As I’ve been out hunting for a few jobs (with little success-bummer), I decided as my website is primarily my online portfolio, that I ought to upload some more aircraft designs and some of my graphic design and corporate design work.

I gather if potential job offerers are going to see my site first, and base their opinion of me and my work off their first impression, that I ought to have my graphic design work represented here as well. I’ve been looking for graphic design and, or, corporate design jobs lately, and, there’s no sense in frightening off anyone with a portfolio that is strictly fantasy and scifi-based. Whilst my love is primarily for all things fantasy and scifi, I am capable of graphic design and corporate design.

When I was first hired at Oxford Aviation Inc in 2006, my boss, whom I had known for a number of years, looked at my portfolio and asked “what does this have to do with aircraft?” to which I kind of wanted to say “absolutely nothing,” but I said that whilst my portfolio reflects that I am a capable illustrator, I do have a graphic design sense, and that I can certainly design aircraft schemes. And I proved that immediately. However, my boss also knew me. Potential hirers don’t. So, herein lies my proof–new aircraft schemes (photos–I have tons of 2D schemes that I do not want to upload to the internet as they are property of OAI now, technically), and corporate design.

If you are a talent scout and would like to see the 2D graphic schemes for the aircraft, please email me at sarah.longley @ industrythirteen dot com.

Just finished another painting. ‘ve been trying to be better about backgrounds and locations. Since the history of this character deals with the elements of fire, as well as entanglements with demons, i thought the idea of a firestorm was appropriate. Also wanted to see if i could create lava.

i was just talking about the image with my boyfriend and he said “Bullshit. I call shinanigans that you didn’t learn anything at SVA” I proceeded to grouchily say that I taught myself how to do all this whilst I was at SVA. Grouchy, because I don’t look back fondly at my experience at SVA, as probably noted below in another post.

However, I can probably say I do owe some of my education as a painter at least to Cheryl Greisbach and her husband Stan Martucci. They were always supportive and always gave me encouragement. Any criticism they ever had was constructive due to the fact that they would take your drawing and actually show you what you might do to make it better instead of just telling you or saying something looked funny, but weren’t sure how to fix it. I appreciated that more than anything–the fact that we worked in class with them to guide us, instead of sitting there and just yapping about it. Cheryl actually took the time to sit down with you with all your paint and show you her technique. Whilst I never became very good with oil paints and I hated painting with oils, I found myself thinking about her technique especially when it came to doing the background of the image.

Stan always encouraged our wild imaginations. You would think it would feel okay to go into la-la fantasy land at art school, but for me, it felt like fantasy or scifi art wasn’t all that welcome–but whenever I had a class with Stan and Cheryl, that was where it didn’t feel odd, and where it was actually encouraged.

I wish I had taken the time at SVA to do all my artwork in this medium, instead of wasting time with other techniques and doing work that I didn’t like. I think I would have been much more pleased with my assignments and not so overwhelmed, and maybe even have liked my assignments without worry about how I was going to get them all done on time and to a satisfactory level.

So I graduated from SVA this past may. I will not recommend SVA. I will not recommend any art school that does not teach art from a classical perspective. Granted, I only have my own experience, but if you are not taught the basics and fundamentals, you will be left to merely float. If skill and execution are not taught, then all you have left is non-sense and BS. I didn’t go to school to learn how to BS, but I certainly left feeling like that’s all I had accomplished there.
So for anyone going into art school, make sure your cirriculum is mostly life drawing, life painting, sculpture and as little critique as possible–you want to learn how to look and how to convey what you see. After that, you can then apply that to what interests you. If you can’t draw, how can you convey your thoughts visually?

On a lighter note, after spending a few months being absolute uninspired and totally unhappy with the results of my education at SVA, I finally did a painting. I kept telling myself not to push it, just let it come, and it did.
The great thing about working at Oxford Aviation again is that I have time to work on my craft and I get to save up some money. I get to keep my mind sharp on design so I don’t lose any sort of creativity and whilst it may be mostly vector-based art, it is still art and I can be proud of the designs I create for my clients. You may see some new ones in the gallery soon. I am juggling about 5 tp 6 clients at this time, most of them with completely original designs. Might post up a few I worked on, too.

It’s been a really rough week for me here. I’ve finally managed to get back around to doing some work.

I have been working on images for the machinema movie I mentioned in the last post, as well as my own class work for the end of the semester. I’m allowed to double-dip right? My personal projects can influence my school work, yes?

One of my professors hit me with a ruler (well, not really) and chastised me for not doing more backgrounds or locations (interiors or exteriors) so I said fine, I would do it. Sitting around thinking of what I could do, my friend bugs me on msn and says they need some art for the laboratory scene. I said okay, great, that’s just the sort of thing I need to do. Practice my interiors.

So the newest art up right now is of the Corporate Universal laboratory. What’s cooking? Nothing good, that much I can say. I’m sure in a few months I’ll hate it and be doing much better pieces of work. I had to start somewhere with my interiors, and that was a great place to start. Awesome practice.

Being a huge World of Warcraft junkie, I decided that I would do an image of Illidan for a class assignment. The assignment was open ended and had to deal with expression. While Illidan does have an expression, it is not so played up. It is the whole mood of the piece.

Whilst thinking of a subject matter, I knew that I wanted to do an image of Illidan and that I have always been a fan of the penitent magdalen imagery, especially that by Georges de la Tour. This image is easily google-able. In Georges de la Tour’s painting, there is a skull, which is highly appropriate. Albiet the megdalen image is one of penitence and of the flavor of vanitas paintings, it was a great place to start. Furthermore, with the skull I began to think of Hamlet. Presto!

I am very excited to present what I think is my best work to date. Illidan.