Some working shots of my latest Daughters of Oceanus piece for IlluXCon next week!
"Ianthe"
12x16
oil on panel
September 2014
Dragon*Con!
We are off to Dragoncon! Here is a map showing where Gallery Gerard will be displaying prints, originals, and have a booth. See you there!
The Revolution
"The Revolution"
18x24
oil on panel
In Good Company
In Good Company
18x24
oil on panel
On the Easel Today
18x24
oil on panel
The Canyon Cat and a Trip Out West
By Justin Gerard
AWOL 2014 : The Canyon Cat
12" x 16"
Oil on panel and Digital
Detail Close-up
Ye Oldte Coloure Comp
As you may know, earlier this summer Annie and I did a whirlwind tour of southern Utah, which I think has some of the absolute best national parks in America. (They're worth it! Go!)
Often after trips like this I come back and want to do something to try and capture the wonder I felt while I was there. It rarely ever works out, and often, like the photos you took out there, rarely captures how compelling the whole experience was.
This is one of those paintings that doesn't operate on a narrative like much of my other work; Instead it is a collection of the leftover feelings and impressions of the place.
These images are often really hard for me to explain.
Then again, maybe they don't need much explanation because they are images, and after all they deal in matters that words can't adequately describe, and that's why we tried to communicate them in a picture.
We saw jackrabbits one night. They fled into the brush upon seeing our bright yellow headlights. From the canyon's edge we watched a lightning storm gather in the moonlight. We drove through the desert all night in the starlight. And somehow I ended up here.
Bryce Canyon 2014
Draco Floris
Draco Floris
8x10
oil on board
August 2014
On the Easel Today
A working shot of a new commissioned piece debuting later this month!
18x24
oil on board
On the Easel Today
By Justin Gerard
12" x 16" watercolor on paper. I am about 70% finished here.
Come see the finished original at DragonCon at Atlanta later this month!
Imagine FX Workshop: Keto
Another image in my Daughters of Oceanus series has been completed for the August issue of ImagineFX magazine. She appears in the FXPosé Traditional art workshop section of the magazine.
"Keto"
16x20
Oil on mounted paper
May 2014
In the workshop I will be demonstrating techniques that I have used when studying the portrait artists from the Rococo period. I depict a portrait of one of the daughters of Oceanus, Keto, from greek mythology. She is a Naiad Nymph who's name means "sea monster" in ancient Greek. For this portrait I wanted to stay true to the classical portraits of the 18th century while adding a fantastic element, the baby sea dragon, as a twist.
You will learn how I create a fantasy portrait using these methods in one of my favorite mediums. While I will be working in traditional oils for this painting, keep in mind that many of the principles I will be showing here can also be applied to other mediums as well. Issues can be ordered here!
Issues can be ordered here!
On the Easel Today
8x10 underpaintings of Bancroft and Flora
Art for Exposure
“I’m writing this totally cool book; I’d like you to illustrate it. Do you have to be paid, or will the exposure be enough?”
We were recently asked this question at a comic convention. Like many of you, I’ve heard this several times in my career and it still shocks me every time I hear it.
“Wait, you are wanting me to work …. for free? In the hopes that this mystery project of yours will be a New York Times #1 bestseller and I will somehow get famous for it?”
I find that it happens more often at comic shows. Perhaps this is because so many struggling artists attend and get artist alley tables in the desperate (and understandable) hope of being noticed by a publisher. And here unscrupulous people prey upon them.
Before I begin, let me clarify: This is not about all free work. There are certain times when it is right and good to do free work.
Briefly, a few examples of free work that are exceptions here:
A Charity or Cause
Perhaps it is for something you truly believe in and want to support. (Like being asked to contribute art to the Society of Illustrators Microvisions show, the proceeds of which are dedicated to student art scholarships.)
For A Loved One
Perhaps it is for a close personal friend who you truly believe their book needs to be illustrated. Perhaps it is your mom, and you love your mom. (Note: These are almost always bad ideas to accept, but they are exceptions and people are absolutely allowed to do crazy things for their loved ones.)
For Your Artist Representative
An Art Rep is someone who you have agreed by contract to provide art for so that they can market you. In this case, you already agreed to provide art for exposure. But an art director isn’t trying to get you to illustrate his project. He is trying to put together your portfolio. He only makes money when you make money from actual clients. So this is very different, and until you get work, you should be doing everything in your power to improve your portfolio.
And this is also not about work where there is some form of profit-sharing being suggested. That is a different article entirely.
No,
This is about providing free work, given in exchange for the dubious promise of "exposure."
Providing skilled artwork in exchange for exposure is an exchange of services. You provide art, and they provide marketing for you and your brand.
It is not that this is an inherently bad exchange, it is that 99.9% of the people who promise this 'exposure' cannot deliver on their end of the bargain.
Here is why you NEVER take these projects:
1. Someone who offers exposure for art does not understand the industry. If they did, they would know that they HAVE to pay you. Someone who offers this will have NO idea how to get the project produced. And therefore won’t be able to deliver on their promise of exposure.
2. Someone who offers exposure for art lacks the capitol necessary to produce and market the product towards a successful end.
3. Someone who offers this lacks respect for you and for creative professionals in general.
They will be miserable and extremely demanding to work with.
4. It is insulting to you and to creative professionals everywhere.
By taking the work, you are supporting an evil and manipulative market and furthering a corrupt mindset that devalues the art of illustration and dehumanizes those who practice it.
If you are still tempted, ask yourself:
Could you use the time you would spend on this project to do your own, much cooler project?
Could you use the time you would spend on this project to further you art education through classes? Could you use the time you would spend on this project to improve your portfolio so you have a better chance of getting ACTUAL, paying commissions?
