Showing posts with label kim herbst. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kim herbst. Show all posts
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Horror Film Concepts
New work for a client that's pitching a horror film. Hopefully got the scary-enough part going on. Very fun to work on. Also - horror film concept art for the characters:
Friday, May 29, 2015
KARMIN!
I had the VERY lucky opportunity to create some Tour Graphics for the band, Karmin, as well as illustrations for their upcoming album, Leo Rising! Huge thank you to a fan who caught a shot of Karmin on stage with my artwork from the other night :) you can follow her on twitter @anjelaeileen or @maulinvora on Instagram.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Society 6 Sale! TODAY!
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Illustration Career - Answers for Students
Some old, published work of mine above.
I had a student recently contact me with some Illustration Career related questions. I gave ungodly ridiculously long-winded answers. Maybe this will help someone else out there wanting to go into a drawing-related career.
Note: I work full-time for a video game company but I also freelance on the side for published works. I DID do freelance full-time for some gaps in my career though.
How did you get involved in illustration and what school did you go to become a professional illustrator? How did you prepare to get there? And what degrees do you hold?
I first became interested in illustration when I was in High School. I never stopped drawing from childhood, and when I realized I could make a career out of drawing (like being an animator for Disney!) I decided to work hard and take the art classes available in my public High School. I built a portfolio in those classes, drawing from life, learning basics for color and painting, as well as Art History. I went to Portfolio Review Days that are held at various colleges, such as University of the Arts in Philadelphia. It’s a gathering of art college representatives and a good opportunity for students to show their work and see what areas they need to improve. I remember standing in incredibly long lines with a giant portfolio case, with absolute fear at what the reviewers would tell me. I found MICA (the Maryland Institute College of Art) one of the most challenging reviews and loved their curriculum of 6 hour long studio classes. I applied and attended MICA in Baltimore, Maryland and majored in Illustration there. 4 years later, I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts for Illustration. After college was a bit of a struggle. I still had not found my own individual voice in my own illustrations but continued to work hard to make a career for myself. I took on a few art-related jobs but they were never really the right place. It took a bit longer than I wanted but was very much worth it! My goal was always to have a job where I had the opportunity to draw all day everyday. I do just that!
What media do you enjoy most? What are the sources you get expressions or ideas from?
When I was in college, I loved watercolors and ink but I was awful with them! A professor suggested I scan my ink line art and color it in digitally. I was very bad at learning Photoshop (younger artists learn this in elementary school now!!) but I was much happier with my results so I started creating everything digital. I now draw and color everything in Photoshop but always make sure it looks a bit like paint. I think things look too stark and fake when you can tell it was completely done digitally, but that’s my opinion. I am incredibly inspired by traditional Asian artwork and inks from Western-style comic books. My sources come a lot from everything around me, and I always sit and think about expressions for a very long time. I always think of human beings, their interactions with one another, their emotions, and how they react to certain things. It’s always interesting!
What do you enjoy about working as an illustrator and what are the challenges that follow?
I love the freedom of being able to draw, and to solve problems from limitations. Figuring out something insightful or witty for a complicated subject, or trying to draw a lot of information into a tiny icon. When people feel something from my work, if they are moved or sense an emotion from it, it’s incredibly exciting for me. It’s like having others visit my world and I don’t feel alone. I get to use my hard-earned work to make a living doing something that I absolutely love. The greatest challenge, that many illustrators will probably agree with, is finding balance, by loving and hating yourself at the same time. What I mean is, an illustrator’s self esteem is complicated - you must think highly enough of yourself to want to continue drawing, but also dislike your work enough to constantly want to improve and better yourself.
How did you get your job and how much are you paid? Is it per piece or per time that you get paid based on?
My current job is the Lead Artist of a mobile games studio, JuiceBox Games Inc, in San Francisco, CA. I was asked by the Creative Director, whom I’d worked with before at another game company, to help start up the company as a contract artist. Before JuiceBox Games, I worked for a few other game companies over the course of 4-5 years, gaining a lot experience. My current job is salary-based and I am paid within an industry standard for Lead video game artists based on the city I live in. I do freelance illustration on the side of this job as well. I usually receive an email from a potential client like a magazine or children’s publisher who asks if I am available, a budget for the piece, a deadline, and the description of the illustration needed. I then sign a contract for the artwork needed, and go back and forth drawing for the client. I hand off the illustration, usually via email, and then I am paid afterward.
