Frank Stockton Illustration

The Last Last Unicorn Cover

2012-02-06T13:55:00.005-05:00

Hello!

Here's the sixth and final Last Unicorn cover I did for IDW's 2010 series based on Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn. I've included images of my initial comp, the sketch, and the final drawing, made with india ink & gouache. Bonus points if you know where the Prince's pose came from.

--Frank

Last Unicorn 5th Cover

2012-01-27T11:15:00.008-05:00

This is the 5th of 6 Last Unicorn covers I did for IDW back in 2010.

If you look closely, the composition looks like the head of the Red Bull, complete with smoke coming out of his nostrils.

When I finished this cover, there was some mild controversy with the publisher over the nudity. Originally, I was under the impression that this cover never ran, but I recently came across someone selling an issue on Ebay (I don't have a copy of the issue).

I also included my version of the king based on how I interpreted him from reading the book. It's unofficial, but I like him better that way.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy! There's only one cover left in the series.

Frank

3rd from Last Unicorn

2012-01-12T17:57:00.006-05:00

From July 2010 until about June 2011, I tried an experiment: No internet in the studio. The results of this were mixed -- for one, I had no distractions from my work, but for another, things like checking email and blogging new work became a hassle.

Consequently, I didn't do much blogging during that time. And so it happens that every once in a while, I realize that a piece I did during the internet dark ages is actually pretty good, and should probably be posted on the blog.

Such is the case with the Last Unicorn covers #4-6.

Today, I'm posting the 4th cover in the series, along with the drawing. I'll post the other two in the next few weeks, as well.

Take care,

Frank

Gen Y

2011-12-28T15:40:00.003-05:00

Hey guys,

Here's a piece I totally forgot doing earlier this year, until I stumbled across it on my hard drive. It was an experimental piece on the subject "Generation Y," for SooJin Buzelli at Plansonsor. Also pictured is the final graphite version of the drawing (featuring a cameo by illustrator Scott Brundage and his dog), and a progress sketch.

Happy New Year!

frank

"The 2011 Spectrum of Villainy"

2011-12-13T11:54:00.012-05:00

Last weekend, 16 small, black and white ink drawings I did ran in the New York Times Magazine. The article was about the spectrum of villainy of different film evildoers from this year.

Here are a handful of my favorites, some sketches, and some tonal versions that we didn't end up pursuing.

It was a really fun job to work in just black and white, with the special challenge of knowing the pieces would print at less than two inches high.

Here is a link to the online version of the article, where you can see all 16 drawings.

Thanks for reading!

Frank

Society of Illustrators

2011-11-28T15:37:00.005-05:00

I was fortunate enough this year to get to participate in the Society of Illustrators competition this year as a judge for the "Book" category, as well as to have two pieces selected for inclusion in the annual.
The first piece is a personal drawing in graphite, ink, and watercolor called "Fighter." It's in the "unpublished" category.
This second piece was done for a Runner's World feature, and is called "Because it's Steep." I blogged about this one previously, here.

Zeit Magazin Cover + Feature

2011-11-15T14:18:00.011-05:00

Hey guys,

A short while back, I did a pretty big job for the German magazine Zeit, about "How to be a good father." The job totalled about 7 full-page pieces, and here I'm showing my favorite three.

While I don't know what it's like to be a dad, I do live in Park Slope, a neighborhood of Brooklyn that's well-known for its stroller population. As a result, I am able to observe how humans interact with their offspring on a daily basis.

Sometimes, Zeit has a two-part cover; that is, there will be a "teaser" image on the front cover, then a second, follow-up image on the inside. The follow-up, in this case, was the happy dad with his three kids sitting on the grass.

I had a lot of fun doing the drawings for these. I was especially happy with some of the line work on the second cover image, but my favorite part of all the pieces in the series was this closeup from the opening spread.

It seems like the last few times I've visited classrooms in the past few months, I've been asked to talk about thumbnails and sketches, and the differences between the two. So for that purpose, I've put together a jpg comparing my thumbnails on this job to the final sketches.

The way I like to think about it is: thumbnails are just describing the general idea, while sketches are also communicating details about how I plan to handle the composition. It's also where I try to iron out any drawing problems that occur.

Also, two of my sketches are references to Rockwell pieces.

thanks for reading,

Frank

World Without Fish by Mark Kurlansky

2011-10-24T12:21:00.009-04:00

Earlier this year, my first "children's" book was released by Workman Publishing. Mark Kurlansky, famed food writer and oceans expert, wrote World Without Fish for (and with) his 10 year-old daughter, Talia.

The book is written for kids aged 9-12, about ocean conservation. It's a very well-written book explaining a serious subject to kids, and what they can to do help counter-act overfishing, among other things, that are adversely affecting our environment.

This book was really fun to work on, partly because it brought back a lot of memories for me of going deep-sea fishing with my grandfather while growing up. We lived off the coast of Southern California, and would often take his boat, the Sea Lion, out towards Catalina Island to spend the weekend

fishing.

All in all, I did a front cover, an inside jacket cover, seven full-page illustrations, and 11 single-page comics chronicling the story of "Kram & Ailat," that introduce each chapter. Kram & Ailat was written by Mark, and adapted to comic form by me.

The book looks very beautiful, to which I credit the Design Director, Raquel Jaramillo. From day one, she had a real passion for this project, and her vision really paid off. Though there's been a lot of praise in the press for myself and for Mark, there's been almost none for her significant contribution.

If you have a kid in your life who's 9-12 that you think might be interested in science, the ocean, or sea life of any kind, you should consider getting him or her this book. LINK to Amazon

Thanks for reading,

Frank

Black Metal's "Wolves," Sam Weber's Nightmares, and an Open Studio

2011-10-13T09:34:00.008-04:00

Black Metal's "Wolves"

A couple of weeks ago, art director (and illustrator extraordinaire) Jordan Awan from the New Yorker called to ask if I was interested in illustrating something for the music review about a subgenre of heavy metal music known as black metal.

The subjects of the review were to be two bands: Absu and Wolves. For the sketches, I focused two out of the three on Absu, as they are a lot more theatrical in their wardrobe than Wolves, who tend to be a little understated.

Jordan requested that I do the piece in

a style similar to my Dark Knight piece from a few years ago. It's always fun to play with media, so I was glad to oblige.

The end result is something a little more quiet and raw than a lot of work I've been doing recently, but I think it fits the band well.

Sam Weber's Nightmares

Last night, I was fortunate enough to have been a part of illustration sensation Sam Weber's WSVA Radio show, Your Dreams My Nightmares.

Every week on Your Dreams My Nightmares, Sam interviews someone connected to the creative arts industry. I had a great time talking about art school, teaching, abstract art, personal work, comics, Darth Vader, and finding your "style." It's definitely worth a listen. Check out the show Wednesdays at 8pm, and download past episodes here.

Open Studio and Artwalk

This Saturday and Sunday from 12-6pm, I'm opening my studio to the public as part of the Annual Gowanus Artist Studio Tour.

This year, there will be well over 130 artists opening their studios to the public within walking distance of my place. I'm going to be displaying a bunch of personal paintings and drawings that I've been working on over the past year.

If you're in the New York City/Brooklyn region, I'd love to have you stop by and see what I've been up to.

Thanks for reading,

Frank

Anne Ursu's the Cronus Chronicles

2011-09-20T14:03:00.009-04:00

Recently, I was commissioned by Lauren Rille of Simon & Schuster to re-do three book covers for a series called The Cronus Chronicles.

The books follow the adventures of a couple of cousins who discover that Greek gods aren't only real -- but that they exist today, and are plotting against humanity!

Here are the final covers with & without type, starring their respective Greek gods: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Oh, and I'm told that the final versions will have FOIL!!!

Thanks for reading!

Frank
p.s. if you're really savvy, you'll notice a couple of changes from the no-logo versions to the print version.

Runner's World

2011-07-25T12:31:00.003-04:00

Hey guys,

The following illustrations ran as a feature in an issue of Runner's World from a couple of months ago.

This was an interesting assignment, in that the story was completely changed early on in the sketching process. The feature was about a very steep race on Mount Washington. Mostly, the story focused on the psychological aspects of the race. I tried to get this to come through in the illustrations.

I always have fun drawing people running, for some reason, and this series was no different. I really enjoyed playing with the distortion in the opening image, and making the figures look hot and tired for the third piece. They're a little bit corny, but I think it's appropriate for the type of article it was.

Thanks for reading,

Frank

'Arry Pottah!

2011-07-18T18:45:00.012-04:00

This spot illustration appears in the Movie Review section of the New Yorker that hit stands Monday, July 18, 2011.

I happened to be listening to the audio book of the Deathly Hallows when I got the call, so it was fairly lucky timing on my part to take on the job.

Here are my sketches. The main focus on this film is the conflict of Harry and Voldemort, so I decided to leave out secondary and tertiary characters. Here is a link to the review: http://tinyurl.com/69modbk

frank

Portraits & Likenesses

2011-06-13T14:37:00.008-04:00

Hey guys,

Here are a few jobs I've done recently that focused on portraiture & likeness.

Foo Fighters for Rolling Stone:
This came out a couple of months ago. I was asked by Steven Charny of The Rolling Stone to make an image to coincide with the review of the Foo Fighters' new album, "Wasting Light." The best part of the process was getting to listen to the album a week or so before it's official release date.

The album is a pretty solid, straightforward rock album, so I could pretty much do what I wanted. This is good, because lately I've been interested in coming up with solutions that aren't quite as topical as many of those I've come up with in the past. For example, I am trying to make more work that says more by saying less.

So, I've been playing around a little with my ideas. You can see in these initial sketches some weird ideas that didn't make the cut. In the end, a more straightforward version of sketch B was tooled to fit the story. Emphasis for the final was on aesthetic, experimentation, and mood, instead of on illustrating the concept "Wasting Light." Thanks to Steven Charny for letting me play around with this one.

David Sleyster for AI 5000:
This piece was for SooJin Buzzelli for AI 5000 magazine. The description of Sleyster was fairly vague: he's a good business leader. Considering that this would be in a magazine with a whole bunch of portraits of people who are also good business leaders, I wanted to try and do my best to do a more "open" portrait -- again, one that isn't so topical that it can only be used in conjunction with the article.

