Last Day for $5 off Discount!

Today, December 31st, is the last day to preorder "The Art of Craig Elliott" at the $5 discount.  Hurry to get your copy for the new year!

"Art of Craig Elliott" book update

Art of Craig Elliott "Red" cover, only available through Craig Elliott and Flesk Publications

The Art of Craig Elliott is getting closer to full release at the stores!

The books have arrived here at Craig Elliott Gallery, and will arrive with Diamond Comic Distributors by January 10. All of the pre-orders will start shipping immediately. I estimate we will have them all out the door by the end of the first week of January. The books should appear in the book trade and comic stores in mid-January.  

Special Bonus for ordering from Craig Elliott Gallery

We have been working on ways the book can be extra special!  Besides the three covers to choose from, you will receive an exclusive bookplate when ordering direct from Craig Elliott Gallery. This 4 x 6 inch plate will have a design printed on the front with a space left for his signature. Then the backside will have a head sketch in pencil. Sorry, but no requests. You will receive this special bonus gift at no extra charge while supplies last. This is a way of saying thank you for buying direct from Craig Elliott Gallery.

Bookplate sketch by Craig Elliott

Front of signed bookplate

The Art of Craig Elliott topless cover.

Ultra Deluxe Slipcase Edition

Craig and the publisher have also been discussing an exclusive 100 copy ultra-deluxe edition. These will come with a slipcase. Just wait until you see what we’ve come up with! The slipcase will be non-standard and very unique. And even more exciting is that the book will come with an 8.5 x 11 inch tip-in of a giclee print of a pencil drawing on archival 100% cotton watercolor paper that has been hand painted in watercolors by Craig. No two will be alike. These 100 copies will have a personal touch that will be beautiful in every regard. The pricing will be announced in the next few weeks. Be sure to email Craig Elliott or Flesk Publications at info@fleskpublications.com if you would like to be placed on the waiting list.

A sample of one of the sketches, colored with watercolors.The Art of Craig Elliott bra cover.

Motivarti mentorship Deadline Extended!

If you missed the deadline for submitting an application to the mentorship program, you are in luck!  You have until DECEMBER 21st!   a few more days to gather your materials and fill out the information.   

Best of luck, and I hope to see you in the program!  

-Craig

Motivarti Update- Less than 2 weeks left!

The Motivarti mentorship applications CLOSE on December 18th, so if you are on the fence about applying now is the time to make a move!   Myself and a few other carefully chosen artists are going to be mentoring 2-3 mentees each in the Spring, but the application process is about to close!  

Visit Motivarti.org, and have a look at my last post to learn more about the program! 

-Craig

Apply for a mentorship with me at Motivarti!

For any of you students or aspiring artists that have followed my work or asked questions at conventions or by email, this is a great chance to have an extended mentorship with me.  It is not often that I have the time to do something like this, but Motivarti has made it possible.  I don't have time to set up, screen or administer something like this so I am greatful (and you should be too)  that they are setting this up! 

There will be only TWO MENTEES chosen to work with me.  All applicants will be screened and two finalists chosen to work with me for 10 weeks!  

There is nowhere else you can get this kind of one on one self guided mentorship, so apply as soon as you can! 

Craig Elliott at CTN Expo Nov. 18-20th!

Save 10% off your ticket with the code: CETTX11

I will be appearing for the duration of CTN Expo 2011 on the weekend of November 18th, 19th and 20th.  I will have a new display of my animation and games design work, as well as books, prints, and exclusive moleskine sketchbooks for sale.  

I will also be taking some commissions at the show, but, sign up fast (Friday is the best day to get on the list). I can only do a limited number of sketches at the show itself, so once the list is full you will be out of luck! 

3 paintings in French/ Belgian auction~

 3 of my paintings are available at an auction, put on by a gallery with locations in Belgium and France- Petits Papiers.  The Auction is in Brussels if you are in the area, on Saturday Nov. 12, Sunday the 13th, and Monday the 14th.

The auction catalog is available here:

Million-Associes

The catalog and site are in French, but it is easy to find my paintings, - the pages are alphabetical by LAST name, or you can turn to page 44 and 45!   

I can help anyone in the US that would like to bid with them.  I can put you in touch with 2 english speaking people that put the auction together. 

There are some really great peices and artists in this auction.  Check out Carlos Nine, Anita Kunz, Rebecca Dautrimier, Guy Billout, Alain Aslan and more!  

Video Preview and Pre-orders for "The Art of Craig Elliott"!

