concept central

I love Geco Hirasawa's work! Why, you may ask? Because it's chock full of eye candy. So much eye candy in fact, that it makes my eyes bleed. And for once, that's a good thing!!

Here's what I know about Geco Hirasawa: She's known as "Hira Geco" in deviantART, and is said to be living in Tokyo, Japan.


According to her recent journal post, she draws her linework in pencil and colors the whole thing in Adobe Photoshop. The whole process takes about two to three days, depending on her mood...



Some of her major influences include photgraphers Robert Capa Van Der Elsken (could explain the fascination with perspective?). She apparently doesn't have a favorite artist (besides the obvious Tezuka and Miyazaki) and takes inspiration more from real life (TM), various photography books, and the like.


She's been honing her skill for the past five years, and dreams of becoming a professional illustrator. Unfortunately, she laments that her style doesn't suit the Japanese market that well.

What is the word the Japanese commonly use for times like these? Ah... Ganbare, Hira Geco!!

To see more of Hira Geco's work, check out here deviantART profile! If you like her stuff, then by all means support her!

Nook. Great illustrator. Got featured in several magazines including iDN and ImagineFX. Collaborated and produced a wonderful artbook featuring two hundred illustrators (for a cause to boot!). Did a lot of 3D stuff as well which seems to blend the 2D stuff pretty well. Does a lot of commercial work for various companies. Sorry, I'm not in the mood to do a grammar check.

A simple enough question. What does the denizens of ConceptArt.org think of "tracing" as a method of learning?


Gocke posed this question in the forum, and noted three ways to look at "tracing"

• I read that tracing an image teaches you a lot more than simply referring to the image by looking at it. 
• Others claim it will hinder your progress and will not really teach you anything about drawing.

the_jos pointed out the uses of tracing:

"First of all is learning your mind that things ain't off when doing foreshortening. I did a foreshortened beak of a bird of prey a couple of weeks ago and my mind complained a lot about stuff being off. It's only at the end that things fell into place and turned out to be ok. When making various partial traces of such an object it's possible to learn your brain that those 'odd' lines are actually ok.


The second usage is for quick setup of things.
If I want to practice values, shading and rendering I could trace the same image a couple of times to try different things.

Last and not to be underestimated. Tracing can learn you to make steady single lines. Doesn't matter on sketches, but when you are going to ink something you might want to have a steady hand..."


Arshes Nei pointed out the possibility of confusion with the subject:


"I refer to what you're talking about "Eyeballing"

Tracing is well actually going over the lines. If I for example, made some pencils and wanted to ink them, I'd get my lightboard and trace over the image. Does that count as cheating?

I want to make that distinction because it tracing and eyeballing are two different things in my opinion. It's one thing to trace over an image using a projector or light board, it's completely different to learn how to see spacial relationships to learn better control through observation and eyeballing.




It also irks me because n00bs will interchange the term when I'm saying "ok gotta trace this" and I'm referring to my own works and they scream "cheating" when I have to explain to them. No, I'm inking, and I want to keep the original pencils around in case I mess up."

joyproject simply states:

"Tracing is fine for learning, but don't end up using it as a crutch."



OmenSpirits concurs:

With tracing, one can learn about the landmarks on the body.

The rest more or less said its cheating. Still, you can read more at http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=154586 or http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=113058 which is an older thread on the same topic.

My thoughts
So what do I think of tracing? Is it good or bad for an artist's development? Let me put it this way... it... depends.

Many artists believe that anyone caught tracing a reference photo shouldn't even be called artists. That this whole tracing business should be left to kids. Not so for the legendary DC/Marvel artist Neal Adams, who believes tracing is one of the keys to better looking art. According to a section in Neal Adam's webpage, he was quoted saying that "...if they really want to learn to draw better. The first thing you need to do is get yourself a tracing pad and some solid and clear photos from magazines and anywhere you can get them. Trace, trace, trace. Trace some more. Make it a regular part of your drawing process. You will learn more by tracing than anything else. When people hear this their immediate reaction is 'I'm not gonna trace, that is cheating.' It is not. This is how you will learn."

