SmArt School Enrollment Now Open

SmArt School is a one-on-one mentorship program designed by IMC creator, Rebecca Guay. The program gives students the opportunity to work alongside industry professionals 3 hours a week, for 12 weeks.

Unlike some online programs, this course is not a series of pre-recorded lectures. It is a true mentorship program. Through an interactive interface, your mentor will will be discussing your work specifically, painting over it while you watch, and helping you achieve whatever it is you are looking to achieve.

This year's mentors include: Donato Giancola, Todd Lockwood, Rebecca Guay, Greg Manchess & Dan DosSantos.

In addition to the Mentor's input, each course also invites a well-known Art Director to help critique and give the students feedback. Students are also given the opportunity to monitor other Mentors' classes in order to glean what they can from a different point of view.

Maybe you missed your chance to sign up for this year's IMC? Or maybe you are looking for a more intimate setting where you and a teacher can really explore YOUR possibilities? Whatever the reason, I have seen a great number of students make that elusive shift from amateur to professional thanks to these programs.

Enrollment has just opened today, and class size is extremely limited.

Go here for more info: http://www.smarterartschool.com/

2013 Spectrum Awards

via Tor.com

And the Winners are...

Advertising:

Gold: Dan Dos Santos, Dragon Empress
Silver: Android Jones, Ganeshatron
Craig Elliott, Forest Awakening
Michael C. Hayes, Procession
Greg Ruth, Three Outlaw Samurai



Book:

Gold: David Palumbo, Fed
Silver: Charles Vess, Tanglewood: I Didn't Know She Was a Bottle Witch
Brom, Wipi
William O'Connor, Wargriffin
Shaun Tan, Never Leave a Red Sock on the Clothesline



Comics:

Gold: Paolo Rivera, Daredevil #10
Silver: David Petersen, Mouse Guard Black Axe #4, Page 19
Jennifer L. Meyer, Aesop's Ark, Ch. 2, P2
Paolo Rivera, Captain America #1
João Ruas, Fables #121



Concept Art:

Gold: Allen Willams, Tree of Tales
Silver: Daniel Dociu, Guild Wars 2, Norn Lodge
Theo Prins, Southsun Cove
Paul Sullivan, Franken-animal
Justin Sweet



Dimensional:

Gold: Virginie Ropars, Acanthopis III
David Meng, Sashimi
Dan Chudzinski, Turbulence
Virginie Ropars, Mothra
Katya Tal, Blanket Fairy



Editorial:

Gold: Sam Bosma, Stability
Silver: Sam Weber, Cancer Monster
Chris Buzelli, Book Monster
Sean Andrew Murray, He's Gone Full-Bird
Victo Ngai, Best of the Best



Institutional:

Gold: Kekai Kotaki, Stampede
Silver: Lucas Graciano, Dragon Swarm
Ed Binkley, A Cob of Chiseldon-Brimble
Tyler Jacobson, Ruric Thar, The Unbowed
David Palumbo, Taken



Unpublished:

Gold: Cory Godbey, The Fish Master
Silver: Andrew Mar, Tell-Tale Heart
Lucas Graciano, Guardianship
Kekai Kotaki, Ride
Tohru Patrick, Awa, Sudden Shower



And the 2013 Grand Master Award goes to....
Brom!

More on SFAL coming soon!

Keepsake

by Arnie Fenner

I wish I had time to do something a bit more in-depth for my post this morning, but I've been up to my eyeballs for the past few weeks—make that months—working on Spectrum Live. As you read this the dust will start to settle and everything will begin to return to normal. In the near future I'll put up something about the show, the Spectrum 20 awards, and what the future holds.

If you were able to make it to SFAL2: thank you! There is always an excuse to not do something, always the casual promise of "maybe next year." I always remember the Ferris Bueller quote: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." These sorts of conventions or events are only made possible by the artists who exhibit and the people who come to see them—and that's you!

But if you couldn't make it, you can still have a piece of the show for your own—and support the artists in the process. Flesk Publications has produced their second Spectrum Fantastic Art Live commemorative book and it's as gorgeous as last years (and then some, since it has more pages), plus it pays the artists a royalty on the sales. Featuring full color folios devoted to each of this year's special guests—Peter de Sève, Jon Foster, Tara McPherson, Charles Vess, Michael Whelan, and Terryl Whitlatch—this is simply a beautiful art book as well as a keepsake. Trust me, you'll want this.

