Burning City Website Update

Okay, we've got a whole new design over at the main Burning City website. New bio, new graphics, a timeline of projects from 1983 to today.

Go check it out.

http://burningcity.com.

WIP Interview and More...

While attending Conceptart.org's Reverie workshop in Dallas with Dave Dorman, I participated in a WIP podcast by Peter Mohrbacher and Jeff Himmelman (also, with WIP is Anna Mohrbacher.) You can listen to the WIP interview and read more about WIP at John Schindehette's Art Order blog. As an added bonus, there is a link to Devil's Candy Store artist, George Pratt, and work process.

ArtOrder: George Pratt, Renato Faccini, WIP Podcast, and a question

Reverie '09 - Monday, March 30

Greg Manchess


Bobby Chiu shows Dave Dorman the digital ropes


Bobby Chiu teaches class


Dave Dorman paints acrylics over oil (You can't do that)


Dave Dorman paints digitally for the first time!

Conceptart.org Reverie in Dallas

Well, Dave Dorman and I made it thru a very bumpy flight to Dallas. We're in Texas for Conceptart.org's Reverie workshop, which is another like the Revelations Symposium in Seattle last January. Dave is an instructor at this one and I'm just here being an artist. I loved the last one and I see no reason that Dallas won't be better.

The whole thing kicks off tomorrow in typical Conceptart.org fashion with a huge party that starts at 9PM in conjunction with the AFI Festival going on here. Dave and I will probably hit the Dallas Art Museum tomorrow, since it is one block from our hotel. I'll be taking pics and vids and will do my best to keep everyone posted.

Vampire Wins Gold!

The Spectrum 16 winners were announced tonight. Spectrum is a prestigious annual dedicated to the "Fantastic Arts" and is one of the most coveted awards in illustration.


© 2008 Craig Elliott

Craig Elliott won the Gold Medal in Editorial for his Damali Richards painting in the concept art book, Exotic Contraband: L. A. Banks' Vampire Huntress Legend, published by The Devil's Candy Store.

Another Devil's Candy Store artist, Jon Foster, won the Gold Medal for Comic Books.

Congratulations to them both!

Conceptart.org and Massive Black Symposium

Hell, ya. Sweet news for all of you artists out there:

ConceptArt.Org International Art and Design Workshop: DALLAS TEXAS - March 28-31 2009

Stay tuned for registration details and other stuff coming out this week. The Symposium in Seattle last January was inspiring and mind-blowing. Check these videos of past events.

PLUS: The Massive Black Concept Art book is out.

This video of the Seattle Revelations Symposium from last January gives you an idea of what you are in for.

The Revenants Poster

I just completed the graphic for our upcoming zombie play, The Revenants, by Scott T. Barsotti. The show opens April 20th, 2009 at the Angel Island Theater in Chicago. This intimate, dare I say, claustrophobic production will be directed by WildClaw company member, Anne Adams.


Poster by Charlie Athanas

Massive Black Concept Art book

Massive Black is releasing a 700-page concept art book to be published by Ballistic Publishing. There are various editions, so get yours now.

Massive Black Concept Art book

Massive Black is releasing a 700-page concept art book to be published by Ballistic Publishing. There are various editions, so get yours now.

Making the Dorian Gray Paintings

I was commissioned to create the infamous changing painting for the Lifeline stage adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray. It was directed by my pal, Kevin Theis, adapted by Rob Kauzlaric, had scenic design by Tim Burch, and lighting design by Kevin D. Gawley. All of them played a role in making the paintings transform onstage. The play was a raving, critical success and I was very proud to be part of the production. As noted in an earlier blog entry, the paintings themselves (which didn't have an off night or a great night, they were the same thing every night) got reviews that ranged from "a sensational canvas" to "the worst thing in the play".



Regardless, folks seem to like the "How Did They Do That?" stuff I put up here and now that the play is over, I thought I would let folks who didn't see the play, see the paintings. I have decided not to show how we made the paintings change in real time. As fun as it would be, it would also ruin the magic AND we're using the same technique in WildClaw Theatre's "The Dreams in the Witch House" to great effect (people have no idea how we're are doing this). That show is still running until December 21st (Go see it!)