What is life as an illustrator like in a daily basis?
When I did freelance full-time, a lot of my day was sending out emails and postcards to art directors in hopes that they saw my work. I would research names of people at publishers for magazines, or textbooks, or companies for a lot of the day. If they liked my work, then they would contact me to draw for them. If I get an email, I will begin thinking out lots of ideas and doing a lot of research on the internet for the illustration. A lot of my illustrations have been for history, so I love reading about the topic the illustration should be about. If it’s for current events, I look up recent news articles. I would stay up late drawing because there were less distractions - no friends were online to talk to, and no noise from outside because everyone was asleep. It became a bad habit! In the past few years, I couldn’t handle the stress of whether I would get another client or not, so I went into video games because the pay was more stable. I think this is a per-person basis, some of my friends can handle full-time illustration very well, and I think that’s great! I personally like to do it on the side these days!
What pieces of art works are the ones you feel best about and what were the processes to make those pieces? How did you get your motivation for those pieces?
Some of my favorite pieces involve lots of origami or anything meticulous. It’s nostalgia for me because my mother would fold lots of paper cranes and other animals out of paper. My process is to sort of channel my own current feelings into a piece. What sort of emotion do I want to convey? I start with a bunch of thumbnail sketches, and find a proper composition that seems to work best for me and what I want others to see and feel in the piece. I then sketch out as close to what is in my mind but it never turns out to be close to what is in my head! I’ve just learned to accept that as part of my process. I lay out flat colors to get a sense of atmosphere and then put in the rest of the details after I feel strongly about the color tones. I get a ton of motivation from friends and those around me. I follow a lot of people on Tumblr, and my Facebook feed is constantly streaming posts of the work from my colleagues and friends. This sometimes can work against me, where I start to feel overwhelmingly pressured. You have to realize you should not get distracted by the cumulative work of everyone around you, it’s another form of balance illustrators have to find.
And is there any advice you would give for studying illustration or working as an illustrator?
Draw. Draw everyday and don’t stop. Don’t get caught up in the details of a sketch too early on. Don’t think you’ll never be able to draw a face or a hand better than you drew by just accepting it. It’s what erasers are for! The more you draw and observe things around you, the more you can improve. Don’t try to ‘find a style’ early on. It’ll come naturally on its own, whether you want it to or not. Also, you don’t have to listen to *every* critique that is pushed onto you, however, if maybe five or more people are all saying the same thing about your work, maybe it’s time to listen to what they say and change what you are doing.
Hope this helps some people out there!
I first became interested in illustration when I was in High School. I never stopped drawing from childhood, and when I realized I could make a career out of drawing (like being an animator for Disney!) I decided to work hard and take the art classes available in my public High School. I built a portfolio in those classes, drawing from life, learning basics for color and painting, as well as Art History. I went to Portfolio Review Days that are held at various colleges, such as University of the Arts in Philadelphia. It’s a gathering of art college representatives and a good opportunity for students to show their work and see what areas they need to improve. I remember standing in incredibly long lines with a giant portfolio case, with absolute fear at what the reviewers would tell me. I found MICA (the Maryland Institute College of Art) one of the most challenging reviews and loved their curriculum of 6 hour long studio classes. I applied and attended MICA in Baltimore, Maryland and majored in Illustration there. 4 years later, I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts for Illustration. After college was a bit of a struggle. I still had not found my own individual voice in my own illustrations but continued to work hard to make a career for myself. I took on a few art-related jobs but they were never really the right place. It took a bit longer than I wanted but was very much worth it! My goal was always to have a job where I had the opportunity to draw all day everyday. I do just that!
What media do you enjoy most? What are the sources you get expressions or ideas from?
