In the field of fantasy art
illustration the quality of your work is the main factor that will get you
jobs. But there are other factors
besides just being a great craftsman that are crucial to making a good
impression on an art director.
In my new ebook, Get Work as a Fantasy Artist, I discuss many
strategies for making your portfolio the best it can be so that you can secure fantasy
illustration work, as well as many other aspects to creating a rewarding career
as a working freelancer.
Creating Images That Catch an Art Director’s Eye
Put It in the
Illo
Your portfolio is all about
communicating what you can do to art directors.
Sometimes you’ll be meeting ADs face to face, but most of the time you
won’t, so the best way you can show him you are qualified is by putting
“information” into your artwork. What I
mean by that is conveying certain ideas through the choices you make when you
create an illustration. I’m not talking
about story ideas here. That’s important
too, as I’ll discuss in a minute. I’m
talking about ideas that show a prospective client that you have what it takes
to give him what he needs.
The key is to incorporate the ideas you want to convey in an actual
finished illustration.
I know this sounds complicated
and abstract, but it’s not really. Let’s
say that you want to show an AD that you understand perspective, can tell a
dramatic story, you have a grasp of anatomy, and that you can render well. The wrong way is to include anatomy drawings,
perceptive exercises and standing figure paintings in your portfolio.
The right way to achieve this
goal is to include all those aspects in ONE painting. It makes your portfolio strong and lean while
communicating that you understand a range of ideas and can pull them together
in a single image. So you can do a
horizontal painting with the proportions of a Magic card illo of a female
vampire in leather armor, leaping through the air to strike (action, drama, tension,
movement, costume design), attacking a scantily clad humanoid zombie creature
(anatomy, rendering skills, creature design) at dusk (moody color and lighting). Show the scene from a low camera angle and a
tilted axis (interesting camera angles, drama) emphasizing the thrust of mass
and an off-balance defender (weight, movement, tension). And there’s even more going on in this
painting than that.
Nosferatu vs ZombieLord ©
Thomas M. Baxa 2012.
Look at all those things you
told an art director with one painting.
This is how you should be thinking when you sit down to compose a new
piece. What do I want to show the
AD? Believe me, even with all this
“thinking” there is plenty of room for going nuts and having a blast painting
what you love!
You likely already do much of
this intuitively and automatically. But
with a little applied forethought, you can make every piece a winner, build a
striking portfolio, and most importantly, get lotsa jobs!
Guess what, this is the same
thought process you should apply to doing an illustration for hire as
well. Bowl your new client over with a
powerfully, well thought out composition every time. They can’t help but be impressed and want to
give you more work.
Ideas You
Want to Convey
Here’s a list of some of the
things you want to convey to an AD in an illustration. Of course this varies depending on the needs
of the position/job you are applying for.
It is critical that you get to know what is expected of you, so review SECTION 2: Getting Work: Get to Know the
Market You’re Interested In below.
ARTISTIC IDEAS:
Your illustration style
For fantasy art, you should
work in a fairly naturalistic style, but there is lotsa room to make it your
own. What mediums do you like to work
in? What is unique about the way you
make images?
Strong art skills
Demonstrate your technical
prowess, composition, lighting, form, anatomy, and color skills.
What you like to Illustrate
What
gets you excited? Show ADs what you want
to paint by putting that subject matter in your samples. If you don’t really like painting elves, and
you fill your portfolio with elf paintings because you think that will get you
work, guess what, art directors are going to think you love painting elves and assign
you elves. And then you’re stuck. If you suck at drawing vehicles it will show,
so don’t put them in your portfolio.
NARRATIVE IDEAS:
Storytelling
Illustrations are all about
telling a story, so do that. A knight
just standing there doesn’t say much, but a knight on the edge of a fiery
precipice staving off flying demons says a lot.
Elicit an Emotional Response
Along with story, you want
to imbue your illustrations with imagery and situations that make the viewer feel something. This can be done in an in-your-face kind of
way, or very subtly.
Suspension of Disbelief
It’s important to have some
degree of representational rendering to the real world elements in your work,
so that the fantasy elements you join with them are believable.
