The Drawing Board

Reference

2011-05-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Do you use reference when you're painting? I mean, photographic reference, physical reference (such as collected items, knick-knacks, objects that have the same sort of texture that you want to paint), modeled reference?

I'm personally a stickler for reference. Everything I do, I'm always looking at photos at the very least, to help get a better feeling for what I'm painting. It's best if I can examine whatever it is in reality, but working with fantasy and science fiction subjects, that's not always possible. I have to sort of cobble together what I have in mind.

If I'm working on creating some sort of creature or beast, I'm looking at animals. Fur textures, skin textures, you name it! What's more, I'm looking at animals that are similar to what I want to design -- if it's a dragon, say, I'm looking at all sorts of scales, shots of reptile and avian skin -- sometimes even fish! If I'm designing an alien, even more fun, because then, I'm all over the place -- I want something that's believable, but also "alien."

If you don't use reference, or think that it is somehow cheating, ask yourself why? How are you supposed to know what it is that you're painting or illustrating unless you know what it looks like -- even if you're not looking at right when you're doing your initial work, if realism and representational work is important to you, then you want to see what it is that you're working from.

In the long run, the real art comes from not how well you copied the texture of something, but how well you've created a mood, and a feeling through taking what you're working with and putting it in another situation. Good reference is rarely directly copied, but always used as a strong influence.

Google images is a great resource for finding photographic reference. I'm using it constantly. Since I'm not copying the photos, there's no copyright infringement -- I just need to know what something looks like. Along the same lines, Corbis.com is also a great resource for image reference, and one I've used for years. I'm sure other image sites like tublr or photobucket can provide great resources as well.

This is what a typical reference sheet looks like for me:

Typical reference page for a painting

I can't show the painting that this reference is for right yet, as it's for a client. But, you can see there's all sorts of things there -- patterns, expressions, clothing, an ear, and a cropped shot from another painting of mine, included as a stylistic and detail reminder. I don't reference other people's paintings because I want my work to look like my work, not theirs.

If you're interested in doing representational art (even if you're not, it's good to practice), using reference is an incredible boon, and in no way "cheating." Your art will be stronger for it in the long run.

~S
-------------------
[EDIT]
Since this blog post was made, the piece that I was working on has been released:

Reviving the Drawing Board

2011-04-24T17:48:00.000-07:00

After coming back from the Western Washington SCBWI conference in Redmond this past weekend I've decided to relaunch this blog with a focus on Children's Illustration.

The best thing about the conferences, aside from the fantastic classes they provide, and getting to meet incredible people like Dan Santat and Anne Moore of Candlewick Press and hearing inspiring key note speeches from celebrities like Holy Black (Dan's rocked as well) is getting to see some of my favorite people, like Richard and Jesse Watson and their families, but also running into old friends like Kathryn Ault Noble and getting to meet new favorite peoples like Kim Flemming, a talented artist who came all the way from Australia for the conference! I was fortunate enough to sit next to her in the master class taught by Dan Santat and Anne Moore. Her tree was so much better than mine! D:

So, the focus is on children's books -- picture books through young adult fiction covers. The plan is to have at least one contract by year's end. That means a lot of promotion and sending out tons of post cards and portfolio samples, and a getting a lot of rejections. First batch of post cards went out three weeks ago, and a direct submission to Candlewick press was made last week. I don't expect to hear back from most of the places I send stuff to, because the process can be a long one, and they may not have a project that my style would fit with right away even if they do like my stuff. So it's a waiting game. And that's where the blog comes in: Sanity keeper.

With that said, here's some art:

Cover for "If the Shoe Fits ... "
picture book I'm working on.

Closetfound #1.
What's in your closet? Skeletons?
Bug Eyed Monsters? Alternate dimensions? Aliens?
Closetfound :: A bestiary of things found in the closet.

The bad guys from another picture book.

Whale Wall

Dragon Totem

More to come.

Facebook

2010-11-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

I'm no longer updating this blog. I am now using Facebook to post new works and sketches, so please feel free to pop over there and check stuff out! (There's a whole bunch of stuff there that is not here).

Facebook

S.C. Watson Illustration

You can also purchase prints of my work, and other goodies, here:

Thanks for your interest!

Best,

Frazetta

2010-05-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

I host Story Tellers, a book cover oriented bi-weekly art competition over on CGHub.com. The idea is to take existing, and sometimes non existing books and illustrate a cover for them. It's a lot of fun to see the different takes on the same theme.

Last week we started Story Tellers 9, Conan the Cimmerian.

