Art Direction: Lou Anders

A 2008/2007 Hugo Award nominee, 2007 Chesley Award nominee and 2006 World Fantasy Award nominee, Lou Anders is the editorial director of Prometheus Books' science fiction imprint Pyr, as well as the anthologies Fast Forward 2 (Pyr, October 2008), Sideways in Crime (Solaris, June 2008), Fast Forward 1(Pyr, February 2007), FutureShocks (Roc, January 2006), Projections: Science Fiction in Literature & Film (MonkeyBrain, December 2004), Live Without a Net (Roc, 2003), and Outside the Box (Wildside Press, 2001). In 2000, he served as the Executive Editor of Bookface.com , and before that he worked as the Los Angeles Liaison for Titan Publishing Group. He is the author of The Making of Star Trek: First Contact (Titan Books, 1996), and has published over 500 articles in such magazines as The Believer, Publishers Weekly, Dreamwatch, Star Trek Monthly, Star Wars Monthly, Babylon 5 Magazine, Sci Fi Universe, Doctor Who Magazine, and Manga Max. His articles and stories have been translated into Danish, Greek, German, Italian and French, and have appeared online at SFSite.com, RevolutionSF.com and InfinityPlus.co.uk.

I first met Lou, along with John Picacio at Comic-Con in 2005, and again in 2006 at World Con where I discovered he is one of the best pitch men I have ever seen. He is a very knowledgeable and entertaining guy, which definitely makes for a good interview.

1:What education/experience/attribute do you feel has best prepared/served you for your job as an Art Director?
A lifetime spent reading comic books? Collecting endless Boris Vallejo and Roger Dean art books as a kid? This is a hard question to answer, because I came to art direction backwards from editorial, and I came to editorial from left field, having started out as a journalist and screenwriter in LA. My sensibilities may be more cinematic as a result. But I am indebted to illustrator John Picacio and Tor art director Irene Gallo for their advice. And to Jaqueline Cooke, Nicole Sommer-Lecht and Grace Conti-Zilsberger in the Prometheus art department for their talent and for putting up with me.

2:What project, that you have worked on, are you most proud of (as a writer, A.D., or editor or all of the above)?
It's hard to pick favorites among your children, let alone when we’re talking children from different households. But as an A.D., I'll say that the hardcovers of Kay Kenyon's books in her Entire and the Rose series (so far: Bright of the Sky, A World Too Near, and the forthcoming City Without End) are just absolutely gorgeous. Covers by Stephan Martiniere and design by Jacqueline Cooke. As an editor, my recent anthology, Fast Forward 2, pretty much does and says everything about science fiction and its importance I've ever wanted to say. The John Picacio cover is amazing, and it evolved across many, many hours of conversation between John and myself about the need of SF to engage the world. But the project I’m most proud of is always the one I’m working on at the time (at this very moment, that’s James Enge’s forthcoming Blood of Ambrose, cover art (a WIP preview to the left) by Dominic Harman, layout by Jaqueline Cooke, Interior Illustrations by Chuck Lukacs, Interior layout by Bruce Carle

3:Do you find it a hindrance or a benefit to wear many hats (writer, A.D., editor, etc.)
I love it, because I am involved in every aspect of a book’s production, from selecting the manuscript and working with the author, to selecting the cover artist and working with them. Because of this, it’s possible that I know the manuscript in a more intimate way and am more personally invested in it than most art directors would be able to, given the (mostly time) constraints of their jobs.

4: What is your dream job/project?
I'm doing it. Failing being the editorial director at Pyr, I have (pipe) dreams of some exceedingly well-funded animation studio opening up in Shanghai and hiring me to be the head honcho in charge of adapting English-language science fiction and fantasy novels for the big and small screen, to be dubbed into every possible language. I often despair at the intelligence/complexity gap between literary and filmic SF, but I think animation is a perfect vehicle for bringing works like John Meaney's brilliant Nulapeiron Sequence (Paradox, Context, Resolution) to life, and it would be a dream come true to have a hand in that.

5:Beyond technical ability, what characteristics do look for in an illustration portfolio?
Range. I see so many portfolios that are 20 or 50 examples of the same thing, which tells me that the artist would filter my book through his/her own narrow interests, rather than bring their craft to bear on the specific needs of the individual project itself.

