6 Inspiring Interviews for Artists

I'm always on the lookout for things to watch or listen to while I work. Here is a list of some super inspiring interviews from all kinds of artists. As an illustrator, I always try to take inspiration from other creative fields such as photographers, authors and fine artists. Hours worth of entertainment, education and information in here!

Again, not in any particular order..

1. Humans of New York - Chase Jarvis Live

Really inspiring story of Brandon Stanton, who moved to New York after being fired from his job. He made it his mission to take photos of the people of New York every day. Those photos are now in the form of a New York Times best selling book and the phenomenon that is "Humans of New York"

 

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2. Anthony Jones - Bobby Chiu

Anthony Jones is a concept artist who has worked for companies such as Sony Computer Entertainment and Blizzard specializing in creature design. This interview is from 2011 where Anthony gives us the story of his career and a tutorial showing his work process.

3. SiDEBAR Podcast - Dan Dos Santos Interview

 

 Dan Dos Santos is a multi-award winning and one of my favourite artists. He is one of the biggest names in the illustration industry, specializing in book cover illustration. In this interview, he gives us the low down on his career and his opinions on the illustration industry.

 

SiDEBAR Podcast - Interview with Dan Dos Santos

4. The Death Of Freelance Illustration, Passion Projects & Why We Quit Our Dream Jobs

 

This was one of 2 conversations between Chris Oatley and Noah Bradley. Chris was a Visual Development Artist for Disney before quitting to start his own Academy of Concept Art. Noah is a Concept artist & illustrator specializing in environment art. He has also recently started his own online education course called Noah's Art amp. This conversation, along with The Realities of Being a Professional Artist with Chris Oatley and Noah Bradley are both wonderful insights into the minds of 2 highly experienced artists in the creative world. 

 

5. The James Altucher Show - Austin Kleon: How To Be A Creative Genius 

Austin Kleon is an artist and New York Times bestselling author. James and Austin start the show with a discussion on embracing influence, which is the main theme in his book, Steal Like An Artist. This conversation is full of tips and advice that any creative can take into their own field.

6. Drew Struzan - Beyond the Marquee

 

Legendary Movie Poster Artist, Drew Struzan. Need I say more?!






Thanks for checking out my blog and I hope you find these interviews interesting, I certainly did! If you would like to keep up to date with what I post, follow my blog here. Also I am regularly on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.

Bye for now!!

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Some Works in Progress

5 paintings in various stages of chaos!!

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Most creative use of 3D printing I've seen

3D printing is something I am super excited about. I really feel we are just scratching the surface of what is possible with this technology. Check out this video by Greg Petchovsky!!

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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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Saltire Super Hero WIP

A cropped WIP of something I'm working on....

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10 Great Art Documentaries

My blog post last week on My Top 5 Art Podcasts seemed to be quite popular so I thought I'd continue with another post on 10 great documentaries for artists.

If you are anything like me, you love to watch/listen to documentaries while you work. If these documentaries are art-related, all the better.  I have compiled a list here of 10 documentaries that I think all artists would find informative and enjoyable, no matter what medium you work in.

If you have any more to add, please do so in the comments below. I should say, these are only documentaries that are freely available on the internet. There are many more available to purchase. Also, there are some top pieces of 80's intro music in here! So, not in any particular order....

10. What Do Artists Do All Day - Frank Quitely

This BBC series follows a selection of artists through their daily routine. Frank Quitely is a renowned comic book artist know for working on titles such as Superman, ...... This documentary shows his process of creating a comic book cage from start to finish from his studio in Glasgow.

9. The Making of The Last Of Us

This documentary goes behind the scened to learn about te development and unique philosophy at work in the making of the universally acclaimed, smash hit video game, The Last of Us.

8. The Masters of Comic Book Art

A little dated now, but this documentary shows the work, processes and interviews with some of the all-time greats of comic book art including Will Eisener, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, Berni Wrightson, Moebius, Frank Miller, Dave Sim and Art Spiegelman.

7. John Lasseter - A Day in a Life

I have always been a Disney/Pixar nut. This documentary follows the founder of Pixar, John Lasseter through a typical day. Great insight into one of the great minds and great companies in entertainment today.

6.  The Making of Disney's The Lion King

Disney is probably the single biggest reason I am an artist today. A visit to Disneyland in Florida when I was a teenager was the first time I realised that is what I want to do. This documentary shows the full process behind making a classic Disney animation feature.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

5. What Do Artists Do All Day? - Jack Vettriano

The second from this BBC series, this documentary follows Scottish Artist Jack Vettriano through his process of finding a subject to paint, shooting reference photography, and his actual painting process. Vettriano sells more prints in the UK than any other artist.

4. Iain McCaig Lecture - Storytelling

Not so much a documentary but i couldn't leave it out this list. McCaig’s exceptional command of human anatomy, character, emotional expression and visual narrative make him one of the most sought after artists working in the entertainment industry today. He has worked on a series of Hollywood blockbusters, including Star Wars episodes one to three, Steven Spielberg’s Hook and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Here he talks about the art of storytelling.

http://vimeo.com/channels/369008/51232131

3. How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way

Somewhere in between a tutorial and a documentary, this series teaches the tools of the comic book drawing trade with hosts Stan "The Man" Lee and John Buscema. 

2. The Forger's Art

Documentary about real life events of 1997 where John Drewe conspired with artist John Myatt to pull off the biggest art fraud in UK history.

1.  The Pixar Story

As the title says, this documentary shows the story of how one of the biggest companies in entertainment was formed and how they create their feature films.

Part 1
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xq5vxi_stagehand-tv-the-pixar-story-1_webcam

Part 2
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xq63h0_stagehand-tv-the-pixar-story-2_webcam

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Entry for the Art Order Challenge - Ares and Aphrodite

After living in Greece for 8 years, I have always wanted to paint Greek Mythology inspired art. The contest ran by Jon Schindehette at The Art Order was the perfect opportunity. This painting depicts Greek Gods Ares and Aphrodite and their forbidden love.

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