Little did I know that when I chose the subject, Frank Frazetta, the man whose artistic style defined Conan visually for generations, would pass away a week later to the day.

http://www.comicsbeat.com/2010/05/10/frank-frazetta-rip/

Frazetta influenced me, and thousands of other artists - I have fond, fond memories of spending hours pouring over his art books marveling at the primal strength of images. NO ONE has ever done a Conan image that can compare as far as I am concerned.

So, I'm extending STS 9 an extra week, and invite anyone and everyone to take part. Spread the word, come and share with us.

Story Tellers 009 :: CONAN THE CIMMMERIAN / FRAZETTA TRIBUTE ROUND.

Let's make this something special.

Unfinished business

2010-04-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of days since my last update - still trying to catch up and get back on track.

Below are the Western Washington SCBWI Master Illustrator class assignments I did - both revisionings of current books. The class, taught by Tim Gillner and Peter Brown, was a blast and I learned a lot. A big thanks goes out to Jaime Temairik for coordinating the whole thing.

_________________________________________________________

Entry for Art Order's Mutation Nation, which I did not submit for a couple of reasons - mostly because I felt that even though my inspiration pieces were a gorrilla, an eagle, and a brightly colored green/red/blue/yellow frog, I thought it ended up looking like a gryphon instead of some genetically modified monstrosity. Both unexpected and annoying.

Pirate girls

2010-02-09T19:18:00.000-08:00

Pirate girls :)

SCBWI WWA Master Class Assignment from Tim Gillner

2010-01-28T10:14:00.000-08:00

So, the other day, I received in my email a pdf and assignment from Tim Gillner for the SCBWI Illustrator's Master Class - our mission, should we choose to accept it (like we'd refuse) was to select one of the five stories included in the pdf to design and illustrate a cover for. What fun!

I ended up choosing It Feels Like Snow by Nancy Cote because I related to the main character, Alice, who feels the impending snows in various places on her body - her big toe, her nose, her elbow. Having what I call "barometer back" I felt a certain sympathy for her ;)

So, this is the first stage - sketch out the characters and cover, and ship it off for crits. Will post whatever feedback I receive when it comes in!

Also, if you have not had a chance, or didn't know about it, stop over at CGHUB.com and check out the bi-weekly activities they have there. Creature Planet(s), an activity centered on creature design, hosted by Mike Corriero is a lot of fun, and so is Story Tellers, an activity for cover art of various types hosted by yours' truly. This round we're doing a mock cover for the Hobbit!

A revisioning of a redesign

2010-01-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

I really didn't care for the original, so I redid it.

Creature Planet(s), Sketches, and Creature Retread

2010-01-20T09:36:00.001-08:00

A small collection of stuff form over the past week or so.

Morning warm up

2010-01-06T18:06:00.001-08:00

Morning warm up noodles.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-24T18:11:00.000-08:00

The Krampus, companion of St. Nicholas. More here.
Inspired by Jon Schindehette's Art Order challenge. I sincerely hope you've been good this year! :D

Happy Holidays, and best wishes for the New Year!

~Shane

Website update!

2009-11-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

A long over due update to my website, OreganoProductions.com, has been completed. And even longer over due is the new store, with selected prints and other goodies available for purchase, and with more to come!

Stop by, take a gander, and pick something up, ( Yeah, Christmas *IS* coming, isn't it :oP ) and leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Red

2009-11-03T20:21:00.000-08:00

A red drake.

Phall

2009-11-01T22:39:00.001-08:00

Phall :: painter 9.
Mostly done, what's left is just touch up and polishing.

Sith Happen

2009-10-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

Done for a friend's birthday.

2009-10-24T11:08:00.001-07:00

Study/warm up from a National Geographic ad.
Painter IX

Nibru

2009-10-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

Nibru shall not be denied.

Done for the Conceptart.org "Different interpretations of the same thing" thread.

Recent work for Wizards of the Coast

2009-09-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

Two recent images for Wizards of the Coast. Both can be seen in the Dragon 378 art gallery as well

The Apple Gatherer

2009-09-07T10:32:00.000-07:00

A most foul and deceitful faerie, found only in apple orchards at dusk during the harvest moon.

It preys upon children wandering alone in the twilight.

If a child accepts and bites an apple offered by this creature, she is lost to this world.

It wears the fingers of children with the apples they accepted around its neck.

2009-08-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

Pages from yesterday. More studies from Corbis.com photos, excepting a couple obvious doodles here and there.

2009-08-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

Sketches from today and yesterday. Started with the boxed sketches on left yesterday in order from top to bottom. Today started with the little girl in top center, then worked left to right.

All images pulled from corbis.com after a search for "portraits."

