Patrick McEvoy's Megaflow news

Ninja Mountain - the awful, terrible truth!

2009-05-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

I thought that listeners to the Ninja Mountain Podcast might appreciate a little rundown on just how it got started. I just realized that we've just passed our 16th week. FOUR MONTHS! We really had no idea we could do this thing weekly for so long...

The story behind the Ninja Mountain podcast is really two stories - there's the podcast, and there's Ninja Mountain, the group.

Long before our podcast took the universe by storm, Ninja Mountain existed as a loose collective of artists working in the Fantasy/SF/Horror genres, mostly in the field of Roll Playing Games, Collectible Card Games, and the like. The initial gang mostly met at the rpg.net forums, and put together the core group at that time. And it's still going strong, with a stalwart cadre of 20 or so artists who meet online to discuss their latest jobs, sketches they've done, art they dig, and just shoot the breeze.

I was invited to join (totally out of the blue - I still don't quite know how!) way back in mid-2005. I realized pretty early on that this was a perfect coterie for me, in that I don't really feel too comfy in public forums, but a nice small, talented group like this would be just right.

You can see a list of most of the members here: http://www.ninjamountain.net/

(And an aside - I really don't know why more artists don't do this! A smallish private league of like-minded artists is a really good idea. We don't do projects together as a team, or make calendars or have bake sales. Just hanging out to talk art and stuff. Suggestion to the world: you should try it!)

Anyway, some time last year I got it in my head that we really had a lot of fun talking to each other, and we had some really kickass artists on the Mountain, so maybe, just maybe, a Podcast would be fun, and a good way to get our names out there some more, as all freelancers must. And because, you know, all the really cool kids are doing it! And aside from all the artistic talent, I was pretty sure that having such an international bunch (North America, South America, U.K., Northern Europe, and Australia all represented) would make for some fun-sounding discussions if nothing else.

Now, as with any project involving artists, it took a lot of time to get it together. ("Herding cats" is a phrase not altogether inappropriate for the process). Not that people weren't interested, but we all had to figure out when we'd have the time, and I had to figure out how to make a podcast from different locations, and we needed to discuss just what we could possibly talk about. After all if we were going to talk for a WHOLE HOUR wouldn't we run out of things to say?

(Actually I knew all along we'd be fine with that. I mean, have you ever sat at a convention and listened to a gaggle of artists chatting? We're talkative folk. Just try and stop us...)

Finally, a date was decided upon. Jeremy McHugh, Jon Hodgson and I were ready to do it! I would record and edit, Jon made the music and stings for stitching parts together, and Jeremy - at literally the last moment before we started recording - volunteered to be the MC. A great call that turned out to be! You can hear the fruits of that labor in our first astounding episode, made way back in the distant past: January of 2009.

(For those wondering, we were then and still are as of this writing doing things on a very low budget. We use Skype to conference, which is free. I record with CallRecorder (the only part of the process that actually cost anything), then edit in Audacity and mix tracks in Garage Band. Oh, and Jeremy and Jon do backup recordings, which have come in handy in the past!)

That first one went pretty well for us. With Jon's great sense of humor, Jeremy's sonorous tones, and, um, me, we thought we had a good core group. From there things gelled pretty quickly. The inestimable Andy Hepworth joined in the very next week, not only making a great addition to the mix (as our only Anime expert, for one thing!) but also giving us the vague idea that 4 or 5 was a good number to shoot for in the weekly cast.

That lineup stayed consistent for over a month, but in March, for episode 6, we finally started getting some more Ninjas to join in, and things have been on a constant roil since! That episode Kieran Yanner joined us for the first time of many, and Scott Johnson joined us for the only time so far (though we keep hoping for another!).

Other Ninja Members started coming on more frequently after Kieran and Scott broke the ice. Also we've had one special guest, superstar illustrator Von Glitschka. Hopefully we'll be getting some more guests on again soon.

Here's a list of everyone from our collective who's been on so far, roughly in order of appearance, with their inaugural episodes in parenthesis.

Jeremy McHugh (1)
Jon Hodgson (1)
Patrick McEvoy (1)
Andy Hepworth (2)
Kieran Yanner (6)
Scott Johnson (6)
Anne Stokes (8)
Ralph Horsley (8)
Mattias Snygg (8)
Scott Purdy (10)
Socar Myles (13)
Sam Araya (14)

Wow - what a grouping of talent! You can find links to all of them on the aforementioned Ninja Mountain home page. And as you can see, there are still several more Ninjas we must yet coerce into making appearances.

Of course we're still going strong, and have even had a few shows now without Jon or me. Jeremy's record is still 100% though, but he has the vigor of youth. We record pretty much every Wednesday, though some Tuesday sessions have happened as well. It's in the evening for the UK crowd, which is noon (or maybe 1:00) for me on the West Coast U.S.

Oh - and our blog is HOPPING! Loads of great comments from listeners every week, with good discussions and ideas for show topics and just some nice feedback on the episodes. If you haven't left a message there yet, you really should. After all, it's our only payment.

