Miss Pearl Grey

Meet Miss Pearl Grey, an artist in the UK working in 3D! 

"Hello! My name is Kellie, but you can call me Miss Pearl Grey, if you like."

How or why did you start working dimensionally?
I was always drawing and became very interested in making minatures as a child. My Grandfather built me a beautiful Doll's House that I was able to furnish with little objects I had made myself and people I crafted from pipe cleaners, cotton wool, tights and material. I eventually ran out of rooms for them all to live in, so it became more like a Hostel for tiny people!
I have a rather short attention span sometimes, so consequently I tend to ricochet back and forth between 2 and 3 dimensional illustrating when I temporarily tire of one or the other (it is usually on the break between each that my interest is reignited!).

What or who has influenced the way you work? 
I am constantly in awe of the sheer talent out there! I have a wide range of inspirations which include (but are not limited to) Aardman, FaultyOptic, Red Nose Studio and Liz Lomax. I also consider myself very lucky to have a supportive cast of family and friends, who are invariably willing to endure my antisocial tendencies when working on new pieces.

Please describe your working process.
I always start with sketches. Each character is visualised on paper from a variety of angles in order to provide accurate viewpoints later on. Once I have started sculpting I find it very helpful to have my own drawings on the desk so that I can see exactly how much curve the chin needs, or where a particular wart should be. This said, however, my models are rarely the same as the initial sketch by the end! 
I usually start with a wire or tin foil armature and build onto this with Super Sculpey. I fire the initial sculpt in the oven and then each subsequent layer is fixed with a very hot hairdryer (my models are usually small enough that this is sufficient). Occasionally I pad out some of the bulkier characters with upholstery wadding to save using so much Sculpey, these are just fixed with the hairdryer. I use children's plasticine modelling tools, scalpels and cocktail sticks to sculpt faces and details. Some of the features are just about being resourceful with materials. I am a bit of a hoarder so I tend to hang onto scraps of old material and things most people would throw away- I know they will come in handy sooner or later. I usually paint with acrylics but learned the hard way that you should always seal the paint with varnish (I use the Matte variety). Once the characters are ready I arrange the props and backgrounds accordingly and photograph, editing afterwards in Photoshop where necessary.

What do you the enjoy most / least about working dimensionally?
I would have to say that the most frustrating thing for me is overheating my models, burning them to a crisp when I wander off to make a cup of tea. When I overheat them they shatter a lot more easily and this can be very time consuming to fix! Materials can be very costly, too. But the overall satisfaction I get from seeing the final images and from other people's reactions makes it very rewarding. I am also a tremendous perfectionist, but I don't think that ever really leaves you.

Kellie Black
Pearl Grey Illustration
www.misspearlgrey.com
www.misspearlgrey.blogspot.com
All images and content © Miss Pearl Grey

Danielle Buerli

Danielle Buerli is an illustrator living and working in Los Angeles. 

How or why did you start working dimensionally?

I have always loved to make things. I'd knit hats for everyone I knew. It was a way to relax between school assignments at art school. So then I came up with ways to incorporate making things for my assignments. Everyone was painting and sketching and I wanted to do that too but maybe knit a little bit on the side. And then it hit me I can.  

What or who has influenced the way you work?

So many artists and they are are all so talented. I guess I just wanted it all and this was the best idea I could come up with to show that. 

Please describe your working process. 

I like to experiment with materials and see what happens. Sometimes something really great happens, other times it just goes to a box under the bed. But usually I will find a material I really want to use or have an idea for a character and see where it takes me. I try and slip some knitting in every time. 

What do you the enjoy most / least about working dimensionally?

I get to try new things all the time. It never gets boring and every time you make something it is better than last. I guess that down side is time. There never seems enough of it to make everything you want.


Danielle Buerli
www.dbuerli.com
dbuerli@yahoo.com
All images and content © Danielle Buerli

Natalie Russo

Meet Natalie Russo, a 3D artist in New England. 

"As a child my artwork often got me in trouble.  I had a bad habit of rummaging through my family’s belongings for interesting fabrics and jewelry. Always looking for anything shiny or fuzzy that could be cut up and used for my own creations. I now spend my time rummaging through hardware and thrift shops and combing art stores endlessly."

How did you start working dimensionally?

As a child I had taken sculpture and ceramics classes.  It wasn’t until college that I began to learn more traditional two dimensional styles. I was never totally satisfied with producing two dimensional artwork.  I found it limiting. Instructors encouraged me to work out my illustrations in polymer clay. There was more freedom working with clay.

What or who has influenced the way you work?

My favorite children’s book illustrator is Nicoletta Ceccoli. I love her characters and concepts. Other illustrators whose work I enjoy include Raul Colon, Anita Kunz, and Yuko Shimizu. 3D Artists who have influenced my work include Chris Sickles, Jason Mecier and Liz Lomax.

