The beginnings of all things.
Nearly every single artwork I create (not including life drawing!) begins as a small abstract thumbnail. Whether the plans are for a giant canvas, 6′ x 10′ , or a book cover, or a Magic Card, my compositional and narrative structures are played with art a diminutive scale, ~ 1-3 inches in size.
Below are scans from my sketchbooks and the drawings and oil paintings they helped inform. Note how many times I change scale, viewpoint, cropping, etc, before choosing a final abstract to develop. Keeping the images small and devoid of details allows for fast, fluid experimentation.
The larger, highly detailed drawings are produced after I have obtained all my photographic references and before I transfer these compositions to my final support and begin working in oils.
St. George and the White Dragon, 24″ x 30 ” Oil on Panel, collection of Erica Berkowitz and Joseph Weinreb
Huor and Hurin Approaching Gondolin, 112″ x 73″, oil on linen 2013, from The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, private collection
The House of Black and White-Arya Stark, 30″ x 30″ , oil on Panel 2014, Collection of George R.R. Martin
This was a great page, yielding two great final compositions! Arya and Stannis for A Song of Ice and Fire 2015 Calendar.
Stannis Baratheon, 30″ x 30″ , oil on Panel 2014, Collection of Deb Fulton and Doug Ellis
Wow, starting with abstractions for everything is like playing with a creative cheat code! I bet those tiny sketches must look like beautiful chaos—definitely a great way to experiment before going big.
Ah, the magic of tiny thumbnails! It’s like practicing your high dive in a kiddie pool before going for the big splash—smaller stakes, but oh so much less terrifying!
Ah, the magic of tiny thumbnails! It’s like practicing your high dive in a kiddie pool before going for the big splash—smaller stakes, but oh so much less terrifying!
Ah, the magic of tiny thumbnails! It’s like practicing your high dive in a kiddie pool before going for the big splash—smaller stakes, but oh so much less terrifying!
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Generative AI is a subfield of AI that can produce original literature, images, movies, music, and even code.
It creates something entirely new by first identifying patterns in big datasets and then applying that knowledge.
In contrast to conventional AI, it goes beyond mere analysis—it generates, providing results that are both unique and authentic.
Generative AI models utilize advanced tools such as GANs and Transformers to comprehend and reproduce intricate data structures.