I like the character Doppo you drew. I like 3B pencils too but they are not a readily available as 2B, at least at the local art supply store.
Thanks for sharing that bit on getting an agent. I have been debating seeking out an agent for myself. A writer I am illustrating for has been seeking out an agent for our book collaboration (I have heard it is necessary for book publishing). I have attempted to send examples of work to publishers but have had nothing come of it.

Your girl is really sweet. I can't wait to see more!

Thanks Marsha!

I love the shading on this one!

Thanks Why Ceigej!

i REALLY like what you are doing with your pencil drawings...the colours are great, and the image remains kinda soft and magic-like

Thanks so much M.H.B!

Love the pencil work Eric, are you like me and feel a need to go in and do a finished piece! Shame on you!

Mike

Ha!! Thanks so much Mike!

This is awesome! Yet again! Can't wait to hear more about your book proposal too!

This style is so wonderful and I agree really showcases your line work. It is amazing the opportunities that digital coloring offers.

Thanks Michael! The proposal I'm working on is really cool, I think, but I'm worried it's the kind of the thing that might be hard to market. I'll give it a shot anyway.

Thanks Jennifer! It's such an intuitive process.

Nicely played, and well-explained! Cheers!

Thanks Jack!

Looking great, Eric! I love hearing about others techniques.

Thanks Marsha!

Then i believe your portfolio is looking amazing!! Beautiful works, man! :D

Then i believe your portfolio is looking amazing!! Beautiful works, man! :D

Thanks so much Fabian!

These are charming!

Thanks so much Jeanie!

Very nice, Eric ! I love the rabbit !

Thanks Ben! Is this similar to the technique you use? Pencil and digital?

Yes ! Sometimes, I use some coffee (like watercolor) before use photoshop.

Ah! So that's how you get those tones, cool!

Congratulations Eric! The site looks great and navigates simply. I love the background colour and how it sets off your artwork.

Thanks so much Glendon! Michael gets all the credit for that stuff.

Very nice. Clean, simple and a great showcase of your fabulous work.

Congrats! I know just what you mean. I finally got my website, http://www.penspaperstudio.com, up and running after what seemed like forever (more thinking about it than doing it). I found a similar user-friendly site builder: carbonmade.com
Your site looks great!

Thanks Jennifer!

Looks great Elizabeth! Carbonmade was a another choice I considered. I had just heard more about Squarespace.

It's great, eric! the perfect showcase. clean and easy to navigate. I have a DYI website too and although you get a little less freedom in termss of being limited to a template, the advantage of being able to update any old time for free is... priceless! Well done. J ;)

Great portfolio site, Eric! I love the simplicity of it. Makes for such a nice showcase for your work.

Thanks Jen! I couldn't agree more.

Thanks Jeanie!

It looks wonderful. Makes me feel like mine needs updating!

very cool ,Eric! :D

Thanks Charles! I wouldn't hesitate to say your creatures are having in influence on me.

I think your Grass Guy is hilarious. I am interested in your observation that simpler images are more popular with art directors, etc.
If this is true, then I may be doomed to a career of obscurity ;) !
That being said, I really like your b&w line work.
-E.

No, that's not what I meant Elizabeth. Sorry I didn't meant to stress you out! I meant that a variety in portfolio is a good thing, some large elaborate works and some spot illustrations are a good idea. However, one should never listen to other artists. Usually.

And thanks for the kind words!

Thanks, Eric. You didn't really stress me out. We, as artists, do what we are going to do regardless of what people think/want, anyway. What you observed is sound advice. And I agree with you that the simple images can be SO much fun! BTW, I would rather listen to what other artists say than what most other people have to say...so keep talking.

cuuute! i like that they are in the same pose, and his red hair complements the green. kinda makes me wonder if the creature would crumble into a heap if i jumped on him...weird huh?!
nice work!!

Lol! Will do Elizabeth!

Great image Madeleine!! I love that. Thanks so much!

Wow this is really amazing! I think a whole book of a kid and a grass monster would really be awesome, especially with the great tones you're using! The trail behind the butterfly is the most whimsical!