Boxed sketches from yesterday -
1:: unknown.
2:: man on bus (1974)
3:: Masai woman

Sketches from today are as follows -
1:: Tunisian Girl in traditional dress (her eyes were even larger).
2:: George Bernard Shaw
3:: Anthropologist Professor
4:: Xhosa boy at initiation
5:: Florence Pernel

2009-08-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

bashful 'bot is bashful.

found that penciliy goodness again

2009-08-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Pulled out the pencils yesterday and ended up drawing the evening away while chatting with friends on Facebook. I've made worse use of my time.

ImagineFX Cover Contest

2009-08-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Playing around with ideas for ImagineFX's 50th cover contest. I'm approaching this a little differently than I have before in that I am using texture overlays. I'm not sure how I actually feel about it - Part of me really likes the texture that this affords the image, but the other part of me is rebelling against the idea of not having painted what I'm seeing. To make this work in my head, I am looking at this as more of an exercise in graphic design.

Overall, it's fun playing around with a technique I've not previously used. I'll post further updates as I get a long.

In other News
I'd like to give a shout out to the crew at Nth Degree Fanzine, who I have worked with on and off over the past couple of years. They are back after a bit of a hiatus and I'll be doing at least one image for their online edition in the next week or so.

Also, wanted to say "Thank You" to Ben Watson and his dad Richard for some good advice and direction the other day. I really appreciate your time!

Contemplation of the world around us

2009-08-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

I have been in a creative funk the past few days. I dumped a lot into a project that saw absolutely no return, and consequently was very discouraged by the result. In truth, I have probably taken it a bit harder than in reality I should have. However, the resulting slump has left me with some time to think about things, and that's never a bad place to be.

During this time I have drawn or painted absolutely nothing. In a way, it feels liberating, and I have used the time to do other things around the house, which I'm sure my wife will appreciate.

A few days ago I stumbled across this article on the New York Times :: Reviving the Lost Art of Naming the World. After reading it, I was left with a strong desire to do something I normally do anyway - that is, observe the world around us. I thought about how much time we spend in front of the screen viewing the world through a filter - not truly engaged with it. When I was a child, I couldn't fathom not being out in the muck and dirt and trees and shrubs. It was my world. I remember going hiking for hours at least, the full day until sunset usually, in the Ventura foothills in California. I did a lot of trespassing in those days, but really, there was no one there to say we couldn't. I remember the chaparral, dry gullies, and rattlesnakes and lizards. Poison oak and avocado trees ... The idea of being something apart form this never even entered my mind.

Living in the North West now as I do, observing the world is still very much a part of my life. I think, to truly be an effective illustrator, and artist, it is something that we have to do. And really, I would be surprised if an artist didn't do this. Being aware of your environment, where you live, the creatures that inhabit that world - these are the seed for creativity. And if you're someone who enjoys creating new worlds, as I am, where better a place to start than in our own backyard?

downtime

2009-07-29T22:39:00.001-07:00

Had some down time today so decided to work on a doodle. Not really going anywhere specific with it at the moment, just seeing where stream of consciousness takes me ...

Also wanted to share this blog :: http://www.terribleyelloweyes.com - a wonderful bit of eyecandy for anyone who loves Where The Wild Things Are.

Book Cover Competition

2009-07-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

Alright! So the book cover competition line up was today at Art Order. Check it out - some really great work. And a lot of effort put in by almost 70 people.

Final for mine can be viewed here:

and here with cover elements:

Kudos to all who entered!

Catastrophic Dragon

2009-07-14T09:19:00.001-07:00

Done for Art Order's Catastrophic Dragon Challenge, but not finished in time so not submitted. Check out the entries - there is some sweet work there!

The idea behind this guy was taken from the Greek Titans - immensely huge, with a never ending avalanche of debris falling from his underside creating trail of mountain ranges where ever he has walked. For this I imagined him not so much as representative of a new breed of dragon, but more of a solitary entity forever roaming the world.

Book Cover challenge at Art Order - WIPS

2009-07-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

I've been busy with freelance work recently, so I haven't had a chance to update my blog or to enter many of Jon's weekly challenges over at Art Order the past month or so. One that I missed that I particularly wanted to join was the dragon challenge, as I'm sure that will be spectacular - especially with the guest judges he's got lined up for that.

However, this past week when he posted the book cover challenge, I had to make time! Jon provided some refs, and a basic description of what was to be taking place, and an over lay for working around the book cover copy - the rest is up to the artist. I spent a day or so thinking about what I wanted to do, and finalized the composition in my head on Thursday last week, then set about designing the characters and how they would be positioned and interacting on the cover.

