Most Invaluable Art Books #1: Framed Ink by Marcos Mateu-Mestre

With every new illustration comes a cluttered desk. It's just gonna happen.

Half of my clutter is always a pile of books, and I noticed that every time, it is any of a combination of 5 books that have stayed with me since my years at SCAD. In the absence of teachers, books are key.

Starting with the one I use the most (or more like, every single time):

#1: Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers, by Marcos Mateu-Mestre

©Marcos Mateu-Mestre

Composition is my weakest point, because I gravitate towards straight-forward, flat, centered, designs, a combination which generally doesn't create very alluring compositions (unless if you're talking about Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, where this worked beautifully). My illustrations would be pretty, yes, but they weren't stunning, and Framed Ink has taught me that this is because were lacking a story.

Jennifer Ely, a badass artist and friend from SCAD, introduced me to this book after I saw how much her work had improved after reading it (not that her work wasn't awesome before).

Love me some popcorn clouds. Aren't they gorgeous?
©Jennifer Ely

By then, the book was sold out and out of print for a few months, but I snagged a copy the minute they were available again on Amazon. It has since proved invaluable every single time I have taken it out for a new illustration.

Mateu-Mestre is all about storytelling and what he calls "composing shots with a purpose." The book is packed with stunning examples drawn by the man himself, with straightforward explanations of all the calculated factors he uses to manipulate the audience's emotions and draw their attention toward anything he pleases.

It's mountains more than just playing with the angles and positions of elements to make things look nice, which is how I had always approached composition. It's about the direction the character or object is facing, whether his eyes are above or below the horizon line, whether he imposingly fits in the frame or is the smallest, visually constricted speck, whether he is surrounded by light or dark, and just so much more that I can't fit anything substantial about it in a dinky little paragraph.

This book is invaluable because it teaches by example, that a stunning illustration is one that tells a story (and an emotionally stirring one at that). I've used it on a few projects so far, including my latest Gardenia illustration, and now it is never far from my desk.

Awesome Like A Possum

Did you miss me? I am sorry. It has been a long time. Let's get this started. I have lots to share.

First: We've been published! Thanks to Matter Deep Publishing, The Electric Keychain Collective has published their first children's book!

What's it about? This:   

"A well spoken alligator (drawn by me!) contemplates whether it would be more fun to be someone else. A pharaoh sparrow, or a steampunk skunk perhaps? Possums are awesome, moose are footloose, but as our alligator decides, it’s always better to be your magnificent self. Awesome like a Possum is drawn by the seven different artists that make up The Electric Keychain Collective."

Yes, ONE picture book, SEVEN different illustrators! With the initative, art direction and general awesomeness of Carly Strickland, and the elegant prose of Will Rankeillor, of course.

Did you want to see it? Check out the book's video, awesomely read by Carly, with fun background music:

SWEET, right? Treat yourself or the children in your family by picking up a copy on Amazon!

These are my illustrations: 

"If I could be someone other than me, who in the world would I choose to be?"

"But am I graceful and elegant, like a squirrel with curls?"

"It's fun to pretend all the things I could be, but I just want to be magnificent me!"

"See you later, Alligator!"

Did you notice the birds? Richard Scarry was one of my favourite illustrators when I was a little Tati, and if you pay close attention, you'll find semi-hidden cute little jokes in his drawings. That was my inspiration for the birds, which imitate the alligator at the beginning, and wear his costumes in the end.

Did the birds learn anything? I don't know, maybe that's just the way they are.

The Magician King by Lev Grossman

This is a scene from The Magician King by Lev Grossman. I loved the image of two lone chairs sitting on a walled beach at the end of the world, so I just had to draw it myself.

 

The original image is 11.5" x 8.25", but I cropped out the excess on the sides for a more snug composition. 

In the book, there is actually a really interesting door that opens the arch, but I figured it would be more appealing to have it open in this particular composition. The door would be better seen up close anyway,  so I may still draw that some day, especially since keys and keyholes are quite fun to draw.

I am very pleased with how the colours turned out, even though they're not anywhere close to the colours I had initially pictured when reading the book. I have no qualms about using different colours than what I imagined, seeing as these worked to my liking.

The Tyger by William Blake

"Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?" 

-William Blake, 1794

Electric Keychain's last project of the year is a Calendar inspired by books. Every artist had a month to illustrate and mine was April, which is National Poetry month. I illustrated my favourite poem, William Blake's "The Tyger." Blake was also an artist, so this illustration is also a tribute to one of my favourite pieces of his, "The Ancient of Days."

I'm not an immortal hand or eye but I dared frame his fearful symmetry...in the clouds!

I love calendars and every year I have a couple decorating my wall. I'm picky with the April image since it's my birth month. Usually I look for something calm and spring-themed (rain is fine too as long as it's happy puddles rain and not dreary sadness clouds rain.) So a fierce "Tyger" in a tempestuous environment is really out of the norm for me in terms of what I'd like to see in an April image. Also figured this was a piece in which I absolutely could not lean towards my usual cutesy look.

I first read "The Tyger" in Tracy Chevalier's book "Burning Bright." She writes a lot of historical fiction aimed at the arts, which is right up my alley. I highly recommend her "Girl With a Pearl Earring."

I realized after I was done that I have been using a lot of blue-orange complementary colour schemes lately but it's been mostly coincidental. I just used colours I found worked and they happened to be blue and orange!

