Friday, March 16, 2012

Only Two Weeks Until ECCC!

There are only two weeks left until Emerald City Comicon!

Click to go to the ECCC website to download a full-sized PDF of the updated map.

Vinod and I will be sitting at booth C-02 in Artist Alley. We're on a main aisle, so hopefully we'll be easy to find. More information about the show is available at the Emerald City Comicon website. 

Emerald City Comicon will take place at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle from March 30th through April 1st. I'll have copies of The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures, posters, prints, and sketchbooks for sale. If you stick around long enough, I'm sure you will see us having at least one awkward conversation with a sexy Wolverine.

Stay tuned to the blog for any additional updates. Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Imagine FX Traditional Showcase

The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures in Imagine FX Magazine!

My work is showcased in Imagine FX Magazine's FXPosé Traditional gallery this month with a double-paged spread featuring my cover illustrations for The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures and The Faerie Locket.

It's a great issue that also features the explosive fantasy art of Paul Bonner, an article written by James Gurney about master illustrator Howard Pyle, and an interesting article on composition by Dan dos Santos.

Look for Imagine FX issue 80, March 2012, currently available in the United States.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Star Shard Week: Favorites


There may be minor spoilers for some parts of the story during Star Shard Week. 

Welcome to the final day of Star Shard Week!
Don't forget to check out The Star Shard author Frederic S. Durbin's final Star Shard Week post over on his blog.

Thank you for joining us during this week of reflection upon the world of "The Star Shard." From late 2007 through early 2009 I completed 39 paintings for "The Star Shard." It was the most expansive project I had worked on before I wrote and illustrated The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures. I'm honored to have played a part in the telling of Cymbril's story.

To bring Star Shard Week to a close, I'd like to share some of my favorite paintings from "The Star Shard" not yet featured on the blog.

Sleeping Urrmsh
Illustration for "The Star Shard" Cricket Magazine, July/August 2008

Cymbril in the Grape Arbor
Illustration for "The Star Shard" Cricket Magazine, September 2008

 
Telepathic Magic
Illustration for "The Star Shard" Cricket Magazine, September 2008

Cymbril to the Rescue!
Illustration for "The Star Shard" Cricket Magazine, October 2008

Stuck!
Illustration for "The Star Shard" Cricket Magazine, October 2008
Goodbye, Urrt
Illustration for "The Star Shard" Cricket Magazine, February 2009

If you enjoyed this wondrous week of posts, I hope you'll make a journey of your own into the world of The Star Shard! Thanks for reading!

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, is a fantasy adventure story about Cymbril, a girl on a journey of self-discovery.

Star Shard Week: Visual Themes

There may be minor spoilers for some parts of the story during Star Shard Week.

Welcome to Day Six of Star Shard Week!
Don't forget to check out The Star Shard author Frederic S. Durbin's companion posts over on his blog. You definitely don't want to miss Fred's discussion of one of the story's fundamental themes in his post entitled Coming of Age.

I tend to tell stories less through complex symbolism, which some illustrators are outstanding at doing, and more through characterization. Perhaps because I was so influenced by comics and animation from a young age, I often focus on the emotional components of a story as expressed by characters' faces and body language. There were a few visual themes, however, that I did try to carry through my illustrations for "The Star Shard."

Windswept flower petals and leaves:
There are a couple of reasons I like to use these elements in an illustration, and they were especially relevant to "The Star Shard." Visually, they add movement and interest to a composition. Symbolically, leaves falling from the trees in autumn represent the passage of time and the cycle of death and rebirth. Plants go dormant or die in the fall. Animals migrate or hibernate to survive the cold winter months. In the spring, life is born anew. In Japan, the fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms is symbolic of the impermanence of life.
In "The Star Shard," Cymbril is growing up. She's learning new things about herself. She feels compelled to leave the Thunder Rake and find a new place in life, somewhere she feels she belongs.
 
In this illustration of Cymbril, the petals are representative of change.


Cymbril reflects as she prepares to embark on a new journey.

