All images ©Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
I realized, again, that I have neglected my blog for the past few weeks. It has been extremely busy here and looks like it will only get busier. I actually like it when it is borderline crazy. It helps keep focused on the task at hand. Friday, I leave for Massachusetts for the NESCBWI conference. My free time the past week or so has spent working on my homework assignment for Sunday's illustrator's workshop. We have to use one of the assigned stories for character sketches, rough storyboard, and a color layout of one of the spreads. I focused on the characters and spread first so I would have something substantial to show. Hopefully I will find time to rough out the storyboard before leaving. The images above are the character studies and my final spread. Due to copyright restrictions on the copy, I cannot delve too much info on the story that I chose for the assignment. The characters range from very stylized to a more traditional look. I wanted something in between. The too stylized sketches seem a bit more commercial looking. Settling on a softer image worked well with the story. Having the characters to my liking, I quickly sketched out a layout that I felt crucial to the story arc. Another reason that I chose this spread was that I wanted to try my hand at painting a forest scene. It was a big challenge to get all of the greens working well together and having the characters still stand out. Doing a tonal study and a color rough really helped me focus on the final art. There was less guessing and stumbling along the way.
The Mother Goose poster I posted last time was also done for the conference. The poster theme was "A Whole New World". I ended up with two new pieces for my portfolio which also will be in the showcase. Saturday, I have a portfolio review with an agent so I will get to hear some direct feedback on whether this style is working for the market. At this conference, I am also volunteering so I will fill you in on what I did and if there are any funny stories to share which I am sure there will be many. The main thing I am looking forward to is seeing old friends and being able to hangout with them for a bit.
©2012 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
After a few weeks of battling a nasty bug, which my wife now has, I have finally gotten back to feeling somewhat normal. I thought I would quickly post a new piece that I completed this morning for a poster contest in April. Plus I needed to post something since it has been a few weeks so I thought why not share this. The theme is "A Whole New World." I liked the idea of Mother Goose using an iPad and built the concept around her. After many doodles, the idea of adding Humpty Dumpty and Hickory Dickory Dock helped in adding to the concept. The entire piece was rendered in Photoshop. Once it was completed, I felt that I finally hit my stride with working in Photoshop. It is starting to feel natural to paint with it and I'm finally getting the look that I am after with the software.
©2012 Russ Cox
I am continuing getting together with a group of area fine artist to do figurative drawings. We recently hired a model for 4 three hour sessions so we could do a long pose. This is the result from that effort. I was happy with the final drawing even thought I could have spent additional hours fine on it. When one works mostly digitally, it is a welcome break to do some traditional pieces. The feeling of graphite and charcoal on my hands is equally as thrilling as seeing it on paper. Tomorrow, we are gathering again for some additional drawings.
My book is coming along. As of today, I have 8 pages tightly drawn. As I work on the tight line drawings, I can see that I need to do some additional text editing. I was told by other writers/illustrators that it will eventually start writing itself and now I understand what they mean.
The weather here in Maine has been unseasonably warm. It was in the low 80'
I woke up this morning and realized that it has been almost a month since I posted on my blog. This after promising to post once a week after returning from New York. Since my return, I must admit that I felt worn out and needed time to step back from working on my own projects to recharge and refocus. I put so much extra energy and time in getting a portfolio together and into getting a postcard printed that it completely wiped me out when I returned. So the past month I have found myself looking at other artist and reading about their techniques and inspirations. The funny thing is, that they all have been fine artist. As artist, I think we need look outside our niche in order to keep learning and growing. I have a respect and admiration for fine artist and what they do. Especially those who work figurative, alla prima, and/or portraiture. I have become friends with many of the area's fine artist and find their energy and knowledge intoxicating.
One of my new friends, Olena Babek, who just moved to the area, does beautiful portraits and figure drawings. She can capture not only the look of the person, but their soul as well. Her enthusiasm just beams from her when you talk about art and the process of creating art. A few of us are trying to talk her into doing a portraiture class. Here are a few other artist that I have been admiring:
Jeremy Lipking-Works all prima and does landscapes and figurative work. The expressive brushstrokes create movement. I like how the canvas shows through in many of his paintings.