So like I said... It depends.

Do you know Tomer Hanuka? According to the innumerable sites that talk about this award-winning illustrator, he's worked with Time Magazine, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, MTV, among others. He's done a great deal of work in the funny book and fashion industry as well. According to an interview at formatmag, he got hooked on comics pretty early in his childhood in Israel.

The "...whole idea of superheroes, visual icons, worlds within panels" fascinated him in his youth, and that's when he decided to pursue creating his own stories in the medium. After his mandatory service in the Army, he decided to pursue art as a career and enrolled at New York's School of Visual Arts. Mr. Hanuka describes living and studying (and eventually teaching) at New York as the "...ultimate growing experience in the way it’s set up for the young and hungry to become comfortable and still hungry."

His longtime collaborators Lorenzo Mattotii and Nicolas de Crecy have proved most fruitful throughout his career. He keeps close ties with his brother, Asaf, (he's based in France) and collaborated on a number of projects on life in Israel.


Did I mention that he absolutely loves the medium of comics? Mr. Hanuka stated that he drew inspiration from "... art... books, movies, and images." He states "...Can you imagine your life without them? We are all made of other people’s dreams, our memories, a song that reminds us of that girl, a chain link of associations flicker endlessly in our psyche, all fused with culture we’ve consumed at one point and all 100% authentically ours."

When questioned in another interview done by Quiet Color about contemporary illustration, and the trends he has seen in wake of the recession, he believed that "...illustration is becoming very trendy is in advertising, in places that we’re not short of the classic places in terms of the aesthetic space they used to create."

 
He goes on to state how "...a lot of the corporate world taking street creds from graffiti artists and putting it on sneakers and putting it on billboards to get cool points in a very cynical way. And there’s a lot of like that anti-craft, scruffy, un-digital, unrefined illustration that finds its way into advertising big time." Wow. "Magazines are shrinking, newspapers are shrinking but advertising is growing for illustration… nobody believes photographs anymore because there is so much Photoshop, so a drawn image is suddenly a silver bullet exploding hearts of unsuspected preteens and other desired market shares."


You can read more about the aforementioned interviews at:

QC INTERVIEW: TOMER HANUKA

FORMATMAG: TOMER HANUKA

Be sure to go the man's site and learn more about his current work!
www.thanuka.com
And check http://tropicaltoxic.blogspot.com/ to learn about the man's process.

According to Contraomnes, his favorite artist include Tomer Hanuka, James Jean, Kent Williams, Leinil Francis Yu, Adam Hughes, Alfons Mucha, and many more...
You can read more about his artistic journey at his deviantart!

If there's one thing that I'll always remember after watching Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart a few years ago, its those fantastic dream sequences that the protagonists conjures up.

The guy's work was just so different from what I had seen up to that point. However, it wasn't until a few years later that I would learn the identity of the background artist. Why'd it take so long? I don't know... I guess I was just lazy.

Remember back in the day (around late 2007) when I was salivating over this manhua thing, beginning with artists like Hyung Tae-Kim and later stuff from Imperial Boy? Yeah, those were ... innocent times.

So here I was, looking for the next 'big' art inspiration (or in my case not so big, since I rarely update and thus don't keep up with the times) and lo and behold, I found Benjamin.


I think I will drop my job for a few seconds as I upload some of the most striking, elegant digital paintings/illustrations I've ever laid my eyes on. I've always loved works from artists that manage to elevate the mundane, you know? Put that ol' artistic spin to it and make it look all mysterious, sexy and all that good stuff.

Who is this Benjamin chap? Okay, let's see... according to a number of blogs that talk about this guy (many of which are in French), his full name is Benjamin Zhang Bin' who hails not from Japan or Korea, but from China. He's a Manhua (Chinese Comic Book) artist, and a damn good one too. (Told you Manhwa/Manhua would catch on sooner or later! -Ed)

The French can't seem to get enough of this guy, and a lot of Benjie's stuff was first published there. He's published a lot of stuff over there, and some time in 2008 he began getting stuff out through TokyoPop, the American Manga house. It saddens me that I may never see his stuff translated and released in my country, but at least I get to ogle at these breathtaking covers. Click on the image to get a slightly better look, whydontya?