Fortunately, I was able to talk SooJin into letting me attempt this kind of a less-whimsical approach to the piece. I wanted the concept to be the the drawing, and the over-all aesthetic. I'm happy with how it came out, and hopefully it served its purpose and communicates successfully what I was going for.

Way Back for the New Yorker:
I did this several months ago for Jordan Awan of the New Yorker Magazine. The New Yorker tends to expect direct solutions for the Movie Review section. The reason I think they like to give me the call is because I can usually do a pretty good job at placing a likeness into a narrative situation.

From a storytelling perspective, however, putting a recognizable likeness into a narrative image is an very difficult thing to do -- things like the proper angle, facial expression, etc. that make a story read well quickly become a liability, because once the actor starts to change much more than his or her typical magazine-cover look, you usually lose the likeness.

The Actors pictured are Colin Farrell and Ed Harris.

Thanks for reading,

Frank

A Clockwork Orange for EW

2011-05-23T21:15:00.006-04:00

Hey guys,

This image was done for Entertainment Weekly, and is in the current issue that hit stands last Friday. This week marks the 40th anniversary of A Clockwork Orange.

No sketch for this one, I just went straight in with ink and brush. The original is drawn with olive green shellac-based ink on a sheet of vintage paper.

Thanks for reading,

Frank

Eisner Nomination

2011-04-12T01:50:00.007-04:00

Last week I learned that my comic "Hamburgers for One," has been nominated for a 2011 Will Eisner Comics Industry Award for "Best Short Story."

Just being nominated is an honor I never would have dared to dream of. I'd like to say "thank you" to DJ Kirkbride, Anthony Wu, Adam P. Knave, and the folks at Image who got behind my story and pushed for it to get the nomination.

I've decided to post the entire story here for you to read. Just click on the jpg below and you'll be able to scroll through all 24 pages (be patient though, it's a big image). Please feel free to read it, and pass on a link to your friends.

Popgun Vol. 4 can be purchased from your local comic store, or online from Amazon.com.

Best,

Hunger Games

2011-02-17T10:37:00.008-05:00

Over the holidays, I was asked to do a full-page feature about a series of books by Suzanne Collins called The Hunger Games.

Fortunately on this one, there was enough time for me to read the first book of the series before I had to turn in sketches.

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic future, in which every year, randomly selected teenagers from around the country are selected to fight to the death on national television. It's like a cross between the book 1984 and the film Battle Royale (both highly recommended).

Here are the original thumbnails and notes that I sent to Evan Campisi (art director), a snapshot of the final sketch in progress, and the final illustration. Also, here's a link to Scholastic's page for the series (The covers were done by illustrator-extraordinaire Tim O'Brien).

Anyway, if you are interested in some light & fun reading, the Hunger Games is a pretty good choice. But you don't have to take my word for it...

Frank

Digital Coloring Advice - An Open Letter

2011-01-12T07:51:00.004-05:00

[the following is a copy of an email I wrote in response to a question about digital coloring]

...

Don't feel bad if your teachers don't have a lot of technical advice on working digitally. All I did in college was paint in acrylic and oil, and it was the same for buddies of mine like Josh Cochran, Sam Weber, Jillian Tamaki, Tomer Hanuka, and James Jean. Also, I teach at a great school in Baltimore, and I don't let most of them even touch the computer.

The way I learned digital coloring was pretty straightforward: trial and error. Basically, I wanted my work to look like it was a printed comic book page. Everything else slowly evolved out of that.

Early on, I hated the "slickness" of digital coloring, having been a very textural painter in school, so that was a big part of the learning process. One option for getting a bit of texture into the image is to scan it so that you have some paper texture with the line work.

Another option you may want to try is to scan in some papers you like. I have 4 or 5 that I go back to, depending on the assignment, such as newsprint, etching paper, and watercolor paper. You can use "Multiply" to have them add texture to your artwork. It will take some fussing around with until you get it how you like it.

I also like to experiment a lot with my illustration process. Most of the time, I will make unique textures for each illustration and scan them in separately. If you have a printer, you can print out your ink work in a light color, and then try doing ink washes over it for shadows & stuff.

And for keeping your lines black, there are several ways to do it, but the "multiply" option is the easiest.

All that said, I'm going to reiterate the point that you don't need digital instruction in school. It's much more important for you to focus on design and composition. Know how to use the computer, but don't use it for making art from scratch.

If you look around the web and notice that your work fits in too much -- that is, if it looks a lot like what everyone else is doing or like what everyone else is trying to do -- it's a very bad thing for your future career. Do whatever you can to stand out. I worry about all the digital artists coming out of school these days -- not for myself, but for them, because they all look the same.

My work is going to start looking very dated in a few years, probably... which will be bad for me, but much worse for new artists who are just emerging and already look dated. So, I advise playing around and trying different media for a while. It's easier to learn watercolor or acrylics while you're in school than it is when you're trying to pay rent. Or, you could try tweaking your drawing style-- anything to make you stand out from the pack. Find out what is unique or weird about your own sensibilities.

As fashion metaphors are concerned, it's better to dress like a techno-goth weirdo, than to look like 90% of the population who just walked out of the Gap.

I checked out the link you gave me, and it seems like you know about as much as you need to know for digital coloring. There's really no magic to any of it, just play around with layer settings like multiply, color, overlay, and opacity, and see what comes of it. Work on your drawing and design skills.

Good luck,

Frank

Star Wars Mondo Tees - Luke's Destiny Screen Print

2010-12-07T14:12:00.010-05:00

Earlier this year, I was approached to do a piece for a Mondo Tees' Star Wars limited edition print run.

While I always enjoy making Star Wars imagery, this one offered an interesting challenge, because it would be a two by three foot poster.

I knew that getting started, I would want to choose a composition that would complement the finished size of the piece. This is in contrast to the Star Wars Galaxy cards I did a while back, which were made to be seen small.

One particular scene stood out in my mind: Luke, being confronted by Vader, making the fateful decision to leap and potentially fall to his death, rather than compromise his values and betraying his friends.

I wanted the composition to make the viewer feel that hopelessness for Luke - that there was really no easy solution to the moment at hand, so I placed him high up on the page, peering down into the abyss, while Vader beckoned him to join the Dark Side.

For Vader, I had been looking at a lot of Bernini sculptures, and began to like the idea of an over-the-top, almost biblical representation of the villain in this great scene. The lighting and drawing of him here was attempting to convey that on some level.

As for the technical challenges of the piece, I drew the original at actual size, 24x36", which is much larger than I usually work. In addition, I had to keep my colors simpler than usual, as it was going to be printed in no more than 7 layers. (Thank god someone else handled that part).

If you haven't seen the series that this poster is a part of, check out the Mondo Tees website and follow the links to see. There's some pretty awesome works in there. My poster, "Luke's Destiny," went on sale about a month ago with a print run of 360 copies, and sold out in about 20 minutes, which is not that unusual for these prints.

I have a few copies of my own, and have decided to put one up on Ebay. Click here to check it out or to bid!

I hope you enjoyed the post, and have a great week!

--Frank

DENVER? I Barely even KNOW her!

2010-11-10T13:54:00.007-05:00

Hey guys,

A couple of months back, I was approached by Dave McKenna, the design director at Denver's own 5280 Magazine.

Dave and I worked together a couple of years back, when he was at National Geographic Adventure, when we did this together.

He actually called me about this particular assignment a month in advance to starting, to secure my availability. This is one of the reasons Dave is such a good art director -- he picks people he thinks are right for the job, gives them as much time as possible, and tries to turn everything into an award-winning feature. Just below, you can see the spread that he worked up with my image.

Pictured here is my opening illustration for the magazine's feature about the dark and dirty underbelly of the outwardly wholesome city of Denver, Colorado. Edited by Luc Hatlestad, the piece examines several different subcultures of the city, through the metaphor of the "Seven Deadly Sins." In this image, I have represented greed, gluttony, sloth, and lust. Subsequent illustrations for the feature represent the other three.

Since teaching at Baltimore's MICA this semester, I've changed my process a bit to reflect the good habits that I'm trying to impart on my students. This piece reflects those lessons in my color composition more than anywhere else.

The most important thing on the technical side of making images is learning to take your time, and break the process down into little steps--starting with getting lots and lots of good photo reference materials, and breaking down your process into a straight-forward formula that will allow you to handle one design issue at a time.

For this job, I put together an animated .gif file showing chronologically my design process. It doesn't seem fast to work this way, but in the end, it will be far less of a headache, you'll achieve a better result, and may just end up saving time because of not having to figure everything out on the fly.

Thanks for reading,

Frank

Chocoloate

2010-10-18T22:28:00.007-04:00

Howdy!

A few months back, I did this illustration for Kevin DeMiranda at Spirit Magazine, for a short story about a little girl who loves everything there is to love about chocolate.

I was originally going to emphasize the color of chocolate, but it felt more appetizing to me to make it more of a primary color scheme.

The drawing for this one came out pretty well. It was the type of composition that would have failed miserably, had I not spent a bit of extra time on the drawing.

Thanks for reading!

frank

Lost in the Woods

2010-10-09T17:14:00.005-04:00

Hello!

This is a spot I did a while back for the Boy Scouts of America magazine, about what to do if you get lost in the woods. Here are two sketches, pencils and the final. Have a good week!

best,

frank

A Self-Portrait, of Sorts...

2010-08-25T17:22:00.005-04:00

I wasn't actually commissioned by Backpacker magazine to do a self-portrait for a feature about park rangers in Yosemite, but it turned out that way, when a buddy of mine was unable to pose for reference.

After I turned in my first version of the piece, I was asked to make him look less beaten-up.

I've been spending a lot of time painting lately, and it shows a little in this piece. Painting has helped me to loosen up a lot, and be more expressive and less of a perfectionist. It took me a long time to learn to plan everything out meticulously, but being able to let go has been a welcome change in my process for this piece.

Thanks for reading,

frank

Rick Shambles is Forever Adrift

2010-07-19T14:31:00.016-04:00

"The path to success is to take massive, determined action." --Anthony Robbins

Meet Rick Shambles -- He always does the best he can. His is a two-page story I wrote that's going to be a part of the next Myspace Dark Horse Presents anthology.

Here are my working images, from thumbnails of the story, to final pencils, and inks. And here is the painting where he first appears, done back in 2004 for an assignment in art school.