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on 2/3/2012
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As many of you already know, I went to New York this past weekend to attend the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Winter Conference. After many weeks of planning and prepping my portfolio, I was off Wednesday morning. After a train ride from Maine to New York, I set sail to the A&E building to meet my friend Ilene Block who is an art director there. We did some brief catching up but I had to let her get back to work so I walked Manhattan for a couple hours. During that time Ilene passed around my portfolio to others in the department. I received lots of good feedback and some thoughts on favorites in my book. It was reassuring to know that I am heading in the right direction with my artwork. After work, Ilene and I headed to Brooklyn to spend the evening. She has such a wonderful family. I always feel at home with them.
The next morning, I took the train with Ilene back into Manhattan where she let me store my stuff until I could check in to the hotel. I decided to head down to the Village since it had been years since my last visit. The moment I arrived at Blecker Street, I could tell that it had changed. Gone are the small, eclectic boutiques and record stores. It was a bit depressing. Since I was down there, I headed over to where CBGBs once stood. My heart simply sank when I saw a clothing store where the iconic club once stood. I went in to see that they at least preserved the walls from the club but still, it was very sad. I did pick up a book on the club while there which is beautifully done. There are lots of photos of the various performers from over the years, including one of my all-time favorites, The Ramones. My other mission while in the Village was to buy a Ramones shirt. Thinking it was New York, I should have not trouble locating one. While to my surprise, it was more difficult than one can imagine. After many hours, I finally tracked one down at Trash & Vaudeville. With my swag in tow, I went back to A&E to pickup my luggage and headed to the hotel to check in. This would be the first time that I met my conference roommates, Fred Koehler and Ward Jenkins. Fred announced to us a two book writing/illustration deal with Dial. We are so excited for him! Congrats Fred and look for Dad's Big Day in 2014! Ward has illustrated such classics as Chicks Run Wild and How to Train With a T.Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals. After settling in, Fred and I went to meet fellow Pixel Shaver Debbie Ohi for dinner. It was so much getting caught up on
© 2012 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
Well, it is that time of year that many illustrators and writers in the children's book market begin prepping for the New York SCBWI conference at the end of the month. I have joined their ranks and begin putting my portfolio together for the conference. I decided to show around 12 pieces in my book. Many of them were created within the past few months. I am moving into a new style direction with my book illustrations. By using Photoshop instead of Illustrator, I am getting the traditional look that I have been yearning to achieve. Plus the comments that I have received over the past year have pushed me into a new and very freeing direction. Many have told me that they like my sketches and drawings better than the final vector pieces I was producing. They felt my Illustrator style was too clean and I need to loosen up a bit, especially for children's books. So I have taken these words to heart and begin experimenting with Photoshop. I will not abandoned working in Illustrator, which I still love. It is still a work in progress but it is getting there.
Back to putting my portfolio together. I noticed there was a hole in the story telling part of the illustrations and needed one additional piece that would help showcase the storytelling aspect of being a children's book illustrator. I spent about a week coming up with various concepts and sketches trying to get a visual story working. Thus "Wendell Takes A Ride" was born. The goal was to draw the viewer into the piece and have them asking "who, what, where, why, when, and how", hopefully that was accomplished with this illustration. As I worked on the piece, a full story started developing which I need to address once I have completed the story in the works at the moment. Details for that story will be talked about on a later posting.
Since the conference is a week away, I need to run off and get cracking on some paying work and get those off to the clients. When I return, I will give y
Last night we said goodbye to a beloved member of our family. Jasmine was with us for nearly 21 years. She came home with our daughter after visiting family in Tennessee. Jazz, as we called her, got to see the kids grow up, visiting family and friends when they would stop by, a move to Maine, and to see other furry family members come and go. She was very social and the first to greet guest at the door. Often jumping in their lap once they sat down. Jazz was with me when I left a design studio to chase my dream of becoming an illustrator, sitting by my side when I am drawing. She would sit in Lynn's lap while she read. I think Lynn would read to her secretly. Always quick with a purr, a meow, and some attitude at times, she seemed to enjoy being part of a family. We will miss her terribly, we already do. She will always be part of the family and in our hearts forever.
Happy New Year to everyone! I hope each of you had a wonderful time with family friends during the holidays. We kept it very low key here. Our son came up for a week long visit while our daughter stayed in Pennsylvania with her boyfriend. Nate and I got to go to Gillette Stadium to see a Patriots game which was a real treat. What a beautiful stadium! We had a great time, especially since the Patriots won. Go PATS!
