Sparth's Structura Is Finally Here!

A book I have been waiting for a loong time is finally out. One of my favorite concept artists, Sparth, has finally had his book, Structura, released to the public.



While at the Massive Black/ConceptArt.org Revelations Symposium this January, I had a chance to watch him work up close and ask specific questions about tools and techniques. Great guy.

Ray Frenden - He's Everywhere

Ray Frenden is exploding. And now he has gone and won the 2007 Threadless Bestee Select Award for his "Medusa" t-shirt design. Congrats, Ray!

Dave Stevens - An Inspiration

Dave Stevens passed away yesterday. May he rest in peace. Dave will always be an inspiration.


© 1983 Dave Stevens

Painting and Sculpting

I have been painting and sculpting this week. Acrylics and plaster. I haven't done that since 1978. And then it was mostly oils. Much fun. Big challenge was to produce these images in the manner requested by the director. Not my style, at all. (The paintings, not the taking direction part.)

I would show you more of these pieces, but they are part of The Great God Pan set and I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises (just yet.)

ICON 5

Register now for ICON 5 - the Illustrator's Conference in New York CIty, July 2-5.



I mean, c'mon, Marshal Arisman is running a seminar, fer chrisakes.

Prada Envokes Via James Jean

Ever wonder what a James Jean illustration would look like if it came to life? Well, wonder no longer. Prada has utilized Jean as a concept artist for this short promotional film by James Lima. And yes, Pan makes an appearance as a fashion god.

PRADA - Trembled Blossoms
Uploaded by BloGraphiC

Happy Birthday Chicago Artist Forum

Chicago Artist Forum in action

A year ago, Denise Dorman put some ideas into the head of one, Kevin Sandstrom of Dick Blick Art Stores. Next thing you know, a place for artists to gather, show off portfolios, and generally talk shop and fun was born in Wheaton, Illinois. It has now grown to a nice little event that brought out about 30 artists in 0º Chicago weather this past Saturday.

The artists range in experience from 30+ year veterans to folks in their freshmen year in art school. But all of them love to draw and respect the craft, which makes for great discussions and plenty of learning and networking opportunities.

The CAF will have a website soon that will list the upcoming presentations and events. I just did a slideshow/talk on what I learned at the Revelations Symposium in Seattle and coming up are Ray Frenden demoing Manga Studio techniques, Joe Lester on sculpting monsters, and Dave Dorman on traditional painting. Plus, live models!

In the meantime, check out their CAF MySpace page.

Revelations - The Roundup

Dancing Tattoos in the Space Needle

I just spent four days in Seattle at Massive Black/Conceptart.org's Revelations Symposium. Steve Bialer and I were joined by Bruno Warneck of Midway Games as we wallowed in concept art, both digital and traditional. Hundreds of artists from around the world converged on the Northwest to learn and draw and network. For the opening night party the conference had the run of the Seattle Space Needle, complete with live models to sketch, booming DJ's, and dancing girls with many, many tattoos. The last time I was there I was eight. I think I would have remembered the dancing tattooed redheads.


DR1 - The Main Section of the Digital Room


A Few of the Instructors Surrounding the Digital Room


One of the Painting Areas of the Traditional Room Upstairs


Mike Hussar Working on a Three Day Pose with Model Trisha Lurie

The Symposium was split into two floors. The main hall had several areas dedicated to digital concept art and the main stage for large presentations. There were around 16 stations setup for large scale projection as the instructors took turns creating art live during the whole conference.

The second floor held the Traditional Room which also had multiple sections for painting, sketching, live models and sculpting. Up here artists like Shawn Barber, Mike Hussar, Carl Dobsky, Greg Manchess, Brom, Dan Dos Santos, and El Coro attacked the canvas.


Brom Giving an Overview of His Career and His Methods

The superstar of the symposium was clearly Brom, a very traditional painter. While digital rules in many areas of today's entertainment business, at this conference traditional methods were respected and taught. At one point, Jason Manley gave a packed house a three hour overview on Color and Light Theory using classic paintings as examples.


Brom Originals Up in the Traditional Room


Brom Onstage and a Sparth Demo

One of my greatest pleasures was having the good fortune to be at Sparth's table while he created and explained his work methods. In an hour and a half I found out more about Photoshop than I have in the rest of the millenium.