Enjoy the story!

--Frank

Angel: Barbary Coast #3

2010-06-24T10:04:00.009-04:00

Several months ago, I was asked to do a cover for Angel: Barbary Coast #3 at the last moment, because the regular cover artist was unable to get his image in on time.

Days before, I remembered having a conversation with Sam Weber, and he noted that a lot of times, tight deadlines lead to simpler and more powerful images than what we might come up with on a longer deadline.

Barbary Coast takes place in pre-earthquake San Francisco's Chinatown, so I wanted to make that come through in the design. The first element of which was the border, which is simple and reminiscent of the type of mouldings you might see in Chinatown. Another was the color design, which I thought had to be a red and black duo tone, similar to the type of color printing that was most common around the turn of the last century.

After working up the pencil drawing, I felt that over-all the composition was strong, but it seemed like a lot of the story elements, such as the Chinatown rooftops and extra traces of the dragon in the background weren't quite working. That's when I remembered my conversation with Sam, and I realized that conceptually it was probably better off simpler -- not every cover should be a movie poster montage.

The final drawing was done on toned paper with India ink and gouache, in an attempt to save even more time after bringing it into the computer.

This entire cover was done in about a day and a half from start to finish, and fortunately turned out pretty good.

I'm enjoying my cover work, and while I think it's over-all pretty strong, I still haven't quite hit my stride with it.

Thanks for reading,

Frank

Sketching and Sketchbooks

2010-06-16T12:01:00.003-04:00

Here are some pages from some recent sketchbooks, and a few from my days in art school.

While I think that sketchbooks are key in fostering new ideas and creativity, there's a danger to developing artists who spend too much time working in them.

Years ago, I noticed that when I was pouring forth all my energy into the pages, it was my finished art that suffered. Not that my finished work was bad -- but it was clear which forum was more favored of the two.

If you're the type of artist who loves to work in your sketchbook, but can't seem to get your actual artwork to go anywhere, you might want to consider limiting your time spent in them.

Don't get me wrong -- keeping a sketchbook is, in my opinion, essential to developing as an artist. However, I think they are best kept private. They're for your eyes only, like a diary of your thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Ideally, they should lead to bigger and better things. It should be a place where you are allowed to "play" artistically. I think of my sketchbook as sort of petri dish of ideas. 99% of it doesn't come to anything, but that's the point.

Those little moments where you're playing around, exploring your creativity, asking "What do I like?" is, in my opinion, the purpose of the sketchbook. It's a place for you to let go of what you think other people will like, or what you think is "good," or even what you think you like. It should be organic, evolving, and should never try to be something.

If you want your best art to be seen, you should do it outside of the bound media.

Spirit Magazine - Chill

2010-06-09T14:09:00.011-04:00

This is an inappropriate time of year to be posting a snow scene, so I hope you'll forgive me.

"The Big Chill," by Kathleen George, is an emotional short story about an estranged husband and wife. It opens when the main character, Jake, comes home to realize that a transient has wandered into his living room while he was away.

For the composition, I wanted to keep Jake as anonymous as possible. There are several reasons for this, but one in particular is that I wanted the race of the main character not to be obvious, so there would be a better chance of the reader relating to Jake (of course, if such details were explained in the story, that would be a different matter altogether).

The couple's estrangement and the transient guest both come as a surprise as the story unfolds, so I wanted to preserve those qualities while setting the stage for the reader's curiosity.

I've done several 1/2 page illustrations for Kevin de Miranda of Spirit Magazine, the in-flight publication for Southwest Airlines this year, and have been pretty happy with how they've all come out. They're trying out fiction in the magazine for the first time, and luckily, Kevin's been really enthusiastic about the work I've been doing, inspiring me to better work by showing my sketches in the layouts, which makes for a more collaborative effort.

For this one, I wanted to experiment with a different line quality, so I drew the "inks" with a wax crayon (China Marker) on acetate. I was going for an "animation" feel to the line quality -- i.e. 101 Dalmations -- but I'm not so sure it made that much of a difference in the final result. It was definitely a fun challenge keeping the tip of the pencil sharp, though. The tip of the wax pencil tends to break if it has too fine of a point.

Fortunately, when I was starting this piece, New York was hit with a two-day blizzard. For those of you who aren't in a place where it snows, the timing was lucky because a day or two after a fresh snowfall, everything usually turns brown and slushy--I wanted to draw it as white and fluffy. So, I walked around the neighborhood snapping pictures that I thought would come in handy as reference.

In other news, I've sold out of the Molly Grue prints from my last post, but still have some different prints left over, which I'll be featuring on here from time to time.

9x12" Dark Knight prints are available during the month of June for $25 + shipping, and if you also pick up a zine, postcards, or another print, I'll throw in an original sketch or drawing from around the studio. I've been getting some really kind emails from the folks who have ordered both, which is why I've decided to keep going with the offer.

Also available, the original 5x7" ink, graphite, watercolor & acrylic drawing for $500 + shipping. Originally published in the New Yorker, 2008.

Have a great week,

frank

The Last Unicorn #3 - Molly Grue

2010-05-17T11:10:00.014-04:00

Hey guys!

This is the third out of six of the covers I'm doing for IDW's the Last Unicorn. For those of you familiar with the story, it introduces the character of Molly Grue, an estranged companion of the unicorn from years ago.

In the story, Molly's initial reaction to coming face-to-face with the unicorn after so long is a powerful and subtle mix of emotions, of which I can't really describe -- but I think I did a good job of communicating in the drawing.

I went through a lot of different variations on the color, trying to get something that I felt would stand out and not be too like other stuff on the comic shelf, and I hope I've been able to accomplish that.

Thanks for reading and your continued support of the blog in the wake of the craziness from the whole Blogger mess. I really appreciate it!

frank

Sketchbook Zine + Postcard Prints Available

2010-05-07T10:31:00.025-04:00

Hey guys,

I've been chained to the desk since I got back from C2E2, and so haven't been posting on the old blog.

We've All Got the Same Guts Sketchbook Zine

Several folks emailed me while I was in Chicago asking for the sketchbook zine I produced, We've All Got the Same Guts, but I was holding out to make sure I had merchandise for the event. I've got a handful of them left, and am selling them here for $10 each.

Postcard Prints Set of Eight Images

I'm also selling a postcard print set featuring eight of my best images for $15. Each print is 4x6" and includes the images above.

Eight Postcard Prints - shipped within U.S.

Eight Postcard Prints - shipped internationally

If you purchase both items, I'll throw in a bunch of extra stuff, including a copy of Sparkle -- a zine I did in 2004, a bunch of promotional odds & ends, and an original sketch from around the studio. (No commissions, please).

Thanks, and have a great weekend!

frank

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED!

2010-04-19T16:54:00.003-04:00

This blog is now located at http://www.frankstockton.com.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
frankstocktonart.blogspot.com.

C2E2 - Friday

2010-04-16T21:30:00.004-04:00

First day of the convention was AWESOME! The crowds have been pretty good, and over-all, people who've stopped by have been really cool. Here's a couple of pictures from the convention.

Anyone who comes by Saturday with a copy of Popgun Vol. 4 for me to sign will get a free copy of We've All Got the Same Guts.

I'm off, now, to get some authentic Chicago deep-dish pizza. Hope to see you tomorrow!

--Frank

C2E2

2010-04-15T21:56:00.005-04:00

Hey Guys!

I'm in Chicago this weekend for C2E2 in Artist's Alley, table 10-O (as in "Oprah")

Swing by, check out some of the stuff I brought!

- "We've All Got the Same Guts" sketchbook
- Postcard set
- Prints galore
- Original sketches & drawings
- A Cold, Critical Eye
- Positive Attitude

See you there!

--frank

The Last Unicorn #2

2010-03-30T13:13:00.006-04:00

Howdy everybody,

Here's my second cover for The Last Unicorn series being published by IDW. The second issue had a lot more to go on than the first issue, not to mention it was about more than introducing the characters, so I had a chance to put more of a narrative into it.

The crux of the story involves a traveling freak show of sorts, lead by the evil witch Mommy Fortuna and her bumbling wizard manservant, Schmendrick.

I didn't have any reference to go on for Mommy Fortuna, who likes to collect strange and exotic animals for her show. I envisioned her to be adorned with jewelry of all kinds, flowing silk and velvet. In my mind, I was thinking of a "glamorous" version of the "trash lady" from Labrynth, but I've been told by more than one person that she reminds them of the old witch from Spirited Away, who I agree she does resemble.

Anyhow, after I finished the initial sketch, I showed it to a colleague of mine, Joe Suitor, who suggested that I enlarge the Unicorn. Initially I resisted, but he was right, so I went into Photoshop to do the dirty work before taking it to inks.

Thanks for reading!

Frank

Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo + Serenity Cover

2010-03-17T12:27:00.004-04:00

Hey guys,

I don't have time for a more elaborate post this week, but here is something that might be somewhat useful to you.

April 16-18, I'll have a table in Artist's Alley in the upcoming Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo. I'm looking for someone to split the table with, so if you or someone you know is a comics illustrator get in touch with me soon!
fstockton@gmail.com

Also, I did this cover for an upcoming Serenity one-shot. Still waiting to see it with the final logos on it.
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Have a good week,

frank

Tangled In Blue

2010-03-10T14:30:00.005-05:00

Several weeks ago, Justin Long of Orange Coast Magazine emailed me to offer a feature in the magazine about the relationship between drugs and surfing culture. I grew up in the part of Southern California where the story takes place, so I was pretty happy to do the job.

These first two images are of the amazing layout that Justin did with the illustrations. I think it's one of the finest jobs someone has done laying out my artwork to date, and am happy that he's given me the OK to post them here. You can click on either one of the spreads to see the illustrations enlarged.

I wanted to be a little more subtle but still have an emotional impact on the opening illustration. This can be a really tricky thing, since people are usually flipping through a magazine pretty quickly. I was pretty adamant about not wanting to show any obvious drug references, but was also concerned that the surfboard leash wrapped around the figure's wrist would be too subtle. Fortunately, Justin agreed that this solution would work.

I re-drew this basic pose several times, but it wasn't working. I could have just toughed it out, but I decided to totally scrap this pose and start over. It's a tough thing to do sometimes, because you usually want to stay somewhat close to your initial sketch, and it's easy to get lost in trying to make it work. You have to art direct yourself a lot of the time, though that's sometimes very hard to do.

