McLean's Mentoring!!!

So over at the conceptart.org website, they have an entire forum devoted to students connecting to volunteer "mentors." The learning process has always been something I've found kind of interesting, I feel like all throughout my career as a student I've paid as much attention to how the instructors demonstrate ideas as the ideas themselves.

Well, I've always wanted to get one of those threads underway, and now I have. I've got 3 guys who are taking the plunge and putting their trust in me this summer. The goal of the class is to arrive at a single finished illustration with a strong composition and color palette. The road there includes lots of thumbnails, value studies, and color studies before we ever start on a final. If you'd like to follow along, you can do so by clicking here. If the class goes well, I think I will make it an ongoing program, with a summer class, an autumn class, and a spring class.

Also, I am going to jump in and do a piece with the class myself, but shhhh! Don't tell them, its a secret for right now. Why should those guys have all the fun, right? Below is a thumbnail I am considering.


Its an image of a Nacatl from Magic: The Gathering. Because hey, who doesn't want to paint a Magic card? It couldn't hurt to tackle some of the Magic subject matter head-on. I also didn't want to get too complicated with narrative in this image, because it seems like most Magic cards are very direct in whats going on. He's making a "quick retreat." Simple enough, right? I also like that he takes up a lot of space in the picture, most of the things I do are figures with a very "safe" amount of negative space around them. The Magic cards hafta pack a lot of punch at a small scale, and that means you gotta get a little more bold with your cropping decisions! At least it seems so.

Also: My freelance schedule is opening up here pretty soon, so to any of you art directors out there, feel free to show me some love. ;)

Until next time, dear readers!