Today, I am featuring some lovely EK people since I was especially excited about this project. Everybody got to nerd around about books and literature and I loved seeing what everybody found close to heart from what they've read. Here's a few pieces I especially liked for particular reasons: 

Jennifer Ely's "Winter Is Coming"

©Jennifer Ely 2011

You are always in for a treat when it comes to Jenn's portraits. This summer I started reading George R. R. Martin's "Song of Ice & Fire" series and was therefore really excited when I saw her initial sketch. She has HOW MANY characters in this piece? Eight! From the wolf silhouette, to the likenesses, to the sword, to the tree, she absolutely nailed this and I can't imagine how any Game of Thrones fan would NOT love this.

Find more of Jennifer's awesome portraits at jenniferely.com

Carly Strickland's Sherlock Holmes

©Carly Strickland 2011

This is definitely my favourite piece that Carly has ever made. There was so much care put into  picking all the details and arranging them in the image. All of these items serve to portray a more accurate portrait of Holmes than just his face would do, and that is why this piece works so well.

Find more of Carly's vectors at carlystricklandart.com

Francis Anderson's Cat's Cradle, Ice-ix

©Francis Anderson 2011

Francis's piece is so effective because you make a double take. "Oh it's a gentle little snowflake, look how gingerly the hazmat guy is handling... the ice-ix that could obliterate life on Earth?!" Also, nice touch with the reflection on the helmet.

Definitely check out Francis's animations at callmefrancis.com/

Last but not least, a honorable mention for Elizabeth Allen!

©Elizabeth Allen 2011

She agreed to make a piece on extremely short notice and I was surprised to find out it was a 3D illustration. I don't often come across people who make 3D illus but I'm always intrigued by them. You're using an entirely different skill set and way of thinking, while still having to be conscious of how it will turn out as a 2D image and composition. She certainly captured the serene nature of Wordsworth's poem.

Find more of Elizabeth at lizexists.carbonmade.com/

Finally, here is a glimpse into my process work:

The Book Lady - Savannah GA

The latest Electric Keychain project is aimed towards small/local businesses. We could pick absolutely anything and I picked one of my favourite places in Savannah, The Book Lady.

 

I was very impressed the first time I visited The Book Lady. Before this, I'd only ever visited one used book store in Costa Rica, and while that was impressive, this was even more so. The stacks of books practically tower over you. It REALLY did look like your stereotypical, fairy tale bookstore. Brown tones, soft lights, brick walls, chimney, cozy sofas, so many books packed in spaces so tight that you may not be able to pass through, a soft note of old paper lingering in the air and an undisturbed silence.

But the most impressive part is that staircase at the back of the store. I've often wondered, when was the last time it was a functioning staircase (rather than a stepped bookcase?) How long have those books been there? Does any one person know exactly which books are on each step? Who lives on the top floor? Did the books populate it up until the top story tenants had no choice but to relinquish the staircase to the books?

For this piece, I'll share some of my technique/process with you.

Carly Strickland's "Sunshine's Night Out" Book Review

I usually keep posts in this blog for my personal artwork but today I am making an exception, not only because I am a book lover but for admiration towards a fellow artist and friend.

Carly Strickland is a fellow SCAD alumna and one of the nicest people I ever met there. She is also a cherished member of The Electric Keychain Collective. Today, I am happy to share with you her new children’s book “Sunshine’s Night Out” published by Matter Deep Publishing.  

©Carly Strickland

Carly describes choosing her images “based on the most theatrical way to express a concept” which is deftly delivered in the illustrations in Sunshine’s Night Out. Honestly, I couldn’t have described them better.

Sunshine the hamster does not say a single word in this book, but the endearing theatricality of her expressions conveys her thoughts and feelings loud and clear, in a way that even the youngest children can comprehend. With whimsical compositions of display text, she travels through the pages in sequential images reminiscent of comic panels. This succession of images effectively makes the reader feel as if they were watching a sweet little animated movie. 

The story presents a clear beginning, middle and end. Or a conflict, the curve in Sunshine's short but eventful nighttime journey, and a satisfying resolution. Also isn't that fun? Sunshine's having a nighttime journey. SUNSHINE. NIGHTTIME. It's great. I love it.

It is not with the unconditional praise of a friend, but with admiration as a fellow artist that I give Carly and Kyle Strickland’s “Sunshine’s Night Out” a glowing review. Carly, I am very proud of you and I eagerly hope to read more of your books in the future.


Visit Matter Deep Publishing to get your own “Sunshine’s Night Out!”

©Carly Strickland
Gotta love a book that does this with its covers.

Happy Halloween at The Electric Keychain

I am so excited to announce my new project, The Electric Keychain! We are a group of illustrators who want to create art together. For our Halloween launch date, we made costumed self-portraits. You will periodically find new work from us. We are also open to work from contributors, so, you'll also find work by many more artists!

We also have a Facebook fan page and a Twitter account @Electric_Key. Tweets by Sherbert the shocked sheep.

I absolutely wanted to include a book in my portrait and after a wonderful suggestion from Jackie, figured a witch hat would fit right in. Witches have spell books, right?

To follow the keychain theme, we also made it optional to have a key in the portrait and I definitely wanted one.

While working on this piece, I suddenly became very excited about the project since I only had the opportunity to celebrate Halloween about 3 times in my life back in Costa Rica, the last time being 2nd grade. After 2nd grade, there was a sudden, country-wide rejection of Halloween and people just sort of stopped dressing up and widely giving out candy. Since then, I sorely missed Halloween but working on this project felt like celebrating it in spirit. Happy Halloween!