4 Chinese Beauties design

Well, here are the designs for this image if it's a real book cover. We liked the third one best, and there's a few more changes to be done on the image and the design before it is finalized. Phew!

My next project will be steampunk. I know I know.. done to death.. but I love the designs of it, and it was so fun going around looking at all the steampunk blogs and personalities. Some of these people take their interest really seriously though.. going to great lengths to modify an item, but the computer on the left is probably the coolest thing I've ever seen, ever.

4 Chinese Beauties

Almost done..! I really like how the fourth one turned out, though now it seems like she's not fitting in with the others.

Sometimes I wish I was in graphic design.. I love so much of what they do, but I can never pull it off without making cheesy designs.

Adam Hughes interview

1. When did you first become interested in illustration?

I first became interested as a small child; I think almost all children like to draw and create. I think the difference is, while 90% of all children grow out of this phase, a few of us don't and we end up being creative our entire lives.

2. Where did you get your training or schooling?

Unfortunately, I am self-taught. I was to dumb to be able to win a scholarship, and too white/middle class to qualify for government aid. So, I went about learning it myself. The first thing any school should teach its students is the skill of self-instruction. Being able to figure things out for one's self is the best thing in the world.

3. How did you get started in the business of illustration?

When I was 19, I started taking my samples to conventions to get professional critiques on my work, and try to improve. At my 3rd show, someone critiqued my art and then offered me a job. Other than a 90-minute window in between MAZE AGENCY and JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA, I haven't been without illustration work in 22 years. I guess that's saying something.

4. How do you go about self promotion (websites, mailing, source books etc)?

I use MySpace, DeviantArt, and my website. But my work kinda does all the self-promotion; I draw stuff, and people seem to end up seeing it.

5. What advice would you give a student entering the field of illustration?

1. Never stop drawing; there's no ceiling on your skills in art. You can always get better the more art you create. And 2. When your hobby becomes your job, it's time to find a new hobby.

6. Would you have any general tips or ways to improve oneself in illustration?

Personal dissatisfaction and self-loathing do WONDERS for me. I'm never quite content with the work I produce, so I never get comfortable. I always strive to do better the next time. The best tip is: know your weakness. A man's got to know his limitations. If you know what aspects of your art that you excel at and what you are weak in, you can focus your time trying to improve your weak spots.

Good luck,

-AH!-

He sounds so humble and nice! I was melting by the time I finished reading this.

The End: 150 Great Climactic Movie Moments

NOTE: Naturally, in a story like this, there's going to be SPOILERS. So consider yourself warned, but still, don't be scared away... I got to thinking about movie endings the other day. I was watching George Roy Hill's A Little Romance again and noticing how my heart beats faster as it barrels towards its conclusion, even though I've seen it a hundred times. There's that race against time,

4 Chinese Beauties

An update.. I'm getting a little sick of this!

Marta Dahlig Interview

Well, I interviewed several people for my class homework thing, and only selected one (Adam Hughes), so I'm going to post the others here so these wise words won't just be hidden away in my email archives.
The first one is from Marta Dahlig.


1. When did you first become interested in illustration?
I have been painting since my earliest childhood, so painting has always been extremely close to my soul. I took interest in digital art 7 years ago, at the age of 15. Since then I have gradually left the traditional media in order to explore the digital techniques.

2. Where did you get your training or schooling?

I am purely self taught. The only art-related subjects I went through in high school, and those regarded the history of art and architecture. Painting itself I have learned by observing the artworks of artists I admired and trying to figure out their techniques. I am a believer of "learning by doing" - it was all a mater of trial and error before I started making progress.

3. How did you get started in the business of illustration?

To be honest, it all came very naturally. I started displaying my artwork on various internet forums from the very beginning, in order to receive some feedback and improve at a quicker rate. With time, as my works got better, I started receiving my first commissions from private individuals. It only took a couple of months more for me to get my first commercial commission (I was lucky enough to cooperate with one of the biggest European publishing houses), and since then it all happened very fast - more and more commissions came and I quickly found myself drowning in work :) I can't say I complain, though!

4. How do you go about self promotion (websites, mailing, source books etc)?

Well I didn't ever do self-promotion conciously, e.g. submitted links to any linking services nor did I buy banners and such. In fact, I still don't have my own website (even though I own a domain name)... :) The publlicity and promotion all came naturally with the Internet galleries I submitted my works to (most specifically - deviantart.com). They were my source for feedback and attention-catchers in one. The more I developed, the more people visited my site.

5. What advice would you give a student entering the field of illustration?

I would say: Do not to copy anyone else's style just because it proved successful. Even though the field of digital art is big and broad, going the safe, already explored ways isn't really going to get you anywhere. Try to question everything you see and ask yourself, how can painting you admire be improved, what are they lacking, how could they be more original or more captivating?
A mixture of ones style is, in the end, a mix of things you admire enriched with your own sensitivity, emotions and thougths.

6. Would you have any general tips or ways to improve oneself in illustration?

There is only one tip, I think: be open to people. Be open towards opinions - positive as well as the negative feedback. Do not let groundless criticism down you, but appreciate every word of constructive criticism you get. After all, noone i perfect and none painting flawless - realizing that will help you expand your horizons towards new points of view and thus new levels of improvement.

4 Chinese Beauties

The four legendary Chinese beauties: Xi Shi, Wang Zhaojun, Diaochan and Yang Guifei. I'll post their full stories when I'm done with this.

The crazy wedding hat on the second one is going to give me alot of trouble!

Trippy, Dude: A Guide to Films Best Seen in an Altered State

Ideally, when we succumb to a film, we’re giving ourselves over completely to it. We ask it to take us away to another place, another time, away from where we might be in our lives. When the lights dim in a theater or a den, we hope the trip on which we’re about to embark will lead to unabashedly spiritual or physical changes in our bodies. In that way, movies certainly resemble drugs,

Meme Challenge: What Should Have Won Best Picture...

So it's getting close to Oscar season--it's that magic time when we know something's coming up, we just don't know what. (My October picks for the Best Picture nominees, based on absolutely nothing but marketing bullshit, cast and crew pedigrees, and gut feelings: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Gran Torino, Milk, Revolutionary Road and The Wrestler. However, we should remember that one or