Ice Golem vs Barbarian -By Jesper Ejsing

This is a cover for a Paizo Books. I was asked to do a nordic ice-themed Warlock controlling an Ice Golem. They are fighting Amiri The barbarian, an Iconic figure from the Pathfinder universe. I made a lot of different thumbs and submitted 5 that I liked. As always when having multiple figures fighting on the same image, it is really hard to have everyone facing the camera. Sarah Robinson liked all of them but chose the one with Amiri, the female hero, having her face visible. So I started sketching each figure on a different paper. I might have told you why, before, but it bears repetition: By sketching on separate papers, killing your darlings is not that hard. Just take another paper, nothing lost. If I had sketched it all on one I would be tempted to keep a less good figure if the 2 others had turned out great: By separating them I max out my effort on each figure, keeping the pose within the silhouette of the thumb, but going for the best expression I can. The image is divided up into smaller, easier to digest, bites - tasks better overcome by my feeble brain. When they are all done, I copy paste the 3 sketches on to my thumb using photoshop. The sketch of the barbarian girl really turned out great. She was sketches in 30 cm wide even if she is no bigger than a little finger on the original. I had trouble how the shoulders would turn and how the hand would bent in a striking position, so I had Bodil from my studio, pose with a sword.

Final sketched figures pasted in from scans

When the sketch is done I transfer it to paper via a lightbox. When sketching I tried to take the idea a bit further. The thumb had the golem almost running into a sword thrust, the wizard less engaged to the side. The motion of the Golem looked too static and he come of as standing more than movin. Also I really wanted to be sure that you wouldn't read it so that it looked like the barbarian and the warlock are friends fighting an Ice Monster together. So I changed the thrust to a sweep, having the sword tip taking of the tip of his beard and cleaving the staff while continuing into the belly of the Golem. The golem got a more back turned pose reading a strike that would have crushed her, had she not struck first. Also I moved the Warlock up to the side of the golem and changed his pose so that it mimics the golem. that way, I hope, you read it as if he is controlling the Monster. It is the same reason I did not give the golem eyes. He do not need them since the warlock is seeing for him.

I know that all of these ideas might not be clear at all and perhaps you do not see it the same way, but I had all these thoughts in trying to tell a little story within the battle. A thought that is important if you want to make pictures that goes beyond posing figures acting cool.

Sketching Resident Evil -By Mike Butkus

This is a quick step by step on how I went about doing one of the concept sketches for the Resident Evil: Afterlife movie poster one sheet. This eventually became one of the final teasers. After I read the script or creative brief, I work with the Art Directors to come up with some concepts. Here I start off with what I hope is a dynamic composition. Once the thumbnail is approved, I start the final sketch on a 12 x 14 sheet of Duralene using a black Prismacolor pencil and a black Verithin. One of the key factors to getting smooth and creamy lines is to keep ten to fifteen sheets of Duralene underneath. As for erasing, I use a simple number 2 pencil eraser since it doesnt destroy the surface of the Duralene. In this stage I start to define the sketch, focusing on the energy and the action.

Sometimes the Art Directors want to see the drawing fairly flushed out (time permitting), so this is what I would show them. Here the drawing is fairly resolved. Now its just a matter of adding details and values. Remember this will be considered a rough sketch, not a finished drawing.

For this last stage, you can see how the line quality adds to the energy and motion which is sometimes really difficult to achieve through photography. The best thing about this piece is the immediate read. I stick to light, medium and dark values to keep the image graphic and also for the sake of production time. For a project like this, I normally do anywhere from 20 to 40 sketches a week, depending on the complexity.

Painting JANE Greg Manchess This was one of my favorite jobs from last year. A book cover for a modern update on the Tarzan legend that focuses on Jane, for Tor Books. Initially there was some talk about Jane teaching Tarzan how to shoot a bow, so I started with that. On the second set of thumbs, I realized it should be more about Jane, front and center, Tarzan as backup.

Irene Gallo and I discussed it and she was drawn to the last thumbnail. From there, I gathered reference for the jungle and figures, and freehanded this sketch, while studying the reference. I was asked to change the two-piece shes wearing for a one-piece.

They loved it over at the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs, but had a few suggestions. Heres the short list on the sketch: crop Janes hair for more contemporary feel, or pulled up define Tarzan more, but not overly so take out snake as Tarzan hates snakes add square, gold necklace Jane face too Asian, should be more European and...please make her clothing a two-piece.....! Final sketch. I was quite happy with all of the changes. I took out the snake in the finish.

I painted the final and Irene had it designed to give it a bit of an old look. I loved it...pre-stressed cover!

But I noticed a problem: something was wrong with her anatomy now that her hair was off her shoulder. (you can see it above) I thought it was her head, and was about to completely repaint the head all over again, shifting it slightly left, when I showed it to my friend, David Grove. He looked it over slowly, then said, wait...wait...its not the head. Thats a nice head. Its the shoulder....something about-- He pulled out a pencil and some tissue and laid it over the painting. In a few seconds he had reshaped the socket. I instantly saw the problem. Back at the studio, I managed to correct it in about a half hour. Irene loved it. The ERB estate loved it. Tor Marketing did not. They wanted a more contemporary feel for the more contemporary attitude of the book. Despite the great time I had working on it, and my desire to see it published, I saw their point. These things happen. Irene chose my good friend, Mark Summers, to complete the task. Even though we were friends in the middle of competing for the attention, competing in the market at large, and my wanting to drive to Canada to snap all of his scratchboard nibs... he did a superb job. Ultimately, I was glad a friend and great artist got this one. Sometimes, ya just gotta let stuff go. There will be more opportunities down the road.

Making of "Grattis" -By Serge Birault Here's a picture I did for the birthday of my favorite model, Fuchsia Gibson. She's a big fan of SF movies and series ... and unicorns (and cupcakes). The sentence just means "Happy Birthday" in Klingon language. General notes : - I have several photo references but I didn't copy one. - I only use the soft round brush and some Ditlev brushes. - I tried to obtain a more "flat" rendering than usual. The volumes are not right but it was the goal.

Step 1: I put the sketch on a "Multply" type layer. I choose the color of the background and my basic flesh tones. Each part is on a different layer. Step 2 : I start to paint the darkest part of the picture, just to help me to find the good contrast.

Step 3 : I start to pain the first volumes of the face. I use the soft round brush with a low opacity, as usual.

Step 4 : I do some changes on the lights and on my skin palette.

Step 5 : I paint the ear ... I hate pain ears ^^

Step 6 : I start the hair. On another layer, once again.

Step7 : I paint the background. I use different Ditlev brushes.

Step 8 : I fix the eyes.

Step 9 : I start the little Darth hello Kitty Vader with a Star trek uniform. Step 10 : I add details on it.

Step 11 : I paint the flower and the balloon. Step 12 : The flying cupcake.

How to Work with Opacity -By Serge Birault First, why working with opacity ? Well, it's a good and simple way to paint very smooth gradients and blending colors. Of course it's not the only way but if you want to achieve very clean results, I think you have to try this... So what is opacity ? You can adjust the opacity of your brushes and the opacity of your layers, it's the same in every softwares. If you decrease the opacity of your layer, it will become more and more transparent. If the oacity of your layer is equal to zeo, you will no longer see it .... Simple. If you work with a tablet, the opacity will depend on the pressure of the stylus. It's quite impossible to work well with the opacity by this way. Try to NOT USE the stylus sensitivity. Yes, I know, it sounds like hell for a lot of peoples but belive me, it's the good way to proceed. In order to emulate a traditional airbrush, I use the soft round brush most of the time. The soft round brush is a standard brush, you can find it in PS, Painter, The Gimp.

The center of the soft round brush is more opaque than the edges. If I use the soft round brush with 50% of opacity, the opacity of the center of the brush is gonna be equal to 50% and the opacity of the edge is gonna be about 0% (transparent). Simple .

So in order to work properly, you have to keep in mind the center of your brush has to be outside your object.

It could be difficult to do a good gradient with 100% on one stroke. It's easier to decrease the opacity of your brush and to do several strokes.

Choose the size of your brush wisely. On big objects, work with big brush not with a small one ...

With a low opacity, one stroke is not enough ...

With several strokes, it will be good.

If you want to work with opacity, you have to think a little bit differently than usual. Indeed, you cannot paint with a static palette. I mean, you have to think like "I have to add a little bit of red or a little bit of brown to this color". Think like a painter, not like a digital painter ... Don't forget, msot of the time you have to use more than two colors to achieve an interesting gradient. Work with several layers, it's gonna be easier ... _________________________________________________________________________________ Example : Cartoon nose

In this picture, I already created 3 layers. One for the sketch (on the top), one with my basic skin tone and one for my soft round brush strokes. The opacity of the layer of my sketch decreased little by little.

I started with a dark brown with very low opacity, about 10 %.

I added the shadow with a less red brown than the first one (opacity about 10%). Then I painted the brightest part of the nose with a pale yellow (opacity about 10%).

I added the reflective part of the nose with pure white.

A little bit of red to emulate the scattering surface. Work carefully with very satured tones, look at the opacity .... 1% !

The eyedropper is very useful if you want very smooth gradient. Pick the color and do small strokes with very low opacity.

You can work with the opacity of the layers too. If you create several layers for each tones for example, you can adjust all the pat very quickly.

For example, If you want to add a little bit of texture on the skin (and a little bit of red in the same time), you can start with 100 % opacity brush ...

Then decrease the opacity of the layer. Sometimes, it's quicker like this ...

_________________________________________________________________________________ Keep in mind you can work in the same way with the eraser. Depending on the shapes you want to erase, using the soft round brush with opacity with the eraser could be a good solution. I know my method could seem strange but I use it for ... a very long time (*cough*) and I think it's a good way to achieve very smooth results.

