Colin Campbell Studios

Koala Warrior

2011-06-10T09:42:00.001-07:00

Just a meeting sketch for fun.

Quick post

2011-06-08T17:31:00.001-07:00

This was a quick painting while my class working.

New plan. Long time away.

2011-06-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

Soooooo I haven't put anything here in awhile.
A few things have been happening.
1) I'm getting married in a couple of months.
2) My fiancee and I are moving and bought our first home.
3) We're working to finish Reckoning at Big Huge Games.
4) I finished teaching at MICA for the spring.

All of that pretty much means I've largely had to put down my brushes until I'm past a fair bit of it.
That said, I've decided I still need to keep posting, even if it's just little sketches to keep me working on my own stuff a little bit while everything else is going on.
So my plan is to try and post something as much as possible, hopefully a few times a week.
I'll start with this:
It's a commission I finished a short bit ago for a novel cover.
It was a very specific composition requested, so it was a unique challenge.

Process of Peace

2011-02-27T14:32:00.000-08:00

This is something I did for an upcoming show called "Process of Peace," in which artists were asked to investigate how they try and find peace in their own lives and world around them.
The show is curated by the ever-engaged and evolving Sarah McCann. She also curated the "What's Your War" show here in Baltimore last year. I'm a big fan of hers.

Some sketches

2011-02-18T13:01:00.000-08:00

Some recent sketchbook pages. Some from sitting in meetings at work, others from sitting... in church.
I know.
But the church Jess and I have been going to is beautiful on the inside, and I'm still listening just as much. It's how I used to doodle in class. It usually allows me to stay more focused on what's going on. I think my coworkers have gotten used to it, too.

Stasya and the Gryphon - Year 4

2011-02-13T13:16:00.001-08:00

For four years now, on a very dear friend's birthday, I have given her a page of a growing story. It is about her and, thus far, a gryphon she befriends. (They're also spelled griffin, or griffon, but I like the way the first spelling looks)
The first one of these I did was before I would have considered myself an illustrator at all, or was doing much professional illustration work. Now, to whatever extent that I even think the titles of artist or illustrator are separate, I happily embrace it, so it's interesting to look back on these.
Usually done in watercolor, this latest was in the middle of a number of deadlines so I begrudgingly did it digitally.

Chaper 1: In which Stasya meets the Gryphon and offers him a pear.
(This one is still my favorite, even being the oldest. There's something in the subdued ferocity of the gryphon, intimidated perhaps by the equal fearlessness of the girl, that I've yet to recapture completely).

Chapter 2: In which Stasya reads to the Gryphon and they fall asleep under starlight.
(This is when I realized I was actually making a series).

Chapter 3: In which the Gryphon unexpectedly takes flight.

Chapter 4: In which Stasya, not one to wait around for the whims of flying creatures, finds a boat and begins her own journey.
(Interesting how much my colors changed, and the environment became so much more substantial. I think this is a direct product of the digital approach. It also takes a huge compositional departure without the Gryphon dominating the scene, but to tell the girl Stasya's story he had to leave, at least for awhile.)

The next chapter, if I'm more on time than I was this past birthday, will be posted in November.

Mock Turtle

2011-02-01T22:38:00.000-08:00

This is one I finished a bit ago and didn't post.

So here it is.

Circus - Progression

2011-02-01T22:16:00.001-08:00

Thought I would throw some progression shots up for the Circus Piece.
It's good to look back where a piece came from. I'm not sure, in certain states of mind, I would pursue a piece that started like this one, but for some reason the place that I was in kept me at it and thinking about it.
It's easy to walk away from pieces, from seeing something through to the end, but sometimes that's what makes lessons concrete.

Another image I was using to compare hand and arm positions. This was really interesting to me. Simple changes of rotation and placement created entirely different moods. Ultimately, I went for the one that made her seem the most formidable and rebellious.

Sometimes the number of choices we can make that can affect the feeling of a piece boggles my mind. At any point, we might make the smallest adjustment that turns our little ship of a painting into waters that truly sing, or onto a submerged rock. Still, we must go sailing.

Cirque Final

2011-01-22T13:19:00.000-08:00

I've posted some works in progress of this one for awhile now, but finally knuckled down in my free moments for the last couple of weeks and made this piece pretty complete.
See what you think. I've got a story about all of this growing in my mind, so I might pursue it a bit more.

A few things I listened to keep myself in a Circus/surreal mood while painting:

Rupa and the April Fishes, Extraordinary Rendition
Beirut, The Flying Club Cup
Laura Marling, I Speak Because I Can
Amelie Soundtrack
Devotcha, Little Miss Sunshine Soundtrack
Jonsi, Go

Thanks for checking in!

Some Christmas present painting!

2011-01-06T18:42:00.003-08:00

On a lighter note, here are a couple of Christmas present paintings I did.