Finally, I came up with a pose for the underwater figure that I was happy with. The illustration before this point was starting to make me really anxious, but when I had the insight to switch it up, I knew I could do a good job on it, and could focus on the colors.

Lastly, here are some screen shots I took while trying to work out the color.

Thanks for reading!

frank

Star Wars Part II

2010-03-01T10:18:00.006-05:00

Howdy!

The recent release of the Star Wars Galaxy 5 card set means that I'm officially allowed to post my other contribution to the set on my website!

Here's the text I wrote up for the back of the card:

Between ESB and ROTJ, Luke withdrew to his former Master Obi-Wan's hut in Tattoine to complete his Jedi training in solitude. For this piece, I chose to illustrate the moment of him completing the construction of the light saber he would eventually use to defeat Darth Vader and rescue his father with.

It's been months since I did this piece, but I've grown to like it more and more as time goes on.

By the way, I'll be at the Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo this April 16-18 with a table at Artist's Alley. If you can make it, be sure to stop by and check out all the cool stuff I'll have to offer there.

Take care,

Frank

Making the Rounds...

2010-02-22T15:11:00.005-05:00

So, I'm not sure what's going on exactly. I guess something funky is going on with Blogger, so I've been hesitant to post anything until I see what the deal is.

But it's been a hectic last couple of weeks.

Last Thursday I was in two of Chang Park's illustration classes at Pratt giving a presentation/pep talk to the Seniors, and a presentation/critique of the Junior level work. Lots of fun. I have to say, that school has a ton of energy and talent.

Also, I've hit up figure drawing workshops a bunch of times over the past few weeks to get myself primed and ready to give a lesson in "drawing form with line" with Jillian Tamaki's drawing class at SVA. I spent all weekend working on a 6 page handout, which I hope they all read. Class was this morning and went pretty well. Great model, fun class.

Tuesday 2/23, I'm supposed to be giving an online presentation of my work for Rocky Mountain College of Art. I've been told this is going to be available streaming on the world wide web, but at this point in time I don't know what the URL is. All I know is that it's supposed to be at 11am Eastern time. Tune in to hear me massage your ears with the sweet, sweet sounds of success. Email me if you want me to give you the URL when it becomes available.

Wednesday 2/24, I'm doing a signing at Jim Hanley's Universe for the unveiling of the new Popgun 4, featuring (but not limited to) Hamburgers for One. Be there from 6-8pm if you dare, pick up the new book, and get ready to feel copasetic for comics.

Best,

Frank

The Last Unicorn

2010-02-01T14:58:00.008-05:00

Recently I signed on to doing covers for IDW's comic book adaptation of Peter S. Beagle's classic, The Last Unicorn.

After reading the book, I felt that a more classical fantasy illustration approach might be appropriate. Specifically, I started looking at the work of Edmund Dulac and Arthur Rackham, who both worked primarily in ink and watercolor. Each of them tend to have an degree of realism, while maintaining the graphic quality I strive for in my designs.

Maybe this is just in my head, but for some reason I thought it would be my job to attract boys to a book with "Unicorn" in the cover, as it seems to be a given that girls would be willing to pick it up (sexist, I know). At any rate, it lead me to try to focus on making the unicorn much less cartoony while emphasizing the terror of the world around her.

And I haven't done this since college, but I did a whole bunch of color comps trying to figure out what would look best for the final. I even did some in watercolor to see if that would give me any good ideas.

In the end, the color comps were helpful, but I didn't wind up going with any one of them specifically.

The final is going to be sold as a variant cover for the first issue of the series, due out in April of this year.

For collectors, the original drawings can be purchased here. There's also a prints section with some new additions.

Have a great week,

Frank

Star Wars Galaxy

2010-01-18T10:43:00.008-05:00

Hello,

A few months back, I did two pieces of art for the new Star Wars Galaxy Series 5 trading cards by Topps.

I've been anxiously waiting for permission to be able to show these images to you, but have had to wait until they hit stores on February 20th to post them publicly.

Last week, I was surprised and honored to learn that one of my illustrations was chosen to be used for the promotion of the set, and so was given permission to show it to you a month early.

The scene illustrated takes place in the Star Wars Radio Dramas, which are available to listen to for FREE on Youtube -- I highly recommend them to you.

Almost as cool as doing the card itself was the opportunity to write my own quote for the back of the card:

While listening to the Star Wars Radio Dramas, I was struck by what is perhaps the most intense scene in A New Hope; Darth Vader's interrogation of Princess Leia Organa. The scene, which explicitely conveys the sick and twisted evil that had overtaken Anakin by that point, foreshadows some of the pivotal events that would leave us aghast in forthcoming episodes.

I've been really fortunate in the last several months to be doing some really fun assignments like this one. I promise there's more awesome stuff to come!

May the Force be with you,

Frank

Popgun Vol. 4

2010-01-12T10:35:00.006-05:00

Hamburgers for One, an original story I wrote and illustrated a while back, is going to be in print this February in Image Comics' Popgun Vol. 4.

There's a nice write-up on the Comic Book Resources website about the Popgun 4 anthology here.

The following is a quote about my story from the series editor, D.J. Kirkbride:

"'Hamburgers for One' is one of the centerpieces of the book," Kirkbride described of Stockton's contribution. "At 24 pages, it stands on its own and could be a one-shot. Frank has an amazing style, and this one surprised me after his very action-packed and humorous contribution to volume three, 'The Swordsman.' 'Hamburgers,' to me, is a great illustration of pacing. It's all very deliberate, and as a reader and writer myself, I learned a lot from it. A very subtle and interesting character piece with great visuals — Frank knocked it out of the park."

Read the entire article here.

Popgun is a XXL anthology of comics published by Image. It's a super-eclectic mix of different genres and stories that are calibrated to blow your mind. Volume 3 included my story "Swordsman MonsterSlayer: Monster Revenge." I highly recommend it.

Popgun Vol. 4 is available for purchase on February 24, 2010.

Best,

Frank

Unblogged '09

2010-01-04T11:56:00.004-05:00

The end of the decade is upon us -- WHAT?!? It seems like only yesterday I started stockpiling food, firearms, and gasoline in anticipation of the implosion of life-as-we-know-it called Y2K.
Well anyway, here are some pictures I did last year, but never blogged about. Perhaps I'll go more in-depth about some of them later. At any rate, I've got some really cool pieces I can't wait to show off in the coming months.

Best of luck 2010!

Frank

Sketches

2009-12-29T16:12:00.004-05:00

Quite often, I'll do a sketch or two that doesn't make it to final. Here are a bunch of sketches I did for jobs last year. Most made it to final, but some did not.
Edible San Francisco; Playboy's Advisor column.

Commander in Chief; Spot for PC World Magazine.

Bottom panel of INC comic.

Men's Health; Fast Company; Men's Health.

The Last Unicorn; The Grim Reaper.

Avatar for the New Yorker.

--Frank

Zombies!

2009-12-07T12:24:00.003-05:00

Hey guys,

A few months ago, I did this cover for Tor. It's for an upcoming mash-up of Tom Sawyer and Zombies. I've read it, and it is every bit as awesome as it sounds.

I'm also doing several interior illustrations for the book in black & white.

Here are a couple of process pieces - the original sketch, which was drawn both in Photoshop and with Sharpie. The "red" colored version is another one I drew that I ended up abandoning.

And in other news, the PRINTS section of my site is now functional. If you want to order something for Christmas, be sure to make your purchase by Monday, December 18th.

Have a great week!

Frank

Charity Art Auction

2009-11-24T11:28:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've decided to release a new print in time for the holidays this year, "Swimming With Sharks," which I've been playing with, on and off, for the past 10 months.

I'm happy to announce that after all these months, its finally exactly how I want it.

Here are some process screen shots: Sharks 1; Sharks 2.

The first print from the Edition, #1 of 20, is available as part of a charity auction on Ebay with The Lunch Bunch:

"The Lunch Bunch consists of two friends that get together once a week to create home-made meal packages to pass out to the homeless of Los Angeles, CA."

There are some bona-fide superstar artists involved with the auction as well, including Tim Biskup, Gary Baseman, and Ana Bagayan.

And lastly, here's a link directly to my piece: Frank Stockton

"Swimming With Sharks" is signed and numbered in an Edition of 20, printed on 100% cotton Hahnemuhle paper, and shipped flat via USPS. The printed image size is 18x6.5"

Now's your chance to get a nice piece of artwork, and donate to a worthy cause. I will begin selling prints #2-20 after the auction ends in about a week.

Thanks a lot, and good luck bidding!

Frank

The Green Lantern

2009-11-16T10:52:00.001-05:00

GREEN LANTERN
Several months ago, I was asked to do a Green Lantern piece for DC Comics.

I'll let the images speak for themselves, but essentially I was trying to create an "epic" sort of poster of Hal Jordan and his story. The biggest challenge was making the entire scene "read" properly with all the different elements going on. The Star Wars look of this piece is not unintentional.

One difference with this illustration from most others is that the initial drawing was done on several pieces of tracing paper that I cut up and pieced together, mostly just to make subtle changes to the composition before inking it. Over all, it was a ton of fun to draw.

COMMUNICATION ARTS
In other news, I'm currently featured in the FRESH section of the November/December issue of Communication Arts. Check it out!

Listen to Your Father

2009-11-10T11:34:00.001-05:00

Vader, here, is a top-secret work in progress.

MoCCA Festival 2010
Does anyone out there have a table for MoCCA in NY later this year? I'm looking to share with somebody. Please email me: fstockton@gmail.com with "MoCCA" in the subject line if you or someone you know is willing.

AMERICAN ILLUSTRATION PARTY
Also, this THURSDAY is the annual American Illustration/American Photography party. If you're an illustrator, or a student of illustration, and want to rub elbows with some of the industry's power players, you won't want to miss it! RSVP Here!

Nucleus Anniversary Show
Did anybody get to the Nucleus Opening? The show is still up. If you're in So Cal, it's mandatory that you check it out. Here's the exhibition page with my pieces on it.