Well, I guess if that was the sort of thing you are interested in then you may have found it interesting. Now you have a bit of history and context for the weekly madness - I beg you to use your knowledge responsibly!

If you have any questions I didn't answer (but really, what are the odds of that...) feel free to ask!

Ninja Mountain Podcast update

2009-05-05T08:55:00.001-07:00

We're in the process of putting together this week's Ninja Mountain show right now. The first step is always seeing who's available and when. We usually record on Wednesday around 8 - 9PM GMT (or noonish my time), but we move times around when needed. And sometimes we do secondary recordings on Tuesday if folks can do that day instead.

Clockwork precision, that's our motto!

Anyway, since I hadn't mentioned any of the specific podcasts for a while, I should make a note here that the last two episodes introduced newcomers to the show. Episode 13 had the debut of Socar Myles, wonderful former-digital-artist and current incredible pen-and-ink artist. And the most recent episode 14 had the first appearance of Sam Araya, zombie artist extraordinaire, along with Anne Stokes' second time on the show.

Be sure to keep up with all the latest at http://ninjamountain.blogspot.com

My Favorite Books 5 - the "me" edition!

2009-04-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

In a blatant display of vile narcissism, I thought I'd do an entry in my "favorite art books" series where all the books feature... ME! :) Though by no means all of the books I've worked on - there are a plethora of RPG books out there with my covers and interiors - this is a fun bunch of mostly-art or instruction books.

The Art Of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos

If you like Lovecraft and/or my art, this is probably the book for you! It's an incredibly well-realized volume of art from the "Call of Cthulhu" collectible card game, for which I was a major contributor. There are about 30 pieces of mine here, as well as boatloads of other very cool and creepy art by top illustrators of the strange (and a number of fellow Ninja Mountain members!)

World Of Warcraft: The Art Of The Trading Card Game
This is another book featuring art from a collectible card game. And what spectacular art it is, too! Only a couple of mine in here, but if you're a fan of fantasy art OR World of Warcraft, this is a good one.

Fall of Cthulhu Vol. 2: The Gathering

I just did covers for this comic book series from Boom! Studios, but I was very happy with the cover for issue #9, and they used it as the cover for this collection. Fall of Cthulhu has a GREAT story for the Lovecraft fan, so it was a real blast to be a part of such a cool project.

Drawing & Painting Fantasy Beasts

This is a great instructional book by Kev Walker and various other artists - including me! Also, there are several other Ninja Mountain regulars in this: Anne Stokes, Ralph Horsley, and Jon Hodgson. For each of our segments we wrote the text and did all the art and instructional material. I did three of the creatures: Desert Elemental, Sea Elemental and my favorite, the Forest Elemental.

The Fantasy Figure Artist's Reference File with CD-ROM

With tons of pictures of Fantasy characters to use as reference, this is an interesting but flawed book. The major problem is that the photographer took shots with too much foreshortening, but at the same time they aren't very dynamic. Should be one or the other, I would think. But at ANY rate, don't worry about that! I did lots of sketches throughout the book, so that has to count for something. Doesn't it? :)

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Well, thanks for bearing with me as I bring you the best in me. Next time out I'll try for something with a little more broad-based interest!

Oh, and one more thing! If you're reading this blog and not following me on Twitter, you're missing out on my continuous stream of utterly brilliant babbling. Follow the hell out of me.

Another simple piece - steps

2009-04-27T09:21:00.001-07:00

Here's another piece from that Necronomicon assignment. Pretty much exactly the same process here. For this one, I found that I'd saved my original sketch page, so I'll show you the painstaking procedure to get to the final drawing.

Well... not really. :) Actually I don't usually take a lot of time sketching unless I'm really stuck. I usually just try to imagine what's going to happen without drawing, which is quicker for me. Didn't used to be that way, but it's something I've developed over the years. (Years! Has it really been "years"? Wow...)

Idea sketches. Mostly just nailing down the unique anatomy for the creature. This is the "Gug", whom I'd never read about before. His double arms are interesting in that they break off at the elbow. I try to stay just loose and gestural in this phase so that I don't get "married" to any particular lines in the drawing. (15 mins including reading the brief.)

Final drawing. As you can see I based it on the final sketch from the previous page - I'd already had this pose in mind when I started. (20 mins)

Here I've added the median filter to the pencils to blob them up a bit, added a texture layer, and added a few of the initial light/dark values (using mostly dodge/burn. (10 mins)

Here I've skipped a few steps, but as with the Cthulhu piece I went into Painter and smudged it up, then back into Photoshop for detailing. Most of the details are done just with a simple round brush, though there are a few random-ish texture bits that used a sponge-texture brush. (about 1 hour)

Here's the final. The main difference between this step and the last is that I've punched up a few highlights, and added one more texture layer on top (it's a photo of a concrete floor, desaturated and set to 20% multiply). (10 mins)

Well, this one wasn't much different from the last one, really. I'll do a color piece next time! Let me know what you think, as always!