Dan Milligan Explains the Art of Storyboarding


Digital Meets Traditional - Andrew Jones in the Traditional Room


Thunderdome!

The last two hours of the symposium were dedicated to Thunderdome. It's a live illustration contest by the instructors and a couple of brave audience members based on a suggestion given to them at that moment. This year's the theme was "Dream Devourer." The conference attendees watched on large presentation screens as amazing images were created in a blink of an eye.


Jason Chan Creating His "Dream Devourer"


Jason's Almost Completed Thunderdome Winner


Goodbye Seattle

Hello to everyone I met and I look forward to seeing you and your art in the future.

Some Videos from Revelations

Sketch Porn

Gizmodo has a review - "Simply Amazing"

Revelations Symposium

I'm excited! I'm going to the Massive Black/ConceptArt.org Revelations Symposium in Seattle this January. Four days immersed in making art and watching some of the best in the business doing it. Can't wait. Gotta go, there's a pencil and sketch paper waiting for me to come over and play.

Das ist zehr gut, Ray Frenden!

Hop on over to A Better World and pick up on Ray Frenden's latest t-shirt design.

The Great God Pan WIP 10: I'm Happy

Thank goodness the director, Charley Sherman, speaks his mind. We got to a good place in this poster for the play. Up until now we had several posters, but none of them were quite right for this upcoming production nor the style of the theater company. A change in background, fonts, text placement and we were able to fit everything in and capture the mood of the play.


Here's a much bigger version.

The Great God Pan WIP 9: Director Is Happy

Okay, we are closing in on an image that is close to the intent of the play. I like the feel of it now in relation to the play, because it is more like a dark, Italian, Dario Argento poster at this point and I like that.


See a really big version.

The Great God Pan Poster WIP 9: Another Tack

Well, the director wanted something different than the direction this piece was going, so after some delay at working on the poster (a new company to plan, out of town guests, etc.) I have returned to work it some more.

The Great God Pan WIP 8: Cleanup Stage

Okay, time to cleanup the image some more. I'm happy with the overall piece, although it will help to get away from it for a bit to see if my eyes have just fogged over. After taking out the rough spots, I will incorporate the logo with some hand drawn lettering. Hope it turns out.


You can see it larger.

The Great God Pan WIP 7: Darker Gods

While still not polished, here are versions of the poster taking darker, more iconic tones. They actually look much richer and full of detail . They were made at 300DPI at 12"x17" and have been reduced to 72DPI and 400 pixels wide.

These first two images will seem identical, but there are subtle differences in color, contrast, and detail.




See this one larger.

This one is nice, but I'm not sure about the lack of green in the bottom half of the figure right now. The last two shots are detail from this version.




See this one larger.

The Great God Pan WIP 5

Okay, we've got all the major monster tentacles.

The Great God Pan WIP 4

While great progress is being made, it sure looks like it is turning into a mess. Don't worry, there will be order in this chaos as soon as I can get some sleep. More tomorrow.

The Great God Pan WIP 3

Monster tentacles can be tedious, but oh so much fun!

Great God Pan WIP and a Benefit

I'm making slow, but sure progess on the Great God Pan poster. I need it done quickly though for several reasons, not the least being the WildClaw Benefit at the Four Moon Tavern on October 29th. Help us raise money to benefit WildClaw Theater. They are dedicated to putting the scare back into live entertainment. And I'm on the board of directors. So go.

WildClaw Theater Benefit
October 29th
Four Moon Tavern
1847 W Roscoe Street

Flist - The Bloggers Art Show

On Friday, October 5th at 7PM-2AM, there will be an opening reception for Flist. Our pal, Ray Frenden, will have some work in this puppy. The show will be at the Happy Dog Gallery at 1542 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.

Spectrum 15

Devil extraordinaire, Dave Dorman will be on the Spectrum 15 jury this year.


Art by Marc Gabbana

Devils Win

Every time I turn around, another artist involved with The Devil's Candy Store is being honored by the industry for their work.


The 2007 Hugo Award

Once again, congratulations are in order for Donata Giancola for winning the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist. Donato won this Hugo last year in 2006, as well.

