Helper

An illustration I did for a "New Era" magazine article.

Watercolor brushes

A comment in the previous post on brushes made me think I should examine the "Real Watercolor" brushes more closely, but with the proper expectations (ie. unexpected results are okay).  So I did, and I didn't try anything too crazy with them, but I like them better in that context.  Making multiple watercolor layers at once is nice.  The watercolor eraser is awful, though.  This was done for the Avalanche blog:

I still like the digital watercolors better though.  This was a drawing session a week or two ago.

Brush Review 2: Painter 10, Painter 12, Photoshop CS5

I used to paint mostly with custom brushes, but my old custom brushes aren't very practical for demonstrations since they confuse new students.  So when I bought Painter 12, I branched out into the stock brushes some more.  Here are some of the ones I liked: some new to Painter 12, some that have been around for a while, and one or two from Photoshop.

First of all, the "Real 2b Pencil" from Painter 12.  This is the only thing I use for drawing now, except occasionally the markers.  Why?  Because it feels exactly how you would want a digital pencil to feel.  The only problem with it is the fat Wacom pen's inability to lay completely on its side like a real pencil would.  But once you get used to it you'll never go back.  And it's a "cover" pencil so you can draw with any color.

Painter 12 finally got markers right.  I like quite a few of the new markers, but my favorite is the "Variable Chisel Tip," only I changed the Opacity control to pen pressure.  

The new markers basically treat a single stroke all as wet ink, and don't layer on new color until you start a new stroke.  If you've used art markers before you'll immediately feel how much better these are than Painter's old markers.

The next brush has been around in Painter for a while, but they've improved it just slightly for 12: the "Grainy Water" Blender.  Something about the way it blends feels really intuitive, and best of all, if you're blending line art, you can see the original lines underneath just like you do when blending natural dry media.   Lately I've been using this brush instead of an eraser when drawing, because the unique way it blends gives you a very natural feel.

The "Grainy Water Blender" makes two brushes I would have avoided before suddenly become pretty nice:  The "Real Soft Chalk" and "Real Hard Pastel."  The former is ideal for mixing and adding depth to your colors, the latter gives you a nice opaque color with some texture when blended.

One inherent problem with digital painting is that it will never feel as tactile and "right" as natural media.  However, digital media DOES provide extra controls and options that you may not have with, say, something like watercolor or oil paint.  So why did the Painter guys make their new Watercolor and Oil brushes even MORE painful and unpredictable than their real-life counterparts?  I don't know, but I'm going to recommend you use some of their older brushes instead.

The watercolors Painter 10 (or 9?) introduced are mostly just useful for adding texture to your image.  I really like the "Diffuse Bristle" for that very purpose.  If you absolutely must use the new watercolors for actual painting, the "Wet Wash Flat" isn't horrible.  But if you want something that does what I described above, in mixing some of the benefits/feel of natural media with the power and flexibility of digital, use the Digital Watercolors.  In my last post on brushes I think I liked the "Simple Water" best.  Well, the "New Simple Water" is even better.  Digital water color is best for adding color to an existing drawing, like this:

Original drawing

Fine details added using Real Soft Chalk and Grainy Water Blender

My favorite part: low pressure pushes the colors around and pulls some of the color out, much like the behavior you'd get when switching between a wet brush dipped in color and a damp brush.  If you want to have more than one layer of digital watercolor at a time, create a new layer and turn off "Pick Up Underlying Color" in the layers menu.  If you want to dry the digital watercolor (merge colors with the canvas) for any layer, the option is in the Layers menu.

The new Oil brushes are garbage, for the same reasons I cited above: less intuitive than the real thing, and nothing new added by making it digital.  Maybe a little less expensive and fewer health risks, but Corel could definitely do better than this.  The biggest problem is that none of the Oil controls can be attached to pressure, pen tilt, or any other Wacom settings.

I thought I'd throw in an addendum for Painter users who are curious about Photoshop CS5, or for Photoshop users who want the same results as Painter.  I'm sorry to say that for the most part, Photoshop does everything differently than Painter does.  It is possible to make a Painter brush feel exactly like Photoshop,  but getting Photoshop to mimic most Painter brushes is just impossible.  Photoshop does a few things well, like the way it handles Dual Brush effects and texture.  But its brushes don't scale well, making edges hard to manage, and its Mixer Brush Tool doesn't live up to hype.  In fact, CS5's Mixer Brush reminds me a lot of Painter's Oils, and you know how I feel about those.  You'll get much better behavior from modifying your smudge tool (which isn't as good as the Grainy Water Blender in Painter, but it's way better than the Mixer Brush settings for blending).

Class sale

I did this image as a tutorial about mixing light colors for my Schoolism class.

I also noticed that my class wasn't included on the flyer sent out by Schoolism, so I thought I'd better post something and say that the sale DOES apply to my class.  The sale is $100 off self-taught classes, until Jan. 25, 2012.

TRUUOOOOOOWLLL!

I recently watched Troll Hunter and got inspired.  I don't think a film has captured my imagination so strongly for a long while now.

Profile

I need to do more quick studies and sketches.