Birds:
I'll admit I like to sneak animals into a lot of my illustrations. In this case, though, I made a conscious effort to depict birds in many of my "The Star Shard" paintings. They represent freedom and, most importantly in "The Star Shard," the power of song. I wanted to emphasize their connection to Cymbril, the Urrmsh, the Sidhe, and the music of nature itself.

Some of the many birds that appear in my "The Star Shard" illustrations.
The bird turned out to be my favorite part of this illustration.

Birds everywhere!

Both birds and leaves make an appearance here!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to stop by for the final day of Star Shard Week!

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, is a fantasy adventure story about Cymbril, a girl on a journey of self-discovery.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Star Shard Week: A Precarious Perch

There may be minor spoilers for some parts of the story during Star Shard Week.

Welcome to Day Five (and Six) of Star Shard Week!
Sorry about the delay in posting! I should be able to catch up with a Day Six post later today.
Don't forget to check out The Star Shard author Frederic S. Durbin's companion posts over on his blog.
 
The September 2008 cover of Cricket Magazine: A Precarious Perch

I had completed illustrations for several parts of "The Star Shard" when my art director presented me with the opportunity to illustrate a special "The Star Shard" cover and the table of contents for the September 2008 issue of Cricket Magazine. The assignment was wide open. I could illustrate anything that had appeared in the story up through Part Four, the chapter waiting for readers in the pages of the September issue. There were a number of memorable scenes to choose from. I had so much fun coming up with ideas there were enough left over to repurpose into interior illustrations for Part Four.  Click here to go to Cricket's website to see all of my thumbnails for the cover.

The final sketch for A Precarious Perch.

Though it's been years since my Cricket cover was published, I admit the painting hasn't been displayed on my website. It's a large painting that was tough to scan, and I wasn't very happy with the original color correction I had done on the image. In the years since, we bought a better scanner, and I decided to invest more time in correcting the scan to better match the original painting. While I see a few flaws that I'd like to fix someday should I revisit the piece (I'm not sure there is such a thing as a perfect painting!), it was one of my favorite illustrations from "The Star Shard" and I'm pleased with the way it printed on the cover of the magazine. "A Precarious Perch" was also printed as a poster that is available on Cricket Magazine's website.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to stop by for Day Six of Star Shard Week!

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, is a fantasy adventure story about Cymbril, a girl on a journey of self-discovery.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Star Shard Week: The Harpy

Boo!

There may be minor spoilers for some parts of the story during Star Shard Week.

Welcome to Day Four of Star Shard Week!
Don't forget to check out The Star Shard author Frederic S. Durbin's companion posts over on his blog.

Harpies are fearsome winged creatures that hail from Greek mythology. They're frequently described as a gruesome cross between a woman and a bird. In Part 6 of "The Star Shard," Fred described the harpy as a creature with a body "as broad as a horse’s, its sharp talons as large as an Armfolk’s hand." I imagined when she swooped down upon her prey the span of her wings would blot out the light of a full moon.

Concept sketches for the harpy.


Some more traditional bird-like renditions of the harpy.

In sketches, I toyed with the idea that her hair would be a collection of greasy feathers sprouting from her head. Eventually I decided long, ratty grey hair would show more movement and contrast in the illustrations.

The thumbnail sketch for the illustration.

The harpy swoops to attack Cymbril!

I don't often have elements breaking the borders of an illustration, but it was a suggestion for this image that I thought worked. Alternately, a composition that crops the wing would create a claustrophobic feeling appropriate for the scene.

Loric is captured!

My favorite part of both harpy illustrations is the painting of her face.
The harpy illustrations were among my favorite to work on during the ten-part run of "The Star Shard."

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to stop by for Day Five of Star Shard Week!

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, is a fantasy adventure story about Cymbril, a girl on a journey of self-discovery.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Star Shard Week: Minstrels' Song

There may be minor spoilers for some parts of the story during Star Shard Week.

Welcome to Day Three of Star Shard Week! This is a bonus post to make up for posting Day Three so late! Scroll down to read about the development of the title treatment for "The Star Shard."
Don't forget to check out The Star Shard author Frederic S. Durbin's companion posts over on his blog.