Painting Eyes -By Tim Bruckner To help eye placement, try and paint in the eye opposite your dominant hand first. If youre left-handed, paint in the right eye first; if youre right-handed, paint in the left eye first. This method helps overcome a visual bias and makes it easier to match your dominant side to an established eye direction. If youre using reference, youll have a pretty good idea where the iris places in the eye and how much of it is framed by the eyelids, top or bottom or both. If this is a character of your own invention, reference is still a good place to start. Do a Web search for a person or thing that represents what you want your characters eyes to look like, and use that reference as a guide. First, we paint in the white of the eyes. The white of a real, human eye is actually more of an off-white, but working on a small scale, unless youre going for a particular effect, youll want the white of the eye to be truly white, to help the iris read clearly. If youre working on a larger-scale figure (1/6 or larger), then you might want to think about adding a touch of grey or grayed-yellow. Now, it's time to position the iris. To start, it may be a good idea to lightly draw in the irises with a pencil. You can do this on the primed resin, before you paint the white in, and the pencil line will faintly show through the white paint. You can also draw it on after youve painted in the white, but be careful not to scratch off the primer or the paint when you're drawing. A simple but effective way to paint in the iris and pupil goes like this: Establish the darkest part of the iris first. That will be the ring that runs the perimeter of the iris and the shadow under the upper lid. For our example, well use a blue eye to demonstrate our method, but it will work with any iris color combination. So we'll paint the entire iris using a middle blue color with just a touch of white.

Now were going to add more white to that middle blue, to bring the color up lighter by several shades. The color shouldnt be too light, but light enough for there to be a noticeable contrast between it and the first middle blue color. Were now going to paint in this lighter shade, leaving a ring of darker blue around the iris and a shadow line across the top, under the eye lid.

Next, we need to decide where the highlight is going to be placed. Wherever theres a highlight, there's a corresponding refracted light opposite and below it in the iris (if the light direction comes from above) For our example, weve decided the highlight will be on the upper right of the eye, just under the eyelid, so well mix a little more white into our second middle blue color and paint a refracted light onto the bottom left of the iris, inside the darker ring. So, the iris is made up of three colors. Now it's time to paint in the devilish, mischievous pupil. Starting on the eye opposite our dominant hand, we paint in the pupil with black. The size of the pupil can indicate character. A large pupil can denote innocence and openness. A small pupil can indicate a menacing or closed character. Your call. The trick is to get both pupils in the same place in both eyes. If they go a little oval-shaped or end up not exactly where you want them, you can use a little of the middle blue paints to make the correction. Okay, youve got the pupils where you want them. Now it's time for the highlights. Youve got a couple of ways to do this: You

can take a little white paint and use your brush to point it into place on the eye, trying to paint onto both the pupil and the iris, or you can mix up a little light grey, put that in place and then place a dot of white inside the grey, essentially outlining the white highlight with a little light grey ring. Its a subtle effect, and it works well in some applications.

Let's say your character is looking off to the side. Which side doesnt matter, just off to the side, maybe pensively or intently. Youve worked and worked hard to make sure that both irises are perfectly matched, one to the other, and your character still looks a little cross-eyed. Whats the dang deal?! Well, the dang deal is this: If your character is looking off to the right side, the iris of the right eye is placed in the far right corner of that eye. Placing the left iris in the corner of the left eye, jammed up against that left eye's tear duct, will result in that cross-eyed look, even though both irises are evenly matched. Partly, this has to do with the amount of white visible in each eye. The more open part of the eye is from the tear duct side, so the right eye has more white visible from the tear duct to the outside edge of the iris. The left eye's iris has the disadvantage of occupying the more open part of the eye, while the white is over in the narrow corner. You can test this by penciling in both irises, making sure they're evenly spaced. With both eyes showing, the character looks cross-eyed; cover the left eye, and things look fine. By moving the left iris out of the corner a little and creating a little white space between the edge of the iris and the tear duct, the characters gaze looks right.

With the eye painted, we go back in with the flesh color and paint in the lower lid being careful not to paint onto the white of the eye. Adding a little light brown to our flesh color, we create a shadow tone that well paint above the eye and a little below to add a bit more drama to the eye. With the shadow in place, we VERY carefully paint in the top and bottom eyelash line. When painting in a very tight detail, the paint should be just a tad more fluid to aid in paint flow. A slightly dryer paint will result in the paint skipping across the surface as opposed to laying down a smooth, even line.

Next, well create a slightly darker shadow color using a bit more light brown and a hint of black and paint it above the eye and out toward the outside of the eye, blending as we go to create a little more drama. Lastly, we paint in the eyebrow.

To finish the job, well paint in a cheek blush and lip color. Mask-paint in the chrome color, lay in the basic hair color and use dry-brushing and highlights for a sheen effect. Lastly, well satin varnish the hair and add a high gloss varnish to the eyes and lips. And shes done!

"Presearch" Part 1 of 3

Amazing Spider-Man #638, Cover. 2010. Watercolor and gouache on Illustration Board, 11 x 17". Part 1: Why do we need reference? Refining searches through specificity Today begins a 3-part post on "referential" advice. I will include a smattering of links that some of you may find useful, but my main purpose is to convey my thought process in particular, the way in which I increase the depth of my knowledge pool (despite starting at the shallow end). One of the key elements in nearly every image I create is reference, photographic or otherwise. Even those images that require no direct quotations benefit from previous memories, whether consciously cited or not. Aside from my weekly exhibition of embarrassing photos, it is a subject I frequently talk about, often because I am asked, but also because I think it speaks to some larger themes in my work and creative process. On a purely conceptual level, reference (of any kind) is all about knowledge; it informs us so that we, as comic book artists (illustrators, cartoonists, whatever), can inform our readers. Ideally, this is done so smoothly, so unobtrusively, that the richness of detail in subject and setting enters the reader's mind without conscious consideration, submitting focus to the narrative while simultaneously supporting it.

Amazing Spider-Man #590, Cover (Wolverines Playing Poker).2009. Acrylic and gouache on bristol board, 11 x 17". This quest for reference reveals something about the basic structure of our minds. Anyone who has made an attempt to create a representational image of any subject will quickly realize that our natural talents lie in recognition, not reproduction. While I believe the former is an instinctual capability, the latter can, through attention to detail (and years of practice), be honed to a comparable, if not equivalent level. Most of us can, from our earliest years, recognize familiar faces (though not all of us), and yet portraiture is consistently regarded as one of the more difficult disciplines within representational art. But why is that? Because we can all tell if the artist got it wrong. This is why phrases like "a good likeness" came into existence. Broadly speaking, this suggests that inside each of our brains is a catalog of 3-dimensional models with which to compare and contrast the faces that we see. Unfortunately, that information can be difficult to access. Have you ever tried to draw someone from memory? It can certainly be done (and practice helps), but my point is that nearly everyone comes with the facial recognition "software" preinstalled. no one would be able to tell one from another. I use the example of faces because we are so incredibly sensitive to them, but I think the same mental process (admittedly inexplicable) applies to just about everything in the visible world. You may be able to recognize a plethora of different vehicles, but drawing them is another challenge altogether. As representational artists, this is our central challenge. Our audience knows when we don't know. If this were not true, then we wouldn't have popular artists Young Allies, Page 13, Panel 3. 2009.Ink on Marvel board, 11 x 17.25". Reference Used

I bought a few new toys to help me with the Young Allies issue, a motorcycle and a Thompson sub-machine gun among them. I always prefer a 3D model (real or computer generated) to photographs. It's especially nice when they're small enough to hold in one hand and draw with the other (the gun is 1:6 scale and the bike is 1:18). I use these in conjunction with on-line photo reference for smaller details or, in this case, to add a sidecar. A tangible model also gives me something on which to anchor my point of view, as in the panel to the right, which I posted previously. Once I've got a motorcycle in front of me, it's easier to imagine the people interacting with it and the environment in which they exist.

Because of this imbalance, those of us in the image-making business must reinforce our work with research in order to make a convincing reproduction of the world around us, regardless of our particular style's proximity to reality. Individual style can, of course, dictate the type of reference needed I take different photos for a painting than I would for a line drawing but even the most abstract representation can benefit from real-world, visual anchors.

So now that we have some basic idea of why we need reference, how do we go about getting it? For me (no surprises here), the search usually begins on-line with an appeal to Google Images. Most of you are probably quite familiar with this resource by now (I've been using it for well over a decade), but what I'd like to share are some of the key strategies that help me to find the best kind of reference for the task at hand. The world wide web, since its inception, has been a text-based information system. It has come a long way over the course of its life, its visual literacy improving with time, but symbols and syntax are still at its heart. In order to search for images effectively, we must take this into account by tailoring our queries to that language. Sometimes this means researching a subject beforethe image search even takes place what I call "presearch." Mythos: Captain America, Page 15, Panel 1. 2008. Gouache and acrylic on bristol board, 11 x 17". Reference Used

I had always wanted this panel to be part of a double-page spread, extending out to the left to display the vastness of the Allied Powers' invasion of Normandy, but we had limited space and I had already extended one page (the Avengers spread) into two. Most of the reference for this composition came from the WWII books and various images found on-line. The photos below were mostly taken for general lighting and gesture, so I didn't follow them all too closely. Although one of the maquettes is supposed to be Peter Parker, the features are generic enough to pass for a young Bucky Barnes.
If you're designing costumes, establishing the technical names for clothing and accoutrements will vastly improve any search. For example, most people refer to Captain America's armor as chain mail, but you'll be far more likely to find the appropriate plating and pattern if you search for scale armor (or lorica plumata (or lorica squamata)). By getting to know your subject, even superficially through Wikipedia articles, you'll be able to target your search with greater accuracy. Not limited to clothing, this applies to architecture,vehicles, weapons, appliances, tools virtually anything. Most avenues of human endeavor demand increasingly specific nomenclature so as to match the depth of study. Use that propensity to your advantage. (I should also note that what I'm usually aiming for is not strict historical accuracy; rather, it's the "feel" or "spirit" of a particular era or genre that I'm trying to emulate.)

