GlennzArt

Ravenskye City? What is that?

2012-01-26T23:27:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to post art and talk about all the hard work that my crew have accomplished while working on Ravenskye City. Now, I feel like since the game is out(has been for several months now), I guess I can talk about what I've been up to!!

First the company. I started working at 6Waves Lolapps about 7 months ago, and I immediately started working on a new game called Ravenskye City. It's a casual facebook game. Before joining Lolapps(as it was called when I joined), I had no idea what facebook games were. Especially the word 'casual', 'mid core' and 'hard core' games. Didn't even know there were that many levels. I heard of Farmville, etc and Zynga of course, but anything else about social games, not so much. Lolapps was an up and coming company with lots of promising ideas, and what I liked about it the most was it's laid back culture. Also, everyone seemed to be smiling and having a good time. A great indicator of a good company. If you ever interview at a company and everyone looks stressed out, well, there's probably a good reason for that!!

So now, Ravenskye City. It is a 'casual social game'. The market is pretty specific too. When I started working on it, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to get into. Plus, they told me that the game is to be out in 4 months! I was use to working on a character for that long in feature films!! Now, they are telling me that I have to design something like 18 characters, a map that the game takes place on, and several unique sets! With lots of props! So even though I was really scared, I went full steam ahead. I feel like, looking back now, it has been a grace of some force out there that has blessed me with such a great team of artists. It's really rare to have a whole team of artists, game designers, programmers, and all the rest of the unique teams that make up a group that are involved in a social game world to all get along and all have the same goals!! I can go on and on about my team, but before I get too wordy and boring, let me just say that it has been just amazing.

There are several differences working on social games like Ravenskye City, and Feature Animated films. First, animated films takes a lot of people, especially 3D. We're talking several hundreds.
A game like ours, well, it's a totally different animal. I don't know the exact head count, but I think it's less than 40. We don't get to spend too much time iterating on anything, simply because we just don't have the time. After our initial release of the game, we were already developing content packs. It's basically new game feature that goes out every week. So my artists and I are continuously busy creating new art. We never got a wrap party like we use to on films, because our project never wrapped. It's actually just beginning. Maybe when the game stops making money someday and we have to shut it down, then they will give us a wrap party??!! Ha ha.

Well, I will try to be better organized and try to show some new and old art that I have worked on. But meanwhile, please go check out some art that we released to a community blogger who is a huge fan of our game. Click here.
You can see some art from my artists and me. Keep checking back. There will be more.

Intro screen to the Game

2012-01-26T23:09:00.000-08:00

For Ravenskye City, one of first things the player will see once they launch the game in Facebook, will be the loading screen. I wanted to make sure that the art represented the adventurous spirit that the game and the characters were about. So what better way than to show the main characters about to embark on their adventure!

The idea started with a very rough sketch.
Then I roughed out a couple of ideas:

And once I finalized on the final composition, an artist and I worked on completing the final 'Loading Screen Art.' Hope you like it.

Game Art

2012-01-26T22:48:00.000-08:00

This is one of the concept drawing that I had done at work. This is on the level called Interior. The idea called for a device that will eventually be fixed, and then it will be able to steer the island to where ever the player wants to go. I always loved this type of idea of bunch of random globes, etc, that really don't do anything but looks cool.

been forever since my last post!!!

2011-12-29T14:59:00.000-08:00

Geeze time flies when one's having fun! I didn't realize my last post was like from wayback from 2011 APE.
So here; a little post. I swear though, I've been busy. Hopefully, I will be able to post some stuff from my work soon.

This is from today. A quick painting with my co-workers at Eddie Rickenbachers. In case anyone hasn't been there, it's this pub on 2nd st in San Francisco where the decoration of the whole place is antique motorcycle!! very cool.

APE update

2011-10-03T10:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Thanks for coming out to APE and making this event one of my best experiences. I really had a great time out there with all of you. This was my first booth at APE this weekend. Here's a shot of the booth. Now, back to drawing and more painting, to get ready for the next one!!

Preparing to goto APE, 2011

2011-09-24T23:17:00.000-07:00

Going to APE this year!! Actually, my first time getting a table!! Looking forward to it. All I've been thinking about in the last week or so is "do I have everything I need? Did I print all the stuff, and get the art book ready???" I thought I was close, then I met up with my friend Genevieve to pick her brain a bit to get some insight, and she gave me a list of things that I never would have thought about! It's like when you go camping and you forget the smallest thing, like the can opener, and it ruins the whole trip. Mine would have been like that! Thanks Genevieve! PHEW! I would have just borrowed from everyone and annoyed them! Now, I can look like a professional.

I"m not going to have a lot of items since(Ahem) it is my first dive into getting a table at a comic con! So I will have my one book that I got done a few months back. I first had it for sale at Trickster at this years San Diego Comic Con. That was fun!

So that gave me the confidence to try something new.

Here's one of the pages that have been working on. It's going to be in a new book as a compilation with my co-workers. We are calling the book "Lol Coffee Break". A little nod to our work, LolApps.

Here's the cover and the back:

We didn't have enough time to prepare, so the book really is a compilation, but I think it's going to be a good one. All these guys have a very unique style, and very talented! It will be, Mike Bear, Nate Berna, Roman Muradov, Brandon Pike, Elie Dahger, Jerry Tzeng, and Josh de Leon. As you will be able to tell just from our different styles, our collection is going to be very unique indeed. If I get a chance, I will post a few more sample pages from the guys, up until the beginning of the conference. It's going to be hot off the press too!

APE is this coming weekend. Oct 1 to 2nd at the San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center.

Oh, and did I mention that Genevieve will be sharing the other half of our table? She is an amazing artist! Man this girl can draw!

It's going to be good times!

SketchCrawl 33!

2011-09-24T14:35:00.001-07:00

FYI: http://www.sketchcrawl.com/2011/10/ww-sketchcrawl-33/

At the con

2011-07-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

Walking around the street and saw this.

Drawing from San Diego

2011-07-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

Here I am in San Diego, finally. I arrived late last night with United, the no choice airline, and I let them beat me up a bit, but arrives safely in to San Diego. Now, I'm sitting outside Trickster, enjoying a glass of wine. The weather is beautiful, and there are tons of people here!! Anyways, a friend of my cousin, Jim and I were hanging out and he asked me for a favor and draw something for him for a buddy of his. This is Helena, thanking Bud for a job well done. Ha ha. Great job Bud!

Something new and exciting

2011-06-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

Like many artists, I am one of those that have always wanted to do a graphic novel. But life happens and sometimes things just get in the way(not a complaint. I have been lucky enough to have gotten to work on some cool projects in my life), but nevertheless, somethings just are not do-a-ble, until you get a few things out of your system. Anyways, this is a new project that is in the works, and one of the aspects that I wanted to share is the story of these two young lovers. It's about a boy and a girl. They meet, fall in love, and along the way, other forces tear them apart, shit happens in their life, and one things leads to another, and this beautiful girl shoots up everything, including her love. The story is in the formative stages of writing, and I getting to do some fun drawings and paintings.
I'm hoping to have a few more images by APE. So please check back on my blog once in a while to watch out for updates. Meanwhile, here are some images.

Found my toy car on blocks when I got home today

2011-06-12T15:54:00.001-07:00

I swore they told me this is a safe area to park!!

Additional news of late. My first self published BOOK!!

2011-06-01T01:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished working on a self published book titled "Paper Sword". I am very excited to share it on the blogsphere! I will be selling copies of it for the first time at San Diego Comic Con at a PopUp store that my friend Scott Morse will be hosting simultaneously during the SDCon. His store will be called "Trickster". Awesome name!!

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/scott-morse-trickster-san-diego-comic-con-110516.html

He generously offered a space for my book. Thanks so much for the opportunity Scott!!

Then, I will also, hopefully, be getting a table at APE right here in San Francisco this October! We're on a waiting list!! But if we it does work out, I'm planning on possibly having another book, along with "Paper Sword".

And as a last note, I want to give props to the printer Ken, and his company KENESS. He is a local SF printer, and he did a great job with a quick turn around. I really liked what he did with the Ghana Art Block Auction catalog, so it was a no brainer!

Anyways, below are some crude late night pictures of the book itself. I promise, the original looks way better! The book is a small collection of work that are on my blog, but I wanted to get some of my favorites into one place. Especially when it's actual real PAPER! I love real paper!!