Beyond that, I look for something that shows me they understand the specific needs of cover illustration. I see a lot of portfolios that feature interesting character design, sketch work, concept illustration, etc… but which don’t tell me a thing about whether or not the illustrator understands and can work to the specific requirements of book cover illustration. (That need being, to accurately represent and market the book.)

Personality. Is the illustrator following hi/her own path or falling in line with someone else’s direction? I see a lot of work that reminds me of Stephan Martiniere and Sparth – too absolutely stunning artists – but since I work with both of these guys, why would I go to one of their imitators when I can go to the source?

6:On a scale of 1 to 10, how much does an illustrator having a degree matter to you?
Zero. I’ve never looked and never known whether any of the artists I’ve approached have degrees. I know John Picacio, one of my favorite artists in the business, has a degree, but it’s in architecture. I believe Todd Lockwood started out working towards an art degree but dropped out for the same reason many genre writers drop out of writing programs. I could be misremembering though – which tells you how important a degree is to me. Final product is what counts, not how it got there.

7:You meet an illustrator at a convention, what do you look for in the artist as a person?
Professionalism, above all else. But, as in so many things, you want to be able to work with this person over long periods of time, hopefully over many projects. So you want to be able to get along, to enjoy the time, and to have trust between you. Funny, put that way it sounds like dating.

8:What first attracts your eye to an illustration (as an A.D. as well as a fan).
Personality. Also, it’s just my own quirk, but too much darkness and dismemberment in a portfolio turns me off. It could be that I associate it with immaturity – that whole high school heavy metal album impulse – but that might not be a fair characterization, as some artists I really admire (Caniglia, John Jude Palencar) do some lovely work in this arena. But it may also be that I’m viewing it with at least one editorial eye, and my most commercially successful books tend to be those that are exciting, fun, adventurous, etc… so I’m looking for work suitable for those sorts of novels.

9:How/where do you meet/hire most of the illustrators you work with?
It varies. I hate to disappoint, but almost never have I hired someone who approached me unsolicited in email. I tend to see works that speak to me on other book covers and pay attention to who the illustrators are. Other art directors make recommendations and put me in touch with artists. I met John Picacio in 2001 at a convention, when writer Graham Joyce introduced us. I believe Irene Gallo (Tor’s art director) put me in touch with Stephan Martiniere and Dan Dos Santos. Picacio introduced me to Caniglia, Bob Eggleton, Dave Seeley, Todd Lockwood and Dominic Harman. I engaged Chris McGrath after his agent approached me on another client’s behalf. Recently, I’ve begun to work with Benjamin Carre, after Mark Newton – and editor at Solaris but an author with a book forthcoming from Tor in the UK – put him on my radar. I met Dave Palumbo at a convention. I also follow Irene Gallo’s blog, Gorilla Artfare, Conceptart.org and (now) ConceptShips.org. (Interesting, I’ve posted compliments on artists’ works on some of these art showcase blog sites, but not once have any of them followed me back to see if I was interested in them professionally. Hmmm.) But looking at all this, it seems like the best way to get on my radar is to befriend John Picacio, doesn’t it?

10: How do you most like to be approached by a new illustrator (portfolio review, referral, mailer, etc.)
Despite the above, email me a link to an online portfolio. Don’t include jpg attachments, I won’t open them. It’s best if the website doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles (no Flash, please) and just has a quickly accessible, easily navigable online portfolio.

11:If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring Art Directors and/or illustrators what would it be?
The best piece of advice I can give is the best advice ever given me. The very wise Jacob Weisman of Tachyon Publications said, You should never judge an artist by the best piece in his/her portfolio. You should judge them by their worst, because if that’s what they hand in, you’re going to have to live with it. I think this is tremendous advice for art directors. For illustrators, I suppose it means you should identify the worst piece of art in your portfolio and get rid of it! In all seriousness, I see too many portfolios that include everything going back to college, too many roughs and early works. A portfolio should reflect where you are now, not where you were five or ten years ago. Best foot forward, and only that foot!

12:What is your favorite cartoon?
That would be a tie between Danger Mouse and Batman: The Animated Series. I have a soft spot for The Maxx too. Ghost in the Shell is of course seminal. And everyone should see Serial Experiments Lain.

