Illustration podcasts, illustration podcasts & more illustration podcasts

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Mike

I don’t know about you, but I am completely addicted to podcasts. While I’m working on the computer especially when I’m working on something boring and time consuming like archiving work or color correcting photos I like to listen to podcasts on just about anything: This American Life, Radio Lab, Marc Maron, Best of the left, and many more. Here is a list of podcasts on illustration, the first two are my favorite and the rest will be presented in alphabetical order check them out and see what you like.

My favorite illustration podcast is Escape from Illustration Island.  Thomas James, an illustrator from Portland, interviews some of the biggest names in the business including Marshall Arisman, Stephen Heller, Drew Struzan along with art directors and artist agents. With a back catalog of 75 podcasts there is definitely something there that would interest anyone who has an interest in commercial art.

Big Illustration Party Time is another podcast that I really like. These two illustrator/comic book artists talk about anything and everything that has to do with illustration in general and making comic books. They’ll talk all aspects of freelance illustration down to what their favorite pens are to doing contracts with clients and keeping it fun and easy going the whole time. They have just gotten back to podcasting again this year after about a year off, but they have a total of 50 podcast done for you to listen to. Check them out when you get the chance.

Here are the rest in alphabetical order:
Art & Story
Art Zen
Chris Oatley’s Art Cast
Creative Thursday
Drawn Today
Freelance Radio
Man vs. Art
Ninja Mountain
Paper Wings
The Process Diary
Sidebar Nation
and also check out this portal to several visual podcasts
The Visual Artist Podcast Network 

 

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My latest shot on Dribbble.com

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Mike

This is my latest shot on www.dribbble.com possibly the most addictive design/illustration site on the web. This is a very active community of creatives from all over the world. I estimate that there is over 15,000 people registered on this site as either active “players” or passive spectators. Both ways you can find all kinds of inspiration, but to enter your own work for viewing you have to be “drafted” as a player. There are new pieces going up for viewing and comments every few minutes everyday.  To get “drafted” a.k.a get invited to the site you need to tweet that you want an invite (use #dribbble to get in front of the right people) on Twitter (You will also need to put in a link to your portfolio so players can look at your stuff.) To give you an idea of how global this site is I was drafted by a web designer from Germany and one of the last illustrator’s I commented with was from New Zealand. I’m from Kansas City, MO. The artwork people put up is also tagged so you can look through pieces separated out from the rest by a keyword like “typography” or “illustration”. Another function for players on this site that I’ve used a lot is buckets. With a bucket you can set up your own groupings of artwork that you may want to look at again and again by any category you want. I’ve created a vector bucket for any vector illustrations that I see something I would like to revisit. It’s like curating your own virtual gallery. Some people put up pieces at different stages of completion so you can see their process, which is always interesting to see. Here’s the link to the site again www.dribbble.com and if your interested in the other shots I’ve put up here’s my link www.dribbble.com/mikenickells I appreciate all the views/comments/likes that I can get. I hope you check out this site and get involved.

 

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3 great webcomics you should check out

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Mike

The great thing about the web that keeps it vital and constantly growing into our lives is its ability to give people an outlet to keep putting out there whatever it is that they are passionate about and making it easy for others to go out and find them. Webcomics is a relatively new format created on the internet which artists and writers are taking advantage of to self-publish their work. Below are three webcomics that I think are great and one website that is a great place to start to look at what  webcomics are out there on the web. ENJOY!

Unsounded, www.casualvillain.com/unsounded : Thief-brat Sette is on a mission, and she’ll lie, cheat and steal to make sure it’s a success. Condemned to aid her in her rotten endeavors is a rotten corpse who seems oddly talented with the supernatural, and oddly not laying down in the dirt.

The Abominable Charles Chistopher, www.abominable.cc : The story of a hapless yeti and the smart-alecky creatures that seem to be all around him.

The Twilight Monk, www.twilightmonk.com : Mao, a cursed monk, ventures out from his monastery and home to find a cure to his affliction.

All three of these have amazing art and are just fun to read. You should take a look for yourself.

Top Webcomics, www.topwebcomics.com : This is the place to go and find a webcomic that captures your imagination. This webcomic portal has links to hundreds of comics listed in categories by genre and put in order by popularity of the readers who vote for their favorites. Go find what you like.

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Taking a shot at making stock art

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Mike

I’ve started to put together a portfolio of stock illustrations together. It’s quite a balancing act trying to create something that tells a story yet staying open enough that it can be used for lots of different purposes. How do you make something that is generic enough that it can be used for all sorts of stories or topics you’ve never read while not being really boring. This is my favorite one out of the seven I’ve done so far. The stock art/illustration agency I’ve been working with on these have liked what I’ve done so far. Hopefully, I will soon have professional representation.

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15 inspiring illustration websites

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Mike

Below is 15 inspiring illustration websites that all visual artists should take a look at.
(in no particular order)

1. illustrationmundo.com
An illustration community/database website started by the iconic illustrator Nate Williams. Any artist should take a look through the hundreds of illustrators, read the articles and participate on the forums. It’s a huge resource.
2. drawn.ca
A blog for illustration, animation, cartooning and comic art. A constantly changing source of inspiration.
3. illustrationfriday.com
A weekly illustration challenge. The site has a new word to illustrate every week.
4. thelittlechimpsociety.com
“The illustration news portal” Check out all that is on their blog. You can also check out a few other illustration blogs from their RSS feeds.
5. gigposters.com
The website for concert posters, concert posters and more concert posters.
6. behance.net
“The creative professional platform”. You can look through countless portfolios here or join and post your own.
7. dribbble.com
A community website of designers and illustrators… a new “shots” goes up nearly every minute of everyday.
8. vector.tutsplus.com
A website full of illustrator tips, tutorials and videos. A great place to learn something new about vector art.
9. escapefromillustrationisland.com
Check out the podcast interviews with some of the big names in illustration & more.
10. juxtapoz.com
A magazine website of non-traditional artists. They have illustration, graffiti, tattoo and street art. They have lots and lots of low-brow art.
11. drawger.com
An illustrator community portfolio site that’s open for anyone to look at, but to put your own portfolio up you need an invite.
12. illustrophile.com
Illustrophile is an illustration blog for everyone that has an interest in illustration and commercial art. It was started by Canadian illustrator Charlene Chua in 2007.
13. americanposterinstitute.com
The American Poster Institute is a non-profit corporation dedicated to furthering public awareness and appreciation of the poster art form.
14. hifructose.com
A magazine website of contemporary art started by Attaboy and Annie Owens in 2005.
15. koikoikoi.com
Koi means desire. Koi means follow your dreams. Koi is perserverance. Koi is determination. Koi is fear for regrets. Behind any idea, any work, any creative, there are at least three “Koi”.

If you have any websites that you feel are great illustration sites please email at mnickells2@yahoo.com. I would definitely like to take a look at them.

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Living In Style cover June 2011

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Mike

I’m happy with how this cover came out. There’s not a whole lot to say about it. I worked closely from a photo that the staff really liked and I think the final product printed great. Hope you like it too.

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Sporting Kansas City Music Schedule

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Mike

This design was more about just getting all the copy shown in a way that is easy to read and still interesting to look at. I found a soccer ball that had an interesting design and I drew it the team’s colors along with the background. I didn’t use the stadium or anything like that in the design like I did with the Royals because the stadium is brand new and the team just changed their name from the Wizards. Hopefully they bring in the new era with a BANG!

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