I am of two minds on the topic ...
Still recovering from Thanksgiving Bloat along with a bad back that runs along the upper right shoulder ( my drawing hand, naturally) that is slowing me down a tad.
Hope you like today’s sketch regardless. Back to work. :)
Allow me to blow out your candles...
Well! Today is my birthday and I took that as inspiration for today’s warm-up session.
The latest episode of the Ninja Mountain Podcast is up on the show blog.
Patrick Wilshire was a terrific guest and the episode features discussion about his popular yearly event along with insight into the collector’s market. I hope you will get a chance to enjoy the show.
Back to the daily drama associated with making art for a living, :)
‘Til next time!
The most important item to have on your person on Turkey Day is a pair of these.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
I’ll be back tomorrow with a new daily warm-up provided I am still capable of movement and I’ve managed to sleep off the tryptophan high.
Ninja Mountain interviewed Patrick Wilshire yesterday evening and I am now wrapping up the editing. It should be a fun episode as we talk about Illuxcon and the topic of art collecting.
I believe it will post tomorrow for your listening pleasure at www.ninjamountain.blogspot.com.
See you tomorrow!
Today’s sketch warm-up is here. I had some fun with the somewhat lyrical shape of this one. It has a fun graphic appeal that I enjoyed noodling with. About 45 minutes of digital painting time.
Today we at Ninja Mountain are speaking with Patrick Wilshire who is the mastermind behind Illuxcon and The Illustration Exchange. Topics of discussion will be his exciting fantasy art symposium along with his views on art collecting. I can’t wait!
I’ve already started gathering listener questions for Patrick and the recording session should be good fun. :)
Now I must be off to work.
Thanks for reading and I hope you will enjoy the episode when it comes out after Thanksgiving. :)
Today’s warm-up is finished. On to the hard stuff. :)
Today’s daily warm-up is here! Good fun. :)
Hey, check out part 2 of the Illuxcon Special over at www.ninjamountain.blogspot.com
I got to interview many more artists at the event and I think you’ll enjoy them. :)
I’ve finally picked up some of the skills necessary to edit the audio for the show which will help take some of the load off my pals Patrick and Jon who’ve handled the huge task of editing all the past show recordings .
So now our program has three sound editors which will help us maintain our weekly schedule. Very nice.
I now return to some work for Paizo. For this batch. I’m starting each piece with watercolor and wrapping it up with acrylic. A pretty handy combination. I can work the watercolor to something quite fine and delicate and then step in with acrylic to lay on my opaque colors. I am am pleased so far with the working process and it reads quite well.
Well, back to it.
See you tomorrow. :)
Old Goat
Ahhh, another day in the idyllic studio environment. It’s actually warm enough here to open the studio door today which is a bit of a treat. I hope you enjoy today’s doodle.
Head on over to www.ninjamountain.blogspot.com to listen to this week’s episode which compiles the interviews I conducted at Illuxcon on Saturday. Look for more on the way next week.
A new warm-up for the day. Ready to work!
I also have to edit some of the interviews I collected at Illuxcon for this week’s episode of the Ninja Mountain podcast.
—Jeremy
My day’s warm-up is complete. Now to work! I also have lots of audio footage to sift through for the podcast. WooHoo!
Some painted stuff for Paizo. A cover to noodle at as well for another publisher. Nice to be busy in the wake of the show when energy is high and the desire to work is very strong.
So many great things I want to try. I am thinking of trying a watercolor underpainting to be painted over with acrylics. We’ll see how well it works. :)
I’m back from Illuxcon and what a show it was!
I interviewed a gaggle of artists for the Ninja Mountain Podcast.
Brom, Bob Eggleton, Michael Whelan, Larry Elmore, LA Williams, Bill O’Connor, Mark Zug, Volkan Baga, Don Maitz, Justin Gerard, Gary Lippincott, Matt Stewart, Ian Miller, Robh Ruppel, Steve Ellis, Donato Giancola,and plenty of other folks. Should be a great show when it gets cut together. :)
I talked with so many fine folks and learned about their work.
I had a great time hanging out with college student, Joe Acone. It was so much fun viewing the event through his eager eyes. Everything was so new and exciting to him that I could not help but be infected with his enthusiasm. I was reminded about why I loved this stuff while watching him experience his first convention.
I learned so much. I’ll be working in acrylics and watercolor for a while and I received some encouraging advice. I look forward to eventually showing you the fruits of those labors. I’ll be doing my future work for Paizo Publishing ( Pathfinder) in acrylics as it turns out. I am not too far off-track it seems. :) Hooray!
Maybe by this time next year I will have tons of paintings to share.
Big things I walked away with—
Fantasy artists are among the friendliest and most generous people you will meet.
Printing does no real justice to the presence of an actual original piece of art.
You must not skimp on your advertising/ self-promotion budget and expect to make money.
The future of illustration may not lie in printed books as the publishing industry is forced to explore digital distribution, but good illustration will remain an important part of even a digital book’s packaging.
Digital painting skills are important and will grow in importance as publishers will expect work to be completed on a “digital timeline”. You will be expected to produce work with speed and efficiency that traditional means may not allow for. You may remain a traditionalist, but be prepared to make changes to your work at the request of an editor that would be unthinkable just a few year’s ago. Knowledge of digital painting will make it possible to continue your trade and keep pace with the workflow that is becoming prevalent within the various illustration markets.
Work hard and do what you love. :)
I’m now off to do just that.
‘Til tomorrow…
—Jeremy
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