Take care,

Frank

Nucleus show on Friday -- Originals on display

2009-11-02T15:01:00.000-05:00

Hey guys,

This Friday is the opening of Nucleus Gallery's 5 year anniversary show in Alhambra, CA. I have two drawings that will be in the show, and there's a selection of prints of my artwork there for sale as well.

These pieces are from a series I've been working on of Hunter-Gatherers. They're drawn in graphite and colored with watercolor and/or gouache. The computer screen doesn't do them justice, so be sure to swing by the opening and see them in person, if you can.

ciao,

Frank

Painting + John K

2009-10-27T12:43:00.000-04:00

Here's a painting I did from life a few weeks ago, just for fun. Oil painting is so much fun...

Also, I recently stumbled onto one of the coolest blogs on the internet. From the man who brought us Ren & Stimpy is... the legendary John K!

Stay warm & dry,

Frank

The Point Man

2009-10-16T13:10:00.001-04:00

Here's a recent book cover I created for Irene Gallo of Tor Books.

The Point Man is the original story that came before my first job with Irene, The Long Man, of which I also did the cover for, earlier this year. Both novels were written by acclaimed comic book and screenwriter Steven Englehart.

An interesting thing that happened while working on this job was that I had to totally shift direction when it was about 80% complete, because the editor wanted some changes that would better reflect the story within. Fortunately, Irene let me take a couple weeks off to get the flaming magic skull version out of my system; I really doubt I could have done as good of a job if I had to immediately re-do the piece.

While I wasn't happy with that decision originally, I am glad that things turned out the way they did. This is my favorite cover to date, but I hope to top it in the near future!

Best,

frank

Portrait

2009-09-22T12:10:00.000-04:00

--I don't usually do portraits, but I'm getting more and more comfortable with them.

This was a full page illustration for SooJin at AI5000, an online publication.

best,

f.

NY Magazine Comic

2009-08-31T13:26:00.000-04:00

Comics, comics, comics.

Its funny how I'll get waves of the same kind of job sometimes; I got the call from NY Magazine illustrate this story just after I finished the INC comic that I posted a couple of weeks ago.

This ran in the Fall Preview issue of NY Magazine that came out last week. It's a fictional story about Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, who are starring in a show together on Broadway this Fall.

I did the same feature for NY Magazine last year, about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes moving to NYC, but people seemed to get a lot more upset about poking fun at Craig and Jackman than about Tomkat. On the NY Magazine site the comments are pretty funny.

Between last year's and this year's comics, I find this one to be much funnier. I guess I just take Tomkat too seriously.

Have a great week,

frank

Inc. Comic

2009-08-17T07:25:00.001-04:00

In June, Inc. Magazine called me and asked if I could write a comic for their upcoming "500 Fastest Growing Companies" issue.

Aside from the fact that it was a comic, they were giving me the chance to write it myself. This is the first time I've gotten to actually write the text for a comic I've done for an illustration job. The most interesting part of the job was interviewing the subject of the piece, multi-millionaire Andrew Gross. During our conversation, he passed on to me the secret to becoming extremely wealthy. Thanks, Andrew!

Here's the final printed version of the story, in the current issue of Inc., on stands now.

Billboard Update

I'm still waiting for more pictures, but this is all I've been able to drum up so far. That white burst was added to the image after I got done with it, so I didn't have total control over it, but I still think it looks okay. One of these looks to me like it's a subway ad, and the other is a mural.

best,

Frank

My First Billboard

2009-08-04T16:49:00.001-04:00

Several months ago I was offered a job from an Irish ad agency called McCain-Erickson to do a billboard for the Heineken Music Festival in Ireland.

This was one of the most fun jobs I've been offered since becoming an illustrator. The money was great, the time frame was reasonable, and there was a lot of creative freedom in that I got to explore a different aspect of my imagination. I was also told that the illustration may appear on everywhere from billboards, to subway ads, bus sides, and street banners.

Heineken is doing a year-long music festival celebrating different kinds of music, and they asked me to illustrate "electro pop."

The examples the art director gave me for musical inspiration were Lady Gaga and "that Gwen Stefani girl." As I do with most music-based jobs, I listened to a few tracks to get the idea, then found something enjoyable in my iTunes that has a similar feel to me. For this job I chose Strawberry Jam and Merriweather Post-Pavilion by Animal Collective.

Because it was an advertising job and there was a limited amount of time for changes, I chose to be very thorough in the sketch phase; I wanted to leave as little surprise for the client as possible, so I sent PDFs of my sketches along with notes detailing what I wanted to do.

Many of the sketches included in this post were part of the initial PDF I sent to the client for feedback.

My final illustration was "too gray," according to the art director. I spent another two days tweaking the colors to be more in line with what they said they wanted. In the end, I like both versions for different reasons; the gray version has a great moody feel to it, like it could have come out of a Don Bluth film, and the other has a lot more of a "punch" that I think is more befitting of a billboard.

Supposedly the sign is up in Ireland, though I haven't had a chance to go see for myself. I'll mail a sketch to the first person who sends me a picture of it in the environment.

Also, send an email to fstockton@gmail.com to inquire about purchasing the final pencils or inks.

Thanks for reading!

Frank
p.s. I'm now on twitter!

San Diego Comic Con & AIGA Talk Reminder

2009-07-21T15:50:00.000-04:00

San Diego Comic Con

I'm going to be signing/sketching/etcetera at the Popgun table at San Diego Comic Con this Saturday from 2-3pm. My Swordsman Monster Slayer story was included in the third volume of the anthology.

AIGA Hampton Roads

As I mentioned last week, I'm gearing up for a talk this Thursday, July 23rd for the AIGA Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Virginia. Here is an interview I did to promote the event.

doodle

I was going through some stuff and found this stream of consciousness ink drawing from when I was learning to use nibs. Enjoy!

frank

Communication Arts + AIGA talk

2009-07-09T18:19:00.000-04:00

Communication Arts Cover

I've been getting a lot of emails from folks who've seen this already, but I haven't blogged it because I'm still yet to receive my copy of the New Communication Arts Illustration Annual.

Anyway, it's one of my images on the cover. I got the call about it a couple of months ago and have had all that time to come down from my high--so if I seem very non-reactive to the whole thing, that's the reason why.

I'm fortunate enough to have several pieces inside as well. Pick it up if you get the chance!

AIGA talk

Also, I'm going to be giving a talk on July 23rd at the AIGA Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Virginia. I'll be talking about the Business of illustration. Click here to read more.

thanks for reading!

frank

Teaching Yourself to Draw from Your Imagination -- part 1

2009-06-28T17:57:00.000-04:00

Over the next few months I'm going to be posting some articles about teaching yourself to draw from your imagination. These ideas expressed on the subject of drawing come from both my own observations and from lectures from several fantastic drawing teachers I have had the privilege of studying with, such as Kevin Chen, Dallas Good, Steve Huston and Bob Kato.

Keep in mind that this is general theory and not to be taken as hard, fast rules about what makes a drawing "good." In fact, when it comes to making art, it's the ways in which we diverge from the principles that gives artwork its originality, style, and charm.

Also keep in mind that nothing I or anyone else says are going to make you instantly better; that's only going to come gradually and with a lot of hard work drawing people on your own and from life.

GESTURE

There are two elements present in all kinds of art: IDEA and FORM.

The IDEA is what you want to express, and the FORM is the different elements that make up the piece.

Another way of saying that is the form is like the notes on a piano, and the idea is how you string them together. And as in music, the quality comes not from how well you hit the keys but how they all relate to one another to form a song.

The GESTURE is the IDEA of a figurative drawing.

This can also be described as the "story," or the "pose." When related to drawing, these terms can be used interchangeably, and in fact I prefer to use the word "story" instead of gesture when talking about drawing because it is often much clearer as to what the goal is.

GESTURE = IDEA = STORY

If gesture means the same thing as story, then it should be clear that a "gesture drawing" isn't just a bunch of scribbles done in 30 or 60 seconds from the model, as was my understanding of it from the earliest days of figure drawing.

A gesture is any line or set of lines that gets the story across.

The gesture the most important element in drawing figures by far, because if you fail to tell a convincing story, no amount of style, anatomy, or rendering will ever be able to fix it.

A good draftsman can tell a complex story with stick figures because of his or her grasp of this concept.

I've chosen to use stick figures here to illustrate the point that people will forgive 95% of all your other artistic shortcomings if you can tell the story well.

This is where a lot of drawings fall apart, either in the beginning or in the later stages as you get farther away from the core message of what you're trying to say.

When in the early stages of learning to draw, it's often a good idea to start your gesture off with a single, usually swooping "action line" essentially serves as the "theme" of the figure. This concept is described in greater detail and with many fantastic examples in John Buscema's "How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way."

Also, I should note that the example drawings posted here don't necessarily represent my personal process of drawing; for that, you can look through older blog posts and get an idea of how I come up with my poses; it's a lot more organic and scribbly most times than it looks here. You're going to want to develop your own process, which I will talk about in another post.

Every line you put down should serve to strengthen the basic idea of the pose. If you're drawing a person who is tired or depressed, not only should your initial first few lines get that point across, but subsequent design decisions you make should reinforce that message. The reason being is that every time you put down a mark that gets away from the core idea, the less effectively it communicates its intended message.

In my opinion, the people who are the best at drawing from their imagination are usually animators. It's an animator's job to tell stories through pose. If the storytelling is just the slightest bit "off," everyone can tell. Therefore, it's extremely important that your drawings always focus on the story.

In addition to the initial sketch of a drawing where you get the general idea of the pose down, getting the details right is also important. As I mentioned before, any line you put down that doesn't strengthen the basic story of the drawing you're making serves to weaken it.

This is just another way of saying that to draw is to design.

In drawing just as in storytelling, you're usually going to want to communicate as clearly as possible. Silhouettes offer the fastest, clearest communication of gesture. Will Eisner explained silhouettes in his book "Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative," which I highly recommend.

Foreshortening

Obviously it is often more difficult to show the gesture on a foreshortened figure than on one shown at a more conservative angle, because a strong grasp of three-dimensional form and basic anatomy come immediately into play in such cases.

Consider your pose in such instances; it may be possible to tilt the angle of the viewer so that there is a clearer story expressed in the silhouette.

The biggest challenge with designing foreshortened figures (after the actual foreshortening part) is keeping the silhouette from being a "bean" and losing all the dynamism of the pose.

