Today, Pierre maintains a tumblr blog documenting his current illustrative projects, which generally deal with character and narrative. As well as sustaining self-initiated projects, Pierre continues to work as a visual development artist with District Digital.
Pierre's prose often slips between French to English as he is fluent in both, it remains quite informal as he frequently makes use of smilies and internet slang. Beyond the creation of development imagery in studios, Pierre sells books, prints and even examples of his life-drawing through his website. The books generally involve varied fantastical locations and characters.
Pierre has not abandoned the use of the sketchbook, as it is common for many digital artists to. Rather, he often posts images of the sketchbook and it's role in the developmental process.
Ian is the lead concept artist/director at Rockstar North. His interests in design initially spawned having viewed the works of Ralph McQuarrie as a child. Living in the North East, exposed him to the sights associated with dry-docks; large, hulking, rusty masses of ships and nautical equipment. This has seemingly informed his aesthetic as many of his drawings feature great rusty floating sky ships. Ian frequently collaborates with other practitioners and has produced several volumes that bestow digital painting methodologies.
Ian endeavours to carry a sketchbook or iPad everywhere, producing fantastical non-literal studies of buildings and people.
Ians' blogger and twitter accounts are quite informal, sharing his frequent doodles, sketches and inevitable cat pictures.
Gerhard currently works at an animation studio in Cape Town, producing work for television and advertising. Rather than having a studio, Gerhard works where-ever he can find the space. Similar to many of the illustrators I follow closely, Gerhards' heroes include Moebius and Miyazaki. Outside the long hours of the studio he produces designs which he sells as prints through his website.
Much as the other illustrators I have chosen, the illustrations are rarely sequential; narrative is implicitly delivered through composition, colour and tone.
I often prefer illustration that communicates narrative subtly, rather than simply stating relaying a series of pseudo-animated events. That is not to say I find linear sequential imagery less valuable, I simply enjoy allowing the audience to infer their own narrative.
Hannah is a freelance illustrator, heavily influenced by the visual language of popular culture. Rather than simply regurgitating this influence, she has established a unique aesthetic and produced original comics. To me, she represents a peer practitioner rather than the artist I wish to become in future; which is meant as no particular insult. Hannah works primarily online, and frequently responds to fan mail. Her documentation prose is again informal, although I would suggest this improves her approachability to peers and is appropriate in regards to her overall visual tone. Hannah appears to appear at various conventions across the globe in order to sell her comics. I would suggest that illustration is not her primary source of income as she seems complacent in regards to her self-proclaimed inability to sell herself. I would suggest that a broader presence across sites other than tumblr would go some way to establish her presence.
Sam's clients have included The New Yorker, Cartoon Network and MTV. Sam produces comics, books and illustration for a variety of contexts, all of which are connect by a focus of character, narrative and environment. Sam habitually makes use of sketchbooks in order to refine process and to address visual problems. The website is highly formal, reflecting the established professionalism. Conversely, the blog is more informal, thus encouraging communication from fans and customers. The store is somewhat limited, as Sam appears to prioritise work for clients, rather than producing prints for enthusiasts.
Generally, the illustrators I have selected deal with large amounts of line-based technical detail paired with digital colouration. This process reflects my own, I find the synthesis between the immediacy of line and the slow consideration of colour... complimentary.
In terms of profession, I find I aspire toward a relatively fixed income position, such as concept artist or visual developer, whilst simultaneously sustaining a freelance portion of practice.
I find this latter part important, as I would suggest that producing entirely internal work for a corporation would somewhat stifle the intangible creative process. By addressing a consumer or fan base, or participating in competitions, one is made aware of the contemporary and is therefore forced to up one's game.
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