My Favorite Books 4 - storytelling

2009-04-20T09:06:00.001-07:00

You thought I'd forgotten about my "Favorite Books" series didn't you? Ha! You only wish...

Here are some books on comics and storytelling. Even if you're NOT a comic book artist (or wanting to be one) these should be very valuable sources of inspiration and info about that most vital of component of the illustrator's craft - how to tell a story visually. Whether with a whole book of panels or a single drawing, we need to get the idea across as much punch and entertainment as possible. These books have a lot of the nutritious information you need, plus they're pretty good reads as well.

Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner

Will Eisner, the master of comic book storytelling gives us the basic building blocks and principles of comics. It had never been put in print before, and this book still holds up as perhaps the main pillar of graphic storytelling theory. If you are at all serious about telling stories visually, you should give this one a try. (And if you haven't read his Spirit comics you really should - especially the five years or so after WWII. Those are some of the greatest comics every made!)

Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative

Where Comics and Sequential Art gave us a framework for graphic storytelling theory, this book goes more into the practical techniques of effective storytelling, with lots of examples from both Eisner's work and that of other comics masters along the way. Eisner shares his genius in a clear and entertaining manner as always - you need to read this book if you haven't already!

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

Scott McCloud's amazing book covers not just comics, but really his philosophy on art and creativity. This is a must-have book for visual storytellers of all types. Clear yet deep, funny in places and always useful.

A simple piece - steps

2009-04-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

I accidentally overwrote my incredible prose for this step-by-step of a black-and-white illo, but you'll get the idea from the pictures alone, I hope! (sorry!)

That's it! The whole thing took about 3 hours, and probably would have been a lot less without all those tentacles. ;)

Drawing!!

2009-03-31T22:03:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a busy week or so here. My Marvel contract is on hiatus for a little while, as they busily re-schedule movies, so I was left hanging a bit. Luckily my friends have been coming through for me with leads - remember how much we stressed networking on Ninja Mountain? Well, it's really been important as I try to rev-up old contacts and make new ones quickly.

So, that's left me at the start of several projects at once, as well as working on pencils for Starkweather: Immortal (my comic book series with Dave Rodriguez, published by Archaia). And what all these things have in common is that I'm drawing! Almost exclusively for the last week I've been working at my drawing table because since all this stuff is at the beginning phase, that's where they all happen to start.

Of course, I've done some penciling work at my Marvel gig, but I'd say easily 70% of my assignments have involved painting over someone else's pencils, with maybe a little "patch" work. You know, drawing a new arm or hand or face, or maybe updating the costume.

But now...

Aside from many, many Starkweather pages, I've done a drawing for a card for Upper Deck, a cover for Boom! studios, the drawing for a commission painting (now I have to get up the nerve to paint it!) and 19 drawings of Lovecraft creatures for a Necronomicon-based book. I don't think I've gone through this many pencils in the last year put together!

And it's funny - I think I'm getting better at this drawing thing. I say this with no false modesty: drawing is my weakest skill. I think I'm pretty good at rendering, which I love, and concepts and layout, but the actual drawing portion of things is my least-favorite thing. And sometimes it shows.. But this last couple of weeks - once I shook out the cobwebs - has gone pretty well. I'm not going to say I'm loving it, or anything, but it's been a little bit less of a chore lately.

But I can't wait to get back to rendering!

This week's update!

2009-03-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

Last week was a bit lost as we visited my Mom up in Oregon. This week I mostly want to pimp the new NINJA MOUNTAIN. It's HUGE this week with three separate segments featuring a total of 7 art ninjas. Enjoy!

http://ninjamountain.blogspot.com

Also we got a great shout-out on Jon Schindehette's blog - you should check it out if you aren't reading it:

http://artorder.blogspot.com/

Ninja Mountain Podcast - Episode 6

2009-03-07T22:04:00.000-08:00

Don't miss it! This episode features Ninja Mountain members Kieran Yanner and Scott Johnson. It's a lot of art talk by a lot of artists!

http://ninjamountain.blogspot.com

Be sure to let us know what you think!

WonderCon wrap-up

2009-03-02T23:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back from WonderCon and boy are my arms tired. Literally! I had to carry a bunch of luggage close to a mile, and my muscles still feel stretched...

First, I just wanted to give a big thanks to everyone who came to my Digital Painting seminar at WonderCon. I had an incredible time, and it was great to see so MANY people in the audience. I was truly wondering if everyone was in the right place. :) But you laughed in all the right places and asked great questions. AND the applause at the end was unexpected and touching.

And thanks to all for being so forgiving of my fumbling around on the PC keys. I only got stuck a couple of times... Maybe someday I'll get a Mac laptop instead of having to borrow my friend's PC (and thanks again for my pal Salaam for swinging it by for me).

I sent a letter off to the programming director at WonderCon and asked how I'd be able to do the same thing at SDCC - I had that much fun. I'd do a similar show with some different pictures and a LOT more of an idea how to work the PC this time. I think it might be fun. I'll let you know if that goes anywhere.