<- final Color study pencil study Here I am posing as Patroclus... posing as Achilles. Is your mind blown? This cover, the sixth in the series, was eventually used as the cover to the collection, both hardcover and trade paperback, including a quaint, digest-sized edition. The costumes and shields of the background soldiers were largely based on The Complete Costume History, a huge book that I've used only once, but is so cool to look through.

A convenient consequence of this strategy is that you'll find people who actually know what they're talking about! There are thousands (if not millions) of internet-savvy people across the planet who are more than willing to share their expertise in a given subject. Some of the most helpful are reeanactors, such as The Greek Warriors, who not only go to exhaustive efforts to fabricate authentic costumes and props, but also document their work and any events in which they participate. What more could you ask for? Perhaps a trireme instead of a Greek ship? In Captain America's case, the best resource I found was from Renaissance Faire artisans who fashioned their own costumes (and documented the entire process). In other words, know what you're looking for before you go searching. No matter what it is, it's probably out there it's just a matter of asking the right question. "Presearch" Part 2 of 3 By Paolo Rivera Part 2: Where do we find reference? Strategies for knowing what's out there In part 1 of this series, I demonstrated simple, but useful strategies for finding visual reference on-line. But how do we even know what's out there? While the quality of your query has a tremendous impact on the answers you receive, and while search engines do most of the grunt work, your results are still limited to what is available on-line. So how is one to know what one doesn't know? For the sake of argument, let's imagine that the picture you need is out there, just waiting for you. Your chances of finding it will vastly improve if you take the time to anticipate the unique circumstances under which it would be published on-line.

Mythos: Fantastic Four (2007), page 19 Let's start with a mundane example. In Mythos: Fantastic Four (2007), page 19 called for a scene in which the super-family stood behind glass doors with a montage of their future adventures in the reflection. "Glass doors" would provide perfectly adequate results, but by determining the name of a particular brand,Herculite, I gained access to a different kind of photo those taken in order to sell a product and thus technically competent, complete with details of components and hardware. While not absolutely necessary in this case, it's a useful tactic that can be broadly applied to any product on earth. If it can be sold (and what can't?), then there is a picture of it on-line.

Mythos: Hulk. 2006. Gouache and acrylic on bristol board, 8.5 11. It's all about finding the right keywords. For instance, in Mythos: Hulk (2006), I was required to paint General Ross, a 3-star general in the Air Force. Now searching for "3-star general air force" will, for the most part, give you the needed reference. (I feel like the same search yielded poorer results 7 years ago. Although my memory may be faulty, it's just as likely that the image pool expanded or algorithms improved.) But if you're after authenticity or, perhaps, higher picture quality, searching for a specific 3-star general will give you far better results. By researching a handful of particular people first discovered through the initial, cursory search I was able to find a multitude of high-resolution photos from a variety of angles. Many were print-quality, and boasted enough detail to reveal the intricacies of medals, pins, and buttons. Obviously, this works best for public figures, but it is increasingly practical for private individuals as well (for better or worse). And if you still need more detail, don't overlook the uniform. I should also note that I typically search with the "Large" filter enabled, which can be found under "Search Tools." You can even stipulate the megapixel count. While this limits results to photos above certain dimensions, the side effect is that it can yield less pertinent ones: there are less pictures out there at higher resolution, thus the query must scrape the barrel of relevancy. This is precisely why specificity is needed to reign it in.

A related case involved police cars which, if you're going to draw superhero comics, you had better be able to draw. I've downloaded several Sketchup models from Google's 3D warehouse, but additional reference is often needed to reinforce the basic structure with specific details, especially the lights. It was not until I started searching for a certain "light bar" that I found satisfactory images.

What if you need to paint something (or someone) on fire? There are plenty of pictures of fire on-line, and even some of a "man on fire," but refining a search to fire stunts or, better yet, finding the web site of a pyro-maniacal stunt man, provides precisely what is needed to bring certain fiery characters to life (or death). Some of you may remember the fantastic pictures I found when I detailed my search on April Fools Day. And if you're just looking for great flames, try "fire breather" or "oil fire." The same goes for energy effects, examples being Tesla coils, wake turbulence, or plasma. So far, what I've detailed is just a more comprehensive exploration of the strategies I introduced in my previous post. While they may be helpful (and I hope they are), I also want to counter a particular search method I've witnessed many colleagues use. I call it the "children playing" fallacy. Let's say you're painting a playground scene. Whatever. You need pictures of "children playing" and using those 2 words will give you images of just that. Fine. The downside is that you get a lot of generic, ubiquitous stock photography because get this they want you to find it. Under what circumstances would someone tag a photo "children playing?" I certainly wouldn't do that to my children (assuming I ever have any). Now stock photography can be useful, but you should only use it for the most generic of information in other words, the generic purpose for which it was created. So how would your as-yet-undiscovered photographer label their pictures? Perhaps I need children of a certain age? Why not submit "8th birthday party" instead? How about "3rd grade school play?" By coming at the problem from an oblique angle, we've let Google know precisely what we're looking for. And while this example may not be pertinent to your own goals, I hope it illustrates the way I think before I type. This technique also performs well with Flickr (though quotes around search terms help). Images are often grouped into albums according to event and date, providing individual people and settings from multiple angles. You will also find more candid pictures, since the photographer will be in the midst of genuine action (and very well may be part of it). The main point is to put yourself in the position of both the photographer and the social networker. First things first, what are you drawing? Would someone even take a photo of that? If so, where would they publish it? Finally, what would they call it? Now if all this sounds a little creepy, I can certainly understand. (I don't put anything on the internet I don'texpect people to see. ) The objective is excavation. What we should be taking from these photos is specific, but anonymous information: clothing, setting, furniture, gestures, cars, hairstyles, foliage, and architecture. We want the elusive "telling detail," not someone's personal photography. I have too often seen portfolio pieces that include a direct copy from an anatomy book that I own. That's fine if you're practicing I've done it plenty but don't superimpose knight's armor on a nude model and try to pass it off as your own. If you want real practice, try drawing the same pose from a different angle altogether.

Rant over. Getting back to Flickr, it's a great resource because of the skill, access, and personality of its contributors. If they care enough to share a photo, chances are the quality is high enough to be useful to you, the illustrator. I have a whole folder of nothing but NYC rooftops and water towers, all taken by other people. Again, what I'm taking from the photos is not the composition, but 3-dimensional information nuts and bolts and struts and vents that the photographer has no claim on. I can't stress this enough. Nor can Marvel, my biggest client: every new freelancer gets an "Original Artwork Policy" that unequivocally states what you can and can't include in your work. Celebrity likenesses, for example, are a big no-no (unless you get their explicit permission, which I did in one notable case). Same goes for everyday objects: you are welcome to draw New York architecture, but it had best be your own expression of it. That means no upping the contrast on a photo you found and using it as a background (unless, of course, you were the photographer). Amazing Spider-Man #639, Page 3. 2010.Ink on Marvel board with digital color, 11 x 17.25".Reference Used

Can you hear me now?" This page features a variety of backgrounds and gestures, but the real challenge at least in terms of time was all those windows. As I've mentioned many (many) times before, I often use Google Earth to facilitate in composition and perspective, but it was particularly helpful in this instance. The 3D buildings had clearly defined facades that were easily transferred via light box.

The building in the foreground is Tweed Courthouse, just north of City Hall. The guy in the FF shirt is, at least for me, the man in the mirror.

I've been meaning to do a series on perspective for some time now, but I might as well show one of the quick tricks that's been very helpful. I usually begin with 4 x 6" pencil layouts, but starting with this project, I began dissecting them digitally, then incorporating borders, reference, and perspective grids into a perfectly formatted composite (every page begins with a template based on a scanned Marvel board).
Most often, this boils down to the careful extraction of 3-dimensional information from 2-dimensional representations. But as technology has progressed, and 3D graphics have become available to everyone with a computer, the process of finding information has become easier than ever (while making it harder than ever to claim or maintain copyright). What illustrators used to call a personal "morgue file" has become an expansive archive cultivated by the entire civilized world. There may be things that aren't on the internet, but I haven't found them.

Moving Objects -By Jesper Ejsing In a painting, I always try to capture the figure in movement. preferably in the middle of a movement, perhaps out of balance or hanging in the air from a jump. I want to capture the scene as it would look like from a snapshot angle of an innocent bystander. In fantasy painting I think this way of capturing a scene in an impressionistic snapshot of the moment lends credibility to an unbelievable scenery or figure. One way to add a sence of camera snapshot is to add something that we consciously know is moving - Like a leave in the wind or drops of water, spray of blood or perhaps my best element: Birds. Birds are instantly known as moving objects. When seen in the background they give the image that this is a snapshot. A moment lasting only for a second. Here are a couple of examples

10 Things... Applying Paint Gregory Manchess Neil Young, for Rolling Stone Magazine, issue 1169, November 8, 2012 I've painted long enough to know that much of this list has become second nature. Neuroscientists call it 'automaticity.' Similar to driving, one practices the technical skills so that later our brain focuses on what's important: getting somewhere safely. My favorite medium is oil paint, but these will enhance most painting styles. Value range. I start with darks first, to get the deep shadows laid in. Obvious places: nostrils, eyelids and eyebrows, mouth line. Next, Ill put in broader, but slightly lighter shadow shapes like under the nose, under the eye sockets, under the bottom lip, chin, deep cheek bones, hair. I place the boldest shapes to establish deeper values, then work my way up through the darker values of color to the lighter values placed on top. Avoid highlights. Until the last bits of painting, I avoid the highlights as long as I can. Two reasons. One, I need to work my way up, so putting them in too soon will defeat that effort. Two, I leave something fun for the last. I delay gratification as long as I can. The best part of painting in oils occurs within the last few layers and strokes. Vary forms. Hair is a bold shape, not individual hairs. I study folds and constantly vary them. Repeating the same folds will kill a painting as dead as an assassin's shot through a pillow. I dont think about the object Im painting. I separate myself from the subject and only paint the form. I wont 'follow' the form either. I cut my strokes across the surface of the forms. This adds dimension and lets objects feel sculptured. New painters: Avoid primary colors. Ultramarine Blue. Its deadly. Itll make mud faster than 35 school kids running for the bus. And no, Cadmium Yellow Light is not a miracle color. Get over it. Using it straight from the tube does not show how brilliant one is at mixing paint. Same is true for Ultramarine. New painters seem to think they are phenomenal because they used Ultramarine Blue straight from the dang tube. They step back and declare, look at me, The Genius. I have explained the essence of pure painting by opening a paint tube and using yellow next to blue. Admire me. Using primary colors as a statement of painting brilliance screams AMATEUR. Amount of pigment. I trained to know just how much pigment is on the end of my brush. No matter how large or small, my awareness of the amount is paramount to good layers, good coverage, good overall effect in any painting.