Thanks so much Gabe! I'm finding the digital refinements are freeing me up to play with the simplest tools, like pencil. I like to add a simple graphic element now and then, I find it hard to know when to use them.

Eric...is this piece (or copies of it) for sale??? I LOVE IT! :)

Thanks Kelsey! I've got a number of requests for prints for some of these newer pieces, which I'd love to do. I'll get on it....

reminds me of james kochalka!

Lol! My Top shelf mate!

Il a une bonne tête votre monstre!
(looks like a funny monster !)

Ha! Thanks Helen! I think it is.

I think I am in love with Grass Thing

Lol! Thanks Elizabeth!

I really like this! Love the pose of Frank's monster & the cats are very interesting and slightly amusing!

One day my coworker, owner of 6 cats, was excited that she learned a new term for a ton of cats from 'The Big Bang Theory' sitcom. Apparently one of the characters went cat crazy and it was called a clowder of cats. This greatly amused her.

Clowder! Great word.

Thanks Angela!

Illustration promo reel is a great idea.
I saw the promo reel by Lois van Baarle (http://loish.net/) and I loved how she put illustrations along with video.
I’d like to have one myself, but obviously I never find time to do it!

Pretty cool, nicely edited together too.

Sort of seen this done but never this well or purely for print style illustration.

Not a bad idea :)

Somewhat related, this reminded me of Daria !

Portfolios on video have not been uncommon among Spanish-speaking illustrators since some time ago.Some other examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BohvZc291ic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxhNg71s0WQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTeLYv21A2A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeCA8VKBRmY
Still,Buisán’s sure gets extra points for the small animated effects.

Oh,by the way,last weekend I made one myself:
http://vimeo.com/6783480

Loved it, and yes it is a great idea for showcasing illustrations.

Hi my friend,

I think that you spelled it out very easily when you said:
"And I'm looking at the work of Shaun Tan, Dave McKean and Brad Holland and thinking "I'd rather be doing that."

I think you should go for it. We as artist evolve and change all the time. It's impossible to stay in one place. You should listen to that little voice that is telling you what you want to do, and do it. Go for it and enjoy every minute of it.

You are a versatile artist and can be good at different things. But I really think if you stick to just one, part of you is going to feel left out. Don't worry, don't feel afraid to experiment and try to head where you want to go.

We'll be watching along :o)

Thanks so much for the thoughtful, positive response Alicia! I'm really grateful for your thoughts. You got it exactly right when you said "You should listen to that little voice that is telling you what you want to do, and do it" because that's what I want to do. I don't want to miss anything.

"I think that's one of the great challenges in being a creative person: being open to many things and being brave enough to explore places that are new and surprising."

yes yes yes....

"I wonder if I'm saying that I don't want to to be tied down to genre."

and yes again.....

I believe being an artist is an act of courageous pleasure. Love your work and am inspired by your words of artistic wisdom. I will take heed.

Thanks Anne Michelle!
This thinking came about when I looked at my sketchbook and realized the stuff that I sketched seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere and was less tied someone else's philosophy then my own responses to things.

beautiful and expressive!!

In your last comment where you say "...and was less tied someone else's philosophy then my own responses to things." - I think that is exactly right. And the same thing I keep coming back to as well. Rather than trying to match my work to the current "in" style for any particular genre (and *why* would I want to do that anyway?) I want to focus on exploring the limits of what *I* do, and how I see things, even if that doesn't fit neatly into a particular genre.

That can't help but be stronger work in the end, don't you think? Plus, less crazy-making.

Hey Eric!

Someone once said to me these things tend to choose you rather than the other way around. So, the idea of being open and allowing seems to be in concert with that philosophy.

Best of luck to you on your journey though, you do wonderful stuff. I remain a fan...

Thanks Alina!

Thanks Tara! I really find it encouraging that you can relate to this. I was thinking back to that discussion on my blog a few months ago and I was reading the submission guidelines for a publisher the other day where it said "no pure genre work" and I was baffled by what they meant but then it occurred to me that they were saying they didn't want any work that was stereotypical in any genre.
I think what I've discovered, and what you're saying, is that you do what you do and if it happens to roughly be a genre then fine and if it's otherwise then that's fine as well but don't suffer any indignities attempting to be someone elses idea art.