Also, you can use a digital camera and a self-timer, or a friend to quickly check and adjust accordingly the way you've designed the pose and make necessary adjustments.

It's essential to use reference while drawing. Failing to use a camera, mirror, or something else when you need it is like not using a dictionary to first look up a word you don't know the meaning of that you want to use in an essay.

Designing for the page

A key difference between the way an illustrator draws and an animator or cartoonist draws is in designing for the page.

Often times in illustration there isn't as strong of a need to stay "on model" as there usually is in comics, cartooning and animation.

Letting go of the principles you've practiced over and over in the drawing workshops to make more interesting illustration can be both extremely daunting and exciting at the same time.

The key to making this work is realizing that there are no limits to what the figure can do when you put it down on paper; as long as you are able to communicate the idea, the possibilities are as endless and free as you permit yourself to imagine.

Always push your design. It's much easier to take a step back from going too far than it is to push forward when you haven't gone far enough.

If you've noticed, this is just "design" in a broader sense, not just figure invention.

The ultimate truth of drawing figures or anything else is that it comes down to your skills as a designer; if it looks good, it's because you designed it well, and if it looks bad, it's because you didn't design it well; it has nothing to do with how much anatomy you know or how well you understand the principles of drawing.

All that knowledge is helpful for informing your design choices, but it doesn't guarantee you a good drawing.

Practicing

It's important that no matter what teacher you are learning from that you practice drawing out of your imagination on your own, AS WELL AS from life.

You MUST set aside time on a regular basis if you want to improve. It's more beneficial to spend 30 minutes studying the figure on a daily basis than it is to spend four hours in a workshop once a week.

Life drawing should be thought of essentially as "the lab" where you test out ideas and try to figure out what works for you.

Drawing from life is a key component of the over-all equation of learning to draw, as is drawing from your imagination and studying the drawings of other artists.

Do whatever you have to do to make practicing interesting and fun for yourself. If the idea of practicing the figure sounds boring to you, your brain will essentially shut off and you'll just be wasting your time. Find a way to make it fun.

Do not strive to copy exactly the way any one teacher explains to you to draw. It MUST be a process of trial and error. You are essentially trying to find out your own way to do things. This is how you will engage your brain so that you learn quickly.

Practice on your own. Your deficiencies in figure invention will become immediately apparent. Make note of your weaknesses and attack them when you draw from life. You are working to develop your own understanding of the figure.

One way to practice figure invention is to draw comics, which can give you scenarios you never thought of to illustrate.

Listen to different teachers and find out where their ideas overlap. Strive to find the principles and the core messages they are delivering; don't get wrapped up in their process.

Any teacher is explaining to you their own unique understanding. You cannot understand things exactly the same way they do, so you must strive to find your understanding. You must walk your own path parallel to your heroes, but not try to follow in their footsteps.

Pink Sky, Green Cloud

2009-06-24T13:22:00.001-04:00

Hey guys,

It's been hectic around here and I apologize for neglecting you, but a lot of the stuff I've been working on for the past month had NDA's attached so I've been unable to blog about it.

I know, I know. The excuses are pathetic.

Back to business though...

Earlier this year I did this piece for Scholastic for a short story called "Gracie," based on a film about a high school girl fighting for the chance to play soccer on the boys' team at her school (where there was no girls' team).

The cool thing is that this was for Scholastic, which means that a hundred billion middle-schoolers across the country got to see it and read aloud Gracie's story. I can only hope that my buttoned-down, conservatively styled illustrations were still fun enough to keep them interested.

I did this piece a while back--even before the "Crash Course" piece a couple of months ago, but the way I did the clouds and the grass background on this are what inspired a good two months' worth of experimentation that isn't anywhere close to being done.

Also, I was particularly proud of the crazy colors on this piece, and the art director liked them as well, however the POWERS THAT BE thought that a green cloud and a pink sky were too off-the-wall for the teeny boppers to handle. So I did a more "natural" colored version which isn't shown here.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

--Frank
p.s. I'm going to be at San Diego Comic Con for a day or two. I don't have a home base yet, but if there is any expressed interest, I will consider bringing some original drawings to peddle while I'm there. Email me at frank@frankstockton.com if you'd be interested in seeing anything in particular or in general.

Have a Green Day!

2009-05-21T15:35:00.000-04:00

Two years ago I received a phone call from Rolling Stone magazine asking if I was available to do an illustration. Unfortunately, I had just arrived in San Diego on vacation and was forced to decline the job.

"No problem," I told people, "they'll call back."

In April of '09 they finally called back. The timing wasn't so good. If it wasn't the Rolling Stone and I didn't know how long it took them to get back to asking me to do a job for them, I would have said "no." But Rolling Stone is one of the four magazines I've always wanted to have as a client, so I made it work.

The topic was Green Day's new album, "21st Century Breakdown." The review described it as theatrical, ambitious, and patriotic.

I don't do a lot of portraits, so this was a challenge, but I was really happy with the composition that I came up with. I tried to invoke a bit of the composition from Queen's second album cover (Green Day's new album was also compared to Queen in the review for the theatrical content).

Also, I tried to make them look as patriotic as possible. I did two versions, one with a colored U.S. flag, and one with a black and white flag, and the AD rightfully chose the colorful version.

____

After the issue came out, I excitedly went to the local magazine rack to see if it had hit the stands yet. It had--last month's issue with Bob Dylan on the cover--and opened it up to the page with my illustration.

Much to my dismay, the image had printed far too yellow, in a way that made the figures look very acidic in their coloring. The subtlety of the muted reds and blues had been spoiled in the translation from computer to print.

This is why I like seeing my work in print. People coming across your work in a magazine or book is much better advertising than sending out a postcard or email, so I like to see how things come out.

My first thought when I saw the printed version was "is it my fault?" As in, did I do something in Photoshop that made the colors this way, or did the designer alter my final version himself. Reason being is that I want to be sure to make necessary changes so that next time this won't happen.

A couple days later I emailed the art director and asked him for some tear sheets, and I asked if they altered the image or if what I did made the image too yellow.

The art director told me that the yellowing of the printed image was the printer's fault, and that he had already spoken to him about it.

While I'm glad it wasn't one of the first two possible reasons for the faulty appearance, I'm still kind of bummed that it didn't print out how I had envisioned. I hope that the next time I do a job for Rolling Stone that it comes out pristine and beautiful.

Just goes to show you that there are factors outside of our control as illustrators.

Thanks for reading,

Frank

The Bear Hunter

2009-05-05T02:24:00.000-04:00

I've done a lot of work for Neil Jamieson at Field & Stream over the last year, but it was bugging me that I had not gotten the chance to do something I felt was really great for them. A handful of spots, quarter and half-pagers, but no features or anything that I could really stretch myself on.

So one day out of the blue, I took it upon myself to just ask Neil if I could do something bigger for them, either full page or larger.

He seemed keen to the idea, and a few weeks later, he emailed and let me know that he had something that he thought I would be perfect for.

The story was basically about a man who felt spiritually very close to bears. So close, in fact, that he liked to track and hunt them with a bow and arrow.

For the assignment, I wanted to combine several other ideas I'd been toying with in previous illustrations, such as framing the piece in an organic shape, and working with a lot of highlights.

Also I should mention, I enlisted the help of my friend and fellow illustrator David Hollenbach to pose as the hunter. Thanks Dave!

Fortunately I was also given enough time on this job to experiment a lot and come up with something different and exciting. Most of the time, illustration has such short deadlines that I don't get a lot of freedom to experiment.

I'm really happy with how this piece came out, I hope I get to do more like it in the future.

Thanks for reading,

Frank

Swimming With Sharks

2009-04-23T13:47:00.000-04:00

I did this piece for the brilliant SooJin Buzelli at PlanAdvisor a while back. The topic: Risky Behavior. Size: 1/2 page spread.

PlanAdvisor and PlanSponsor are the two magazines I've worked with SooJin on. She ONLY uses illustration, and prefers the illustrative solutions to be more interpretive (read: NO BUSINESSMEN IN TIES!).

The result is that every issue she art directs looks like a miniature illustration annual. I don't know where you can pick up an issue, but if you get a chance, it's something you should buy. She gets really gorgeous work out of her artists.

Plus, she asked me to speak to her students at SVA a while back. And those who know me know I love to talk about illustration. I was very happy.

Have a good weekend,

f.

Illustration Crash Course

2009-04-15T10:06:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I got a call from Debbie Kim of Los Angeles Magazine asking if I was interested in doing something for their book review section.

Being originally from Southern California, I thought it would be particularly cool to do something for them, if because maybe there's a chance that one of my old friends still living in L.A. will be more likely to stumble upon it.

The book review I was illustrating was for a recently published memoir of Norman Ollestad, who as a 12 year-old child survived a plane crash in the mountains that killed his father, the pilot, and his father's girlfriend. The book recounts his thoughts and reflections on life with his beach-bum father as he makes the treacherous journey through the icy wilderness back towards civilization. Heavy stuff to say the least.

Being Los Angeles Magazine, I knew it couldn't be very dark, but of course has to stick to the subject at hand. I did a few sketches based on the idea of the journey and the psychology of what the boy must have gone through. To me, the key to the concept seemed to be over-all the presence of his father looming over him as he made the journey. And to a lesser extent, the plane crash.

Debbie liked the first sketch best, and we talked about making Norman larger, but after talking it through she agreed with me that the thing that made the first concept work was the scale of the father to the son. Truth be told, I felt that sketch B would have been more fun to draw, but I knew that A was best and that it would be more challenging.

Lately I've been working with adding texture to my pieces, as well as experimenting with adding graphic light sources. I wanted to combine both experiments in this piece by making the father's image be the shadow side of the clouds, but in the end I had to go for a simpler (and much better) graphic solution. By the way, I kept thinking of this illustration by N.C. Wyeth while I was doing this, which is probably the reason I tried so hard to make the softer charcoal version work. Maybe next time though...

When I was finally satisfied and out of time to keep toying with it, I sent the illustration away and shortly thereafter got some feedback from Debbie. She asked me to move some elements around and make the plane crash more apparent, which she was totally right about.

Sending me the illustration in the layout was helpful to me because I could see what she meant about moving certain elements around rather than her vaguely describing what she wanted me to do. I always get excited when I'm asked to collaborate on the design end; it shows that the designer really cares what the final product will look like, and in turn makes me want to do a better job.