So, for those of you who slept through high school English, the painting in this story magically transforms to show the effects of age and life while Dorian Gray remains forever youthful in person. The director wanted the painting to show a more violent vehemence than just decay and age. Now - here are the paintings (Dorian was portrayed by actor, Nick Vidal):


Nick Vidal as Dorian Gray (Photo © 08 Suzanne Plunkett)



First I laid out a grid and sketched in Nick's image on three canvases. After getting a sketch I liked on one canvas, I transferred the image to the other two canvases with tracing paper. There needed to be an initial painting, then a trick one that transforms in real time, and a final painting showing the ultimate effects of Dorian's actions at the climax of the play. The first painting is revealed upstage, very close to the audience. It was then moved up to a second stage platform downstage away from the audience. A curtain was placed over the framed painting as it was placed on the wall. Later in the play, a second transitional painting replaced the first.




Paintings 1 and 2

I worked in parallel on paintings one and two since they needed to look very similar when the second on is revealed from behind the curtain. These were done in acrylics since time was of the essence. I had planned on doing the final painting in oil, but time didn't let that happen. In fact, I delivered the last two paintings in their final form about 15 minutes (maybe 10) before the start of the first preview performance. I'm sure I added way too much undue stress on Cortney and Kim.


Background Test

The image above is actually a photo of the painting with a Photoshop background test to see how to put the darker shades into the background. One of the decisions that had to be made was how much detail to put in the painting. I opted to leave the background clean of imagery to allow the audience to only focus on Dorian's image. It fit with the style of the time period, so I got away with it. One of the issues with theater work is making sure the folks in the back row can see what you are trying to achieve. This can lead to a simpler, sometimes "cartoony" image, but if half the theater can't see your clever painting techniques, then it's not doing it's job.


Final Version of 1st Dorian Painting

The image above is the final version of the first painting the audience sees in the play. While I love the reference photo, reality is that the character is wearing a pin-striped suit and a detailed vest. These added time to the painting, to put it mildly. Below is a detail from this painting.




Transition Painting

This is the transition painting. You can see the areas that get ripped out to reveal a glowing, raw interior to the painting, much brighter than what you see here. Amazingly enough, under the stage lights, prior to the intended reveals these areas didn't show up at all.


Final Painting

And this is the painting that ultimately shows the violence inflicted on Dorian and his victims. Ripping away at the painting by the ghosts of Dorian's victims was the director's choice to show the ravaging effects on the painting. So this one had to reflect the tears in the transition painting before it.

And that is almost the whole story.

Making of The Dreams in the Witch House Poster

When I started this blog, it's intent was to expose my creative process as I wrote my vampire story/play, The First Fear. (More on that in upcoming posts.)

During the making of the play The Great God Pan earlier this year, I documented that play's poster design process pretty thoroughly. Now that The Dreams in the Witch House is up and running and getting good reviews, I thought I would expose the guts of that poster. (Go see the play!)

The play's director and adaptor, Charley Sherman, wanted the poster to feel dark with blues and grays and the feeling of metal to express the city of Arkham. Arkham is H. P. Lovecraft's infamous city of nightmares where the play takes place. I had done a teaser graphic that was photo manipulating via Photoshop filters, but it was a rush job and not what I wanted ultimately.


The Dreams in the Witch House teaser graphic

So when it came time to produce the final graphic, I pulled several photos I had taken at various places and chose three to work with. I often pull from my random photo files to either place them into designs completely unrelated to the topic or to use as reference for a drawing. I learned from Sparth (one of my favorite concept art artists) at the Massive Black Revelations Symposium this past January in Seattle, that he does this all the time in his concept art designs. He will even take old finished concept art pieces and use them for textures and design elements in newer pieces.

Here are the three photos I choose to work with:


A cool dilapidated iron fence in my neighborhood


A view from inside Northwestern Evanston hospital


A church steeple down the block from my house

I combined the three of them in Photoshop layers and composed and cropped to get this:



I used the Plastic Wrap filter on the two non-steeple photos and adjusted Levels on all of them to get the contrasts I wanted and the textures suitably creepy.

