Young Illustration

Celebrating with a fast

2012-02-16T14:31:00.000-08:00

I scored a book deal yesterday! Waiting on the particulars but it looks like its a go. From what I know, it will be a children's book focusing on energy conservation. I'm wearing a big cheesy grin thinking about working with science again. Admittedly, I barely passed my highschool chemistry class. Later when I took physics in college, I did quite well. So there's some hope that I'll make this a believable portrayal. My comprehension of protons, neutrons, and molecules is something I'd like to fix some day.

Today I'm starting a two day fast. I'll eat nothing except for the occasional coffee (can't possibly give that up) or juice. This will end on Saturday morning with a bagel, coffee, and a piece of fruit. I can already taste the schmear.

Ran across this photo album today. Very cool. http://imgur.com/a/ITNuJ#1

~Nick

Happy Valentines!!

2012-02-14T17:32:00.000-08:00

(Click for larger)

Be mine. Please?

~Nick

Art space done; Art in-progress

2012-02-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

Completed the construction of my drawing table this past weekend which finalized the construction of all the furniture in the space. I'll sand and stain the wood, possibly router the edges thereby finishing this project. It does look nice rough and raw but I'd like to protect the surfaces of the wood somewhat from future spills and stains.

Also last week, I was able to finish the concept stage of a new product design I'm working on with a client. So, in the mean time, more project searches and working on my personal art work. Here's a sketch of an idea I came up with last year that got shelved for a time. A kid is reaching up to an unearthed robot in a cave. I'll post a final version in a future post and on conceptart.org. Enjoy!

Coffee is a working man's drink

2012-02-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

My new favorite is Trader Joe's Italian Roast. Bold, dark, smokey and a little greasy which is funny because some would say a perfect depiction of your average Italian male. Not a guido mind you, those are Americanized Italians. I'm thinking of the short, hairy, pitt-stained, wife-beater wearing, cigarette smoking Roman guy selling me fake oil paintings of Fontana De Trevi. This is what I think about when I drink a cup of this stuff. Plus, the packaging is cool. I'm always warm inside when I see a company use illustrations for their marketing efforts. Trader Joes actually uses a lot of artwork in their products so I'm happy to patronize them.

I worship the gods of Stumptown roasters and when I can't get out to visit their shop, I brew some of this. I definitely see an increase in productivity when I'm on this stuff. I feel a little like that italian man hawking his wares on the streets of Rome. Crazy about Coffee gave it 4 out of 5 beans. Check it out.

~Nick

New Workshop

2012-01-30T22:04:00.001-08:00

For the last several weeks, I've been constructing a workshop/art studio where I can work on my mad creations. Jim Wilson of Silverton, Oregon, was kind enough to hand down most of his woodworking tools he used during the majority of his home and barn building career. A gold mine to say the least. Considering it was bound for an eBay sale, I'd say I saved hundreds of dollars and time. More importantly, is that these tools are fully broken in and I love using old tools. The Rockwell Model 14 band saw alone was worth the sweat getting it into the basement. Its old and glorious and while the blade initially kept slipping off the rubber wheels, it runs like a champ. I was able to cut joints into 2x4's today for the table frame I built. The table frame will be the support for the adjustable angle drawing table (pictured on the right).

As you can see, I've already built a set of shelves near the door for art supplies. Above the table I want to install a peg board to hang tools and parts for easy access and organization. More pictures to come.

Also this week, I'm working on a product concept with a former coworker of mine who is starting a soapstone company. That's all the details I can give at this point but hopefully soon I can get permission to post the concept drawings. Will probably happen when the packaging has been ordered.

Have an awesome week!

~Nick

Inspiration

2012-01-10T16:07:00.001-08:00

I was really inspired by this so I decided to share. His reaction is gold.

Freelance, we're back baby!

2012-01-06T03:11:00.000-08:00

Almost two years ago I posted that I had taken a permanent position as a company man. Well, the ride is over as their in-house designer for all things graphical. The education market took a slow beating, TARP funding ran out and my position was phased out along with 25 other folks in the company. Sad.

