Color Roughs

-By Jesper Ejsing

Color roughs are something I put a lot of value in. Colors set the mood. They tell a story as much as the drawing does. To me, the color choice has never been easy or something I have taken lightly, but over the years I have developed different palettes that I like and that I tend to use more often. 

Take a look at the 4 different color rough I did for a dragon painting. Number one is a cloudy day, and number 3 is a sunny day. ( Looking at them now I wish I had gone with the cloudy day ) The number 2 and 4 are more evening/night but with an oversaturated color palette. 

I think it is 4 totally different paintings and it is only the colors that has changed. They were all done with acrylic on a print of the same drawing. 

I am not one of those artists that can see it in his minds eye. I do not see much in there actually. I need all of it to be out on paper in front of me to be turned and held up in the mirror to see it in inverse. I need to take the paper with me into the other rooms and ask the other guys at the studio what they think? Well, so I need the color roughs to make up my mind. Sometimes I need to do them just to be able to see what I definitely should not do. 

What a colororough do for me is simple. It let me relax when I am painting, so that I can concentrate on anything else but colors, since I already sorted that part out.

And here is the best thing. Since I make the color roughs on a print of my initial drawing on the board, I can fuck up, print a new one, and fuck that up too, if I want. I can try stupid color palettes just to see if it could work. I can pump and saturate the colors dramatically and do stuff I would never dare do on an original, because if I fuck up: I print out a new one. The color rough takes out all the stress and the “afraid of too much color” feeling. And it builds for bolder choices. 

One other benefit is that doing the roughs builds up all the colormixing so that when I am satisfied, I can jump right in and start from the same palette. 

I was always a huge fan of The Hildebrandt Brothers. The way they made ( Greg still are ) the colors so bright it almost hurts your eye got me to think about colors as something more than just adding’s to a drawing. I knew it was a lot more difficult to use strong saturations, but I figured why not get the hard part right first and then I can easily go down to the muddy colors…pun intented. Not much can go wrong in browns and greys, but pure red, blue and yellow! That is where it all gets excited. And I was a bit too excited I guess. I never had any training, art school or mentor, so I had to try it out by myself. Trial by error. My first covers was build up from only 2 contrast full colors. Blue vs Orange or yellow vs Purple. My own little cooked up theory was that if I only chose 2 colors,  I couldn´t do that much wrong. I started adding an extra splash-color and things got interesting. And then I got my hands on a book by Tim Hildebrandt called “The Fantasy art of Tim Hildebrandt” and finally got some real knowledge. Since then, that book has been my only source of teaching about colors. 

When I do a color rough I try to choose colors that fits the mood, but also has a wide range of colors. Take a look at the 3 roughs for my sea serpent painting. The middle just do not work. The colors do not say Deep Sea enough: more sand dune and arabien nights. That leaves us with first and third. I like the first since the colour from the magic in the tip of the wizards staff is a splash color not featuring anywhere else in the painting. But I do think the blue in the sky and clouds becomes too flat. The range and variety of the single color cloud is just not enough. So I went with number 3 since the background had a range all from cold blue-ish to greenish almost yellow. 

I have collected a sample of some of my colororughs for different covers. 

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Frazetta Tribute Show

Just a quick reminder to anyone that's interested that the deadline for submissions to the Frazetta Tribute show being sponsored by Chicago's Gallery Provocateur is fast approaching (December 15). The art exhibition will open the same weekend as the Chicago Comic Con (C2E2) March 18th-20th, 2011 at the gallery. The exhibition will run for 3 months. Gallery commission is 25% with the gallery proceeds being donated to JDRF juvenile diabetes research foundation (Frank's granddaughter, Jessica, has Type 1 juvenile diabetes).

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The Best Art Books of 2010

-By Dan dos Santos



Anyone who knows me, knows I loooove my art books. I've even been known to fly with an empty suitcase to San Diego Comic Con, for the sole purpose of filling it to the brim with art books before my return. Since 2010 is coming to an end, and every one seems to be making their various lists, I thought I'd contribute too and give you my 10 Best Art Books of 2010.