50 Greatest Matte Paintings

Here is a nice article on the '50 Greatest Matte Paintings of All Time'.

Yup, that background in the picture above is a painting. And not a digital painting either. In fact, you'd be surprised at just how many of your favorite movies used matte paintings for critical scenes and you probably didn't even notice!

The rooftops in Blade Runner, the government warehouse in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the docking bays in Star Wars... the list goes on.

Personally, I feel like this 'Top 50' list has some glaring omissions, but it is a wonderful article nonetheless! Inspiring, informative, and very well researched.

If you'd like to learn more about the subject, I highly recommend the book 'The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting'. It is quite possible the best, and most beautiful, book you'll find on the subject.

That's Advertising For You

Even though book covers can be considered a form of advertising (as almost all illustration can be), When an artist refers to an 'Advertising' job, they usually referring to a specific niche of illustration, usually one dealign with magazines, film, billboards, national campaigns, music, etc.

Advertising jobs differ from book cover jobs in a lot of ways. Firstly, the budgets are usually a LOT bigger. Which is expected, since the workload, exposure, and money at stake, are all much larger.

The other difference though, and the one that often discourages a lot of illustrators from doing such jobs, is that instead of working with a single Art Director, the art approval process usually happens by committee... very large committees.

The typical result is, a lot of revisions.

And I mean a lot of revisions.

Of course, the client pays very well for these revisions, but are we really in this field for the money? For many, there comes a point when the money just isn't worth the frustration of a having a client change absolutely everything you just did for seemingly no good reason... only to then change it back.

One of the reasons for this problem is inherent in decisions made by committees. The fact is, you can't please everyone. If everyone gets their say, what you get is a mediocre mess.

(If you're ever speaking to a veteran illustrator, just ask them about their worst advertising experience. Without a doubt, they will have a nightmare story to relay.)

Take for instance the latest iteration of the 'Little Debbie' logo.

If I had to guess, the advertising agency in charge of this revamp likely spent 10's of thousands of dollars on this. They probably hired multiple artists to do something specific, then picked their favorite, and had that artist revise it until they were happy.

And what did they end up with?

Well, a logo that looks pretty much like what they had in the first place. And that's OK. It's good to revise things every now and then.

But the real question is, how many revisions did it take to accomplish this?

How many times did they send this picture back to the artist because he painted too many freckles... or he made her look 6 years old instead of 6 1/2... or her hair just didn't look juuuust the right amount of messy?

Care to guess how many times?






16 !

16 revisions, and a year to complete it.

You can read more about it HERE.

Kansas City, Here I Come!

-By Dan dos Santos

Today is the day! Just about every artist I know is currently en route to Kansas City for this year's Spectrum Live convention. Like most illustrators, convention time means a mad, last-minute scramble to get things in order. There is so much to do! Getting paintings framed and varnished, price tags made, posters printed, crates shipped out, blog posts scheduled... well, let's just say the cleanliness of one's studio tends to suffer a bit  (No joke... the above image is the current state of things while I write this).

For those of you who attending SFAL, please be sure to stop by the Muddy Colors booth (#612). We have some cool things in store!

Our tentative schedule is as follows:

Saturday 2:00 - 3:30: Oil Painting demo by Greg Manchess.

Saturday 4:30 - 6:00: Group Portfolio Reviews (Lauren Panepinto, Justin Gerard, Donato Giancola)

Sunday 11:00 - 12:30: Demo by Donato Giancola.

Sunday 11:00 - 12:30: Group Portfolio Reviews (Sam Weber, David Palumbo, Dan dos Santos)

There are of course a lot of Art Directors that will be doing formal reviews over the weekend, but what we are offering is a bit different. Our reviews will be conducted by a group of artists and AD alike. That means, we will be critiquing the work from an artistic standpoint, offering specific suggestions on how to improve your skills, not just your marketability. You will also be getting input from 3 different people simultaneously.

Maybe you think you're work just isn't ready to show an AD? Or maybe you are looking for ways to improve your art rather than shop it around? Either way, these reviews should prove really fun and insightful.

Space is extremely limited. Sign-ups for these reviews will go up first thing Saturday morning at the MC booth, and will be conducted on a first-come-first-serve basis... so if you're interested, I suggest getting there early to sign up .