Apparently Pearson has been publishing this book for quite some time and was looking to update the cover. From what I was told they always use illustrated covers for this series, so I was thrilled when my work was selected for the ninth edition.
Public speaking has never been my favorite activity, but it was a fun cover to do! And I hope it helps me warm to the idea of speaking in front of large crowds.
Thanks to Maria, Carolyn and Mika for thinking of me for the illustration.
Happy New Year everyone! I couldn’t be more excited to share my latest commission with you…an animation for the inaugural games of the National Hockey League’s Stadium Series! It will air for the first time on New Year’s Day during the Winter Classic on NBC.
From the time I became interested in illustration as a career I have wanted to work in film and motion. I used to experiment with video and animation and I’ve worked as a storyboard artist and concept designer, but I had yet to put my stamp on a project until this opportunity came my way late last year.
When I received the call from NBC Sports naturally I was excited, but when I found out it was for ice hockey, I could not believe it. I have been a life long fan of hockey…I even play (street hockey) every Sunday.
I’d like to thank Lorin and Lindsay and the whole team at NBC Sports for having the creative vision to do something DIFFERENT on national television, and for allowing the creative vision to come to life. I would also like to thank the members of Studio 1482 for their support, and fellow Studio 1482 member Despina Georgiadis for her brilliant work with the art direction and storyboards.
Last but not least, a special thanks to J.J. Sedelmaier, who worked as the animator on the project. His professionalism, experience, and sense of humor made the process seamless and enjoyable from the first frame to the last.
Below are some shots of the process and the animation. You can also view the animation on YouTube and Vimeo.
NHL Stadium Series Animation from greg betza on Vimeo.
Daunting!
Early storyboard frames of action
Early storyboard frame
From table to wall to floor. Repeat.
Coming together!
Key frame color exploration
Key frame color exploration
Working on a Wacom Cintiq 22HD
The “PERFECT” sequence
Yankee Stadium key frame
Dodger Stadium key frame
Drop em’ in!
Rangers vs. Devils key frame
Last week, Studio 1482 illustrator Dominick Santise and I attended the Workbook Creative Carnival in Chicago. We then spent the next 2 days creating reportage drawings around the city. Now I love NY, but Chicago is like a friendly, clean, slightly more relaxed version…which frankly is nice from time to time. We navigated the city by foot, walking from landmark to landmark, checking out the wonderful public art all along the way, Picasso, Chagall, Dubuffet, etc. It was an inspiring few days and I’m excited to share of few of my drawings with you.
Here is a piece I worked on last month for The Robb Report’s Private Aviation Sourcebook. The piece was about how to “retrofit” your aircraft, basically a plane “make-over”. It was fun to do and a chance to play around with a relatively straight forward piece. I’d love to hear what you think.
I really enjoyed this series of illustrations. They were challenging as the content was rather foreign to me, but I always feel fortunate when I get to learn something while illustrating. I’d love to hear what you think.
Happy New Year everyone! I’m excited to share a great commission I received late last year. I was asked to create 13 illustrations (12 months, 1 cover) for the Indonesian real estate firm, Intiland’s, 2013 calendar. Each illustration had to feature an Intiland property and have a lifestyle concept based on the property. It was challenging, and I actually did the job twice in 2 slightly varying styles (I’ll post some of those illustrations at another time), but in the end, the client was very happy and I’m really proud to have been asked to create this body of work for them. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