Some time in March 2008, the entire Manhwa/Manhwa phenomenon got a really big push from all sorts of creative types, with events being held across the globe. There were Digital Art/Manga competitions, conventions held at London and around Europe, and books being published Stateside. Lots of great stuff all around, and for some inexplicable reason, I missed it. Oh right, I live in the Philippines.

So I read one interview with ol' Benjie, and they asked him something regarding his 'style'. He graciously replied:

"Ah? You’re talking about how my illustrations are more realistic, right? Originally my comic characters were even lankier; recently I’m already very restrained. That kind of lanky, exaggerated body is better to draw, producing results quickly. Comics are always rushed and the amount of work huge. No choice. If it’s an illustration, I use sufficient time to pay attention to the human body, to find the aesthetic sense in more realistic proportions."

My thoughts:
I was lucky enough to buy Benjamin's ORANGE manga, (That's how I discovered the guy's work) and he's right - a lot of his stuff is done quite quick, though his skill as an artist makes his rough stylings easily identifiable. He excels depicting his subjects, mostly disgruntled youth-types, in the most beautiful and vibrant manner possible. He clearly uses Corel Painter, which helps sell the painterly effect of his work.

Looking at these illustrations and even the sequential images, a lot of people might have trouble describing what makes it different from stuff from Japan and other parts of the world.

Yishan Lee, a Chinese UK-based artist, had this to say: "...people probably will realise it is hard to tell what is a Chinese comic just by looking at the pictures. Actually, Chinese comics are so diverse in styles. They have been influenced by European, American, Japanese comics and yet carried on some traditions from traditional Chinese drawings. For individual artists, they have their own preference. It is only easier to tell which one is Chinese Manhua when it comes to the story. Chinese artists do have their own way to look at the world."



I don't live in Mainland China, but Benjamin's ORANGE (set in Taiwan I think?) paints a beautifully decadent world where the youth are finding it hard NOT to rebel. An interview asked this question - why are many of the protagonists of his comics a bunch of vain, emotionally distressed teenagers?

"Actually, I find that everywhere, young people are no longer believing in anything, no longer having faith, totally at a loose end psychologically and feeling really insecure. These young people can't cooperate or fit in with society, and especially for those who have had a relatively high level of education, for them this psychological void is even more serious. In most cases, they hardly have any trust in their parents (for someone Chinese that's the absolute minimum of morality) and also don't trust either their partners or friends."



Whatever the case may be, I'm going to go hunting for this guy's work. I don't care if you say his work might be a tad uninspired. There's just something about the Chinese stylings of the story that makes it feel fresh... and all dirty inside despite being depicted in the most beautiful, stylized way possible. Here's an interesting little snippet from the interview I found interesting:

Do you feel that using this kind of exaggerated comic style expresses your story’s mood, etc. better?

"Readers like this kind of style more actually. I dare say if I use my illustrating style in my comics, all my efforts will only raise questions amongst the readers. They’ll say my comics aren’t as good as before. But I’m just about to take this risk, to draw my comics in my illustrating style…"

Read the full interview here.

Yeah. so like I was saying - beautiful. Hmm... I wonder how many times have I described his work with that adjective..? Ah, it doesn't matter. One of Benjamin's goals in life was to be that of a world-class painter. That and to travel the world. Great guy, great art - I'll be watching.

Oh, if you can spare two minutes, maybe you can watch this video showcasing this Manhua/Manhwa craze. Which I missed in 2008. Just watch it, okay?



Also, check this article/interview about Chinese Manhua. Good read.

While it's been a while since I've posted on this blog, I managed to stumble on a topic at ConceptArt.org that demanded my attention... Yes, it's everybody's favorite topic - the cliches of science fiction and fantasy art!

The topic today is brought to you by J Wilson. He asked:

It's not that he hates all these generic ideas! On the contrary, these so-called generic ideas are a great starting point to create something inspired, possibly original even! But as J Wilson pointed out, he's "...just tired of seeing them as "go to" design elements, showing a certain lack of real inspiration. They can be done well, and done in an exciting way, but 90% of the time if I see those elements I groan and kind of roll my eyes."

