Page Created: 11/22/20. Last Updated: 03/27/21.
CHRIS MCGRATH
Chris McGrath Website: https://www.christianmcgrath.com/
Meeting Date: February 13, 2021.
Meeting Site: Zoom Video Conference.
Attendance: 35.
Meeting Program: Talk / Q & A with SF / Fantasy Artist.
Notes:
The meeting featured the return of long-absent former members Allison Leibowitz, Eileen Madison, and Mary Nash.
The post-meeting Virtual Diner Run was lively and included chat about THE MUMMY RETURNS, television series in which attendee Mary Nash has done background detail (BOJACK HORSEMAN, STEVEN UNIVERSE), The Rutles, 3-D Printing, Mathematics & Penmanship, being a security guard for the American Museum of Natural History, and a documentary on the SFX of AQUAMAN.
Links Computer Programs Mentioned:
Keyshot - https://www.keyshot.com/
Marvelous Designer - https://www.marvelousdesigner.com/
OctaneRender - https://home.otoy.com/render/octane-render/
ZBrush by Pixologic - https://pixologic.com/
Other Links:
Blue Sky Studios - http://blueskystudios.com/
Craig Mullins is considered the father of digital art - http://www.goodbrush.com/
Ben Mauro is a notable concept artist -- https://benmaurodesign.com/
Art Station is a hub for concept art. -- https://www.artstation.com/?sort_by=community
Talked about the emergence of crypto art -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_art
Newsletter Account:
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2021 Philip J De Parto:
The Saturday, February 13, 2021 General Meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held via zoom video conference. Artist Chris McGrath was our speaker.
Our guest saw a piece of art by Frank Frazetta when he was ten years old and immediately knew that was what he wanted to do with his life. He attended the School of Visual Arts where he now teaches ("teaching art online is difficult"). His preferred medium was oil paint, as acrylics dry too fast and oil paintings look better and give the artist the flexibility to blend and manipulate the paint longer. Te downside was that Chris is a slow worker with oils. He transitioned to computer art, completing the switch over in 2002.
Mr McGrath's portfolio was not complete when he graduated ("don't skimp on your portfolio,do it right"), so he gave guitar lessons and did anatomical drawings for a doctor ("hated it") to make ends meet. He lived the life of a starving artist for four years.
Dorian Vallejo, son of artist Boris and author Doris Vallejo, helped our speaker with is first major break, a non-genre piece at Penguin. His initial work was from Doubleday for a BABYLON 5 cover. He landed an art agent and had 6 assignments the next year and a dozen the year after that.
The big break came in 2004 when Mr McGrath was assigned a Jim Butcher Dresden Files cover. The series had been steadily building sales, but a combination of factors, including the cover, catapulted the book to bestseller status. Harry Dresden does not wear a hat in the series, but the art director told Chris to paint one fore the cover and it has been part of the Dresden cover look since then .
Assignments came flooding in. Our speaker was in the poverty-days mind set and said yes to every offer, leading him to schedule 5 - 7 covers per month. This was twice what he could handle with out stressing and he learned how to say, no.
Chris McGrath currently uses two computers and a tablet. He started out using a Mac, but switched over to PCs because they are cheaper, He has gotten to enjoy drawing on his tablet.
Our guest said that as one becomes more practiced in his illustration, the painting becomes quicker because you have the technique down pat, but the preparation takes longer because you are looking for new ideas to avoid repeating yourself.
When asked about what genre works he liked, our speaker cited books DUNE by Frank Herbert and HYPERION by Dan Simmons; movies STAR WARS and BLADE RUNNER; artists Frank Frazetta, Michael Whelan, and the Old Masters. The DUNE movie holds a special place in his heart as the Best Worst Movie Ever. Illustrating Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone books is the dream job that never quite happened.
Chris has done romance and mystery book covers in addition to science fiction / fantasy. He is currently working on a series of westerns.
Additional information appears at sfabc.org on the 2021 - 02.2021 Meeting page. Our thanks to Chris, to Carol Gyzander, to Claire Fisher, and all who helped.
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Additional random notes (not in newsletter).
A highlight of our speaker's presentation was a time lapse of book cover painting creation.
The pieces of his own work that Chris enjoys most are the pieces no one else likes.
Unlike some artists, our speaker is really not into selling prints. He sells 10 - 12 prints a year.
He showed some pen and ink drawings. Sometimes he'll and image on his site and someone else will offer to use it for a collection.
Art Directors are pretty hands-off today: "Just put the main characters on the street."
Our guest talked about concept art. Most students want to do concept art. 3D is a necessity.
Surround yourself with people who are better than you. That's how you get better.
Covers and interior paper used by Amazon is not as good as the major publishers.
2014 Marked a major stylistic shift in book covers to graphic design.
Phil Hill was the most copied style for a while.
Early self-pubbers blanched when he quoted prices. But books are doing better and authors are willing to spend more money. The more figures you want on a cover, the more money he charges.