Monday, December 30, 2019

Watts Illustration BootCamp 2020

Art Assignment 2: The Wizard and The Dragon
Description: Illustrate a scene in which a wizard type character is fighting a Dragon in an epic battle.  The Wizard and Dragon should be your own designs.  The location and time period is your choice.  Feel free to explore a cross genre theme.  For example Wildwest/Fantasy, or Sci-Fi/Fantasy.  The designs of the characters and environment should clearly define what genre you're crossing into.  The format is up to you, landscape or portrait.
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I chose this prompt to illustrate my wizard, Emrhys fighting a dragon guardian of a lost library.
The setting is a large cavernous room with lots of giant pedestals where knowledge pools are kept, each one illuminated by it's own set of candles.

I want to depict the fight on one of this grand pedestals as Emrhys steals knowledge from the dragon.

Admittedly, I'm having a really difficult time balancing the scale of the dragon, and the wizard into an interesting composition even though the dragon is not a colossal figure.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.





Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Watts Atelier 2019 Boot camp


I choose to do the sample MTG style brief, "Inspiring Angel".

After reading the description, I tried to come up with reasons why she was inspiring or how she might inspire.

This thumbnail shows the angel being the rallying hero the viewer would look up to. Thrusting up through the heavens, "Onward to victory!", she'd yell, as a beacon in the dark.
This thumbnail I thought would be cool to get closer and be more intimate, like we are there with her. Her expression, an upward smirk, might inspire confidence in her allies. She would laugh and say, "Of course we'll win!"

On this last one, I wanted the viewer to be an unnoticed spectator looking on as the angel prepared herself for battle. A quiet, reflecting moment in a warrior's salute to her adversary. The reverant calm before the savage torrent of war. 

I liked these three thumbnails the most, and feel like they could accomplish the goal well enough in their own right. Left to my own vices, I'd probably lean on the last one.

Any and all advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! So hype to get in the studio with everyone come Monday!

Cheers!

Nicholas

Monday, August 10, 2015

My First Week at Watt's Atelier

As of this previous Saturday, I finished my first week at Watt’s Atelier in Encinitas, CA. 

A lot of my friends and family know that one, if not the only, reason I recently relocated this past July to San Diego, CA was to attend this school. To tell you I knew this school would be what I have found it is, before I moved, would be a lie. I came here on a notion, an idea, and the belief that what I saw and heard about this school would be at least half-way true.

I am here to say, within a week, to all those claims I have seen evidence to support them, and more. My doubts are laid aside, and I firmly assert that I have come to the right place for the growth I’ve been chasing. I won’t bore you with the play by play how classes went, but rather I want to instill a sense of the experiences I have felt this past week.

The first thing I noticed in this school is the atmosphere, the sense about the students and teachers; the attitude. Everyone I met is humble, ego less, and concerned more with daily progress with themselves than any other competition. There are exceptions among new-comers who haven’t aligned with the school yet, but even they immediately come to an understanding about the self, it seems, within the first term. There is a calm here, but with an underlying pulse of extreme, earnest energy the likes of which I have never felt.

The second thing I noticed, or experienced was the direct, common sense, honesty provided by all the teachers and senior students. In class when we draw the teacher will come, trace your drawing, improving and instructing along the way. All the while discussing openly, without malice or spite where the errors occurred, and why. Regardless if you were being lazy, or you didn’t know. Slowly the idea of teacher and student disappears leaving a logical, honest, and direct dialogue between peers. All intentions are clear and evident here, we are all working to gain the knowledge and experience.

Lastly, and perhaps the most wonderful thing to behold, is the joy found in celebrating each other’s success. It is not something that is meant to promote one’s ego, but more genuinely an acknowledgement of triumph over a know hurdle. Some have conquered it prior and praise comes from knowing the sensation of finally getting it right. Others have yet to conquer it, know the struggle of not yet getting it, and praise comes from seeing the success and understanding they too will triumph.

