TODAY'S FEATURED POST

The Power of Preliminary Studies

Julie Beck

Preliminary studies are crucial to my process. Each artist approaches prep work different but as someone who teaches both technical skills as well as the importance of design and composition, I emphasize the importance of massaging the design before you get into the nitty gritty. Preliminary thumbnails help in a multitude of ways: Planning: Sketches help you organize ideas and create a clear roadmap, saving time and reducing frustration. Problem Solving: They allow you to…

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EVERYDAY ORIGINAL

Baxter, The Porcupine

YESTERDAY’S POST

Image

Bob & Brad

Arnie Fenner

April 21, 2025 - In the past month we've lost two absolute legends of the Illustration community, Robert E. McGinnis [above left] at the age of 99 on March 10 and Brad Holland [above right] at the age of 81, following heart surgery on March 27. Renowned for his paperback covers—over 1300 of them!—hundreds of magazine illustrations, dozens of classic movie posters, and numerous gallery paintings, Bob McGinnis was an artist’s artist and, quite simply, one of the best of the best. He started his career as a teenage apprentice at the Walt Disney Studios before enlisting in the Merchant Marine during World War II. Following the war Robert joined the Fredman Chaite Studios where he created all sorts of advertising art while working with Frank McCarthy and Robert "Bob" Peak. A chance meeting with Mitchell Hooks in 1958…

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