I'd like to preface my list by saying that these 10 books were my personal faves. I know there are a lot of deserving titles, many by members of this very blog, that have been released this year. I strongly encourage you to mention them in the comments section. But these particular titles, I felt, were either really exceptional, unexpected or simply long awaited.

So, in no particular order:



*****

1. Drawings, by Dorian Vallejo

Dorian Vallejo, son of the legendary Boris Vallejo, is honestly one of the best portrait painters I have ever met in my entire life. I can't begin to describe how facile he is, be it with a brush or a pencil. So you can imagine my enthusiasm when he announced that he had compiled a book of years worth of drawings. The book is amazing. If you are an artist, aspiring or otherwise, and really want a dose of art that will make you feel like an untalented, lazy piece of shit... this is the book for you.

http://www.drawingsfromlife.com



*****

2. Moebius Transforme, by Jean Giraud

I am a Moebius Freak. Yes, I capitalized 'Freak', because I feel it's that official of a title.

I own at least 30 different Moebius books, and apparently, that's not even half of what is out there. Yet, despite the plethora of Moebius books floating around, the artist  has not released anything in a long time... until now. With 2010 came the release of not one, but TWO new Moebius books. Not only has he revamped his classic Arzach, but he has produced an amazing catalogue to coincide with his solo exhibit at the Fondation Cartier. This limited edition book will set you back a pretty penny, but for a Moebius Junkie, it's a must have.

http://fondation.cartier.com/



*****

3. Harvey Dunn, by Walt Reed

Harvey Dunn is one of the great Golden Age American Illustrators. Having instructed artists like Dean Cornwell and Saul Tepper, a book devoted to the man has been long overdue.  Thankfully, Flesk Publications has finally delivered. This book went on sale just days ago, so be sure to grab it while you can.

http://fleskpublications.com/publications/harvey-dunn/



*****

4. Rough Justice, by Alex Ross

Say what?

Yes, Alex Ross.

One day the family and I went to Barnes and Nobles. Being my turn to watch the kids while the Wife shopped around, I grabbed this book thinking it would kill some time while the boys caused a ruckus in the children's section. Now I will be the first to admit that Alex Ross' painted comic work just doesn't do it for me. I find it a little stiff at times, and his realistic attention to detail often kills the sense fantasy a little bit. So I expected to be rather unimpressed with this book, but I was so wrong. This book collects Alex's preliminary sketches for numerous projects, and really shows off his true abilities. Whatever you may say about his painting, his pencil work is undeniably brilliant. His sense of lighting and composition are on full display here, and really have changed my opinion of his work.

http://www.amazon.com/Rough-Justice-Comics-Sketches-Alex/dp/0375714901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291706003&sr=8-1



*****

5. Jean-Leon Gerome,

Gerome has been one of my long standing inspirations, having painted hundreds of realistic and epic images usually based on historical or mythological subjects. Unfortunately, the only books cataloging his work have either been black and white, or incredibly small (Like, 7 inches tall). For the first time that I know of, there is an oversized book consisting of solely his work, with wonderful reproductions.

http://www.amazon.com/Jean-Leon-Gerome-Laurence-Cars/dp/8857207021/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291687823&sr=8-1



*****

6. Cover Run, by Adam Hughes

Anyone who knows comics knows Adam Hughes. Graphic, stylish, and undoubtedly sexy, this book can be summed up in one word... YUMMY.

http://www.amazon.com/Cover-Run-Comics-Hughes-Hughes/dp/1848568509/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291705885&sr=8-1



*****

7. Aggregate, by Steve Prescott

If you don't know Steve's work, you are truly missing out. Primarily doing work for clients like Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, Steve's paintings manage to evade the radar of a lot of people. Yet, for those in the know, his work is envied by many and unparalleled in creativity. Wizards of the Coast has yet to release a book of the art created for them, and I am starting to think it will never happen.  Until then, this book is the next best thing. Consisting of just black and white preliminaries, this book is chock full of brilliant costume designs.