All of these experiences came in tandem, simultaneous, and hit like a ton of bricks. Having done a couple years of art school in college prior, Spectrum/ Massive Black conferences, and living on art forums I have to tell you that this place is not like other places where artists gather. Everyone is one the same page here, working diligently in class and outside, honest, and superbly encouraging.

Despite the struggle of living in San Diego, I have never felt I made a better decision to come to this school.

Art dump below, for prosperity. :)


Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Spring Harvest, Spectrum, and the Sunshine ahead

A lot has happened since Feb. 17th, my last blog post. Isn't that always the case?

I can't even begin to tell you everything that's happened let alone any fraction of what's raced through my mind. I'll begin with what I decided was most important when 2015 began and go from there.

In January I submitted to the Spectrum juried annual, as a part of a 'blood' pact with two of my best art friends. I couldn't be more proud of us for setting that goal and seeing it through. None of us got in this year, but that doesn't matter as much. All three of us decided to have a booth in May this year, which was a week or two ago now? I didn't have anything worth showing so I knew from January to May was going to be a major reconstruction of my portfolio.

Another Statistic? 
I was still enrolled in college art classes during that time, and working about 20 hours a week. Feb 26th I decided to drop out of college, and put my everything into this portfolio, and myself, development. I had just enough saved up to pull off about 3 months of hard work and learning.

I made the decision to drop out for 2 major reasons, 1. Art college, the 4 year "plan" was not going to cut it for me...I'd been in college almost 7 years at that point running around chasing different careers and not being satisfied. I was tired of racking up student loans with no guarantee of a good job post graduation, so I quit. 2. I needed the time to develop on my own plan, I wanted no time or physical obligations to get in my way while working on everything.

I painted 5 new paintings from March to May, and did 3 major reconstructions on old pieces. Effectively, and not including my studies I painted 8 paintings in 3 months. That may not sound like a whole lot considering I had a lot of time off to focus, but it is a huge leap personally as previously it would take me 3-4 weeks to get a single piece done.

Well, what I didn't anticipate is the peaks and valleys that comes with a lot of "free" time. Painting a lot and not seeing progress like you want hurts, and it can really cripple your esteem....I fully own up to at times feeling inadequate and not painting. There were really dark moments in this stretch, and money has been very tight so it was hard to stay positive despite voluntarily signing up for this. Interestingly enough, there were very bright days, moments where I felt fully engaged and even moments where I was so impressed with my progress I thought I could be the best on the earth the very next day.

The Road Ahead
I knew then in June my life would change, either moving, getting a job, maybe being forced to reconsider career choices if I fell flat at Spectrum etc. Well, before Spectrum I decided with my roommate to move to San Diego. We both wanted a change of pace and I wanted to attend an atelier, specifically Watt's in Encinitas.

Before I get too far I want to tell you Spectrum went off without a hitch. It was my first time having a booth anywhere and the public really seemed to respond to my work. I had little kids to full grown adults 'ooohh' and 'awww' at my work and I have to tell you it felt amazing. I also talked to 4-5 of my favorite artists, two of which Wesley Burt and Karla Ortiz remembered me from Massive Black seminar in 2013. Iain Mccaig talked to me about my work and stories within. I talked at length with Greg Manchess about single minded focus and working hard. I even attended a panel where Karla Ortiz talked about her journey, highlighting her time...where? at an atelier! haha. Seriously? Everyone I told me scheme to travel from GA to CA for Watt's applauded the effort and reinforced in my mind how much that decision would help support my development. Man...Spectrum was so awesome and I haven't told you about the networking parties...another time perhaps ;)

Danny, and Kim, my two 'blood' pact brethren from earlier, also had a successful table and we all agreed to recycle the pact and submit/attend again this upcoming year.

Road Warrior
Now that you are caught up, I'll tell you this. It's June 2. In 17 days I'm going to be 25. About a week from then I'll be in my hometown seeing my older brother get married. July 1st, tentatively, I'll start the 6 day journey across mountains, plains, and deserts that lie between me and San Diego. 2015 is the year of change folks.

