Sunday, December 19, 2010

Watts Atelier 2011 Winter Schedule

The NEW Winter 2011 class schedule for the Watts Atelier is available. The Fall term has just ended and we recommend early registration for the next term. Classes fill up quick. The new session starts January 11th. Here is a list of classes I will be teaching:

REILLY ABSTRACTION: HEAD AND FIGURE
Tuesdays 2:30-5:30pm



HEAD,FIGURE, AND QUICKSKETCH
Tuesdays 7:00pm-10:00pm



FIGURE INVENTION
Thursdays 10:00am-1:00pm



HANDS,FEET, AND DRAPERY
Thursdays 2:30pm-5:30pm



Click on a class above to be directed to the class page. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Goblin Corps Book Cover





Here is the cover I did for Ari Marmell's Goblin Corps book due out third quarter of next year. Most of you have seen this since it was part of my IlluXCon post, but here it is with tile and all. I got to read the manuscript for this book and it's a good one! Think, LOTR meets Inglorious Bastards. It follows a band of elite, evil warriors who are sent on several secret, suicide missions for The Dark Lord's campaign. You will find yourself rooting for the "bad guys". Head on over to Ari's site for more info:

Ari Marmell

Sunday, December 12, 2010

New WoW Illustrations: Worldbreaker Set

Here are a few new WoW illustrations from the new Worldbreaker set. All of these are oil on masonite.





Friday, December 3, 2010

Watts Atelier - Student Years: Gouache Class

I thought I'd try a new post section. I'm calling it "Watts Atelier - Student Years". This will be some of my studies and memories from when I was a full time student. I still consider myself a student and probably always will be, however this will be a record of my first few years at The Atelier. I will share some of my drawings, paintings, and how The Watts Atelier has helped me become the artist I am today.



The first post of this series is about the Gouache classes that the school has. I found this to be a great transitional class between drawing and paintings. The way the media is taught is very much like drawing with a little extra. In this class is where I was first introduced to the term "Tiling". The term refers to a shape placed next to another shape with an assigned value and color that will give the illusion of form rolling into or away from light. Tiling helped me build a discipline in how I approached each piece of art. I had to understand the nuts and bolts to give each tile it's accurate shape and value.




Gouache is a media that I love to use. Of course it does have it's idiosyncrasies, like lighter values drying darker and darker values drying lighter. In the beginning, trying to figure out how much water to use with how much paint can be a challenge. The reward in the end though is great! I still use gouache for color comps, small master studies, and even just for sketching. It's a media that is easy to travel with, easy to clean up, and relatively inexpensive.

The Gouache classes I took at The Atelier were pivotal in my education. Gouache was a great bridge for when I went from drawing to oil painting and I still carry a lot over from gouache into my oils. If you ever get the chance to study gouache with someone who does it well, I highly recommend it!