I'm actually quite relieved really. I've been wanting to make the leap for sometime now but I also enjoyed my time there working with such a phenomenal team. But there's only so much a marketing team can do when school districts are cutting back to only the essentials. I think we could all see the signs due to the first round of lay offs. But, there is always room for hope and many thought the education market would turn around. It probably will once we end all our wars and start putting money back in the system.

But, enough about that. I'm back to being my own boss again and it feels great. Many many great things are planned for 2012. If this first week is any indication that this was perfect timing, then it truly will be a breakout year for my artwork and gallery shows.

Here's what's to come:

Interviews with children's book authors, illustrators and industry insiders!
A new website dedicated to functional artwork
Gallery shows!
And of course: books, magazines, and games!

Sketch day #5; Work overload. I'm movin' to the hills!

2010-07-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

I took a colossal brain dump today; the flush is nearly complete. I'm already savoring the cabin food I will eat. I can feel the tightness in my neck melt away as my sight wanders through canyons, looking for any sign of wayward smoke. My fire lookout duties will hopefully be non-eventful but I'm looking forward to them nonetheless.

Working in an office all day while staring at a glow screen will make anyone bat-s crazy. People always point their snobby fingers at hillbillies, livin' in the mountains on disability as a derailed society . They know how to take social security and live it up. We on the other hand, the rats running through the maze, are the insane ones. Okay, so I have a head full of teeth and my car isn't parked on the front lawn. But what I lack in a rockin' chair and a shotgun, I also gain in smog, traffic and a wistful eye toward the fir trees on the horizon.

I want to be this guy sometimes. Poor, yes. Toothless, check. Martin here peering through his dirt fogged glasses will always be content. We lost children of the city in our suits and ties and perfectly heated cups of foamed caffeine will always be forever wishing to live simple. "Hell, I do that ever-day on mah porch!", Martin replies. We know Martin, we know.

Before I start to sound pretentious and jaded I'll just say this: Life isn't about how many dimes in the sky you can stack. I just want enough to eat, enough to drink, a few smooches and some hearty chuckles and I'm good. So, tomorrow morning I will raise a cup to you Martin.

Sketch day #4; A hipster, a bum and a beer

2010-07-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

Sketch a days are now called "Sketch day" because well, hehe, its not always easy to find a scanner which makes it difficult to publish a post everyday. I'm drawing everyday, getting my sketch hand back but can't always get to a computer. With that disclaimer out of the way, let's get to the story:

So yesterday I decided not to go into the office and instead work from home. No distractions, no requests from coworkers, just pure uninterrupted effort. In the words of the red-headed kid from youtube that pees in the shower, "feels good!" At 7pm, I decided to take a break and grab a beer.

I made my way to a McMenamin's pub and ordered the light and sissy Ruby. Its the only beer that has fruity notes and doesn't leave you with bitter beer face. Perfect on a hot summer night. I hate skunky IPAs. Across the street I saw a kid walk out of Everyday Music to light up and decompress from what looked like a harsh shift.

A semi-naked bum skeetered his walker near. He just stood and stared at me while I sketched the hipster. We made eye contact, or at least, he made eye contact with my ice cold beer. I could see him jonesin' for a sip. A friend came in to join the sketch session and in the hour that we drew, the bum must have made $20. I wonder what he spent his money on?

Jamie's napkin sketches. I'm at a loss for words here.

Sketch a day #3; The calm before the storm

2010-07-21T22:20:00.000-07:00

I flung myself through some major action today. Its calm now. I'm smiling and thinking how great life can be and how sweet the flowers smell. Suddenly it occurs to me why I'm so drunk on life. I'm in the eye of the storm.

I can remember just over a year ago almost drowning in a raging river, the rapids pushing my mouth underwater. I was wearing a life jacket but the river laughed at me with its froth and chill. It twisted and tumbled me downstream for what file like miles. Only when it was finished with me did it casually nudge me to the rocks as if it were bored. My skin tingled and my senses tripled in the realization I was going to live.

