back cover, but I include it because it goes along with the initial sketch above.
This sketch focuses in on a smaller moment in action, and is between just a single man (wearing some sort of space suit) and the drawing. In this sketch, the cave drawing is far smaller than the one in the cover I first sketched. He also carries some sort of lantern.
This sketch focuses in even closer and it was suppose to be like he was tracing the lines or something. My friend scott informed me it looked like he was touching her in a naughty place. I guess this is why you do sketches right?
This sketch leaves the people out of it completely and focuses more on what the author had originally wanted, but still maintains the idea that it is a cave wall, and therefore retains that illustrative quality.
A different look at the action. I really liked this one. I felt it would be cool to see a deep space with the cave drawing massive again and illuminated, and then having these pools of light seeping in from the top of the cave, maybe through cracks or something. I was also thinking that it would be cool to see the men with whatever color of light their suits gave off dotting the cave to further push back the depth of that space.
This is a more constructed look at the above shot and how the perspective would look. I did two just to show the atmosphere and mood I would be going for, but in that sketch it was sort of hard to see my intentions on how the whole scene was being laid out.
I also am spelling the name correctly!
So I sent the above sketches off to the author to see what she thought and to sort of pick the one she was most pleased with. My favorites were the first and the last. However she really liked the one with a single guy encountering the drawing. Little did I know that when I asked her if people find this cave and this drawing and she said yes, she was only referring to one person. So the compositions that I really liked would not have worked with just a single character on the page in the state that they were in. So luckily I had included a single person.
So after she chose that sketch It was time to start doing a more detailed sketch of the scene.
Of the more detailed sketches these were the ones I came up with. This first one is more wide and includes more of the environment.
While this one is a little tighter.
So after I send the more tonal detailed version off, she ok's it and then I get down to business. Collecting reference for the piece itself. I will post that in the next few days.
So here it is a look at the beginning through to the end of the book cover design process for Virgo G C
Authors Initial idea of book cover. She wanted a plain solid background with pencil sketches made to look sort of like cave drawings. You can see she had an idea for this woman being surrounded by planets and DNA.
During that first meeting I asked her about the story and asked if there was actually a cave where people saw these cave drawings, and she informed me there was. So I suggested we actually go ahead and depict a scene. I also thought that having a cover done in pencil, while could work for some things, didnt really seem right to me. I felt like of all the genres Fantasy and Sci-fi books are probably the most judged on the covers look. If it does not have an exciting looking cover, it is more apt to be passed over for something else... with say mice with swords or something on fire.
These are my initial sketches.
You can see that in this one the cave is very cavernous, and the people fairly generic "scientist" people. I also spelled the name of the book wrong. Classy! I wanted the cave to appear massive and include other small cave drawings on the walls.
First Front Cover Sketch
although Cynthia never asked for a back cover I figured I would do one just because. In the end she decided to not utilize the back cover, but I include it because it goes along with the initial sketch above.
This sketch focuses in on a smaller moment in action, and is between just a single man (wearing some sort of space suit) and the drawing. In this sketch, the cave drawing is far smaller than the one in the cover I first sketched. He also carries some sort of lantern.
This sketch focuses in even closer and it was suppose to be like he was tracing the lines or something. My friend scott informed me it looked like he was touching her in a naughty place. I guess this is why you do sketches right?
This sketch leaves the people out of it completely and focuses more on what the author had originally wanted, but still maintains the idea that it is a cave wall, and therefore retains that illustrative quality.
A different look at the action. I really liked this one. I felt it would be cool to see a deep space with the cave drawing massive again and illuminated, and then having these pools of light seeping in from the top of the cave, maybe through cracks or something. I was also thinking that it would be cool to see the men with whatever color of light their suits gave off dotting the cave to further push back the depth of that space.
This is a more constructed look at the above shot and how the perspective would look. I did two just to show the atmosphere and mood I would be going for, but in that sketch it was sort of hard to see my intentions on how the whole scene was being laid out.
I also am spelling the name correctly!
So I sent the above sketches off to the author to see what she thought and to sort of pick the one she was most pleased with. My favorites were the first and the last. However she really liked the one with a single guy encountering the drawing. Little did I know that when I asked her if people find this cave and this drawing and she said yes, she was only referring to one person. So the compositions that I really liked would not have worked with just a single character on the page in the state that they were in. So luckily I had included a single person.