The First Grader

2011-06-01T00:44:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I've posted anything! But how time flies when things are busy. I just started a new job so it's just been that. HECTIC! But I did manage to log on tonight just to post something really special. I want to spread the word on a movie that I had the privilege of watching at a special screening in San Francisco. It's a movie about an old man in Kenya going to school for the first time to read and write. It was a very touching and heartwarming story about this man and the people he has touched through his determination. Based on a true story. I think you will like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns030fCDorE

Color sketch of the robots

2011-04-07T10:58:00.000-07:00

Once the Munkyfun guys liked a concept and a design was approved, it was on to a tighter sketch, and some color concepts. Here's some of them.

Robots

2011-03-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

Recently I got a chance to design some fun retro robots for a game company in San Francisco. The company, MunkyFun, hired me to try some robot concepts for a game idea they have. While the game is still in development, here's a peek at some fun robot concept art.

Ghana Art Block auction update

2011-03-21T22:49:00.000-07:00

The Ghana Art Block auction was a huge success. Thanks Rachael and everyone involved for organizing such an incredible event, and thank you for inviting me and letting me contribute. I was very honored. I am especially happy that some of the proceeds will go towards helping the victims of the Japan earthquake.

Here's some photos I took at the event.

Ghana Art Block Project Update

2011-01-29T16:45:00.000-08:00

Hi All. This is an update to the Ghana Art Block Project. Recently the organizers announced that they got sponsorship through AOL and Digital Domain and that they are also going to publish a book! I was very excited about that. Anyways, 1f anyone happens to be in LA or NY on the show dates, please go check out the art work and support this worthy cause!

http://www.artblocksghana.blogspot.com/

http://www.picturebookproject.com/PBP/home.html

Dreaming of stars in the night sky

2011-01-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

Some new work done for a children's book idea. Really love the process of learning about using minimal amount of words, and marrying that with a picture that work with the words to tell a story. This was a good learning experience for me. I hope to be working on a book someday soon. I only tried the cover concept and one of the interior images. Also added is the concept sketch of the little girl character.

This is the character study page. She's modeled somewhat after my little girl. I was trying to capture her sense of adventure, curiosity, and child's playfulness.

MotherHenFundraiser

2010-11-15T16:17:00.000-08:00

Here's the other fundraiser that I donated some art to. FYI. It's coming up this weekend on the 20th.
http://www.themotherhenproject.org/

This is just a personal thought. I don't like to espouse too much personal opinion on the internet, but I wanted to say something.
I was thinking about donating art to help a worthy organization, especially something like this. And I came to the conclusion that what ever this event does to help people and children in need, will only spread positive and meaningful energy to those people that it touches. And in turn, it will help me grow as a person, and as an artist. So it is a bit selfish on my part. But I like to think that this is not only benefiting me. It will hopefully benefit others. Especially children.
So, I really appreciate this opportunity. Thank you Alison for organizing this.

My submission for the Ghana Fund raiser

2010-11-15T02:27:00.000-08:00

I finally finished this. I had gone through several ideas, and finally settled on this simple idea. I love the idea of a kid going out for a walk with her dog, and not having a worry in the world. This makes me think of home. Or the idea of having a home.

This is the link to the organization and their mission. Very cool.

http://www.picturebookproject.com/PBP/home.html
http://artblocksghana.blogspot.com/

Upcoming Fund raisers

2010-10-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

FYI, I will be donating some art to an upcoming fund raiser for a non profit. Here's the link to the project blog And the link to five pieces that I will be donating. Click here
The organization is called The Mother Hen. They help families adopt.
There are many film industry artists that will be donating to this cause. Please check out the link above.

Another event is called the Ghana Art Blocks. This group is going to raise money to help build homes for families in Ghana.

Both worthy causes, and since I got invited to participate, I feel very honored. Hope they both do very well.

New Book Cover

2010-10-14T13:23:00.000-07:00

Just finished a new book cover for a couple of local writers. I had done a book cover for these guys before, and they asked me to do another one. I thought the project sounded interesting, so I agreed to do it. Here's the result. Also, a link to the authors site where he had put together a through explanation of how the cover came together. Click Here.

Let's just use your imagination

2010-10-03T23:31:00.000-07:00

This painting, and the previous two, are all inspirations from listening my little daughter. She would run around picking up a little round stone, or a plastic toy, or anything, and start saying the lines from "A Bug's Life" when Flick talks to Dot about the big tree and using the stone as a pretent seed. She would say, "let's pretend that this is a seed ok?" Then I would say, "But it's a stone?". She'd say, "oh I know I know it's a stone, but let's just use our imagination!!!".

Just really makes me think of the innocence and imaginative play of little children. It seems like her imaginations get fueled by things that she sees and experiences, then they can play pretend for hours. If I could only just get into her little brain for a minute and try to unleash the unbound imagination!! But alas, not possible. So this is my best attempt at things that she might see in her mind where anything is possible.

My muse

2010-09-18T23:14:00.001-07:00

New inspiration

2010-09-11T20:49:00.001-07:00

Digital sketching

2010-08-29T21:43:00.000-07:00

Having some fun sketching digitally. Kinda fun, especially since I can move around the room freely and get the right angle that I like with a little digital pad.

...and sometimes, you just have to draw a broccolli.

2010-08-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

Prego Super Villian Moms

2010-08-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

I think it would be hard to be a supervillian when your pregnant, but why not look fab while you're at it!

A few characters

2010-08-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

Sketches for the Bradbury painting

2010-08-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I posted anything here. Been very busy with work and other things. But no excuse to not post to my art blog!! Art is what life is all about! Anyways, before I got off on philosophy, I've been meaning to post some of the sketch ideas for the Hound painting that I did for Ray Bradbury. I first thought of the bull dog concept, but felt that I couldn't get a good silhouette with that shape. So I went with the more Doberman shape. I think the face of the hound ended up looking too much horse like, but still feels like a kind of menacing dog shape that I was looking for.

Painting for Ray Bradbury Week in August.

2010-07-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

I finished the painting for the upcoming Ray Bradbury week. As I briefly mentioned in the previous post with the rough paintings, it's a cool idea organized by a Steven Leiva, who is a friend of Ray Bradbury. He put out a call to artists to contribute art for Bradbury's 80th birthday coming up in August.

Lou Romano first told me about this, and I thought it would be really fun to try to do a painting of one of my favorite Bradbury stories. I always really liked Farenheit 451, so started thinking about that story.
I settled on featuring the scary hound that tracks down books and burns them. I also really wanted to make the hound as scary as possible, and I got my inspiration from a steam train. Something so basic and just hard core functional about a steam engine, and the mechanics necessary to run those beasts. That's how I pictured the "book sniffing hound" in Farenheit 451. I'd imagine that they wouldn't build the flame shooting hound with any sleek design. It would be a functional machine that has only what's necessary to accomplish it's mission. If it gets damaged, attacked, or what ever, there will be another one to replace it. I also think it'll operate on a gas engine of some sort. You'd have to pull the cord like a lawn mower just to get the beast going!! That'll be really cool. Here's the finished painting.

New "Colors" painting

2010-06-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Painting I did last night while having a drink at the Mallard in Albany. Kinda dark now that I look at it. I think I need to pull out the bartender a bit with some back lighting. Hmmm

From "The Alchemist"

2010-06-15T20:21:00.001-07:00

Blessing ignored becomes a curse.

-Paulo Coelho

A couple of new paintings in progress

2010-06-15T15:28:00.000-07:00

Working on some new paintings for the upcoming Ray Bradbury week in August. I still want to finish up the painting with the Robot Hound.

FYI, this is an event organized by a writer Steven Paul Leiva. He is organizing artists to submit paintings to him, so that he can give Ray Bradbury on his birthday in August. Here's his facebook page showing some of the submissions. Check it out!!

Process of working

2010-05-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

I was recently in my class with my high school students and we were talking about using reference for inspiration and ideas. And one of them told me that their high school teacher was discouraging them from using photos and references. They were advised to use only what you see in real life.
While that is also good advise, I think one will become very limited in scope of possibilities if you only limited your ideas to what you see in real life. Don't get me wrong, real life observation is very very important, but I think sometimes, especially teachers, pass on bad advice.
Using photos to help inspire and also help solve problems is very important. We use it all the time to portray something accurately, especially if it's something that is far away that we all don't have access to. Like maybe the Eiffel tower. We all don't live in France, therefore, you must go and find pictures of the eiffel tower. And also understand how light is hitting it at certain times of the day, etc.

Anyways, I was slightly flabbergasted at the notion that you shouldn't use photos(especially other people's photos you find on the internet) for inspiration or reference. You shouldn't copy it exactly from a photo, especially if it's someone else's, but real references are so valuable! I couldn't imagine not using it. I guess we all have become so use to it as designers, illustrators, and fine artists, that when I heard that, it made me cringe. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there's a better way to explain this!

So, I wanted to show some examples of artists who use references to accomplish their vision, without slavishly copying what they see.

