Above the Timberline

When I was at Reverie, I got a critique from Greg Manchess. At the time I wasn't too familiar with his work, but his crit was really helpful. Last night I downloaded his video from Conceptart.org, and listened to it in the background while I was working. Here's the trailer:

Even if you're not working in oils, or doing fantasy art, this guy is just absolutely fascinating to watch paint. He's so careful with every stroke he puts down, and his painting philosophy is really interesting to listen to. I heard he's working on another one.

Go download it!

So Far, So Good...

I'm really loving doing art full time. The feeling of satisfaction at the end of the day that I'm getting far outweighs the downsides. Surprisingly, I'm finding that focusing all my effort on this one job is actually a lot harder than working two full-tme jobs (apple and freelancing). Illustration requires a lot more brain power, and it's a little harder to focus for long periods of time. I have a feeling it'll just take some adjustment. Podcasts, news, talk radio and cartoons I've seen a million times are helpful in keeping my mind from wandering, but I can't really watch anything new without slowing down productivity quite a bit. Music is good for short periods of time, but doesn't keep my interest as long.

It's also a little tough not having any days off, but I'm sort of used to that. When I was at Apple, my days off were spent doing art. I have a feeling things wil slow down a bit after I finish this huge AEG commission. It's due the day before Caroline and I move to Boston, and few weeks before Gencon, where I'm hoping to get some more work. I can't overstate how great it is to get 8 hours of sleep though. That may not last to the end of the month as the deadline pressure gets turned up, but for now it's been great!

All in all, I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I'm still applying to a few video game companies in Boston for a concept artist position because it would be nice to have a steady paycheck doing art, but I'm willing to keep my options open. There's a lot of opportunities presenting themselves in recent months, and I want to take advantage of it as much as I can.

Freelancing

Ever since Gencon, the amount of illustration jobs have been steadily increasing. About two weeks ago I got a job that would be way too much to handle unless I quit my day job. Caroline and I are moving in August anyway, so we decided that I would leave a bit earlier than I expected and go full time freelance, then evaluate how it's going once we get to Boston.

Part of me is deading the transition, but I'm mostly looking forward to it. It's been getting increasingly stressful tryng to keep up with the workload I've been getting while working at Apple. It's going to be nice to be able to stay at home, listen to music, hang out with my cats and get work done.

That said, I want to thank everyone who I worked with over the past few years. The environment at the store has changed a lot since I first started, but my co-workers have been consistently awesome. It's been really great to work with such creative people from different areas of expertise. I've learned a lot from all of you and I'm grateful for the experience. We'll keep in touch!

Half Ant, Half Lobster, Half Crab (my first forray into 3D)

So last night at the bar while Caroline was working, I was messing around with ZBrush, a 3D sculpting program. This thing is what resulted:

I'll never get a job doing 3D modeling, but I think I'll continue playing around with it.  It was kind of interesting working in an extra dimension. It excercizes a different part of the brain, but I think the fundementals apply directly to painting in 2D.

Anyway I'll take another crack at it some time soon.

Figure drawings

I've been going to figuredrawing sessions at Marc Scheff's Studio.  They've been really fun, and the people are really cool.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!