The 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novel went to Vernor Vinge for Rainbow's End, which happened to have a cover by Stephan Martiniere. Stephan was also nominated this year for the Best Professional Artist category.


Kristina, Stephan Martiniere, and Donato Giancola at SDCC 07

Speaking of Stephan, he won the 2007 Chesley Award for Best Cover Illustration - Hardback: (for Pyr’s edition of River of Gods by Ian McDonald). Two other Devils were nominated along with Stephan in this category: Jon Foster (for "The Demon and the City" by Liz Williams) and Donato (for "The Thirteenth House" by Sharon Shinn).


Jon Foster and Denise Dorman at SDCC 2007

AND - Donato won the 2007 Chesley Award for Best Unpublished Monochrome: “Red Sonya”.

PLUS - Michael Kaluta was nominated for the Chesley Best Interior Illustration for “The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden” by Catherine M. Valente.

Congrats to all!

Redesigning the Devil

The other major project I am working on is getting a new version of The Devil's Candy Store website up to replace the single placeholder page we have now. It's coming along swell, but I want it to be done. Now.

New Horror

One of my favorite things to do is create posters for the theater. I am currently working on one for my friend Charley Sherman's WildClaw theater troupe. It is an adaptation of the seminal horror classic, The Great God Pan. Here are some sketches showing some progress towards the final piece.



After reading the script (but before I spoke with the director/adaptor, Charley), I took a stab at an image that would capture the essence of the play. These elements seemed to be a Victorian leading lady with creepy monsters. The sketch is a lady with her face in partial shadow and monsters creeping from beneath her skirt. After showing this to Charley, we discussed the play and realized this image was wrong for many reasons, including possibly giving too much away. Plus, it wasn't a "grabber".



The next thought was much more "Alien" chestburster. More movement and more possibilities with composition. And Charley liked that it read HORROR play much more than the first.



Charley was wondering if we should place some monsters into the scene, as they would be in the actual play.



We wrapped up our two and a half hour discussion confident that I had a handle on several ideas for the poster. One issue was trying to find a POV for the lead character in the poster. Should she be looking straight at the viewer? I gave that a stab here to think about it. I don't always sketch the whole poster, just the part I want to play with.



It wasn't quite working, so I went back to thumbnails of the whole design and settled upon a centered image of the woman wrapped in monsterous tentacles that are reaching skyward. At her feet would be the other monsters in shadowy silhoutte.



I drew a larger version in pieces on tracing paper. This one is about 11" x 23". The proportions are off for the typical 11" x 17" poster, but it gives me the elements to play with. I took the monsters out, because they drew your attention away from the dynamic attention of her reaching up towards the title of the play.

I like this sketch and so does Charley. I think we're on our way.

New Covers by Jon Foster and Stephan Martiniere

Over at The Art Department, Irene Gallo's excellent blog, she has posted the new cover by Jon Foster for the Dragonback series.

She also has the new cover by Stephan Martiniere for the book, Escapement, by Jay Lake.

The Devil's In The Details

Detail from theater poster for "Lord Byron's CAIN"

The three of you who read this blog may have noticed that I suddenly stopped posting First Fear stuff when I appeared to be on a small roll. Well, I am still working on the comic book and hopefully you will see a nice finished piece before San Diego Comic-Con and certainly before Wizard World Chicago.

This interruption has been caused by a Top Secret Project to be unveiled at San Diego. At this point I can tell you that it will likely involve some of the finest illustrators working today, the game and movie industries, and some world building. It will all be done under the auspices of a new business called The Devil's Candy Store. Wicked.

Ray Frenden - Superstar

Once again, one of my favorite blogs, Drawn.ca, has put Ray's talents to good use and place his work where other artists can benefit from his talents. Check this puppy out.

Inca Vampyr

The End of the Incas

Here is another iteration of a First Fear postcard sketch. The first pass is below (June 29 entry, top sketch), but I needed to go for something more dramatic. The mural in the original sketch was intended to give a place and time, but it is completely inaccurate to the time period in scale and intent. These postcards are meant more for mood and those in the know will recognize the Intihuatana Stone that she is standing on and place the mountain setting in Machu Picchu.