"...Can you promise that I will come back?"
"No. And if you do... you will not be the same."

"I have put this off for far too long. I regret to announce — this is The End. I am going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell."

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

"Sir Neculai, The Forlorn" Process

Hey guys,

Today is going to be a short post about how I painted one of my most recent illustrations.

Sir Neculai, The Forlorn

                     



Concept

Like all my paintings, it starts with a simple idea. For this, I wanted to paint a knight, specifically a pathfinder campaign character I had made. I started with rough sketches, wondering what he might look like and why. 
1. Spiky bald guy. 2. Stuffy "pretty" boy. 3. Tough, cave dwelling anti-hero. 

I started off more human, but realized I was playing a race with vampire heritage, so why not elaborate on that? A monstrous, noble knight? Sounds like fun. Once I hit that third sketch in blue, I knew what lie ahead. On to phase 1!

Phase 1

In phase 1, I do 3 things. I have always done, but only recently am I settling in on a set routine for this. Of course, this is retrospective, which means I've changed it up a bit since I finished this. Regardless, the 3 things are as follows:

1. Shoot reference informed by my sketch, never the other way round. Ideas and imagination first, and if you read the previous blog post you'll know that I am elated that many professionals strongly suggest this.

2. A tight line drawing, emphasizing key form elements in armor, shadow shapes, and contours where I should pay attention to what I am painting.

3. Make selection layers, and masks for all key elements. Armor, skin, tabard, belts, cloak, etc. I make these as forward thinking as I am able, and if I need more later I make them. Really helps isolate forms, and keep things fresh. Otherwise I am prone to noodling on something and really losing the drawing underneath.

Ain't he just a doll with magenta armor?

Phase 2

This is the nitty gritty phase. A lot can happen here, and if phase one wasn't smart/strong/good enough, it can be tough.

Phase two typically involves:

1. Blocking in all local colors of objects/elements. Skin get a color  different than the armor, and both are separated by layers. Rinse and repeat.

2. Shadow shape layers. Every local color gets a corresponding shadow layer. I keep in mind my light source and block in the shadow shapes accordingly.

3. Paint the face.

4. Paint the face again.

5. Block in the background, separating foreground, middle ground, and background.

6. Refine background with some color and value searching for atmosphere.

Phase 2.5

7. Adjust overall value structure with background in place, looking for harmony over the whole image.

8. Make adjustments. Overlay layers to increase shadow intensity non-destructively, and screen layers to increase light intensity non-destructively.

9. Add some rim-light and cool mist/fog if applicable. (When is it not though, am I right?)

10. Call it done, and get a crit.

11. Make some changes, add watermark and firmly tell yourself it is done.

12. .....

13. Profit? 


And that is that! Thanks for reading guys. I've got another process piece coming up in a bit so I hope you'll stay tuned.

Got a suggestion on something you'd like to see? Send me an email: phillips.nicholas9@gmail.com

Keep painting~!




Friday, February 13, 2015

Lewis LaRosa artist highlight.

Lewis LaRosa is a phenominal artist, and I am very glad I could attend this event. He was very generous with his time, thoughts, and feedback. Where others may have avoided talking about missing the mark, he was extremely upfront and honest about hard knocks, and mistakes. I have nothing but mad respect for the man and his work.

I want to say what you are about to read are my notes from a talk with Lewis LaRosa at a guest lecture at my University. Parentheses mark where I interject my own thoughts, and quotes are typically one-liners I was fast enough to jot down word for word. The rest is paraphrased and should be read with a degree of lenience in mind.  

Also, all artwork in this blog was done by LaRosa, and the author makes no claims to any of it. 


Background Story

He is a Kennesaw State University graduate, years from 1996 to 2007.
He identifies himself as an introvert, and said that he has always been drawing for as long as he can remember. He also said he’s always known that he wanted to be an artist.

He was not introduced until comics, however until age 11-12, but it clicked with him immediately, and knew that was what he was going to do with his life. He had no desire for any backup plans.


Around the age of 21-22 he had his first break-in with the industry.

He believes that 80% of his artist development occurred in the 1st 20 years of his life.

He had no formal education in art until he began to pursue his degree at Kennesaw State University.

In high school he won a local art contest at a local comic book shop. Dave Johnson, Warner Bros. and Marvel cover artist, saw his work and invited him to his studio a couple of times where Lewis was able to ask questions. That really reinforced his desire to become a comic book artist.

In his senior year, and shortly after high school he tried to break in. He printed out paper sample packs of his best work and mailed it to every editor and publisher’s address he could find. The then X-men editor for Marvel called him and asked for more samples to see he if would be a good fit. He asked Lewis for 5 pages in the next two weeks. Lewis marks this as his first hard lesson about the industry. He missed the mark and nothing ever came of it.

From there he went to Kennesaw State University. He really prizes the classes there, especially classes with Joe Remillard and Valerie Dibble. (Interestingly enough, Joe Remillard is the instructor who has been extremely beneficial in my own development and exploration into the concept art/illustration world.)
While at KSU he spent every day drawing, staying up as late as 3 a.m. in the studio. (This is back when they had very late hours, something only dreams could conjure now.) Also while he was at KSU he met some of the very same anti-illustration barriers that I have.

In 2001, when he was roughly 22, Lewis drew some Iron Man fan-art and submitted it to a fan board. (online? I am not sure, but I assume so.) He never could have imagined that the then editor for Iron Man at Marvel would have been a frequent browser of that fan board, or that he would get a call from that editor offering him a four issue mini-series.

After messing up and falling behind on the 3rd issue of that 4 issue Iron Man mini-series, his editor called in a fill-in artist to finish the series. As I understand it, his ego took a big blow there alongside his growing reputation.

After that brief stint with Marvel he did some odds and ends with DC on Spectre and Firestorm. The comics did not get very good reviews/did not meet expectations. (My notes are unclear exactly what he meant, but it was not positive as I understand it.) So DC changed editors on the projects and that new editor fired everyone working under the previous editor. This was Lewis’s second hard lesson in the industry.
Because of his work on Firestorm, Marvel gave him another shot. He was given a Punisher run, and was asked to redesign the character. He put a lot of energy into this redesign, and when telling us about it I really felt his passion about the subject. When redesigning the character he looked for ways to make him more true to the characters background as a Vietnam vet. Lewis wanted him to look older, and grittier, and told us Dirty Harry meets Terminator was his motivation.

                                   
In 2004/05, Lewis worked on The Hulk for Marvel and applied everything he learned from working on the Punisher. It was doing really well, and he was quite pleased with it until a new editor came on and (you guessed it) fired everyone under the old editor.

After that, Lewis got a call from Tom Jane and was prompted to work together producing the intellectual property, into a comic and eventually a pitch for Hollywood, Bad Planet. He drew everything in 2 tones to lay down the groundwork for the inker after him. He also designed all the visuals, from the ground up. However, Lewis did not want to delve too deep into a discussion of this period but made it clear that they were buddies doing this together, with no contracts. It ended poorly over disputes of workloads, responsibilities, credit, etc. He firmly told us to always make sure you have contracts, buddies or not.

He was very dissatisfied with his work and began to feel pigeon holed as a dark, gritty comic book artist and when Bad Planet came to a close, Lewis went back to KSU. He had quit upon getting work with Marvel back in ’01 and finishing his degree was a point of pride to him. He did, however, tell us outright not to be fooled. Getting a degree in art does nothing to get you a job. It is purely the amount of work you put into attaining the degree. Quality of work is always, always more important than a degree he said.

While going to classes at night, he began teaching (children?) full time. He graduated KSU in 2007. He all but left the industry for 6-7 years, occasionally doing spot illustrations but was sure his artistic career was over.