Art Direction: Ben Thompson

Ben Thompson graduated from Laguna College of Art and Design. His illustration credits include, but are not limited to numerous illustrations for WotC including Magic the Gathering, the Harry Potter Trading Card Game, Forgotten Realms role-playing games, cover art for both Dungeons and Dragons, and Legend of the Five Rings. His Art Director credits include PC Game “Vanguard: Saga of Heroes” for Sigil Games Online, and WoW TCG.

1:What education/experience do you feel has best prepared/served you for your job as an Art Director?

My Experience as an Art Professor for 5 years was undoubtedly the most beneficial. While of course a certain amount of ability as an illustrator is important to seeing things with an artistic eye, my time as a teacher enabled me to quickly edit the “chaff” (also known as bad habits!;) from any given artistic exercise and focus on that which is most important to achieve the desired results. In addition, the ability to quickly, and concisely critique a piece of artwork so as to immediately provide the artist with a solid direction is invaluable. As a teacher this is among the most important services you can provide the artist. Being an illustrator provides me with a common language with which to be able to convey these thoughts. Be it in a verbal exchange or a visual example to be provided.

2:What was your first job in the art field?

I began Illustrating for “Magic: The Gathering” when I was a Junior at the Laguna College of Art & Design in 1998, substituting my professional work for any class assignments my teachers would allow me to get away with. This was quickly followed by Dungeons & Dragons and other clients in the Gaming industry.

3:What project, that you have worked on, are you most proud of?

My time at Sigil Games Online as both Concept Artist and Assistant Art Director stands out as I worked closely with fantasy painter Keith Parkinson (who was and continues to be among my Artistic Idols) throughout the day to day process developing the Game “Vanguard: Saga of Heroes”. It is also there that I was first introduced to the Digital media that now makes up for at least half of my artistic output.

4: What is your dream job/project?

Though it in no way relates to the genre from which most of my work tends come these days, I continue to work on a series of historical paintings that are larger than my average (weighing it at roughly 5’ – 6’ on their longest side), the culmination of which would be a series of paintings focusing on the Holocaust.

5:Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Happily painting on both my professional and my personal work simultaneously. This may or may not mean a staff job for my professional work, but the end goal is to provide the time for both, while not sacrificing the family time I have come to appreciate as I grow older.

6:On a scale of 1 to 10, how much does an illustrator having a degree matter to you?

I would have to say a 3. The acquisition of a degree shows that a person has the ability to follow through with what they start and has learned to work within the limitations of time and guidelines that are provided in the school atmosphere. At the same time, while school can provide you with the necessary tools to achieve the results one desires, it is largely up the a persons ambition and drive to put these lessons to good use, and do so with a consistency that only comes from continual application of ones ability on each and every piece.





7:You meet an illustrator at a convention, what do you look for in the person, as well as the portfolio?

Portfolio:

 Keep it to no less than 5, no more than 12 pieces of your strongest work. Anything that causes you to pause or is not representative of the work you are capable of currently should be retired without hesitation.
 Make sure that the pieces you show are indicative of the kind of work you wish to be hired for. (Both in aesthetics as well as subject matter.) Don’t include the college watercolor landscape piece just because you feel it is a strong image if what you want is figural, historical period, book cover work.
 Always tailor a portfolio to suit the needs of the art director/company you are interviewing with. If you are looking for work in the fantasy genre, don’t show me pictures of your cats just because you had fun doing the piece. These pieces are all you have to go on, make them count!
 Make sure that the work is professionally presented and paced accordingly. A nice portfolio keeping the work samples together, whether bound or in a case loose will always make you look better than the artist who has a manila folder with lined notebook paper drawings. The pacing of the portfolio should start and end with your strongest work to make the first and last impression the most lasting.
 Always have a sample to leave with the Art Director that has an image of your best piece with your contact information on it. A business card is nice, but I get 30 or more of these at every convention and I am hard pressed to remember the art or the artist that goes with each.
 DON’T: forward me to your MySpace, DeviantArt, ConceptArt Page. These are posting boards, not portfolio sites. If you want to forward me to a webpage make sure it is your own, and for god’s sake make sure I have the option to NOT view it in flash. Flash makes beautiful websites…and most companies standard issue computers aren’t up to the task of rendering them in such a way as to be useful.

