I won a Spectrum Silver Medal!

Thanks to my friend Christian Alzmann, I found out yesterday that I had won a silver medal in the Olympics of fantasy art- the Spectrum Fantastic Art annual!  Spectrum has posted a video of the award announcements, and my painting was the first one announced by John Fleskes of Flesk Publishing (who is a super-great guy by the way!)  The winning piece was Never the Twain.  This is a painting first sketched in the fist few days after my brain surgery using my new re-found skills of sight. 

"Never the Twain"
-From time to time in human history taste for different body types changes, but all types remain. Never are all types happy together at one time. Only human social structure prevents this equality from happening. Members of one society are prevented from differing in their tastes by ridicule, the threat of abandonment by others in the group, guilt and many other modes of social manipulation. I find these aspects of society no longer serve us in any positive way.

 A 12.5" x 17.5" print is available for $45

 Thanks to Arnie and Cathy Fenner, and all the Judges for this honor. It is much appreciated, especially for illustrators such as myself who work primarily for movie and TV studios and have little chance for exposure of our work as individual artists. 

Magnolias of Spring...

Here are a few sketches of my beautifully blooming Magnolia in the front yard...  They are also studies for a poster I am working on.  More on that in a few weeks! 

I'm speaking at Icon 6 Illustration conference in Pasadena!

Where: Icon6 Illustration conference

When: July 17th 4:20- 5:00pm

What: I will be speaking about my work  in film and TV and how it relates  to my illustration and fine art work.  Stop by and see me!  Also joining me on the panel are my co-workers from Disney's "The Princess and the Frog"  Ian Gooding, Bill Schwab, and Disney veteran and all around great artist John Mahoney.  

Warcraft potion card

The second card I did for the Warcraft card game set Scourgewar, is titled "Mighty Shadow Protection Potion."  Here is an image of some sketches, and 2 of the final versions of the painting.  This is a digital painting in Photoshop.

Enjoy! 

Sketch on paper in pastel and Prismacolor pencil, 10" x 10" Final painting, digital The final warcraft card as printed!

Stairstepping

This isn't a post about how to walk down stairs, don't worry!  By stairstepping, I mean a way to see subforms on any shape.  This way of seeing forms is based of the simple shape of stairs, and when taken to a more sophisticated level resembles the ridges and steps in a shale rock face.  One of the artists who most clearly uses this idea is the american illustrator Dean Cornwell. His drawings show this very clearly, and he uses this in his paintings as well, but blends the simple geometry more to create a more finished realistic look.

The basic concept is to imagine a tubular or other basic solid and then carve steps into it that will be in shadow. This technique is great for all sorts of subjects such as trees, rock, buildings and the shapes on an animal or human.

Below are some of the basic steps of this technique as applied to a human figure:

Figures drawn, and basic outline of steps drawn in line

Steps filled in with shadow valueThe shadow areas are blended where the edges are softHighlights and smaller details are added

Warcraft Card -Crimson Cranium Crusher

Blizzard has finally released the 4 cards I painted last year in the set called Scourgewar, as part of their wildly popular trading card game based on The World of Warcraft MMORG.

Ill be posting the sketches and process leading up to these cards in the next few weeks. Here is the first card called "Crimson Cranium Crusher" -Great name, Blizzard!  

Crimson Cranium Crusher sketch, Watercolor and Prismacolor pencil on Rives BFK 9" x12" Crimson Cranium Crusher sketch, Watercolor and Prismacolor pencil on Rives BFK 1.5" x1.5"

Crimson Cranium Crusher sketch, Graphite on Cotton Bristol 5" x 5" Crimson Cranium Crusher, Alternate Finish, Digital 

Crimson Cranium Crusher, Printed Card © Blizzard Entertainment

Here, in the final card, the hand is changed in hue to a blue to match the creature and composed in the frame of the card. 

Windy Sketch

Here is a small sketch I did a few months ago of a windblown figure. My goal was to emphasize the curvy and gestural quality of something blown by the wind... This is on a 5" x7" sheet of watercolor paper in prismacolor pencils.  

"Sculpting" forms

One way to simplify the process and not become overwhelmed by all the parts of what you are trying to draw is to do something I call "Sculpting" the form.  So named because it is the same proceedure that you would use if you were sculpting something out of clay. Starting with the most simple masses you can see in what you are drawing you gradually, step by step, add more masses from large all the way down to small.  

I have seen the students of Howard Pyle, the father of American illustration, use this technique very often and believe he must have taught something similar in his classes.  N.C. Wyeth, Harvey Dunn and their students use this all the time.  In addition to this being a drawing proceedure, it is also a way to indicate things further in the distance.  The earlier in the process (largest forms and least detail) the drawing is the further away it will appear.  

I have chosen a head from a Dean Cornwell painting to illustrate this idea:

1. The left sketch shows the first stage with very large masses, basically an egg of clay with a shelf on it for the eye area.  this would be a good stage to stop at for distant figures and crowds.  Only 2 values are used here.

