Franklin McMahon: "What I lose in accuracy I make up for in spontaneity"

Franklin McMahon: "What I lose in accuracy I make up for in spontaneity":



"My method of working is to draw directly wherever possible." said Franklin McMahon in an article in the April 1956 issue of American Artist magazine.







"I pick a point - usually a point closest to me in the scene I'm drawing. I begin at this point and work out. All other parts of the drawing take their place in relation to this point."







"I wait for the people to settle down or assume a characteristic pose and then draw them in."







"What I lose in accuracy I make up for in spontaneity, and there is a hoped-for reality (a feeling of being there) which I don't think can be achieved as well in any other way."







"All of these drawings were made directly in ink with no preliminary pencilling. There is no blocking in. The edge of the subject is almost traced out of the air."







"Sometimes I pencil-up the signs, lettering them in later at the studio."







"I am very much interested in design," McMahon continued. "I have a distinct feeling, however, that design, as we have come to know it, has become rather in-bred."







"Being primarily an illustrator-designer I found that my own personal corrective was to get out and look around - a return to first principles, so to speak. That is why I have welcomed these direct drawing assignments."







"In this sort of drawing the design grows out of the artist's work on the site and his interaction with the subject matter..."







"... rather than being superimposed later in the studio."







At this point in his career (the mid-1950s) McMahon worked with #4 brushes dipped in india ink on large sheets (20" x 25") of cover stock. He said, "I use this large sheet since I never know exactly, when I begin, just where the drawing is going to end!"







"The drawing is not blocked-in or planned in advance...







"... it just grows and the design continues to develop with it."









* More on Franklin McMahon tomorrow

whats your secret to such appealing designs!?

whats your secret to such appealing designs!?:
I don’t have one…I don’t know! Here, look at some appealing design-y friends:
http://amandawinterstein.tumblr.com/
http://toffany.tumblr.com/
http://colin-howard.tumblr.com/
http://art-water.tumblr.com/
http://duttonart.tumblr.com/
http://ducksofrubber.tumblr.com/
http://ellemichalka.tumblr.com/
http://sophiafosterdimino.tumblr.com/
They are real good. I want to make a big post of everyone I know who inspires me, but have this baby one for now
edit: Also I just found this - http://carinteriors.tumblr.com/ Really really really cool.
edit2: Also, you should read books. Always

Oscar Cahén

Oscar Cahén: Last week Renata and I felt fortunate to be able to see the originals of illustrator Oscar Cahén in person, which is thanks to the current showing of his work at MOCA Museum of Contempory Art in Calgary. It's pretty sweet to see original work of an artist such as Oscar Cahén, I am not sure if I was more inspired or cowed by the immense virtuosity of Mr. Cahén's illustration. It's a dilemma I look forward to experiencing further as I plan to make many more trips to the gallery to see this show - if your in Calgary you should too!

Oscar Cahén: Canada's Groundbreaking Illustrator, 1931-1956
October 4 - December 1, 2012

Museum of Contemporary Art FREE admission Tues - Fri: 11:00 am - 5:00 pm Sat: 12:00 - 4:00 pm 104 - 800 Macleod Trail SE (Main floor, Calgary Municipal Building) Calgary, Alberta Canada T2G 2M3 (403) 262-1737 info@mocacalgary.org or info@oscarcahen.com

 This exhibition surveys Cahén's work from his beginning to his untimely death in 1956 at age 40. Coming from Europe as a prisoner of war, Cahén began freelancing while still interned as an enemy alien. His talent led to his release, and he went on to influence many younger illustrators and to modernize Canadian illustration with his extreme versatility and experimental approaches. Cahén was recognized in 1951 by the Art Directors Club of New York, and he dominated the Toronto Art Directors Club awards throughout the early 1950s. He also appeared in design periodicals Graphis Annual and Publimondial. Cahén is remembered today for his major contribution in the mid-1950's to abstract painting in Toronto as a member of the famed collective Painters 11. This exhibition, which includes a full colour catalogue, brings attention to how his prior and concurrent illustration practice informed his exploration of painting. On view will be approximately 30 original illustrations borrowed from private and family collections, made for periodicals such as MacLean's, Canadian Home Journal, Weekend Picture Magazine, and the Montreal Standard.

KURSK returning 2013...to destroy everything

KURSK returning 2013...to destroy everything:

Kissing the (almost) invisible woman. (Tomada con Instagram)

Kissing the (almost) invisible woman. (Tomada con Instagram):

Kissing the (almost) invisible woman. (Tomada con Instagram)

Shadow of Mirkwood

Shadow of Mirkwood:

This is my entry into the Hobbit Design Contest.  The Hobbit is one of my favorite books and I wanted to take the opportunity to do some fan art before the movie came out anyway so this gave me a good excuse.  Do me a favor and follow this link to rate it on their site, thanks!