Artist

 Someone who can present his or her work clearly and concisely without talking too much or too little. I like someone who can communicate effectively, but too much explanation comes across as an insecurity in ones work to speak for itself.
 Someone who can take constructive criticism without needing to have answers for each and every point. More times than not, when reviewing someone’s work I am greeted by a list of excuses as to why one of my critique points is not valid or is otherwise unimportant. I can only critique what I see. If I present it to you as a problem or concern then it is just that. If it is my own opinion or an otherwise subjective comment, I will preface it as such. This may sound harsh, but it is my experience that the illustrator who can master the art of accepting and digesting constructive criticism has a much longer career ahead of them in the long run, and tends to be favored with the Art Directors.
 Hand in hand with the above comment is the ability to hear out any Art Director as a single voice. Don’t assume that because one Art Director liked certain aspects of your work, everyone will or should. Likewise, don’t try and convince me that I should like something just because someone else did before me. (I like Vanilla Ice-cream and no amount of arguing with my wife will convince me that her and her entire families choice of Rocky Road is the superior one.)
 Hard work…period. If long hours, seemingly endless revisions, and a love affair with coffee sounds unappealing to you, you might want to seriously reconsider your chosen career path. If I review your portfolio two years in a row at any given convention and you have little to nothing in the way of new/improved work based on my previous comments, this will not convince me of your ability to make the changes required in a couple of days on an actual assignment.


8:How/where do you meet/hire most of the illustrators you work with?

Primarily I have been given the Illustrator’s name by one of our peers (another Art Director or Illustrator). Having been given the tip I will research the artist’s body of work as completely as possible. Secondly is my tendency to spend time looking in books and on the web at a variety of artists and build a list of artists I would like to approach for work. In a distant last place are conventions. Not to say I don’t go, and believe me I review the portfolios, but the broad based nature of conventions makes it hard to ask a prospective illustrator to pare down the portfolio for individual outlets, and the result is a scatter shot of work that is hard to judge against.

9:If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring Art Directors and/or illustrators what would it be?

At the end of the day, the Art Director serves the license/product for which they are responsible. All decisions should be made in this context. Art Direction does not mean we only get to hire the artists we like to do the work we love to see. Of course this is when it is the most pleasant, but often is the time that I am faced with assigning a piece to an artist who’s personal style goes against my own preferred aesthetic because I know them to be right for the job. One side effect of this is that it has broadened my own view of Illustration and exposed me to artists or illustrations I may have dismissed once upon a time.

As an Illustrator, your duty is to the product that you are illustrating first and foremost. We all want to think that we are hired for the unique style that we bring to any given product/license, but it is easy to forget that the inherent needs/wants of the product trump those of the illustrator. We became illustrators because of the unique challenge of illustrating a pre-existing idea or product in such a way so as to compliment it or in some way make it stronger for our involvement. If it were purely about self-expression or exploring our chosen media with our own ideas, we would be fine artists. Never forget that the Illustrative process is a collaborative one.

10:What is your favorite cartoon?

Good Lord. How telling is it that this is the hardest question to answer?

In my early life I would have to go with: He-Man, GI-Joe, G-Force(aka Battle of the Planets), Dungeons&Dragons. And every Hanna-Barbera or Warner Bros. Cartoon made

In later life this would be: Aeon-Flux, and every Hanna-Barbera or Warner Bros. Cartoon made

Bonus: If you have an interesting story that is unique to you having been on both ends of portfolio reviews