2. The next sketch shows the addition of the nose, mouth and cheek subforms.  There is also 1 slightly darker value introduced.  The best use of this stage of figure is any mid-ground figure of medium importance. 

3. Here the same values as the last drawing are used, but smaller forms like the eyes and lip subforms as well as details around the neck are added. Local values (such as the lips, pupils of the eyes and eyebrows) are added to some degree as well. This stage would work well for foreground figures that are not the main focus of the piece. 

4. This is the final stage used for close up or focal point figures in paintings, with the final addition of a accent dark and light highlight value.

Dean Cornwell head study by Craig Elliott

Mass conceptions (not misconceptions)

Many people ask me how I draw so quickly, the short, and snarky, answer might be "practice", but that isn't very helpful!  The long answer might include perspective, anatomy, technique etc. But, the thing that adds most to my speed when drawing is something called a "Mass Conception". Essentially, what the three dimensional form you are drawing is IN YOUR HEAD before you draw it. Usually, these forms are a nearly perfect geometric solid like a cylinder, cone, sphere, or taurus. The great draftspersons of all time use this idea.

I drew up 3 fingers that display this principle and exaggerate it so you can see it more easily. The knuckles of the fingers illustrate my point. The first finger uses a taurus and is an example of a mass conception used by the great J.C. Leyendecker.  The second, a kind of flattened cube, is one of the most common used by many artists, but can be seen clearly in Frank Frazetta's work. The third is a prism- a fairly unique conception used by Michelangelo on some of his Medici sculptures. You can find many more out there and even invent your own.  

The point is to actually have a shape in mind that is simple enough to draw BEFORE you draw it. Of course you need to know how to draw all of these basic forms already in perspective, and light them.  Remember drawing all those spheres and cones you drew before you were allowed to do life drawing in school? Well, that's why!  Most teachers have forgotten why, and the students get bored and frustrated, not knowing why they are doing what they are doing. 

Enjoy!
Study of hands by J.C. Leyendecker 

New art

Here is another recent piece from my studio-  all Prismacolor and Faber Castell on paper. about 11" x 17" Enjoy! 

Antique Centrolinead or Linead tool

I recently purchased an antique drawing tool from 1890 known as a Cenrtolinead, or Linead from an estate sale. These tools are a tremendous aid in drawing perspective. I have known about these tools for years, and could really have used one for all my perspective work at Disney for the 10 years or so of work I have done for them.  

This tool did not come with any instructions, so all I had to go on were catalogs from the early 1900's showing these for sale.  They operate using 2 pins and are set to a "Y" shape and equal angles.  the photos explain:

120 year old Centrolineaid and other tools usedAngle of "Y" set by drawing (2) 30 degree lines with a triangle.The 2 pins are each placed on a line at 90 degrees to the Horizon, and 3" above and below.

I also set the blades at 10 degrees, and this moves the VP out further than 30 degrees. This seems to restrict the space you can draw in though as seen in the photo. Draw small!An original catalog page from 1910 listing this tool.My conclusion is that this tool is far easier to use than even a ruler with the VP on your board. it is very steady and quick to use.  The only drawback is that the tool must be flipped around , one blade moved and new pins inserted to draw the second VP if they are both off the board.  This is a somewhat unlikely situation, but it did happen on the larger building facade sketch. the best setup would be to have 2 of these or even 3 for a 3 point perspective drawing.  they would make quick work of a complicated drawing like that.

 I had a talk with Jim Gurney of Dinotopia fame yesterday to see what he knew about these.  He said he had heard of them, and thought of making one someday. Jim will post some of this info on his popular blog to see if we can find someone with the old instruction booklet from one of the original manufacturers.  We'll see what happens!  

Jim brought up an interesting question in an email to me today- what do you do if you don't want holes in your drawing board? I always used a paper clip with one end bent up or an upside down flat-headed thumbtack taped to the board or paper. this is good for balancing a ruler on for perspective points on the board or for this operation.   You could also use a sheet of metal to draw on, even with a Borco cover, and Neodymium magnets about 1/2 cube size for the pins.  they are so strong they won't shift...

Update

on 2010-06-23 19:47 by Craig Elliott

Jim Gurney has posted my photos of the antique drawing tool I foud at an estate sale a few months ago.  Some folks on his blog requested a measured drawing, so I have scanned the parts and put measurements on them for those of you who want to make their own! 

Sneak Peak at work for Gallery Show in France....