Enter Valiant

                                  

Warren Simons called him as Valiant was starting back up. Apparently that company had come and gone once or twice? Regardless, Lewis didn’t really want back in still mindful of how his last jobs in the industry. Warren, however, had always treated him well in the past when they worked together so Lewis started doing side work with Valiant, and went full time last January.

His position is technically freelance, but he has an exclusive contract with them for the next couple of years. While this does mean he cannot work for any other comic companies while with Valiant, he made sure to tell us that he has good co-workers he enjoys, gets as much work as he can handle, has consistent pay, and they have direct deposit.

Valiant also lets Lewis do all his own inking work, something he really pushed for, so he can better represent his work. He most often uses Micron 03 and 05 pens

Normally, (in the comic industry) you draw on 10 x 15 inch active area on an 11 x 17 sheet of paper. Lewis showed us some of his work done at 80% of that scale, which he does to work faster and to look better. This is fine as long as the end result, when blown up that extra 20%, is still really good.

Lewis can do 2 covers in a week. Sometimes 3 if there is a big push for it. He takes a day for brainstorming, planning, and thumbnails and then a day, sometimes two, for the rough sketch and inking.

Valiant lets him try new things, which Lewis believes is important to grow. For example, he just recently started experimenting with Copic markers.



Lewis on producing good work

Lewis believes there are always better ways to do things, and that there is no one way to something absolutely correct.

Lewis uses a lot of reference, and he thinks it is foolish not to. It always makes for a better image that way. Since he was in high school he has had a full length mirror and a handheld mirror for when he is drawing. When posing for his reference Lewis will often grab whatever he can to make it work, jackets, various fabric, lamps for lighting and if it gets really complicated he has his wife take a digital picture.
He made a point to tell us that no matter how good the reference you cannot become a slave to it.
When he makes thumbnails or is sketching concepts/ideas he never uses reference. Reference is only used to bring life to the imaginary, to help and support the concepts previously laid out.

On the talk of reference, Lewis talked to us about it being a tool for manipulation make better images. Sometimes, by having reference, he can find things or angles he wasn’t thinking of at first. Having reference is a good way to find happy accidents.

Tracing is not advised, but with references enough can be changed to make excellent work. Lewis made it clear here, that making excellent work is what matters most and in the end very few if any will care about how it was made.

When designing his compositions Lewis relies heavy on his ability to visualize the script or prompt he’s been handed. He tries to envision the story playing out in his mind like a movie, and when he starts sketching thumbnails he goes through many iterations to find the coolest, clearest way to sell what is happening.

When asked how he got those visualizations skills, Lewis talked about how analytical he is about normal day to day things. For instance, he mentioned every time he watches a movie he looks at it critically analyzing the pacing, the tempo, the composition, the cropping. He is always searching for cool ways to do things. Always thinking, and always working.

“Always look for ways to improve previous pieces to inform the next ones. Also, analyze others to see how you could do it better. Compete with yourself, always compete with yourself.”


“Maintain online presence with good work to be found.”

“Use reference, perspective grids, and always keep in mind foreground, middle ground, and background.”

“Learn as much as possible from life, and the end artistic style will be more your (own) interpretation/vision.”

“Save detail for where it is most needed to draw/keep attention. Edit yourself otherwise.”

Lewis on being a Freelancer

On freelancing and marketing yourself on social media- “Do good work and put it out there, and you don’t need an art rep.”

Working from home, they (comic artists) used to fedex their work to the editor/publisher and now because of the internet everything is sent through clouds like Dropbox.

Originals always pay double, once when the publisher prints it, and again when a fan/customer buys it at a convention.

“Stand up for yourself, if you have a strong vision make a case.”

“…Ask for more, don’t undersell yourself.”

Maybe an art rep would be good for selling originals.

“Be fast, friendly, good. Pick two.”

Lewis on receiving boring scripts/prompts: “Even with boring assignments you have to make it exciting. That’s your job.”

Lewis on quality and deadlines: “Don’t be a hack, do your best work on everything you do. (It is) Better to make something top-notch and late rather than mediocre and on time.”