Please describe your working process

Everything starts with a sketch and a color comp in Photoshop. Scene development starts with wire armatures, foil, polymer clay and acrylics, followed by building sets, placing characters and props, and photographing the scene. A final polish is done using Adobe Photoshop.  

What do you enjoy the most / least about working dimensionally?

I love that there is an endless variety of materials available.  I collect interesting objects such as copper pipes, buttons, and LED lights. I put them away until I find a special place for them in my work.  There are so many options and so many ways to create special effects.  I welcome and sometimes need challenges in my life and this medium certainly satisfies that.  Working in the third dimension forces me to learn new ways of solving problems with every illustration.  I’m constantly learning about new tools and new solutions. I love it!
Natalie Russo
603.770.8682

artist@natalierusso.com
www.natalierusso.com
images and content © Natalie Russo

Sean Bixby

Sean Bixby holds a BA in illustration from the Hartford Art School. He has enjoyed success with both his painting and sculpting. His painting landed him his first children’s book The Uncrossable Canyon with author James Dongweck of Golden Monkey Publishing. While his sculptures have been shown in multiple shows at the Society of Illustrators in NYC. He lives and works out of Merrimac, Massachusetts.

How or why did you start working dimensionally?
In college I did a lot of work from photo reference. I knew that my style ultimately came from inside my head and I wanted to start creating work in that style. My professor knew the benefits of drawing from reference and suggested that I sculpt the characters from my head and photograph them. When I showed him the sculptures he was impressed and introduced me to the world of 3D illustration and I have been sculpting since.

What or who has influenced the way you work? 

I believe my style is the product of my fascination with Saturday morning cartoons and comic books as a child. I would spend hours in my room at night filling notebooks with my own cartoons and comics. These days I am influenced by other artist in all different genres of art. I am a history buff and enjoy visiting galleries and museums. I collect children’s books and recently been looking at a lot of work by Bill Peet.

Please describe your working process.

I usually start with the body of a figure. I create a wire armature and use super sculpey for the head and hands. I paint the head and hands with acrylic inks. The clothes are hand sewn. My most recent sculpture “Shiver me timber (the pirate)”, I stitched a wig and beard out of embroidery thread. My backgrounds are created from various items I find around the house and in craft stores. Finally, I photograph the illustrations digitally.

What do you enjoy the most / least about working dimensionally.

The thing I enjoy the most is the process which is always a learning experience and also the satisfaction that comes with the completion of a successful illustration. The thing I hate most is the hazards; burning myself on my toaster oven or stabbing myself with a sewing needle or x-acto knife (Ouch!).

Sean Bixby

www.seanbixby.com
www.uncrossablecanyon.com

sean@seanbixby.com

images and content © Sean Bixby

Laura Meredith (aka Toasty Illustration)

Meet Laura Meredith of Toasty Illustration. She's a 3D illustrator based in the UK and she told me... 

"school and college art courses left me quite disillusioned with the concept of an art career so i had a break from doing any artwork for 4 years before enrolling on an art foundation diploma course on impulse when accompanying my friend to an open day in 2003. I intended to train as a tattooist and only applied to university as a back up idea. I accepted a place on the Illustration BA course at the university of Portsmouth where we were encouraged to find a way of working away from the traditional mediums of drawing and painting. I didn't branch out to 3d illustration until the middle of my second year and from then on i didn't look back. I graduated in 2008 and since then i have been published in several books and magazines and have participated in several group exhibitions in london, cardiff, winchester and portsmouth."

How did you start working dimensionally?

I think that i had always subconsciously yearned to create something sculptural and tactile, however i thought my career would be in drawing or painting until i discovered the potential of 3d illustration. 

What or who has influenced the way you work?

when i first started Chris Sickles was definately a huge influence. since i started to research the medium my tastes have branched out to include sculptors and animators such as Ron Mueck, Suzie Templeton, Paul Berry, The Brothers Quay and Tim Burton. Individual pieces are mainly influenced by found materials or objects which can kickstart the direction of an illustration.

Please describe your working process.

I use super sculpey, wire, fabric, acrylic paints, glue and acrylic doll hair. I have recently experimented with enclosing my work in resin or jars and i love the idea of my models becoming jarred specimens.

What do you enjoy the most about working dimensionally?

I'm very impatient clumsy, and i have been known to ruin a piece in my eagerness to make the finishing touches! I also find that i have to use so many different tools and materials that anywhere i'm working immediately turns into a building site so i'm contantly having to tidy up after myself to avoid stepping in/on paint, needles or wire. What i enjoy most is the sense of accomplishment in creating miniature sets and characters, and the satisfaction when you can finally sit back and see that its coming together and that its the best thing you've made so far- Its great to know that there is always room to improve.