Also, it was spectacular catching up with friends and meeting new ones. The Archaia booth was hopping - Nick (who let me share his hotel room), Kat & Josh (who picked up sandwiches), Marv, Dave & Julia (and Jeremy at dinner) - and good times were had by all. Also nice to see Chip, Mike, Matt and Ross from Boom! studios. And a friend of mine, Tania, came by to see what was up with the show, as she'd never been to one before. She ended up spending the entire afternoon wandering around by herself on the showroom floor checking out every damn booth in the hall. I was quite glad to turn someone on to the wonders that are a comics convention.

I missed seeing Stephanie Pui-mun Law (which was my fault entirely - I looked in Artist's Alley but couldn't find her) and I somehow missed connecting up with any of my Twitter followers. But overall, I can't complain. It's a well-run show in a very nice convention center in a very cool city. I'll be happy to be there again next year.

My favorite books part 3: painting!

2009-02-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

We've reached the meat of things now: painting books. If you haven't read the other posts in my series you can find them here and here. And now, take a deep breath and let's dive into some paint!

The Fantasy Art Techniques Of Tim Hildebrandt, Jack Norton

Have you ever wanted to look into the mind of one of the great Fantasy illustrators? This book should fulfill that daydream nicely. Tim Hildebrandt is without a doubt one of the best ever in his genre, and certainly one of my favorites. He has invaluable things to say on a broad range of subjects from the conceptual to the specific: color, lighting, composition, using models, even putting together your portfolio. There’s sage advice from beginning to end of this lavishly illustrated volume.

Welcome to My Studio, Helen Van Wyk
Color Mixing the Van Wyk Way, Helen Van Wyk
Helen Van Wyk's Favorite Color Recipes, Helen Van Wyk

If you’re learning about Oils, these are the books for you, but as with all painting books they have fantastic value to you DIGITAL painters as well. Because principles are principles, and you can take the Oil lessons easily to Painter or Photoshop.

Helen Van Wyk was a fantastic instructor; if you find that her “Welcome to my Studio” TV shows are playing in your area, you should watch them without fail! These books do a great job of distilling her vast knowledge and presenting them in a friendly and lucid manner. Expect to find lots of information about color theory, lighting, artistic observation, composition, and most importantly "lost edges" and how to use them in an effective rendering.

One note: I have no earthly idea why the second book I've listed is out of print; it's one of the best books on color in painting I've seen. If you blanch at the price of the used books right now(I don't blame you) try looking around for a bargain. It WILL be worth the search.

Painting Sharp Focus Still Lifes: Trompe L'Oeil Oil Techniques, Ken Davies
Ken Davies, artist at work

Ken Davies is an Oil painter, and these books feature only oils, but they contain principles that should prove equally useful to artists working in any medium: Acrylic, watercolor, pencils or even digital. His techniques concentrate mainly on observation, critical thinking and practice, and these skills transfer winningly to any artistic endeavor.

The first one, “Painting Sharp Focus Still Lifes”, was released in 1974, and is the larger of the two. It is written as an art course, immediately plunging us into interesting and challenging assignments. And make no mistake - this is not a book for beginners! Davies writes in the introduction:

“The information [in this book] is intended for the serious student or the experienced painter who is willing to devote many hours of hard work to practicing the essentials. It is not for the hobbyist or the casual ‘Sunday painter.’”

The second book by Davies, “Artist at Work,” is mostly demonstrations, with a short “materials and methods” section at the beginning. What makes this book interesting in its own right is that it includes a serious discussion of how and why Davies makes individual choices in his paintings, from color to composition to subject. It's about the "What, How and Why", as he puts it in the introduction.

These books are currently out of print, but can be found online for not much more than a new high-quality hardback art book. They get my very highest recommendation - would I be overstating it to suggest that all serious painters specializing in realism should have these in their libraries? Probably, but not by much!

Oil Painting Techniques and Materials

I'll wrap up this part of the list with perhaps my favorite book on the subject of painting. As the title implies, this is a book about Oil Painting, though it covers general areas very well such as composition and aesthetics.

However, it's an amazing book not only for the things covered in the title (traditional realism techniques in oil) but for Speed's unique view of the world of Oil painting in the 1920's (it was originally printed in 1924); a time when impressionism was already mainstream and abstraction was coming into ascendance, but hadn't yet completed its complete takeover of the fine art world. Therefore, you will find many random scraps wisdom about how one can marry the useful techniques of the impressionists and other more modern schools with traditional realism, before the total polarization of styles occurred only a few years later. (A schism we're only now overcoming, sadly).

Additionally, there is an all-too-brief section on the theories and techniques of several past masters. He even has a few paragraphs on the paint-application techniques of the Pre-Raphaelites, which is quite an eye-opener (before reading this, I hadn't realized their technique was so unusual).In short, it's an essential technique book because of the content, and a great read because of the subtext. What more could you ask for?

My favorite books, part the second

2009-02-22T10:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some more of my favorite art & illustration technique books. This series is my idea of an indispensable library for professional or aspiring illustrators, especially someone in the SF/Fantasy/comics field like me. I'm a bit of a book nut, so I have lots to choose from!

