Creating a Dramatic Backdrop

Backgrounds are sometimes an afterthought for illustrators, but they have huge narrative importance. The background gives valuable information on the story, provides the lighting situation, and helps drive the visual flow throughout the composition.

The cover I illustrated for Merrow Crescent tackles a number of visual challenges. Lets see how I got there!

The story for Merrow Crescent revolves around a girl and her encounter with unicorns (disguised as horses) at a relative's farm. There are a few must-haves for a Middle Grade cover, such as featuring the protagonist. For fantasy, depicting a magical creature or undeniably magical element is also a must. That helps me narrow down my options, which is a blessing because there are simply way too many directions to go in if we keep any and all concepts on the table.

My client provided me a loose sketch beforehand which I used for the second thumbnail. The other two concepts are similar to the client's concept in that they create a contrast between the unicorn with a rural setting.

We moved forward with the second sketch to explore color schemes and typography.

My goal for color was to bring out the hot red of the magic staff by using cooler background colors. This also informed the cool and warm color scheme for the text.

For the font style of the title text, I tried out a few whimsical swoopy fonts as well as a western style for fun to see what it would be like to hint at the rural setting with the title and motifs.

After the font and color scheme was approved, I moved forward with my reference gathering to try and recreate the complex scene from the sketch.

The reference gathering involved some hands-on 3D modeling in Blender. The first challenge was to find a 3D model with the right style of stable. I found a free model on the Google Sketchup 3D warehouse, which I customized to fit the structural and lighting needs for the artwork composition. I took the stable and duplicated it twice so that there were three long hallways to match the size of the maze-like stable described in the story. I narrowed the middle hallway that the figures occupy, otherwise they would stand too far apart on the book cover. There were a few other adjustments here and there, but the big one was making skylights, which I made using a Boolean Modifier to quickly cut out a square for each window hole. It took a little bit of trial and error to make sure the placement of the skylights and angle of lights in the 3D scene matched the sketch.

Here is the main 3D render composite that gave me invaluable information on the complex lighting. As you can see the models aren't perfect--the "wizard" doesn't have all of his fingers and the background figures are three bald amigos--but it's enough for lighting reference.

When I was playing around with the camera in Blender, I was rotating it (mostly by accident) and saw how cool the Dutch angle looked. I revised the position of the text on the back cover and ended up with what a more suspenseful image and better formatting of the text because of the tilted horizon line.

The final paperback cover and typography for Merrow Crescent!

Last Day for Holiday Gifts: December 16

Here's your heads-up for purchasing physical gifts from my Etsy store. Make sure to get in your order by December 16 to have it shipped in time. There may be some slight variations depending on your location, so you can look at the delivery estimate right on the Etsy listing. I have stickers, framed artwork, prints, and more!

Infected By Art Volume 6 Category Awards

I am beyond excited to receive an award for an illustration I submitted to Infected by Art Volume 6! My "Virtues Series: Purity" placed 4th for the Grand Prize, received Gold in the Digital Art Category, and was a unanimously voted entry! Another piece of mine, "Virtues Series: Temperance" also made it into the book! I am baffled, amazed, and humbled to be in the company of such incredible artists. Many of these artists are my heroes and there is no shortage of work by other illustrators that deserve equal recognition. What a great way to start 2018 and get me motivated for the next adventure in illustration!

Spotlight on the Accompanist

Lets take a moment to observe the objects around you...

That's a pretty cool cell phone case you have. Not only is that design captivating, but I'll bet if you ever lost track of it, your friends would be able to identify it because the artwork is so unique and reflects your personality.

What book is that you're reading? The cover really speaks to me. It makes me interested in what fantastic adventure or profound ideas are contained within its pages.

I really like that poster on your wall. Not only does it go well with the decor, but it strikes me on an emotional level. It makes me want to contribute to a good cause.

There is no doubt that visual art is everywhere. It's often called "design" in commercial applications, but has no less creative value than the paintings in a fine art gallery. The biggest difference between commercial illustration and fine art is that illustration functions as an accompaniment to a product. This gives the product the attention it needs, but consequently leaves some mystery as to who creates the artwork.

Contrary to popular belief, sophisticated software like Photoshop does not possess the power to "create" pictures at the touch of a button. In the hands of an illustrator, they are mediums that operate in the same way pencils and paintbrushes do. It takes a skilled human with years of study and practice to create the design on that lovely Starbucks mug you are thoughtfully sipping from.

Who are these invisible creatives in our midst? They are everywhere, but like the accompanists of the music realm, they make it their goal to help the soloist sound amazing. They know when to play softly and when, in those rare moments, to play loudly when signifying a change in mood or narrative landmark. Even then, they are setting the stage for the soloist.

So how do we give the accompanists a spotlight? Well, one option is to give them their own concert every now and then. Those "concerts" come in the form of things like gallery shows, expos, and art-focused publications. One such publication, the anthology, is unique in that it often features a collection of works from several different artists. And who doesn't like the idea of a collaborative picture book?

Artwork by Phivi Spyridonos.

This brings me to a specific anthology worth giving notice. The SCAD Illustration Anthology is a collection of work by students of the Savannah College of Art and Design that is in the process of being crowdfunded. I know several of the students who are involved and can tell you that you would have trouble finding a more passionate and capable group of artists. Don't let the title of "student" fool you--these are studious individuals whose work is at a professional level. But you don't have to take my word for it. Instead, have a look:

Pretty cool, eh? And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

What if you could give illustrators center-stage and prove to the world that the people who created artwork for the objects adorning your room exist? You. Can. By helping get this sweet piece of visual candy made, you will make the presence of the allusive creative known!

It gets better. Illustrators know that anthologies like this one help get their work seen by art directors. These art directors are directly responsible for hiring freelance illustrators. You could be part of getting these folks their first gig. That gig could, in turn, give them more visibility to other art directors. And before you know it, you are helping make a dream come true that takes commercial artists many, many years to achieve.

How about it? Here's your chance to put the spotlight on the accompanist:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/scad-illustration-anthology#/