Old paintings of Antarctica

2011-01-06T18:24:00.000-08:00

Dear readers, humor some nostalgia and rumination, please.

These aren't new, but are new to this blog, since they're older than it.

I recently went through a lot of old work, especially Antarctic work, for a good, talented friend named Rob Bilek who wanted to do an art trade.

I went to Antarctica in 2005 to paint for three months. It's a huge part of my life, but truthfully I've done very little with the work in about a year. I've been too involved in work with Big Huge Games, teaching, and other artistic pursuits.

Seeing these, looking closely at them, kinda breaks my heart.

I'll never be able to leave oil painting behind for digital completely.

Real media breathes in a way digital cannot, and I say this with full knowledge that I am as much now a digital artist as I am anything else. In another context, I would cry out the virtues of digital work.

Here, though, I get caught up in those little moments of chaotic abstraction happen in landscape paintings with oil or watercolor. They make me catch my breath. I get washed over in it.

And remembering painting Antarctica makes me terribly nostalgic. Looking back at art I did at specific times in my life is like listening to music you listened to in a specific place.
I always return to Antarctica as a subject, and I suspect it's time to explore further, even if it's from my memories and my studio here in Baltimore. That sometimes seems odd to me, since I was only there for three months, and it's been five years now.
But as artists, we have to be honest with ourselves if we're to work honestly, as well, and Antarctica dug deep into me and has never let go.

2 WIPS

2010-12-06T21:33:00.001-08:00

It's a bad sign that I have more WIP posts here than finished pieces. I'm in a time of transition, I think, and struggling a little. That's where the lack of focus is coming from, something I should try and remedy, but the struggle and transition aren't bad things. Often, I've found that looking back these are very productive, interesting times for me work and growth.

It also might be that with work going as it is I only start painting at 11:00 pm or later.

Regardless, an idea for a series I've been tossing around in documents and my head for awhile is getting to come out and and play with mixed results. See what you think. Still some drawing problems to resolve I get too impatient with early on. They won't all be girls.

Sketchbook pages

2010-12-05T18:12:00.000-08:00

Work has been so hectic lately that I've not really had any time to paint. If I'm at my computer, I'm working on the company project. That's not a bad lot in life, but it does mean I need to find other ways to keep practicing my 2d skills.
Thus, I picked up my first moleskin sketchbook a few months ago and finally broke it out a couple of weeks ago. It's great, and not because it was used by Rodin or Hemingway or it's hip, though all three of those things are probably true, I guess.
It's practical, it fits in my back pocket, and the paper is actually a great surface for drawing.
I've taken to pulling it out in meetings, at coffeeshops, and even at church this morning. Basically, all the places that I never have a full sized sketchbook with me because my 40+ work life isn't always about sketching.
I used to make sure I had three things when I was standing up to leave a place - keys, wallet, and phone. Now I have a fourth. I recommend it.

These are backlogged, and I'm about halfway done with the book. These are only the most recent four spreads. I'll try and post more just to keep myself doing this.

I like trees lately

2010-11-21T18:52:00.001-08:00

My sister had her first child last year around this time, and I was supposed to make a tree painting for my nephew. I have it now, for his first birthday, and it's going home for Thanksgiving for him. So this is for Elliot.

I like painting trees. They're not exactly easy, which is surprising considering how often we see them. People can imagine trees very easily, but actually looking at one and drawing it makes you realize how very weird they can be. This a bit of a fantasy tree, so I can make up a lot, however.

Jess told me making the little boy float is weird. I like it, but I'm going to think on it.

Three works in progress

2010-11-05T12:47:00.001-07:00

Nothing finished. I've hardly made it to my studio at all in the last month. Work at Big Huge has been great, but incredibly busy.
Still, a small number of things I played with. The more sustained projects will be updated soon.

Opening this Saturday

2010-09-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

I've got a small show opening at Ancient Arts Wellness in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, following the Baltimore Book Festival.

Here's the flier.

The work is mostly medium to small sized oil paintings of landscapes and cityscapes.

The reception is from 7-9 and should be fun. The space is cool, the folks that work there are cool, and the Baltimore Book Festival is cool. Swing by if you get a chance and have some tea.

Pancake Breakfast Album Art

2010-09-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of months back I did some album art for my friend Mike Midlo. We worked together on Time Team, but he also runs this awesome, rocking band called "Pancake Breakfast" out of Oregon. The album is called "Fire in the Barn," and Mike asked me to make a painting to go inside the LP and CD of a barn on a hill that had something unearthly going on with it. For inspiration, he sent me the 1937 Disney cartoon, "The Old Mill," which you should look up on youtube if you haven't seen it.
I love working with musicians. They almost always have such different ideas than visual artists, and such good feedback. I had tons of fun working on this piece, too, and I dig the music, so I hope I get to do more projects like.