My art book will be out soon (December or January), and I just got the proofs, so I made a little video explaining some of the work and the structure of the book. An even larger HD version is on YouTube

Pre-orders are $24.95 instead of the cover price of $29.95
Orders are already being taken at the Flesk Publications Website 

Pigtails, Pails, and Peeping pals...

Sketches from APE 2011 and Breda, Netherlands

 
Here are a few commission sketches from some of this year's shows I have been a guest at.

The left drawing is a Costume sketch of Princess Amidala/ Padme.

The second is of a Japanese girl who got cancer because of the radiation from the Hiroshima bomb.  She was 2 years old when the bomb went off, and died at age 12.  She tried to fold 1000 cranes before she died, so she could recieve a wish, as the crane folding legend goes. She was not able to do so before she died.  She has become a legend in Japan and there are several statues in her honor. 

The third sketch is for someone who requested a "Bond Girl" or secret agent type! 

I hope to post more sketches soon, as I get time to resize the scans and color correct them...

Commissions list for CTN-X pickup already almost full!

Wow!  since posting the pages for commissions yesterday, I have almost filled up my commissons list for CTN already.  There are 4 spots left, more or less, depending on what type of commissions people ask me for.  The BW ones are a little quicker of course than the color sketches.   

Thank you to those who have commissioned drawings already, and if you haven't yet, and want a drawing, please be quick before all the spaces fill up!  

NOTE:  YOUR $10 SHIPPING WILL BE REFUNDED IF YOU PICK THE ART UP AT CTN!

-Craig

Originals and Commissions

CTN Commission $100I've added two new sections to my website!  Now you can buy my originals and commission me for sketches throughout the whole year, not just at conventions. 

I'll be updating my originals for sale often, so check back or email me if you're looking for something in particular. 

And if you're from out of town and heading to CTN this year, I'd be more than happy to do a comission for you now so you can pick it up then. 

More coming soon!

Appearance at APE Expo San Francisco! Oct 1-2

The Art of Craig Elliott cover variant

I will be Joining Art book publisher Flesk Publications exhibiting at APE (Alternative Press Expo) on October 1-2 at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco, booth number 212 and 213B, next to our friends at Stuart Ng Books. Stop by and say hi if you you live in the area or are visting!  This is my first time exhibiting at the APE show and it will be a real adventure- a whole different crowd from Comicon and Wondercon (put on by the same company as APE)   See you there!

Flesk will have copies of their entire line of books including exclusive titles, Flesk Prime, showcasing the art of Craig Elliott, Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldıija, Mark Schultz and William Stout, and the signed chapbooks Mysterious Islands by Gary Gianni, Mark Schultz: Blue Book, and the 16-page teaser for the upcoming Naughty and Nice: The Good Girl Art of Bruce Timm. Also available will be recently released titles Al Williamson Archives volume two and Mark Schultz: Various Drawings volume five. Craig Elliott will be at the booth for the duration of the show, promoting his upcoming Flesk collection, The Art of Craig Elliott. The book focuses on Craig‚s fine art celebrating the female form, collected in a single volume for the first time. Craig‚s lush imagery combines his meticulous understanding of design with his intensely emotional approach to color and form. Elliott works in the Save & Closeanimation industry as a visual development artist, character designer and concept artist, collaborating on such hit films as Bee Movie, Treasure Planet, Rio and The Princess and the Frog. Craig will have original art, prints and jewelry on hand. Free fliers and catalogues will be available for all 2011 Flesk Offerings. Publisher, John Flesk, will be in attendance to offer insight into our upcoming titles and what is in store in the future. We look forward to seeing you at the show! Flesk Publications' focus is on comic, fantasy, fine and illustration art, and graphic novels. Our goal is to continue promoting the arts through quality collections. Our publications showcase the talents of James Bama, Craig Elliott, Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldıija, Steve Rude, Mark Schultz, Jim Silke, William Stout, Bruce Timm, Al Williamson, and more. Full details and sample pages for these books and for all Flesk Publications titles, plus the most recent news can be found at fleskpublications.com. Additional information can be read on publisher John Fleskes‚ blog at fleskpublications.com/blog.

Motivarti - first set of classes closing today!

I wanted to make other artists out there interested in animation and in improving their skills that the new group Motivarti has put together some amazing classes you should look into.  One is with Kathy Altieri, a colleague of mine from Disney and Dreamworks, and is currently a Production designer at Dreamworks.  