Thanks Swain! I think you just clarified the matter a great deal for me. I do fantasy stuff, I get bored if I'm not painting something magical. But I can't sit around worried if it's fantasy enough.
This partly stems out of a discussion I had with a well known fantasy artist(one of the best known actually)who commented on my work saying it wasn't fantasy enough for the fantasy market and I got all indignant and felt like I had something to prove, which in retrospect is probably pretty stupid and I know what he was saying now-even if he wasn't being all that delicate about it.
I think what made someone like Kirby so kick ass was the fact that he opened himself to all sorts of ideas and influences and was a hard working and curious guy and that's what I'm starting to think is the sort of thing illustrators should aspire to.

experimenting and trying different things, exploring different directions is all part of growth as an artist, you find what you can do really well in the process and what you can't, but you learn a lot and it helps you to continue moving forward.

i've been doing the same thing with painting style and it's been exciting some days and frustrating the next, but i'll be a better artist for it in the end...same with you. keep trying new things, you never know where they might lead.

When this other artist said that your work wasn't fantasy enough, did he point out why? Because when you first brought up about getting into that particular area, it seemed to me that this would be an obvious transition for you. To me your art has an obvious fantasy element to it, but maybe I'm looking at this all wrong.

Thanks Christine! I think you're right.

Thanks Bruce! Well, what he said was my work wasn't dark and realistic enough for the mainstream fantasy market. Think more D&D and world of warcraft than fairy tales etc. I felt a bit compelled to darken up my work but wasn't producing anything worthwhile. So yeah I do have an heavy fantasy element but what I'm getting at is I want to be more open to all sorts of ideas and not just what one market is doing.

That fantasy artist was BUNK.

(and for serious - would you WANT to be painting D+D covers???)

To prove - that whimsical CAN be dark - two words;

Gashlycrumb Tinies

Gorey is the master - if not the inventor of whimsical (and fantastical) macabre.

And to ANY "fantasy artist" who would infer that the genre is solely the territory of Frank Frazetta (and every artist after that can't think out side of the box of his style) -I say - get our of your mothers basement!

HAR HAR!

;D

Ha!
Thanks Erin!
You deserve a hug. You're absolutely right, I don't want to be grinding out the same old tired stuff that so many fantasy artists do. I guess I'm looking at people like Gorey, whom I love, and thinking "is this fantasy?" what is this stuff?

Ive been looking at quotes lately and found this nice one that I love:

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. ”

Dr. Seuss

I think that D&D and Worlds Of Warcraft would and could fall under fairy tales. After reading the last two comments, I have to agree that fantasy doesn't have to be dark (heck, a lot of Frazetta's stuff was whimsical).

And isn't Shaun Tan's work mostly whimsical and somewhat bright?

btw, Gashlycrumb Tinies. The best.

Thanks Jennifer!
Great quote!

And Erin, I should add that even Frazetta was heavily influenced by Popeye and worked on Lil' Abner for 9 years. I think that now there is a really homogeneous aspect to genre painting.

I had a similar sort of dilema a few months ago, there's so many things I like to do creativily... And the problem starts when it comes to make sense in one portfolio.

On my own experience, I think the most important is:

a) To have an inprint, a recognizable trademark, no matter the audience or style you're doing. In this case, I think you have it, Eric.

b) To showcase your different styles or targets in different cathegories in your portfolio, so you don't get audience and editors confused. It you put everything all mixed it may be give the wrong impression that you don't have a clue about what you want to offer. But it you keep things well organized there's nothing wrong about it.

Some of the most reputed artists have different kinds of projects such as artist paintings, illustration, sculpture, comics, children's books, etc... and there's nothing really wrong about it when they know how to present it. Diversity is a blessing and should always be a plus. Just my thoughts here...

A follow-up thought along these lines - as you know, I've been listening to Apocalyptica all day. They are incredible, amazing musicians, who are are doing something completely different from anyone else out there (how many heavy-metal, classically-trained, all-cello groups out there do you know?). There is no niche to really put them in, yet they are known and tour around the globe and have sold millions of albums. By excelling at their craft and by going in a (albeit, unusual) direction that they are passionate about.

