Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Concept Art for "Missing Link"

Here's a conte and charcoal drawing of Australopithecus at a giraffe kill site in Amboseli, Kenya.
 

This was concept art for "Missing Link," a 1988 film with special makeup effects by Rick Baker.

8 comments:

Jim Douglas said...

For those of us not associated with the film industry, can you describe how concept art like your sketch would be used in the process of producing a film? Curious to know. Thank you.

Dongha Kim said...

Hello James! Thanks for consistent posting about your journey. I just would like to say thanks for being the you of now, and always keep posting something healthy and positive. Readind them empowers me so much and make me be able to appreciate the journey of another great person like you.
I'm sorry what I'm asking is not related to what this post covers, but I'm wrap my head around for about months because of curiosity and wonders that is hard to solve for me. How do you study for certain artists in the past, like Dean Cornwell, Frank Reilly, Frank Brangwyn, these wonderful artists?
I'm trying to look for some books that is published with their name, and research some articles about them, but I start to wonder how the more experienced artists like you studied the artist that you admired or wanted to learn from but already passed away. Because I want to buy all of their books and reading every single of them with careful observation in slow and absorbing manner, (even though if the one I picked up is not exactly about how they works, I still love reading about them as a person like how they would talked, or thought, or their history and relationship, et cetera.) but I realize if I actually do it, a hundred year is literally not enough to do so, which makes me a little sad. Because there is so many of them I want to learn from!
I guess you actually did some of these digging deeply through certain artist you love most, (those lots of recommended reading books in the end of your Color and Light and Imaginative Realism.. I want to read all of them someday. I'm swimming through the pile of book now like student would do)
so I worried about that whether I'm trying to shortcutting something that I need to solve on my own effort by asking these questions or not..

Anyways, thank you James! I will always appreciate your work, and not only that, but the journey of you!

James Gurney said...

Jim, my job was to research what's known in the science and provide a range of design choices for Rick Baker and the rest of the team. My sketches explored poses, expressions, and scenarios to inspire other artists farther down the pipeline.

Vladimir Venkov said...

Wonderful sketch James! As for the missing link - have you heard about the "Stoned Ape Hypothesis"? Some scientists are connecting our evolutionary jump with the discovery of the psychedelic drugs by our predecessors. Here a link to an interesting article: https://www.inverse.com/article/34186-stoned-ape-hypothesis

Jim Douglas said...

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to Research and Inspire! You gotta love working as a member of a creative team. When everything clicks, it's the closest artists get to winning the Super Bowl. Cheers & Merry Christmas!

James Gurney said...

Dongha, I just set aside a sketchbook for making copies of art that I liked. Just quick sketches, mostly. Nothing fancy and it doesn't have to take long.

Vladimir, fascinating. I'll check that out.

Jim, you're right: working as a team is quite a joy. I can say that from working on Fire and Ice, but on the Link I was quite isolated from the rest of the team.

Dongha Kim said...

Thanks James, I will try it soon!

Dongha Kim said...

Thanks James, I will try it soon!