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Interview with Creature Designer & Fantasy Illustrator Brynn Metheney (Part 2) :: ArtCast #97

By Chris Oatley

097_BrynnMetheney_PostArt-v02

In part one of our interview with Brynn Metheney, we talked about her childhood in the desert, how her father’s job as an engineer helped her understand creature design, and how she makes her animals feel so real…

In part two, Brynn shares some nitty gritty drawing tips and practical ways to improve when your artistic growth seems slow.

She traces her path from obsessive animal doodler, to official creature teacher and talks about the benefits of specialization.

Ejiwa Ebenebe – now a producer on The ArtCast – joins me as co-host.

Listen To Part 2 Of Our Interview With Brynn Metheney:

[ download the mp3 ] [ subscribe in iTunes ]

Awesome Links:

BrynnArt.com

Brynn on Facebook

Brynn on Twitter

Robert Hunt

Dugald Stermer

Music by Storybook Steve and Kangaralien

How Do You Keep Your Art Lively?

Brynn talked about how we often start a drawing with too much detail.

…and the result can be lifeless.

Have you ever encountered this problem? If so, how did you solve it?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Disney Visual Development Artist/ Illustrator Chris Oatley helps Artists and Writers find healthy, fulfilling careers in Animation, Games, Comics, Film and Illustration.

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Comments

  1. noemi says

    April 11, 2017 at 9:49 am

    There is this constant emphasis on the power of personal projects, and as a ChrisOatley.com article put it best “Act Hired Before You Get Hired”. Hearing about Brynn’s world-building project and how it served as a point of reference to show clients she can do the job, and more, is a really important take away for building a portfolio for any creative career.

    My favorite part was Edge’s wonderful question about her own portfolio and how that opened the discussion of being a versatile artist vs. having a specialization, how your doodles can sometimes inform you where your passion is, was really insightful! I loved that bit!

    Everyone needs to listen to this! It was a wonderful ArtCast! Thank you Edge, Chris, and Brynn!

    • Chris Oatley says

      April 11, 2017 at 11:05 am

      Thanks, Noemi! And yes – Edge ROCKED THE WORLD in this interview!!!

  2. Craig says

    April 11, 2017 at 1:58 pm

    Fantastic interview! I love how driven Brynn is. Very inspiring!

    I’m still in the early stages of my development, but I’vr found that my most successful drawings are the one that I really spend the time figuring out before moving to a final piece. That could mean anything from scribbling notes on a piece of paper, doing little stick figure thumbnails, or gathering a ton of reference. It makes the final attemp so much easier.

    Thank you Brynn for all you insight and advice! 😀

    p.s. Love your Owlbear! 😉

    • Chris Oatley says

      April 12, 2017 at 3:22 am

      That’s the spirit, Craig! Fight for the best version of the idea. going to LOVE ArtCast Episode 100 😉

  3. Chris Oatley says

    April 12, 2017 at 3:21 am

    Once I accepted that the ‘guns and spaceships’ kind of concept art is not my thing, I was able to get good at a few styles more appropriate for animation. There is freedom in limitations. And yes – Ania never fails to disappoint with the spontaneous musical breaks 😉

  4. Pat Marconett says

    April 12, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    Great interview series with Brynn!
    I also graduated 2009, so I felt the same growing pains trying to get jobs.

    I love the ecosystem analogy. I’m also a specialist, bg design. I avoid all the things you draw 🙂 . Adding to the conversation about work process, I’ve noticed how I approach a rough or even parts of a rough depends on the subject. There are things I know I’ll do most of the drawing just in the clean up stage, so a scribble to remind myself might be enough. Other times there are complex elements that are complicated perspective, and I might do a few rough passes before there is enough information. So what I’m saying, is if you look at one of my rough’s not every element of the image needs to be at the same level. and with milage your learn what areas are going to be a struggle for you and might need to be more resolved early on.

    A note on my cleanup process. I’ve noticed if you can start off by drawing something really interesting first, it will oftentimes help motivate me with the rest. So a lot of times that will be a foreground element or a focal point. There are BG’s where everything just feels kind of boring, until it all comes together, and those can be really stressful. Thats when you fall on your process and have faith it will all come together in the end.

    Just in general I think with milage you learn how your brain works and better ways to trick it.

    • Chris Oatley says

      April 13, 2017 at 3:30 am

      Fantastic points, Pat! Amazing. Can’t wait to get you on the show!

      • Pat Marconett says

        April 25, 2017 at 2:37 pm

        thanks Chris!

  5. Eleonore Dixon-Roche says

    May 8, 2017 at 9:56 am

    I absolutely LOVED this interview and Brynn’s approach. My background is in scientific illustration, and sometimes it feels like being a castaway from the rest of illustration community. There are so many techniques and methods that can relate to both the “creative” and “scientific” illustration disciplines that it this interview in particular was a great bridge between them. Since I create and design the visual components for interactive science textbooks I have to be accurate, but I don’t want to lose the aesthetic beauty that can really draw a reader in and keep them engaged.

    For my own personal doodles/work I am really looking forward to developing some of the “characters” I have in my head with what Brynn has been talking about with regards to thinking about how they move, and what they look like from multiple angles instead of a basic one-view-only sketch. Sometimes when I am sketching at home, maybe because I am not at work and I feel somewhat free, I forget about some of the really fundamental basics of drawing.

    This podcast is as close as I have gotten to finding something that can relate to how I have to do my work so I really appreciate that. Thank you all for your hard work putting these out 🙂

  6. Mary says

    November 1, 2017 at 10:58 am

    Brynn is right – starting with too much detail is like having tunnel vision, and you’re likely to wind up confused as to where your painting should be. Having a detailed sketch is one thing, but once that’s done, pull back before you paint. Look at it as a whole and lay down the initial “feel” of it first with blocks of color and value. From there you should have a good map as to where you’re going 😉

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