Good model, I think.

I find that when I see stuff that blows my mind, I rush out to try it for myself- with patched results. My own conclusion about fantasy art is that the heavy emphasis on figurative art, solid rendering, classic compostion and all that jazz is just so - old fashioned. It rules out the things I love- quirkinness- spontaneity, humour, dammit! I never see your work as falling into the fantasy box. it's more theatrical, more expressive. go onward!

And drink more wine before posting.

You've been tagged! I love your work, and it doesn't seem you've been tegged yet this round- hope you don't mind.... if you want to play along, I've got the rules up along with a link to you at http://kelliehill.blogspot.com :)

Thanks Bruce! it's interesting the titles we assign ourselves and worry about assigning ourselves.
I think my point is more that I was trying to fit my work into a certain market for the past and nothing got done because I got really bored and instead ended up doing drawings of Harry and Silvio which was a lot more fun.

I know this sounds counter intuitive but my emphasis here isn't on what fantasy is but rather where we draw our inspiration from.

On Tor.com there's a great discussion about how and if magic realism and fantasy relate to one and other, which is another and fascinating discussion. My thinking here is a bit less academic, maybe.

Thanks koldo! Yeah, that's part of it. I want to have a fairly unified looking portfolio. I don't want to seem like 5 different guys.
But specifically I'm talking about where we draw our inspiration. I'm not talking about not doing something.

I totally agree Tara! I also think that creating your own niche like that is terrifying! But in the end i do think that that's the model to follow.

Thanks JP! Now i feel inspired! You're saying exactly what I'm trying to get across.
Over the past couple of months I was feeling compelled to do that kind of stuff and found it so dull that nothing happened and I was drawing that wild, expressive stuff on the side and really enjoying and feeling gratified by that.
Now I know why visiting your blog makes me feel so recharged.

thanks so much Kellie! Your work is beautiful1
I just did this about a month ago tho...

Eric I think you should listen to what your conscience is telling you. Some times our brain tells one thing and our heart says another. It seems like the going back and forth is really just bringing them together to make a good decision. That you are wonderfully versatile is a gift. Sucess comes from building on who you are not trying to guess on who you should be. It's probably something most of should work on. Someone sent me a guote and now I'll have to look who said it but it sadi "Be yourself, everyone else is already taken."

Thanks Vickie! You just clarified something for me-the heart/mind thing is what's really doing me in. I'm following this path and feeling really good when all of the sudden I start thinking"oh-maybe I'm on the wrong path, maybe I should be more like this"
I'm amazed how easily you cut to the heart of the matter.
Wonderful quote.

I think you hit on something brilliant there! I want to know more about the Fogg academy too.

Great melanchonic feeling created by grey/blue tones

Thanks Viviane! I don't want to blab too much but I have this lovely image of Mina Fogg escaping a bad life in a haunted airship.

Thanks Pagas! I'm trying a richer monochrome feel here and actually using black paint which I almost never do.

A very nice picture and a brilliant blog you have here. I really like those Fogg drawings.

Thanks Charles! I know and enjoy your "poetry" blog.

I love the atmosphere^^

beautiful colors and subject *_*

GiuliA ^,^

Thanks Mirella!

thanks Giulia! This is based on a line from a poem by my friend Sandra Kasturi. It's a lovely poem about clockwork dancers. This is also just about a quarter of the full image. I'll post the full thing when I'm done.

I'm waiting for it! :9

GiuliA ^,^

hey eric, lovely piece. you have such a strong handle on natural materials, I'm sure once you tame the wacom it's going to be double awesomeness.

Cool Giulia!

Thanks JP! Love the Wacom but sort of assumed I would get it straight awy. Which didn't happen, looking forward to exploring it more. I have to say I'm really excited by that added digital element in my work. I can really feel the increase in range.

This piece looks great so far, Eric. The tablet takes a bit of getting used to. After some time you'll find it so neat (especially once you've mapped shortcuts to the buttons) you'll be unstoppable.

As much as I fool with mine I still prefer starting out with the good ol' paper and pencil though. I'm weird.

