Gottfried Helnwein

I had the pleasure to sit in on a lecture by Gottfried Helnwein at San Jose State for the opening of a small exhibit. One of the works included his Los Caprichos .
Helnwein is quite a character, with his thick German accent, head scarf, and movie star sunglasses worn at all times- even in a dark lecutre hall. His works are photo realistic , and often in large scale. I suppose what impressed me the most was the difference this man has made in the world. His paintings depict the horror and violence of war with a surreal beauty. Their power to communicate such a bold statement has encourage open discussion and exploration of war crimes. Lebensunwertes Leben - illustrated one of hundreds of children poisoned to death during WW2, the work was so graphic that it caused a public outcry and encouraged an investigation into the man responsible.
Important works of contemporary Art does not need to be overly abstract or pretentious to make a political statement, and in a time when realism was considered "kitsch" this man has stood out to become a great artist of our time.

Blue Sky

Blue Sky entertainment had a chat at the college today. They seems like a really great company to work with! One of their new concept artists showed up his work on the upcoming "Hortin hears a Who" animated feature. Now i'm excited to see how they handled the furry characters and thier squashy expressions. What really amazed me was the variety of work that this guy has done, mostly creature design for live action films, but also environments and props. His costumes for Padame in Episode 3 were gorgeous, and his "evil" tinkerbell concepts made me wish she turned out that way in the final film of Peter Pan.

Some quick notes:

It is important to make concept work that will please the director, this means that story and concept sometimes takes precedence over what you imagine would of been a better design.

When applying for a studio your portfolio should reflect the style that the studio works in, this shows you have enthusiasm to work for them. This also means that you have realistic concepts for a live action film, and cartoony designs for an animation house. Include the most work that is your favorite to work on (do you like to enviorments, characters, color keys?).

First Post

I created this blog mostly because i read the thoughts of other artists around this site. I am considering the idea of putting up sketches and studies since i normally do not post such things on my other online galleries. This would be to monitor my own growth and development and perhaps encourage myself to "work harder" on outside practices.

In a few days I begin my Spring semester. I will be taking two illustration classes and monotype, wish me luck! ^__^