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| All images have been
used with permission. All images are copyrighted
and strictly for educational and viewing purposes. |
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Cohabitation |
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Tell us a little
bit about your background? Where are you from originally?
I'm originally from Upstate New York; Syracuse to
be exact. My family moved to Southern Connecticut
when I was eight years old and I lived there until
two years ago when I relocated to Maitland, Florida,
to work at one of Electronic Arts studios as, first,
a Concept Artist and now an Art Director. |
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Enchanted Evening |
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Who were your
main influences growing up?
There are quite a few influences I've drawn from
that ultimately inspired me to become an artist.
In the early days I enjoyed drawing and painting
many of the characters and scenes from my favorite
books like "The Chronicles of Narnia"
series and "The Lord of the Rings" series.
I loved to read when I was a kid and would go through
as many "fantasy" type books I could get
my hands on. Eventually this led to my writing and
illustrating my own stories and, for a time, I actually
considered being a writer over the path of artist.
Eventually I won a few awards for both my writing
and paintings, but it was the art that always kept
my interest longer.
During elementary school, while I was doing all
that reading and fantasy painting/writing, I also
became interested in landscape and wildlife paintings.
I loved the Hudson River School painters and would
try and recreate that look with acrylics and watercolors.
At the time, Robert
Bateman, the well known wildlife painter, was
really coming into prominence and so I would try
and reproduce the beautiful painterly effect he
achieves in his paintings.
By the time I was in high school the fantasy stuff
was back in full swing and I was incredibly inspired
by fantasy illustrators like Michael
Whelan. I love the way he does fantasy without
it looking cheesy, and there is always a sense of
symbolism in his work that sets it apart form a
lot of the other fantasy illustrators out there.
I also started exploring some of the Masters like
Rembrandt as well as the surreal work of artists
like Dalí.
Once I attended College at Paier
College of Art, a small school in New Haven,
Connecticut, my eyes really began to open. There
was this whole other illustration culture that I
really didn't know anything about. Sure, I knew
a few illustrators names here and there but I had
no idea how much history there was in American Illustration.
I began pilling through all of the "Society
of Illustrators" annuals I could find. There
was a wealth of inspiration in those books and it
was then I made up my mind to make sure I was included
in that history once I graduated and became a professional
artist. |
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Dream Coat |
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How do you think
your illustration/painting style developed?
I think an artist's style is really the sum of all
of his or her experiences and artistic preferences.
My style is still developing, really, and I don't
think I've even hit the tip of the iceberg on what
exactly my ultimate vision is for my painting style.
I really still have so much to learn. That said,
there are some components during my career that
I can identify as things that helped develop my
style in the direction it currently is in. The realism,
well, that comes from my schooling. Paier College
of Art is a "Sharp Focus" school...meaning
the focus is on realism and the curriculum supports
that. The teachers there all subscribe to the school
of realism and there is even a class that focuses
on producing one hyper realistic painting during
the whole semester. One of my illustration teachers,
Tim
O'Brien, a fantastic and well know illustrator,
is a very realistic oil painter, so the techniques
I developed during that time were a reflection of
his teaching.
Upon graduation, my work tended to be fairly subdued
and I used of lot of earth tones to help accentuate
the more somber subject matter I focused on at that
time. My first job, working for well-known children's
book author and illustrator, Mercer
Mayer, would change all that. The work he was
producing during this period of his career was very
very colorful and, not only that, it was being created
on the computer, using some new program called Photoshop.
So, I went from being a traditional realistic oil
painter to a digital artist focusing on colorful
children's content! It was hard at first, but it
was really the training ground for what was to come.
During that time I produced digital paintings for
over 25 children's book and further refined many
skills, especially my understanding of color theory.
I stayed active in the freelance illustration scene
while working with Mercer and I began to see a shift
in my style; over time my work started getting more
colorful and bold.
This colorful style continued to develop when I
went onto my next job working at a division of Vivendi
Universal Games, producing illustrations for
licenses under some big names: Jurassic Park; Disney;
Fisher Price; and Mattel. More and more my personal
work, which tends to focus on fantastic themes,
was utilizing the influences of working in the children's
market. Working in a variety of different markets
has ultimately pushed me to develop two separate
styles – one that is whimsical and childlike,
the second focusing on darker fantastic subject
matter. It's kind of fun to put on two different
hats depending on the assignment or my mood. It
certainly keeps things interesting. |
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Mark Flag |
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What materials
do you use to produce your work, and how much is
done on the computer?
These days I primarily use Photoshop and Painter
to produce my illustrations. I'll occasionally use
3D software to lay out detailed man-made scenes,
but I generally enjoy the process of drawing things
from start to finish. I've experimented with combining
traditional media with digital and there are few
pieces that represent that technique in my portfolio. |
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Projectile |
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How do you keep
yourself motivated and interested?
That's easy...I'm always trying to improve as a
painter, illustrator, and concept artist. There
are so many skills a successful artist must master
in order to truly be effective as a painter, and
I still have a long way to go. The motivation really
comes from trying to be the best I can every day,
attempting to make every painting better than the
last. In addition, I have a constant backlog of
ideas or concepts that I haven't yet brought to
life through paint. Sometimes it will get to the
point where there are too many ideas backed up in
my head and I simply must spend the time painting
them to make room for more or else I'll go crazy.
The idea of my work affecting people emotionally
when they view it is really exciting to me; in fact,
I thrive on it. Like most other artists and performers,
it's the audience response that really makes my
craft interesting. |
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Where Fears
Roam |
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What was your
most challenging assignment?
Ha...I've had more than a few of those. I recently
did an illustration for an advertising campaign
for a very large company that was extremely challenging.
It's tough when a job begins to evolve into something
that takes an artist out of their style, and that
was the case with me and this job. |
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Winds of Change |
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From your portfolio,
what is your favorite piece?
That's a really tough question since on any given
day I might give a different answer or tell you
I don't really like any of my paintings. In addition,
some of my favorites are covered under the NDAs
I have out there for different entertainment properties
and therefore I can't show them. I have a few favorites
from each of the different styles I've explored
over the years. Probably my favorite of my traditional
oil paintings is a painting titled "Faceplate",
an image I've gotten so much mileage from and one
that's still a favorite of many who enjoy my work.
Of my children's book style, I think my favorite
is a painting I produced for my "Secret Places"
brand titled "Enchanted
Evening". My favorite "Concept" painting
is a piece titled "Projectile";
it represents where I want to take my concept work
as I move forward. |
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Faceplate |
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Are you working
on any new projects that you can tell us about?
I've always got a few different little projects
going on. I'm working on a few different book projects
right now; one focusing on the children's book style
I produce, and the other on the darker fantasy style
I enjoy painting. I also produce designs for stationery,
textile, and fabrics, and have a few different products
coming out this fall featuring my work. |
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Witch |
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For information about
Philip Straub, please visit:
www.philipstraub.com |
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