You know, like Life of Pi

Done for the Avalanche blog.

Neversink cover

Here's another book I did art for.  I did a bunch of interior art for this as well, so I might post some of it when the book comes out next year.

I was heavily inspired by the art Xiangyuan Jie did for Brother Bear, especially his painting of the glacier creeping over the mountain.  It just seemed like the right feeling for the world of the book.  Check out his art, he is amazing!

Stealing Apples

Done for a Friend article.  I wanted to try a different render style, but looking at it now I wish I would have done something more with the drawing style as well.

Clouds

I forgot to mention that Schoolism is having a $100 off sale on all self-taught classes for people who sign up today and tomorrow, if anyone's interested.  Sorry for the late notice!

I did these clouds as a 45-minute warm-up this week, thinking I'd show some of the things I teach about atmosphere and clouds in the class.  I saw this scene last year and it has stuck in my head ever since.  Painting clouds can be really fun!

Quick Cover

Another book cover.  I did this one in a hurry, but it turned out okay anyway.

Interview with Bobby Chiu

I recently did an interview and quick painting demo with Bobby Chiu.  You can watch it here.

Link vs. Link

For the Avalanche blog "Legend of Zelda" topic.  See if you can decipher my feelings about the newer Link designs vs. what I imagined the old one to be.

Art Book for sale now

You can now buy the book I sold at Comic-Con last year, here:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2342434

Thoughts and Doodles | Make Your Own Book

I've spent the last year deciding whether to publish it as is, or to beef it up and move it to a more cost-effective format.  In the end, I decided to focus my energy on other projects and just release this book as is.  Unfortunately, that means Blurb will be the only way to get this book!

Random Cars 2 Concept Work

I usually show the best stuff I did rather than the odds and ends from a project, but Cars 2 was mostly odds and ends for me.  So here's a glimpse into the actual day-to-day work of a concept artist.

I was the first concept artist on Cars 2, and my first job was to create a style guide based on the first movie since Pixar didn't have one for Cars 2.  I did a bunch of pages for this, but I'm only posting these (and posting them very small) because I'm worried about legal issues.

We had almost no art from Pixar at the start, so my first task was to show how to translate Tokyo's Ginza district at street level into the Cars world.  I gave up on this one because I knew this was mostly wasted effort since we would get the actual art from Pixar later.

Our world builders are very competent, but we end up doing lots of paintovers anyway, I think because multiple eyes on something always produces better results.

Another early task was to test out how various game design ideas for gadgets would look on the cars.  I don't think any of these ideas made it into the game.

I went back onto the project at the end, and at this point they needed final concept for the gadgets.  Some of my job was to add some polish to things other people had done (The upper left cluster), but in other some cases I had to explore a bunch of new ideas.  In cases like this you just paint or draw over the model because it's a waste of time to draw the car over and over again.

Cars 2 Videogame

I worked for a short time on the game for Cars 2.  It turned out pretty good!  Not that I can claim any credit for that.
This was for a ceiling texture in the Italy track.  It was meant to tile with itself, flipped horizontally and vertically.  Based heavily on drawings done by a Pixar artist I do not know the name of.  If you know the artist, please let me know so I can give him/her credit.

All image rights belong to Disney.

Great artists still steal

Here's an awesome video series that addresses many of the same ideas (and in a more elegant way) that I did in a previous post. Watch through the credits because he puts more content in afterward.

Everything is a Remix Part 1 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Everything is a Remix Part 3 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

I can't wait for part 4.

Figure Session

This one is from last Friday.

Dead

Sometimes cool ideas become real projects.  But most of the time they find a quiet corner to die in, like an escaped pet newt drying under the couch.

Memory sketch

I usually have a ton of doodles from memory littering my desk, but I thought this one would make an interesting image so I took it a bit further.  I also like to push myself into trying new techniques every once in a while.

The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen

Here's another book I did the cover for.  This one went through a lot of changes along the way so I really had to hurry at the end.  I'm happy with how it turned out considering, but I also wish I could have taken more time and really made it stunning.  Oh, and the book is great.  I definitely recommend it.

Cool people

A couple weeks after our new baby was born, we got this gift in the mail:

It was a framed original from Bobby Chiu, along with a note congratulating us and explaining the creature (elephant mice are born the size of walnuts but grow to 3 times the size of African elephants, in case you didn't know)  We've gotten many gifts for our kids' births over the years, but I have to say this is the coolest one so far.
Also, occasionally I get requests from people who want to create models from my paintings.  They usually turn out pretty good, but I think this is the best one so far.  Nice job by Porter Vinson.  I'm including my piece below the model for comparison:

The Art of the Heist

Some people misunderstood the intent of my last post.  It was certainly condescending toward the "thieving" artist. But it was not in a sanctimonious-dean-accusing-a-student-of-plagiarism way, but in an experienced-thief-shaking-his-head-at-the-burglar-caught-by-leaving-tracks-in-the-snow kind of way.

Because let's face it: all artists are thieves, if you count being influenced by images or ideas that you didn't create as stealing*.  So it's not "good artists borrow and great artists steal"; it's good artists clumsily pick-pocket, and great artists pull off the heist of the century.  Great artists steal in ways that are either untraceable or in ways that are so masterful that nobody cares where it all came from.