http://www.rottface.com/



*****

8. The Legend of Steel Bashaw, by Petar Meseldzija

Justin Gerard has recently written a post about Petar's work, so I won't delve into a childish, jealous rant about how good it is. Suffice it to say, if you oil paint, and you do not own this book, you are retarded.

http://fleskpublications.com/publications/petar-meseldzija/



*****

9. Spectrum 17, By Arnie and Cathy Fenner

At this point, Spectrum needs no introduction. I truly feel it is at least partially responsible for keeping Fantasy art in the forefront of the public's attention and maintaining that interest. Composed of HUNDREDS of the year's best Fantasy artworks, this book, and all of the prior volumes are a must own for anyone interested in making SFF art their career.

http://www.amazon.com/Spectrum-17-Best-Contemporary-Fantastic/dp/1599290448/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291705936&sr=8-1



*****

10. Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter, by James Gurney

A companion to the highly successful 'Imaginative Realism',  'Color and Light' further delves into the technical aspects of realist painting.  In this book, James Gurney, author of the blog 'Gurney Journey', breaks down some of the most important aspects of creating a realistic and imaginative rendering. Concise, technical, and wildly ambitious, both of these books have quickly become dogma for aspiring fantasy Illustrators. I only wish they existed when I was in college. 

http://www.dinotopia.com/dinotopia-store.html

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Rule of Thumb Part Deux

I've always found that writing the first few lines of anything—essay, introduction, blog post, whatever—is the hardest. At least for me. That's why I'm going to skip the preamble this time and plunge head-first into another batch of kinda-sorta-they-are-if-you-want-them-to-be-but-not-if-you-don't "rules."

Draw
Everything. All the time. Wherever you are. If you are (or have been) lucky enough to have Bill Carman or Jon Foster or Chris Payne or any number of other top-tier instructors at school you've already heard this advice and know the drill. If not... Have a small sketchbook with you to scribble in: you never know when or where inspiration may strike. Draw from life; draw from photos; draw with references and without, but for goodness' sake, d-r-a-w! The only way to draw hands or feet or drapery or facial expressions or animals with authority is to repeatedly practice drawing them. Perhaps the most inspirational segment in the documentary Crumb—no, not the part where he talks the woman into giving him a piggyback ride during his gallery opening—was watching him sit on a bench on the street or in a restaurant while he drew the people passing by. Drawing what's real will help you to draw what's not real convincingly.

Keep a Record
Your art is more than art: it's your asset. It's your business. And, yes, your art is part of your legacy. It goes without saying that you should keep concise files containing contracts, invoices, receipts, correspondence, etc.: that's all common sense. But you'd be surprised at how many artists don't have a complete archive of their own work—and that, in the long run, costs them moo-la. John Jude happily points out that he's made significantly more in licensing fees for one of his book covers than he was originally paid to paint it in the first place. You can't sell reprint rights or license images if you can't deliver repro materials to your client. It used to be that transparencies were the only way to go—cheap was about $40 a pop—but they could be a challenge to keep track of and clients were (and still are) notorious for not returning them. Now days with any number of inexpensive ways to digitally archive and deliver art, there really isn't any excuse not to do so. The most frustrating part of doing the four books with the Frazettas was that Ellie would sell originals or Frank would paint over older works without ever making a copy. Not a slide, not a tranny, not a scan: the works were gone along with the opportunity to license the art and make it continue to earn money for them. I can't count the number of times prospective clients tried to license one painting or another from them without success because the art no longer existed or wasn't in their possession and there was no record of it. Without a proper archive it also made it difficult to answer historical questions or keep track of who controlled the rights to what. Don't fall into the same trap: a properly maintained record/archive will pay off in many ways in the future.

Imitating Isn't the Same As Being "Influenced"
Everybody starts out copying the artists that inspire them: it's a natural rite of passage. But at some point an artist has to stop copying or imitating and find their own voice, their own approach, if they want to break away from the pack. You can find inspiration from any number of sources, but ultimately the solution to the "problem," the approach you take to the picture, has to be uniquely yours. No one can own a style or technique or idea, but it's what you do with the style, technique, or idea that sets your work apart. Your influences should go into a psychological blender and what comes out on the canvas or through the computer should be a reflection of you, of who you are, not a version of someone else. You definitely do not want an audience (or critics or art directors) to look at your work and only see your influences, not you.

