Ringling College visit

If you are keeping half an eye on up-and-coming illustrators, it would be impossible not to notice the rise of Ringling College of Art and Design these past few years. I’ve run into great student portfolios from Ringling students at Comic Con, the Society of Illustrators student exhibit, CA workshops...all over the place. So when George Pratt asked if I would come down and give a talk, I jumped at the chance to see what they were feeding these kids to make them so promising. Their secret, as it turns out, is a steady diet of drawing and painting, and good strong fundamentals.

On the first day of our visit, Greg Manchess and I looked at 600 works, from sophomore to senior levels, and curated a “Best of Ringling” exhibit of just 70 pieces. It was as inspiring as it was exhausting. As it got down to deciding class medals, we often had three or four paintings of equal merit — the decisions were heartbreaking.

One the second day, I gave a lecture about working with art directors, marketing, etc. -- my usual dog-and-pony show. Greg followed with a slide show and painting demo. While Greg was painting, I was looking at portfolios from some of the students.

All the students seemed engaged and excited to be soaking in what they could. I was glad to see the breadth of styles -- clearly they are encouraged to experiment and find their own voices. And I particularly enjoyed seeing such solid work from 2nd and 3rd year students; it’s exciting to imagine where they might be with another year or two of school behind them.

A big thanks to the Ringling faculty for having us down and being such great hosts. And a thank you to the students for a chance to look at so much good work.


GREG MANCHESS to Ringling:

“I couldn’t believe that after my afternoon lecture and demo, so many students were still watching me go. You guys are showing the signs of ambition and drive that are so very necessary to survive this business. Thanks for sticking it out. I had meant to trim about an
hour or so from that painting, but everyone had such specific questions, I couldn’t resist answering!

I was also very happy to see the level of skill that everyone displayed with their pieces for the judging. Remarkable. You made it a painful joy to select favorites. As I mentioned on Friday, if you didn't make it in, don't let it slow you down. And for those that did make it in, carry on.

Thanks for your interest in my work! When I looked into the lecture hall, I saw myself as a student, looking for the same answers as you are today. I have many now, and you will, too.”

WORK SHOWN:
Venessa Del Rey, Eli Minaya, Keyla Valerio
Haylee Herrick, Lamar Mathurin

Eli Minaya has a great series of photos of Greg’s demo on his blog.

More photos from the visit here.

The Society of Illustrators student sholarship ehxibit posted.

The Society of Illustrators has posted all of the artworks juried into the student scholarship exhibit.

Congrats to all the students! I look forward to seeing these drawings and paintings, and meeting some of the students, at the opening in May.

TOP ROW: Ligia Teodosiu, Grant Hanna, Leon Doucette
BOTTOM ROW: Jim Tierney, Stephanie Georgopoulos, Mike Puncekar

Academy of Art University Spring Show

Last Thursday I attended San Fransisco's Academy of Art University annual Spring show. After last year, I had pretty high expectations, which, I'm happy to report, were met. Both this year and last, the base level of quality was very high. Those that stand-out from this group are in an excellent position to have a career drawing and painting.

The Academy flies in talent scouts and art directors from every visually creative field you can think of (animation, architecture, product design, illustration, web design, and on...) to view the exhibit, review portfolios, and speak with each graduating student in their field. 

Nothing lets you get around having to have a great portfolio but being engaging, speaking well about your work, and asking good questions is an excellent way to make an art director feel comfortable taking a chance on a younger artist. It shows that they understand the problem solving in illustration, are eager to learn from each experience, and are willing work together to make a project successful for all parties.

Mad geniuses are a wonderful thing and I'm glad they are out there creating work for the world to enjoy, but illustration is a commercial art and giving these students the opportunity to present themselves as such is a good learning experience for both them and those asked to do the looking.

Congrats and good luck to all the students. The bad news is, there is a ton of work to do ahead of you...but that's kinda the good news too. 

Thanks, once again, to Chuck Pyle for having me out. 

IMAGES:
Tyler Jacobson and Samuel Farinato
Photos from the exhibit.
Linda Olafsdottir and Albert Ramos

2009 Society of Illustrators Student Exhibit

Last Friday was the 2009 Society of Illustrators Student exhibition gala. You know its going to be a good show when you turn the corner of 63rd street and Lex and there's a mob of people waiting to get in.

The exhibit was, as the many pro artists/agents/art directors I ran across kept saying, one of the best yet. The work is outstanding, the presentation was great, exhibitors were prepared with business cards and postcard samples. A true rival to the pro annual. As is often stated, it's harder to get into the student exhibit than any pro illustration competition -- 6,000 pieces are entered and only 100-140 are selected. Everyone in the show, deserves a lot of respect. I was surprised by how many students I already knew from various other venues -- Illustration Master Class, ConceptArt.org workshops, etc. These kids are so clearly thinking of their careers beyond school.

