Disney Character Designer answers your questions about Concept Art, Character Design for Animation, Digital Painting & Illustration.
Legendary Disney artist Armand Serrano told me: "They hire you for your art, but they keep you because of your ideas."
There are a million concept art portfolios out there...
...and very few compelling concepts.
A professional concept artist designs the future. They don't simply copy current trends.
They envision environments, props, characters, costumes, color palettes and compositions that audiences have never seen before.
A professional concept artist is collaborative and infinitely curious.
A professional concept artist has an inexhaustible visual library.
A professional concept artist is a master of the fundamentals and knows numerous efficient, focused techniques.
Here's a collection of my best interviews and articles to help you stay focused on what really matters to concept artists who are serious about breaking-in, staying-in or getting a better gig...
Character Design | Visual Development | Storytelling | Comics | Digital Painting | Children’s Books | Animation | Illustration
Brynn Metheney puts the “dragons” in Dungeons & Dragons.
While many of her animals come from imaginary worlds, they look like they could exist in this one…
In part one of our interview, we talk about Brynn’s 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…
Spoiler alert: it does not involve sitting still.
Ejiwa Ebenebe – now a producer on The ArtCast – joins me as co-host.
If Radiohead was a painter they’d be Frederic William Stewart.
Fred’s experimental mark-making is simultaneously raw but refined, deliberately spontaneous, visceral and inviting.
He was the first Background Painter on Nickelodeon’s epic animated series The Legend of Korra and today he holds a coveted role as a Dreamworks Visual Development Artist.
In this episode we talk about the early days on Korra, pushing the limits of digital media and why a diversity of influences will make your work stand out…
Samantha Kallis is an Art Director at Dreamworks TV Animation Studio, and the illustrator of The Fantastic Frame chapter book series, written by Lin Oliver, Executive Director of SCBWI.
Join us today as we talk about:
In September of 2016, Claire Keane (Disney), Jenn Ely (Laika), Brian McDonald (Pixar, Disney) and I will host The Story Design Conference in the awe-inspiring city of Rome, Italy.
This isn’t simply a “sit quietly and watch famous artists be awesome” kind of thing.
It’s a personal, participatory conference designed to help you discover and develop your unique strengths as a visual storyteller.
So whether you’re an aspiring animation professional or a seasoned pro, we would love for you to join us!
Here are eleven reasons you won’t want to miss it…
[Read more…] about 11 Reasons Animation Artists Should Attend ‘The Story Design Conference’
In part one, Claire Keane (Disney, Penguin Random House), Jenn Ely (Laika, Google, Dreamworks), Brian McDonald (Pixar, Disney, Industrial Light & Magic) and I announced that we will be teaching at The Story Design Conference from September 28th – October 2nd, 2016* in the awe-inspiring city of Rome, Italy!
(*Note: The conference was moved from May to September.)
In celebration of our announcement, we decided to record a conversation about some of the big ideas we’ll be discussing during the conference.
What followed was a riveting discussion about art, fear and finding your calling…
In this second part you’ll hear us talk about: