A Painting Will Only be as Strong as it's Under Drawing.

Under Drawing for Imps by Lamp Light by Jonathan Myers.

Drawing is one of the most important skills an artist can acquire and maintain. In an age of growing technology nearly every artistic medium, skill and facet can be achieved or mimicked with state of the art software. The renaissance of this digital frontier has made it easier and possible for artists to explore all the aspects of the visual arts. However, it still has its limitations. The ability to create imagery from nothing is still dependent on a basis of personal skill, obtained resources and individual talent. Without access to these things the tools of the digital realm will fulfill little to no purpose other than iconoclasm, imitation and mere manipulation. The need for creativity, imagination and an ability to draw from life and one's mind are still very relevant to the artistic process.
I have many friends who excel in the arena of digital art and they all agree that one must learn how to draw if they are going to be able to use any of the software tools made available to them. It is still very important that an artist learn the fundamentals of rendering anatomy, shading, form, color, value, line weight and composition. A traditional basis for hand skills is still the foundation on which the rest must be built if an artist wishes to grow and succeed in their artistic journey.

Imps by Lamp Light by Jonathan Myers. All Rights Reserved

I have presented a comparison of both an under drawing and a completed painting I created. It features a piece I entitled, Imps by Lamp Light. The initial goal of the piece was to explore light, so I scoured my idea  file (a filed bin full of photographic reference) for the perfect subject to serve as my basis for this creative endeavor. I used both the grid and sight measuring techniques to draw the lamp that was featured in my reference. This skill set required a competent understanding of  the mathematical and visual principles of time honored traditions that have served artists well since time in memorial. I sketched down my base shapes with an HB pencil, and then went over these rough lines with more confident ones with a 2B pencil. Next I added shading with a 4B pencil to further define the aspects of light, value, weight and form of the lamp. Again this was something that I learned through artistic study and the keen observation of my initial reference. So far this drawing required merely a careful replication of eye to hand work with a descent knowledge of basic art fundamentals. For my key goal of exploring light I could have moved on to my painting, but I decided to bring individual creativity into the piece.
I have been drawing since I was five years old and over these many decades of observation, artistic study and discipline in maintaining the skills of my craft I have developed a strong ability to retain visual information. I have become able to pull this recalled imagery from my imagination to create whimsical creatures. In this case I drew the imps that prance about the lamp in my initial under drawing. It isn't enough to just sketch down these small beings from my mind, I must also be able to position them in a sense to evoke mood and personality. An understanding of musculature, form and how light effects things is also required to render these critters with a lively sense of realism, or else the imps will appear cartoonish and even out of place. The goal has expanded to creating a believable illusion where the fantastic can coexist with the real in an utterly seamless concept.
Now that I have a strong and believable under drawing I have a foundation on which a painting can be built upon. I can now make a clean line drawing of this concept and transfer it to my illustration board via tracing paper, then I am ready to embark upon the painting phase of this illustration. The painting will be a Herculean task in and of itself, but the compositional work and visual cues in the initial drawing will make my job a great deal easier as I embark on completing this effort in full, brilliant color. The study of artistic fundamentals, the investment of other artist's training, a commitment of discipline to craft and a growing skill set have all culminated in the ability to create a strong basis for a greater creative effort. Never abandon traditional hand skills and always maintain the ability to draw, be it on paper or on a digital pad. This cornerstone is the basis on which all other visual skills and tool sets are built upon. -Jonathan Myers, Illustrator