My skin isn't tingling. I'm about to hit a solid wall of water. Its a single thought that wills me toward salvation or destruction, an outcome I'm slowly preparing for. Both will feel the same.

The sketch:

Sketch a day #2; Hell week

2010-07-19T23:26:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow I have a photo shoot of some yet to be released classroom technology, editing raw footage for a teacher benefit video, more illustration, editing troubleshooting documents...... I feel like the character in Jose Gonzalez' Far Away. "Step in front of a runaway train."

I'm sticking to my sketch-a-day plan and thought of only one possible image:

Sketch a day #1; Farm Sanctuaries

2010-07-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Just dropped off mom at the airport, drinking coffee and looking at farm sanctuary grants. Mom came to visit this weekend to get away from the illegal dairy operating across the road from their family farm. Its been over a five year fight with the EPA, USDA, US Dept. of Agriculture, city appointed lawyers, neighbors and last but not least, the Mennonites. You know, those Amish-looking people that have similar beliefs, except for the fact that they DO use modern conveniences.

Our family farm grows hay and beans. The "dairy" across the road is really a large, polluting CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) that shouldn't be operating according to the rules determined by all state and federal laws. BUT, the current state of the ag business in Idaho allows these types of operations to do as they please. It has been a futile exercise in reporting the violations because no one from the offices of checks and balances will come out to do any surveys.

An acquaintance of the family started a sustainable, organic farm in Vermont with the assistance of government farm grants. He has been successful where many traditional farm businesses have failed. This got me thinking. My ultimate utopian farm would consist of: pesticide-free, organic, sustainable, and diverse food production by focusing on varietal quality versus nutritionally deficient quantity. Can you actually plan a bumper crop? I think so if historical yields can be combined with science. Zucchini is one such crop that can be in this mix... Anyhoo, my main focus would be to combat major soil erosion that is occurring and could be the next crisis after predicted water shortages.

The farm sanctuary would be the icing on the cake to allow a place for downer pigs and cows to live out the rest of their lives after their industry use has ended. This last idea angers, and I mean really angers the industry because downer animals too sick to move are the most abused animals in the business. These downer animals allow business to maximize profit at the expense of sick animals. Most people have no idea that their roast beef sandwich is actually a dairy cow that was too sick to produce milk, and therefore shocked up the ramp to slaughter. Yummy huh?

Its really analogous to black vs. white drinking fountains in the 60s. People have looked back and wondered in amazement that we ever allowed a situation where a black person couldn't drink from a "white" water fountain. We will look back and wonder why we ever allowed CAFOs to operate with impunity and allow blatant animal abuse without ever doing anything to stop it.
On a lighter note though, states from California to New Hampshire are creating these utopian farms with much success through education and sustainability.

The sketch:

Winter

2009-12-06T14:10:00.000-08:00

I'm listening to MGMT, drinking some random breakfast blend and deciding whether to buy or rent snowshoes this winter. Yeah, its 2pm in the afternoon. Still feels like the morning and I don't want to get out of bed. Its bitter cold and the sunlight is amazing.

I have artist's block. There's no other way to describe why I can't move my brush the 2 centimeters to the canvas required to make the next stroke. I can't move forward, too many half-finished paintings are haunting me from the shadows. They whisper, "finish me, bring me to life". These half-dead scratches and gray tones are sucking at my soul like failed experiments from Aliens. Put them out of their misery already. I can't abandon them because I feel responsible for their creation, but I can't bring the energy to make them whole.

So frustrating. I'm feeling highly motivated and life is great. So why can't I shake this? I've never had this problem. Maybe I'm too happy. Some of my best work has come from rock bottom loneliness and utter despair. Part of me misses those melancholic moments for no other reason than the silent companionship of its unrest.

