Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Sources of learning (online & print)
Here are some of my favorite blogs that have been most useful to me in the work.
Art/illustration related:
Gurney Journey – James Gurney is a well-known illustrator whose blog is rich in fundamental (time-tested) techniques illustrators should be aware of – colour theory, composition, story-telling through illustration, etc.. Even though my workflow has shifted over the years to being entirely digital, it still needs to first be grounded on these foundational skills. There are no computer shortcuts, quick fixes, or instant "art filter plugins" to get around it! The computer is just another tool for the artist (like a brush). Unfortunately many young artists today allow their computer and the software developers to control them and their creative decision making process.
There is so much info here that the blog's content has been conveniently edited into a book, "Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist". For my work, "what doesn't exist" can also refer to recreating through illustrations past historical (Bible) events.
Bible Illustration Blog – Excellent resource for accurately illustrating historical Biblical events and communicating the truths of God's Word visually. Graham Kennedy is one of the few Bible illustrators who invests many hours of detailed research to make sure every part of his illustrations are historically accurate to the Biblical accounts and clearly communicate the Truths of Scriptures. I highly recommend this blog to anyone involved in creating or even just using Bible illustrations in their ministry.
One nice surprise I discovered on an art blog last week was the complete "Famous Artist Course" 24 part series (1960 edition) available for free download online. This course was created around 50 years ago by a group of top illustrators from America's Golden Age of illustration (Norman Rockwell, etc.) and is considered a classic by artists today. It's been out of print for many years but you can find old copies on eBay for around $250, so you can imagine the joy of seeing it available for free online.
Photography plays a role in ministry and is a vital part of my illustration workflow. Here are several Photography blogs that I follow.
Strobist – One of the most popular photography blogs on the Internet, focusing on off-camera flash (strobe) photography. Photography is more about the use of "light" than the type of camera you use. For first time visitors I recommend beginning with the Lighting 101 section of the blog.
Pixelated Image – David duChemin is a humanitarian photographer and a best selling-author. His blog can be summed up in the phrase, "Gear is good, Vision is better".
He has several eBooks I can recommend and has written several excellent print books.
The book, Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision is the best photography book I've ever read. I didn't need to bookmark my pages – I just picked up reading where the highlighter marks and underlining stopped! This is a must-read for anyone interacting photographically with other cultures or using photography in your ministry. Doesn't matter if you are using a point-n-shoot or cell-phone camera. This is practical "how-to" and touches on the real issues that make a powerful photograph and communicates your initial vision – one of the few things that todays high tech cameras can't do for you. ;-)
There are many other blogs such as smashingmagazine.com (graphic & web design), Scott Kelby (the Photoshop guy), etc. These are just a sampling of the 50+ blogs from my list.
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Tuesday, January 05, 2010
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Project: Other Projects, Training
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Chiaroscuro, low-key painting (study)
Chiaroscuro - (Italian) light - dark.
An art term used to describe the contrast between light and dark.
I was looking through artwork from several great classic masters like Caravaggio, Velazquez, Vermeer, Rembrandt, etc. I love how they use simple lighting setups to create volume, contrast, composition. For CEF lesson illustrations, I sometimes use black outlines to create separation for children to clearly see the Bible characters from a distance ... but I prefer to use adjacent light/dark shapes (and colour) to create the separation. [interesting how often my characters just happened to be framed by a window or doorway. :-) ]
I was taking more reference photos this past week for a CEF promotional (Kids Packet). A single diffused light source was used for the photos. I was drawn to this particular photo with how the face was framed by the dark hair and winter coat.
This evening I made a digital oil painting study (practice), creating a low-key painting and incorporating strong contrast in areas, placing light/dark values against each other to create separation, shape/form, all to lead the eye. It was a good learning exercise for me.
Hope you enjoy the painting.
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
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Project: Other Projects
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Photo resources
There is a constant need for photos in our work. Having access to the right (quality) photos to effectively communicate the message is one of the biggest challenges we face in designing materials.
We have several options for getting photos. There are online stock libraries which work in some instances but do not represent specific CEF ministries. For CEF ministries in action we regularly request photos from our workers across Europe ... and then wait. There are other times when photos are needed for a project requiring a certain lighting, setup, positioning, image quality, etc..
Here are some photos I took this past week of our European Director's grandchildren visiting from France. They were great models. While setting up the lights in their apartment I was reminded of what one photographer said, "Good portraits are 10% photography and 90% moving furniture!".
These photos will be part of a short 3-5 min. video I'm preparing that will be shown in churches across Europe and made available in many languages. I was able to control the lighting and get the consistent results needed between all the photos in the project. Photos like this can be used again for future literature projects.
Technical notes: I imported the photos into Adobe Bridge, edit them in Camera RAW, then opened in Photoshop to mask the subject from the background (creates a transparent background around subject). This allows me to place the subject as a floating object against any background.
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Thursday, November 05, 2009
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Project: Other Projects
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Children's Ministry Leadership Course
The Autumn course has 18 students taking the classes in German and 12 students taking the classes in English.
It can be a challenge waiting for a good photo day. This afternoon, I quickly snapped photos of each class ... in between the big gusts of wind, blowing leaves and hair. You'll notice I asked someone to hold down the flash and umbrella stand from flying away. The rain came as soon as we finished. That's Swiss weather!
Photographer tech notes: I used the flash (manual setting) to help warm up the shadows on the faces and fill in around the eyes. The flash helped to counter the cool overcast day and surrounding green reflecting onto their faces. Because I used a single umbrella for a group shot, I had the umbrella center pointing toward the far end of the group, feathering the light across those nearest the umbrella and giving an even coverage of light across the entire group.
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Tuesday, October 06, 2009
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Project: Kilchzimmer news
Monday, August 3, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (cover)
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Monday, August 03, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Friday, July 31, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (5-4)
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Friday, July 31, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (5-1)
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This was one of the more challenging lesson texts to visualize from the series.
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (5-3)
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This is an application picture following the story of the disciples witnessing to the crowd after Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit gave them power to tell others about the Lord Jesus (Acts).
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (4-6)
This may seem like an odd picture to be part of the Meet the Author series. You may recognize this scene from a familiar story.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (3-3)
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Excerpt from accompanying lesson text:
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Wednesday, July 22, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (3-2)
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Excerpt from accompanying lesson text:
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Tuesday, July 21, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Friday, July 17, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (5-5)
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Friday, July 17, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (5-6)
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (4-7)

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This is the last picture of lesson four which concludes with questions to review what was taught about the Holy Spirit.
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Thursday, July 02, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (4-1)

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Illustration for Meet the Author, a 5-part Bible lesson series on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.
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Tuesday, June 30, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Friday, June 26, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (4-4)

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Another illustration finished today for Meet the Author, a 5-part Bible lesson series on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit.
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Friday, June 26, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (4-5)

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Application picture for Meet the Author Bible lesson series.
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Thursday, June 25, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (4-3)

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Application picture for Meet the Author Bible lesson series.
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Meet the Author – lesson series (4-2)

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Application picture from lesson 4 – The Holy Spirit, the believer's Companion.
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Saturday, June 20, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
illustration stages (father/son)

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The stages to completing the father/son illustration:
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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Project: Meet the Author series