I took a much needed break last week but found myself in the studio anyway. I had this idea for a promo piece that I was itching to work on. After breaking out my sketchbook, I did a quick doodle of the idea. Once I worked up the sketch, I realized that it was not working conceptually, so I thought about it and came up with a much better idea. Again, I worked up the idea, made revisions and finally had a a drawing that I liked.
This was the final drawing that I scanned into Photoshop which became the base for the painting. For the color palette, I wanted to keep the colors toned down and warmer to emphasize the friendship between the two characters. Usually my colors are very vibrant, this was something different for me.
Just like working traditionally, I did a gray underpainting to establish my light direction. I was happy with my first attempt and decided that the values would work. Oh, I made it a "multiply" layer some that the pencil work would show through.
I copied my gray underpainting and added a deep brown tint to the copy. Again, the "multiply" was turned on for that layer. This made the underpainting very dark which is what I wanted to build the colors upon.
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I would like to thank each of you for following the blog this past year and to wish you a happy holiday season.
By:
Russ Cox,
on 12/10/2011
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©2011 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
It has been a few weeks since my last post. Where does the tine go? I have had my nose to the grindstone this whole time. I just finished up some things for a large video game company. During this time, I was approached by another game company to develop a central character for a concept they are working on for an early 2012 launch. After several attempts, this design is what I came up with for the main character. I cannot reveal much info about him but I can tell you that this design was not picked. I do like him and so did the company. Apparently they had several illustrators working on concepts. I can post this image since I own the copyrights to him.
Recently I have also been doing some figurative work in the evenings. Every couple of weeks I gt together with some area artist for a Tuesday night drawing club. This inspired me to do this drawing of a friend of ours who was pregnant at the time of me shooting reference photos. After 4 attempts, I finally got the proportions fairly accurate so I could render the drawing. I spent about 20 hours on it but could have easily spent more time. This is going to be a surprise Christmas gift for her. I also did this little nude a few weeks ago which I like. It was from a photo but a good exercise.
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on 11/26/2011
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© 2011 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
As the holiday is upon us, I thought it was time to do a special illustration to get me into the holiday spirit. Of course, I wanted some humor in the piece so with paper in hand, this is what materialized. The idea behind it is the little boy getting a "special gift" he dreamt of the past year. The big questions are how did Santa get him into the small box and did the boy eat his Wheaties that morning in order to lift him. I think each of us would love to get a monster as gift. Well, if he/she was a nice one.The entire illustration was created in Photoshop. After scanning in the sketch, I added a gray tone to the drawing in order to establish a light source which came from the top left. This allowed the boy's face to stand out.
I then duplicated the gray layer and used the saturation tool to change the tone to a color. The layer was made to "multiply" the previous layer which gave me a dark base to work the final color.
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on 11/8/2011
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© 2011 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
I just realized that it has been 3 weeks since I last posted on my blog. Where did the time go? It really has gotten away from me lately. There is so much going on here in the merry land of Otis. Some things I can tell you about and others are under wraps for now. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag too early but 2012 could be a very exciting year.
First things first, I just did a new promo postcard that will be sent to various reps/agents, publishers, agencies, game developers, etc. The Pinocchio piece turned out quite well so I thought it would be a good sample and lead off for the second style I have been working on as of late. I have fallen in love with Photoshop! It is letting me get a traditional feel with this style. I have not abandoned Painter but Photoshop just has a familiar feel to it since I worked in Illustrator for many years. If you would like a postcard, send me an email to [email protected]. 100 of them just went out the door so fingers are crossed for a response.
Major Manners is moving forward pretty quickly now. All sketches have been approved so I have been working on the final art. The book should be out early next year. Molly Kite is also moving along and should be hitting the store shelves very soon. There are some big plans for both books but I must keep things under wrap for now.
I have been getting a lot of inquiries from self publishers these past two weeks. The advertising is really paying off as my name seems to be getting out there a bit more. Hopefully a more publishers will be calling. I am really enjoying venturing into picture books at this point of my career.
In January, I will be heading to New York for the winter SCBWI conference. Fred Koehler, Ward Jenkins (Chicks Run Wild), and I will be sharing a room. That should be interesting and a great time. I am looking forward to seeing many friends, old and new plus learning some things. Maybe you can teach an old dog a new trick.