Do you have even a shred of self-respect?
If you said yes to any of these, then don't take the project.
Keep this in mind:
If their project is so great and is going to be so successful, then they can go sell an investor on it, and he can put up the money to pay you a fair rate for your work. Let the sharks handle that. You make sure you get paid.
What to do when someone asks you to do work for free:
Kindly, politely, educate the person that this is not how the world works.
Perhaps they didn’t mean to say something so horribly offensive to you.
Perhaps they didn’t mean to suggest that you give up 3 months of your life for no pay because they think of you as something inferior to themselves.
Perhaps they just don't understand art.
Or perhaps they didn’t whole-heartedly agree with the abolition of slavery.
So take a moment and explain to them that illustration is a professional skill, acquired through years of difficult training and practice. The execution of it takes time and great effort. Illustrators are just like other professionals, and they expect to be paid for their work, and to work under similar working conditions of any other human being in our society. Perhaps when they understand that you are a working human being just like them, they will change and become someone who can support the arts in a more honest and helpful way.
NEVER take unpaid work for the promise of exposure.
FantasyCon 2014 Report
Delicious Dragon Candy
We are back home from the first FantasyCon in Salt Lake City, Utah! It was an amazing event organized by Josh Patel who is an incredible patron of the fantasy arts. He commissioned a collection of large scale paintings from many fantasy artists (including some from Justin and I) for the show. You can see my finished piece here and Justin's here. Other artists included Brom, Donato Giancola, Jeff Easley, Christophe Vacher, Mark Poole, Eric Velhagen, Heather Theurer, and Rob Alexander.
On Wednesday, July 2nd, FantasyCon hosted an exclusive charity event: The Night of Dreams with Angel’s Hands, March of Dimes, and Make-A-Wish, to name a few. They unveiled a 3-story tall dragon with the help of Sylvester McCoy (Radagast in “The Hobbit” and the seventh Doctor Who) and some of the cast of Lost Girl. It was a truly remarkable event, and the kids were just thrilled to see it!
There was a huge emphasis on art at this show. Justin was able to see his Gryphon Hunters framed and lit in a special display they made to house all of the masterworks artists.
There were also a lot of animals at the show, including a great reptile/bug booth where you could learn about the animals. I was brave and decided to try holding one of the tarantulas.
You can learn more about the animals this group has on their website here
They were definitely one of the highlights of the show for us!
We got to visit with some amazing artists from the show, including Donato, Howard Lyon, Steve Argyle (and his amazingly sweet and thoughtful wife, Kat), Tara Larsen Chang, Heather Theurer, Mark Poole, Eric Velhagen, and Kimberly Kincaid to name a few!
There were a few things I have never seen at any convention before… like a rogue ball python who tried to swipe my last remaining business cards. An amazing falconer booth where we were able to get some great bird reference shots. And a dino booth with a paleontologist who was able to give us a lot of helpful advice on dealing with ancient carnivores... advice which is going to come in very helpful as we continue to work on our secret 2014 Sketchbook.
...More on that, and our road trip through Utah next week!
On the Easel Today
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 3
We are back from Spectrum, and have finally had a chance to go through our photos from the show. It was an amazing event, and we are so honored to have been able to take part in it for its third year.
This was our first time debuting our full booth setup together.
On Saturday, Annie was able to participate in a panel about women in fantasy illustration with some pretty fantastic ladies in the industry.
Photo courtesy of www.spectrumfantasticartlive.com
(from left to right) Zoë Robinson, Annie Stegg, Camilla d'Errico, Kristina Carroll, Winona Nelson, and Rebecca Yanovskaya
Saturday night was the awards ceremony held in the beautiful Midland Theater.
(from left to right) Amber Chen, Annie Stegg, Ania Mohrbacher, Erin Godbey
Justin had a watercolor demo at the Lamp Post Guild booth during the show.
New video sneak peek, part I
A sneak peek of the newest piece in my "Daughters of Oceanus" series. She will be displayed in the Auguste Clown Gallery show, "Wilderness" 20th June- July 7th.
12x12
oil on board
Music:
Michal Hambourg
Chopin, Etude in A-flat, Op. 25, no. 1
The Smell of Venison
"The Smell of Venison"
18" x 24"
Oil on Gessoed Paper with Digital Modifications
I was inspired to paint this image for two reasons:
First, to celebrate tax season.
And Second to try and and do justice to an image that didn't work out like I had hoped it would the first time around. To compare this one against the old one and see if there is any improvement, check out the original here: http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2012/08/dragon-watercolor-and-final.html
All in all it was a very fun experience for me and I'm glad I did it. I feel a lot better about the story and characters in this one.
We'll be selling prints and displaying the original oil this weekend in Kansas City!
Spells Are Hard
"Spells Are Hard"
12" x 18" inches
Watercolor and Digital
A new image I will be selling prints of at Spectrum LIVE this weekend in Kansas City!
I have been doing a lot of oil painting recently and it has inspired me to do a scene celebrating the difficulty of doing anything well.
Crocale the Naias Nymph
Hey guys! I just completed the latest edition to the Daughters of Oceanus series. She will be on display at Spectrum Fantastic Art Live later this week, along with the pencil studies.
Crocale the Naias Nymph
12x16
oil on board
May 2014
Pencil on toned Canson paper
Thumbnails
The Dragon Doc
The Dragon Doc
9 x 12 inches
Watercolor on Hot Press
This little fellow is one of a number of new watercolors I have been working on for Spectrum LIVE this year. I've been having a lot of fun with them. I will post a few more of these over the next 2 weeks leading up to the show!