How to Draw Animals, Jack Hamm

Of course it's best to draw from nature when possible, or photographs when available, but as with any subject a good idea of what you're drawing, and pointers on the details to look for, can be invaluable. Jack Hamm, in this book and his other classic how to books, approaches minute details with a passion that can perhaps best be described as clinically insane. If you need a quick reference for how to construct a drawing of a large variety of mammals, this should do the trick.

The Artist's Guide to Animal Anatomy, Gottfried Bammes
This animal anatomy book, on the other hand, approaches things from a more holistic direction than the Hamm book does. Here we see the bone structure and the underlying muscles and tendons,and how these things effect the fur and skin that you see on the surface. As well, there are an ample number of stylistic examples throughout. Bammes has a lot of focus on gesture drawing and the effect of different media on the final outcome of the rendering. Hamm's book is a great quick reference/reminder for the working illustrator, but this book by Bammes is more of a ground-up tutorial for beginning and intermediate artists.

Creative Perspective for Artists and Illustrators, Ernest Watson

While other books explain perspective more thoroughly, or more engagingly, or even in a more organized fashion, there is no book that does quite what this one does: it explains when and why you need to use perspective, as well as how. There are also some simply amazing ideas on how to "cheat"; - either with time-saving shortcuts or by exaggerating/distorting perspective for illustrative effect. I'd recommend this book for people with intermediate skills - if you already know the basics, this is an invaluable volume.

Perspective! For Comic Book Artists, David Chelsea

This is an exceptional book for several reasons. First, it's done in a comic-book format, like Scott McCloud's remarkable "Understanding Comics". Most importantly it's the best ground-up, basics-to-advanced perspective book I've found, and I've read dozens! The clear narrative is fun to read and also filled with practical examples - and since it's done in that comic book style, those examples are actually a part of the story. Very clever, very useful, and not to be missed.

That's it for this post. Next time out out I'll feature several invaluable books on painting - books which I think are not only great for traditional painters but also those who work digitally (which is most of my work these days, too!)

Ninja Mountain Podcast - Episode 4

2009-02-20T23:04:00.000-08:00

You know the drill - Art podcast, it's awesome, I'm in it, go listen!

Click here to get Episode 4.

Or...

iTunes is another fine way to listen!

My favorite books, part one

2009-02-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

So, I did a book review article a few years ago for Epilogue, wherein I listed all my favorite illustration technique and art theory books, and I was thinking - why not re-do that here, with a few additions and updates to bring it into... the future! I'll split it up over a few posts to make it a bit more bite-sized.

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One subject artists like to talk about is art technique books. The ones they love, the ones they hate, the ones they can’t do without. Everyone has their favorites, and I certainly have mine.

First, a bit of info about my library might be interesting: I have a hobby of sorts, which is reading and collecting books on art technique. I have lots of obscure artists’ magazines from the 1930s and ’40s, and even a number of tutorial books from the 1920’s era. The great thing about these is that they are from the aptly termed “Golden Age of Illustration”. There was, at that time a vast, popular appreciation for illustrators, many of whom had the sort of superstar status which is today reserved for performing geniuses like Britney Spears and Keanu Reeves. With this popular support came an exceedingly high standard of craft, which is reflected in the books of the time; they can be very enlightening.

I counted the other day, and I'm up to about 250 technique/artist books, plus another 400 or so reference books. Quite a library! And here's a few of my favorites.

Rendering in Pen and Ink, Arthur Guptill
Rendering in Pencil, Arthur Guptill
Color in Sketching and Rendering, Arthur Guptill
I’ll start with my favorite writer on the subject of art: Arthur Guptill. The man just flat-out knows how to write an instruction book! I re-read these and other books of his periodically, just for the joy of running my eyes over his prose and excellent examples. Even though they were written in the 1930’s and ’40s, they are as useful today as they ever were. They all center around architectural and landscape rendering, rather than figure drawing. But that's fine with me, as there are plenty of books out there that focus only on drawing people. And (I've found) most of us need to work more on our architecture anyway..

Amazingly, two of these books, Rendering in Pencil and Color in Sketching and Rendering, are out of print, though they seem to print the Pencil book every few years, so it’s easier to find. These books are complete, they’re easy to follow, and they include lots and lots of stunning examples by different top artists of the day, representing as many different styles as Guptill could find, it seems.

I still grab one of these books off the shelf to read in bed every few months or so to look through. They're always entertaining and still educational. Along with Figure Drawing for All It's Worth by Loomis, I think the one indispensable book for any beginning illustrator is Rendering in Pen and Ink.

The Illustrator’s Bible, Rob Howard
The subtitle (though potentially coma-inducing) says it all: The Complete Sourcebook of Tips, Tricks, and Time-Saving Techniques in Oil, Alkalyd, Acrylic, Gouache, Casein, Watercolor, Dyes, Inks, Airbrush, Scratchboard, Pastel, and Mixed Media. They couldn't say it if it wasn't true, could they? Well, maybe they could, but in this case it's true anyway...