© 2011 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
Sorry for the lag in between post. I have been quite busy with various projects plus working on a new promo piece which is what you see above. A few weeks ago I was down with a bug. During the day, the urge to sketch was more powerful than the flu so out came the pencil and paper. The idea of doing something different with Pinocchio has been swirling in my head for a month or so. I wondered what would Pinocchio look like if kids had built him. Without any real direction, I begin sketching and out popped the basic idea for an illustration. I added and revised a few things in the final than what is in the sketch. To tie in the "modern" version with the classic story, a cricket was added above his radar ear. I was quite happy with the final art and will be using it on my next postcard mailing.
Major Manners is still moving forward. All of the pages have been sketched and are at the publisher for review. Once they come back it will sleeves rolled up and some late nights.
Still waiting on word on the status of Molly Kite. The publisher has everything so now Tam (the author) and I are in a holding pattern.
My website has some new images and animations added to it so if you get a free moment, give it a gander.
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© 2011 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
With summer coming to a close and fall pushing its way into Maine, the cooler weather makes me want to hunker down in my studio. Progress is being made with Major Manners. We just completed a sample spread and cover. The decision was made to do the tub scene since it has many elements and would be good to get the color of the characters dialed in. I was thinking of doing the illustrations in pencil and Photoshop but felt more comfortable in doing this book in Illustrator. I did not want outlines to weigh down the characters and elements so they have been kept to a minimum. Lately I have been using the bristle brushes in Illustrator a bit more so it gives the illustrations a more hand painted feel. The publisher is very happy with the look and style so we are moving to the remaining pages.
While working on the Major, two other books have come in. They will be self published but will be a lot of fun to do. I know some people shy away from self publishing but I think it is a good way to get your name out there and gain valuable experience. They will only help with ones ability to tell a story a visually and work with the text.
Speaking of self publishing, Molly Kite is at the publisher and should be out nationally very soon. Other books are in the works as well as some possible cool merchandising items. Stay tuned!
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Fall has arrived early here in Maine with crisp, cool nights and a slight chill in the air during the day. The leaves are turning and have begun to fall. There is something about this time of year that I absolutely love and really gets my creative juices flowing. Of course we know that winter is right around the corner so the few weeks and weekends we have of outside weather is spent prepping for the cold and snow. Another season that I truly love.
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© 2011 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
Lately, I have been playing around with Photoshop to develop a second look or style. It seems to be coming together as I get a handle on the software. I am trying to get a color pencil look to my digital illustrations that I am developing on Photoshop. Illustrator is still my main tool but I feel the need to branch out beyond its limits. The banjo pig was actually done for a website called "Banjo Pigs". I felt it would be a good starting point. The entire pieces was built in layers, working from dark to light. The highlights were the last to be placed. The real goal with this piece was to keep the color fresh, bright, and lively while keeping the sketch visible. I still have a ways to go but the plan is to do a new piece every two weeks. Hopefully by January, I can start promoting this second style as I head to the New York SCBWI conference.
Keeping very busy as Major Manners is being developed. The initial reaction to the sketches and characters have been very positive. We have moved on to a spread and cover which I will finish up soon so they can start promoting the book. I also am talking with a couple of other people about illustrating their books. Plus I have a large character project in here as well. I am so grateful for all of the work.
In my spare time, I am setting up a figure drawing workshop with Isaac Pelepko. Isaac will be coming up to Maine for two days in November to lecture and demonstrate rending the human form. It seems as if the artistic community are equally as excited because the workshop is almost full. If you are not familiar with his work, you can view his website.
I should call it a posting and enjoy the rest of Labor Day so until next time.
"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way-things I had no words for." ~ Georgia O'Keeffe
© 2011 Outhouse Ink Publishing and Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
For this post, I thought I would share a character that is in development for a children's book. The book is called Major Manners from Outhouse Ink Publishing. I know most people will not show anything until the project is completed but they want me to post things as it progresses. All the images are copyrighted including the story.
The overall concept is that the main character teaches children to do basic things like brush their teeth before bed, cleanup their room, etc. Major Manners is a big rugged military looking, but very friendly guy who has a real soft spot for children. We started off by doing a series of head studies to find a direction. After previewing the samples to many people for feedback, a head study was selected. From there, I did a full body sketch
© 2011 Outhouse Ink Publishing and Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
After a few tweaks to the body we moved onto doing some various facial expressions to see how the character will work in the various moods. I tried to keep that in mind as I design a character, especially for a book. One must think like a director (thanks Sheri) when developing the visuals for a story.
