On The Shelves - "The Russian Vision: The Art of Ilya Repin"

This is a great book! Repin is one of my favorite artists. He was a Russian painter from the mid 1800's-early 1900's. At 288pgs it's the most comprehensive book out on this artist. I have a couple other Repin books, but they don't compare to this one. (Except maybe for the old one on him, which is out of print and hard to find). This book retails for around $50 and is still available, but probably not for much longer.



Here are some images in the book:


I was fortunate enough to see the painting below in person. While I was in NY they had a Russian show at the Guggenheim Museum. Definitely a highlight of the trip!

Illustration Process Step 3: Final Sketch

After the initial thumbs and rough sketch I am confident the main graphic design will work. Now I will look for detail. I will shoot reference and clean up my rough sketch. I use the same method of transfer as my thumbs to my rough sketch as I do with my rough sketch to my final drawing. By printing out a very light copy as a template, I save time and energy, and I maintain the same quality feel I have in the rough sketch. In the final drawing it's about details, proportion, perspective, and trying to avoid tangents. After I am happy with the sketch, I will project the drawing onto my painting surface....and thus begins the painting.



....to be continued. =)

IlluXCon 2009 Video

The Wilshires put up a cool video from the latest IlluXCon. Pretty cool! I can't wait for next years con! Click on the link below to check it out.

IlluXCon 2009

Illustration Process Step 2: Rough Sketch

Next step for me is a rough sketch from one of the thumbnails. I will scan my thumbnails, scale it up to 8.5 x 11, and print the one I like at a very low opacity. This acts as a guide for my rough sketch. I usually don't use reference at this point. I will add value and details. Pretty much just cleaning up the thumbnail. After I feel that it has enough clarity for the art director to tell what's going on I send it over. Once approved, I then move onto the tighter drawing. I will post this in a couple of days.

Illustration Process Step 1: Thumbnails

So here is a new series of posts. I'm going to show the progress of an illustration I am currently working on starting here with the thumbnails. In my thumbnails I am merely looking for interesting shape break-up. I try and think in 3 simple values. This will ensure a strong read for the final illustration. I force myself to do more than just a couple of thumbs, I want to get as many iterations as I can think of. This will give me more to choose from in the end.
I have the drawing almost completed, so I will post that next.

Classes Start In A Week!

Classes start in one week! There is still time to sign up. There is still room in my DESIGNING DRAPERY IN OIL and PERSPECTIVE ESSENTIALS classes. Click on the links below to get a more detailed description.

DESIGNING DRAPERY IN OIL
Tuesdays
2:30-5:30pm

PERSPECTIVE ESSENTIALS
Wednsdays
2:30pm-5:30pm


I'm looking forward to starting the new term! I hope to see some of you there!