Laura Meredith (aka Toasty Illustration)

www.toastyillustration.com

lmeredith83@hotmail.co.uk

images and content © Laura Meredith (aka Toasty Illustration)

Richard Borge

Check out Richard Borge, who combines his sculptures with digital photography and found objects. He works on primarily editorial, corporate/advertising illustration and music packaging (imaging and design). More recently he's been working on animation and motion graphics. Last but not least come his personal projects, which usually work their way into his commercial projects.

After graduating from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, Borge went on to receive an M.F.A. from the University of Arizona in Tucson. He then took a full time position teaching illustration and design at Western Carolina University in NC. He moved to NYC in December 1994. He has taught part time at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI and at The School of Visual Arts, NYC. Early in 2003 Borge taught two illustration workshops in Paris at Intuit Lab and Strate College Designers.

How did you start working dimensionally?

For a while, I was always trying to make things look dimension but was working flat. At some point I just started making things 3D and photographing them like that. I do like working with my hands and making objects/sculptures.

What or who has influenced the way you work?
I am influenced by things that are experimental, whether that be music or visual art.

Please describe your working process.
I always start with pencil in a sketchbook. A big part of what I do as an illustrator is come up with conceptual solutions. For me this is more important than whatever technique I end up using. That said, I use a combination of sculpted objects, found objects and textures, and heavy photoshop. I often times am buying more of my art supplies at the hardware store rather than the art store, and am always looking for interesting things that people discard.

What do you enjoy the most about working dimensionally?

I like working with my hands and making objects/sculptures. I also like to combine this with drawing and photoshop. I think a big part of it is just the tactile quality to working with 3D objects. I don't always like the room that all this stuff takes up when finished with the project. 

Richard Borge

www.richardborge.com

images and content © Richard Borge

Andy Hixon

Check out Andy Hixon from Manchester, UK! He weaves his images together beautifully using a combination of sculpture, mixed media and digital manipulation.

How did you start working dimensionally?
To start out with when I was studying Illustration several years ago the course I was on was heavily graphic design based, I initially wanted to work in paint and Photography just to be doing something a little different. I had all these great ideas in my head of what I wanted to achieve with my work and what I wanted the final piece of work to look like and what actually came out at the end resembled nothing of what I had originally intended. I felt like I wanted more control over the work I was producing at the time. From this I started experimenting in the Darkroom I really had no idea what I was doing, overexposing 3d objects on photo paper etc just experimenting really and steadily learning more about photography/lighting etc. Then the sculpture aspect came into play, along with that and the photography just clicked for me I guess.

What or who has influenced the way you work?
Initially I was a huge fan of the work of Henry Moore I used to go to the Yorkshire Sculpture Garden quite a bit that contains a lot of his work , I thought ’I want to do that ’ ( but smaller, less highbrow and not in a muddy field). Looking at his work along with Illustrators such as Dave Mckean and Jordin Isip helped shape the way I work today.

Please describe your working process.
Sketch, ball of clay or Polymer or Placticine for animation, model, dry, photograph, Photoshop- in that order. Although I have just began working using 3D Software such as Zbrush & Mudbox which I have found to be really interesting and gives some fantastic results. The sculptures I produce in clay are modelled in detail only on the side that is being photographed they are never a ‘complete sculpture’ and often get thrown away when I am finished.

What do you enjoy the most / least about working dimensionally?
The photography aspect in many ways I feel is just as important as the sculpture aspect especially if the work is in an Illustrative context .I feel that sometimes a camera really distorts the 3d objects hence having to take hundreds of photos with different lighting settings till I get the right one. Other than that it is a very enjoyable way to work in a style that really not too many illustrators are doing right now.

Check out Andy's stop-motion music video for the band Woven!

Andy Hixon
www.andyhixon.com
www.andyhixon.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/andyhixonart
images and content © Andy Hixon

Red Nose Studio

Chris Sickels welcomes us into the amazing world of Red Nose Studio. His illustrations appear in advertising, magazines, books, newspapers, packaging, character development and animation. His work has been honored by virtually every award institution or annual.

How did you start working dimensionally?
While finishing college, I saw some puppet performances by Mark Fox that were full of movement, lighting, sounds, smells, textures, and when i would go back to the studio to paint, myself and fellow painters would talk about how after seeing one of those performances, working on a painting seemed so still and dead. Eventually I started trying to create puppets of my characters. This is how I got hooked on building things, it all tied back to the toys I tried to make as a kid. So over time while I was illustrating as a painter I continuously worked on building puppets and trying to find a way to use them in my illustrations and after about 3-4 years of trial and mostly error, I was able to have an art director that had enough confidence in my work that she was willing to give the 3D work a shot.

What or who has influenced the way you work?

