Flying Fish

Herbert James Draper (1863-1920) was another one of those lesser-known Victorian painters who combined good drawing with a romantic sensibility in his painting of mythological subjects.


He based the painting “Flying Fish” on a charcoal study from a live model. The figure’s pose, with the foreshortened near arm, is delightful. He keeps his tonal masses simple. The light mass is kept light throughout, allowing much of the upper figure to read very delicately as light-against-light.

Images from the “Inspirational Works of Art” archive (which contains some artistic nudity). Thanks, Keita!

If you like Draper, you’ll like Waterhouse, Leighton, Tadema, Solomon, and Dicksee.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bernard_Dicksee

And there's a 2003 book on Herbert Draper.

Ilya Shinshik

Many Dinotopia characters went through various stages until I was happy with them. The mountain farmer from Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara was one example.

Normally I try to catch problems in the sketch stage, but this time I was nearly finished with the transparent oil rendering when I realized that this character looked too similar to other characters in the book. Also, the potato he was feeding to the dinosaur looked sort of like a rock.

So I took the pose again and repainted him as a bearded man of Russian descent, made his outfit red, and changed the potato to a Burmese turnip. His name Ilya Shinshik evokes my two favorite Russian painters: Ilya Repin and Ivan Shishkin.

When it comes to such corrections, oil is very forgiving. Naturally, I had to restate everything more opaquely and paint white over the parts I needed to cover. But the change only took a day, and the first character was never seen again--until now.

Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara from Amazon
Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara signed from the Dinotopia Store

Restaurant Talk

Here are fourteen universal standard lines used verbatim by table servers in the USA.

1. Table for four? (...and until recently: “Smoking or non?”)
2. Can I start you off with something to drink?
3. Our specials today are...”
4. Can I take your order?
5. How would you like that?
6. Your order will be right out.
7. Fresh ground pepper? (Holding grinder over salad) Tell me when.
8. How's everything?
9. Are you still working on that?
10. Can I take that out of your way?
11. Room for dessert?
12. Warm up on your coffee?
13. Are you ready for your check?
14. I’ll take that when you’re ready.

Explaining Summer Solstice

Summer solstice comes to the northern hemisphere on June 21 at 1:16 P.M. Eastern time. Here's a clear explanation of the sun's behavior in relation to the tilted axis of Earth.
Direct link to YouTube video

Thanks, Michael

Loomis’s figure drawing book is available again.

One of the classic books on figure drawing by a master illustrator from the mid-20th century is available again.



Figure Drawing for All It's Worth was one of my favorites when I was starting out, and I copied many plates from it. For a long time it was out of print and very expensive. The new edition from Titan books is very well produced with good paper and accurate tonality.

 Figure Drawing for All It's Worth by Andrew Loomis
 Thanks, Charley!

Building Fantastical Worlds

Communication Arts magazine has just posted an article by Lisa Cyr based on interviews with Spiderwick creator Tony DiTerlizzi and me.


The article explores how imaginary worlds from illustrated books can develop into other media, such as  film and games.


"Building Fantastical Worlds" at CA
Tony DiTerlizzi's official website
Wondla to be adapted by Paramount
Images from Simon & Schuster and Paramount

Cloud Streets

Cloud streets are parallel rows of cumulus clouds that line up in the direction of a steady wind.


The lines are typically about five miles apart, with clear sky between, and they can extend for hundreds of miles.

Also called "horizontal convective rolls," they often form over flat country in spring or summer when the wind is blowing beneath an inversion layer. As the wind travels under that layer, it divides into a series of counterrotating cells. Where the air in two adjacent cells lifts upward, a line of clouds forms, and where they join to spin downward, clear air prevails.

Glider pilots can stay aloft for miles by following cloud streets.

Wikipedia on Horizontal Convective Rolls
Photo by Stu Ostro from Weather.com

Art makes us feel like we’re in love

In a recent study, Semir Zeki, Professor of Neuroaesthetics at the University College of London has shown that artwork stimulates the same centers of the brain that are active when we fall in love.



His research has shown that looking at an inspiring painting activates reward centers and releases the “feel-good” neurotransmitter dopamine.

Previously on GJ: Neuroaesthetics, with Semir Zeki interview
Professor Zeki's Blog
Zeki's book: Splendors and Miseries of the Brain: Love, Creativity, and the Quest for Human Happiness

Where is Your Head?

My friend Nenko Genov of Bulgaria made a short film recently about our mechanical way of life, where we do things without using our heads.


Where Is Your Head from Nenko Genov on Vimeo.
A little dinosaur sketch that I sent him makes a cameo appearance in the film, pinned on the refrigerator door at 2:59. Thanks, Nenko!

Illustration Master Class 2011

Illustration Master Class was in full swing in Amherst, Massachusetts, when we arrived yesterday.


Here's student Mark Helwig with his dragon reference maquette, made of Super Sculpey. He told me that it's his first time using Sculpey. There are about 100 students from all over the world, some using digital, some traditional, and some combining the two.

The workshop lasts a week, and at this stage the students have already gotten their sketch approved, gathered reference, and transferred the drawings onto the painting surface. Many of the students are professionals themselves, but everyone is trying something new, sharing techniques with each other, and staying up late hours.


IMC is team-taught by a faculty of guests and regulars, so students get plenty of opinions (not always agreeing opinions) about their sketches. I'm here for a day and a half as a guest speaker.

Back row: me, Greg Manchess, Dan Dos Santos, Irene Gallo, Scott Allie, Jeff Mack, Donato Giancola. Front Row: Adam Rex, Scott Fischer, Iain McCaig, Rebecca Guay, Julie Bell, and Boris Vallejo (Peter d.S. was away on a phone call).

 
Here's a sketch of Mo Willems, who did a slide show, explaining the anatomy of a children's picture book.

Peter de Sève did a wonderful presentation about his life in caricature and character design. Later on, Rebecca (left) treated us to a faculty supper at a Chinese restaurant, where Peter and Mo showed us other ways to think about those take-out containers.