Here's Lou Romano's work. He used photos as a starting point and to get some things right, but used his creative talent and personal style to make it his own. Please take a look.

Also, James Gurney goes into depths about how he works. Here's an example where he actually create miniature maquettes to photograph, and he paints very convincing scenes from his own references. Very neat process.

Everyone has a different way of working, but one thing I know for sure. Never say don't do it this way, or no to this. As long as it is not plagiarized, one should explore freely! Especially as a student!!

There, I had to get this off my chest.

Art School, I'm confident I can get there!!, Part 4.

2010-05-24T21:46:00.000-07:00

Well, after a slightly long absence, I got enough time together to post my fourth interview. This is a good friend of mine, Bill Eaken. I met Bill through Armand Cabrera and we use to sit around talking about art all the time. I think all of us were/art Frank Frazetta fans(he recently passed away. RIP). I think artists friends are just like sports fan friends who sit around arguing about the their best football team. We artists sit around talking about our favorite artist, or science fiction movie, or writer. But all of us are fans of Frank Frazetta.

One of the things that makes Bill's art stand out for me is his understanding of the female form. Any of us can do female form, but it's really a rare skill to represent a pretty, sexy female in a painting, without going overboard and crude. But Bill has a special ability to depict the female form in any situation, and show her to be truly in her happy moment, and not feel contrived.

I also remember Bill's work when I was getting started as a freelance illustrator and feeling like, man when will I ever get a chance to illustrate an Indiana Jones poster! But after I got to know him, he just turned out to be the coolest friend with some of the best stories ever. His story about his grand father almost makes me believe in ghosts!!

Here's my interview with Bill Eaken.

GK: How did you get started in your field. What influenced you to want to become an artist? Ie, was it a childhood influence, someone you met, or were you just naturally inclined? If it was someone or some thing that you saw(like a visit to a museum) that had an influence on you, could you cite an example of the moment that you decided to become an artist?

BE: I never thought of myself as an “artist”; I just loved to draw all the time. Whenever I saw something I liked, it would inspire me to sit around for hours usually trying to recapture it from memory. Sometimes it was movies, and sometimes things I’d see or read about in books. Even when it came time to decide what to study in college, art was my 3rd choice (after literature and science). In the end, I decided on art because I thought it would be easier. And I could always go on to learn those other things on my own. In a way, you could say it was such a natural part of who I was that I took it for granted.

GK: What kind of things did you like to draw or paint when you were a youngster?

BE: When I was really young it was dinosaurs all the way! I would often trace them from books, then practice them from memory. A little later I got interested in Greek mythology, probably after seeing Sinbad and Hercules movies. I was really inspired to try and draw the myths authentically, but dramatically. That’s probably why I gravitated to illustration. And as I got older I started drawing animals. And finally, as a teenager, I became interested in the human form after seeing some very powerful figure paintings.

GK: What do you like to draw and paint now? Do you get to do it professionally, or is your personal work different from the work you do for your work?

BE: I still love animals and the human form most of all. I often see other things that inspire and challenge me, but it’s fleeting. I don’t care much about painting landscapes, for instance, although I occasionally get excited about something I see, often the work of another artist. Rocks and cliffs really get to me, for some reason. But I still want to put birds flying by, or someone climbing on them.

As an illustrator I’ve been able to do a lot with figures and portraits over the years. And now that I’m doing mostly gallery work it’s what I focus on. But I think the human form has become something like an unconscious symbol for me of human experience. So, even though I’m still drawing and painting “people,” I’m really drawing and painting ideas.

GK: Were your parents supportive?

BE: Not really; they hardly noticed I existed. That’s probably why art captured my mind so completely; it was a way of “creating” a better world of my own. I’ve often wondered if art saved me, in that sense. It taught me to always be striving to be better, to learn from the skills of others instead of being intimidated by them, and to look at myself honestly and accurately in order to see what needs improvement. Most of the members of my family got into drugs, and other bad things, but art was always my way of tapping into a sense of well-being that led me out of the bad neighborhood. And to this day I believe in the power of art to do that. But now I’m interested in discovering how it could help our civilization. My grandparents were always supportive, though.

GK: Can you share your experience of how you went about researching your school or the institution of your choice. And what was important to you.

BE: I originally went to a college close to home. The art program was fine art oriented; one of my teachers sculpted with neon tubes! I realized pretty quickly that it bored me. So I only took life drawing and philosophy courses for two years. When I realized it was leading nowhere I researched three of the schools I’d heard had good illustration departments. I was putting myself through school and the really good schools were out of reach. So I stuck with the State universities I could (sort of) afford. If I had it to do over I would have spent more time researching and planning, and seeking financial aid. The better schools really do give you a head start, but certainly aren’t necessary. But look into it, and maybe talk to some of their counselors about financial aid. But make sure you’re REALLY serious; I had a friend who graduated owing something like $50,000 in loans, and wound up working in a coffee shop a few years later. I know a lot of kids at, say, Art Center, went to other colleges for a while before transferring. That way you’re kind of sure it’s where you belong, and that it’s not a costly whim.

GK: If you were to be able to go back and re do your high school portfolio, how would you change it? What kind of things would you recommend the students to put into their portfolio. For example, how many life drawings, characters, whether figurative, or imaginative, paintings, sculptures?

BE: I can only speak from my own experience, but handling the human figure well seems to be very important. Drawing people well shows that you’re serious about this art thing. Unless you’re applying for a job sculpting neon tubes. So practice it, and put some in your portfolio. Drawing well is the bottom line, and drawing people well pretty much proves you got what it takes. I’ve seen portfolios with no people in it at all, and even though the flowers and barns were nice, I wonder if it’s really just a hobby. (I’m assuming we’re not talking about someone planning on going to car design school.) And if you can show you can handle color well, that certainly won’t hurt. And definitely have a bunch of the stuff you’ve been working on that you’re best at. If that’s character design, have some of your favorite examples in there. Especially if you’re going to be taking a curriculum that stresses it. But if you really are serious about this, then I’ll bet you already have some neat stuff inside, and outside, you’re focus. Polish that stuff up and put it in!

Do the art schools have any suggestions on what they’re looking for? I would suggest researching it. Ask them, if it’s not in their catalog somewhere. Then spend a while practicing, and producing, what they want. I’ll bet they’re going to want to see people. Bottom line, though, they want to know you can draw.

GK: Is it better to have a general portfolio, or do you think it would be better to have a very focus portfolio? Meaning, let’s say a student wants to study to become a character designer, would you recommend her to have only character design type of work, or would you encourage all types of different subjects?

BE: All the successful artists I know can do more than their specialty. Professional ballerinas also love to dance jazz! I’ve always considered versatility my strongest trait. I can’t even imagine wanting to go to art school and not be curious, or challenged, by things you can’t do well yet, especially as you see the work of your peers. I’ve learned so much from others! And it came from getting inspired by what they do and wanting to try it myself. However, having said that, you’re young, and have probably spent most of your time perfecting what most interests you. I certainly encourage all types of subject matter, but we’re talking about putting together a portfolio. So make sure you showcase what you are best at right now. So, yes, I think focus is okay, but if you have interesting work away from that focus, and it’s good, include it. And I would REALLY encourage the student to have work outside that focus. Too much focus seems opposite of the spirit of art and creativity. And it’s kind of amateurish, or “fan-ish.” I remember kids in high school who only wanted to draw comics (you’ve probably seen kids who can only draw manga). Some of them are still working, so I guess it’s not all bad. But the ones who’ve gone on grew out of their earlier, narrower interests pretty quickly. I remember a kid who could only draw Spiderman. I saw him years later putting tires on cars at Sears. He loved Spiderman, and got a lot of joy out of drawing him. But there was no inner drive to be an artist, just a Spiderman fan. Why deny yourself the chance to explore your full potential? I’m not saying run out and do landscapes if that’s not your bag. But be honest with yourself, too, and get mad about the things you can’t do if you’re ever asked. At least be ABLE to do landscapes. If you can draw manga, but not portraits or landscapes, it may mean you aren’t as serious as you think. We all have to start out copying before evolving into “real” artists. But DO evolve, and do it quickly.

GK: Would you be able to share some of your early works? Whether it’s from your high school days, or early college. A few select pieces would be great. And a few examples of some recent work. And if you have a blog or website that the student can look at.

BE: Yes to all. I can dig some stuff up from college. I’m not sure I have access to anything from high school, though. I gave it all away! And, come to think of it, I don’t have most of my best art school stuff, either. But I’ll find something in the closet.

GK: Also, if you have any other thoughts, or a question that you could think of, please put it in, with an answer of course.