Wow! It´s the first time I enter to your blog and I love the ambiance you obtain through the colours palette, all your work is a kingdom of magic. Quite melancholic this one... is just amazing. I add your link to my favourites list. Take care! B*

thank you eric!

great to meet you!~ you have really great stuff, I love the variety of media you use and your style is really interesting :)

lovely drawings!

love the mood n mystery about the whole piece... beautifully drawn and painted!!

Such a beautiful atmosphere...

Forgot to say, I'm sure you'll love the wacom. It just takes a little bit to get used to and adjust to the pen pressure. I know I never considered digital until I got one.
Can't wait to see what kind of wonders you'll be making with it! :)
Please, keep posting the watercolors too, though!! They are always wonderful

Thanks Brian! I was amazed at the effects and depth I could achieve on that mermaid painting I worked on in photoshop. It was really meant to be a fun sketch but found it expressed something a lot of my work didn't. against accepted wisdom I found the addition of digital media added to my work rather then detracted from it so I'm very excited to explore this further.

Thanks Lion! I love your work and am happy to share dreams with one another.

Thank you so much Stevie! Brilliant work.

Thanks Dintoons! I'm really happy to hear your thoughts.

Thanks Gaia! I think our work sometimes is looking at the same mysterious world.

Brilliant piece. I love the feel of it.


Jillian

Oh, I'm glad you are pursuing Fogg Academy further! (and I hear you re: the difficulty in fleshing out one's personal portfolio in the face of 'life' and commissioned projects!)

Which Wacom tablet did you end up getting? I've been so pleased with my little one since @pablod's advice. At some point, I may actually upgrade to a 'real' one.

magique!

wacom is great (once you get use to it!) I look forward to seeing more of your fantasy and sci-fi work! =)

J.

Thanks Jillian!

Thanks Tara! I'll keep you up to date on the academy and I plan on publishing another short piece starting next week. This is ti help me write a longer script and I thought it might full out a chapbook nicely.
The Wacom is an older one, a DU, I think it's called...Not sure, it just says Wacom on the front. Works well, but a bit hard to get used to.

Merci Achde!

Thanks Jennifer!

Fantastic piece, absolutely stunning.
"Fogg academy" sounds really inspiring too...

Thanks Patrick!
Updates on both as I have them.

Brilliant
Love the character and the feel!

Thanks Dominic! I really appreciate your comment, you are the best caricaturist I know of.

WHOAH! I was just going to post a comment on the underpainting and already here's the finished piece!
I love her expression! I am seriously impressed. And I think that study of emotional colouring you did for the comic has paid off big time. And I love the chunky painting that comes together completely smoothly when you step back.
And the robot.

Thank you so much Viviane! Julie and i were re-reading the Sleep Walkers last night, so much fun! I loved doing this painting, I felt like I was totally lost in this alien world.

Beautiful!

Thanks again for showing off your process Eric. Thanks even more for answering all my questions.

One more for you - how long did this piece take?

Just WoW!! This is wonderful.
I love the color.
Yes, creepy black water, you don't want to fall in there.
Can I ask, where they are going in this vessel? Braving these waters?
Amy

Thanks Brian!
This piece took about one week including all the sketches.

Thanks Amy! I hate to impose my own story on this but I assumed they were escaping from that place in the background.

i'm not sure what to say but WOW! great great painting. her expression and hair and coloring are just superb. wow.

Thank you so much Christine! This is such a departure for me I was afraid people wouldn't like this painting so I'm very encouraged by yours and others responses.

hello my friend and thank you for your comment!!! this piece is stellar, sci fi is always a fun subject to capture but it's the girl that got my attention. You painted her face get well, beautiful l work!!

Thanks Albert! As you well know, a picture like this needs a strong character.

This is a great pieces, I really get a nice sense of movement and emotion from the characters. Good details - thanks for the zoom-in pics!

Thanks Peter!

Excellent Eric!
It's so good to see the process... I am very bad at doing things properly like this - colour roughs and sketches and all that! I admire you :)
And I love the girl's face...

Thanks Rima! She had to look scared but strong and confident too.

An incredibly dynamic composition. What a journey it takes the eye on!
I think it's a superb painting, I can't wait to see it in print..

