Tuesday, May 31, 2011

"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"




Hey everyone! I just wanted to share an awesome film that my friend Joe Bluhm helped make. "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore". Joe did storyboarding, character design, textures, 2D animation, prop/environment design, and more. The film was made in Shreveport at MOONBOT Studios, it's won some festivals and gotten into a LOT of them (see morrislessmore.com). While finishing the film, they started working on an App. for iPad. They will also make it into a printed book by next year, which I am looking forward to getting!

I would like to encourage everyone who reads this to please check out this film! It's a beautiful film, filled with greatness! Eye candy and heart candy! I'm proud of Joe, he's one of the most talented guys I know, and the work he did for this project is some of his best ever!


Check out the website HERE.

To buy the app for your iPAD, click
HERE. Click HERE to buy the film on itunes.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Dominique Strauss-Kahn for NY Observer



This weeks NY Observer cover.

My time frame was less than 24 hours, probably closer to 14 hours from start of sketch to the end of final painting . . . so, the drawing and painting was a bit rushed. The important thing to me was to capture the essence and character of this guy, so I did a few sketches of him to warm up and familiarize myself with his look and character. I started late Monday afternoon and painted until late that night, working mostly on DSK's face.




When doing a quick turnaround like this, the important thing for me is to be able to deliver a piece of art of high quality, no matter what the time frame is. So it's up to me to figure out what I can and cannot do in the amount of time given. Sometimes that can be tricky to figure out? The idea for these covers sometimes come from me, but over all, it's ultimately the editor who decides what prints and what doesn't.

Luckily, their current art director Ivy, is great to work with, and together I think we have fun coming up with a solid solution to the problem. And there's always problem solving involved in this kind of work which is not a bad thing, it's just part of the job.

Ivy and I actually had a few different ideas this week that were all cool. One of my favorites was a take on Pepe Le Pew which we thought was hilarious and also straight to the point . . . but in the end it came down to time and a final decision made by the editor.

There's a lot more I would have liked to have done. The drawing is the foundation of each piece I do, and I would have liked to have had more time developing in the drawing stage, but for this kind of a job, I've learned that I need to just lay it down and get painting . . . but over all, it was a lot of fun, and I truly am grateful to be able to draw and paint for a living!

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Digital Masters Volume 6 plus Limited edition Playing Cards!






Check this out! Some of my work will be featured in "Digital Masters Volume 6".

The first 200 people to pre-order the book will receive a pack of these cards for free. These books are filled with amazing tutorials and paintings from some of the best digital painters out there, I'm honored to have been included.


Click HERE to pre-order your copy!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Cover for Billboard magazine




Here's my latest cover for Billboard magazine. This was a lot of fun to do, but was a crazy deadline. The art director was very cool to work with and as I've mentioned before, that goes a long, long way. I was called last Monday night, and had my sketch to them before 9:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. For one reason or another, I didn't hear anything back until around 5:00 p.m. giving me only a day and a half to paint five people.

I love my job and I'm grateful every day to be able to do what I do for a living. If you want to be an illustrator, you need to realize that there will be times that this sort of thing happens. It's not the art directors fault, or the editors, it's the nature of the beast and you either love it or you don't. Yes, it can be stressful, and frustrating at times, but you've got to do what you've got to do, you gotta roll with it. And as I always tell myself, "I could be digging ditches", so I'd happily take this work that I do over anything else.





My quick mock sketch.



Originally Jon Bon Jovi was on the cover, but he was switched out for Taylor Swift, she's prettier.

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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Interview and step by step for CGMagazine in China.





Thursday, May 05, 2011

Franz Kafka and Schoolism Testimonial



Two hour painting of writer Franz Kafka, painted with watercolor and finished digitally. Everything is painted, the dust specs, scratches, all painted to give the effect of an old photo.


There are a few spaces left in my May 20th class . . . Register for my May 20th class- The Art of Caricature with Jason Seiler!

Click here to learn more about my class at Schoolism.



Here is a testimonial from a recent student of mine, please read below.

Testimonial:

"It isn't often you come across a talented artist who can also teach-but Jason is one of those rare individuals. I speak with over twenty-five years of teaching experience, eighteen of those at the college level. I have lear...ned more in his nine lessons than I have in any of the semester long college art courses I have taken.

His lessons are well organized and he includes ALL of the information, steps, and concepts you need to complete his assignments. In my experience this is rare--most of the digital art tutorials, videos, books, or courses I have taken leave out important steps and I find myself lost, frustrated, and extremely disappointed.

In addition to covering the technical skills, he includes valuable information on his thought processes, the importance of a good portfolio, dealing with art directors, and other practical knowledge that you seldom get from an art instructor who only knows the classroom setting.

Remember that old quote . . . "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach"? Jason is a great example of someone who can both "do" and "teach." Perhaps if there were more art instructors like Jason there would be fewer starving artists.

The bottom line is that I have spent years trying to learn what I have learned in this class. It has been worth every penny and every hour I have spent in front of the computer."

Victoria Hutson

Lake Superior College

Duluth, MN, USA

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

City of Hope





Originally I was commissioned to paint 8 of the top 100 Real Estate CEO's of New York. I had finished most of that painting when the news of Osama's death changed the headlines and covers across all of America. So, I started this cover at 9:00 P.M. Monday night with the final due 5:00 P.M. the following day, it was a challenge but t...he energy I felt from the importance of this week helped me push through. I'm glad we decided to go with a portrait for this cover rather than a caricature and I'm honored to have been able to paint this cover on such a memorable week in our nation's history.



Close up of brush work.

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Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Closure



For now.
All artwork © JasonSeiler 2006 unless otherwise stated. All characters are copyright to their respective owners