BE: Here’s one I thought of, Glenn:

Students may learn a lot from art school, and art teachers, but are there any other ways artists can grow and learn, such as books or videos? What have you benefited from over the years?

Art books, and nowadays videos, are indispensable. I’ve learned VERY much from books, that’s for certain. But I once had an art school teacher ask the class if they had any artist heroes. Only three people raised their hands. And they were the three best drawers in the class! The teacher told everyone else to start finding heroes. He said that he’d noticed over the years as a teacher that those students who admire, and even “worship,” masters tend to be the ones that excel. We could discuss for hours why that might be true, but successful artists form a kind of mutual admiration society. They learn from, and inspire, each other. Every time I want to develop further my understanding of something I always start by looking at the art of others who do it well. If it’s something I struggle with I will even copy their art, just to get a feel for the “right” way to do it. Every successful artist I know has a library of art books, and usually with many different kinds of art. Some are technique books, sure, but more often than not it’s the work of other artists. Think of it like being a musician; they always have their idols, and spend hours learning to play or sing their music. Why would artists be any different? I’ve wondered over the years about those fellow students who didn’t raise their hands; it’s kind of like showing up at music school knowing how to play violin, but not knowing any songs! I’m not talking about being a hack whose work looks just like someone else’s; you MUST develop your own. But if you want to learn to be a skilled artist, you need to absorb as much skilled art as possible. I love visiting art galleries and museums, just because every new experience stretches you just a little. And once in a while, a lot! And why would I want to be an artist if I didn’t like art, after all? That guy I mentioned who only drew Spiderman never visited museums. And the only books he ever bought were comics. You get my point.

http://www.eaken.net/

Set of the film shoot

2010-05-24T16:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a little up date to the film that is being shot on our ranch. The shoot is going very well and despite the unexpected rain, the necessary sets got built! There was a tremendous delay because of the rain, and the inability to bring up supplies and equipment up the hill when the ground was wet. But somehow, it was managed. Also, the actual filming days have seen some good luck, as most of the bad weather has been, for some crazy unknown reason, isolated to weekdays. So the last two or three weekends, they were able to shoot the film with the ground being dry. Very important for consistency. Anyways, here are some photos of the set, and some of the kids who are taking the film class learning directly from the film makers!

New painting

2010-05-21T01:04:00.000-07:00

Started this painting on Colors!, then cleaned up on Photoshop. I think I'm liking this process. Hmmm...

Maker Faire this weekend

2010-05-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.makerfaire.com/

Oh, I can't wait to go check this out. I have missed this event three years in a row. I always had something else the weekend of, and never could make it. This year, come hell or what ever else, I'm going!

Exciting art opening this Friday

2010-05-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Lou Romano, Dice Tsutsumi, and Soosa Kim are having an art show this Friday at Gallery 1988 in San Francisco. For some of of you who may not know, Lou was the production Designer on Incredibles, and has done numerous other inspirational work for Pixar films, as well as several other projects. Dice just finished off working on Toy Story 3 and has done the most beautiful lighting study paintings for this film. Once you see TS3, and you see how beautifully lit the film is, you'll know that it's Dice's touch. Soosa Kim is also another talented artist that I am not that familiar with, but I hear that he is a very interesting person. But anyways, here's the flyer for the upcoming show. The opening is this Friday.

Sketchcrawl. 27th world wide event

2010-05-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

That was fun. Lots of people showed up at the Sketchcrawl. I had many friends with me, and my students. They had a great time. Also, it was really fun meeting new people as well. Everyone was so passionate about drawing and art. It was great. Here's some of my sketches from that day.

My daughter doing the penguin dance

2010-05-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

So my darling little daughter has really been into the movie Happy Feet lately, and last night when I took her out to hang out at Barne's and Noble, she started doing this Penguin dance. She did it for like 20 minute straight. Giggling the whole time. I couldn't stop laughing. Probably driving everyone crazy next to us. Anyways, I took out my iphone and painted her as she was dancing. Most of it was done on Colors. An iphone app. Then slightly retouched on Photoshop.

Next Sketchcrawl. May 15th in the city

2010-05-06T17:11:00.000-07:00

Sketchcrawl happening this May 15th! http://www.sketchcrawl.com/

Anyone not familiar with Sketchcrawl? Goto their website, but briefly, it's an event that happens simultaneously all around the world. It was started by Enrico Casarosa of Pixar to get artists together and go out and draw together. It has since turned into a worldwide phenomenon. I only went out with them once before, but I have been waiting for the next one that I can make. Anyways, check out the link and see if there's one near you.

Painting in progress

2010-05-05T00:56:00.000-07:00

This is about a half of a painting that's in progress. It's literally half of a painting. The other half is not done, and I rather like this composition by itself anyhow.

It's actually a project that I'm doing with my students. We are all creating a 'fictional world'. And I'm taking on some set design ideas. The previous post of the night shot of the snowy mountain, with the lava is one of the other ideas.

Anyways, I should have the other half of the painting done soon.

Finished shading concept for the Zepplin

2010-04-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

More close to how this Zepplin should look. It's suppose to be an old blimp that has been in service for a long time and the crew repairs it when ever it breaks or developes a leak. So it has that patched and weathered look. Also, I try to indicate that when the sun is backlighting it, you can see the understructure of the blimp. Next, a detail painting of the bottom of the blimp.

And here's the unshaded model that was the base of the painting. Now once this "Shading Concept" gets approved by the director, the model will get turned over to the shading artist, and get shaded. My painting will be used as a style guide.

Prepping for a special effects shot using the greenscreen

2010-04-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

This is a diagram I made for the film class that we will be teaching. It's a special effects shot that will require some practical elements to be used and shot on location. ie, the crates will be hoisted on a rope and pulled up and filmed from below. Then an artist will match the lighting and composition, and paint a matte of the zeppelin high up, and hopefully, completing the illusion of a grandious shot. The shot is actually for a film being made here. Previously posted. And the film class will be structured around this film shoot. The kids will learn many of the basics of putting together a film, through this experience.

Another project I'm working on

2010-04-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

This painting is a shading concept paint, in progress. I still have a bit to go to get more details in it, but just wanted to post it as a WIP. This model will be built in 3D, shaded, and used in a live action short film that is being made. I can't wait to see it comped in with everything!! I will be posting more images and work related to this project as well.

An old painting I found of and friend who is no longer with us

2010-04-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

This is a painting of one of my former co-workers, John Anderson that was done way back when he and I worked on Toy Story 2. I was researching skin texture reference for 'Al'. The human character that steals Woody. Anyways, I took some pictures of my co-workers, and I liked this photo so did a watercolor study. It's of John, and he looks like he's on a bright beach, squinting at the bright sun. Anyways, years later, I find out that he died while working and living in Australia. He was a super nice guy, and very talented. It's always regretful when you hear about someone that you knew passing, and wish that you had more time to be friends. Well, John, this is how I will always remember you. Looking out at the world with positive curiosity, and into the bright sun.

New painting I'm working on

2010-04-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

A couple of concept paintings.

Film Class For Kids

2010-04-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, follow up to my previous post. Here's the flyer for the Film Class For Kids that we are offering. The class will start on May 15th, for kids 11 and up. If you know anyone with kids who are interested in learning about film making, and they live in the bay area, please let them know.

It is an exciting opportunity to be able to observe a small film crew shoot some scenes, and get to meet the crew and director, and experience what it's like to put together a special effects film. The teacher, Grace Thompson, will be on hand to explain what it takes to put together a film shooting schedule. She'll also cover the design process in making of a film, including, in this case, props, sets, and costumes. I can't reveal too much about the film, but basically it's about an apocalyptic future, so everyone is in cool costumes, and live in shanty shacks. The set is being built on the ranch, so that is also another exciting element of this classes' experience. The kids will get to see a small set built on site, then see how the set will get a treatment like an actual special effects film, where they then take it into the studio and paint a matte background, to make the set look bigger than it really is. So check out our website and sign up. Space is limited so please sign up early!!

If you have any questions, please email me at gk@siennaranch.net.

Glenn.

Follow up to interview with Cassandra

2010-04-12T00:45:00.000-07:00

This is a follow up to the interview with Cassandra. Like I mentioned in the previous post, she is a talented young artist, recently hired where I work, and she has been producing awesome work for our latest films. This past weekend, Cassandra and her boyfriend who is a student at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco came over to talk to my students. I think my students were really inspired by their stories, and their work. But one bit that stuck with me is when Cassandra was showing her portfolio that she used for job interviews, she talked about the importance of showing the process of design, and that is one of the things that made her stand out against all the talented graphic designers that she competed against.