When I was in college, I loved watercolors and ink but I was awful with them! A professor suggested I scan my ink line art and color it in digitally. I was very bad at learning Photoshop (younger artists learn this in elementary school now!!) but I was much happier with my results so I started creating everything digital. I now draw and color everything in Photoshop but always make sure it looks a bit like paint. I think things look too stark and fake when you can tell it was completely done digitally, but that’s my opinion. I am incredibly inspired by traditional Asian artwork and inks from Western-style comic books. My sources come a lot from everything around me, and I always sit and think about expressions for a very long time. I always think of human beings, their interactions with one another, their emotions, and how they react to certain things. It’s always interesting!
What do you enjoy about working as an illustrator and what are the challenges that follow?
I love the freedom of being able to draw, and to solve problems from limitations. Figuring out something insightful or witty for a complicated subject, or trying to draw a lot of information into a tiny icon. When people feel something from my work, if they are moved or sense an emotion from it, it’s incredibly exciting for me. It’s like having others visit my world and I don’t feel alone. I get to use my hard-earned work to make a living doing something that I absolutely love. The greatest challenge, that many illustrators will probably agree with, is finding balance, by loving and hating yourself at the same time. What I mean is, an illustrator’s self esteem is complicated - you must think highly enough of yourself to want to continue drawing, but also dislike your work enough to constantly want to improve and better yourself.
How did you get your job and how much are you paid? Is it per piece or per time that you get paid based on?
My current job is the Lead Artist of a mobile games studio, JuiceBox Games Inc, in San Francisco, CA. I was asked by the Creative Director, whom I’d worked with before at another game company, to help start up the company as a contract artist. Before JuiceBox Games, I worked for a few other game companies over the course of 4-5 years, gaining a lot experience. My current job is salary-based and I am paid within an industry standard for Lead video game artists based on the city I live in. I do freelance illustration on the side of this job as well. I usually receive an email from a potential client like a magazine or children’s publisher who asks if I am available, a budget for the piece, a deadline, and the description of the illustration needed. I then sign a contract for the artwork needed, and go back and forth drawing for the client. I hand off the illustration, usually via email, and then I am paid afterward.
What is life as an illustrator like in a daily basis?
When I did freelance full-time, a lot of my day was sending out emails and postcards to art directors in hopes that they saw my work. I would research names of people at publishers for magazines, or textbooks, or companies for a lot of the day. If they liked my work, then they would contact me to draw for them. If I get an email, I will begin thinking out lots of ideas and doing a lot of research on the internet for the illustration. A lot of my illustrations have been for history, so I love reading about the topic the illustration should be about. If it’s for current events, I look up recent news articles. I would stay up late drawing because there were less distractions - no friends were online to talk to, and no noise from outside because everyone was asleep. It became a bad habit! In the past few years, I couldn’t handle the stress of whether I would get another client or not, so I went into video games because the pay was more stable. I think this is a per-person basis, some of my friends can handle full-time illustration very well, and I think that’s great! I personally like to do it on the side these days!
What pieces of art works are the ones you feel best about and what were the processes to make those pieces? How did you get your motivation for those pieces?
Some of my favorite pieces involve lots of origami or anything meticulous. It’s nostalgia for me because my mother would fold lots of paper cranes and other animals out of paper. My process is to sort of channel my own current feelings into a piece. What sort of emotion do I want to convey? I start with a bunch of thumbnail sketches, and find a proper composition that seems to work best for me and what I want others to see and feel in the piece. I then sketch out as close to what is in my mind but it never turns out to be close to what is in my head! I’ve just learned to accept that as part of my process. I lay out flat colors to get a sense of atmosphere and then put in the rest of the details after I feel strongly about the color tones. I get a ton of motivation from friends and those around me. I follow a lot of people on Tumblr, and my Facebook feed is constantly streaming posts of the work from my colleagues and friends. This sometimes can work against me, where I start to feel overwhelmingly pressured. You have to realize you should not get distracted by the cumulative work of everyone around you, it’s another form of balance illustrators have to find.
And is there any advice you would give for studying illustration or working as an illustrator?