From wikipedia: Writer's block is a condition, associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task in hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked" writers have been unable to work for years on end, and some have even abandoned their careers.

Oh damn. Abandoned careers?! Yikes! Its been three months since I've been able to muster the strength to move my arm. It gets heavy just thinking about reaching over to the brushes. I can honestly imagine another three years of this. Terrifying.

I like this video from Design for Mankind. "Making piles of crap, is better than making nothing at all". Brilliant.

Ahh, so this was mildly cathartic. Let's get started!! But not today....

At least Tiny looks content. Happy holidays Tiny the content horse.

Goodbye to freelance, well almost....

2009-10-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to announce I just became the new hire at Lightspeed as their Production Designer. Yahtzee! Its been a wild year of freelance illustration and media gigs and I'm excited to find a great company to stretch my legs at. Its been over two years since my last full-time job and I was starting to wonder if I would ever take to the freelance lifestyle.

Waking up at 6am somedays, other days at 10am where I would then wander into the kitchen to make my morning coffee, only to wander over to my desk to work the rest of the day in my pajamas. Does my client realize I'm having this discussion while I'm wearing my flannels? (Actually, they probably do.)

While its been a fun trip, I think it was time to find something more permanent. I'm currently illustrating my 4th story at Mrs. P and that has been going good so far. But that may be my last illustration job for now while I embark on a new set of challenges with design projects geared toward teachers and students in classrooms.

Lightspeed manufactures audio equipment that enhances classroom learning and they are looking to expand their sales globally. I'm excited to be entering this new phase with them designing their email campaigns, print and web marketing tools for their sales teams, and exploring Web 2.0 technologies. I'm a ball of excitement and nerves right now.

Hopefully as we finally pull out of the recession, new opportunities avail themselves to emerging artists and veterans alike. I know from conversations with collegues that its been tough, especially those new creatives that have just graduated art school. Right now is the time to be learning new skills and looking at other possibilities that were previously hidden. Conceptart.org is creating massive new workshops of learning, bringing in the gods fine art and illustration to share with us the secrets to success.

Thanks for reading and I will update this blog with upcoming illustration and the progress of my stay at Lightspeed as a production designer.

~Nick

Run for Congo Women

2009-09-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

As I sit here sipping my hot coffee while wearing my dry pajamas and warm wool socks and listening to the patter of the Northwest rain outside my porch, I'm vibrating with the realism that my life is really good. I live in a world of non-violence and relative safety and peace. That is why I chose to wake up at 6:30am this morning and run 3 miles in the cold rain for a people half way across the world I've never met.

And I abhor running. I'd rather go to the dentist to be real. But for the last few weeks, I've been dragging my butt out of bed to run a few miles to prepare for a run that would shed some light on the new Blood Diamonds of my generation. As we all know by now, no one should buy a diamond without first checking to make sure it doesn't come from any zones of conflict, particularly India and Africa. It took almost ten long years for a certification process to be created for certifiable diamond purchases not related to funding civil war efforts.

We desperately need a new process for rare metals. Why? Because it takes specific metals to manufacture Ipods, cell phones, digital cameras, and GPS devices that are sold all over the world. Everytime someone purchases a device, there is no way to tell where the resources came from. And every purchase of a device that uses conflict metals, goes to support the campaign of destruction including the systematic rape of hundreds of thousands of women and girls in Eastern Congo. To make matters worse, thousands are held against their will in slavery to work in illegal Congolese metal mines. Its 2009 folks. Check out this video.

Currently there is no umbrella organization to oversee where electronic manufacturers buy their metals. So you and I have most likely made a purchase that contains these metals without our knowing. There are bills being sponsored by democratic senators to create just such a bill that would include resource spending of American dollars toward a verification process as well as more accountability and transparency for electronics corporations. In addition, there is growing support from the american people to urge manufacturers to sign a pledge called the Conflict Minerals Pledge, that ensures their metals do not come from illegal slave mines. Urge them through emails and phone calls and if they do not sign the pledge, do not buy from them. Its simple.