Process of design is something that we all are taught at art schools. It's the idea of doing idea sketches, or thumb nails. Here, you can quickly sketch out simple designs, whether they are a logo designs, a composition for a painting, illustration, car design, you name it. Then once you nail down the thumbnails, you move on to refinement of the sketches, and perhaps more details. At this point you can start getting references like photos, models, color inspiration, etc. Then you can do a color sketch, and so on till the final product. One of the other reason why showing this process is so important is that it shows that you are thinking about what it is you are producing. It's not just random jumble of images that you hope you'll like.

I was really impressed by the way she showed her process, all the way to the final product. It really hit home with how I should also try to work. I do it sometimes, but not enough. And the great thing about working in small sketches is that you don't get caught up in details too early, which tends to make the artist commit too early. Lots of times, one commits to a bad design or layout, and then you don't want to start all over. So the bad design decision you make early, gets amplified on the final product.

So to sum up, I want to encourage my students to start working in this fashion. It will only help in making stronger work. And when you finish your project, scan and file all the rough thumbnails, color sketches, value studies, and the final painting. They will all be useful when putting together a portfolio.

Art School, I'm confident I can get there, Part 3

2010-04-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

Hello. As a continuing series, I want to feature my third artist that I interviewed. Cassandra Smolcic. She is an amazing artist that recently got hired at Pixar, and one of the main reasons why I wanted to interview her is because of her fresh style, and also the fact that she is a recent graduate. I wanted to show my students someone who might have more pertinent information in regards to searching out the art school, and what it takes to go about doing that now, versus when I went to college. Which was like in the dark ages of the 80's when we didn't have internet or computers, and Eagles was still playing on pop radio. Not that there's anything wrong with the Eagles, but now they are considered oldies, versus when I was a teenager, they were one of bands that I listen to.

One of insights that she had is that now days the internet is your friend, and making connections on the internet is one of the key tools. She sites "Linkedin". I've also heard from many people that is one of the best ways to make connections. One other suggestion that also struck me is the idea of making connections with someone in the industry or the company you want to work for, and asking for suggestions on how to make the portfolio better. I personally think that is a great way to make connections, but also showing your work to some on the inside, with out being pushy.

I think an art student can do the same with their portfolio for the school that they would like to attend. But back to the idea of asking for help without making things uncomfortable, I recently had a student contact me and asked me to take a look at his online portfolio. He wanted to apply for a painter position, and even though I am not in a position to hire anyone, I made the best effort to give him my opinion on how I would improve his portfolio. He thanked me for my opinion, and it was great. I felt I was helpful, without feeling cornered into an uncomfortable position.

Anyways, I didn't mean to drift from the intent of this post. Here's Cassandra.

Cassandra is a graphic artist at Pixar Animation Studios where she has worked on the upcoming films Toy Story Three, Cars Two and Brave. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing at Susquehanna University and later obtained her Master of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design at the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD).

Previously Cassandra worked as a graphic designer for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania firms FSC Marketing Communications and Bravo Design Group, as well as the Target Corporation headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2009 and 2010, she received five ADDY Awards (the world’s largest advertising competition), ten SCADDY Awards (SCAD’s advertising design competition) and had design work featured in two Savannah, Georgia gallery shows.

GK. How did you get started in your field. What influenced you to want to become an artist?

CS. I was a very competitive kid, and quite the tagalong to my older sister, who is about three years my senior. When she started bringing home beautiful artwork from school and doodling in her notebooks, I strove to do the same. I remember becoming notorious for my artwork in my first grade class, and would spend hours after school drawing various things for my classmates, who would line up for art requests at recess.

GK. What kind of things did you like to draw or paint when you were a youngster?

CS. I often drew my favorite film or cartoon characters and memorized the figures to draw on command for the kids at school; animated icons like Garfield, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Mario, Luigi, the Koopa Kids and the rest of the cast from Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers. My aunt bought me a book called Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair during grade school, which I used to develop a few original characters that I still remember how to draw to this day, such as a dim-witted cow with buckteeth. I desperately wanted to be a Disney animator by the age of 8.

GK. What do you like to draw and paint now? Do you get to do it professionally, or is your personal work different from the work you do for your work?

CS. Professionally I create graphics for various films that help to support the visual texture and believability of the 3D worlds. The work I do varies drastically with each film and day, from graphics for the characters (kind of like costume design, which could be anything from a t-shirt graphic to a race car decal), environments (designs that helps to support the sets, from posters, book covers, storefronts, to Celtic tapestries and engravings), and for props (could take the form of package design, branding, decorative elements, etc). Outside of work, I actually spend more time writing than generating art, but would love to get back into fine art or art-for-fun’s sake soon.

GK. Were your parents supportive?

CS. My mother discouraged me from pursuing a career in art, holding the cliché misconception that I would “starve” if I became a professional artist of any kind. I took an interest in journalism in high school, and decided to study writing in undergrad instead of art. Everyone I knew was shocked by this decision. During my sophomore year in college, I enrolled in a computer arts course for elective credit and stumbled upon graphic design–a field I had literally never heard of before. Although my computer skills were extremely rudimentary (I sent my very first e-mail as a freshman in college, and learned how to save files to a disk just the year before), I was a quick study and immediately fell in love with graphic art. After completing my first project in the class, my professor pulled me aside and told me I had to make graphic design my profession. I ended up completing my degree in creative writing with a strong concentration in graphic design, and landed my first job out of undergrad as a graphic designer at a marketing firm. After a year in the field, I decided to finally enroll in art school, and pursued an MFA in graphic design from the Savannah College of Art & Design in Georgia. I had no idea that graphic designers could work at a place like Pixar, so when my school informed me last year that they were scouting for designers I jumped at the chance to live out my childhood dream of working in animation.

GK. Can you share your experience of how you went about researching your school or the institution of your choice. And what was important to you.

CS. When searching for prospective graduate graphic design programs, I was looking for a school that offered a solid dose of both theory and practice. While some schools heavily leaned toward one end or the other, SCAD seemed to be doing a great job of balancing the two. Because I funded my own education, I was also looking for a school that offered scholarship and fellowship opportunities. For me, visiting my top school picks in person was a must. I think it’s important to pay close attention to your instincts and observe the unspoken culture of an institution or program, and to choose a school filled with work and people that inspire you. For me, SCAD was that place.

GK. If you were to be able to go back and re do your high school portfolio, how would you change it? What kind of things would you recommend the students to put into their portfolio. For example, how many life drawings, characters, whether figurative, or imaginative, paintings, sculptures?

CS. I applied to art school with an undergraduate portfolio, but either way I’d say the most important thing I learned over the years is that less is more. Showing variety is great, but knowing how to edit and pare your book down to the pieces that shine the most is much more important than having a thick book. Although some schools require more, having 6-10 great pieces is often more impressive and digestible than 20 pieces with mediocrity intermixed. For job applications, I would recommend reaching out to someone inside the company to ask what things they look for, either someone in HR or maybe an employee in your field on LinkedIn. Insiders can give you invaluable information that can help your portfolio rise the top of the stack, and that information can also help you to make those difficult decisions about what to include and what to leave out.

GK. Is it better to have a general portfolio, or do you think it would be better to have a very focus portfolio? Meaning, let’s say a student wants to study to become a character designer, would you recommend her to have only character design type of work, or would you encourage all types of different subjects?

CS. I think that artists should generally pursue the kinds of work that they are most passionate about in school, because that will best showcase your talents and skills and you have the rest of your life to work. At the same time, you do need to be conscious about the kind of work that is marketable in the real world and would be appealing to a potential employer. So I would recommend that students find balance between pursuing projects they love while also deliberately touching on the kind of work that would be applicable in their ideal real-life work environment.

GK. Also, if you have any other thoughts, or a question that you could think of, please put it in, with an answer of course.

CS. My best advice:

Lots of people will have suggestions and opinions about your prospective career and choice of school. Listen, and take their opinions into consideration, but do not make your final choice for anyone but yourself, not matter what. In the end, you will be the one who has to live with those choices. It is your future, and no one else can own that.

Another nugget:

Apply, apply, apply! I think the biggest mistake I’ve seen people make in the art world is failing to apply for amazing opportunities because they’re portfolio “wasn’t ready.” We are often our own harshest critics, but you never know what kind of gig your book could land you until you get it out there. A lot of people seem to have the misconception that if they apply once for something and don’t get it, their names are permanently erased from some master list: this is almost never the case. Even if it’s a mad scramble to get everything ready and in the mail, do not miss a great opportunity because of cold feet. Commit to the pieces you have and feel you can stand behind, do everything you can in the time allotted to edit, improve and package the work, then send it off. The worst they can say is “no thank you,” and if that’s the case be sure to ask for feedback; you will often get some priceless suggestions on how to improve your book, and you can always try and try again!

