Spectrum Live 2 Review...

Hey all!  As mentioned in an earlier post, I was fortunate enough to attend the Spectrum Live event in KC over the May 17th weekend.  It was the first real illustrator-focused convention I had ever been to and I wasn't sure what to expect.  But the experience was great for me and I thought I'd share a little of what I learned, for the benefit of anyone thinking of attending in the future.

First off, I'm lame and didn't take many pictures.  I took three.  All outside of the convention. 

My view from just outside the convention doors.

 Found this gem on my way back from having lunch with a friend.  It was much grander in person.

 This is a sculpture made by my good friend Matt Kesler.  He's a Senior Illustrator at Hallmark Cards.  This piece, a beautiful tribute to M. Sendak, is now permanently displayed in the Hallmark Library.

They help preserve some good memories, for sure, so I share them above, but somehow I missed all of the great artists and art found inside the convention.  I'm sure I was a little awestruck.

As hoped, I got to see or meet many of the artists that I've been admiring for years.  People like Ian McCaig, Greg Manchess, Mark Shultz, Justin Gerard, Cory Godbey, and Jon Foster.  But I also got a chance to meet a lot of other artists.  Artists that are either a little less known or who's work strays a little from the traditional RPG fantasy genre.  Artists like Cory Loftis (huge influence), Brian Fyffe, Brenna Lindblad, Drew Baker, and David Petersen.  All were very friendly and put a reclusive and shy artist like me at ease right away.  Most were very willing to review my portfolio and give feedback.  I also had the chance to listen to some of the big art directors (Jon Schindehette, Irene Gallo, Lauren Panepinto, etc) speak and had portfolio reviews with some of them.  If you're starting out in fantasy illustration, definitely follow the Spectrum Live website and look for the portfolio review signups that open up a few weeks before the event.  Spots go fast, so you got to be quick.  There were also a ton of great lectures going on through out the weekend.  Covering things like illustration history, character design in film, and what an art director looks for in an illustrator.  The convention itself is inexpensive and there are plenty of nice perks for those that get a 3 day pass.  Lots of extracurricular activities going on around the event and easy access to great food and culture right outside the convention doors.  

Overall, I felt Spectrum Live was a great convention! Especially for illustrators trying to break into the industry.  It wasn't crazy crowded, which was nice for me, and provided easy opportunities to talk with great artists about their work and process.    I didn't land any immediate jobs, which was a secret hope leading up to the event, but that's cool.  The most valuable thing I got from Spectrum Live was the chance to meet great artists and develop new friendships.  Definitely looking forward to next year!

Great Artists I Wish I Could Paint Like or GAIWICPL #2: J.C. Leyendecker

It's funny.  I don't really know a lot about Joseph Leyendecker.  But, somehow, I have become known (by a small community) as an expert in all things related to the artist.  It started in 2007, when my wife's wonderful parents gave me a collection of Saturday Evening Post covers from the 30's.  Within that collection (compiled originally by my father-in-law's father) were 30-something Leyendecker covers as well as some newer Rockwell covers.  Seeing this treasure as something many artists would love to have access to, I scanned them and shared the high res images on a new blog called A Little Bit of Leyendecker Greatness.  I passed it along to Charley Parker, who runs Lines and Colors, and he posted the link immediately.  It got lots of circulation and, slowly but surely, I started getting emails from everyone seeking to explore the great expanse of my Leyendecker knowledge.  I've been approached by people to authenticate artwork, to give value estimates on Leyendecker treasures, and to discuss the accuracy of recent books on J.C.  I even had a professor from Duke University take me out to lunch so I could review a scholarly paper he was publishing on Leyendecker.  I fooled them all!

In truth, I do have a little knowledge of J.C.'s bio, but it's really his art that has had the most impact on me.  It's so clean!  So rich!  And he's one of the few artists that my wife and I both equally appreciate.  We actually have several of those previously mentioned Saturday Evening Post covers framed and hanging throughout our house.  

For more info on Leyendecker's life, Charley (at Lines and Colors) has provided a good collection of resources found here.  For a sample of his art, see below or check out my other blog (see link above).

 This one (above) is hanging over my desk right now.

Speed Painting practice...

Just some speed paintings I was working on the other day.  Found a color scheme I liked and gave myself a theme and ran with it.  I think the total time for all of these was around 8 hours.  I was pretty happy with that!  I haven't had a chance to develop any of these further, but I thought each was a cool environment worth exploring.  Hope you like!

Process: The Ref Sheet...

So, most everyone who's around me when I work knows that I can be a little insecure when it comes to my own process of creating art.  I'm always thinking that it should be done a different way.  I see some great artist do a demo and I say to myself, "Hey idiot.  He's good.  Do what he does."  And try that out for a week or so, adopt some that artist's practices.  Then I see another great artist and say to myself, "Hey idiot.  He's good.  Do what he does." And so on and so forth. 

Because of this, there are not a lot of things that I can call mine.  Things that I can say I came up with on my own.  There are exceptions though.  One such exception is THE REF SHEET.

When I was at SJSU, one of the first courses I took was an illustration class taught by Alice "Bunny" Carter.  One thing that Alice stressed was the need for good reference.  I remember gathering pictures from wherever I could find them (internet, magazines, my own photos) and taping them all to a board and having that in front of me throughout the whole drawing and painting process.  I learned that reference could inspire me, teach me, and also prompt new and interesting ideas.  But it was important that those images were in my face all the time.

When I left school and got a job in games, I often didn't have the time to print out tons of pictures and organize them nicely on physical boards or the space to put them anywhere.  So I developed a new way of organizing my images.  THE REF SHEET!  I'm sure it's not entirely original, but it was a great solution that merged the things I loved from my traditional days with the digital workspace I use now.

I start in Photoshop with a blank, black document.  I then peruse the World Wide Web for images that will inspire my concepts and drag and drop them straight from the browser to my document.  The images I drag in tend to fit into two categories.  1) Other artists' work that might inform the style (and just look cool) and 2) photos for subject and texture reference.  Each image needs to be fairly large and awesome.  No grainy pictures in this dojo!  One of the funnest parts is the organizing.  Each photo needs to fit well with the page as a whole.  It's very Mr. Miyagi.  Zen-like and soothing.  The black background serves to keep the ref images as the focus.  White or grey backgrounds tend to fight with the ref and can be a distraction.  Once my ref sheet is done, I keep it on my second monitor where it stays until the assignment is done.

 

It can get pretty extensive!  

 

Anyway.  Revolutionary it may not be.  But very helpful.  And its a good way of keeping your reference in it's proper place:  nearby, where it's accessible and inspirational.