Tag Archives: line

Guitar Aficionado

June 23, 2014 Greg Betza

An amazing illustration commission came to me about a month ago. I was asked to illustrate a story about a 100 foot tall Honduran Mahogany that has become a legend to guitar makers. The tree was found and felled nearly 50 years ago, but it fell in a ravine and could not be extricated. 16 years later it was rediscovered, purchased, and it’s figuring and pattern (in the grain of the wood) were discovered. Long story short, the wood became legend. It’s tone was beautiful, its look, incredible, and people pay top dollar today to find any wood still available from this one tree. Read the article, it’s really interesting…

This illustration is a double-page vertical spread. Can’t wait to see the print version!

New work

Waitrose Kitchen

May 9, 2014 Greg Betza

I had a chance to learn about cricket! Waitrose Kitchen, the magazine of the British luxury supermarket chain Waitrose, asked me to do a series of illustrations to accompany a story about ‘team’ of cricket player chefs, restaurateurs and foodies. Unusual combination, but I always enjoy illustrating a topic I know very little about. Here are the drawings of the cricket pavilion, stumps, ball…and of course, tea and scones!

Events/Exhibitions, Press, Reportage

Sketching The Line

March 20, 2014 Greg Betza

I’m honored to be included in the Canadian ART IN TRANSIT show “Sketching The Line”, an exhibition of reportage drawings made while of commuters and subway-goers.
Back in 2007-8 I took advantage of my time on NYC subways by drawing anyone I could. For practice, yes, and because I just love to do it. I find that the older I get, my career and the opportunities presented to me all seem to fall in line with my interests. A lot can be said about continuing to “do what you love”. Do the work that you want to do and that work will continue to find you. If you’d like to see more of my drawings from the commute, click here

Thank you to Sharon for organizing the exhibition.

More about the show from their website:

“An international exhibition of 78 sketches drawn by 13 artists from around the globe, features brief impressions of fellow commuters that document place, time and movement while simultaneously revealing a myriad of personal moments.”

New work

Public Speaking

March 19, 2014 Greg Betza

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.

New work

DRAFT magazine

February 10, 2014 Greg Betza

Sometimes I’m amazed at just how fitting a job is for me…as if the client knew me in advance. When I was asked to illustrate a feature for DRAFT magazine, I was thrilled. For those that know me, I’m a HUGE fan of craft beer and DRAFT asked me to illustrate a beer release party! Needless to say this was a fun piece to do…I even used a few friends as models…and oh yeah, my beautiful wife Despina. She’s a beer lover too so playing this role wasn’t too much of a stretch for her.

Reportage

Stadium Series at Yankee Stadium

January 27, 2014 Greg Betza

As many of you know, I designed and illustrated the animated commercial for the 2014 NHL Stadium Series. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to witness the action first-hand. I thought it would be great to draw from the actual event…so I did. I have to say it wasn’t the easiest event to capture, with temperatures in the low 20s to high teens, my hands didn’t always do what I had ‘instructed’ them to do (I think they were partially frozen). But all in all I’m happy with the small reportage that came out of the day. There were more than 50,000 fans in attendance and with the absurd amount of clothes they were wearing, it was packed tight in that stadium. And I’m happy to report, the cold did not temper the ‘creative’ language common to most hockey fans. And with the added tension of the NJ Devils hosting the NY Rangers, in New York, the love affair between the two states was on display, constantly!

It was a GREAT event, and thank you to Let’s Talk Tickets for getting me great seats.

There is another game Wednesday evening at Yankee Stadium and for those of you in the mid-west, the final game of the Stadium Series will take place in Chicago on March 1. I highly recommend it.

New work

NHL Stadium Series Animation!

January 1, 2014 Greg Betza

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

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

Reportage

Chicago

October 18, 2013 Greg Betza

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.

Events/Exhibitions

A Show Comes Down

September 3, 2013 Dominick Santise

This weekend saw the conclusion of Restoring a Past, Charting a Future, a fantastic group show I am proud to have been a part of. The work documented the restoration of the Charles W. Morgan, the centerpiece of Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. The engraved piece above hung for an amazing 16 months. Seems like it took that long to carve the lines into the Corian blocks, a modern day replacement for scrimshaw I was told about by some of the volunteers on the Morgan. The pieces below are some of the work that led to the final engraving.

The Robb Report’s Private Aviation Sourcebook | Greg Betza

New work

Retrofitting Your Aircraft

August 9, 2013 Greg Betza

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.

New work

Scientific American WorldView

April 15, 2013 Greg Betza

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.

Gift from the River by Loron Wade | Greg Betza

New work

New Book Jacket

March 4, 2013 Greg Betza

I was asked to create this cover a few months ago. It is a religious story set in Bangladesh and visually it was a pleasure to work on. I’m really happy with how it turned out. Thanks Daniel!

New work

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

February 14, 2013 Dominick Santise

Just got a copy of a corporate piece done for Bristol-Myers Squibb. I stress corporate because this was the definition of bureaucratic approval. I worked with a great team but where we started and where we ended are very different places. I don’t even think they saw all the feedback coming when it did. I had to stay on my toes at all times, ready for everything. None the less a great job, happy to finally get it in hand. Here are few of the pieces.

New work

Intiland 2013 Calendar

January 7, 2013 Greg Betza

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.

New work

Premier Sotheby’s International Realty

July 25, 2012 Greg Betza

I recently received my printed copy of the Premier Sotheby’s Privileged Access brochure. I was commissioned to illustrate the brochure late last year, and while it took a long time to get to production, I think the final piece looks great. The team at Strada were great to work with and I love what they did with the design and layout.

Illustration