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©2011 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
A quick post for this week. I figure it was time to update my profile image so I did a quick sketch last week and came up with "Bad Hair Day". I was not happy with the original gremlins so I redid them which where then dropped into place in Photoshop. Once they were placed, I then painted the image in Photoshop this afternoon with custom brushes that I had created. The main goal was to treat it like a traditional painting so there was an underpainting. The colors were built up in layers from dark to light with the highlights the last thing I added. The overall color stayed bright so I did not have to tweak the hue and saturation. The other goal was to let the original sketch show through which helps keep the image loose.
"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary" ~ Pablo Picasso
© 2011 Russ Cox | Smiling Otis Studio
Another week has come and gone with July almost over. Next month we will begin prepping for fall and winter here in Maine. The above images are sketches and plein air paintings I did while on Monhegan Island. I had another sketch but another artist liked it so much they asked if they could have it. I was flattered so I gave it to her. The first of the two sketches was done at Squeaker Cove. It was our first full day there. It was beautiful with the waves crashing onto the rocks. I decided to do a rock study which i was happy with the outcome. The first painting I did was in the Cathedral Forest. It was my second attempt as my first painting fell onto the ground so it had to be wiped clean. Maybe that was a good sign. This was the first oil painting I have done in years. At first I could not remember what to do so i decided to just smear some color onto the canvas. I was fairly happy with the painting. The colors pop more in real life. I did some other paintings but was not happy with the results. One can only paint trees, water, and rocks for so long. I was watching these chickens and a rooster so I took some quick reference photos with my iPhone. The next day I worked on the chicken painting for a couple of hours. This is the result of my efforts. I finished up the faces once I returned home but could not scan it since the paint is still wet. The last sketch was done on the final fay on the island. It was done at Pebble Beach. Yeah, I know, it is a rock and water sketch. Sometimes the
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As many of you already know, I went to New York this past weekend to attend the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Winter Conference. After many weeks of planning and prepping my portfolio, I was off Wednesday morning. After a train ride from Maine to New York, I set sail to the A&E building to meet my friend Ilene Block who is an art director there. We did some brief catching up but I had to let her get back to work so I walked Manhattan for a couple hours. During that time Ilene passed around my portfolio to others in the department. I received lots of good feedback and some thoughts on favorites in my book. It was reassuring to know that I am heading in the right direction with my artwork. After work, Ilene and I headed to Brooklyn to spend the evening. She has such a wonderful family. I always feel at home with them.
The next morning, I took the train with Ilene back into Manhattan where she let me store my stuff until I could check in to the hotel. I decided to head down to the Village since it had been years since my last visit. The moment I arrived at Blecker Street, I could tell that it had changed. Gone are the small, eclectic boutiques and record stores. It was a bit depressing. Since I was down there, I headed over to where CBGBs once stood. My heart simply sank when I saw a clothing store where the iconic club once stood. I went in to see that they at least preserved the walls from the club but still, it was very sad. I did pick up a book on the club while there which is beautifully done. There are lots of photos of the various performers from over the years, including one of my all-time favorites, The Ramones. My other mission while in the Village was to buy a Ramones shirt. Thinking it was New York, I should have not trouble locating one. While to my surprise, it was more difficult than one can imagine. After many hours, I finally tracked one down at Trash & Vaudeville. With my swag in tow, I went back to A&E to pickup my luggage and headed to the hotel to check in. This would be the first time that I met my conference roommates, Fred Koehler and Ward Jenkins. Fred announced to us a two book writing/illustration deal with Dial. We are so excited for him! Congrats Fred and look for Dad's Big Day in 2014! Ward has illustrated such classics as Chicks Run Wild and How to Train With a T.Rex and Win 8 Gold Medals. After settling in, Fred and I went to meet fellow Pixel Shaver Debbie Ohi for dinner. It was so much getting caught up on
0 Comments on Animals Gone Wild as of 9/18/2011 7:35:00 AM
great sketches, I love Abe Lincoln :D Congrats on all the book work! That's great news!
Thanks for the comment!