I studied calligraphy. It taught me how to make letterforms with a brush or pen. Knowing the amount of ink held on an instrument for calligraphy is critical to achieve a skilled work. Brush angle. Calligraphy also taught me how to angle a pen or brush. Making letterforms is a key factor in learning to paint. I know many great painters who also started by copying letter shapes, making signs, copying comics (bang! zoom! pow!). They learned to handle the brush and at what angle AT ALL TIMES. The angle of the brush helps lay down the right amount of pigment, at the right angle, in the right direction, with the right pressure to achieve a free and confident stroke. Brush size. I start with the largest brush for as long as I can and work my way down to the smaller brushes. Many times, as I near the end of a painting, or even slightly before, I switch back and forth. Its a good, general idea to keep things from getting too focused too early. Stroke speed. Painting fast and loose comes the same way as anything else: with time. I painted very slowly in the beginning, placing my strokes deliberately, to look as if they were painted fast. Once down, its usually hard to tell the speed the stroke was laid. Over the years, I built up speed through confidence. Its just plain ol experience. And LOADS of training. Patient strokes. I dont judge my strokes too quickly. I lay it down, and press on. I come back to that area after a bit to judge whether it was the correct feeling, size, color, etc. I dont lay one down, hate it, and take it off. Or worse, try to keep changing it. At this point in my career, I lay strokes down that dont make sense, but I let them sit. I find that they are just fine once I come back to judge them in context, against other strokes that are adding to the whole piece. Judging too early destroys spontaneity. Scale. I decide how I want the paint to feel once a piece is finished. I scale the brush size to fit the scale of the painting. If its a small painting in a magazine, I have to decide how clearly the strokes will be seen and what feeling they project to a reader. If its a large painting and I want it to feel loose, I have to decide on the size that feels best. Paint it too large with small brushes, and when it comes down in reproduction, it can look too detailed. Too small with large brushes, and the piece can look too loose, too unfocused. New painters can make the mistake of painting too small with too large of a brush and vice versa.

10 Things... About Talent -Greg Manchess 2nd oil painting, Castle of Chillon, Switzerland My first attempt at oil painting was a complete failure. I tried to paint a sunset and had no idea how to mix paint. I thought it would just become what I was thinking. I threw my head in a pillow and screamed, then cried for two minutes. I sat up and realized that all the drawing I had done as a kid would not miraculously give me the skill to paint. I was going to have to learn it. This really ticked me off. I didnt want to have to go through the learning process again. I knew from teaching myself how to drum that it would not be easy or fun. But I really wanted to paint pictures. I wanted to know how to paint figures. Good figure paintings were the most interesting to me. If I could get good at the figure, I could paint anything from there. I understood from that moment that I had no talent and I was going to have to manufacture it in order to learn to paint. This began my studies of neuroscience and the brain. I had to learn how to learn. Talent is a myth. Theres no evidence that talent actually exists. Nothing in the DNA studies points to some mysterious gene that can be identified as a talent for art, photography, painting, basketball, pinball, running, medicine, etc. Talent is built, not possessed. If its in the epigenetic material, it wouldve been there since the dawn of man. Clearly, Cro-Magnon man did not have a gene for ping pong. You cant feel it. You only see the results. Your brain cannot retain the nerve memory of what it couldnt do. Once you begin learning something, it feels like its always been there, even though, intellectually, we remember the practice. Thats why it feels like you just always knew how to do it. Its also why people point to that feeling as if it were a gift. Training over talent. You don't have to trust what I say here. Do your own research. Or trust what pilots follow: Never trade luck for skill. You can wait for your muse to show up, or you can manhandle that muse to submit to your will. Never believe your talent will show up someday. Its very likely it wont. But if you train, if you go through the hard work of understanding and observing and practice, you wont need it. My muse is fickle. Most times when it shows up its an energy-sucking vampire slut. I carry a stake made from training.

Recognize skill for what it is. Learn the difference between skill and fake knowledge. Yes, fake-it-till-you-make-it helps you learn, but for the love of Pete, know when you are faking and when you are actually learning. Practice is more than just going through the motions. Its how we learn. At some point, having gone through the motions long enough, we start to get better, and then we innovate those motions. Look talented. Practice is the only way we actually build muscle memory. Its built through the nerves, because memory is not stored in muscles. The brain drives muscles through nerve signals. Thats why brain injuries can cause us to forget how to walk. We have to retrain the brain. (If the muscles remembered, it would be a piece of cake for recovery.) Let people think you have talent. Its great for getting work. Just dont get pissed off like I do when people call me talented. It negates all the crazy long work Ive done. Let the other guy need talent. Some people learn faster than others. They concentrate and train themselves to see trouble before it starts, but only because theyve been through that trouble before, however small, and they record it. They remember what happened when mistakes were made and they correct for them. They make the very conscious effort to fail, correct, and move on. If the other guy needs to believe that talent will rescue him from agony, let him. It only slows them down. You can eclipse that attitude with skill. Great artists deny it. Loads of creative people believe they have a gift for what they do. Frankly, they just have a poor memory for remembering that when they were young, they were training themselves to learn. Ive followed quite a number of great creative people who will simply tell you they have no talent, never did, and had to work their arses off to get to where they are. Trust those guys. Study neuroscience. Ive never thought talent existed and now science backs that up. There are great strides being made every day in learning how the brain works, and how it learns. And you can read everything about it. The field of neuroscience is at its sharpest cutting edge and we are going to benefit so much from it, well likely forget where we learned it. About 40 or 50 thousand years of it. Trouble is, well just think we were talented as a species anyway. Sigh.

10 Things... About Generating Paintings Gregory Manchess

This is about the stages of idea generation that Ive observed for decades in my own work. I didnt know this was what was going on for a long, long time, but I kept watching it, studying the nuances. Then, as I read more about what other creatives such as writers, musicians, theorists, mathematicians, scientists, and engineers were experiencing, I saw patterns emerge from my own struggles. The sequence: Genesis The beginning stages of an idea. All ideas are based on previous ideas. Thoughts are tagged to each other in a sequence. Sort of a chicken-or-egg endeavor, but basically ideas form from the idea before it. Thoughts are rarely isolated. One thought leads to another. Sometimes, we feel lucky. Something pops into mind immediately. I had a call from a magazine once and within ten seconds of hearing the story, I had the right image. But it was an image I had in the back of my mind... for ten years.

Research Looking for clues. Taking your passion and pushing it. Usually at this stage we encounter the same thought pattern, working with the first thing that comes to mind. But the first thing is generally not the best, unless you can simplify it, or it came from an idea you had long ago and your brain is still hashing it out. Just like that idea I had simmering for ten years. Passion builds Piecing it together. Building on the idea. Things are starting to gel. Disparate images are merging, but its not there yet. Reject the obvious. Good time to smash conflicting ideas together: concrete cellophane, twisted

smoothness, barbarous laughter, silent euphoria, etc. This stimulates the brain to get curious and try things. Thats where we find answers... At this stage: concentrate!

Failure But still nothing works. Nothing looks right. Nothing makes sense yet. The image is fuzzy, or worse, its boring. You try and try, but still nothing. Failure after failure. You force the issue. It doesnt come together in your head or on paper. Frustration sets in. Avoidance. Depression. Keep going....its part of the process. In fact, you MUST push through this stage or nothing gets finished.

Stall But you cant keep going. Ya got nothin. Youre losing interest. So you stall. Your mind flat-lines. First thing: go for a walk. Several studies now on the effect of the right-left movement of your legs on your brain's right-left hemispheres. Better yet: sleep on it. Dont look for it. Let it simmer. Your head is still working in the background. Relax. Distract. Play. Do something completely different, off the wall. Meet friends, have fun. It needs some time. Daydream! Rebirth When you least expect it, and I mean least: a spark....a thought

appears. While youre engaged with something else, a simple, tiny connection occurs. The embers reignite. They start to smoke. Wait a minute--what was that? Write it down. Do a sketch. Its coming. Hold it---insight is occurring....something you hadnt thought of, or something you did think of but just not quite like this, not quite this way. Curiosity returns. The brain lights up in areas across the hemispheres, pulling info from every sector. Smells, feelings, sounds. The piston chemistry starts firing. One thought leads quickly to another, faster this time, faster than you can hold on to. Wheres that pencil? Usually known as the Aha Moment of insight, it sometimes occurs fully formed--but only after much concentration, then relaxation.

Recommit You see something, know something now. You have to get it down! Drawing, drawing....wait-not like that.....like this! Breakthroughs occur here. Your brain recommits to the challenge. When it does, success is not far away.