It ’s very well written and filled with unexpected tips from the personal experiences of a very good commercial artist. If you're at all interested in traditional media (and you should be!) I think you’ll enjoy it.

Figure Drawing for All It's Worth, Andrew Loomis
Creative Illustration, Andrew Loomis
(Out of Print)
You may have heard of Loomis, but until you have read one of his books you simply don’t know what you are missing. Here is a man who is both a master illustrator and a master teacher. His knowledge and his ability to convey this knowledge in print are both breathtaking. I'm truly sure that everything you would ever need to know about being a professional illustrator is contained within these books - the rest you could teach yourself.

The subjects covered in these books are all indispensable to any illustrator: from basic techniques such as perspective, composition, figure drawing and using reference, to such advanced ideas as how to proceed from a client’s brief to final art.

Sadly, problems between Mr. Loomis’ estate and potential publishers have kept these and other Loomis books out of print for 30 years or more. Walter Foster offers some VERY truncated volumes, but they’re really only useful for looking at the pretty pictures - I’m afraid I can’t recommend those. There’s good news though - you can sometimes find some scanned versions of the books online. If you dig hard enough It’s a pain but it’s better than nothing… Or you can save up your money and buy one yourself, but expect to spend $75 - $250 or more, depending mostly on the edition and condition.

Keep your eyes peeled for a bargain - they’re worth it. In the meantime, the links above will take you to Amazon where there are usually some used copies for sale at various prices.

Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life, George Bridgman
(a.k.a. Bridgman’s Life Drawing)
Bridgman’s easy-to-follow “constructive anatomy” technique is a great standard, and very useful to the working artist. This book is not very expensive, and can often be found used.

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Well, that's it for this time. I really hope you take a look at some of these, you won't regret it. I'll post some more soon.

More Ninja Mountain goodness - Episode 3!

2009-02-13T12:55:00.000-08:00

http://ninjamountain.blogspot.com/2009/02/ninja-mountain-podcast-episode-3.html

Hope you enjoy the new one. Same group as last time (me, Andy, Jon and Jeremy), and this time we talk about clients, contracts, payment and how to deal with deadbeats. It's a big discussion, and it goes over an hour this time.

Also, I talk about the Genuine Fractals utility (which I love), and we briefly discuss a few of our favorite books.

We're going to make these regular segments (books and tools), though we don't have any clever names for them. If you can think of anything other than "tool tips" and "book corner", let me know. If you have a clever enough idea, we'll use it and give you a shout out on the show!

Asses, big and bad

2009-02-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

MTV did a poll to find the top ten biggest badass movie characters of all time. Here's what they came up with...

1. Dirty Harry
2. Ellen Ripley
3. John McClane
4. Mad Max
5. Walker
6. Sarah Connor
7. Pike Bishop
8. Khan
9. Boba Fett
10. John J. Rambo

Now, far be it from me to criticize a respected news organization like MTV, but a lot of this list really sucks. I think their problem starts with the fact that they had a pre-selected list of nominees, in which they must have left out a lot of glaringly obvious names.

So in the fine tradition of the internet, I'll propose my own, much better and more thoroughly thought-out list, which you will agree with because of it's utterly unassailable logic. Not that a few of the characters on their list wouldn't make mine - they couldn't help but get a few right, just by accident.

First, I'd propose a ground rule. Any character who gets defeated or just slapped down like a bitch by the end of their movie is OUT. Khan? OUT. Boba Fett? Out.

(And WTF is Boba Fett doing on this list anyway? Wesley Crusher could kick Boba Fett's ass. And that's sad.)

Also, I'm going to really blow some minds here, but there WERE badass characters in film before 1970. Also, there were some badass characters who used swords instead of guns, or even just their bare hands. I know: who knew?

So, here we go. My list could and WILL kick their list's ass. I'm just sayin.

1. The Man with No Name
2. Sam Spade (Bogart version, of course)
3. Spartacus
4. Lee (Enter the Dragon)
5. Ellen Ripley
6. John McClane
7. Adams (The Magnificen Seven)
8. Jason Bourne
9. Conan
10. Dirty Harry (Clint twice on the list for the win!)

The only character it really REALLY hurt to leave out was Chaney from Hard Times. But I wasn't able to figure out who to leave out to put him in. He's the official runner-up.

Some notes are in order. First, I didn't use any non-English movies here to be fair, or most of the Seven Samurai would be on it (at least Kikuchiyo).

I was tempted to add James Bond, either from the classic Connery era or Daniel Craig. But then I realized that Jason Bourne could kick both their asses at once, and had to reconsider.

I know Conan starts out less than badass with the whole "pushing a grain thing around for 10 years" bit, but he really makes up for time after that.

I almost chose Snake Plissken, but that movie plays too much as comedy for me.

And you might say "Hey Patrick, doesn't Spartacus kinda lose at the end, thus breaking your own rules?" Yeah, but.. Well, he's SPARTACUS. And he dies a hero. I dare you to compare that ending to Boba-frickin-Fett. Feh.

Well, that's my list. What's yours?

