Illustration Academy 2009

The illustration Academy 2009 is almost finished and once again it went by much too quickly. This is my second year in attendance and I can honestly say that this program, the instructors, and the students have changed my life. I believe this is the best program of its kind on the planet.


I worked on a freelance project for most of this year's academy, so I wasn't always able to do the assignments but just being in the presence of so many great artists has once again reshaped my thinking and pushed me to work harder than I ever thought I could.


Both years that I have been in attendance, I have been amazed at the quality of students and their dedication to their art. And rather than being an environment of competition, the mood here has always been that of cooperation and mutual respect.








Sometimes everyone pushes themselves a bit too hard and this is what the place looks like after we stay up all night to finish a project in time for the weekly critique...


The faculty is equally as dedicated. The full-time and visiting faculty are some of the most talented, generous, kind, inspirational and intelligent people I have ever had the good fortune to be around.




A great example of the kind of people who run this program comes to my mind from earlier this year. I was working on a project and talking about it with George Pratt. It was at about 11 pm and we were all pretty tired out from the day. He had a book he wanted me to see that might help me with my project, but he didn't have with him. So about an hour later, at midnight--on a day that began for all of us at 9 am or earlier-- he shows up with the book. He had driven home, found it and came back at that late hour without giving it a second thought. He could have easily waited until the next day or later that week, or later on the program, but he didn't-- he wanted to help me out and was excited to share with me what he had. And I can guarantee that every student here has a similar story about George or one of the faculty from the last seven weeks.


This also makes me think about something that happened last summer. It was the last day of the program and we were all preparing to go into the final critique. Everyone was pretty burned out and ready for some sleep-- I know I was. I walked into the faculty office to ask a question and some of the faculty members were sitting around talking. I expected that they would be talking about where to get lunch, or what they were doing later that night, but instead they were discussing one of the student's projects and how they could help her improve it. Minutes before the final critique, after 7 tireless weeks of helping us on days that lasted from 9 am to midnight almost 7 days a week, there they were still trying to help one of us just a little more. It chokes me up to think about it.


Below are a few links to learn more about the program. It goes without saying that I highly recommend this program for anyone who loves image making. This program has made a gigantic positive impact on my life and career.

www.illustrationacademy.com

www.visualliteracyprogram.com

Academy Update

Chris Payne and Robert Meganck's assignment-- more to come soon....

Illustration Academy Part 1

I've been having a blast at the Illustration Academy this summer. This is my second year in attendance and it has been just as exciting and inspirational as last year. Here is Anita Kunz' conceptual portrait assignment-- I went with Stanley Kubrick.



And a few of the figure drawings from our Tuesday and Thursday night classes. More to come soon...

National Geographic Magazine Illustrations

I created these illustrations for the current issue of National Geographic Magazine. Rather than traditionally created botanical illustrations they wanted realistic, very clean, vector graphics to go along with the overall look of the 2 page spread. I was very excited at the opportunity to do this work, as National Geographic is definitely on my list of dream clients.

Sketchbook 5/21/09

Some more excerpts from my sketchbook. Just trying to have some fun and not be so concerned with the results. It keeps me sane to balance the work I labor over with some that is just done to explore.

I noticed something about using the copic gray markers that has been in the back of my mind for awhile. I was always wearing out the # 4, 5, 6, and 7 before any others, so I thought I'd test my suspicion with a full grayscale (below). It turns out that the markers at both ends of the scale are really close in value-- in some I can't see any difference at all. I kind of felt this subconsciously, but it helps me to bring that type of "beneath-the-surface" feeling into concrete understanding (mainly so I don't forget it).

Not to take anything way from the copic markers -- I think they are great -- but you may not need to buy the full scale to do solid value studies.

"Fever"- Now Available on iTunes

I am very pleased to announce that "Fever", my short animated film, is now available for purchase on the iTunes music store through Shorts International.

Visit your iTunes store to purchase:
US
UK
Canada
Germany

Markers

These little marker values studies have become almost a regular nightly practice for me in the last few months. I feel like this exercise, and the oil painting, has made a positive impact of some of my recent illustration work. I can't post them yet, but I recently completed a couple of fun jobs-- one for National Geographic Magazine and one for Outdoor Life Magazine. I will post more about them sometime in May once they are on the news stands.