Up coming FILM CLASS at Sienna Ranch!!

2010-04-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. This is a copy of a post that I posted to our other blog: http://kimfamilyranch.blogspot.com/

For anyone interested in learning about film making, this is an exciting opportunity to learn from industry professionals. The class will be offered in May(tentative. Real date and time to follow). The age group for the class will be 12 and up. Geared mostly for kids. At this time it will not be offered as an adult class. We will work on something for adults if there's demand. Please read below, and help spread to word out to parents with kids who are interested in film and art.

This link is also a little info about the art class that I'm teaching right now: http://www.siennaranch.net/Art_Spring_2010.html

This class has already started, and I have some amazingly talented kids. I hope to be publishing more about this class and how it's going on this blog as well.

Here's the film class info:

This image is from the film that is being made

at the ranch. It is a pre production visual development art.

Hi parents and kids. This is so exciting! I wanted to let you know about a new class we are going to offer at Sienna Ranch. This is just a teaser to give you some information on what will be offered.

We will be offering a class on Film Making For Kids! The information for sign up, price, dates is available now. Please check our web page for the information in the next few days.

http://siennaranch.net/Sienna_Ranch_Film_Class.html

The class will be formatted to offer the kids an insight into making of a short film, and also make a short film themselves.

They will get hands on experience on putting everything together!

The first day, the class will go over all the components necessary before shooting. It's a little bit like cooking. First you visualize what you will make for dinner that day. Then you make an inventory of what you have and what you need. Next you prepare all the ingredients. Then, you cook everything together! The kids will learn about all the ingredients.

Then on the second day the kids will get to watch a real short film being made on site at the ranch, by professional film makers. There will be a set, costumed actors, and lots of crew in a flurry of activity. They will get to meet, film and interview some of the key players, like the director, the artists, camera crew, actors, etc.

Then, the kids will take their interviews and make a short documentary style film from their own footage.

The class will be structured so that the kids will maximize their time in relatively short span. But they will learn the fundamental basics about what goes into making of a film. Once you understand this, you can make any length film, whether it's a full length, or a short.

The age group will be 12 and older(we may make some exceptions on some younger kids, depending on their maturity).

If you have any questions, please email me at gk@siennaranch.net

Glenn

Art School, I'm confident I can get there, Part 2

2010-03-31T00:52:00.000-07:00

Continuing on with the artists interview series, I am proud and privileged to have interviewed Armand Cabrera. I met Armand 15 years ago when I got my first job at a small start up game company. We instantly became friends because of our mutual interest in art. I remember him as an artist who was always striving to learn. He is now a professional fine artist painting landscapes all over the United States, and world. One of the things that is unique about Armand is that he doesn't have formal training. He has learned from the best mostly by researching, and seeking out the teachers that he wanted to learn from. Armand mentions in the interview that he took private painting lessons from Ian McCaig. Ian is an amazing artist that has worked on the Star Wars series. Armand has also learned the old fashion way. Just by going out there and painting. I think everyone has something to learn from the approach that Armand has taken. Professionals and art students alike. Here's my interview of Armand Cabrera.

GK. Hi Armand. First, please talk a bit about your self and what you have done as a professional artist.

AC. I’m a fine artist represented by galleries across the United States I have worked as an advertising artist doing product illustrations for design brochures I worked with Architectural Firms doing finished renderings in watercolors for firms, I have Illustrated book covers and magazines for Marion Zimmer Bradley Magazine, Baen Books, St Martin’s Press, Pulp House Press, Integra Press. I worked for LucasFilm Games, Electronic Arts, Activision, Accolade, Strategic Simulations, Elliot Portwood Productions, Totally Games, Virgin Entertainment, and Disney.

GK. How did you get started in your field? What influenced you to want to become an artist? I.e., was it a childhood influence, someone you met, or were you just naturally inclined? If it was someone or some thing that you saw(like a visit to a museum) that had an influence on you, could you cite an example of the moment that you decided to become an artist?

AC. My parents both read a lot; Readers Digest, Book of the Month Club, many of those were reprints of classics and all were illustrated so I like reading and I would copy the pictures in them. I loved N C Wyeth, Frazetta’s Conan and Mars book illustrations, Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics.

Above, art done by Armand at the age of 15.

GK. What kind of things did you like to draw or paint when you were a youngster?

AC. Dinosaurs, comics and movie monsters.

GK. What do you like to draw and paint now? Do you get to do it professionally, or is your personal work different from the work you do for your work?

AC. Now I am primarily known for my oil landscape paintings although I paint anything really and I have painted portraits, figurative and still life works. I also work in watercolor, acrylics and pastels, besides oils.

GK. Were your parents supportive?

AC. My father died when I was 13. My mother and father were supportive when I was a child. My mother and family were concerned for me as an adult when I still held on to the idea of becoming an artist.

GK. I know what you mean. I think a lot of artists have similar experiences with parents. How did you become an artist, and what route did you pursue?

AC. I was primarily self taught as an artist. My interest in Science fiction and fantasy led me to meet some great illustrators who became mentors and friends to me. George Barr and Jim Bearcloud were very helpful as were Kelly Freas, Richard Hescox, and David Cherry.

Once I started working for LucasFilm in their Games Division as an artist I began taking workshops to fill in the gaps in my skills. At Lucas Film Iain McCaig was very helpful to me and gave me private water color lessons. His roommate at the time Eric Chauvin also gave me some private lessons in matte painting. During that time I took a workshop with Thomas Blackshear who was a top illustrator at the time.

Just working at the games division helped me quite a bit; the art department was small and the other artists were very talented who worked there. When I started the art dept. consisted of me, Ken Macklin, Brent Anderson, Avril Harrison, Harrison Fong, Peter Chan, Bill Eaken, Mark Ferarri, James Dollar, Steve Purcell and Gary Winnick as art director. We were responsible for hiring Iain McCaig and he worked with us for about ten minutes till ILM saw his work then they took him.

GK. If you were to be able to go back and re do your high school portfolio, how would you change it? What kind of things would you recommend the students to put into their portfolio. For example, how many life drawings, characters, whether figurative, or imaginative, paintings, sculptures?

AC. I didn’t have a portfolio in high school. I didn’t get work out of school so I can’t speak to that, my portfolio when I got hired had a little of everything with different media.

GK. Is it better to have a general portfolio, or do you think it would be better to have a very focus portfolio? Meaning, let’s say a student wants to study to become a character designer, would you recommend her to have only character design type of work, or would you encourage all types of different subjects?

AC. I don’t believe in specialization, I got the job at Lucas out of thousands of applicants because I did everything well, Cars, People, Environments etc. I saw people come through who were very good at what they did but were specialized and so were passed over because we already had someone who could do what they did. Art is art I have a successful career because I can work anywhere I want Galleries, Games Illustration, Production. As Heinlein said, “specialization is for insects” I recommend learning the fundamentals of good drawing and picture making, those skills will always be in demand.

GK. Also, if you have any other thoughts, or a question that you could think of, please put it in, with an answer of course. I think it is very important to learn to work from life.

AC. You can’t really learn to draw and paint from photos or your imagination alone. If you learn to understand how light falls across a form and you train your hand and eye to replicate that effect you can paint anything.

GK. Thank you Armand for spending some time with me.

Below are some links to Armands blog and website. Please visit them. He posts frequently on the Art and Influence blog.

www.armandcabrera.com
http://artandinfluence.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/apc55/

Quick Color sketch

2010-03-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

Was out last night at my favorite Tiki Bar, and tried to capture the color and the mood of the bar. I just love the lighting and all the cool Hawaiian Theme stuff in this bar. Next, hopefully, I can do a more finished sketch of the whole bar.

Art School, I'm confident I can get there!!

2010-03-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

So, here’s a question for you professional artists out there. Do you remember the jitter and excitement you felt when you finally decided to go to an art school after you graduated high school? Actually, the better question to ask, do you remember when you were a kid when did it dawn on you that you wanted to be an artist? And when did you actually want to pursue a career as an artist? What did you do to get to where you are now? What would you do differently knowing what you know now?

This project that I am working on, is about sharing your story. I think all of us artists out there have their own dreams but one thing that I think we all share is this need to draw, paint, sculpt, express ourselves through our pictures. When you’re a kid drawing for fun, you really didn’t take yourself too seriously, but once you decide to flip that switch in your head and decide that you actually might have some talent, and that you are an exceptional artist, and you decide at some point in your young adult life, that a life as an artist may be your calling, then things change real quick. And that usually means some form of higher education. Not always, but most choose the path of an art college. Some choose a regular university, then fall into art as a major, or some learn to be an artist on the job. But what ever the path, one decides that in order to improve as an artist to be taken seriously, one must choose some form of an regimented art education.