Cover illustration for Kilkenny, by Louis L'Amour

10 Things...About Planning Pictures Gregory Manchess Start small. Thumbnails. Learn to draw them. Learn to use them. Learn to love them. What you design small will always blow up proportionately. Starting out large will not always work. Use the small size of thumbnails to structure your painting quickly, expediently. You can cover greater ground in a small size. Thumbs will teach you how to draw better, and how to design better. Dont think they will? Youll discover the contrary all too quickly, while others speed beyond you. Think inside the box. I always start with a perimeter, a box, to contain my design. There really arent any spaces that dont demand balance, even a vignette. It must always balance. So I design within a rectangle, like a book cover, to get my composition. Design the entire space from side to side, top to bottom, front to back. Everything on the page must be there for a purpose, even if enigmatic and weird, it still must balance. This is the time when thinking outside the box is not appropriate. Look for a better pov. I strive to look for a better angle, a better point of view to express my narrative picture. I cant stand how often artists choose the same design: one figure, smack in the middle of the painting, at noon. I want to get pulled in to a piece, to learn more or to spur my sense of wonder. Thats what makes the viewer linger and think. Search for the interesting points. Theres always too many, so pick a good interesting one. Research. If I'm going to paint metal, then I think about how metal looks. Try to feel it. Then I go get some metal to study, or reference of metal to look at. Or flesh. Or water. Or mountains... Whats so hard about this? No one wants to get the right reference to help themselves. Probably still suffering from thinking we paint from our heads. We dont. Research your materials. Lighting decision. Right off, I decide what time of day or night the picture lives in. Decide if its stage lighting or natural light. Overcast day or sunny? Moonlit night, or man-made night light? This is the very first thing I must do to get ahold of my value structure. I can always change, but I start right here with light.

Value control. Along with lighting, I think about contrasts. How will my figure contrast against the background, or the sky, or the landscape, or interior? Is it dark and moody, or a bright daylight piece? Decide. Early. Then blend and adjust shadows and lighting so that it works as a whole, using light, silhouette, shape, and mood to control your values. I study great black and white art and photography. I watch noir films. Study comics. I live in a b/w world for a while. Overlap stuff. When we create characters we want to know all about them so we tend to draw them completely. The same for the next character, and so on. We keep them all separate, so we can see them. But this makes the most boring design ever. Things dont look like that in life, so avoid it. Elements overlap, always. Things get hidden. I DESIGN my paintings so that figures overlap. It mimics life and creates tension and depth. Just like we see things. Clump elements. Did I mention I overlap figures? Mountains? Trees? Animals? Buildings? Colors? Objects? Yeah, well....when I overlap elements, I design them so that they tell a story in clumps, patterns, groupings. Ya dont paint every cow leg in a field. Most of them overlap the cow next to them. Same for trees. Same for people. Same for..... Put them in groups, or clumps, so that it breaks the monotony. Lead with line. Dont go crazy with this. The lines Im talking about are simple and direct. They lead the eye to the primary viewing spots of a painting, AND THATS ALL. They dont spin the eye, rotate the eye, they dont mimic repeating shapes, and they never cause the eye to leave the canvas or even reenter the picture. This is all bunk. The line Im talking about is something where a figure or an arm leads your eye to the center of attraction. Other lines help to lead to the same spot. AND THATS ALL. (see points on balance above if you have questions about this.) Foreground, middle ground, background. Thats what I meant by front to back above. I think of my painting as a stage. Build the stage. Put figures on the stage. Costume the characters. Light the stage. Now pick where the camera (eye) is going to look at that stage. At this point it has depth. I have to move stage characters around (called blocking) so that I can see them, keep them overlapped, and still tell the story of the picture, which is now a slice of time. Keep it simple. Am I being obtuse? Whats so hard about this? So many want to reject it. Its been this way for a couple hundred years. Classic stuff. Gotta learn it before you can modify it. I know, I know. You can modify things as you learn them, but youll always end up returning to these basic principles. Promise.

10 Things... I Remember About Planning Paintings

-Gregory Manchess Since it's all about me...You may notice that I changed the title to 'Things I Remember", realizing that these things come from my own notes about my painting career. I'd rather avoid the preaching when possible. So the rest of these post topics will focus on my selfish perspective, and hopefully you'll be able to take something away from it to use. 1. Start small One word: thumbnails. I remember the day I realized that tiny little drawings, if designed well, will blow up into the same exact proportions. In other words, what works small, works large. Not the other way around. One problem: I hated my thumbnails. So, I spent years going through the agony of learning to draw shapes fast, and as accurately as possible. This saved tremendous grief down the line. Measure twice, and all that. I got more excited about...well, everything really, when the thumbnails were solid. 2. Find a better point of view I found that by drawing small, I could cover more ground, keep from getting lost in one composition, and find angles I hadnt thought of. I explore all those angles. I want to show the viewer how much I love what I paint. I want to take them with me. And Ive found over the years that theyre willing to go. Besides, I dont want my portfolio full of boring povs, unless I can bring something special to it. 3. Lighting I ask myself right away: how is this baby gonna be lit? Whats the light in the world of the painting? Time of day? Year? Setting? Weather? Indoors, outdoors? Is the lighting the focus, or the subject in light? What kind of light do I want to try, play with, understand. Then I search for ways to express it in a way I alone want to see. This helps make it unique. I dont want my list of work to reflect the same damn light angle, from the same damn source, painted under the same damn conditions, every time. Shoot. Me. In. The. Head. Boring. Which leads to... 4. Value Lighting determines much of this. But I have to pay attention to whether its about a bright picture, or dark, haunting, moody, or uplifting. I study the differences all the time as to what makes pictures inspire certain feelings. What kind of light makes me feel certain things. There must also be a range of value to convey this. Once decided, the light values must stay consistent to be convincing. The more convincing the painting, the better the illusion.

5. Design the entire space Every piece of space in the painting is important to me. I want to fall in love with every angle, every twist, turn, value, shape, and line. Every figure. Every face. I design out the space so that it works side-to-side, top-to-bottom. It is a fine designed window into the scene, and every piece is critical. Every piece. If it isnt, its out. 6. Use line to direct the eye I dont trip over silly philosophies about how this line mimics that rhythm, or that gesture connects to this line. Or how movements repeat. A through-line, just like a story plot, leads the eye through the painting. If its a scene, I want to lead the viewer through it, looking from the most important element first, through to all the supporting pieces. Nothing complicated. Edited and simplified. 7. Foreground. Middle ground. Background. As with 2D space, I also design in 3D: front to back. I find the focal point of the piece, and load the picture from there, working to allow the foreground to take my eye past it, into the picture, all the way through to the far background. The background will support and hold firm what I show in the middle ground. Everything is supported by the other elements. If it doesnt, its adjusted or its gone. I dont have the time in my composition to waste on elements that dont support the whole. 8. Overlap When I notice that Im spending too much time on an element, it means Im too much in love with that particular detail and I need to incorporate it into the balance of the whole picture. Theres not much sadder to me than to see a painter miss an opportunity to thrill by pushing and pulling pictorial elements apart or together. Elements must vary. Overlapping adds depth and interest at the same time, and keeps my compositions from becoming staid. 9. Think it, feel it, research it I think a lot about what Im to portray. Then I try to feel the elements. Is it leather? Steel? Hair? Skin? This gives me the feeling I need to go after, and the best way for me to get it is to research it to exhaustion. I get every sort of reference needed about it: photos, video, the thing itself. I try to get it in the position I need, but Im not always successful. So, I surround myself in reference. I rely on my memory for the idea, not the final. 10. Photos are guides They are only there to remind me of the actual thing. Otherwise, Id have the thing in front of me. Certainly I work from photos, from sketches to finish. I remember that the photo is not the painting, so in the end, the very last thing to do is reject the reference in favor of the painting. And make it work.

10 Things I Remember...About Tracing Gregory Manchess

Last week, I taught a class on painting at the Norman Rockwell Museum. It was the third time Ive held a workshop there and it was a full class at eighteen painters. It was a bit difficult for everyone to see the model, but we adjusted well enough. We loosened up the first day working quickly from the live model, and then, in order to give the entire class the full advantage of working from the same angle, I photographed her in a new pose, and projected it. Everyone worked from this new angle so that we could all talk about the same points of concern. That may just be the first time anyones ever done that. The students needed to get beyond the stigma associated with using photographs. I wanted them to compare working from life and working with an edited photo. The model returned the second day and we worked from both. The Rockwell even provided color and b/w prints of the pose. This way, we worked with whatever it took to learn and get a good painting on the surface.