Currently no one knows why the Incas disappeared, in spite of many theories. Mine theory is simple - the Incas knew too much and were wiped out by aliens and their monster guardians. At the moment, the year 2012 plays heavily into the plot of The First Fear. Hmm...what did they know?

Kerosene Ran and Elle in Hell (with Elvis)

"Kerosene Ran"

I'm putting together some giveaways for the conferences and since Vistaprint was giving away 100 postcards today (plus shipping), I thought I would get an older, favorite image printed up. This is a color marker sketch on newsprint that is 22" x 18" of a character from the Ralph the Punk universe. It's one of my favorites. Everything about it is wrong, but it is the imperfections that make it read as very human.

In reality, nobody's eyes line-up in a perfect horizontal line across your face. Most features just sort of meander around the general area of where they're suppose to be and that's what gives us all our own unique charm. I believe it was Elle MacPherson that once commented that most "supermodel" faces ride that thin borderline between classic beauty and downright ugly. She included herself in that category, by the way.


"Elvis and Elle in Hell"

Here's the first color piece I ever did on a computer that wasn't an animation. It's called "Elvis and Elle in Hell" and was created in 12 hours with Superpaint and a big, fat mouse. No scanner. No color printer. I literally had to take a color photo of the screen and frame the print for the gallery show it was in. The show was an all Elvis art show at Tony Fitzpatrick's World Tattoo Gallery.

The delicious kicker for this piece is that I actually got Elle MacPherson to sign the print, "To Elvis - All my love, Elle".

Interview 101

Thanks to Denise Dorman, I've got a nice little interview up at Alina Sandor's 'Suite 101" blog.

Con Job - Sketches

The summer conventions are coming and I am getting give-away materials ready. All of the family visits have made it tough to get these puppies done, but I'll get there. Here are some very preliminary sketches for some postcards I would like to hand out.

The concept is depictions of First Fear monsters at various points in human history.


The fall of Machu Picchu.


WWII battlefield.


September 11.

Black and White Study

Space Gal

Starting to throw up some sketches (pardon the pun).

Artist Forum

Finally got to go to the artist forum at Blick Arts in Wheaton this weekend. Kevin Sandstrom, the store's manager, is a fine host and artist and is to be commended for putting the effort into these events. Alex Wald and I drove in and met up with Ray Frenden, Dave and Denise Dorman, and met some new folks. The artists we met were Anna Borowiecka, Peter Mohrbacher, and Ivan from Midway Games. All good artists with some nice work in their portfolios.

Ray has been extolling the merits of Manga Studio for line work using a tablet and Alex and I (thanks to Kevin) are going to check it out. Ray's work is damned impressive in the expressiveness of his line work, so I'm looking forward to trying out the program.

The next Forum is going to be Saturday, June 9th at 6:30 PM and it should be a good one. For more info you can e-mail Kevin at ArtistKMS at AOL. You can add a .com to that for good measure. Except for you damned bots.

Baby Octopus Sketch

Working up some quick sketches for First Fear concept designs and did a marker piece from a cool photo reference. Looks like I'll be working on some big splash pieces for Wizard World. I have three in mind and in the works: a crowded, future Chicago, urban setting; an exposed crashed spaceship trapped in melting arctic ice; and a scene from the past that explains the disappearance of the Incas from the royal estate of Machu Picchu.

Sherman Part Three

The New Digs - 90% There.

The new world headquarters is in place and ready to roll. One more computer to add (plus some internet access), but there is plenty of work that can be done without those things. See you downtown!

Sherman Part Two

Well, all of the big stuff is moved in, including the heavy-duty Anthro computer bench (emphasis on 'heavy'). Thanks to the athletic ability of Alex, the watchful eye of Julienne, and the mighty strength and at a moment's notice goodness of Bruce, it all made it up the stairs and through the tiny, tiny doors.

And now, it's unpacking time. The goal is to be working in the new world headquarters on Monday.

(Okay, I know this is like documenting paint drying, but I wanted to publicly thank my incredible support crew.)

Sherman

Burning City, Inc. - the next chapter.

3D The Old Fashioned Way

I have been working on my First Fear main character, Alvamara, and just wasn't getting it. So I broke out the handy clay and began some raw sculpting to get a better sense of light and shadow for her. It's not exact, but it gives me a tool to use when working out my sketches.

