Keeping the ball rolling ...

To keep the momentum building on my blog, I thought I'd share some old news that I neglected to mention weeks ago. My friend John Tomac, illustrator, designer and former high school and college teammate, had an illustration printed in the July issue of Runner's World magazine. RW Art Director Kory Kennedy (formerly of Rolling Stone) works with some pretty big names in the industry, so getting into Runner's World is a huge deal.

But not only did John get an illustration in the magazine, it was a full-page piece (a page ahead of Lance Armstrong's article ... fitting), narrating his own story of running and survival. Please click on the image to read the entire thing:

There is also a short video online featuring John's process.

And if you are inspired to do so, please donate to his cause.

Illustrators are talented people

On Sunday night, illustrator Shaun Tan won an Oscar for best animated short film. If you're an illustrator, you have probably already heard the news, but for those who haven't ... The film is an animated version of his picture book, The Lost Thing. Watching it feels like you are entering Tan's sketchbook. The aesthetic, the mood and the pacing all have the Shaun Tan treatment.

I am trying to comprehend how I would animate my own work, and I can't come up with a good way to do that. Taking two-dimensional images and turning them into three-dimensional, moving ideas is quite a feat. Maybe it means that my work is not meant to be animated, or maybe it means that Tan is just way, way more talented than I am.

It is worth a watch here.

Jeffrey Jones Documentary

Jeffrey Catherine Jones is one of my favorite artists. His work is emotionally evocative and mysterious and unlike any other in the field. Part of the reason I like him so much is because his early work is a little rough and maybe a little too Frazetta-derivative. His recent work, however, is breathtaking. Jones' growth as an artist gives me hope. Improvement is possible!

That is why I'm so excited about BETTER THINGS: The Life and Choices of Jeffrey Catherine Jones. I really, really hope it is released.

Visit MaCab Films to see more footage and a longer cut of the artists interviews.

If you are an artist who wants to make sure this project is released, consider making a donation.

Impressive Illustrator

Wesley Burt.

Usually I'm pretty confident in my own drawing ability ... but guys like this make me pretty envious. Don't really know anything about him, and I've never met him.

But he's impressive, so take a gander through his galleries and blog. His drawings have a great feel: realistic but not enslaved to reality. I sometimes fall into that trap. But Wesley walks the line between fantasy and reality with amazing skill.

Impressive Illustrator

I admire Steven Belledin's work. He does a lot of work for Magic: The Gathering. And get this: he works with paint! No, really. Not the software. Actual paint! I'm glad there are still a couple of us out there.

I met him briefly at GenCon '08. I had just shown my portfolio to Wizards and was feeling a little down. I asked him how he got started and if he had an artist rep ... but I forget most of the conversation. All I remember is that he worked hard eventually made his life as an illustrator work.

Which is all I want to do.

Check out Steve's gallery.

Impressive Illustrator

You've seen Michael Deas' work. You probably didn't recognize it at the time, because who thinks about the illustrator, right? His work has been on the cover of TIME and countless other publications. He's done postage stamps. He did this very iconic image to the left.

One of my college professors once said it was like having a classical painter living in modern times, which is pretty accurate. Deas' work is the modern standard of a very old aesthetic, an aesthetic which I hope to master some day.

This concept of an illustrator whose work is so pervasive in our society yet whose identity is unknown to the general public is not hard for me to understand. Every so often, someone will poke their head into my studio while I'm working (which I encourage; it's a open invitation) and ask about my work. Usually, they like what they see, but can't quite seem to understand it; how my work is used, why the pieces are so large. "Do you sell your work?" I pull out a Magic Card and show how my work is published. Then they start to understand, but often say something like, "You know, I never really thought about where those pictures came from."

Most people don't. But just think about all the images you see during the day. Probably thousands. Someone had to create those images: a photographer, a designer, hopefully an illustrator. The images didn't just appear. There are still artists out there.

Impressive Illustrator

Before I graduated in 2005, I wrote a short post on the www.theISpot.com forums, asking essentially "How can I be successful as a young illustrator?"

One of the first responses from another forum member read simply, "Be James Jean."

It wasn't a helpful response and it was mildly insulting. However, I looked up James Jean and immediately understood. I needed to improve if I was going to compete in the world of young illustrators. I interviewed him over the phone soon thereafter (I'm pretty sure I woke him up when I called) and he's actually a really nice guy, which makes it very hard to hate him for his talent.

He's the cover illustrator for the comic book, Fables, and his work can be seen in all the major magazines. His first solo art show, Kindling, opened recently at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in NYC.

Impressive Illustrator

Donato Giancola considers himself to be a fine artist who happens to make a living doing illustration. While many illustrators welcome the way their art is included in a book design, he has a tendency to cringe if the book's title covers some important part of the painting.

His trademark talents include painting metallic, reflective surfaces, and creating massive groups of figures. He must have a loyal group of models, because in one painting he may have 20 individually rendered figures.

Giancola's process allows for this level of detail. Instead of transferring his drawing onto the canvas with a projector, he draws on paper and affixes the paper to the canvas. He paints on the paper, not the canvas. That way, he draws once, not twice.

Impressive Illustrator

Gregory Manchess is who I want to be when I grow up. Seriously, have you ever seen anything as cool as this painting? It's a rare ability to be able to make a painting as epic as a big-budget movie, but Manchess has it.

in 2005, I interviewed him over the phone as part of an assignment for all RIT Illustration seniors. As I recall, we talked for quite a while, and he didn't shy away from some personal subjects. He told me a little of his personal struggles, and the idea of him creating such grand paintings while truly suffering seemed as heroic as his work.

Two years later, I saw him demonstrate his process at the Society of Illustrators. Basically, he doesn't make mistakes. That's an overstatement, obviously, but most of his brush strokes are put down once. The finished product is created in one go. Look. Plan. Mix Paint. Plan Stroke. Brush to Canvas. Done.

Impressive Illustrator

Nothing motivates me more than knowing how good other illustrators are. Although it can be discouraging, I occasionally browse other artists' sites to see what I have to live up to.

Dan Dos Santos is another CT native, and he's pretty much living the dream; killer work, great success, critical acclaim. In addition to painting about a gazillion book covers, he also continues to illustrate cards for Magic: The Gathering. When I saw him speak at the Society of Illustrators in the fall of '07, he said he had work scheduled six months in advance. How cool would that be? Man, I'm jealous.

In any case, hop on over to his website to see what I'm talking about.