When I was hired for my first studio job, I refused to use any kind of projection, any kind of tracing whatsoever. Then as I watched the hours tick away while my other better, faster colleagues were covering far richer ground, I decided to use it. But I promised myself to learn from it. I would master it and use it to inform my skills. I found it a fascinating teacher. 1. Memorize First off, I used tracing to learn anatomy. By tracing, I could actually feel how an arm foreshortened. I could see what length the line was that was needed to foreshorten it. I could understand how eyes, noses, hands looked at difficult angles. I used it to train my drawing skills and improve them. No, it didnt happen right away. Like anything else, it took time. Yet I sped up, my drawings improved, and I began to keep up with the guys around me who chuckled to themselves at my naivete. In life drawing classes we work from the model, sitting before us. But what happens when theyre not there? What most art schools fail to tell you is that youre supposed to be memorizing. Memorize anatomy? What kind of alchemy is this? Most instructors think you learn anatomy by simply drawing the model. Uh huh. 2. Draw, dont trace. When I draw, I remember that using the point of the pencil is boring if all the line weight is the same. Same for tracing. I use the side of the lead, roll it, angle it, vary it for shadow lines, hair, folds, trees, etc. I get different line weight by varying the pressure on the pencil. Ultimately, youre doing a drawing. SO DRAW. 3. Edit detail. Forget about tracing every little subtle light shift, or shadow, every tree branch or eyelash. Forget about drawing every strand of hair. Draw for shape, draw for tone. Generalize the reference for the most part. Its a guide. 4. Its a guide. When you trace under something like an Artograph, drive yourself to get good enough to draw with it. Its not about tracing the image exactly. Its about using the image as a guide to correct proportions and delineate shadows, depth, line, and contrast. Give it your own technique, otherwise your work looks lifeless, pedestrian, lame. Itll look like you traced it. Exaggerate. Use fluid lines. Any ol goof can follow lines. Draw with it. 5. Use your own photography. Shoot what you need. Best that way. The internet is full of pictures you need for reference, but I use them only as reference to draw from. I still need to make the sketch my own. Whenever you can, buy the reference you need. Better for everyone that way. 6. Distortion Happens. No photograph records life exactly. Photos adjust the image from three dimensions to two. Its already distorted. But you have to know when its telling you a lie about reality. Do not believe that photographs are real or telling you about reality. They do not. You must learn to recognize when they do and dont and be able to compensate. Besides, its a GUIDE. 7. Perfect the composition. First, I design the composition with thumbnails. Then I use reference to draw separate elements of a complex composition on separate slips of tracing paper. I move the sheets around until the composition is refined, perfected. Its a composition guide. Artists have been using this since the Dawn of Illustration. Today, youll likely do this by cutting and pasting the reference together on the computer. Its the same thing. 8. Use it sparingly. As I trained with tracing, I used it less and less. It instantly improved my drawing skills, especially drawing from my head. It improved my memorization skills, but I had to focus on it. The next time you draw from life, youll understand what you learned from tracing. The next time you trace, youll understand more from your life drawing. Back and forth, back and forth. --What? Did you think there was a straight line to skill? Cmon. 9. Nothing is cheating.

If I hear another artist talk about being a purist and only drawing from the model, Im gonna burst. Thats just part of the training. Honestly, get over it. Now, today. If your grandma's hurt because you trace photos, tell her to get over it, too. I do whatever it takes to get the idea to the canvas because it all changes from there. If Leonardo couldve used todays technology, you bet your sweet maxilla he wouldve. Sorry, but theres no cheating in the art field. Anybody who says you're cheating, you have my permission to, umm, enlighten them. At this point in mankinds search for Art, all is fair game. Lets see where you, where we all, can go from here.

10 Things I Remember...About Portfolios -Gregory Manchess

If you were drawn to this post, youre probably serious about developing your portfolio. Lets be honest. Youre already thinking about how to sell your work, not stumbling over what many artists fear: that promoting ones work considered artistic prostitution. Lighten up. This is about getting work and keeping clients. This is a fundamental part of any artists career: their portfolio. The thing that says, this is what I do and, I do it really, really well. Even today, when the classic black portfolio has been mostly replaced by the iPhone or iPad, your presentation, the promise of your work being a good experience for a client, is the underlying key principle. There's no forgiveness in this business. You must think like a pro from Day One. 1. Convenient It should be a seamless endeavor for the client to look through your book, no matter what form it takes. It should be easy for them to hold. Get rid of the clever faux cow skin covering and pop-up sparklers and surprise extras. Theyre never a surprise, and theyre never extra. You may find this odd, but the best thing I did at the beginning of my career was realize that I didnt want a portfolio that

stood out. I wanted it to blend in, become a part of the freelance landscape. I wanted my book to look like it had been used. Like it was a portfolio that people missed until they opened the thing and were surprised--at the quality. I let my book get beat up from multiple shippings and if it didnt look the part, I wasnt beyond giving it a little travel patina. Dont be clever. Be smart. 2. Start smart, end smart Your best piece should smack them in the face on the first page. Each successive piece can be of less quality than the first, but then in the middle, your next best piece should strike there. After that, you can take them through other pieces, but you must end on one of the best possible pieces youve ever created. End on a high note. People remember beginnings and endings. Period. Not so much in the middle. 3. Best work only Sounds simple, right? You cant imagine how many people put everything in their portfolio. Endless pages of drivel. Only show the very best work you can do. Nothing else. If you dont have it yet, then work to get it, and in the meantime, have a very short portfolio. Do not pad it with junk drawings. Ever. 4. Lose the figure studies Unless youre applying at Disney for a studio job, your figure studies scream, amateur! just graduated! 5. Only show the work you want to get If you want to get book cover work, do not show your flower paintings. If you want to impress TIME Magazine, dont fill your book with your conceptual paintings. They buy portraits. Going for gaming? Then dont show them your TIME portraits. Show them what they buy, for cryin out loud. Which leads me to... 6. Research the client Learn what they buy. Come on, how hard is that in todays market? So, a publisher prints books on gardening. Then put that kind of work in your book, not your Death Drives A Pale VW pulp fiction covers. They. wont. get. it. And if you are going for gaming, then thats the time to add your drawings of figure work, costumes, etc. Thats what those guys are looking for. 7. Multiple books Still fascinates me that many potential illustrators have not figured out that if they have a range of different styles, they shouldnt put them all in one portfolio. Separate those different styles into several portfolios and only show a particular portfolio to a client that buys that look. One look per book. If you do watercolor and oil and pastel and pen&ink and mixed media and digital, (wow! you do so many things!!--not what you want to hear) separate them as much as possible so that each book makes logical visual sense of what you are showing. Oil with oil, digital with digital, cartoons with cartoons, editorial, advertising, etc. Not very hard to grasp, hmm? Youd be surprised how many ignore this. If theyre impressed with your book and want to see more, thats when you pull out your watercolor book. 8. Show, dont tell--no excuses I dont care if Godzilla burst through your bathroom window and caused your printer to mess up the color of your prints, or your dog was raptured during The Second Coming. DO NOT make excuses to any potential client. If your book should look better, then make it look better, before you show anyone. And being new to the business is no excuse. If you are already making excuses for the portfolio, guess whos thinking youll be doing the same on their job? Uh huh. 9. Perfect reproductions Get quality reproductions into your portfolio. I dont care what it costs. Neither does the client. You can carry just a handful of examples of your work if you are still putting a killer portfolio together. Thats ok, explain that, and then show the potential client a few samples of that killer work.

10. Flexible uses After youve researched the client and know what they buy, go through your work and rearrange your pieces into another book or another presentation that will focus toward that particular client. If they buy both portraits and fairy paintings, then adjust your book to reflect that. Leave your horse and motorcycle paintings out. Think of your portfolio as flexible. Use smart ways to show off your work, certainly, but your work must look professional and succinct. Clients remember a presentation because its a reflection of your potential job performance. 10 Things I Remember...About Procrastinating Ever hear of the three Ps? Perfection. Procrastination. Paralysis. I used to start a piece needing it to be the best thing ever: perfection. It had to solve every problem of my portfolio development, it had to stimulate, it had to thrill, it had to make clients call me, it had to make women weep. It was too much to accomplish. So, I hesitated: procrastination. The more I hesitated, the bigger the problem became, until it was so great I couldnt start since it would surely fail on any level: paralysis. Idea abandoned. It was simply fear. Below are a few things Ive used over the years to forge ahead. Once in a while, after having put in tons of effort on other paintings, a new one pops out almost having painted itself, as the saying goes. These points will work for you. I promise, but you have to apply them. Dont wait for inspiration. Its fickle and unreliable. And no, there arent exactly ten points here. Sometimes, we just dont need that much to begin. 1. Force a deadline. I give myself a deadline. Could be a week, a day, an hour. For example: I must put something on the page by 3 pm or I will get those feelings back. Feelings of inadequacy. A pit in my gut that suggests that time is passing and Ive nothing to show for it. Life is full of distractions. Thats why I clear a path, make room, and show up on time for my own deadline. I begin whether I want to or not. 2. Seek stimulation. Lots of times I look at others work. Studying the paint, the color, the shapes, the ideas of other painters stimulates something deep inside. I want to feel the same strokes, I want to understand the same feelings for myself. I can barely contain wanting to experience that quest. 3. Make it urgent. Ive always been in a hurry. Im not sure why, other than I have a very heartfelt impression of life being very short. Always have. I hate wasting time on worry or hesitation. (even though I trip over both) I know that every effort I make now is rewarded down the line by saving me future effort. 4. Use fear. Theres nothing to be afraid of. In fact, I should be afraid. If I feel fearful, I know Im on to something. I am about to discover what makes me tick. I want it to be authentic and real, and I fear that I might be an imposter. Everyone does. So forget that junk. Were all afraid of discovery. At first. 5. Fail first. Sometimes, I have to fail first. I dont want to fail because its irritating and painful, and absolutely no fun. But I know that failure leads to interesting combinations, better solutions, success. Weve spent thousands of years evolving, learning, testing. There is no other way. Yes, sometimes things come quickly, but only after tons of effort. Make that effort. Rinse and repeat.

6. Share the struggle. I listen to and watch other painters talk about their struggles, their form, their techniques, research, and discoveries. The patterns are similar and the principles are always the same. I glean enthusiasm and inspiration from watching other artists penetrate the same travails that I encounter. And I steal their magic powers to push on through. 7. Just begin. There is ONLY this. Prepared or not, begin. When I write, I dont get writers block. I know from painting what is needed. I must start drawing, immediately. The writer must start putting words on paper. Doesnt matter how bad, a writer will break that hesitation by throwing words on paper. Same for me. I put thumbnails down. The sooner the better. It breaks every spell. I can start to understand the problem, build the mood, the expression. Nothing is solved or expressed until I throw down a perimeter and draw within it. Nothing.