Here's Pancake Breakfast's website. Check them out.
http://www.pancakebreakfastmusic.com/

I thought I would show some process work on this one, since it was such a good back and forth.

First, I sent Mike and another band member (and the web/album designer), Christa, the following thumbnails. These were all fast, simple color and composition studies to get some broad stroke feedback from them and get a sense of where their minds were going. It also helped me figure out what I wanted to do with the piece.

We took the ones liked best from the thumbnails and I developed them further, testing the waters for what we'd want to push further into the final piece.

From there, we combined elements that we liked as inspiration for the direction of the final, big one (and I do mean big. This went into an LP, so it was a large file).

After looking at it, though, we didn't feel like it was otherwordly enough, so we tilted everything and added a lot more value and strange light. The idea was to make it feel like something ominous and fantastic was on the very verge of breaking loose.

Then, with that settled, it was time to polish it for the final piece. Mike had one last bit of feedback, which was to add the feeling of wind. That's actually very difficult in a still image, but I'm glad he pushed for it. It made the final painting a whole lot better.

And that was how it went.

When he mailed me the finished LP, Mike wrote me a poem about the piece, posted below:

A storm mounts. Bones ache ... Howling souls. The wind heaves a heavy sigh.

¡There's a Fire in the Barn!

And a murder of crows scatter into the watercolor sky.

Thanks for the chance to do this, Mike, and good luck with the album release!

WIP for a friend

2010-09-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

For fun, for a friend.

New landscapes and getting back into things

2010-09-01T05:22:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be doing a show at a very cool wellness and acupuncture studio in Baltimore during the Baltimore book festival, so I'm working on some new pieces for it. It's a small space, so I'm making digital prints instead of oil paintings, and I'm teaching digital illustration at MICA this semester so it's a decent excuse to get some more time in with Photoshop. CS5 is a crazy, new beast, anyway, that's worth getting used to. I'm not certain I agree with some of their changes, but it looks like all the core stuff is intact, if a little hidden.
I've been terribly busy in the last few weeks, and I got engaged, but I'm working on a number of things again and should be posting more. As always, thanks for any feedback.
These are seasonal. I'm nearly done with Summer and Winter here, but Autumn is only half way there. Spring is next, obviously.

Two new oils

2010-07-26T10:32:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted. A lot of the work I've been doing is game work, so I can't show it for awhile, and it's absorbed a lot of my free time. I've been learning a great deal, though.
I have, however, managed to make it to my studio to work a couple of new oil paintings.
These are both very much works in progress.
This one, from this digital sketch:

And this one, from this digital sketch for the "What's Your War" show at the Load of Fun Gallery.

Too much going on in the first one right now, I think.
More to follow, I promise (myself).

That's a guy in a suit, falling underwater.

2010-06-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is a piece for a show I might be jumping in on.
Or it's a piece for a show I missed the deadline on.
Either way, it's a piece.

Lunch painting

2010-06-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

Quick study done over lunch.
I've been thinking about fish a lot lately.

Some recent sketchbook grabs

2010-06-06T21:25:00.001-07:00

Eve finished up.

2010-06-06T18:43:00.001-07:00

This is an oil I just finished up. Now I need to make Adam.

New painting study

2010-05-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

I know, I've still got all of those other pieces to finish!
The last few weeks have just been insane so I've not had many chances to get down to the studio. I'm playing with ideas, instead, like this one.

Here's something I've begun to notice: In my traditional work before now I always painted landscapes or figures. Now, in this new more illustrative work, I paint surreal landscapes or figures. I'm not sure why I didn't catch that before.

Lots to do with this. It has to do with letting go of wonderful things in our past and continuing on.
Or, it's how our dogs are wiser than we are.

Oils WIP

2010-05-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

This is an oil I started this weekend for a group show this summer.

And a better picture of "Elopement" WIP.

WIP for Jess

2010-05-15T13:17:00.001-07:00

I'm having fun with this. It's for my girlfriend, Jess.

Elopement Oil Painting WIP

2010-05-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

Getting some good headway into an oil painting of the Elopement.
This is being painted in my studio at School 33, which I love. I've been too busy to spend all the time there I want, but it's been great. I'll post some more photos of the space soon.
I'm enjoying doing digital sketches that I then take into traditional medium. It allows me the ability to test things out quickly and make drastic changes.
Ultimately, though, I still love oil and watercolor. They have a quality digital can't reach, though it has its own unique characteristics. It's not just the texture quality or anything like that - those things can be simulated, digitally. It's the reality of it, the weight of a canvas, the object made by human hands that you can live with. Traditional media breathes.
I'll post more as it nears the finish.