So, what designs are people tired of seeing? Let's see what the good people of the forum have to say:

J Wilson goes first, declaring :

"I'm getting tired of seeing generic looking gun arms. Or the one big powerful arm. Tribal tattoos. Forest or jungle scene with large stone heads overgrown by the jungle."



Flake, another discerning member of the board, throws in his thoughts:

• Giant Space Boots
• Swords 8 feet longer than the user / hand held artillery
• Bikini armor / Stealthy ninja chicks in heels.

My thoughts:
I don't get his second one, really... Did this whole 'sword bigger than the user' trend begin with Final Fantasy? I'm not too familiar with this enduring trend in young artist's design. Never really liked it actually.

Tomwaitsfornoman shares his peeves:

Massively over sized boobies...
Rob Liefield cliches
Scantily Clad Women in snow (I am guilty of that one myself)...



Mirana declares her annoyances:

Most clothing choices for gals, usually a variation of the bikini or a plug suit (Damn you, anime shows like Evangelion! -ed) Laaaaaaaaame. I'd also like to see variety in body types of women AND men.

Amaranth goes straight to the point:

"Female supermodel soldiers. I highly doubt Paris Hilton or a female with double Z breasts can wield a huge sword or gun in full-fledged combat even though they look good. If functionality and looks are both considered, they could at least look like Gina Carano. Of course, I can't say I am absolutely sick of this, just slightly annoyed."



...Bikini armour. This one I'm sick of. It looks good but I think it's too much of a "go-to" design to make females in armour look good, not to mention it completely sacrifices any functional purposes. How is it hard for anybody to just slash the stomach area of the female?"

Zirngibism comes up with a perfectly worded rant:

• That same old floating city where underneath the city is sort of a long upside-down mountain of earth. Yeah it's been done in some popular video games, and yeah it's kind of a cool concept, but aren't there other ways to make floating cities without that giant mountain of dirt under them? How about spheres with their own gravity and the city radiating around them? How about floating water instead of earth with steel "bubbles" inside as the buildings?

• Desolated, bombed-out post-apocalyptic cities

• Jetsons-style cities (I really love futuristic cities in illustration, and they're my favorite when approached originally.) I feel like a hypocrite because so many cities are in my deviantArt favorites folder, but hey...
• Big blobby monsters with arms coming out of their stomachs, possibly plants growing out in random places, with flabby sagging bits. I've seen some really awesome drawings of these, but the concept itself is getting old to me.
• Gunners with visored masks.

• Most Space Art... you know, often-desktop art where two planets are colliding and there's all this swirly stuff from brushes people downloaded from deviantArt... It all looks the same. Sure space is cool, but not that kind of art when it's all the same. It's like Thomas Kinkade, just in space. Go to dA, you'll see what I mean.
  

• Mech warriors that look like so much like Gundams. Sure, as humans we identify with bipeds. We like stuff that reminds us of us. But that's not really a great design when it comes to machines. Especially when they're SO top-heavy like some of the designs I've seen. How about multiple legs (like that "bigdog" robot they're developing now), or or the use of both wheels and legs?
• Just about 95% of sci/fantasy illustration I see features people ages 18-25. Sure, I understand why this is. We don't usually see 60-year-olds fighting battles and what not (unless they're a male wizard, often cliched). But in a place and time where magic or technology play a key role, I would think people could transcend the limits of age. By the way,I think older people are awesome, there's so much more depth to them. I plan to try to feature them in my own illustrations. I guess the audience of such art tends to be in the younger range and identify with younger characters... but still.
• Little children interacting with large, ugly monsters in friendly gestures, like they're a friend. The child might be giving something to the monster or touching it. It's a neat concept and I've seen some great work portraying it, but seeing a lot of the fanboy art using this concept makes it seem a little old now.
• And I've got to agree with everyone about the bikini armor being one of the biggest ones. I don't know, I'm not a guy, but don't you guys get BORED after awhile, even if you're attracted to the girls in that art? Don't they start looking the same to you?
• Tribal Sci-fi. I still think they are cool when done-well, but it's getting kind of generic.
  