10 Things to Remember about Training 10 Things is a post of lists, things to keep in mind as you go along. This is a series Ive begun, based on years of painting experience and research into origins of talent, and how the brain learns. Things about drawing, painting, learning, talent, building a portfolio, working in the business, etc. There are parallels to all forms of creating. Painting is similar to writing, acting, playing an instrument. Even scientific endeavors follow paths which are similar to all idea creation. Yet, like everything else about being an artist, these things are not set in stone. Staying flexible and thinking against the norm are hallmarks for the painter, but it wont be easy. Challenge is the key element. This first list is based on how to keep yourself moving along, and learning. _____________________________________________________________________ 1. Draw Now. Think Next. Ideas without followthrough are useless. Conceptual art without skill is nothing. Ideas are cheap. One doesnt get better at ideas by thinking better thoughts. You must train to learn how to create them, what to do with them. Train yourself to search for the good ones, to generate good ones from practice. Draw. Draw your fool head off, but draw. Draw first. Think about it next. Contrary to so-called avant guard thinking, drawing doesnt create answers, it creates more ideas. 2. Learn to be authentic. No one is quite like you anyway. Forget about being original. Oh, its so original! Bah. You already are. Take the higher road, and learn to be authentic. You are already connected. What you have to say is important because we all want to know. Learn to discern, of course, what is important from what is frivolous. It is all stowed inside, as youve been working on it already for a long time. You wont find your style. If you are authentic to who you are, your style finds you. 3. Build luck and use it. When preparation meets opportunity, its called luck. Create your own luck by being prepared to see it when its about to happen. Dont wait for it. You wont see it if you dont know what to look for. Luck happens when you are ready for it, and you are ready for it when youre prepared: training. 4. All painting is re-painting. Do it again. Drawing it once is never enough. Painting it once isnt either. Do it over and over, focusing on improvement each time. Got a favorite part of a painting? Learn to paint it out. Learn to paint over it. Do not try to save those good mistakes. Paint them again and this time shoot to get it right...under your control. Nobody is an expert by doing something good once. 5. Create momentum. Finished one good piece? Great. Im happy for you, but thats not momentum. When one painting is done, move into the next as soon as possible. Repetition is key to keeping momentum, and momentum is key to gaining successful training. Repeat

your successes. 6. Keep finishing. Stop quitting. Finish the stupid thing already, so you can move into the next one. Do not allow failure to dictate your progress. You must push against that. Fail and fail again. You will push through that failure and keep moving. But learn from it as you do. Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. --Samuel Beckett 7. Seek advice. Everyone has an opinion, especially about your work. Its rather easy to recognize the parts of someone elses work that are problematic. Finding your own? Tough as nails. When someone tells you whats off about your work, they are usually correct. When they tell you how to repair it, they are nearly always incorrect. 8. Take criticism well. Which leads me to criticism: learn to take it, and use it well. Do not take it personally, but try to decipher what it is they are coaching you about. You can use that stuff, man. Grow some thick skin. Unless theyre a jerk, there are golden nuggets of wisdom in there. And remember: its meant for you, and you are the only one that can use it. 9. Work for good habits. Training as a painter is like training as an athlete, musician, pilot. Learning a language lights up many of the same parts of your brain as learning to draw a hand. It is now an indisputable fact that the brain is plastic, even into old age. To your last breath, the brain wants to learn and will do everything it can to get the advantage. It builds nerve fibers to speed up learning. It strengthens the nerves to send signals faster, for efficiency. Trick is, you want to build that stuff for good uses. The brain is just as happy to build strong nerves to reinforce bad habits. 10. Draw through, not around. Years ago, I was ok at drawing, but I needed to get better. Heres the problem: I wanted to be the kind of good that when I looked at my own work, I actually liked it. I had to do this, otherwise, I wasnt about to spend all those years to come away feeling awkward about my attempts. And then quit. No way. The absolute, drop-to-your-knees, scary part of it was that I realized very quickly that it was going to take training. That every time I drew, I had to get it as right as I could at that very moment. And that was going to take time, effort, and learning to feel a sense of progress, even when it wasnt working in the least. I was going to have to push through that crap. The only way to get to that stage is to hunker down, and hone in. The way around is through. Do not look for the shortcuts until later. Train yourself through it, dammit. The goal doesnt dwell on the applause-- it focuses on the skill. Composition Basics: Implied Line -By Dan dos Santos Implied lines are a very important aspect of a good composition because it is often one of the first things the viewer notices. When painting realistically, there is no actual 'line' around a subject. The illusion of a contour is simply a result of different values and colors contrasting one another. But even the mere impression of a line is strong, and our eyes will go directly to it. Not only will our attention navigate immediately towards these implied lines, but our eyes then follow their entire length until that line ends, and we can thereby determine what object the contour was describing. Or, we follow the line until it meets another line, which we will then follow again, and so on. A great composition makes strong use of this natural attraction to line. By creating strong lines for the eyes to follow, we can decide exactly what path we want our viewer's eye to take, and more

importantly, where we want that path to end. Take for instance this painting entitled 'Poison Sleep". You can see a strong contour that follows along the cape, down the woman's arm, to our subject's face, down her arm, and then back up to the cape. This creates a nice circular 'current' that keeps the viewer's eyes flowing around the composition repeatedly, holding their attention. That current also brings their eyes past every important element of the painting, one at a time.

And don't forget, whether you're working for print or web, the borders of your composition are an implied line too! In addition to using implied line to draw the viewer's eye all around a composition, you can use the same method to make someone look immediately at your chosen focal point... and keep it there. In fact, you can do it repeatedly, from multiple directions. This is particularly useful when your image is a portrait or a pin-up, and the character's face is what is most important. To bring more attention to a particular character, make surrounding objects, like arms, swords, and buildings point to your subject. You can also use implied lines to frame (or encase) the subject's face, locking the viewer's eyes in a general area.

Composition Basics: Value Structure -By Dan dos Santos When constructing my compositions, I tend to think in triatic arrangements of Foreground, Middleground, and Background. In order to heighten the relationship between each of these various depths, I try to restrict each area to a general range of value; favoring either black, white, or grey. For instance, you can let the background be predominately white tones, the middleground predominantly greys, and the foreground predominantly black tones. Or, you could reverse it.

Of course, any arrangement of these three values will work, and there are a lot of combinations. By restricting your values in each of these areas you visually reinforce your image's sense of depth, thereby making the silhouettes very easy to read and that's important! Legibility is essential to a good picture. Muddy value structures hurt the viewer's ability to discern shapes, especially at a small scale. This is why you will see technique employed so often in trading card art. When your piece of art is going to be reproduced at just a few inches tall, high contrast compositions work especially well. Tryptic value schemes like this are readily apparent in Old Masters works, particularly in the engravings of Gustave Dore. Here are three examples of Dore, each one showcasing a different arrangement of black, white and grey in order to emphasize the difference between foreground, middleground and background. -----BACKGROUND: WHITE MIDDLEGROUND: GREY FOREGROUND: WHITE

----- BACKGROUND: GREY MIDDLEGROUND: BLACK FOREGROUND: WHITE

BACKGROUND: BLACK MIDDLEGROUND: WHITE FOREGROUND: GREY Howard Pyle, Andrew Loomis, and many other illustrators have implemented a similar method, but instead utilized 4 values: White, Near White, Black and Near Black. In doing so, they eliminated the midtones, which are arguably the weakest values in a composition since they describe neither light or shadow. Either way, their intent is the same... to better separate, or unite, areas of a composition through restricted values. It really doesn't matter which method you use. Whether you started with 2, 3, 4, or even 5 basic values really becomes moot once the subtleties are added. What does matter is finding a method that makes sense to you. Composition Basics: Temperature Structure -By Dan dos Santos A few days ago, I discussed a basic Value Structure technique. I showed how we can emphasize the spacial distance between Foreground, Middleground, and Background by restricting each area to a specific part of the value scale, either Black, White or Grey. That very same principal can be applied to Color Temperature as well. Try breaking your composition down into three distinct temperature ranges: Warm, Cool and Neutral.

Just like value, restricting certain areas to a particular range of temperature will create a more legible composition and a greater sense of depth. Once again, you can arrange these temperature in any order. By using tryptic schemes for both color temperature -and- value you ensure focus and legibility in even the busiest of compositions!

Once I've decided on the basic value structure, I reinforce that with the same tryptic structure of color temperature. In this case, I chose to make the background neutral, the middleground warm, and the characters of the foreground cool.

As I paint the image, I incorporate a lot of different colors into each of these areas. But just like the value range, I am always careful to squint at my piece, making sure that the general impression of the area still falls within the temperature range I decided on earlier.