So after she chose that sketch It was time to start doing a more detailed sketch of the scene.
Of the more detailed sketches these were the ones I came up with. This first one is more wide and includes more of the environment.
While this one is a little tighter.
So after I send the more tonal detailed version off, she ok's it and then I get down to business. Collecting reference for the piece itself. I will post that in the next few days.
9/25/11
Virgo G C
So the book is finally here so I can post the cover.
Virgo G C
oil on canvas board and digital painting 11 x 14
You can order a print version or eBook here
I will have a process post to put up at some point. The whole process was a lot of fun and I hope to do more soon.
Virgo G C
oil on canvas board and digital painting 11 x 14
You can order a print version or eBook here
I will have a process post to put up at some point. The whole process was a lot of fun and I hope to do more soon.
9/2/11
Book Cover
A month back I was contracted to do an Illustration for a Sci-Fi book cover for an author here in Oregon. On Wednesday I met with the author and gave her the finished piece. As soon as it's made available to the public I can link to the book and post pics and stuff. I think it turned out pretty good, and the author liked it a lot.
More info here soon
More info here soon
Oregon State Fair
I forgot to post this but " The city " was accepted in the Oregon States Fair Professional Division. The fair closes September 5th, if you go you should swing by the "Heart of the Garden" and check out the art.
The City
20x16 graphite on arches 88
The City
20x16 graphite on arches 88
7/17/11
Anniversary Present
Yesterday I started painting a picture for my lovely wife Rachel. It turned out pretty good for only spending 5 hours on it.
Rachel and Stein - Oil on Canvas Skin - 11 x 14
close ups
Rachel and Stein - Oil on Canvas Skin - 11 x 14
close ups
NC Wyeth Master Study
First Pend Drawing. I really love to draw in pen! It is so dramatic. I thought this piece by NC Wyeth would be the perfect mood for my master study.
12 x 16 Pen on Bristol
Close up of the dress
more close ups
Actual painting by NC Wyeth...(well not actual painting, its just a jpg)
12 x 16 Pen on Bristol
Close up of the dress
more close ups
Actual painting by NC Wyeth...(well not actual painting, its just a jpg)
Art Dump of Art Firsts (or fists)
These were just laying around so I decided I should post them, they dont deserve their own entry but perhaps all together they deserve some sort of mention. This is mostly a lot of new media stuff I was trying. Well besides the charcoal and oil paintings of fists, but I had yet to do skin tones (and by that I mean skin tones that were half way human, these are at least getting there)
Boom in your face! Oil hands!
This is a gouache painting on yupo paper. Just for the record I HATE YUPO PAPER!!!, I mean maybe I just didnt understand how to use it with gouache, but it drove me crazy the constant smearing of the pigment. I blamed the gouache at first, but I have since tried gouache on normal FRIGGIN paper and I like that a lot. Actually really like how fast gouache is on normal paper, been working on some stuff, hopefully will be done soon!
Charcoal skull, black paper... you know... good times, oh wait no this is colored pencil... my bad.
Encaustics, WHO CARES! I really hated wasting my time on painting with wax, im sure some people can get some really nice stuff out of wax painting, but seriously... what a waste of time, nevermind that they arent very good, but I could have spent those two or three weeks actually painting something or actually learning something with OIL paints or any kind of paint... but WAX? ugh, I should melt them down and maybe I can somehow utilize the board underneath.
good bye encaustics you will never be missed.... ever... I promise
Boom in your face! Oil hands!
This is a gouache painting on yupo paper. Just for the record I HATE YUPO PAPER!!!, I mean maybe I just didnt understand how to use it with gouache, but it drove me crazy the constant smearing of the pigment. I blamed the gouache at first, but I have since tried gouache on normal FRIGGIN paper and I like that a lot. Actually really like how fast gouache is on normal paper, been working on some stuff, hopefully will be done soon!
Charcoal skull, black paper... you know... good times, oh wait no this is colored pencil... my bad.
Encaustics, WHO CARES! I really hated wasting my time on painting with wax, im sure some people can get some really nice stuff out of wax painting, but seriously... what a waste of time, nevermind that they arent very good, but I could have spent those two or three weeks actually painting something or actually learning something with OIL paints or any kind of paint... but WAX? ugh, I should melt them down and maybe I can somehow utilize the board underneath.
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