And if it’s an art school, they usually require an art portfolio. I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid in high school, I had no idea what a professional artist did. I just knew that some were in museums, and some did drawings for children’s book or novels. I think now days, things might be easier for kids to find out about what a professional artist is by looking them up on Google, but back in my young days, we did not have this luxury. Either you had to know an artist, or you just had to know that you wanted to be one. As in my case. I did not know a single professional artist to ask what they did. Totally clueless as to what that meant.

So I got curious about what my fellow artists experienced when they were thinking of going to art school, and most importantly, what career path they saw themselves in as a professional. Did they even know what a professional artists did when they were in high school? And what decisions they made. Also, I wanted to know what they would have done differently, knowing what they know now. I think we all went through this stage of metamorphosis. I think we can all learn from each others experiences, but most importantly, share our experiences with the upcoming generations of new talents blossoming in our schools.

I’ve enlisted many of my peers to help me answer these questions. I am going to attempt to cover as many different professional disciplines as possible, but I had to start somewhere, and I think I’m starting it off with a bang. The first three artists that I interviewed have as many different approach and experiences as you can imagine.

First artist to accept my interview is James Gurney. Many of you probably know his work from the Dinotopia children’s book, but I use to admire his work when his work appeared in National Geographic magazines. I loved the illustrated recreations in National Geographic, and I especially remember James’ work in them. It was fascinating to me to see these very concise archeological recreations of ancient ruins, and costumes, or how the dinosaurs might have looked. No one really knows with absolute certainty how a T-Rex looked like, but James somehow gave them this life and believability. I read an article somewhere long time ago of how he works, and he sometimes creates a scale model of a dinosaurs, with complete skin texture, to shoot as a model for one of his paintings. He recreates his paintings with an archeological precision(as he is an archeologist himself). And I also remember those were the times when George Lucas’ “Indiana Jone’s” series were big, so it was natural for a young guy to be fascinated with James’ work.

Also, I have never met another artist as prolific as James. If you visit his blog or his website, you will see a wealth of different types of art done by James. And it looks like he is always painting and working. But one thing that seems to be constant with James’ work is that they are all done with integrity and love of painting.

So, here’s my interview with James Gurney interview.

Also, I will be adding more interviews. Next up is one of my good friend Armand Cabrera. I use to work with him at a game company, and now he is a full time fine artist. I also interviewed one of my co-workers. Her name is Cassandra Smolcic. She is a recent graduate of Savanna College of Art and Design. Her story is really cool as her path to an art career is so different from any one of us, and also most pertinent to current high school students who are thinking of going onto an art school.

Santa Monica Pidgeon

2010-03-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Had to take this picture. So funny.

Drawing at the Kona Club

2010-03-22T14:57:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite bars in the East Bay. Kona Club. It used to be called The Kings X. I like it better now. Same guy who owns this bar, owns the Mallard on San Pablo. I hear he surfs all the time in Hawaii, and brings back all these cool stuff back from the islands. Nice life huh?

Watercolor

2010-03-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

Recent watercolor painting of Mt. Diablo, with green hills in the foreground. The hills are green now, but they will be turning brown in about two months. So Californian.

Pipedream painting finished

2010-03-10T13:18:00.000-08:00

I think this is as far as I'd like to take it. Darkened, and simplified the tree, and neutralized the car a bit more. I think this help in focusing on the boy.

A boy's dream

2010-02-25T21:52:00.000-08:00

Here's the final painting(well, almost done) with the crop that I finally like. I feel like now the focus is on the boy, and you could only image what he's thinking about when he's looking at that car. I also found the rough sketchs that I did too.

Oh yeh, BTW, I took the original painting to my workshop and took it to the table saw!! That was fun.

More water color paintings

2010-02-25T16:56:00.000-08:00

These are paintings that I'm working on for a special benefit for a co-worker friend of mine. The square painting was done as a test to see how I can manipulate the watercolor on the clay surface. To my surprise, it takes watercolors pretty well. I found out, it's basically a matter of building up the color. But you have to use a very soft brush, or else, you can actually wipe off the layer underneath.

Then I did this painting. Which, started becoming convoluted. It started off first as a scene where I imagined a boy in his youth, riding around on his Radio Flyer scooter, first encountered a black 67 mustang in his neighborhood. And it stayed with him into adult hood. It's basically the American dream that lots of kids who grew up in the 60's and 70's share. But after I almost finished the painting, it became apparent that my painting became less about the boy, and more about the neighborhood.

So, after looking at this darn painting for a while, I started cropping with my hand, and by doing that, I was able to find a better composition. One thing that's obvious to everyone who uses a computer is this. With digital media, one can just crop, and clean up the painting, and you're done. With real painting, it's hard to crop! But the flexibility of this clay media should allow me to crop, and I should be able to clean up the edges, etc. Anyways, boring stuff aside, here's what I'm thinking of doing. I think this will be much better.

Now, I feel like it's more about the boy. The car reads too, but I felt like, it really doesn't matter what kind of car it is. The point is that the boy is totally enamoured with it.

Watercolor on clay surface.

2010-02-04T22:55:00.000-08:00

This is my third painting using this clay surface. I'm really beginning to really love this surface. This time, I used watercolor. At first, the watercolor didn't go on smooth and I was getting really disappointed.But after an hour of massaging it, the surface started to show promise. Ahee yah! Anyways, Now I have another idea for another painting. Hopefully a bit more loose and less stressed.

California Academy of Sciences visit

2010-02-01T00:13:00.000-08:00

I finally got to go to the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. The place lived up to the hype. What a beautiful place. I especially enjoyed this. Going up on the rainforest exhibit, you can look down on the big pond, and see through the glass tunnel, and see all the people underneath. Wow! So cool!! Plus all the butterflies, the tropical birds, and the whole rainforest exhibit. Just amazing. And inspiring!

Second Real-Paint painting

2010-01-29T17:02:00.000-08:00

I think I'm starting to get a little hang of the clay surface. I remember seeing an article in a magazine about this father and daughter watercolorist team, and they painted in the most beautiful photoreal style. I don't remember their names!! Not that I want to paint like that, but I just remembered how they painted on the clay surface. They would coat the surface with a color, let it dry, then use a wet brush to take away the pigment, etc. I started doing that a bit and it help a lot. A bit more control. Anyways, painting on clay. What a concept.

Paint. Real paint I mean

2010-01-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

Got to take out my old Gouache paints out of storage and start painting again. I love Gouache!!
Anyways, here's a painting that I finished last night. It's small. 6"x6". Also, it's a clay surface, which is something I always wanted to try painting on. It's different. But fun to work on. I think it's definitely better in being able to maintain the color brilliance. I bought a four pack, so I better paint all of them!

Last day of that storm

2010-01-24T00:47:00.000-08:00

Had to post this. After that crazy storm, I didn't expect to see something this beautiful. I like to think that this is a sign that things will be great this year!

Another view of the bunnie armour

2010-01-22T01:03:00.001-08:00

In the Mead Hall

2010-01-22T00:54:00.000-08:00

Lost At Sea

2010-01-18T16:03:00.001-08:00

Secret Passage

2010-01-06T11:54:00.000-08:00

A secret passage into the white oak.

MouseWoodworker

2010-01-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

Old Village idea

2010-01-04T10:44:00.000-08:00

Mouse Character Design

2009-12-28T19:14:00.000-08:00

Another work in progress

2009-12-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

A future football player. I was listen to the news one day and heard about the dangers of football, and the concussions that the players sustain sometimes that will linger, and cause permananent damage. So when I heard this, the thought immediately came to my mind about protecting the head. I don't really know if putting hydraulic dampers will help, especially since the players fast head movements will become hindered, but I"m sure there are engineers and scientists working on the problems right now as we speak!

MonkeyKing Drawing IP

2009-12-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted anything about the MonkeyKing drawing. I was using this drawing as a teaching tool. It's been slow, but I am about half way done with the drawing.

More mice world drawing

2009-12-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

I think this is the way mice would build their homes if they were to build homes like humans.
They would use the natural "y" shapes of branches to help buttress their structures, as well as make window frames with them.

Articulate armor for a bunnie

2009-12-14T21:05:00.001-08:00

Drawing

2009-12-14T16:11:00.000-08:00

Mighty Mice Final book cover

2009-12-07T14:02:00.001-08:00

Watching Twilight. Lots of great visuals

2009-12-02T10:46:00.001-08:00

Book Cover Color Sketch

2009-11-25T21:41:00.000-08:00

This is the color sketch that I'm going to the final painting from. Working on the final art now. I'm having a great time working on the final art.