Lewis is, ideally, in production every day for 11- 12 hours. He works a minimum of 60 hours a week, but life with his wife and kids occasionally distraction from that. He finds time to work, when kids are napping or when they go to sleep, whatever works. He loves working freelance though, because he never has to miss a meal with his family. That is something that is very important to him.


Lewis on Inspiration and Motivation

Lewis named Frank Frazetta, Mike Mignola, and Kevin Nolan as his biggest sources of inspiration. He did say that this was primarily based around those artists’ aesthetics and not necessarily their processes. He finds that he is really drawn to their bold graphic styles, and their beautiful rendering.

He told us, “Push yourself, vary influences and learn from everyone, even if it is not your cup of tea.”

He talked a short bit about anime, and that when you throw away the obvious aesthetic tropes, (big eyes, exaggerated anatomy, etc) there is quite a lot to draw from and be inspired by. For example, anime’s way of storytelling, the intensity anime has, the staging, and framing are all undervalued sources of inspiration.

“Inspiration or motivation are not necessary. It is all about discipline.”


I, for one, and extremely thankful he could come and talk to us. I hope you guys liked this write up, and if you'll excuse me I have to go draw something!
Check out more of Valiant's comics and LaRosa's work at:
http://www.valiantentertainment.com/

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Studio Tour and Learning Curves Youtube Launch!


You asked for it, so here we go!

This is the first time I've made a video like this so please keep that in mind, and any suggestions are always welcome! I hope to make more in the future now that I have a dedicated channel to the Learning Curves blog!



This is the motivational quote by Dave Rapoza framed on my wall,
“First off, what we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do. Everything you’re afraid to do or you put off just becomes mental baggage and really pulls you down. No matter what it might be, if it’s holding you down you have to really just pull it together and finish it.
…Limit everything (you) do to a few hours…This forces you not to be lazy and browse the internet or whatever it is you do.
…Basically it all depends on you, you’re the only one who can make you work hard. I try to keep in mind that tomorrow becomes never and if I keep putting anything off it will just never happen. Everything has to be started and done this instance or it will never get done.  Just trying to think of how serious life is and how we’re all gonna die in any number of years is something that pushes me too. Each minute that passes by you could be learnin something new or accomplishing something you’ve always wanted to do.
The only real thing that has to happen is you acting on it. Something to really avoid though would be comfort zones. These can kill your drive and motivation.
If somebody tells me my work is awesome then I’ll go and send my work to a professional I like and ask for critiques. Anything to keep from being a lazy asshole, never stop looking up what you could be. Everybody you look up to has already gone through what you’re going through and the only that changed them was really just sitting down and workin at it.

We can all be great in our own respects but we all have to work at our core drawing skills first and we have to pull ourselves together and start pushing for everything we want…

Don’t go easy on yourself!
Never settle for anything and always set unrealistic goals worth reaching!

Everybody thinks there’s a huge race to be the best…but in reality there’s a huge group of people thinking the same thing and they only settle for mediocre jobs…so there’s actually more competition for shit jobs than for the best.”


This was taken from his sketchbook thread I found on conceptart.org. I edited some stuff out to make it more relevant to me and it’s a bit dated now, but I still find it quite motivational!

This is the Razer Tartarus if you wanted a closer look. I would shop around if you are interested. I got a great deal on a refurbished one off amazon and it works stellar.

http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-keyboards-keypads/razer-tartarus

And this is how I made my shadow box setup, and you can watch Marc Carder’s video guide here:

I appreciate all the support, and I hope you liked this little insight to where I work.

I hope you’ll stay tuned, as I have some cool stuff coming in the next week. Lewis LaRosa, Valiant comic book artist, just gave a guest artist talk at my Uni, and I’ll be publishing all my notes, questions/answers, and a portfolio review he gave me. Also, I’ll be including a video or two of how I did my most recent works, including the one I just submitted to Spectrum!

Thanks guys!