Teaching

SMART SCHOOL...

Passionate about process? My teaching with SmArt School is an intensive 15 session workshop covering all aspects of my theories on creating art, either digitally or traditionally, applied to your goals.

-Hands on critiques of your work in every class. Taking you from thumbnail to final art via discussion and paint overs.
-I take you from abstract ideas, to tighter thumbnails, to finished drawings, to finished color.
-We talk about ’shape language’
-What is your focus- what is the ’star’ of your painting.
-Finding the flow in your compositions.
-‘Gradient Theory’ for a balanced painting.
-How to render with line or value.
-How to make strong graphic decisions to support your style, what ever it may be from rendered to flat to linear.
-Working with traditional or non-traditional media.

-Every week I show step by step process shots of my own work, explaining what is going on inside my head.
-I show you my initial concept/thumbnail stage
-Take you through the refining of my ideas
-All the way through final painting, be it digital or traditional (Or both).

-I talk candidly about working in Comic Books, Children’s books, Middle grade fiction, Concept design, novel covers and gaming art. I explain the realities of being a full time freelance artist, from contracts to deadlines, and how those realities might apply to your path.

Having worked in many industries and styles, I am interested in helping you find and refine your voice. Assisting in the hunt of that thing you are chasing artistically.

All of the teachers with SmArt School teach the business as well as the art therefore we know how vital it is to get relevant experience with art directors, editors, agents, galleries and publishers.
All of the "FULL MENTORSHIPS" have one industry special guest attend their class , meet the students and most often,review student work and even frequently give spec assignments to see what students will do with specific imagery.
Past guests have included the Editor in Chief of Dark Horse Comic'c Scott Allie, the founder and head of Vertigo Comics Karen Berger, Senior AD for Scholastic David Saylor, Creative Director for Blizzard Doug Gregory, Wizards of the Coasts Dawn Murin, Senior Art Director for Charlesbridge Publishing Susan Sherman, Senior Art Director for the Science Fiction Book Club Matthew Kalamidas, Editor in Chief of TOR.COM Irene Gallo, Former head of childrens publishing at Simon& Schuster and current Artists Agent Rubin Pfeffer, FFG's Zoe Robinson and Andrew Navaro, and many more .

To learn more about SmArt School go to http://www.smarterartschool.com/

IMC Illustration Master Class

IMCis an intensive week love artist boot camp where you are taught by

some of the industries top working professionals.

Core faculty includes Scott Fischer, Rebecca Leveille Guay, Donato Giancola, Dan Dos Santos,

Greg Manchess, Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Irene Gallo.

This years special guest artists include John Jude Palencar, Cynthia Sheppard and Andrew Hem.

Special guests from the publishing and gallery world include

Art Director for Criterion Collection Eric Skillman, Owner of Haven Gallery Erica Berkowitz,

Juxtapoze art writer, curator and painter David Molesky, and excellent returning guests Lauren Panepinto

and Marc Scheff, and Cynthia Sheppard pullin double duty as AD for Magic The Gathering.

THE IMC 2019 will meet Monday June 10th through Sunday June 16th

To learn more about the IMC please visit:

http://www.artimc.org/

James Gurney made a video about his time at IMC:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ZcVBo0S3o