Here is the final illustration in the layout. The issue should be out soon if not already. You can click on the image to enlarge it.

Thanks for reading,

Frank

Live Tonight prints at Nucleus!

2009-04-02T21:13:00.000-04:00

Hey guys,

Nucleus Gallery in Los Angeles just released a limited edition of my Live Tonight series as prints! Please click on the links below.

The works were originally commissioned to illustrate an erotic short story by author Saskia Walker.

Here is the original blog post for the images.

Here is a link to Nucleus.

Here is a link to Saskia's blog.

best,

frank

SPD Award

2009-03-28T10:22:00.000-04:00

Hello,

I just found out that a bunch of illustrations I did a while back received an Society of Publication Designers (SPD) Merit Award in the "illustration: Entire Story" category. The publication was National Geographic Adventure magazine for an article entitled "Terrorists at the Tea Party" It will be included in the SPD PUB 44 Annual coming up in May.

Here are some of the spreads from the feature. Art director Dave McKenna put it all together and deserves most of the credit for how it turned out.

You can read the original blog post for the opening illustration here.

f.

cloud surfing

2009-03-27T13:58:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all!

This is a process piece from the background of something I just finished. I'll probably be blogging it later.

BTW I'm going on vacation tomorrow so I will be absent from posting for at least 10 days. I've got lots of stuff to blog but have been too bogged down with work to post. Your patience will be rewarded!

f.

Tor - The Long Man

2009-03-11T09:24:00.000-04:00

Way back in October 2008 I was contacted about doing a cover by Irene Gallo of Tor books for a new novel called The Long Man written by long-time comic writer Steve Englehart.

After doing some initial loose sketches for feedback, the job was placed on the backburner for a while and I eventually forgot about it.

However, late in January the job started back up again and we were able to flesh out the concept for the book a little better. I would describe the concept of the story if I was able to do so accurately--hopefully you get a sense for it from my cover, though.

I ended up doing two versions of the cover, but the brighter colored version is what's going to be published. I think it will stand out more that way. The less saturated version, however, is my favorite of the two.

If you haven't noticed, the process piece I posted a few weeks ago was actually used in this illustration.

The Long Man is scheduled to be released on August 4, 2009.

best,

Frank

Ilana - Portrait

2009-03-06T10:28:00.000-05:00

Howdy, last night, my friend and fellow illustrator Ilana Kohn came over and was nice enough to sit for a quick oil portrait. It's so difficult to photograph oil paintings without a zillion little highlights, so I spent a little time in Photoshop taking a bunch of them out... still not perfect though!

oil on panel, 9x12" detail

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The Clark, Mass MoCA, and The Norman Rockwell Museum

2009-02-25T16:33:00.000-05:00

Last weekend visited the Berkshires in Massachusetts with a group of friends to spend some relaxation time.

On Saturday we trekked to the two major museums in the Williamstown area: the Clark and Mass MoCA.

I've got to say I was really surprised by some of the paintings at the Clark. Not only did it have a great selection of paintings by people I admire, but it held a lot of famous works I'd never seen before in person (some of which I did master copies of a loooong time ago).

Here are the Sargent paintings they had on display that blew my mind:

A whole bunch of Toulous-Latrec lithographs:

Degas sculptures:

and lots more good stuff (including stuff by Sargent's teacher Carlous Duran and a William Chase original). It was a HUGE surprise, and it reminded me how much I know about some of these artists and their back stories.

At Mass MoCA there was a lot of cool fun art to look at as well, but I didn't remember the names of most of the artists. The main exhibit was by Saul LeWitt which was an awesome experience. Several rooms were painted in rainbow stripes in various patterns, perfect for picture posing.

And lastly, on Sunday on the way back we stopped off at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.

Norman Rockwell is one of my favorite picture makers, and a huge influence on me as a storyteller. I've always loved the attention to detail and storytelling that's so pervasive in his work.

The museum itself was surprisingly small though, and I was honestly a little disappointed in the museum considering the last time I saw a bunch of Rockwell paintings together was the traveling retrospective when it came to San Diego back in 2001. (The show in 2001 was life-changing).

Regardless of all that, it's still worth stopping by.

Going to see The Norman Rockwell Museum, though, made me think that it would be great if some of his better paintings were hanging in some major museums like the Met, or in a museum with other great golden age illustrators. Places like the Society of Illustrators have a lot of that great work in their archives, but not nearly enough and they are lacking a good permanent collection space that could showcase more than just a small handful of pieces at a time. Not to be critical. I guess after a weekend of essentially being spoiled by amazing work that the natural inclination would be to ask for more.

Thanks for reading,

frank

Cover & Spread - Velo News

2009-02-20T10:58:00.000-05:00

Hey guys,

I did this a while back but should be on stands about now. This is a cover and spread I did for Velo News, a cycling magazine.

The book is oversized (10x12") which is always fun. I'm still waiting to receive my copy.

The issue is about the "Tour of California" race which would see the return of three of cycling's greatest athletes' return after their respective breaks from the sport: Basso, Armstrong, and Landis. I must have done a decent job on the likenesses because my friend Erik Petri who follows the sport knew right away who they all were. Thanks Erik!

Anyway, a special request from the art directors on this piece was that the spread be a continuation of the cover, so I had to design it in a way that they would work well together.

After a couple of small changes to the final art, I was given a PDF of the pieces with type in place.

Thanks to the AD on the project, Mike Reisel, for being so easy-going on this.

Figure drawing wednesday

2009-02-19T10:06:00.001-05:00

Howdy!

I went figure drawing last night with a couple of buddies. One of the models was a super skinny old woman. I really enjoyed drawing her.

process piece

2009-02-13T17:35:00.001-05:00

This is something in the background of an assignment I'm working on right now...

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30-Wed

2009-02-12T12:58:00.000-05:00

Here's some simple concepting that I turned into a sketchbook spread yesterday...

And busted out the oils for a quick sketch yesterday also... wow it was rusty...

f.

29 - MonTues

2009-02-11T02:02:00.001-05:00

I was in a doodling mood...

28 - Wednesday

2009-02-05T19:04:00.000-05:00

Sketches and some textural experiments...

27 - Tues.

2009-02-04T02:18:00.001-05:00

26 - Sunday

2009-02-02T01:23:00.000-05:00

This lady sat too close to me on a half-full subway, preventing me from moving my drawing arm today.

This drawing is my revenge.

____________

Here's some advice I gave someone via email about drawing today:

...

Draw Draw Draw!

Remember that no matter how you do things to do it your way. If you want to get good fast, you have to remember that even when you're in workshop and you're working on volume, gesture, or whatever, you're doing it YOUR way.

You should always be having fun.

There isn't one way you should be doing things and another way you shouldn't.

Learning principles of drawing and painting is EASY by comparison to finding your own unique voice. It basically will take you between 3-5 years to become really good at those principles, but you're going to be spending the rest of your life trying to find your own voice. And in the end, your own voice is all that matters. So whatever you do, you have to own it.

That said, don't worry about "style." You already have it, and in fact you can't get away from it. The people who spend all that time in workshops but don't seem to be improving are trying to cover up their own style. You have to let it come to the forefront if you want to really see improvement quickly.

The most important critique you will ever receive is your own. Ask yourself what you like about this piece. Then, ask yourself what you could do to make yourself like it more (be specific).

Crits from other people are helpful, but they aren't as important as your own. Crits from others can help you to see things for yourself objectively, but ultimately they are just someone else saying what THEY would do. And that isn't necessarily the best thing.

Another thing to remember: if you're drawing for practice--i.e. in the workshops--keep in mind what you're trying to get out of it. Are you trying to learn to draw figures out of your head? (try it and see; if you can't do it, you should change how you approach figure drawing)

I heard this from Scott McCloud's talk on TED recently, and I agree with it 100%:

1) Learn from everyone
2) Follow no one
3) Look for patterns
4) Work like hell

I hope that's helpful to you. I have a blog post a while back called "how to get better" that says the same thing a little differently. I hope you get some enjoyment or usefulness out of it: HOW TO GET BETTER

--frank

25 - Saturday

2009-02-01T16:21:00.000-05:00

Swordsman MonsterSlayer.

24 - Wednesday

2009-01-29T11:22:00.000-05:00

Figure drawing day!

23 - Tuesday

2009-01-28T09:08:00.000-05:00

continued...

22 - Sunday

2009-01-25T23:12:00.000-05:00

DAY 22
My buddy Doug came over today and agreed to sit for a quick portrait drawing... but somehow along the way it became a painting.

When he asked "What are you using?" I replied "I think it's either gouache or watercolor or a mix." I painted this by re-wetting dried puddles of paint on a palette I dug out of a box. The colors used were ultramarine, yellow ochre, and a bright red that I think might have been cadmium. Oh, and some white gouache.

FLATTING
Also: for some reason I've been getting a lot of emails about how to do flatting. I've mentioned before in past posts that flatting is a coloring technique for comic books and there are already tons of great demos online about how to do it. If you google "comic book flatting," the tutorial that I learned it from is actually the first thing that comes up, here.

Have a great day!

frank

21 - Saturday

2009-01-24T19:39:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was hectic; the first day since starting the challenge that I didn't actually draw anything for myself :(

One of the many errands I ran was picking up my Yuki-Onna and Amanda Crow pieces from the framers and dropping them off at the Society of Illustrators for the Book & Editorial show, which opens January 28th. I'm going to be at the awards ceremony on Feb. 6th to celebrate. Hope to see you there!

While I was dropping off my editorial and book pieces, I took a couple of pictures of my piece in the Sequential exhibit, and had the rare opportunity to be the fly-on-the-wall as two older ladies looked at and discussed my ESPN comic. Some of the stuff they said was comical to me, but it was all flattering.

Also, I received my easel in the mail from my parents on Friday. WOO! I'm so excited to have it here with me. So many hundreds of hours have been spent standing or sitting in front of it. It's funny how something I used to take for granted now holds so much sentimental meaning to me. I can't wait to bust out the oils.

Lastly, here are today's sketches, drawn at Starbucks. I was really enjoying myself and could have spent all day there, but decided to head back to the studio and take care of some errands.