This is Fabulous Eric.. I'm blown away!!! The colors and composition are gorgeous, including the faces and expressions. The hair and skin on the girl is fantastic

I also noticed how you brought the buildings in the background away from the girls head... it really makes her stand out and I like the way the light peeks through her hair

Wow!!!

This is FANTASTIC, Eric!!

Thanks Ambera!

Thanks Anthony!

Thanks Phyllis!

Beautiful work. The colors are really striking.

I think it turned out terrifically (although I may have to quibble about 'green' skies... Turquoise maybe. Which contrast beautifully with the purple-ly foreground.) I also love all the strong diagonals. Very nice design and expressive characters. Good, good piece.

Hi Eric,
Did I miss something? baby on the way??

There are 3 things I particularily like in this painting:

1- The contrast of black shades. Very well defined and set.

2- The combination of pink and green in the sky. Nice choice.

3- The direction of the girl's eyes, it captivates the whole attention in the painting. I take this detail as a master stroke.

Wonderful work, Eric!

Love the idea of green skies. So cool and different. Love the way you've portrayed this little girl. Love everything about her. Awesome!

Paz

Thanks Eric!

Thanks Tara! I actually had problems with the title, which is strange for me usually they just happen but this one was elusive. Initially it had Venus in the title, which made less sense so I changed it. Green Skies has a nicely weird sound that appeals to me.

Hi Annie! Yep! My wife is having a baby in late October. We don't know the gender so that will be a big surprise. And next year we're moving to Toronto so she can go to school.

Thank you so much Koldo! I hope moving is going well.

Thanks Paz!

Love the WIP on this piece. So instructive to those of us who are learning. Your style is distinctive and unique. Thank you for sharing.

Congratulations on the baby and good for you and your wife for waiting to know the gender. Life needs more surprises.

Thanks Kim! for the kind comments and the congrats.

Eric,
Sorry to have not been in touch since the Con. Things have been insane here at home. I will try to send you a big email soon.

I hope all is well brother,
Joe

Your finished painting turned out great. I love seeing the process. I really like the expression on the girls face. Nice job.

Thanks Joe!

Thanks Manelle!

Master Eric!
WOW! Beautiful piece...
Somehow your work always bring back to me some old memories...good ones!
Congratulations! Really AWESOME!

Thanks Marco! That's a really great thing to hear, I felt like a kid doing this in a way!

This is amazing!! I love the atmosphere and girl's lovely face :)

Thanks Mariam!

Every time I visit your Blog I'm dumbstruck by the beauty of your images...

Eric, are you moving to Toronto? It should be one of my summer stops in my route to Worldcon next year!!! :-)

the water in this piece is what struck me first. It's so choppy and cold and real. It was done with natural strokes which became something extremely real feeling!

I actually had Rick Berry senior year at The Art Institute of Boston for a sci-fi oil class. It was really different, and very fun.

Oh my!!!!! Wow double wow!! This is stunning Eric! You should be very proud.. just lovely my friend!! :o)

Thank you so much, Maurizio. Yes next year we will be in Toronto so my wife can ngo to school there. I'd be really delighted if we could meet up.

Thanks Julia! That's so cool! I wish i could have a class like that.I've been a big Rick Berry fan for years.

Thanks Alicia!

stunning ....!!! i there's really a very dynamic emotional feel to ur work ..n it's really nice ...the colors totally talk that ....beautiful....
:)

Thanks Abhishek!

This turned out really awesome!! Those green clouds and the character's expression are my favorite parts.

I really like your Robot Museum pages 1, 2 & 3 as well. The coloring is superb!!

Thank you so much, Angela! Love that new icon! Looks like you're zipping around in a convertible leaving nice comments.

I'm sooooooOOoo happy you're posting your process, Eric! I was going to ask but I figured you're so busy already that it probably wouldn't happen.

I'm headed to the bookstore tomorrow so I'll definitely look for those books

Thanks! I'm actually pretty random about it. I get excited about an idea and ramble about it.
All of those books are amazing. I really do recommend them.

Thanks for that Cheryl Klein link, Gail! Very helpful.

She sure covered a lot of information didn't she!

When are you going to learn how to spell?