All About History Illustration

I was delighted to be asked by the guys at All About History Magazine to create a character illustration for their "Anatomy of" section. Every month they profile an important character through history and this month was a Zulu warrior. This is how it appeared in the magazine. I really love working with the guys at All About History and look forward to continuing to work with them in the future.

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Artist Spotlight - Bobby Chiu

I though I'd start a little series here on my blog putting the spotlight on some of my fellow artists. These artists will be people who have inspired me in one way or another either through their art, personality, advice or some other way. They will call from all fields of the art industry whether that be illustration, concept art, animation, photography, authors plus many more.

So, who to choose for my first artist in the spotlight? Well, I felt I had to choose the person who first introduced me to the notion that I could make a career through creating art digitally.....Mr Bobby Chiu. Bobby will be familiar to many of you who are reading this and I am sure he has inspired you in one way or another.

Artist Spotlight - Bobby Chiu - www.imaginismstudios.com

Early Life

Bobby is an independent artist who grew up in Toronto, Canada, and he still lives there today. He spent his childhood constantly drawing and learning as much as he could about art, including painting and Chinese watercolor. He went on to study classical and computer animation at Sheridan College.

Career 

He started his artistic career at 17 years old designing licensed toys for Disney and Warner Bros. and Starwars amongst many other clients. Whist he enjoyed this job and speaks well of the company he worked for at this time, Bobby decided he wanted to take more control of his career and life in general.

Imaginism Studios 

On March 9, 2005, Bobby opened Imaginism Studios with his then girlfriend (now wife) Kei Acedera, who incidentally is another wonderful illustrator and character designer. Based in Toronto, Imaginism specializie in pre-production character and concept design for film, TV, gaming, and publishing. Over the last 9 years they have designed and illustrated for major companies such as Disney, Universal, Sony Pictures Animation, Blizzard Entertainment, Dreamworks.....and the list goes on! Their worst became familia to millions when they did the character designs for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

Imaginism Stusios also run a 30-day in-house Workshop giving selected candidates the opportunity to become "personal apprentices" to some of the top talent in the art industry. The theory behind these workshops is simply to "learn by doing".

Over the years Bobby has made it his mission to inspire, educate, and entertain other creative people and encourage people to live a creative life. This is how Bobby came to my attention. He is known for his "Chiustreams" where he paints live online, taking questions and giving advice for anyone who he can help. I can't tell you how many I have tuned into and I always come away from them super inspired!

Schoolism

Just as Bobby was quick to notice in the early days of digital art, that it would be the future, he also realised that learning art online would become more and more popular. He created Schoolism which provides online courses in various forms of art from well-known professionals responsible for your favorite films, TV shows, comics, and paintings, including Stephen Silver, Alex Woo, Louis Gonzales and Sam Nielson.

Over recent years, the team at Schoolism have run Schoolism LIVE. These events are held in Montreal, San Fransisco, London and Berlin and are intended to bring together some of the best talent in the industries of feature animation, gaming, illustration, and design in an intensely focused weekend of workshops.

Niko and the Sword of Light 

Bobby's latest project is Niko and the Sword of Light, a fully animated digital comic. The story follows Niko, a boy who finds himself alone in a savage land with only one relic remaining, the Sword of Light. We follow his story of returning to his land of freedom. Amazon have now picked up the comic and I personally can't wait for it's release.

I'd like to use this blogpost as a chance to say a personal thank you from myself to Bobby for all the work he has done for the community. I am sure these thoughts are echoed my many other people throughout the art community.

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Keith Bishop Portrait - The Office UK

Continued my series of "The Office" portraits this week. I present to you Keith "Ali G" Bishop.

Available as a print here!!

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Peekaboo

Haven't updated here in a while so here's something I've been working on...

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Mark Romanoski lecture

Just came across this excellent 3-part lecture from Mark Romanoski. Great watch for aspiring artists and illustrators

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYxAcDLH6Kw

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Open for Commissions!!

Hi folks!

I'll be looking to take on some commissions over the next couple of months so if you would like me to work for you, whether it be portraits, pet portraits, character design, concept art, cover art or something else, get in touch!

Here is some info on how I usually work:

- Payment through Paypal.

- Minimum payment of 50% upfront.

- I reserve the rights to the artwork, and the right to show it here on my portfolio.

- A high resolution 300dpi image will be produced

- An open, communicative relationship is preferred. Give me as many ideas as you can to ensure I see what your vision is and in return, regular updates on my progress.

- Prices vary for each job. Once I hear the job, we can discuss payment together.

- If you like my work, and think we could work together, email me on info@kevinmcgivern.com with your requirements and we can take it from there.

Cheers!

Kevin

        

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Erm.....can't think of a name for this one yet!

Another looser style painting......really enjoying it!!

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Sketch

Had an idea for a new painting, here is the sketch for it.....

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The result of a couple of hours of brain flatulence....and maybe one too many Anthony Jones videos!

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Clown Baby

I wanted to paint something quite creepy.....so what's more creepy than an evil clown baby?!

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Apprentice Druid Character

Another character design for Mystik Media, Algadon game.

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Quick update...

Just a quick update with a couple more character designs I have done for Mystik Media for their Algadon game.

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Crimson Daggers Bloodsports 13

Crimson Daggers Bloodsports made a comeback this week and I decided to enter. The theme was time travel so I went for a faerie in a post-apocalyptic type environment. Didn't have much time to work on it as I've been pretty busy with work but here is my entry along with some studies for it...

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Wizard Character Design....

Here is a wizard character for the Aragon facebook rpg. The brief was to design a typical wizard, so here it is...

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