There Is No Magic Wand
There is not a mystical tool which, once acquired or mastered, will turn you into an Artiste. Neither the paint nor the computer can do it for you: it's your skills, your outlook, your intellect that creates art. I've seen stacks of great paintings and crappy paintings; I've seen equal numbers of great digital art and crappy digital art. If you cannot draw, if you do not understand color or composition or anatomy or perspective, if you don't understand people and connect with them and know what excites them and frightens them and lifts them up and makes them sad...you're not going to be able to create anything of significance, anything that will resonate, anything that will last, regardless of the medium you use. Being devoted to your craft is imperative, but it is also absolutely true that a real artist is curious about—rather than dismissive of—approaches and sensibilities different from their own. There is no "right way," no "only way," to create art. The tool does not matter: what the artist does with the tool is the only thing that counts. Painters are not "better" than photographers who are not "better" than sculptors who are not "better" than digital artists who are not "better" than watercolorists who or not "better" than... It's all akin to Ford owners squaring off with Chevy owners or Marvel fans insisting that the Hulk is stronger than DC's Superman: it's silly. As a commentator mentioned in the Digital Vs Traditional thread, who in their right mind would say that Ansel Adams wasn't an artist? Or Herb Ritts or Robert Mapplethorpe? Who would say that Stephan Martiniere or Andrew Jones aren't artists of the first rank because the computer screen is their canvas? Take it another step: who would say that Watterson or Elder or Davis aren't artists because they're "merely" cartoonists? Not me. Or who would say that Berkey or Berry or Rayyan or Brom aren't "real" artists because they work in genre? Nobody I can think of. Getting wrapped up in the tool employed or believing that it's the tool that's doing the creating is...dumb. It doesn't matter how the artist "gets there" or what they use along the way...as long as they get there.

Be a Flirt, Not a Tramp
Ahh, the siren call of the internet. Many artists feel the need to put great big honking scans of everything they do up on their (or other) websites, ostensibly to promote their work. Web visitors happily copy these files and print or share (or, in extreme cases, bootleg) whatever they want. They love it. They appreciate it. But they don't want to pay for it. And once people get used to getting something for free they resist forking over dough when the tap is turned off. In the meantime you're left trying to figure out why everyone likes your work but aren't willing to help you make a living doing it. Let's face it, popularity means very little when it comes time to pay the rent and the bank account is empty. Plus, familiarity can lead to indifference. If your audience has seen everything they can tend to take you for granted: why should they buy your book or your prints if they've printed out (or loaded on their hard drives) everything they liked already? For nothing. Marketing dictates teasing your audience a bit; intrigue them without giving everything away. Make them want more. Flirt, but only let serious suitors get to second base. And when it comes to using your website to promote yourself to art directors/clients, trust me: if an art director can't get a handle on what you can do with a few samples of your best work they're not a very good art director (and yes, just because someone has a title doesn't automatically make them good at their job). If one or two paintings of a dragon doesn't convince them you can paint a dragon, 20 dragon paintings won't either. Update regularly, but when you do, replace older works.