You can view all of the work on display at the Society of Illustrators' site.
Big thanks to the chairman of the show, Scott Bakal.

PHOTOS: TOP: Lots of people
BOTTOM LEFT: Matt Buck and his H.P. Lovecraft portrait.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Kristina Carroll and Andrew Silver next to Silver's painting.

PAINTINGS:
McLean Kendree
Billy Norbby
Tim Durning, Jeff Liu

Earlier post on this exhibit here.

Visiting hours: Kurt & Zelda, Robert Hunt & Co.

Kurt Huggins and Zelda Devon stopped by the office. I've never seen two people more excited about the artwork on the walls.

Me: "This is a Ber..."
Zelda: "...NIE FUCHS! I know!"
Kurt: "Sandy Kossin. Wasn't he on Today's Inspiration recently."

This is why I keep most of the artwork I own in the office rather than my dark and tiny apartment.

And the best news, looks like Kurt and Zelda will be seen on the "pages" of Tor.com in the coming summer. They are awesome. You will love it.

And, I had the pleasure of having dinner and hanging out with Robert Hunt and his California College of the Arts class. A great group. Safe trip home, guys! Remember to look me up at the Tor booth at San Diego Comic Con.

Society of Illustrators Student Exhibit

...speaking of the Society of Illustrators' Student Exhibition: Randy Gallegos wrote to tell me the winners for this year's competition have been posted on the Society's website. Congrats to each and every one of these kids.

Randy has an excellent in-depth report on the part part judging process -- one day to see who gets into the show, a second day to see who gets which awards.
Judging part 1
Judging part 2

Eustace, SFWA, and SVA

Just a quick catch up on a a few art and/or SF related events I went to over the last few weeks.

It turns out that Eustace was a neighbor. By which I mean, Rae Irvine, the man that drew Eustace Tilley, the monocled New Yorker logo, used to live down the block from me. (And if I'm looking at the picture correctly, in my dream house.) A few weeks ago I attended a local historical club's lecture given by John Dietz outlining the various artistic residents of Brookhaven Hamlet in the first half of the 20th century. It turns out to be quite an impressive list, especially considering how tiny the Hamlet is. The quote of the day was about pianist Emily Wagner, apparently the New York Times obit reported she was "one of those women with short hair and long vision." William Glackens, also a neighbor.

Then there was the annual Science Fiction Writers of America cocktail party, affectionately known as the "Mill & Swill". Always a good time, but this year particularly so because two friends I had not seen since High School showed up. Out of the blue, Jen Salerno and radio host/screenwriter/all around cool guy Mike Sargent. Oddly-but-entertainingly, they brought Melvin Van Peebles with them. Bridget McGovern writes up the evening here.

Lastly, Bridget McGovern, Liz Gorinsky, and I attended the SVA graduate class exhibit, including a Cthulu show. I was glad to meet Viktor Koen in the non-email sense. Viktor had just completed a cover for Tor's steampunk novel The Affinity Bridge. Also in attendance were a number of illustration's luminaries, including Marshal Arrisman and Brad Holland. (Brad talked about possibly doing some sequential work for Tor.com. Which would be awesome, needless to say.)

IMAGES: Irvine's Eustace. Joe and Gay Haldeman and Mike
Sargent. SVA opening. SVA student You Byun.

SVA Cthulhus

This School of Visual Arts MFA Student Exhibit is stirring some excitement among Tor and Twitter friends....

The Call of Cthulhu
November 21 - December 13, 2008
Reception: Tuesday, November 25, 6-8pm
601 West 26 Street, 15th floor, NY, NY
School of Visual Arts presents “The Call of Cthulhu,” an exhibition of sequential narratives based on the 1928 short story of the same name by American author H.P. Lovecraft. The exhibition features the work of students in the MFA Illustration as Visual Essay Department and is curated by Viktor Koen.

Academy of Art University Spring Show

So, the real reason to have been in San Francisco was to participate in the Academy of Art University Spring Show last Thursday...and a very impressive event it was. The university brought in over 500 professionals from various art industries -- illustration, animation, car design, product design, graphic design, video games, architecture, fashion design, photography, you name it -- to meet the graduating class and review their portfolios. Clearly the school is very concerned with preparing these kids for their careers. Creating polished presentations and learning how to talk and network with prospective clients is not so easy, but the event threw them into the deep end of the pool with confidence.

I spent most of my day with the illustrators, of course. The thing that struck me most was how high the base level of quality was. A phenomenal student can come from anywhere, but across the board, all of the AAU students had very solid and consistent portfolios. I have to assume that is a product of a good and disciplined education.