PS - I originally found this list on The Beat, an extraordinary blog about comics and pop culture!

Wonder Con cometh!

2009-02-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

I'll be at Wonder Con, in San Francisco later this month, catching up with the Archaia people and Boom people and generally talking to friends and making new ones. No home base for me, I think - I'm actually not sure if Archaia has a booth this year, but I don't think so. If I find they do, I'll post here.

But the big thing at the Con is that I'll be doing a DIGITAL PAINTING SEMINAR on Friday, February 27th, the first day of the con. I'll demo some of my techniques and talk about what digital painting is and how I approach it. It should be fun!

Read more about it here! Scroll down the page to 6:00 PM to find me. I hope to see you there.

Ninja Mountain - episode 2 is GO!!

2009-02-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

More fun from the Ninjas, in our second podcast!

http://ninjamountain.blogspot.com/2009/02/ninja-mountain-podcast-episode-2.html

This week, Andy Hepworth joins Jon, Jer, and Patrick, as the ninjas discuss portfolios, getting work, convention networking, and even some art talk as they debate the merits of ArtRage, the digital painting program.

Also new! You can now subscribe to us via iTunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=303923176

Leave a review on iTunes! We'll be glad you did..

Ninja Mountain Podcast!

2009-02-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned before, Ninja Mountain is a loose collective of professional illustrators working in fun fields like fantasy, SF, horror and comics.I've been a happy member of that august group for a few years now.

Well, we’ve decided to take our private discussions to the interwebs and talk about things like getting gigs, art education, software, art technique, and anything else that comes to mind.

Our first episode features Ninjas Jon Hodgson (Wizards of the Coast, Paizo) and Jeremy McHugh (White Wolf, Bucephalus Games), and me, Patrick McEvoy (Marvel, Sony, etc!). So if you’re up for an hour of art talk among friends and fellow artists, then give us a try. Episode one is up now and episode two will be out later this week.

Visit ninjamountain.blogspot.com to check it out!

Kirby - always the king

2008-08-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Today is Jack Kirby's 91'st birthday. He died in 1994, but still lives as only true artists do.

I didn't realize, back in the the late '70s, how privileged I was to have met him. I was almost 14, and the San Diego Comic-Con (not yet "International) had a "Celebrity Brunch" every year, where fans could pay an incredibly high price (I think it was *gasp* $20!) to have a brunch with their favorite comics creators artists.

There were a number of great artists on the brunch list - I think Jim Starlin was there, and maybe even Steranko - but my first choice was Jack Kirby. And, thanks to an amazingly indulgent mother who took me to San Diego AND paid for admission and brunch, I was able to attend. But I was utterly stunned when I was given the news that I had actually gotten my application in early enough to sit with the KING himself!

Needless to say, I was awestruck. He was a very small man (as the picture of us together will show) but he had a HUGE personality. And he absolutely loved talking to us kids (and kids we were for the most part - no aging fanboys yet). I was one of the youngest at the table, yet he spoke to me with the same respect and interest he showed the other, older kids there. (High schoolers!) He told interesting war stories from WWII, stories about the Marvel days, his New Gods saga, all sorts of stuff.

I personally asked him about why Vince Colletta was no longer inking for him. Vince had been Kirby's inker on Thor at Marvel, and had followed him to DC to do the Fourth World saga, but within a half a year he was gone, replaced by Mike Royer and others. Now, at the time there was very little "fan press", and I didn't know about how reviled Colletta was amongst the Illuminati of the comics world, nor how he had a tendency to leave out parts of the pencils at random, and add shading where it wasn't indicated. I just knew I liked the soft, almost etched quality he gave Kirby's pencils.

And rather than rip into Vince (which, I've read, he did privately when he finally found out how much Colletta was changing his work) he simply said "Well, Vince is a great guy. But he was leaving some stuff out. So we though we'd try someone else". It was a few years before I understood that Kirby was teaching me about the concept of "class".

As an artist? Unparalleled. Literally - look up the definition. I would argue, without hyperbole, that he's in a class of 20th century artists along with Picasso, Wyeth and Du Champ. He did not re-define comics art - he defined it, in a way that no other artist before or since has had the guts or talent to do. Others have been great, there have been many geniuses, but only Kirby allowed himself to be the form in the way no others have dared.

And besides, I have this great picture of us together at the con!

(And yes, when my house burns to the ground, as all houses inevitably must, this is the first thing I'm taking out with me).

For more on Kirby, check out these links:
The Comics Reporter
Mark Evanier
The Kirby Museum

My office, and me!

2008-08-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

A long time ago - at least a few years - I did a little article for Epitome Ezine about my office space. While my thoughts on the subject of an office in general have changed very little, my actual office space is WAY different.

First of all, I moved to Northern California. It's nice up here, and there's a lake view out of my office windown (well, most of the year...). Actually, not a lot else has changed except that everything is sort of in a different configuration. Here's a picture of my office (with the closet doors being mirrored you can see most of the room, and me too!)

