My Latest Challenge – A Total Success

Fantasy New York Scene

The Client

My client is one Eric Posman, a producer for ESPN and a sports writer. Posman came to me with a photograph of his children looking out a window of a high rise hotel in NYC. His request? He wanted a piece of work showing his children looking out into a fantastic world that reflects today’s culture with a twist towards the children and the incredible possibilities of their futures. Sounds fun! Sounds hard…

 

The Process

Mind Mapping Technique

Brainstorming

I started this project with my trusty mind-mapping technique (fig A). I fist made a list of nouns that refer to New York, today’s children, movies, books, and cultural icons. I then did a free drawing that I am, quite honestly a little embarrassed to post here as it is very infantile, but it was so much fun to draw! It also allowed my mind a chance to think visually. I really enjoyed it as a brainstorming activity, and I think I will incorporate it more often into my planning stages.

 

 

Reference Collecting

From there, I began to collect references of New York and other characters and images that crept into my brainstorming sessions. All-in-all, I collected over 60 different photo references some of which added to the ideas already conceived and some of them changed my ideas completely.

Thumbnails

My next step was to devise a composition or layout plan for the piece (figs B, C, D, E). I completed several different thumbnail sketches that would have made my grad school professors cringe… Thank goodness I wasn’t grade.

Fantasy New York Scene

Mind Mapping Technique

Preliminary Drawing

Color Comp – The Full Plan for Execution

 

Preliminary Drawing

Preliminary Drawing

After choosing the thumbnail I liked the best, I began my preliminary drawing incorporating the thumbnail, the references, and the results from the brainstorming sessions. I drafted the drawing to size at 20″ x 16″. I then made a few modifications with overlapping tracing paper. It was at the point I was ready to meet with Posman again. I wanted to get his take on the direction I was heading. I also wanted to pick his brain about his children’s likes and dislikes. Eric Posman was able to help draft the drawing in it’s final stages.

The Final Piece

Color Comp - The Full Plan for Execution

Finally I was able to mock up the final piece in a digital collage combining my drawings, my references, and digital painting with my Wacom tablet. This step is not one that I often use, but it made sense with the amount of information and imagery going on within this one piece. I used this step as well to prepare a color plan for the final painting.

 

Now for the final Art!! Wooo Hooo!

After all of these steps, I finally get to paint the picture. I first redraw the entire scene on Clayboard in pencil and then I inked the board. After allowing the ink to dry, I sprayed the board with a healthy dose of Krylon Crystal Clear to seal the ink. I painted the images with many different painting techniques, including wet-on-wet, glazing and dry brush. After the paint dried, I reinked some of the areas. The piece was finished with a protective coating.

Drum roll please….

Fantasy New York Scene

Thank you for the challenge, Mr Posman. Let’s do it again sometime!

Fast Idea Generation

As an artist and designer constantly under the gun to come up with new exciting ideas and concepts, some days can really get you down as your creative engine sputters under the pressures.

Ken Hudson has written a book entitled The Idea Accelerator.  Here Thinkinghow.com has reviewed the book and offers a quick video from YouTube that reviews what Speed Thinking is and what it can do for you. Fast Idea Generation – Great Results | thinkinghow.com.

For more videos on how-to use some speedthinking skills including speed brainstorming, see Ken’s website and the 2-minute coach.  If you like what you see, you can take difference courses to help you with your speed thinking skills.

A Very Creative Halloween Costume

Creativity in a Costume Brews Patriotism

Candy Vote.

You gotta check this out.  This kid wears a costume that is a Voting Machine.  People voted by giving candy to the candidate they preferred.  Each person got one vote only.  The website is fabulous, and the videos are charming.  What a great way to celebrate our right to vote and to play up this election!

The sugar election took place in Decatur, Georgia, and the mom and son duo talk about the struggles they had to keep people from practicing voter freud and keeping people honest.  The results are astonding…

Guess who won?