Be Honest With Yourself
Your mom thinks you're Michelangelo. Your boyfriend or girlfriend thinks you're the next James Jean. That doesn't exactly mean you really are. Some years back I was at one of the few conventions that Thomas Blackshear exhibited at—and believe me when I say that Tom's originals are astonishing and his sketchbooks are some of the most breathtaking I've ever seen—and there was an illustrator set up next to him that had been doing some interior drawings for several SF fiction digests. This artist had a couple of adoring fans surrounding him, telling him how wonderful his work was, especially in comparison to this "unknown" (meaning Blackshear) that was set up beside him...and, of course, it wasn't. In fact, the guy's art was, to be honest, pretty amateurish (which fit in nicely with the digests he was working for and the low wages they were paying). But his admirers couldn't tell the difference—and neither could the guy, who basked in the compliments of a handful of fans and falsely believed (as revealed in the comments he was making) that he and Thomas' abilities were equal. He was lying to himself: he did not have a realistic view of his own skills—which also meant that it was highly unlikely that he was going to keep learning and trying to improve. And...he didn't. Where is he now? Forgotten. Unknown. Smile and take compliments graciously when they're offered, but at the end of the day be your own worst critic—without devolving into beating yourself up when something doesn't turn out or, on the flip side, being unable to recognize your success when it does. Everyone has their share of failures and triumphs: keep things in perspective and be able to distinguish one from the other. Always know what you can do and what you can't—refine what you do well and in recognizing what you can't do, study and practice to try to improve and overcome your weaknesses. Mom will always love you, good, bad, or ugly. The marketplace isn't as compassionate.

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Drawing Month

My last 2 posts were extremely word-heavy for a blog and I fear I have run dangerously close to my maximum tolerable word allowance for the year. I am told that several people nearly shot themselves in the face when they saw the sheer volume of words they would have to slog through in my last posts. So, this week, I have an image-heavy post to share.

December is Drawing Month. (Grab your pencils)

Apart from being the fundamental core of an illustration, drawing is also just excellent practice for the artist's mind. It is like cross-training for the olympics. Every now and then it is good to take some time and really push one's drawing ability further.




 





Also, it is important to remember space aliens. If space aliens ever come to earth and ask us what we've been doing with ourselves all these years, we won't be left looking quite so stupid if we can draw them a portrait of themselves while they are standing there. Food for thought.

Doing practice studies from life not only helps the artist gain a greater command of the tools available to him, it also helps in developing a visual vocabulary to pull from when developing ideas straight from his imagination.

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FIGHT!

Traditional Vs. Digital

I am old enough to have had several years of traditional work under my belt before the wide spread use and availability of digital work became commonplace. As an example, use the first 3 or 4 years of the Spectrum books, and take a look at the balance of traditional vs. digital work. I love both methods and would like to invite you all to express your thoughts on the matter in the comment section.

Oh, and of course I don’t actually want any real fighting...just polite discourse.

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The Sky People

I used to work at a studio of illustrators. One of our catch phrases at the time was, “generally, your first impression for an illustration idea is the right one.” Logic follows that if I just put down one sketch, it would likely be better than any that followed. And of course, this isn’t real.

The impression of the idea may be correct, but the solution is rarely so. It takes exploration, and as soon as I find a great solution, five more pop into my head. Each one leads to another. They start slow, then cascade. Solutions evolve.

“The Sky People” was done for Irene at Tor Books. The story, by S.M. Stirling, sounded lush, fun, and a bit nostalgic. Here’s the mysterious planet Venus of long ago, full of steaming jungles, dinosaurs, mammoths, crashed spaceships, and lost airmen. I wanted to get this one right.

Below are the beginning thumbs, with a star over one of the sketches, upper right on the first page. I came back to that one. I didn’t know it at the time, but the idea developed toward that one. One of the first.

These are the sketches as they evolved, freely drawing from my wee brain, searching for the right composition, the right balance of elements, the right atmosphere. It’s work to find the right balance. As soon as I had one down, I had two more in mind, waiting to get sketched. I explored horizontal formats first as I like the cinematic feeling. Verticals may have solved the problem just as easily.

I finally narrowed it down to two sketches that got combined with the first sketch above. I still wasn’t quite sure, but I had to make a decision, trusting that I’d done enough to really know what I wanted to see. I had it in the beginning after all, but I still needed to explore.

I shot some quick reference of me under lights to get the right effect for the figures, and projected this loose sketch onto the canvas.

One key factor that solves any problem of ‘illustrator’s block’...just start drawing. Ideas come from action, not drumming fingers. Most times, one needs to draw more. It starts with thumbnails. Same for writing. Don’t know what to write? Start typing.

Ideas are cheap. Solutions, divine.

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