For more information, go to Raise Hope for Congo.

Ok, now I'm off my soapbox. The run took place in Lower Macleay Park on the westside of Portland at Forest Park. My thinking was we would start at Macleay Park and run through the streets near 29th and Thurman. Its relatively closed off from main traffic. Mind you I've been running in parks, sidewalks and treadmills so I was prepared for a flat run. Oh no. We had to trail run from Lower Macleay to Upper Macleay through mud, rain, slick rocks, and did I mention the mud?!? Actually it wasn't too bad but the intermittant elevation changes decimated my legs. I wasn't prepared for the steep climb much less the downhill back toward the bottom. I could taste the lactic acid in my mouth for the last half mile.

But, all in all, it was a good time to be had by all. The casual walkers, the gung-ho running fanatics, and the part-timers such as myself were all smiles in the eventual downpour. I had the wonderful opportunity to send a postcard to our sisters in the Congo and meet some really interesting people. Sadly, did not take any pictures but many others did so hopefully pics to come soon!

To get more information for last year and years to come, go to Run for Congo Women.

Peace,

~Nick

Life begins anew..

2009-08-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

Actually more like, life starts again after a deadline. Last night I ate dinner at 2am, going to bed later on at 7am and waking up again at 12pm to put the finishing touches on a project I handed in an hour ago. It feels good, but as I sat outside of a Ben and Jerry's where I met my client, I pondered how crazy life is during a big project. I'm not talking about the little ones here and there, I'm talking about the sequential stuff that requires you to maintain likenesses in worlds and characters.

You can paint with grace and style with single images, but when you are called to replicate that over a series of images, its gets nerve wracking because you can't fake it. Taking a character from the first page or frame and having them look the same in the last frame is a challenge. You have different poses, angles, lighting, and color values all to contend with that by the time you get to the end, you sometimes question your original intention. I haven't been in the business as long as some of my collegues but they must have a wellspring of iron fortitude to stick with it.

I have learned that it takes an extreme amount of mental energy to constantly check references, specific facial features, proportions, and spacial relationships with everything in the scene. During this time, everything else in life is directly or indirectly forced out of my mind to make room for the constant focus I need to inspect each facet of the illustration.

So as I write this, I'm frantically wondering and peeking over at my planner at all the clients yet to be invoiced, which ones I need to bill remind, and whatever else that I have neglected for the past three months. I'm extremely thankful for my neighbor that has been watering my plants in the garden, one of which is a mint plant donated to me that will become one many refreshing, end-of-the-summer mojitos.

Tonight I will put away my reference books, morgue files, novels of inspiration, post-it notes of random ramblings, and relax for a moment. Tomorrow, I start Faithful John.....here we go again.

The Portland Upside

2009-05-12T15:59:00.001-07:00

Right now I'm listening to a Midnight Oil channel I recently created on Pandora, buffering Keeper of the Kohn documentary, and contemplating a new assignment over in my mind while smelling the smoke of a recent camp fire on my fleece. Multitasking at its finest. I know I'm procrastinating right now because I have a vision in my mind about how I want a set of parrot creatures to look like, just not sure where to start. I know, I'll make an entry into the blog. I have to remember that these things need watering.

Two weeks ago I illustrated a story for a newspaper a friend of mine started here in Portland with his wife. The hard copy dropped last Friday and the opening night party was fun. The story highlighted a community urban garden program that helps lower income families and kids grow their own produce. Growing Gardens also has an after-school gardening program for kids to learn where their food comes from.

After reading Jessica's edited version, I immediately envisioned my own experiences in my parent's gardens as a youth. The memory that sticks out the most is being six years old walking barefoot in the cool dirt, inhaling the rich aromas of our heirlooms while I casually picked out and tossed juicy tomato worms off of the leaves.