From there I started playing with some type ideas for the title -


In the end, I realized that something needed to be in this landscape and I initially had a hooded, vague shape with a rat's tail sticking out from the cloak to hint at the character, Brown Jenkins. After showing it to the director, we realized that it wasn't strong enough and I went to a clearer rat image. This turned out to be for the best, because rats play a large role in the play and Arkham. After hours of trying to find the right way to fit in Lovecraft's name and his very long story title, this is the final image for the poster:


The Dreams in the Witch House poster graphic


Poster detail

Dorian Gray Portrait Reviews

This is why I love theater and don't take bad reviews* to heart. My job is to make the director I am working for happy and if I can achieve that, my job is done. That said, I recently did a project for Kevin Theis and Lifeline Theater, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Great project, great director, great design crew, great theater company.


Detail from Dorian Gray Portrait for Lifeline Theater

I was hired to create the portrait of Dorian Gray. A fun, but daunting project as Kevin wanted the painting to change in front of the audience in realtime during the show. He also had a different take on the final portrait than the norm. (See Ivan Albright's painting in the Art Institute of Chicago.)

The production itself has gotten rave reviews. These excerpts that refer to the work I did. Keep in mind that they are all looking at the same paintings and the same play.

“The conceit in Wilde's tale is that Dorian never grows visibly older. Instead, the scars on his soul pile up on the surface of the grand portrait (a sensational canvas by Charlie Athanas) painted in his most golden young manhood.”
Hedy Weiss – Chicago Sun-Times

“The picture itself is often done up as a boring portrait that rarely reflects Wilde’s own description of its beauty, so it is refreshing to see not only how much that the picture looks like an idealized version of the lead character, but that it is done up in a neo-Impressionistic style reflective of its era. And though the transformations themselves happen through sound effects while the painting is usually not visible, the climax and final portrait will not disappoint.”
Dennis Polkow - New City

“This is a tough work to stage theatrically—for one thing, you need a kind of magic portrait that ages every few minutes—and Kevin Theis’ production laudably keeps things deft and simple. And the trick portrait, which was designed by Charlie Athanas, is a wild-looking affair even if it doesn’t change as Wilde intended.”
Chris Jones – Chicago Tribune

“Technically this production is superior to most… The special effects are particularly well-done, conjuring up eerie environments, and ghostly images and causing the portrait's--and Dorian's--deterioration right before our eyes… As an adaptation and as a unique work of art, this is a must-see event.”
Colin Douglas – Centerstage

“Kevin Theis’ fast paced staging on Tom Burch’s two level set with terrific lighting from Kevin D. Gawley (including some amazing effects on the Gray portrait) produced work filled with mounting tension that builds into a scary gothic horror tale.”
Tom Williams - ChicagoCritic.com

“… its only major flaw is Charlie Athanas’s titular portrait (deformed in the story by Dorian’s sins). It’s an unintentionally hilarious dead ringer for the Crypt Keeper.”
Zac Thompson – Time Out Chicago

“The one off note in the whole production is the portrait itself, which is way-too-ugly pop art cartoon than fits the Victorian-era drama of which it is the centerpiece. When the fully "uglified" picture is revealed at the end, I found it a struggle not to laugh aloud. It is a lot more Mad magazine than Oscar Wilde. It is most definitely not inspired by the famous Ivan Albright 1943 vision of Dorian Gray one can see at the Art Institute.”
Jack Hafferkamp – Edge Chicago

*I came to Chicago in 1981 to act in a play. The Reader review for that production ended with the sentence - "Stay away in droves." I was prepared for Chicago theater reviews from then on.

Sparth's Structura Is Finally Here!

A book I have been waiting for a loong time is finally out. One of my favorite concept artists, Sparth, has finally had his book, Structura, released to the public.



While at the Massive Black/ConceptArt.org Revelations Symposium this January, I had a chance to watch him work up close and ask specific questions about tools and techniques. Great guy.

Ray Frenden - He's Everywhere

Ray Frenden is exploding. And now he has gone and won the 2007 Threadless Bestee Select Award for his "Medusa" t-shirt design. Congrats, Ray!

Dave Stevens - An Inspiration

Dave Stevens passed away yesterday. May he rest in peace. Dave will always be an inspiration.


