Paperless Office Editorial Illustration

Assignment for a Mortgage Servicing News. Art director's brief description is pretty much all I got: "man in small office building throwing papers out of window.
Pile of paper on the street..." I took it a bit further adding too many details.
This is the concept that the AD asked for and eventually went with.

This is another concept that the AD did not ask for but liked better. The editor liked the other requested concept so the AD had to comply. This has happened over and over again with editorial clients. I thought it was the AD's job to pick the artist and the art. Isn't that what they went to school for?

I had originally painted the colors as a normal blue sky day. I liked the way a changed it. After some thumbnail sketches it was totally created on the Mac using Illustrator CS3 most 85% of the shapes and Photoshop for the painted looking parts. Total time: about 10 hours on and off for a week.

A cropped detail that surprisingly and most frustratingly communicates exactly the same thing as the un-cropped version. I could have done half the work and got paid the same! Arggh!!

Comments good and bad are welcome!

Flavor Icons

A new potato chip package design that I have recently been working on needed some small flavor icons. This is what I came up with. These chips are going to be sold mainly in vending machines with the potential of them in the stores later.

New Book Illustrations

I just finished some book illustrations for the book publisher Winepress Publishing. It's for a book titled "Righteousness and Life From Grace". These are to be used as 2 spots and 3 half page black and white illustrations. As for what they wanted pretty much all I got was this text below, with a few other questions asked. So this is simply how I translated those words into illustrations. It was quite fun to work on but that sure was a lot of people to render. Finals were created in Photoshop at actual print size at 400 dpi.

Cutaway Illustration

Over the Summer I completed a fairly complicated cutaway of a support structure for railroads. Tensar makes and designs grid systems for various industrial applications. This illustration was about railroad ballast and the slope systems. This was created using mainly Adobe Illustrator and the train is a Poser 3D model. The final was 20"x 16". Now every time I see a railroad, wall system, or slope I will have a much better understanding of how it might be built.

Current Conservation Magazine Cover

This one I'm quite proud of. I did this illustration when I was at Portfolio Center in 1993. Today I got my copy of the latest issue of Conversation Magazine and it's on the cover! I'm really glad to be apart of such a worthy cause. I'm in good company with past covers art as well. Several very well known illustrators have graced the cover and now me. Thanks to Society for Conservation Biology. Also, this has been on another magazine cover and won a Best Cover award back in 1995. An oldie but goodie. Check out some other past magazine covers here.

My process

Here is a demo I did for my Electronic Illustration class. The link to the web page not only describes my process of painting and modifying the same Photoshop image for 3 different looks of the same image. The web page itself was an actual assignment as well. The style was something really different for me and I had lots of fun illustrating it. Let me know what you think.



The students created 3 different tarot cards of their choice in a style of their choice using Photoshop and Painter and then they created a web page based on those cards talking about their process. They all worked very hard on these and a great job overall. Here are some links to the students web pages.

Mary Wall
Matt Kelly
Sarah Pettis
Fiona Handshin
Min Choi
Tanya Rodes-Colee
Alan Hawley
Jacob Smith

...more student links to come soon.

Orphan Works Legislation

The Orphan Works Act of 2008

Two new versions of the bill was introduced to Congress the week of April 25th.
New to both bills is the requirement that the U.S. Copyright Office to create and undertake a certification process for the establishment of searchable electronic databases of visual works, so that the public can view orphaned works.

From what I understand the better of the two bill is the Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008. Due to the fact that the act would enable users to exhibit orphan works to the public, the sponsors say, if the copyright owners are unable to be located after a "thorough, documented search." The legislation spells out the requirements that would be necessary to meet the standards of a search, and how a court can review the search to decide if it was adequate and done in good faith, If no copyright owner is found and the material is used and then later the copyright owner comes forward, the bill requires that the user must pay the owner "reasonable compensation."

On this site are provided sample letters from individuals representing different sectors of the visual arts. Illustrators, photographers, fine artists, reps, licensing firms, and designers: If you are opposed to the Orphan Works act, this site is yours to use. For international artists and our colleagues overseas, we’ve provided a special link, with a sample letter and instructions as to whom to write. Two minutes is all it takes to write Congress and fight for your copyrights.

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

Pick a sample letter or write your own. Type in your zip code. Your letter will be automatically addressed to your congressman and senators. Click and send.

From the ICON5 website.

The Orphan Works Bill

The Orphan Works bills recently re-introduced in the House and Senate could have a profound effect on every illustrator and the protection of our copyrights.

ICON urges you to inform yourself on this important issue. Several organizations are following this closely, and the following links will provide further information. Please check them regularly for updates and advice on actions you can take.

Illustrators' Partnership

Graphic Artists Guild

American Society of Media Photographers

National Press Photographers Association

Stay informed at these sites above.

Jay