Concept work was very strong -- which is not surprising. While advertising used to be the bread and butter of illustration, nowadays it's the gaming and movie companies that are hiring illustrators by the boatload.

The rest of my day was spent walking around the other departments, trying to eavesdrop on other reviews. The show was followed by a very nice reception with time for the visiting professionals to chat, drink some wine, eat some pigs-in-a-blanket, and unwind a bit.

Many thanks to Chuck Pyle for inviting me out and for being such a gracious host. And congrats to all the students I saw out there - best of luck (and by "luck" I mean hard work) to you all.

IMAGES, TOP SET:
Pretty painted building.

IMAGES, SECOND SET, Top Row:
Eli Harris, Betty Edwards, Chaiki Uchida,
Bottom Row: Frank Lin, Ryan Jones

...AND VARIOUS SCENES FROM THE SHOW

I’m in San Francisco!

Chuck Pyle invited me out to view and judge the Academy of the Arts University student show. Yesterday was the judging and, while a tough assignment, I had a great time with it. These kids are amazing. Kudos to Chuck for keeping the judges focused while also giving us the latitude to shape the awards as best we felt they should go. And kudos to the great group to jury with: Dice Tsutsumi and Jennifer Chang from Pixar, illustrator Robert Hunt, and artist rep Richard Solomon. I'm looking forward to meeting the students and seeing their portfolios tomorrow.

Insanely Talented Student Spotlight: Jeremy Enecio

Jeremy Enecio: This guy is going far. If I hadn't met him myself, I wouldn't believe he's still in school.

(Thanks to Sam Weber for the intro.))

Student Exhibition at the Society of Illustrators

I know it's easy to say that the student exhibit at the Society of Illustrators is the best night in the building, but, truly, that is not lip service. The exhibit displays just 130 paintings chosen from 6,000 entries -- by the numbers, it's harder to get into this show than any of the professional illustration annuals. The work is fantastic.

The opening was last Friday. Many professional illustrators were in the audience, soaking in the good will, energy, and enthusiasm from what, in one month's time, will be their colleagues and competition. As Terry Brown noted, these young people are, "Talented, scared, and ready." Peter Hamill was there to speak on behave of Burne Hogarth, winner of the Distinguished Educator award. A second Distinguished Educator's award went to Vincent di Fate. Vin was not only one of the first people I worked with, he also took a lot of time to guide and help me learn what the heck my job was all about. I guess it should come as no surprise that a man who has spent a lifetime painting the future is so dedicated to nurturing the next generation of artists.

Congrats to Vin and the Hogarth family, and a huge congrats to all the students in the exhibition. And a hearty "thank you" to Scott Bakal for working tirelessly to put it all together.

All the paintings in the exhibit can be seen here.

PAINTINGS:
Jane Radstrom, Albert Ramos Cortes, Francis Vallejo, Tony Mantano, and Nicholas Heiny.

PHOTOS:
Vincent Di Fate. Pete Hamill. Francis Vallejo receiving his award. Jeremy Enceio by his painting. (Keep an eye on both Francis and Jeremy -- these guys are crazy good.)

Scott Fischer and Rebecca Guay at RISD

This took place back in May -- which I realize is, like, the Jurassic age in blog years -- but it was a good day and worth remarking...

The incomparable Jon Foster teaches at RISD. Last year he invited Greg Manchess, Dan Dos Santos, and I to give a lecture and demo to his class. A blast was had by all. So much so that when Jon invited Rebecca Guay and Scott Fischer to do the lecture/demo thing this year, the rest of us insisted on crashing the party.

Both Rebecca and Scott gave a slide lecture tracing their careers thus far, then they did a simultaneous painting demo. Rebecca bravely came in with a blank board and let the students dictate what the image would be. Since Scott has a fluid digital/traditional working method, he incorporated a digital underpainting as part of his lecture and then continued the painting in oils at the demo.

Some points made:

• They discussed the idea of exploration in their sketches -- being free and loose enough to allow randomness and accident bring life into the work. Stumbling onto new ideas and then learning how to exploit those ideas in more purposeful ways.
  
  
• Using reference but trying to interpret it and rely on muscle memory of past drawing to ensure that the reference doesn’t stiffen up the painting. This, of course, assumes lots and lots of past drawing. As Rebecca said, "Inspiration is hard work."
  
  
• They both stressed the importance of preparation and drawing. You can’t make a good painting from a bad drawing. (I hear this over and over again from artists. Students, you really can’t escape this one.)
  
  
• They talked about hitting breakthroughs in their work and then slowly digesting that information months latter. (I hope the students took this in. One fatal flaw of many would-be illustrators is that they are unable to look at their own work critically. Even if they do not understand what their latest piece is doing, they need to keep reassessing their work to gain enough perspective to learn both the good and the bad aspects of it.)
  