© 1983 Dave Stevens

Painting and Sculpting

I have been painting and sculpting this week. Acrylics and plaster. I haven't done that since 1978. And then it was mostly oils. Much fun. Big challenge was to produce these images in the manner requested by the director. Not my style, at all. (The paintings, not the taking direction part.)

I would show you more of these pieces, but they are part of The Great God Pan set and I wouldn't want to spoil any surprises (just yet.)

ICON 5

Register now for ICON 5 - the Illustrator's Conference in New York CIty, July 2-5.



I mean, c'mon, Marshal Arisman is running a seminar, fer chrisakes.

Prada Envokes Via James Jean

Ever wonder what a James Jean illustration would look like if it came to life? Well, wonder no longer. Prada has utilized Jean as a concept artist for this short promotional film by James Lima. And yes, Pan makes an appearance as a fashion god.

PRADA - Trembled Blossoms
Uploaded by BloGraphiC

Happy Birthday Chicago Artist Forum

Chicago Artist Forum in action

A year ago, Denise Dorman put some ideas into the head of one, Kevin Sandstrom of Dick Blick Art Stores. Next thing you know, a place for artists to gather, show off portfolios, and generally talk shop and fun was born in Wheaton, Illinois. It has now grown to a nice little event that brought out about 30 artists in 0º Chicago weather this past Saturday.

The artists range in experience from 30+ year veterans to folks in their freshmen year in art school. But all of them love to draw and respect the craft, which makes for great discussions and plenty of learning and networking opportunities.

The CAF will have a website soon that will list the upcoming presentations and events. I just did a slideshow/talk on what I learned at the Revelations Symposium in Seattle and coming up are Ray Frenden demoing Manga Studio techniques, Joe Lester on sculpting monsters, and Dave Dorman on traditional painting. Plus, live models!

In the meantime, check out their CAF MySpace page.

Revelations - The Roundup

Dancing Tattoos in the Space Needle

I just spent four days in Seattle at Massive Black/Conceptart.org's Revelations Symposium. Steve Bialer and I were joined by Bruno Warneck of Midway Games as we wallowed in concept art, both digital and traditional. Hundreds of artists from around the world converged on the Northwest to learn and draw and network. For the opening night party the conference had the run of the Seattle Space Needle, complete with live models to sketch, booming DJ's, and dancing girls with many, many tattoos. The last time I was there I was eight. I think I would have remembered the dancing tattooed redheads.


DR1 - The Main Section of the Digital Room


A Few of the Instructors Surrounding the Digital Room


One of the Painting Areas of the Traditional Room Upstairs


Mike Hussar Working on a Three Day Pose with Model Trisha Lurie

The Symposium was split into two floors. The main hall had several areas dedicated to digital concept art and the main stage for large presentations. There were around 16 stations setup for large scale projection as the instructors took turns creating art live during the whole conference.

The second floor held the Traditional Room which also had multiple sections for painting, sketching, live models and sculpting. Up here artists like Shawn Barber, Mike Hussar, Carl Dobsky, Greg Manchess, Brom, Dan Dos Santos, and El Coro attacked the canvas.


Brom Giving an Overview of His Career and His Methods

The superstar of the symposium was clearly Brom, a very traditional painter. While digital rules in many areas of today's entertainment business, at this conference traditional methods were respected and taught. At one point, Jason Manley gave a packed house a three hour overview on Color and Light Theory using classic paintings as examples.


Brom Originals Up in the Traditional Room


Brom Onstage and a Sparth Demo

One of my greatest pleasures was having the good fortune to be at Sparth's table while he created and explained his work methods. In an hour and a half I found out more about Photoshop than I have in the rest of the millenium.


Dan Milligan Explains the Art of Storyboarding


Digital Meets Traditional - Andrew Jones in the Traditional Room


Thunderdome!

The last two hours of the symposium were dedicated to Thunderdome. It's a live illustration contest by the instructors and a couple of brave audience members based on a suggestion given to them at that moment. This year's the theme was "Dream Devourer." The conference attendees watched on large presentation screens as amazing images were created in a blink of an eye.


Jason Chan Creating His "Dream Devourer"


Jason's Almost Completed Thunderdome Winner


Goodbye Seattle

Hello to everyone I met and I look forward to seeing you and your art in the future.

Some Videos from Revelations