Santa Monica paintings

2009-11-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

Here's some paintings that I did while I was in Santa Monica. I visited a place called Harvell's. It's a bar that has this amazing music. I don't even know how to describe it. I guess it should be called Burlesque. I'm sure there's a word for it. Anyways, once in a while, a dancer would come out and do these amazing moves. Very hypnotic and entoxicating, especially with the smoky atmosphere and the music. I had my trusty sketch tool with me, Colors, so I took advantage of it, and painted away a few of them. There was also a singer there too that I captured.

New cover art for Cars Video games

2009-11-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

Hi. Wanted to post this to show one of the latest cover art I did. This time, it's for the video game company THQ. They take all of Pixar's movies and turn them into video games. This is a third instalment of the popular Cars video game series, and I ended up helping them out because they didn't have any final Pixar Character models to do the cover art with. Usually, they get all of Pixar's fully shaded final models, and backgrounds, so working with internal Pixar people, they were able to get lots of rendered images to work from. In this case, since they built the whole world, and created new cars, especially McQueen, the finished art was not there.

My challenge was to create a fully rendered image, from an unlit low poly image they sent me. It was really fun working with our Creative Resources people, and getting feedback from our art directors, and THQ people, and making it work.

Here's a post of what the image I got, and the final paintings.

Then the final art

I also had to make a version for PSP, based on the FlashBack McQueen you see in the original Cars.

Getting a little better at using Colors

2009-11-18T12:22:00.000-08:00

New painting that was done to exercise my artistic brain. While I was driving home, I saw a pretty 2002 BMW driving along side me with this pretty girl driving it. So when I got home, after dinner, I tried painting from memory what I saw. The only thing was that I didn't remember the color of the car. So, decided to go with the classic orange that many of these cars are painted in. Plus, it adds a more punch to the composition I think.

Starting to get cold

2009-11-10T00:52:00.000-08:00

So to acknowledge the arrival of the cold season, take care, and let's stay healthy!

Dragon painting

2009-11-09T19:38:00.000-08:00

Continuation of digging up old art and posting to this good ol blog.

Another painting done in Colors!

2009-11-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

I"m starting to get the hang of using this software, Colors!. At first, I was fighting it trying to use it as a drawing tool, like a sketch book. It can certainly be used as that(I"m sure there are artists out there that are), but I find it more useful as a 'capture the moment' type of tool, like I mentioned in the previous post. Artists are always conflicted with that very idea. How do you capture that beautiful girl who just walked past you, and you have her hair color, the light that was hitting her face just a certain way, or just that unforgettable moment that you want to put down on a canvas or the sketch book right away, and if you try to wait till you get home, you'll forget that moment. Anyways, not that I'm great at having done a ton of work like this, but I feel that this tool, Colors!, gives me the resource to be able to do just that. Whether I actually capture every moment, is another matter!

Here's one of those moments. I was watching the new remake of King Kong on TV. Not a great movie, but as always, has some stunning visuals. This is one of those that caught my eye.

Paper castle in the Ocean in Japan

2009-11-06T14:27:00.000-08:00

Someone sent this to me today. Amazing work of art. It took this artist 4 years to make this. Enjoy.

http://tokyobling.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/a-paper-craft-castle-on-the-ocean/

Freelance gig, alternative concepts

2009-11-02T23:38:00.000-08:00

These two are the alternative concepts that I am suggesting.

Freelance gig for a book cover

2009-11-02T23:33:00.000-08:00

This is what I'm working on now. It's a freelance job to do a fantasy book cover. I am really having a great time working on this job. Especially since the client agreed to let me design the whole cover. Once the client approves the concept, I will get to painting it. I'm still debating what format I"m going to use. Digital, acrylic, or watercolor. Not sure yet. I"m sure I"ll end up using all of the above to get it done.

New painting using the iPhone called "Colors"

2009-10-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about this very easy to use, but very powerful painting software called Colors that I started using on my iPhone. Go check them out. (I was having some problems registering as a user this morning, so I'm hoping that they are not having any problems). Anyways, here's a quick painting that was done to help me learn the tool. The main reason why I like the tool is because I can quickly jot down something that I see, like a fleeting moment, that I want to capture, but I never have the sketch book or the camera handy. But I almost always have my iPhone with me! With this tool, I can at least use it like a visual note book, if you will. This painting was done from my recollection of what I saw as I was driving down a road near where I live. I Saw this vibrant red Maple tree screened by some sort of pine, or dark green tree, and it was so striking, that I wanted to capture it before I forgot. I quickly pulled over and jotted down a few finger strokes, and I was able to finish the painting comfortably later on. I'm hoping to use the tool more in that fashion, rather than using it as a finish painting tool. I have Photoshop for that. Anyways, hopefully, I'll be posting more of this kind of work.

Wildlife in the Suburbs

2009-10-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

It's constantly amazing to me that there is lots of wild life all around us, in all shapes and sizes. Here's a few true moments. The one about the skunked was posted while back on my art blog when I was cleaning out the barn. You can read about it by clicking on the above link, or on the image.

This new painting of the fighting bucks just happened recently at a condo complex where my in-laws just moved into. You could hear the violent clacking of the horns making contact, and realize that all the wildlife is all still around us. Sometimes you get lucky enough to witness something like this, and leave an impression on your mind.

This coyote with a chicken in it's mouth was also something I saw on our ranch. I noticed that bunch of chickens all just ran back to the coop, so I knew something was up, so I started walking up the hill to see what was going on, and sure enough, this coyote had a nice fat plump chicken in it's mouth, and it was just sauntering up the hill.

More Monkey King stuff

2009-10-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

Posted below is a drawing that I did a long time ago, and I recently pulled it out because I felt that it is a perfect example to use as a lesson for a class I'm teaching. I'm using it as a way to show the students how to fix bad compositions, look for bad tangents, and do iterations of drawings till you get it right.

I remember after I finished the drawing a few years ago, and thinking that even though it's got a few good elements, and the idea is there, it's not that clear in being able to communicate what it is that I'm trying to show in the story. The basic story is that one of the magic powers that the MonkeyKing has is the ability to pull out a clump of his hair, and turn them into thousands of little monkeys to fight the bad guys. Anyways, one the worst elements in this original drawing is the way the giant doesn't seem that gigantic, and he has bad tangents all over the place. Especially how he is so close to the edge of the border on the right side. The monkey has a bad tangent with the ground too. The giant doesn't look like he's in that much of a danger, and his legs feel wonky. Anyways, I sat on the drawing for a long time, and had the perfect opportunity to fix it, and hopefully be able to teach something to the kids. I'm actually learning alot from breaking it down, because it had forced me to think and verbalize. Wow, what a concept. Teach myself how to draw better!

And so I started by trying to improve my characters. Here's a few new drawings of the Monkey, and as I was redoing the charcters, I wanted to make the background more in design with the action.

Here's the thumbnail. I did the first version thinking that the lighting will come from the fog below, but it didn't seem to work. So I switch the lighting to a off screen moonlight from above, and it feels more dramatic to me, so I'm probably going to go with the second drawing.

The swirling around the giant is going to be hundreds of little monkeys.

And this is the final layout drawing. This drawing is done to help me with the final details when I go and do the final painting, which will be about 11x17 inches. The old drawing posted above is the same ideas as this one but I feel that I'm headed in a better direction with this new drawing. I think this drawing has more dynamic drama, the scale of the monkey to the giant is better, and the background is simpler, and help serve the story that I'm trying to tell here. Next step though, is to do the color sketches before I get to the final painting.

More finds

2009-10-09T16:32:00.000-07:00

This series is from the Incredibles, when I was in the art department. Under Lou Romano and Scott Caples directions, I helped work on the sequence when Bob first arrives on the island, and he goes out looking for the Omnidroid. I picked some of my favorites.

Dragon Book

2009-09-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

This dragon book cover was done when I was freelancing. I got to do two, this one being the better of the two. I really don't like how they used the red textured background, but had fun with the painting. The painting was done in acrylics.

A little piece of my office

2009-09-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

The whale

2009-09-17T00:47:00.000-07:00

This whale painting was done when I worked on Nemo. I had a great time working on that project. I got to paint cool characters, and helped out when ever possible. This painting of the whale was done to help the shading department see how the suface of the whale with barnacles might look under water.

Aw baracuda!

2009-09-17T00:16:00.000-07:00

This painting is a part of what's called a Shading Packet. Once a character is finalized, we do a proof of concept painting based on the final model. It's intended to show how the shading, the surface characteristics, etc, might be like. In this case, the baracuda, is a very shiny, but dark deep water fish.

Concept for the door vault

2009-09-17T00:09:00.000-07:00