During the year I worked on illustrations for "The Star Shard," there were a few times I came across new characters that needed to be developed visually before I was ready to commit to a finished illustration. I did some loose sketches similar to my earlier character concept drawings to determine each character's costume, personality and body language. I also sketched a number of ideas for Cymbril's dresses.


Cymbril had several wardrobe changes throughout the story.

In Part 8 of "The Star Shard," Cymbril meets the lively traveling minstrels, Argent and Bobbin.


Head and costume studies for Argent.
I was asked to tone down Argent's goatee, since my art director felt it made him look a bit too old.

No! I inadvertently drew the Dreamworks Face!


Head and costume studies for Bobbin.


Argent, Cymbril and Bobbin entertain the people of Deepdike.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to stop by for Day Four of Star Shard Week!

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, is a fantasy adventure story about Cymbril, a girl on a journey of self-discovery.

Star Shard Week: Title Treatment


There may be minor spoilers for some parts of the story during Star Shard Week.

Welcome to Day Three of Star Shard Week!

Don't forget to check out The Star Shard author Frederic S. Durbin's companion posts over on his blog.

My first round of roughs for the title treatment.

Because "The Star Shard" was planned as a ten-part adventure, I was asked by my art director to come up with a title treatment that would accompany each chapter of the story. I'm no graphic designer, so this was a new challenge for me. I started by doing some rough sketches of the title in whimsical styles that I thought might evoke the magic of the story. Unfortunately, I don't remember after all these years how the "The Star Shard" font we ultimately settled on came about. I believe it was created by a designer at Cricket combining existing fonts.


As I worked, I recalled the title design of the Final Fantasy video games I grew up playing. I admired the intricate images Yoshitaka Amano created incorporating characters or other elements from each respective game. Amano's artwork, particularly his work for Final Fantasy IV and VI, (which were published as II and III in the United States) has been a huge inspiration to me for years.


Attempts to create a "window" in which Cymbril would appear.

We decided it was going to be tough to incorporate an illustration of Cymbril in the title with enough room remaining for the text, so I moved onto some alternate ideas. Since The Thunder Rake is a merchant ship, I suggested the idea of an elegant wooden sign like one that might hang outside an old-fashioned shop. This was the only time during the realization of "The Star Shard" that I can recall Fred and I having artistic differences. (Our comments were sometimes indirectly exchanged through e-mails forwarded by my art director during the early development of the artwork.) I believe Fred felt the title treatment should look more ethereal because of the Star Shard's connection to the Sidhe. I hope, in the end, that the portrayal of the opalescent Shard emerging from the ordinary wooden sign parallels some of the themes of the story and still works within Fred's vision.


I donned my old product designer's cap and conjured up various shapes reminiscent of some display cases I had designed for The Franklin Mint's collectibles.



The art director and editors chose design number 1. I painted the sign to look as though it was crafted from wood and adorned with a carved and polished wood border. Space was provided at the bottom for text that would label each chapter of "The Star Shard."


The finished painting of the title treatment.





Thanks for reading, and don't forget to stop by for Day Four of Star Shard Week!

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, is a fantasy adventure story about Cymbril, a girl on a journey of self-discovery.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Star Shard Week: The Thunder Rake

The Thunder Rake
I should mention that there might be some minor spoilers for some parts of the story during Star Shard Week.

Welcome to Day Two of Star Shard Week! Now with even more excitement! Check out The Star Shard author Frederic S. Durbin's companion posts over on his blog.

First of all, can I point out what an awesome name the Thunder Rake is?!

The Thunder Rake is so important to the world of "The Star Shard" it's like another character in the story. The Thunder Rake is a gigantic merchant ship that rumbles across the landscape, carrying its own bustling city from place to place. While I'm not sure it would technically be considered steampunk, the Thunder Rake reminded me of the spirit of adventure and the anachronistic fantasy technology that is characteristic of steampunk.

The Thunder Rake was quite a challenge for me to design, as my artistic focus is usually on organic living things like creatures and characters. That's not to say that it doesn't take on a life of its own, which Fred will tell you much more eloquently than I over on his Thunder Rake post.
It's usually easiest to design things, be they creatures or vehicles, in a flat perspective like a side view before getting wrapped up in trying to figure out how to foreshorten all the details from a more complicated perspective. In addition to the descriptive text, I had Fred's sketch of the Thunder Rake to help me understand the massive scale he had in mind for the vehicle.