Once I had the basic composition down in gray scale, I started refining the image, beginning with the focal point of the painting and moving out - the rest will come after I've finished the faces to my satisfaction. This is where I will spend probably 90% of my working on the painting, and I won't move on until they look good to me.

One note; after conferring with Jon, I found that Drow (the female character) do not have pupils, their eyes being totally white - so those will be coming out soon, much to my disappointment.

Below are work in progress shots.

2009-06-18T16:10:00.000-07:00

Toetoe was about 20 years old, and the sweetest cat I've ever known.

New Mask

2009-06-10T14:16:00.001-07:00

A new Mask - this one has been in the works for a while. The original version didn't look right so I put it on the back burner. Finally got something that felt right with it.

Interview

2009-06-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to an interview with yours' truly in the local paper. They totally munged the photo in the online version. Aw, well.

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE! final

2009-05-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

Final submission for Character of the Week (CHOW).

(here's a better resolution shot)

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE! - work in progress

2009-05-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

A work in progress done for CA's Character of the Week.

Variations

2009-05-28T07:44:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post today before I run off to the day job. This is for ArtOrder's "Variations" Concept Tuesday contest. Just having a little fun with it :)

The (un)Usual suspects

2009-05-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

This was done for ArtOrder's Concept Tuesday challenge, here. One of the things that surprised me was how ridiculously *fun* this particular challenge was. Once I got around to drawing the characters, (yesterday ... ) they only took a little while to do. I think I spent more time trying to settle on a background that didn't conflict with the characters than I did actually drawing them.

An interview in three parts: Jon Schindehette

2009-05-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to interview Jon Schindehete, the author of ArtOrder and Senior Art Director for Wizards of the Coast for Character of the Week on Conceptart.org the other day. I've wanted to work for WoTC since I was kid (it was TSR, then). I want to even more now after talking with Jon. It sounds just all kinds of awesome.

PART I

PART II

PART III

SCBWI, wonderful peoples, and working digitally

2009-05-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was at the Western Washington SCBWI conference in Redmond, near Seattle. I had a great time, and got some very good notes from Grace Lin's breakout session on being a full time children's book illustrator.

Had a chance to meet some old friends and make some new ones: Deb Lund, Richard Jesse Watson, Dana Sullivan, Jim Di Bartolo, Michael Stearns, and Kevan Atteberry to name just a few of the wonderful people that I was able to talk to and hang out with.

From an illustrator's perspective, one of things that I was surprised by about the conference was the number of people that I spoke to who are interested in working digitally, or are working digitally, but are having challenges working in Adobe Photoshop, or are working only with a mouse. This is a bit of a multifaceted issue, in that many people (including some of the presenters) were only vaguely aware of Corel's Painter program. I don't want this to get into one is better than the other, but more of a "here's another option" post. I've been working in Adobe Photoshop since version 2, but for me, I find Painter to be far more intuitive and easy to use when painting digitally. Also, Painter is much less expensive than Photoshop.

The other thing that I was struck by was how many people are attempting to work digitally with a mouse. You *need* to get a Wacom Tablet at the very least. Corel and Wacom occaisionally do promotions where you can get Painter with a tablet. It makes life *so* much easier.

Ok, that's it for now. Time to go draw!

2009-05-10T20:11:00.001-07:00

Haven't had much time this week for anything. Actively looking for work right now. If you know of something, give me a heads up.

Suburban dinosaurs - a wip. It's a bit of a recurring theme with me. I've been working on this piece off and on for a little more than a month now. The kid's face is fighting me for some reason.

A quick critter sketch.

Unfamiliar

2009-05-05T12:48:00.001-07:00

Working up ideas for the next Concept Tuesday entry: An Unfamiliar Familiar. I haven't decided if I am going to abandon this concept yet or not. Still playing with it.

Boll Deevil

2009-05-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

This was my second entry to Art Order's Concept Tuesday.

Art Order

2009-05-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

I recently found Jon Schindehette's Art Order blog - a daily blog on the ins and outs of being an art director and how it relates to being an artist/illustrator. Aside from just fantastic insider information that you would normally have to kill for, or at least wait until an event of some kind to get, Jon also runs a weekly concept contest called "Concept Tuesday." A lot of fun with open entry, the artwork featured there every week (and well, almost everyday) is just jaw dropping.

The first challenge I entered was to take one of the existing D&D race (artist's choice) and move it ahead 4000 years. I chose the dragonborn.

Some older work

2009-05-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

Start out with some older work that have been around a while.
Mask Series

Joan of Arc pencil study