Out of all the stories he wanted me to illustrate, I chose the one that had a kid in it. I could have chosen a story that would have been on one of the color pages but I chose this because the story was great and I really enjoy drawing kids. I don't know why, maybe its because kids have a different way of seeing things. As this is an urban story, I wanted the character to be edgy but still young enough to appreciate vegetables before they became uncool. The two main constraints were color and size. How can I create an image in black and white that also reads at a small size?

Here's the original: I really like how it turned out. The hard copy version reads nice and viewers get the gist that this kid is happily inspecting his tomatoes. I honestly did question my cropping choices but enventually you have to stick by your decisions. In this case, I could have cropped closer to see his expression better but what's the focus, the kid or the gardens? Plus, I really wanted to show off the basket of tomatoes at his feet. It was also a fun assignment because 90 percent of all my work is fully rendered in color. Takes me back to art school days.

The Portland Upside is a monthly publication that focuses on uplifting stories from the community. I'm not sure if I will be doing another illustration for Rob and Sara this month but it was really fun being involved with such a great cause.

~Nick

Reverie: Days three & four

2009-04-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

Its been a busy past few days, getting the illustration in for the Portland Upside (coming out May 8th!), starting a new narrated story for Mrs. P, painting fruit for Pixabit, and squeezing in a little R & R in Hood River. Conceptart.org has new tutorials that are really cool and it reminded me to finish my posting of the Reverie conference back in April.

Bobby Chiu, master in imaginary, cute, dark, and hilarious character painting gave a talk on his process. I obviously didn't get there early enough because the room was packed and I was relegated to standing in the back. But it was worth it to see him create his compositions and lighting techniques. I didn't get any pics but you can check out his work at imaginism studios.

After the Bobby's demonstration, I wandered around and sat in on the traditional painters doing their stuff. Carl Dobsky was amazing as he painted from a reference photo. This is a very valuable skill, especially if you know how to take great photos for your morgue file. Greg Manchess, a thirty year veteran in traditional illustration was a joy to listen to his stories from the trenches. His brushwork was confident and sure and his attention to detail was automatic. Wow. He's obviously learned how to not only work fast, but good too. Here's a shot of his completed polar bear painting:

I then decided once again to test out some new ideas on my own work. I found Andrew Jones replicating his Phaedroid experiment from the first night for a figure drawing session. After sitting down and setting up my area, I knew this wasn't going to be like any drawing session I've ever been involved with. The pose was simple but the forms, shapes, and lighting was in constant flux, ever morphing as the night went on. I set up the landmarks, blocked in shapes and determined the values.

As I was doing this, Andrew continued to draw over Phaedra, continually changing those values and shapes. It became a race that I ultimately lost, in that I could no longer risk losing values I setup earlier. Also, Andrew's shapes are iconic and mathematically perfect and any attempt at replicating them would be foolhardy. I'm happy that I stopped where I did and made the session my own interpretation:

Satisfied, I then took a break and listened to more talks from Coro and Marko Djurdjevic about their current projects with Marvel and films. Day three was a wrap, tired but full of wonderment for the future of our artwork and the industry.

Day four began with a cut-the-crap seriousness about the business of art. Jason Manley along with Sherry McKenna, Shawn Barber and Irene Gallo spoke about contracts, getting ripped off and working for free. I think I took the most notes during this presentation as I've had to deal with many, if not all the issues they discussed.

We then broke for lunch, and I made arrangments to head back as my plane ticket I bought had me leaving before the end of the show. But, I did manage to be a part of the group photo and the start of Thunderdome. Speaking of which, was presented on day three. Andi Scull and former marine captain Brian Steidle gave a presentation on a film they created and showcased at Sundance in conjunction with their organization HOPE, which is the acronym for Helping Other People Everywhere. What's great about this organization is that their core belief is artists and creatives, have the power to bring imagery to the rest of the world that brings awareness to the plights of those in developing nations such as Africa.

The last I checked, they already have several more films in production including an upcoming campaign, highlighting the illegal slave mines in the Congo. People are currently enslaved to mine metals, metals that are specific to electronic devices like cellphones, ipods and gps devices. I've joined to help out and if you are an artist, photgrapher and/or event planner, please join too.