Promoting Yourself On The Internet -By Serge Birault

Yes, I know, you're an artist, you hate maketing. Self promoting is too boring and time consuming for you and it's a waste of time. You're all wrong If you are a freelancer, you cannot spend your time searching for clients. 20 years ago, I only worked for clients living in my own town or on my own country. It no longer works this way. I'm working for clients all over the world now. The internet is an incredible tool for sharing your work, but you have to find a way to make you visible on the internet. Here are some key points: * Website : Having your own website is a necessity. It's the link you send to your clients. DON'T DO IT YOURSELF. You're an illustrator not a designer, it's not the same job. Ok, you're able to do good pictures - that doesn't mean you able to do good designs, it's often the opposite. Illustrators websites are usually the worst websites ever. Ask to a webdesigner to do it for you. And ask him/her to do one which can be easily updated. Yes, I know - it costs money. Keep in mind only people who know your name can find it. * Blog : A lot of artists have a blog because it's easier to create and update. It cannot replace a website because it's not a gallery, and it could be hard to find a specific post or specific pictures. However, you can post articles, news, WIPs and/or videos, and it could be very interesting for those who like your work AND those who have an interest in your processes, articles, videos, etc. People can follow you so they will be informed if you update your blog and they can share your posts too.Keep in mind most of your followers work in the same field as you. * Forums : There are various forums on the internet. The main goal of posting on forums is to have comments or critics of your work; Well, in fact, it should be the main goal. Most of us post on forums to promote ourselves. Yes, I know, it's a bit weird but it's true. Of course, we like having kind or constructive comments but the real motivation is only to have your pictures viewed by a lot of people. If you really want honest critics, have some honest illustrator friends give you feedback. Let me explain to you how it works All forums have a front page system, which means moderators choose pictures every day / week / month. All of those pictures have, of course, more exposure than the others. Being a forum moderator is a quite a difficult (and unpaid) job. They often have a list of artists who usually do good work, which they use to choose the pictures on the front page. It's normal, we can't blame them for that. They try to promote emerging artists too, but it's more difficult because they have to sift through all of the pictures submitted. And there are a lot of pictures. If you are on the list, it's not a problem, you can be sure to be viewed and followed. The more famous you are, the less your comments are honest. It may sound strange but it's all about politics. It's not easy to dare writing negative comments on a well known artist's picture, and it could be dangerous because we are a community. There are friends, enemies, clans, polite relationships and sometimes hate. That's why I said : if you want honest critics, have honest friends. If you're not on the list, you have to try to be a part of it. So, try to post your better works and be patient, it's the only

solution. A little advice for all the beginners - wait a little bit before posting on a forum. Some pictures I posted 10 years ago are still visible on the internet, and, believe me, I'm not very proud of some of them! When forums are too big, the list becomes too long. So the people on the list move to another forum, and the forum slowly died. Sad but true. By the way, a lot of websites share frontpage pictures, and potential clients sometimes find you directly by this way. Forums are usually owned by publishers. If you have a bad relationship with these publishers, don't expect to have too much exposure on their forum. Just sayin'. * Social networks : A new and interesting way to promote yourself. Try to avoid merging your personal page and your pro page. Sometimes, people who like your work want to learn more about your life. Just don't forget they're not real friends, just virtual ones. Real friendship is not pushing a like button. However, you can find new real friends this way, from all over the world. You can easily exchange messages with artists you like too. I spoke for the first time with some of my idols via facebook. Social networks are great tools to post your works and get quick feedback, sometimes by people who don't have any interest on illustration and who don't know you. They can share your work with a simple click. I discovered a lot of great artists who don't post on CG forums. Sometimes it's very useful. I use it to post my WIPs and I often have interesting critics or new ideas. On the other hand, social networks are crawling with chaos and VERY time consuming. Use them carefully. *Clients : "We cannot pay you but we will promote you". I think you already know this sentence. Simple advice - NEVER work for free. Of course, you can work for a cheap price if you are sure your client can REALLY promote you, in efficient way. Don't forget : Happy clients make good publicity. I worked for a famous Spanish band last year and they mention my name everytime they can. *Other ways : You have to know your audience. I know the people who follow me are usually in the CG field, and they follow me because I do technical stuff, so I share my WIPs and do tutorials and videos. The others are pin up fans, so I share pictures of lovely models, pin up photographers or other pin up artists. *Audience Of course, this is not mathematics. You can have large audience on the internet without all of this. But it's more difficult. It depends of what you do, your skills, your relationships A lot of parameters you cannot really control. If you have large audience, know what to do with it. You cannot have news or new stuff to show everyday. You can fill up this empty space in an efficient way by promoting other artists, for example. *Last words : It's a very cynical article, I know. It's about how to sell yourself. Artists think their works are not products, but they are wrong. We have to earn money with our pictures. So we sometimes have to think about how to sell them. Promoting yourself is boring and time consuming, that's right. However, don't forget that the internet can be a wonderful place. You can discover incredible artists, speak with them and share their works. You can learn new techniques, find inspiration or motivation, etc. The internet is not just a market place.

Appreciating Rockwell, Pt. 2 Here is another Rockwell painting that is seen far too infrequently. Someone once told me that "A good design is one in which you've removed everything you can remove". I think this painting is a nice example of that notion. There is so much I love about this painting; The way the canvas echoes Lincoln's form, The way the suspender echoes the man's chains, The way he's managed to tell a whole story, and implied a whole life-time of conviction, with just the strength of Lincoln's hand.

Appreciating Rockwell, Pt. 3 -Dan dos Santos When struggling with a pictorial problem, there are a few artists I find myself continuously going back to, hoping to find a solution to my particular problem. Norman Rockwell is definitely at the top of that go-to list. The past few weeks, I have been working on a painting that has a very strong graphic treatment. The background elements were meant to be more decorative than dimensional, and in order to get them to work well, I really needed to alter the sense of space. Of course, Rockwell was a perfect inspiration for this, and is what inspired me to create this series of posts. One of the things Rockwell did particularly well, was combine strong realism with a strong graphic composition. Even though the sense of space was shallow, the figures still showed great form. This may seem simple (especially when the background is white), but in my personal experience, it's much harder than it looks!

There are two means by which Norman seemed to accomplish this feat: The first, is soft lighting. Because cast shadows cascade across a form, and onto other forms, is it a simple means by which we can estimate the spacial distance between those forms. By eliminating those shadows, it makes it really hard to determine just how far away those two objects are from one another. Normally, this is a pitfall when trying to

achieve a realistic environment, but Norman used it to his advantage. By making the light source extremely soft, he eliminated the strong shadows, allowing him to move, scale, and overlap objects however he saw fit, with little worry about accuracy. This is vital when trying to achieve a graphic affect.

Not only does the lack of cast shadows allow him to move things around, but it also places an emphasis on tonal shapes. If there is no contrast between the light and shadow shapes, the local value and color of a shape will take on MUCH more importance. So how can you get a soft sense of light on your own model? Ideally, a big studio with large skylights facing north. Yeah... wouldn't that be nice. However, if you are like the majority of artists I know, you paint in your basement (or in your bathroom if you live in NYC), and you need to shoot under artificial light. That's OK. The key to soft light is diffusorsand reflectors. A diffusor softens the light coming out of the bulb BEFORE it hits the model. This could be a soft-box, an umbrella, or even a bed sheet or piece of paper. A reflector bounces light BACK onto a model. Again, this could be accomplished with any number of objects, like a blank canvas. Norman went to great lengths to get the right kind of lighting he needed for a particular painting.

The second means by which Rockwell achieved this non-descript sense of space is by creating a neutral eye-level. He would often take multiple shots of a single figure, focusing separately on the head, waist, and feet. That way, he could combine all those shots into one drawing, achieving a very neutral eye-level. If the viewer can't determine what eye-level a figure should be at, the artist is free to move that figure anywhere he wants, high or low, front, back... it doesn't matter!

In his painting 'Golden Rule" (bellow), you can see how Norman Rockwell uses both; soft lighting, and a neutral eye-level, to great affect in order to create a very graphic composition.

Appreciating Rockwell, Pt. 4 -By Dan dos Santos

Norman Rockwell has undoubtedly had a great influence on the illustration world, but rarely do we consider those who influenced him. James Gurney recently blogged about some similarities between Rockwell's work and some European painters, and I thought it would be nice to explore this notion further. Norman Rockwell has had many different styles throughout his long career (4000 paintings long, to be exact), and some of those styles show a particularly strong influence from other artists. Norman is probably most well known for his Saturday Evening Post covers, which he started painting at the young age of 22. But before he started doing covers for the weekly magazine, artist J.C. Leyendecker had already been painting them for decades, and had established a well defined look for the magazine. Arguably the most popular illustrator of the time, J.C.'s influence was hard to avoid. His clean, graphic approach to picture making became a trademark of sorts, and Norman kept with that theme when he did Saturday Evening Posts covers as well. This was no great secret of course. Their run on the magazine overlapped for about 20 years, and the two became very good friends over that time. Norman was even a pallbearer at J.C.'s untimely funeral.

But even when Norman wasn't painting Saturday Evening Post covers, J.C's influence on his work was quite apparent, especially in the early years of Norman's career.

'Men Reading', by J.C. Leyendecker, 1914

'U.S. Army Teaches Trades', by Norman Rockwell, 1919 Rockwell's contemporary influences didn't stop there. During the early 1900's illustration dominated the advertising market, but photography was quickly catching on. One of the most successful photographers of the time was Nickolas Muray. Early in his career, Muray specialized in celebrity portraits, but later turned his eye toward the much more lucrative market of advertising. Considered a pioneer in the field, Muray became well known for his sentimental depictions of family, amongst other things. I thinks it's fair to say that both Muray and Rockwell were influenced by each other, since they were working at much the same time, and often dealing with the same subject matter. But Muray's work, seen in just about every major periodical there was at the time, no doubt had a strong affect on Rockwell. Together, they created what we now consider sentimental Americana.

Obviously, we are all influenced by our surroundings, and in the case of an illustrator, by current trends in the market place. But what about non contemporary influences on Norman Rockwell? Norman Rockwell started painting at a very young age, and was well schooled in the arts, having studied under such legendary teachers like George Bridgeman at the Art Students League in NYC. A voracious learner, it's natural to assume that Norman was at least somewhat knowledgable about European painters as well. I expect Norman was familiar with a Parisian painter named Jean-Eugne Buland. Buland, who died in 1926, ended his career just as Rockwell was beginning his. A lot of compositional similarities can be found between their works. These similarities are especially apparent in the way they both flattened the picture plane, and treated their subjects with a graphic quality by utilizing a 'neutral eye level' (which we discussed in Pt. 3 of this series). So what's the point of this post, and how exactly can we even consider this 'Appreciating Rockwell'?

I believe that to fully appreciate a thing, it's necessary to understand the context from which it came. It's also encouraging to know that even the greatest of artists are not without their influences. When I thumb through a book on Rockwell hoping to find inspiration, it's reassuring to think that he was doing the very same thing with his favorite artists nearly a hundred years ago.