Sunday

Design, Illustration & the Making of Fantasy

Every day I teach creativity. And every day I assure students that every aspect of what they learn, whether it is theory of design, art history, typography, or proper ways to do thumbnail sketches, storyboards and applications in software, can be utilized in a wide variety of careers.

When I was their age I wanted to be a photojournalist and travel the world for great magazines like National Geographic, The Smithsonian, or Life. Before that I wanted to be a naturalist and go about through jungles and arctic regions studying and illustrating flora and fauna in great sketch books which would be coveted by all the museums of the world.

Now, I teach my students to have faith and believe in their dreams and to learn everything, absolutely everything, they can about art and the importance of craftsmanship. I teach them traditional tools and methods as well as new digital technologies for creating their concepts.

Did I get to travel the world? Did I ever illustrate those unique insects or that perfect blossom? Well, I have illustrated insects and blossoms, but like Dorothy I did it all in my own backyard. But you know what? I'm still dreaming about it.

In the meantime, this video shows how important our creative fields are, not only to entertainment, but to help us connect with one another, to creatively problem solve and work collaboratively as a team.

Oh! and any film makers out there who are looking for a hardworking artist with wanderlust - you can contact me here.

Be Happy and Always Be Creative!



2 comments:

Maggi said...

What a great thing to teach your students! I wish I had had a teacher like you when I was their age! lol

I remember watching the behind the scenes for the LOTR movies and was amazed at the amount of creativity they used in making the props and costumes. Epic!

Sandra Van Winkle said...

Don't you just love LOTR? I wish I could have worked on those movies...sigh...maybe the next ones :) Thanks for reading.