Holidays

Hello readers, thanks for checking out Notes From Burning City this year. I hope everyone enjoys the holidays and gets a fresh start in 2007. I know it has been a stressful year for many, but a lot of us have begun some interesting new journeys, so hang in there. For my part, I promise to have more art, more often in 2007. I promise.

Shakespeare Xmas Cards

I have finally put the improved Shakespeare Xmas cards back up in the Burning City store.



The inscription within is:
"Joy, gentle friends! Joy, and fresh days of love accompany your hearts!"
Wm Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, Scene 3

Get 'em while they're hot.

FTF 10th Anniversary Poster, Really

Today's the day and I finally finished the commemorative poster for the FTF/TIC anniversary party tonight. The thumbnail above reflectives the current thinking re the poster, but I was off on another tear for awhile. A whole 2001: A Space Odyessy Incubator logo as monolith concept. I like this one better.



And here is the final piece. I'm getting it printed in the Banner section at Kinko's. They're nice enough and the other banners look great. So here goes...

Halloween Party Invite Part Two

That's done and it didn't end up anywhere near where I expected. Lotsa surprises and getting use to a Wacom tablet again after many years. Much to learn and practice. Now for the insides of the beast.

First Rule of Fight Club

Drawing machine, Ray Frendon, has taken on an inspired bit of lunacy wherein he will draw a fight between himself and all comers. Damned if it didn't get me to draw myself in fine fightin' form at 3AM. Take on Ray, if you dare.

Halloween Party Invite Part One

Okay, some drawings. Not from The First Fear, but drawings none-the-less, damn it. We're having a small gathering of an odd assortment of friends that are connected in a weird sort of way and I thought I would throw together a Halloween related invite.



I wanted to include Julienne in the piece and so here is an initial sketch of her sweet face. I was gonna be in the damn thing too, but realized there is only so much my friends can take.



This is a piecing together of several sketch ideas to get the foundation of the illustration going. I quickly draw these out on paper, scan them in and then manipulate details in Photoshop. I'm going to set up the Wacom tablet tomorrow and I may just continue working directly in the computer from this point or I may go over this sketch collage again in pencil. Once I feel good about it, I'll attack it in Photoshop for the final piece.

And It Begins Again

After many interruptions I have begun to seriously work on The First Fear again. Here is a preliminary sketch of Shakti, the lead character. Lots to be worked out, but it suggests the direction I would like to go with the character.



"We are called the First Fear. Humans knew fear before us, but we were something different. Not of the natural order. Otherworldly. A new kind of fear."

First Fear Sketches - 1

I have been working on introducing an important character to the story and, as I said before, the events in the Middle East have greatly affected my thinking. This introduction actually takes place in WWII and, of course, involves the standard Nazi occultist. But these sketches revolve around the character of a boy who will have an intimate connection to the lead character, who is a vampire.



This child emerges from the rubble of a destroyed town. Smoke still rising and corpses still warm. And later in the scene, the child has to drag a bloody body across the town square. I never thought I would write anything like this, but it's where the story is currently taking me. We'll see how much stays through the final edit, but for now I'm trying not to edit anything.

Wizard World Chicago 2006

'One view of the Wizard World floor'

Twenty years ago I sat behind a table at comic book convention in Atlanta promoting Shatter for First Comics. And now, after a two decade hiatus, which included designing laser shows, computer games, theater posters, web sites, business strategies, and software, I'm back behind the table.


'A boy and his table'

I had a great time, mostly because of the people I hung out with, the artists I met, the old friends I saw, and the new folks who came up to the table and showed an interest in my work. Plus, I sold a few things.


'Deb and Alex Wald hawking his wares'

Sharing the table with me was Alex Wald. A great artist who is getting back into the game with both feet (and his talented hands), many people were happy to see his work at the con. The owner of Mimoco (designer toys) said it best when he saw Alex's table, "Amazing artwork!" Alex's better half, Deb, came by for support and to see her first comic book convention.


'Bill Reinhold, comic book artist extraordinaire and the nicest guy in comics'

Sitting to our right was Bill and Linda Reinhold, two of comics' longtime talents. I have known them since the First Comics days and they are a tremendous pleasure to hang out with and learn from. Plus, Mike Reinhold is the coolest k