The Thunderdome competition was held for attendees as well as the pros. Attendees had two days to work on their ideas and pros were given one hour at the end of the day to complete their pieces. I was only able to view a few of the speed paintings but I heard they were amazing.

Here's mine:

To sum up my time at Reverie: inspiring. I'm inspired to work hard. I'm inspired to progress. I'm inspired to be better. A better artist and a better human being.

Thanks for reading!

~Nick

Hipbone Studio

2009-04-16T23:34:00.001-07:00

I'm breaking from my Reverie posts momentarily...

Tonight I spent the evening with fellow artists at Hipbone Studio off Burnside in Portland, OR. Jeff Burke, owner and facilitor, hosts an extended figure drawing class called Long Term Pose, Thursday evenings. Its great because you can spend a considerable amount of time developing a painting or drawing without those pesky gestures. Joking. But seriously, sometimes those quick ten minute poses aren't enough. Long term pose allows you to spend hours on one model, one pose. I believe Hipbone is the only studio in town that does this.

Here's what I have with Nicole after 2.5 hours:

Not sure at this point if I'll start over fresh and maybe only focus on the face or hands. There were a few great oil portraits tonight I found to be utterly inspiring. Now that I'm thinking more about it, I will probably scrap this and do a bust in color. Besides, Nicole is looking too stern in this for my liking.

Happily, there's also Model Mayhem coming up at the end of the month. 9 models over the course of 9 hours throughout the day. Should be a carpel-tunnel inducing good time! Next post will be Reverie festival's day three and day four posts, the Stumptown Comics Fest going on all month long in Portland, and a Dr. Sketchy session (ooh la la).

Reverie: Day two

2009-04-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

I woke up on day two with having only slept four hours the night before, a combination of anticipated excitement and early morning fog running through me. The first hour of the day consisted of getting art supplies ready, laptops charged, and low-key mingling before the opening speech. Jason Manley takes the stage and introduces all the instructors and famous artists in attendance. Saying to myself, "Oh, that's Justin Sweet or Kevin Llewellyn" as they took the mic, you have no idea what faces conjured in the mind are attributed to their artwork. Preconceived notions all thrown out the window.

Justin Sweet

Photo cred: Phil Holland

Once introductions were completed, Lorne Lanning from Oddworld took the stage. His two hour presentation blew my mind and I over heard from others afterward they felt the same. His topic centered around his creation of Oddworld and all its incarnations throughout the years.

Lorne said the greatest inspiration for all of our works comes from the daily lives around us and how evolving technology impacts our primitive world. I loved his Spore Theory in which he conjectures, all of our ideas we thought were hidden reveal themselves in patterns and other platforms that have spread through others around us. Thoughts and ideas spawned from individuals are changed and manipulated from one person to the next, the core truths remain buried, but are essentially still there. The spark. He also said the best designers have the biggest libraries. :)

We then watch a presentation from Frank Beddor who recreated Alice in Wonderland into a gritty retelling dubbed The Looking Glass Wars. The playing cards are cool, killing robots that the Queen of Hearts sends to hunt down Alice. Check out his site here: www.lookingglasswars.com. The concept and finished work sections showcase great art.

I then wander around a bit checking out William Whittaker's oil painting from life and Michael Mentler's (the Bone Doctor) human anatomy review. At this point, I can't handle all the creativity around me and look for an outlet. Andrew Jones is painting from life and giving a demo on his work and I join others to sit down and draw the model in recline. Here's what I come up with in roughly 45 minutes (after 10 minute gestures):

Needless to say I had a great time with this session and I was amazed at seeing all the various styles and interpretations from other artists around me. Then I realize I'm sitting directly behind Greg Manchess after looking over his shoulder at his sketches. Wow. The guy is a genius. On day three, I will talk about his process of painting a commission in oils from start to finish, including his use of created reference photos.