So while I'm not one of the all-time great plunderers, for the sake of other bungling burglars out there I'd like to share the ways I've learned that you can steal and still "get away with it."

The Lookie Loo
Otherwise known as "using reference," this is the most fundamental grab-and-run operation.  It consists of drawing or painting something that already exists, usually while the artist is looking directly at that thing.  Sometimes the artist will set up a scene and then pilfer it verbatim, but other times he or she will pinch from smaller photos or art that describe the individual elements needed for the larger piece.

The Memory Game
Similar to the Lookie Loo, but in this case the artist steals imagery or ideas from things he or she has seen or been inspired by in the past.  The beauty of this ploy is that the artist may perform the theft without even realizing it is happening.  In order to avoid a surprise outcome with the Memory Game, artists may intentionally throw in a Combination Caper or layer in a Romance Scam to throw people off the scent.

The Combination Caper
Here the artist lifts multiple ideas from different sources and fuses them together. The success of this caper relies on constructing an image from things the audience is already familiar with, so that they will subconsciously register each contribution as it influences their reaction to the piece.

The Parrot Ruse
Otherwise known as "quoting," in the Parrot Ruse the artist repeats a recognizable portion of another artists' work in order to establish context for his own message.  By calling upon the viewers' familiarity with the work being quoted, the artist suckers them into thinking that his wholesale rip-off is acceptable because "it's ironic."  The non-art equivalent to this would be stealing a Lambourghini in broad daylight while singing.  Not only would people allow it: they would applaud afterward, assuming the theft was a clever part of a flash-mob.

The Romance Scam
Sure, the artist's character design isn't that original.  But when everyone is looking at the way she's handled the lighting, or the emotional expression of the piece, most people don't even think about the design.  The Romance scam works by misdirection---the artist hides her fraud in one area with fancy execution in another.

I'm pretty sure I didn't paint all these textures from scratch

Salting the Line
This is one case in which an artist can get away with taking other art or photos directly, if it is done carefully.  By layering in textures, patterns, or other effects from another source, the artist can quickly add polish and something interesting to his piece.  This type of cheat only works when nobody recognizes the source being used, or if some combination of the sources creates an effect that masks the individuality of the plundered pieces.

The Chop Shop
Think of it as a collage of crime.  This one is commonly used by digital matte painters, who need to create a sense of realism, but do not have the time or inclination to paint in every leaf on every tree.  In order to pull off a Chop Shop successfully, the artist has to know something about composition and how to get things to fit together.  The artist's primary goal in a Chop Shop job is assembling his ill-gotten goods in an appealing way.
 
 
Scams that Don't Work (Anymore)

The Pablo Pipoppycock
Don't have any original ideas?  Just vandalize one of your lifted ideas with some crazy effect and call it "modern."  This lowbrow version of the Romance Scam appeals to people's fear of being considered less intelligent than others.  Just be aware that, even if your lengthy essay explaining the piece impresses your art school buddies, you can't expect to win any points in accomplished art crook circles.  It's a small-time scam and we've all tried it at least once, but the real satisfaction is found in bigger heists.
 
The Snake Oil Swindle
Selling a product made by someone else as your own?  We all know that direct copies and studies have value to you personally, but don't try to profit from them unless your big dreams as an artist include being blackballed by at least a corner of the industry.
 
The Flemish Prisoner
This is when the artist decides that, since nothing is original anyway, he or she will just paint the same boring things as everyone else and not ever even attempt to have an original thought.  Mastering a technique, but not developing the ideas beyond stage one, is just a waste of potential.

*Disclaimer: I'm not condoning actual art theft, of the literal or figurative variety.  In fact, I don't believe artists are thieves any more than I believe that artists are accountants.  I DO believe in relaxing a little and appreciating the fact that all artists are standing on the shoulders of giants.  Please don't begrudge another artist if they are standing on your shoulders; because you've enjoyed the same courtesy from other artists around the world and throughout history.

"Good artists borrow, great artists steal"

Even if Picasso or T.S. Eliot really said that, I'm pretty sure that this is not what he meant:

Something I painted a few years ago

Art from a recently released game called Tiny Bang Story

I'm still not sure how to react.  On the one hand, the artist borrowed heavily from my art without credit or recompense.  But on the other hand, they made it look like that.  I should probably feel more bad for the culprit than anything.  Not bad enough, however, to spare him or her the public ridicule he or she rightly deserves.

Update:  Joe Olson points out that the kid in the image (including the hand on the shoulder, but not his eyes) appears to be modified from a picture by Kevin Keele.  It's very strange---the rest of the art in the game looks pretty good and the artist here obviously re-painted everything him/herself.  So why do such an ugly hack-job on this portrait?

Lord McCaw

This was for an exercise I did with some of the other concept artists.  We were supposed to take an animal, find an appropriate personality, and push the caricature a bit.  I want to do another where I push the caricature further, but I was happy with it anyway, considering I did the whole thing in an hour.