In my experience there are two kinds of portfolio reviews: those given by an Art Director, and those given by an Artist/Illustrator. They may feel the same to the artist receiving the review but there are very different things to be gained by both.
The Art Director’s Portfolio review should always be seen through the lens of that which they art direct in their professional career. It is with this filter they are viewing and reacting to the work you are showing them, and as such their responses can tend to have this slant. It is common thought that Art Directors only have a passing experience with the physical act of creating art themselves and as such the validity of their critiques will always be “suspect”. While anyone who thinks about this for half a moment will realize this is not the case, but rather the Art Director is doing the job asked of him or her from the perspective of their companies needs. They will usually have a broad understanding of what “works” and what doesn’t, and the ability to explain why.
The Artist/Illustrator review is a different thing entirely as you are talking to a peer who wants to see your work improve and is typically not interested in shaping it to fit any type of mold. The end result is a critique based on the specifics of the artist’s current abilities or their need to improve them. It is this critique that usually produces more by way of tools to consider going forward. (more temperature control in ones colors, better value grouping to create the shapes in a composition. Etc.) Often times such criticisms are followed with an example as to how that Illustrator would solve the problem themselves.
Of course there are many opportunities for portfolio reviews that possess both of these approaches and I would suggest the prospective Illustrator/Artist seek out both when ever possible. Be active in this role by requesting that a given Art Director give their artistic opinion if possible in addition to their professional one. Likewise ask the Illustrator/Artist to share with you their experience with an Art Director’s view toward their own work.

Art Direction: Jeremy Cranford

I have been a fan of Irene Gallo's thumbnail interview feature for a while, previously of her blog and now of Tor.com . So I have decided to turn the tables and and ask my art director friends to answer some questions.

Jeremy Cranford
Two time art director of Magic: The Gathering, WoW TCG, and now Creative Director at Upperdeck Entertainment

1:What education/experience do you feel has best prepared/served you for your job as an Art Director?

As far back as I can remember, I have always loved art. Even today I get really excited by great art. I'm not sure where that came from but this passion has given me the drive to succeed in this industry. However, I knew my passion would only take me so far. It was my college degree in graphic design that allowed me to be taken seriously by corporations and get hired. My degree made me legitimate and opened some of my first doors.

2:What was your first job in the art field?

I was a graphic design intern at TMP Worldwide and I was in charge of the small black and white newspaper ads. My second job was at U.S. West Cellular doing graphic and layout. (I was allowed to choose from two colors: U.S. West PMS dark blue, PMS light blue plus black)

Working as a graphic designer at Wizards of the Coast was my third job. This position was the break I needed that allowed me to break into the gaming industry.

3:What project, that you have worked on, are you most proud of?

It would be the Ravnica preview animation I art directed for Magic: the Gathering. It was the first time we were able to take the world and characters my team designed for the cards and bring it all to life. There were a lot of people who were against it, but I kept pushing and I ended up being really proud of the end product given the time and budget constraints. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/arcana/897

(Bonus points for anyone who can recognize the actor who did the voice over.)

4: What is your dream job/project?

I'd love to be an art director or concept artist for a large animation company like Pixar.

5:Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I really have no idea. I always try to just live in the moment.

6:On a scale of 1 to 10, how much does an illustrator having a degree matter to you?

Zero. It is all about their talent and the work they produce. However, there are many corporate jobs that will not look at your resume unless you have a degree. H.R. departments live to check boxes.

7:You meet an illustrator at a convention, what do you look for in the person, as well as the portfolio?

I want them to know what my job is as an art director and what sort of work I'm looking for. I want them not to argue with me and most of all, I want to see a portfolio that is amazing and original.

8:How/where do you meet/hire most of the illustrators you work with?

Most of the illustrators I work with have come from referrals. I look at their websites, and if I like what I seem I’ll give them a call.

There are only a few artists I have started working with after seeing their portfolios at Comic Con or their work in Spectrum.

9:If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring Art Directors and/or illustrators what would it be?

Find out what makes you happy and do that. You must also have the trust and patience that doing what makes you happy will lead you where it is suppose too. Also, make sure you try to do the things that you're afraid of but really would like to give a try. I know many people who've gone back to school and started a second career in the middle of their life and ended up in a much better place.

10:What is your favorite cartoon?
I remember LOVING "Scooby Doo", "Tom and Jerry" and all the Warner Brothers stuff as a kid. I think my parents used cartoons as my baby sitter. I also remember really getting into "Star Blazers." I think this was the first Japanese animation I liked. This cartoon came on early in the morning before school around 7 A.M. and I would always wake up to make sure I didn’t miss an episode before catching the bus. One of my other favorites later on was "He-Man, Masters of the Universe.” I would always look forward to watching this cartoon after school right at 4:00 P.M. Isn't it funny that I can still remember the time slots after all these years?