My thoughts:
I can't believe he doesn't like gunners with funky visored masks. It's a good thing for some that the generic cyberpunk era died in the 90's... although a revival could always be around the corner. As for the rest of her statements, I think they're spot on. That's all I can say really. Totally agree with the first statements though, I can't help 'fave' well rendered generic floating city art!

sodAP gives his views on:

• Derivative of the derivative. Some guy who has no idea how real XV century armour looked like, so he draws what he thinks it could have looked like (why research?) and then there's the other guy who has no idea how real XV centruy armour looked like so he bases his work on the work of the first guy. There's the third, fourth, and fifth guys, and then World of Warcraft tier 6 armours appear. Oriental+Occidental. Guys with full plate, a bandana and a katana... facepalm.

PsiBug goes on with his own caveats:

1) a lone timeworn robot standing among the ruins of the civilization that created it. (Wall-E, Laputa)
2) a close-up of an embryonic creature gestating in a bottle of bubbling fluid
3) a skeleton in a space suit... often with an alien weapon or plant sticking out of it
4) an old lady chasing a cat down the street with no bra on (What? -ed)
BrightDreamer has this to say, which is pretty interesting:

• Impractical anatomy: the overly-musclebound barbarian who should go down with his own weight, or the DDD-chest-size woman who thinks she can run, let alone fight, without a bra.
• The Brooder. You know the one. Crushed by the weight of their own soul in a dark and unforgiving universe, they stare darkly inward whilst pondering the void of their reality. They often wear dark capes and/or trenchcoats, sometimes some manner of hat (to cast moody shadows over their moody faces), and most need their hair hacked off, or at least brushed out of their eyes. While I understand that many sci-fi/fantasy characters have good reason to brood, I get sick of watching them do it so incessantly, especially when they seem to pick such impractical places: the edge of an impossibly high skyscraper or craggy, storm-torn cliff, or even in the middle of a gory battlefield.
• The Generic Epic Quest. A gathering of vaguely Tolkien-esque humanoids in a range of sizes and shapes and vaguely medieval outfits travel through a Vast Landscape, more often than not passing Grand Ruins and Soaring Spires. A side-cliche I find overdone is the Generic Epic Quester, someone on some manner of generic epic quest who might as well be on a nature walk for all their posture and expression conveys.
  

Wickeddiana has thing to say... which I unfortunately agree with *sniff*:

• Pretty much everything from Heavy Metal Magazine. I am totally sick of seeing this. Probably the biggest cliché in erotic fantasy art.
• Ethereal fairy-like females in some kind of magical environment/forest. They are usually very beautiful, almost goddess-like and they are gazing dreamily out into the distance. I have to admit that I am guilty of having done this myself. But I just get really tired of seeing it.
  

Mr. Kev Ferrera throws his hands down and declares boredom over:

• 96% of the covers to Heavy Metal.
• Post-Apocalyptic Beach Bodies.
• Main figure strikes and holds an iconic yet undramatic pose for the camera.
• Huge swords. Overly pointy armor and helmets.
• Over-rendering of incorrect or meaningless anatomical detail.

Volchiha throws in some new ideas: (or old depending how you want to perceive this thread)

• Incorrect cultural references - including no knowledge of the mythology or symbolism used, appearances (vikings didn't wear horned helmets to war), political stereotypes, and especially the use of writing in random ways!
• Making vampires and werewolves mortal enemies. In a folklore sense, they have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

Opillione finally closes out this post with an all-encompassing reply:

"I take the opinion that everything's been done in some form before. It's not what the content is, but how it's executed. "

In Conclusion:
The question now is, how do you create fresher ideas? With every idea known to artists taken and exploited, what is left?? I leave that to you, or maybe to me, if I find the time to make a post about developing new ideas for well worn concepts. In the meantime, I suggest you guys stay away from adding scars over you over your characters eyes. It's been done before, trust me.