100+ 19

100+ 19:

Skullmonkeys

NYCC 2012 LIMITED EDITION PRINT_update

NYCC 2012 LIMITED EDITION PRINT_update:

 [14 x 20" (35.5x52cm) on museum quality, archival 310g velvet rag. Limited to 50 pieces. $50USD]

[19 x 24" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board]

I will be selling a color tinted version of this image as a print at NEW YORK COMIC CON 2012. Please visit the ESSENTIAL SEQUENTIAL row (Artist Alley, Tables A01-A09) to purchase.

The paper measures 14 x 20" (35.5x52cm) on museum quality, archival 310g velvet rag. The image itself is a few inches smaller in order to allow for framing.

The print is limited to a set of fifty total, and sells at $50USD per unit. Please inquire with JASON SCHACHTER via e-mail regarding the remarked Artist Proofs for their pricing.

I hope to see you all in a few days. Have a great weekend.


Eric.


PS - I will update with the color render version after the weekend. Thanks for your patience.

Tube Carriage 2

Tube Carriage 2:

Forgot to post this...



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Something for the dream swap at Ten Paces and Draw. Based on a...

Something for the dream swap at Ten Paces and Draw. Based on a...:

Something for the dream swap at Ten Paces and Draw. Based on a sketch done by Grizzly.

octopus

octopus:

G. couverture..

G. couverture..:
Stéphane (Melchior Durand) a mis cette image sur son facebook – comme je n’ai pas de Fb, je me permet de vous présenter, ici, ce qui devrait être la couv’ de G.

à suivre…

Daniel Kornrumpf

Daniel Kornrumpf:





Aunque el artista Daniel Kornrumpf tiene preciosas pinturas en su portfolio, me quedé maravillado cuando ví sus retratos hechos mediante bordados. ¿Pensabas que esta técnica era solo para abuelas? ¡Todo el mundo a coser!
Although the artist Daniel Kornrumpf has beautiful paintings in his portfolio, I really shocked when I saw his portraits made by embroidery. Do you think this technique was only for grandmas? Let’s sew!

Murakami - A Window

Murakami - A Window:
Sam Vanallemeersch posted a photo:



Cover illustration for a short story in De Morgen.

Illustration for Princeton Alumni Weekly about the frightening...

Illustration for Princeton Alumni Weekly about the frightening...:

Illustration for Princeton Alumni Weekly about the frightening world of digital childboks. I bla-bla-blove real tightbound fluffy smelly crumbly realboks, so the trend is slightly unsettling to me (excluding horse_ebooks of course, the only online litsource that truly mattress). Parent, buy your child a book. Ok!
PS. I also did a cover for the same magazine, but I’ll post it later for it might not be final yet.

Squirrel Process

Squirrel Process: I had a couple people ask about my process recently, so here's a breakdown of how I paint (sometimes).  My process is usually a lot messier than this, but these are the steps I jump around between:

I often start with a rough sketch.  Adding color usually changes my feelings about the design so I like to keep things loose and change them as I go.  I put the sketch on a multiply layer at low opacity before I start painting.

I'll start most paintings with big flat colors.  I usually start by filling in the background with a color that I wouldn't mind peeking out between the strokes (because that's what it's going to do).

I usually paint in the background in that same step, but if I were more disciplined I'd paint it first behind the character.   Here I used a Darken layer on top of the squirrel layer.

At this point if I'm doing a tricky surface type like fur, I'll lay in where the major  areas of texture and value will be.  Here I also roughed in the acorn texture.

Now is my first detail pass.  Fingers, feet, and face get the most part of my attention.  I'm careful to look for things like where the skin will show, around the eyes and in the nostrils (and in a small patch in the front of the muzzle).

Now's my first pass for the lighting.  Sometimes I'll block in lighting in the first stage, but like I said, fur is a tricky thing to paint and has to be built up in layers.  I make sure that all planes facing toward the light are lit so the smaller forms don't get too broken up.

I noticed that squirrel fur is dark at the tips, so I added a soft fringe on the forms that are turning away from us.  For most of this painting I used one of two brushes---the Captured Bristle Acrylic from Painter and a modified version of that brush where I put some spacing between the bristles and turned down the "Spacing" attribute on the brush dabs so it gives a more continuous stroke.  This second one I used for most of the fur.

I wanted the eyes to look very glossy, so I put in an imaginary environment for the reflections.  Sometimes reflections have colors that aren't elsewhere in the image so I took the chance to put in a little blue to make the eyes pop.  I'm pretty sure the key light reflection is in the wrong spot, though most people won't notice.

I still felt like the fur was too flat, so I put in a 50% layer of a dark black-red.

At this point I put in the final touches: refining edges, catching textural details where important, etc.

If I have a big area that I don't want to detail out, I'll use an overlay texture to break up the area and paint in a few details to maintain consistency.  This can be hard to keep from looking cheap, but it's often worth the effort because it can save so much time.

I have a habit of painting with less saturation and contrast than I really want, so I'll make a few adjustments before I call an image done. That's it; hope it's helpful to someone!