Kathy has so much valuable experience and such a great weath of skills.  Don't miss out on this class!  It closes tonight for registration so RUN, don't walk!  People pay big bucks just to come and hear Kathy talk at an event for a brief few minutes- you can have hours of learning time with her!   

Motivarti is also offering another group of great classes that will fill up fast I am sure.  Sign up before they are closed as well! 

Illustration Art blog post

David Apatoff, who runs a wonderful blog called "Illustration Art"  has done a quite nice post on myself- Jump over to his blog and check it out, along with the many other great posts he puts together.  The articles are all very informative and down to earth in nature.  Just the kind of place I'm proud to show up!  

The post on me was part of a short series he did on 5 artists he felt worth posting about from Comic-Con 2011. My friend and colleague from Dreamworks, Nathan Fowkes was another one of his choices- check tham all out!  

 

An evening with Flesk Prime event and limited print!

In addition to my appearance with  Gary Gianni, Petar Meseldzija, Mark Schultz and William Stout at the Breda Strip Festival in the Netherlands next month, there will also be a special dinner where you can get some one on one time with the artists.  The dinner is strictly limited to 15 guests to allow everyone the time and opportunity to speak with all of us.  

All attendees will receive a free copy of a special limited edition Giclée print signed by all the artists as well-  

Those interested in participating can contact evening organizer Mark Thelosen for pricing and availability at hoffmansmark@yahoo.com

For more information on the evening and the inspiration behind it visit John Fleskes blog post about the event.

European appearance -2011

If you are in Europe, or will be travelling there, and want to catch me and have an opportunity to invest in some prints or original art, I will be travelling this year to the Netherlands in September to exhibit with Flesk Publications booth at the Breda Strip Festival from September 9th to the 12th.  I will be there with Gary Gianni, Bill Stout, Mark Schultz and Petar Meseldzija in support of the Flesk Prime book which features all 5 of us.  I think this will be the ONLY time all 5 of us will be in 1 place with this book, so it should be a pretty special occasion!  

For those of you who have not heard of the book here is a link to it on the Flesk Publishing Site:

Breda is in the southern part of the Netherlands, so is quite accessable from many European countries. 

I will also be visiting Belgium, Paris and London before leaving Europe, so if you would like to meet for a meal or hang out in a museum, let me know!   I'll be doing lots of eating and museum going while there!  

Comic-Con San Diego 2011- Booth# 4713

I will be in he same area of the convention floor again this year– Among the Fantasy Illustrators on the Left side of the hall. Booth number 4713!   There will be a selection of new prints, more jewelry, and books and a large portfolio of original work. 

 

Another major new item available will be the Flesk Prime book will be available at comicon from Flesk publishing a few asiles over form me.  I will have a preview copy for everyone to look at.  Flesk will also have some preview pages of my upcoming art book "The Art of Craig Elliott", with an introduction by Iain McCaig.

Another exciting new item at comicon will be a limited run of hand silkscreened moleskine sketchbooks.   This one is especially for my other artist fans out there!  These books are in very limited quantities, so come by quick if you want to pick one up!  

Tori Davis, A fellow film designer in the animation industry will aslo be showing with me, so be sure to check out her work too!  

See you there!  

-Craig Elliott

Warcraft painting- Lady Sylvanas

Another recent World of Warcraft trading card game painting from the icecrown citaldel raid pack is of Lady Sylvanas.  I actually don't know if it is possible to fire 3 arrows at once, but I tried to make it look convincing.  She does have red eyes and blue skin, and that is not entirely real either... 

Lady Sylvanas

My sketches for this painting were a little more developed than I usually do, and I like some of the other ideas enough to paint them as well some day.  The focus of this painting centers around the action of shooting arrows, so most of them attempt to emphasize this.  I think I enjoy action more than I realized before I had done this painting, and hopefully will do more in future! 

Warcraft painting- Blood Queen

I have been doing a series of paintings for Blizzard's World of Warcraft trading card game. A new set called "Icecrown Citadel" has just been released so I can show the images of the cards!   The first painting is of "Blood Queen Lana-thel"  She is a giant vampire queen in the game-  they also have used my painting as the main image for her on the online wiki- lucky me!  

http://www.wowpedia.org/Blood-Queen_Lana'thel

Prints of the painting will also be available at Comicon this year! 

Blood Queen Lana'thel

Below are the sketches for possible compositions (left image).  After Blizzard chose a sketch, more detailed sketches of the chosen figure for the painting were done.  I try to work out the anatomy and face of the figure in enough detail before hand so I am not slowed down with trying to work out the details when I am painting.