Here's a closer view of my drawing board and messy taboret:

And here's my ever-present book shelf (half of it anyway), and my Star Wars poster and a signed Bernie Wrightson print:

It's a bit smaller than my previous space, but it has a LOT of light, and more storage area with the big closet. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it, I just wish there were more open wall space to put up my many posters and prints, which now must languish. Oh, the sacrifices I make for art! ;)

SDCC

2008-07-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

I'm back from the big San Diego convention!! I had a great time, mostly hanging out with the Archaia Studios Press crew. (Home of my series, Starkweather: Immortal). Hi Chandra, Tom, Dave, Dave, Alex, Alex, Mark, Nick, Jackie, Josh, Kat, and anyone else I'm egregiously forgetting.

And to anyone who picked up Starkweather, or just my card - hi to you too!

Did I do anything fun? Yes. Anything anyone else would care about? Depends! I did go to a rather cool (invite-only) party thrown by the William Morris Agency on the roof of the Hard Rock Hotel. And my friends and I got kicked out of the table we were sitting at so Stan Lee and his entourage (including personal photographer) could sit there. So now I've been pushed aside by someone famous... that's an oddly satisfying thing.

Chandra took a picture of the event.

I also met up with all the guys at Boom! Studios, where I did a bunch of covers last year. They're great guys and all said they want me back. That was too cool. (Chip Mosher introduced me as "the nicest guy in comics"! Now I have to live up to that...)

Anyway, now I'm back, with a few new ideas and a lot of inspiration. Things I will do:

More blogging! And I'm considering changing my front page to a blog too. But for now, just more here.

More updates! You can see some ~~new~~ um ~~fairly recent~~ er, not as old stuff on megaflow.epilogue.net right now, but I'll get more up here pretty quick.

Other places to find me! I'm on Twitter. I have one follower! Help me with that sad situation - follow me at Patrick_McEvoy (spiffy name, eh?) Also, I'm thinking about actually adding a page on Myspace, since I'm signed up and all...

Better art! That's the toughie. I'm always trying to learn how to actually not suck, but this year I'm inspired to try new things, break out of the mold a bit, and really be good. I think it will involve less sketching for practice and more experimenting. Wish me luck.

Big news, big changes, and Marvel!

2007-12-26T21:22:00.000-08:00

Far less of me in the near future!
... And I don't mean weight loss! Starting next week, I will be working on an exclusive contract with Marvel Comics! I've already been doing a lot of work for them over the last several weeks, but as of the 1st of January my new contract becomes active, and I will no longer be doing any freelance illustration work for the rest of 2008.

I will still be working on my comic book "Starkweather: Immortal", so keep looking for that at comic shops near you. But other than that and some easel painting (which I plan to be doing more of) I will be be working exclusively for Marvel's licensing division, doing Photoshop-painted versions of their awesome comics characters. I'm already having a great time with it, and plan to have a very fun year. :)

I will be attending some conventions this year, and several of the things I've done in the recent past will still be coming out, such as my covers for Boom! Studio's Fall of Cthulhu series and Sony Online Entertainment's Legends of Norrath online CCG. But no other new work will be coming from me in 2008 except for Marvel product art and Starkweather. So I'll keep you informed in this space about my appearances, any art that's coming out, and the like. Thanks for all your support and I'll talk to you again soon.

Thanks to everyone!

2007-08-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hey folks! A big thanks to all of you who came to the ASP booth at SDCC, and our Starkweather table at Wizard World Chicago. You made it a great summer for me and writer David Rodriguez. I hope you enjoyed Starkweather: Immortal #0, and keep an eye out for #1 next month.

Also thanks to all the other great ASP artists and writers I got to hang out with, as well as artists Dave and Misty from D-Rod's other new series "Shadowgirls". I'm continually amazed at how cool and friendly the comics crowd is, and Archaia has brought on some of the best. Oh, and a big shout-out to Michael and Marshall from Boom! Studios as well.

Finally, thanks to the folks at Tomorrow is Yesterday for hosting our signing Wednesday afternoon before the show. You've got a great store, guys! And the release party at the Kryptonite club was completely cool (and amazingly well-atteneded!) so thanks to all who came to that, as well. You all made my first trip to the Chicago area a real treat.

See you in Chicago, and other news

2007-08-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

San Diego Comic-con was incredible! Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth, and big special thanks to those who bought a copy of Starkweather: Immortal #1!

Writer Dave Rodriguez and I will both be at Wizard World Chicago this week, doing it all over again. This time, there's no ASP booth, but our pulse-pounding publisher has generously donated tables in Artist's Alley to the Archaia folks who are going, so we should be in a little Archaia section there. Just find the Artist's alley and look for the Starkweather banner and there you will find us with copies of Starkweather and, again, FREE ART with every copy you buy. Such a deal!

Dave will also be publicizing his new "Shadowgirls" web-comic. If you haven't been reading it you should be!!

There are a few small reviews on the web for Starkweather: Immortal #0, but this one is the longest so far, and it's favorable (as most have been) so here's a link! It's the second review down the page:
comicnews review

I'll write again when I get back from the con. Hope to see you there!