Fred's sketch of the Thunder Rake.

I tried to remain faithful to his vision while adding some of my own flourishes. I was inspired by ships of all kinds, from sailing ships to cruise ships. I added a metal wedge reminiscent of a locomotive's cowcatcher on the bow, imagining that it would help the Thunder Rake burst through difficult terrain. While it is powerful and intimidating, I also wanted to keep a sense of whimsy about the Thunder Rake, so I made sure to retain one of my favorite elements on Fred's sketch: a big, beautiful tree with a wide canopy, growing on the top level of the vessel. When I was drawing it, the imagery from one of my favorite Hayao Miyazaki films, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, was not far from my mind.

The mysterious floating city of Laputa.
Plants sprouting from the rusted metal of a train engine. Photo by Vinod Rams.

Looking back, I wish I had made the tree even more impressive. I love the juxtaposition of nature and technology, and the imagery of a living tree almost breaking free from the confines of the man-made Thunder Rake echoes Cymbril's longing to escape.



My first Thunder Rake sketch.

I realized my first sketch of the Thunder Rake didn't feel interesting enough. It looked a little too boxy, without enough variation in the shape. I wanted it to have a more unique silhouette, so I added onto the bow and stern with tracing paper and blended everything together in Photoshop.


My revised drawing of the Rake.

Since vehicles are not my forte, my husband, Vinod, helped build a simple model of the Thunder Rake using Google's SketchUp program. It was quite handy for drawing the Thunder Rake in different perspectives for my illustrations of the monstrous machine.



The SketchUp model of the Thunder Rake, mocked up within my (very) rough sketch.
The finished drawing of the Thunder Rake, which became one of the first paintings I completed for The Star Shard.


An intimidating look at the Thunder Rake seeking Cymbril and Loric.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to stop by for Day Three of Star Shard Week!

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, is a fantasy adventure story about Cymbril, a girl on a journey of self-discovery.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Ralph McQuarrie: 1929-2012

Ralph McQuarrie, the artist with the unique vision behind the original trilogy of Star Wars films and dozens of other movies, passed away yesterday at the age of 82.


In the summer of 1997, Vinod and I had the good fortune to briefly meet Ralph McQuarrie at a convention. He was gracious and humble, and I'm grateful to have met him.

At that time, I was just about to enter art school, and I was becoming more aware of concept art--aware of what it was, aware that there were so many different, important roles that artists play in the development of films. Ralph McQuarrie may have been the first concept artist for movies that I knew by name. His imaginative designs have left an indelible imprint on the film industry and the minds of artists for generations to come.


A signed poster of Mr. McQuarrie's illustration of Luke confronting Darth Vader hangs in our studio.
My sincere condolences to Mr. McQuarrie's friends and loved ones.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Star Shard Week: Character Concepts

With the advent of the publication of Frederic S. Durbin's The Star Shard, I thought I'd have a Star Shard Week on my blog to showcase some of the artwork I did during the story's serialization in Cricket Magazine.

I'll commence Star Shard Week with the character designs I undertook to begin my work. After reading the manuscript, I started sketching my impression of the principal characters. Once I achieved what I felt was the essence of each character, I created simple model sheets that I referred to for the rest of the year as I worked on illustrations for each of the ten chapters of the story.

Cymbril, the heroine.
This was one of the many dresses I designed for Cymbril during the story's run.

Loric, Cymbril's mysterious new friend.


Head studies for Urrt
My goal when drawing Urrt was to combine frog-like and humanoid features in an appealing way.



The Urrmsh, gentle giants with a gift for song, are the creatures who operate the giant claws that propel the massive Thunder Rake. They are also called The Armfolk and I wanted to be certain they lived up to their namesake.

Rombol, master of the Thunder Rake.

Everyone felt Rombol's beard should be longer, so I added to it in this revision. 

The Star Shard, by Frederic S. Durbin, is a fantasy adventure story about Cymbril, a girl on a journey of self-discovery.