Draw. Draw everyday and don’t stop. Don’t get caught up in the details of a sketch too early on. Don’t think you’ll never be able to draw a face or a hand better than you drew by just accepting it. It’s what erasers are for! The more you draw and observe things around you, the more you can improve. Don’t try to ‘find a style’ early on. It’ll come naturally on its own, whether you want it to or not. Also, you don’t have to listen to *every* critique that is pushed onto you, however, if maybe five or more people are all saying the same thing about your work, maybe it’s time to listen to what they say and change what you are doing.
Hope this helps some people out there!
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Pied Piper
Last thing I’ll post before the holidays and going to visit family back on the East Coast! This illustration’s for an upcoming Gallery 1988 show based on Fairy Tales after the New Year. I chose to do a version of ‘The Pied Piper’ because, hey, you should always pay the piper (or artist, artisan, etc etc!). This will be a Limited Edition set of 50 signed and numbered prints available at Gallery 1988!
I’ll post process and sketches later :)
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Batman Brush Pen
I really hate using brush pens so I may as well try practicing with them more often. What started off as moody lady doodles turned into Batman villains because I'd recently finished playing Batman: Arkham Asylum, as well as having BatKid save Gotham City (San Francisco) yesterday!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Illustration Friday! topic: Creature
Been quiet around here for awhile, so I worked on this in my free hours over the last two days. Here's a creepy illustration for Halloween week, if you're not fed up with Halloween-related things yet. This week's topic at Illustration Friday! was Creature so there you have it.
Is it really a creature, or did you forget to knock on a teenager's bedroom door before entering?
Friday, April 12, 2013
Shadow of the Colossus
This was a doodle that went a bit further and became mostly an illustration. I never actually played the game. I sat and watched my boyfriend play it while I was working on various other jobs and sketching. So technically I played through but my boyfriend was my hands on the controls. Let me tell you, I felt so bad for the kid, Wander. Because the absolute SCALE of that game... makes the player so diminutive compared to these hulking silhouettes that fill up the entire landscape.
Detail shot of Wander:
There's something about silent heroes in video games that makes them so incredibly compelling. They go forth and get the job done, to protect the world or a loved one. ...Even if there's an incredibly steep price to pay.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Link vs. Dark Link
Just a little doodle from last night. Maybe I'll get time to complete it one day?
I grew up with just an NES that belonged to my older brother. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was the 2nd Zelda game, and a side-scroller. Apparently not many people like it compared to any other Zelda game. That’s fine, but hey, I liked it. It’s the first appearance of Link’s shadowy counterpart. As a really little kid, I thought this was an incredible thing! I thought WOW, plot twist. You went through all of this fighting, this silent warrior who needs to save the world, and you now have to take on YOURSELF. Are you good enough to fight a mirror version of yourself?! HE KNOWS ALL YOUR MOVES. AHHH!
As an adult that’s made art and animations for games, a second thought has occurred to me: HOW BRILLIANT! This character has all of the same animations as the Player, LOOK AT HOW MUCH TIME IS SAVED. …Sad. I know.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Society 6 - Free shipping!
Until Midnight - PST March 17th! Get free shipping on all of my Society 6 prints by clicking that image or clicking here!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Nancy Drew plus Tumblr/Twitter Links
New illustration I just finished that will be featured in Gallery 1988, partnered with Hello Giggles,
one of the websites/projects with Zooey Deschanel. The artwork could
only consist of females from old school young-adult literature (Nancy
Drew, Sweet Valley High, Babysitter’s Club).
Honestly, I never read any of these growing up; I wasn’t interested in finding female role models in any of those books. I was more into the sci-fi and fantasy genres, and reading Nancy Drew these last few weeks for research was a bit of a struggle. The reading was easy of course, it was the fact that it was such a product of its time! And she’s so unbelievable without any faults whatsoever!
Honestly, I never read any of these growing up; I wasn’t interested in finding female role models in any of those books. I was more into the sci-fi and fantasy genres, and reading Nancy Drew these last few weeks for research was a bit of a struggle. The reading was easy of course, it was the fact that it was such a product of its time! And she’s so unbelievable without any faults whatsoever!
On another note, I feel like I might be posting less and less to this blog; mainly because it feels like a ghost-town?