Thanks for reading,

frank

19 - thursday

2009-01-23T00:42:00.000-05:00

the drawing I did on Wed., day 18 was kind of crappy so I'll spare you guys. Here's the octo-piece in progress. Still a ways to go, but close.

f.

day 17

2009-01-21T12:39:00.000-05:00

This is my work from yesterday...

I made some changes to the Tiger's head, I like it much better now. Also, I continued flatting and played around a bit with colors.

Also, here's another drawing I started. Will keep you updated!

f.

16 - Monday

2009-01-20T08:27:00.001-05:00

15 - Sunday

2009-01-18T18:00:00.001-05:00

14 - Saturday

2009-01-17T17:44:00.000-05:00

Missed Friday... but the quest for a panel continues.

I started inking this thing today, here's a detail. Also, I started a sketch for another piece. I'll show that soon.

By the way, the Society show last night was AWESOME. Lots of great work and a fun party to boot. The show is only up for another 10 days or so, then the editorial show goes up, so swing by as soon as you can.

frank

12 - Thursday

2009-01-16T01:30:00.000-05:00

A lot of riding around on the subway today trying to get panels for painting... unsuccessful!

11 - Wednesday

2009-01-15T09:17:00.000-05:00

Day 11

I took a personal day on Wed. and pretty much stayed away from the studio, trekking through Brooklyn -- Here's a sketchbook drawing I did while chillaxin on the couch.

Brooklyn
If you're ever in Brooklyn, here are some awesome places to check out:

1) Di Fara Pizza - off the Q line at Avenue J. The same guy has made pizza here by himself since 1964. The wait for your pie can easily be between 1 1/2 and 2 hours, but totally worth it. Easily the best pizza in New York.

2) Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. - In Park Slope. Real superhero supplies, including a de-villainizing chamber (if you have evil friends), and a large variety of superhero capes to try on near a fan so you can practice heroic poses.

3) The Pencil Factory - top secret.

Society of Illustrators Opening

Also! I keep forgetting to mention this, but the Society of Illustrators Sequential opening is tomorrow at the Society of Illustrators. My ESPN A Shot At Glory series made it in. I can't wait to see you there!

frank

f.

10 - Tuesday

2009-01-14T00:18:00.000-05:00

The tiger versus octopus goes on... I think I'm going to have to start painting this sucker. Paint on panel, digital print, or silk screen? I can't wait.

I made some changes, such as moving the tiger's right paw (thank jt), making the octopus' head larger, and adding the markings to the creatures. Fun!
f.

09 - Monday

2009-01-12T22:20:00.001-05:00

Tighter drawing, still.

I spent a good two and a half or three hours at the light table tightening this up. It was REALLY fun, but I still have a lot more to do on it.

I've never put this much into a pre-drawing before, I've always just jumped right in after the sketch phase, so I hope it works out. Anyway, I feel like I'm learning a lot. At least now I know why octopi are so popular to draw! I could make those tentacles forever...

f.

08 - Sunday

2009-01-11T21:53:00.000-05:00

Happy Sunday!

07 - Saturday

2009-01-10T18:52:00.000-05:00

I realize I haven't yet explained what I'm trying to do here.

One of my resolutions for this year is to get in the habit of doing personal work. I decided late in December that I would challenge myself to make new art and post every day, 30 days straight.

It's both rewarding and super challenging. When you haven't painted or drawn for yourself in a while, it's like going back to the gym after not working out for a long time.

I wanted to print out Thursday's comp and draw it in pencil tighter today but I'm out of ink and all the supply stores are closed, so I did a little practice painting instead.

Also, here's a page in my sketchbook from Friday.

f.

05 - Thursday

2009-01-08T21:28:00.001-05:00

Last night: gourmet drinks and gourmet hot dogs with the other two members of The Plundering, Josh Cochran and Nathan Huang. What's up guys!

f.

04 - Wednesday

2009-01-07T20:07:00.000-05:00

I blew up the loose sketch from yesterday, then drew it a bit tighter on the light table. The Tiger and Octopus were drawn on separate pieces of paper and put together in photoshop. It's still not quite there, a lot of details are missing, but I'll get to those tomorrow.

By the way, the BEASTS vol. 2 book is available in stores now. My Yuki-Onna piece is featured within.

I've been told the first printing has already sold out, and the 2nd printing is on the way. I finally got my copy the other day and I have to say it's a really beautiful and fun book. Be sure to check it out.

Thanks!

frank

03 - Tuesday

2009-01-06T20:38:00.001-05:00

More tigers, this time with reference, and a very rough sketch. I'm not sure if it's there just yet.

02 - Monday

2009-01-05T22:04:00.000-05:00

I was at a coffee shop to do thumbs for a painting idea, and realized I don't know how to draw tigers from my imagination. So I tried my best to remember what they look like. The cartoony ones were the easiest.

Day 01

2009-01-01T21:43:00.001-05:00

A Gift for You...

2008-12-24T20:32:00.000-05:00

I did a Podcast with the guys at Sidebar several weeks back and they just posted it!

The Interview

Enjoy, and check out some of the other Podcasts on Sidebar. They're AWESOME.

frank

Unblogged '08

2008-12-22T18:39:00.000-05:00

Yo!

Here's a few illustrations from this year that weren't interesting enough on their own to make the blog. Since I started posting weekly, it's been harder to find great pieces to show. I think that as a group these make a pretty cool post.

From top to bottom, left-to-right: 1/4 page for Field & Stream, full page for Runners World Germany, 1/2 page for Field & Stream, spots for Men's Health, commissioned original drawing, 1/4 page for Glamour, 1/4 page for Field & Stream.

Thanks for looking!

frank

Sorry!

2008-12-20T18:13:00.000-05:00

Sorry!

Yesterday while experimenting with "rules" in my Mac mail program, I accidentally programmed it to send replies to every email I've ever received. So if you got that message, I apologize. Hopefully I'll figure out how to get the program to do what I want it to do in the near future...

Best,

Frank

Getting Work

2008-12-14T22:03:00.000-05:00

Getting Work as an Illustrator

I received the following email a while back from a friend I went to school with. It's a question I get asked semi-frequently, so I thought it would be better just to post it here.

My response to the email is specific to this artist's work, but I hope any of you who are interested in the topic to put yourself in the shoes of the person who sent the original email.

I've removed the illustrator's name for their privacy.

Hey Frank,

Got a question for ya. I gots me a new round of promo postcards burning holes in my pockets/desk/floor-where-t
hey're-strewn. I've sent a few out with some of the info I've gathered, but I thought I'd see if you could list off a few places/art directors that you recommend I hit up, especially while I'm still out here on the east. Whatcha thank? I'd much appreciate your recommendations as I'm sure you also know who's more receptive to newer people, my style, etc... Anything helps! Hit me up when you get a chance.

Hope all's well in NYC even if they did turn the waterfalls off, sad... I might be in town again at the end of the month. I'll give ya a call if so.

Thanks, C

Hey C!

I am sorry for not getting back to you sooner, the question you posed in that email was kind of a big one that isn't so easy to answer.

I checked out your site and the first thing I'd say about getting work is that you need to commit your portfolio site to one style of art. Your website reads more like a gallery painter's website than an illustrator's website because of the style and content of the work. I don't know where it could be used professionally.

As for narrowing it down to one style, I'd say just pick a handful of images you really enjoyed doing that represent what the work you're currently making or planning on making looks like. Simplicity is key for getting an art director's attention. They don't have time to wonder how they should use you and they don't like to think about what "style" they should ask for.

You'll get more bites if you're specific about what you do and if when you leave them they have a visual impression of what your work is like.

As for getting work, that's all promotion. I recommend buying a list (such as Adbase), or if you can't afford it, make a list of magazines you think are appropriate for your work. It's going to take some research on your part, but you have all the time in the world when you don't have any assignments (I know, I've been there!).

Once you have a list, the way to go about it is to regularly and methodically send promos--either email or postcards, every 45-60 days. Art directors want to be sure they're dealing with professionals, and that you're not a flash in the pan.

Another way of thinking about promotion is that you're a dude hitting on a hot babe (the magazine is the babe). When you make a pass at the her (by sending a postcard) and she likes it, the hot babe (magazine) thinks "hmmm... this is interesting..." but is not necessarily ready to jump right in the sack with you (i.e. hire you for a job).

So you have to be persistent. :)

By the way, don't expect any feedback as in "I like your postcard," because you're unlikely to get it. They'll just call you for a job in 6 - 12 months if they like your work and you've been doing what you need to be doing.

Lastly, the easiest jobs I've come across happen when you do email promos. They tend to be free jobs or very low paying, but they help you build your portfolio. You should be adding a minimum of one new piece to your site every month so there is a reason for the art directors to look at your site when you send an email or a postcard. It also keeps you fresh so that when you get the call you're not feeling rusty (unless you are Rusty).

I wish I could just give you names of people would hire you off the bat, but I don't really know anyone who's likely to do that. Sorry.

Anyway, best of luck to you and kick some ass!

f.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

2008-12-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, it's great to be back in New York! Things have been totally hectic since I returned--work kinda piled up a bit in addition to me trying to get stuff packed up to move to a new apartment in Greenwich Village (finally, my OWN place!).

Anyway, my trip to California was awesome! Since becoming "grown up" and moving all by myself to the east coast, finding time to just hang out with my family has been more and more rare and special.

I would also like to say "thanks" to all the folks who came to watch me speak in Jim Salvati's class at Art Center last Tuesday. It was definitely an exciting experience to come back to where I used to walk the halls and get the chance to show off some of my work and tell stories about my life in school and beyond. I hope someone was inspired...

Scientific American

Here's a recent feature I did for Scientific American. Art Director Extraordinaire Lucy Reading hired me to do rough looking illustrations for a story about how people lived in the stone age.

First they asked me to do a portrait drawing of a stone-age man to be used in a photo shoot, which I drew on vintage paper using pencil, watercolor, and a little white gouache. Unfortunately it wasn't used. I planned on doing the final drawings for the other pieces on vintage paper as well, but decided to add that later in Photoshop in case the end result wasn't to my liking.

My impression of the assignment originally was a little bit "History of the World," but things gradually got directed towards something a little bit less cartoonish.

The biggest change to the sketches (which I did in photoshop) was making the ladies a little less-sexy. Oh well!

Thanks for reading,

frank