Phew! Time for a drink and to watch some more demos and chat.

The final presentation of the night came from Jenova Chen, game developer that created ground breaking titles for the Playstation 3, Flower and Flow. Flower is a beautifully constructed game that combines highly detailed artwork with music, the goal being that your actions for better or worse will affect the environment around you. Will you propagate the flower's growth, or cause the city to wither away? And with that, I head back to Hotel Lawrence, avoiding the scam artist in the cheap suit, dodging roaming thugs, and avoiding the crazed, screaming lady on the corner. Yikes!

I then run into another group wandering back from the conference. I meet Alex Ruiz from LA and the Midway software crew where we drink screwdrivers and eat cold cheese pizza. I then head back to my room to crash, another mind blowing day over.

More to come from day three....

~Nick

Reverie: The Conference

2009-04-03T00:32:00.000-07:00

I thought I should start off my first post about the four day event I attended in Dallas last weekend. Jason Manley of Massive Black in cooperation with the art community of Conceptart.org, holds these crazy events every year in a different location around the world. The last event, named Revelations, was held in Seattle with the next one (not yet named) being held in Shanghai. I've always heard how insane they were and with Reverie being the last one held stateside, I knew I had to go.

Among the many artists from the community attending, there were also special guest artists invited to give talks, share ideas, give art demonstrations, hold portfolio reviews, and some meet-n-greet. I was most excited to see Justin Sweet, Wes Burt, Jon Foster, Aleksi Briclot, Shawn Barber, Jason Chan, and Bobby Chui. There were many more great artists there to name (drop), but these guys are my inspiration. Google anyone of them to get an idea of their awesomeness.

Day one:

Check into Hotel Lawrence with minutes to spare (damn airline delays) and shuttle over to the venue, the Fashion Industry Gallery. Not knowing what to expect, I pack all my art gear with me. Upon arriving, I notice the lights are low but the dance floor is lit and there are a ton of people, many of which I don't recognize. I meet my roomie Josh Godin, AKA Sourgasm. Josh was recently accepted into Massive Black's atelier art program in San Francisco. He points everyone out that I don't know and what to expect. He says, "Well, the drinks are free, there's dancing, art demos and you can also start sketching if you'd like".

I grab a couple drinks, and start walking around shaking hands and trying to find my heroes. I sit down and start watching Aleksi draw a zombie baby creature, mezmerized but also disturbed at the same time. I then wander around some more, blown away by all the amazing work coming to life before my eyes. Eyeing a guy drawing from a live model, I scoot in nearby trying not to impose. He's the only one at this point drawing from life instead of from imagination. "Who's that", I ask a guy next to me. "That's Wesley Burt". Ahhh! I've been following his work for awhile now, since the days starting art school in San Francisco. I watch some more as the uncanny likeness of the model comes to life through his pen. I sit down next to him and ask him in the dumbest drunk voice, "How do you approach a live model, where do you start when you begin". He smiles and says, "I just draw what I see". Duh. I knew that, that's how I work but being buzzed and star-struck at the same time, I later had one of those Doh moments the next day.

Andrew "Android" Jones then takes the main stage for a performance art piece called Phaedroid. Watch the intro video (sorry, it was dark). The performance is Android on his "Keytar" Cintiq tablet, drawing his custom forms over his partner, Phaedra on stage. Music performed by DJ Random Rab, music created for artists.

Phaedroid

It was really cool! The flash bulbs sort of took away from it but otherwise it was excellent.

I get up, wander around some more, meet some more people, and dance like a white guy with a bunch of attendees and party-crashers from the AFI Film Festival going on nearby. Its hard to turn down free alcoholic beverages. Having lost count of how many vodka cocktails I drank, I walk back to the hotel and crash at around 4:30am.

More to come: Check back when I post more photos, my live model art, the Hope for Congo project, crazy Dallas bum stories and more from days 2, 3, and the 4th and final day.

~Nick