I discuss these art related
topics in BOOK 1: Artistic Growth: SECTION
1: Your Growth as an Artist: Learning the Fundementals
NEEDS OF A SPECIFIC INDUSTRY:
Industry specific needs
addressed
You want to have pieces in
your portfolio that speak specifically to the types of jobs you want to
get. If you want to do movie poster paintings
you better show likenesses of actors; if you want to do children’s fantasy
books leave out the sexy outfits, etc.
Genre you want to work in
Choose the kind of genre you
want to work in. If you have multiple
interests, you can combine them in one illo, like having Predator fighting a
medieval knight, or you can have multiple portfolios. Show subject matter appropriate to your genre
and industry. As always, don’t limit
yourself too much, and don’t be all over the place either.
Tell a
Story
Illustration by definition is
all about conveying a story with a single image. So show ADs that you can do that. That’s why they’re commissioning
illustrations.
Before you set out to do a
piece, think a little about the story around what’s happening to your
characters. Think of your illustration
as a scene in a movie. Who is your
hero? What is his background? What is his motivation? What is he wearing and what is he doing? What is the conflict he’s facing? What moment in time best conveys these things?
Many of these questions get
answered quickly and effortlessly because as illustrators we are used to thinking
terms of story. But if you’re illos are
falling a little flat, you might want to give some deliberate attention to
storytelling. This is a huge topic and
can’t be adequately explored here. You
may want to analyze some scenes in your favorite movies to see what’s
happening, or read some good books on writing and story building.
All illustrations incorporate
story, even less elaborate types of illustration like concept art. A simple concept drawing of a single standing
figure can offer a lot of back-story about the character, which is a big part
of good concept design.
You can imbue your concept
drawings (and illos) with story by how you approach the following elements:
Costume
Level
of decay, time period, rich or poor, elements available for armor, culture,
intelligent or primitive, society, etc.
Stance
Is
he a lover or a fighter? Aggressive or
passive, friendly or threatening
Emotion
In
the pose of the body and hands, facial expression, and color choices
Background elements
Even
a few simple indications go a long way to establish setting
Artistic elements
Use
composition, light, form, color, line, etc. to create mood and back-story. For instance, Darksun characters should be
rendered in harsh sunlight with hard shadows and warm light, whereas vampires
would never be shown in this kind of lighting scheme because they can’t live in
the daylight.
Sit down with some of your
favorite illustrations and make a quick list of all the story ideas that are
put into them. Not a story that you spin
from your imagination, but the story elements that the artist is trying to
convey to you. You’ll be surprised how
many there are, and it’s a good exercise that will help you think in terms of
story.
Take a look at the illustration called Pyros below. What are some story ideas being expressed in
this concept painting?
Pyros © Thomas M. Baxa 1996 + 2009.
This creature is somewhat lean
and his fingers are stripped of flesh, so he’s some kind of zombified
humanoid. Flame is shooting from his
hands and torso. Not a yellow-orange
flame, but a blue flame. A blue flame
means natural gas as a fuel source. He’s
obviously impervious to the flame. His
costume is tattered and grungy. It’s
old, war-worn, and possibly post apocalyptic which tells us a bit about the
setting. The fabric is asbestos, adding
to the flame retardant nature of the creature.
He wears unbearably heavy metal armor which tells us he’s stronger than
a human. I could go on, but you get the
picture.
You can read the short story
entitled Pyros that I wrote about
this character on your mobile device or computer by clicking this link: Pyros on Kindle .
--- End of excerpt ---
GET WORK AS A FANTASY ARTIST reveals
proven strategies to get you jobs! Get
an edge over your competition! Click the
link and claim your future as a freelance fantasy art professional!
Everything to Guide you to a Successful Art Career
·
How
to build an effective portfolio
·
How
to find fantasy art job opportunities
·
How
to solicit companies
·
What
Art Directors are looking for – and why they’ll hire YOU!
·
BONUSES
if you act now!
·
And
much, much more
Thomas M. Baxa has been creating fantasy creatures that haunt the imagination as an illustrator for over 25 years. He works primarily in the role playing game industry where he has contributed to countless games including Dungeons and Dragons, Shadowrun, Vampire, Magic the Gathering, and World of Warcraft: tcg, and much more.
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