Here are a couple pieces for an upcoming show at the Galerie Daniel Maghen:

David Colman Animal Drawing Workshop

My friend David Colman will be holding a winter term Animal Drawing Weekend Workshop on Jan 30 and 31st. The fall workshop was a big success and this time around it will still consist of a day @ the LA Brea Tarpits studying bones and a second day @ the LA Zoo learnig how to draw from life, construction,technique etc with 1 on 1 instruction large scale demos and over a dozen handouts, but it will also touch a little bit on capturing the personality of the animal. This is what David is known for bringing to his work and will now share some of his approaches with you, the student. Dont miss out.....enrollment is kept low so as to cater his teaching to each individual students level...sign up today!

dcolman27@hotmail.com

www.davidsdoodles.com

Power in Numbers show at Gallery Nucleus Opening Sat. Dec. 12th

I have a piece in the "Power in Numbers" show this weekend opening Saturday Dec. 12th. All the Pieces are $100 and go FAST!  Come by and say hi, and buy some art from the show!  
 

Power In Numbers (PIN) combines a love of art with philanthropy for our biggest event of the year!

Our 4th Annual Power in Numbers (PIN4) event aims to be more epic than ever as we invite artists and illustrators from all backgrounds, industries and aesthetics to take part in creating art for a cause. Having been consistently well received in the past, the PIN exhibit features over 100 international and local artists creating 5" X 7", 2-dimentional, original artwork in the desired medium and theme of their choosing. 

Each artwork piece will be priced at $100.00 and a selection of artworks will be auctioned.  A portion of the night’s sales will benefit the American Red Cross (San Gabriel Pomona Valley Chapter) on emergency response efforts. 

My art at the Disney art retrospective and book in New Orleans

Doug Rogers (Art Director of Shreck) turned me on to this show and accompanying book tracing the history of disney art. Amazingly and to my massive surprise I have several pieces in the show and in the book. Who knew?  I ordered a case for sale on the site and at conventions, so look for it soon.  I only saw 1 painting in the book and it is a double page spread of a "The Princess and the Frog" painting that is NOT in the art of book.  It's good to see things not repeated over and over.

I plan to make a trip there soon and will do a book signing when I go to the museum. Stay tuned for dates and times!  

This is BIG for Disney art fans.  The ARL (Animation Research Library)  that stores all the art that is done for each film, has not shown this art before to the public. The library is only for employees and artists working on Disney films and shows. I have seen some of this work, as they occasionally put on shows at the studio, but never like this.  If you are into Disney art and want to see what it REALLY looks like, GO!  There is always a big difference between images that are reproduced in books, or in a DVD extras clip and the real art!  

 From the NOMA (New Orleans Museum of Art) website:

Dreams Come True showcases original artwork from legendary Disney animated films, including Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, and will feature a children's section celebrating Disney's connections with jazz music and the Crescent City. The artworks, on loan from the Walt Disney Studio Animation Research Library, will be accompanied by film clips to demonstrate how individual sketches and paintings lead to a finished celluloid masterpiece. Organized by the Walt Disney Animation Research Library and the New Orleans Museum of Art, this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, which cannot be seen anywhere else in North America is set to coincide with the premier of Disney's upcoming animated feature, The Princess and the Frog, set in New Orleans during the 1920s Jazz Age. 

"The Art of The Princess and the Frog" book released!

The book contains 18 images of my creation, including drawings, digital paintings and style guide snippets and is now available at Amazon.com here:

The Art of The Princess and the Frog (Hardcover)

Odd fact #357
I also had a hand in designing the title of the movie- I did the little frog foot/ crown in the frog's "O" as well as worked on the Inital "P" and final "S" in Princess...  

 

CTN-x Painting Demo

Here are a few shots of my oil painting Demo from Ctn-x- it was done in about an hour and 15 minutes.  The shots show the progress from lay- in of the shadows to full modeling of the form in the face- all I could get done in the time!   Thanks go to Dean Yeagle too for being willing to go on Sunday instead to give me a bit more time! The model is Jennifer Fabos-Patton.  I'm hoping to post the video soon, as the whole thing was filmed.  

All Done! Thanks to  my bud David Colman for the Photos!  
 

Come see Craig Elliott at CTN-X this weekend!

I will be exhibiting at the Creative Talent Netwrok Expo this year from November 20- 22 at the Burbank convention center.

Early bird tickets are $25 for the exhibit floor only, $50 for a day pass and $125 for a 3-day pass.  Discounted rates are available to students, active military and professional industry organizations. Space is strictly limited at this groundbreaking event. For more information and to register, please visit: www.ctnanimationexpo.com or call, (800) 604-2238  

For stopping by my site, I am giving out a discount code good for %10 off of entry fees: ELLIX09

To register online:
1Day
https://www.regonline.com?eventID=688849&rTypeID=203785

3Day
https://www.regonline.com?eventID=688849&rTypeID=203787

Original Art at Graphic Collectables

Graphic Collectables is selling 3 original paintings of mine (until they're gone of course!)  The three pieces are all done in different media- Watercolor, pastel and a combination of watercolor and pencil.   Swing by and check them out or pick up a few!  

Getty Villa and More

Some sketches form the Getty Villa in Malibu California, and a page of drawings from my head for a painting I'm working on.  Enjoy!