Some more portrait studies

2010-05-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

Some portrait studies

2010-05-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

I've been doing these about once every couple of days to keep myself busy when I don't have time to plunge myself into one of my larger projects going on right now. Some are of friends, some are just from photos I found and were drawn to. Not all end up great, either, but that's not their point.

Tree WIP

2010-04-22T10:02:00.001-07:00

Not pleased with this one completely. It's an idea for a wedding present for an old friend. It kinda became a mess. I'm moving on, though.

Sketchbook pages

2010-04-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

Haven't had much time for personal work lately, so I've been sketching a lot inbetween work for Big Huge.
Here are some of the better pages.

Time Team Illustrations

2010-03-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

These are getting older but I've never posted them and it's high time.
Time Team America is the PBS show I was the host/narrator for and did illustrations for.
http://www.pbs.org/opb/timeteam/
Basically, the show follows around a team of archaeologists and my job was to ask them questions and draw what life might have been like.
These are a few of the better drawings from that group. Looking now, there's so much I would do to try and improve on, but it was an incredible time of learning. The time working on the first season of Time Team really pushed me to make myself a better artist, so these are important to me. They also remind me of a really amazing experience and some truly wonderful people and places.

Circus update

2010-02-16T20:24:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning to understand this girl's story. I think she ran away to the circus, and this particular circus is very magical, very beautiful, and very, very dangerous. So now she's thinking of running away from the circus. I think it would be fun to explore this story in several more images.
Still much more to do to this, but I'm learning something each time.

More work on Circus piece.

2010-02-16T10:46:00.001-08:00

Some Works in Progress

2010-02-13T23:43:00.000-08:00

The Elopement

2010-02-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to leave this one alone now. I got a lot out of it, though. On to the next thing.

Meeting sketch

2010-02-13T15:16:00.000-08:00

Mock Turtle WIP

2010-02-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

This is a bit older, but I still want to finish it up soon. Too many loose ends on it but I enjoyed it enough to want to get back into it and hammer it out.

The Elopement WIP

2010-02-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

A lot of stuff I still want to do to this, but I learned a lot doing it so far.

For a friend, something silly and fun

2010-01-21T17:08:00.001-08:00

Portrait

2010-01-20T20:37:00.001-08:00

Just for fun, of Jess.

More Digital Pieces

2010-01-13T22:25:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to break myself down and relearn everything. Basics are always good.

Digital Paintings - December/January

2010-01-13T22:18:00.001-08:00

Somedigital pieces I did for Christmas presents. I had fun with them.

Couple of sketches

2009-11-11T13:47:00.000-08:00

Funny Animal Sketches

2009-11-11T13:42:00.000-08:00

Did these for some friends here at work.
Just fun, fast sketches.

Did these for some friends here at work.

More Life Drawings from 2008

2009-10-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

Some Old Life Drawings

2009-10-23T08:28:00.001-07:00

These are from last year, but I dug them up when cleaning out the studio.

Maine Paintings

2009-10-23T07:51:00.001-07:00

Some studies from our trip to Great Spruce Head, Maine. These were quick, small paintings, trying to get a sense of place.

Life Drawing

2008-10-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Did these with a sepia ink and small brush. I enjoyed it - more fluid than pencil, and you have tons of control over line weight and contour. One thing was just a doodle between poses. See if you can figure out which one.

test

2008-09-08T07:31:00.001-07:00

Just trying this out. I'll delete it later.

Colin Campbell Studios

Koala Warrior

Quick post

New plan. Long time away.

Process of Peace

Some sketches

Stasya and the Gryphon - Year 4

Mock Turtle

Circus - Progression

Cirque Final

Some Christmas present painting!

Old paintings of Antarctica

2 WIPS

Sketchbook pages

I like trees lately

Three works in progress

Opening this Saturday

Pancake Breakfast Album Art

A storm mounts. Bones ache ... Howling souls. The wind heaves a heavy sigh.¡There's a Fire in the Barn!And a murder of crows scatter into the watercolor sky.

WIP for a friend

New landscapes and getting back into things

Two new oils

That's a guy in a suit, falling underwater.

Lunch painting

Some recent sketchbook grabs

Eve finished up.

New painting study

Oils WIP

WIP for Jess

Elopement Oil Painting WIP

Some more portrait studies

Some portrait studies

Tree WIP

Sketchbook pages

Time Team Illustrations

Circus update

More work on Circus piece.

Some Works in Progress

The Elopement

Meeting sketch

Mock Turtle WIP

The Elopement WIP

For a friend, something silly and fun

Portrait

More Digital Pieces

Digital Paintings - December/January

Couple of sketches

Funny Animal Sketches

More Life Drawings from 2008

Some Old Life Drawings

Maine Paintings

Life Drawing

test

A storm mounts. Bones ache ... Howling souls. The wind heaves a heavy sigh.

¡There's a Fire in the Barn!

And a murder of crows scatter into the watercolor sky.