In hopes of keeping up with general social media, it seems blogger has a bit of a setback on social sharing. If you're interested in following me elsewhere, here are a few places:
Kim Herbst Illustrations on Facebook
Kim Herbst's Illustrations on Twitter
and now Kim Herbst Illustrations on Tumblr
thanks for following and checking out my work!
In hopes of keeping up with general social media, it seems blogger has a bit of a setback on social sharing. If you're interested in following me elsewhere, here are a few places:
Kim Herbst Illustrations on Facebook
Kim Herbst's Illustrations on Twitter
and now Kim Herbst Illustrations on Tumblr
thanks for following and checking out my work!
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
MOAR Hunger Games - Katniss vs. Clove
I LIED. I’m staying awake until it’s time for me to go to the airport. Basically pulling an all-nighter to equip myself to Germany-time and ensure I pass out on the plane. SO MORE HUNGER GAMES SKETCHES IN THE MEANTIME. Here’s Katniss vs. Clove!
Monday, December 17, 2012
More Hunger Games!
Okay, last sketch before I get onto a plane tomorrow morning and sit immobile for 15 hours. Here's Katniss towards the END of the first book, along with a uniform design, standing next to the most badass cake decorator ever, Peeta.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Sketch Drop
Dropping in some sketches from the plane ride/airport. I plan to redo my Scissors Cuts Paper illustration into a v2.0 now that I have more time and have developed the Scissors girl a whole lot more. And Rock Crushes Scissors is here as well!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Operation: Replace Portfolio
Yes, Operation: Replace Portfolio is now in effect. This mission is just about exactly as it sounds. I will begin to replace the very old illustrations on my site with new ones like this:
I guess it can stay as 'Kite River' for now. It should truthfully be entitled "NJ Transit," because the landscape right outside of NYC looks like that. Finally finished!
Honestly, I don't think I could ever be one of those digital painters who do 'speed paintings.' While this illustration went a lot faster than other digital ones I've tried in the past, it's going to be a LONG while before I feel comfortable enough to crank out a just-as-detailed piece in 30 minutes or less.
I guess it can stay as 'Kite River' for now. It should truthfully be entitled "NJ Transit," because the landscape right outside of NYC looks like that. Finally finished!
Honestly, I don't think I could ever be one of those digital painters who do 'speed paintings.' While this illustration went a lot faster than other digital ones I've tried in the past, it's going to be a LONG while before I feel comfortable enough to crank out a just-as-detailed piece in 30 minutes or less.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Cover
...This is extremely out of my comfort zone though it feels new and exciting. But I think it works. On numerous occasions, Randy and I have scoured through NYC's comic book stores. We discovered we became disappointed when a comic has this truly amazing cover on it and the inside artwork is either done by a different artist that doesn't hold up to the cover artwork, or the interior is black and white while the cover has amazingly vibrant colors. It's true, it really is hard not just judge comics by their covers when it's supposed to be the thing that catches your eye while it's sitting on a rack.
I suppose I wanted to do a sort of opposite effect for the cover. Not fully colored cover with a fully colored interior. Maybe it'll be my downfall!
Did I mention the title changed? 'The Promise' kept reminding me of the asian film by the same name. I just didn't feel right if I kept it. I guess this has a more playful childhood feeling. Less ominous.
This image is sized for printing when I do the 8.5x11 folded paper bit, saddle-stitched with staples over the next week.
In other news, Society of Illustrators West 46 is finally up! You can check out my piece in there along with everyone else that's in it!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Mission...COMPLETE.
All that's left is the cover. ...And a title. Which I know will change in my head before I get it down on paper. Again. ...If only I could make up my mind. Here's pages 18 and what could be considered a back page, or simply a page 19.Hope you enjoyed this strange 'lil story.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
3-day weekend
Granted I was away for half of it. Here's what I got done in the second half.
Page 17. One page to go, plus a closing page, and something I'm still tinkering around in my head for... a cover... ayaah. So close, so close...
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Frenzy
Yes, yes, that's the perfect word. It is officially July and I need to finish this comic, plus put together a new postcard for San Diego. ...Cutting it close, much??
Page 16!
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