  
• They advised students to take ownership of each job, especially in their early years. Working beyond the minimum of the job requirement as a means to hone skills and to attract new work. It is too easy to get caught in the trap of churning out many low paying jobs. Slowing down and creating better works is a means of investing in your future.

I'm sure many other interesting points were made but that’s all that my notes include...Or, I should say, that’s all I can decipher from my atrocious handwriting. A belated thanks to Jon for hosting us and thanks to Scott and Rebecca for an awesome day.

Three Recent Grads

I saw quiet a few of the art schools' senior exhibits this past spring. Here are three recent grads whose work I just loved.

Wesley Allsbrook: I met Wesley very briefly in Jon Foster's RISD class last year. This year she was up in the RISD senior show. I have no doubt we'll be seeing her work out in the world and winning awards very soon.

Brian Elig: Another of Jon Foster's RISD students. Brian had a giant double-sided hinged canvas in the hall....taking up the entire hall. Great work and a very impressive guy.

Wan-Yun Chen: I never met Wan-Yun but I saw these drawings in the SVA halls and came very near to stealing them. I so much want to see whatever story is behind this series of drawings bound up into a children's book.

MicroVisions Raises $4,000.00

The MicroVisions auction ended a few hours ago. Eleven wee works of art raised $4,000.00 for the Society of Illustrators' Student Scholarship Fund. Individual works went from $100.00 - $700.00. I was lucky enough to walk off with one myself: Eric Fortune's exquisitely painted and very funny robot assassin. (Note: that's not a sword she's wielding...)

The SI Scholarships are among the industry's thoughest awards. Only about 100 students are chosen to be in the exhibit from over 5,000 entrees -- about half of them are given cash awards. Not only do these awards help subsidize students financially (and possibly allows them to dine on something other than ramen noodles for a time or two) but they also go a long way to boost the confidence of young artists by proving that their voice stands out amongst thousands of others. Many past winners have become the field's biggest names -- John Jude Palencar, James Jean, Tomer Hanuka and hundreds of others since the Scholarship's inception in 1981.

All of which is a very long winded way to say: Thanks to all the artists for giving up their time (a few of which had been past scholarship winners) and thanks to all those that bid. Even though you may not get to see it, next year some student will have a large grin on their face because of you.

FIT

Proving, once again, that I’ll do anything for a sandwich....

FIT’s Vincent di Fate and Melanie Reim asked Charles Hivey, the publisher of 3x3 Magazine, Viki Morgan, of Morgan Gaynin Illustration Representatives, and me to do a portfolio review of their inaugural graduate class. We started in the FIT gallery where we saw exhibits from each student, then gathered in a conference room to review their portfolios. I was a bit nervous about the idea of critiquing a group of students that have already spent a number of years as professional illustrators but I think our troika did a decent job of it. The work was excellent and clearly the students had formed a tight bond throughout the two year program. It lead to a very engaged and nurturing atmosphere. I almost feel guilty -- I think I learned more from the conversation than I was able to impart. And the sandwiches were excellent! Even better were the cookies.

As an aside: If I know anything about illustration it’s Vin Di Fate’s fault. He was one of the first artists I commissioned when I started at Tor. A number of years ago I asked if i could sit in on any “history of” lectures he might be giving. Rather than crash a lecture he graciously invited me into the full semester’s class and at some point he introduced me to the Society of Illustrators. Truly, he is someone as interested in inspiring others as he is in his own work.

Shawn Barber, CCA Visit

I should rename this blog, “Dinning With the Art Department.” I’m such a sucker for a good meal. Here is Shawn Barber and Chris, Uno, and Dan Dos Santos, and I at Agra -- my favorite hole in the wall Indian restaurant. Shawn is an amazing painter currently working on a series of portraits of contemporary artists and their tattoos. He is in town this week taking his California College of Art class to various publishers and artists' studios. Besides treating us to lunch, Shawn gave us a quick preview of his new art book due out this fall. (His current book, Tattooed Portraits, is available from 9mm Books.) After listening to how hard Shawn works it is clear how he has gotten as good as he is. Later in the afternoon we met up with the students at Tor and Dan and I gave a tag-team lecture and portfolio review.

Student Shout Out

A group of students from Brigham Young University–Idaho came through for a lecture today. Nice folks with good questions and great work. They should all thank their professor, Wade Huntsman, for setting up a week of lectures that made me real jealous I can't pass as a student and follow them around town for the rest of the week. (And thanks again for lunch, Wade!)

ILLUSTRATIONS: Luc Steadman, Jennifer Tolman, Tyler Davis