While working as an art handler at the Contemporary Art Center in Cincinnati in the late nineties, I helped install an exhibit of Tim Hawkinson's work, meeting somebody like him and seeing how he manipulates materials and constructs his sculptures, really opened my eyes to how someone can create things beyond just oil and canvas. The list of influences runs on and on from Dave McKean and his 'Mr. Punch' graphic novel, the stop-motion work of the Quay Brothers, Nick Park, the puppet performances of Mark Fox, Eric Sanko, and seeing the footage of Alexander Calder performing his Circus. The most important influence on the way I work is my growing up and working on a small family farm, I was taught how to use what you have on hand to fix/solve the situation that arises. Watching my Grandfather, who able to fix just about anything with a pair of pliers and some wire. To this day, wire is is the core of all my figures.

Please describe your working process.

Sketching , Sketching and more drawing, this is where it all starts. Once a drawing can successfully convey the concept, everything gets built from there. Often I do some very rough watercolor studies and dig thru drawers of fabric to establish a palette. The camera angle/ viewpoint is kept in the forefront of the building process, so things can be created efficiently, much like a stage or movie set. The facial expressions of the characters play a large role in my images, so considerable attention is put on the sculpting of the figures and the rest of the environment is built as it needs to be to help direct the viewer through the composition. Lighting the set and adjustments to the camera angle and figure position are made up until the final shot. It usually takes at least 100 test shots throughout the process until everything seems to fall into place.

What do you enjoy the most / least about working dimensionally?

MOST: Visual problem solving, coming up with concepts, the ideas. Being able to work in all facets of art- drawing, sculpting, painting, building sets, making props, costumes, photography, and lighting to create my own little worlds. LEAST: Not sure, probably space constraints, and the fact that I think I am on am mission to find the most difficult way to create illustrations.

Red Nose Studio has been featured in Communication Arts, HOW, Print, Creativity and 3x3 Magazine, as well as in a number of art and design books including Taschen’s Illustration Now!. He has twice been honored with the Carol Anthony Grand Prize award from the Society of Illustrators 3-D Salon. Two of his short films, The Red Thread Project and Innards, were selected to screen at the 2005 and 2006 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. He authored and illustrated The Look Book, and has illustrated the children's book Here Comes The Garbage Barge that will released in February 2010.

Red Nose Studio aka Chris Sickels
chris@rednosestudio.com
www.rednosestudio.com
images and content © Red Nose Studio
for commissions, please contact:

Magnet Reps || Artist Representatives
1-866-390-5656, art@magnetreps.com
www.magnetreps.com

Jessica Fortner

Check out Jessica Fortner, an illustrator who lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Her artistic method and medium can be described as sculptural photo-illustration. She constructs characters and sets, stages them and photographs the scenes to produce the final illustration. Her work offers a unique aesthetic, sense of humour, and approach to visual storytelling.

How did you start working dimensionally?

What I love about being a sculptural illustrator is the freedom to incorporate many different elements. Often illustrators draw or compile images in photoshop to create an image, but because there are still so few sculptural illustrators there are still many different avenues to explore. You can get a very unique look and feel that often can't be found in drawn images.

What or who has influenced the way you work?

These days, with access to the internet, there are so many things to find inspiration in. There are so many fantastic artists, designers and illustrators out there it's hard not to be influenced. Some of the artists that I admire are: Tara McPherson, Elizabeth McGrath, Chris Ryniak, Mars-1 and Kathie Olivas to name a few. The list could on forever. It was my introduction to Chris Sickles' (from Red Nose Studios) work that made me realize that I could put all the things that I love into an image.

Please describe your working process?

I start by making a sketch. In the sketch I try to work out composition, mood and perspective, especially if I will be compositing the image in Photoshop (which I sometimes do). I often like to keep my characters posable to be able to try a variety of poses when composing an illustration. That's why I tend to sculpt the head, hands, feet, and other extremities in clay while keeping the joints bare. The body is built on a flexible aluminum wire, then various fabrics and stuffings are used to fill out the body without making it too rigid to pose. I use a variety of materials in my illustrations to create textures and a realism that I can't achieve just by sculpting. It helps give a natural feel to the pieces.

What do you enjoy the most / least about working dimensionally?

Mostly I love being able to mix up many mediums/techniques in a single project. Because of the way that I choose to illustrate ideas, it is important for me to have a wide range of skills; from drawing to sculpting, sewing, pattern-making, photography and digital media (programs such as photoshop/illustrator). I need to know the capabilities of many materials in order to achieve the look that I want. This has it's disadvantages but it also makes every illustration new and keeps me excited about the process. I'm constantly learning new things.

Jessica Fortner
Sculpture and Illustration
info@jessicafortner.com
www.jessicafortner.com
images and content © Jessica Fortner