The Magic of Doodling: An Artistic Shorthand for Expression

Middle Earth Doodle by Jonathan Myers. All Rights Reserved

Doodling is one of my favorite past times. I was the kid who got in trouble for scribbling characters in the margins of my notebook in class, instead of paying attention. I have a kind of addiction to doodling and I honestly don't think it can be treated; nor do I want any help overcoming this need to scratch pictures on paper placemats in restaurants, on scrap paper at the doctor's office or in the corners of my bill stubs. For me doodling is like breathing and it has always allowed me to express my thoughts, feelings, dreams and ideas. I love doodling and I hope you'll learn to love it to.
Doodling is an art unto itself, where there is no such thing as criticism or rules. The purpose is always about noodling shapes into thoughts, until they form a coherent picture. They are a sort of linguistic shorthand for me, through which I can communicate with all kinds of human beings universally; despite language barriers, culture, politics, race, creed, faith and in many cases handicaps or illness. Doodles bring me joy and infect those who view them with child-like smiles. I started doodling as a child as a sort of therapy. I spent my early childhood bouncing through foster care and had a particularly gentle and insightful foster father named Michael Mutter who realized I was struggling emotionally with expressing what I was feeling inside. He gave me a stack of paper and introduced me to doodling. It was such a relief to get my inner fears and monsters out on paper and work out my personal troubles through scribbled lines, devoid of consequences or being judged. Later I was blessed to be adopted by two of the most loving parents a kid could ask for. They acknowledged that I had a real knack for doodling things and they actively encouraged it and guided me to pursue it as a life path. Of course the doodles got better and they evolved into sketches, then drawings and even paintings. However, doodling in its purist form is still my favorite art form and my preferred method of communicating what I think and how I feel. When I doodle I start with loose shapes and through those shapes I begin to see characters coming to life through the soft geometric lines. Those lines gain weight and clarity as I choose what form these characters will take and determine what features they will have. Animals, creatures, heroes, villains, objects and landscapes begin to appear as the world in my mind emerges in the two dimensional space of paper. The experience is still therapeutic to me all these years later and continues to hold me in its magic. Have you ever doodled? I encourage you to give it a chance and see how it can help you grow and learn as a human being. -Jonathan Myers, Illustrator

How do you grow as an artist and what does it require?

Dragon Slayer Doodle by Jonathan Myers. All Rights Reserved.

Folks ask me all the time about how much time an artist should commit to drawing and my answer is, "As much time as you can possibly squeeze in."


However, there are the realities of life such as a full time job, having a spouse, having children, house chores, everyday errands and demands etc. Life is dynamic and in truth time is an artist's most valuable commodity. Keeping this in mind we need to budget our time and use it wisely. So a truly intelligent response to the above question is, "Try to draw for one hour every day. Don't worry about what you are creating being good, stylish or world changing. Just focus on drawing and getting ideas out on paper. Create a routine, which with discipline will become a habit and eventually will become a way of life."


Now that we have given a reasonable answer I will go into further detail. Start your routine with one hour minimum, keep a sketch book with you at all times and make sure you have an understanding with your friends and family that this is your personal creating time. If you stick to this small bit of advice I guarantee you will see swift artistic growth and a quickening of your visual memory. Once you establish this 'way of life' you can begin to extend how much more time you would like to devote to your craft. Which brings us back to the initial question I was asked, "How much time do I, as a professional illustrator, commit to drawing?"


I devote anywhere from 3 - 5 hours daily to creating my art. I work a full time (40 hours a week) job, I am married and am the father of an eleven year old daughter; who is very involved in school and activities such as ballet, ice hockey and lacrosse. Time is the currency that is most valuable to me and it often requires sacrifice. I do not spend a lot of time watching television, playing video games or surfing the web. Instead I draw, paint, build and create. I do not hang out with lots of friends, instead I hang with my family who understands what I do and respects my determination to succeed in this area of life. This is the discipline that is required to excel in the competitive reality of freelance illustration on a creative growth level.


Is this the path for all artists? Of course not! I have made these sacrifices and choices as a deep personal commitment, but it is okay to enjoy your art as a hobby and not as a way of life. If art is something you merely enjoy doing and you want to grow at a casual pace, by all means draw for at least one hour daily. This will yield results and your artistic skills will prosper. Some of the best artists I know are hobbyists, they have no desire to be chained to a drawing board all day. Being stuck in this situation I can respect and admire the artisan who knows what he wants out of life and how much time he wants to invest in creating. Art of any kind be it visual, music, dance, acting, crafting etc. requires a certain amount of dedication, but does not necessarily require one to be a 'professional' in their chosen artistic form. Some go on to dance in the Royal Ballet, some dance in local theater companies and some simply dance for their own enjoyment.  Decide what you want out of life and pursue it with all your passion! -Jonathan Myers, Illustrator

Welcome to a blog covering the creation of artwork by illustrators, Jonathan and Lola Myers

Welcome to the Art of Jonathan and Lola Myers BlogSpot. We are imaginative illustrators with two decades experience creating art for games, children's books, novels, puzzles, comic books and film. We had heard from folks who like our work that they'd love to see a blog devoted just to what we a creating on the drawing board and journaling our process of creating, marketing and selling our artwork and projects. So, in response to these requests we finally bit the bullet and created our very first blog. This will hopefully give a better insight into how we make our art and what our creative approach to a given subject looks like. We hope to share an in depth look at what it takes to create an illustration or artist project from idea, to concept, to drawing and finally to completed painting. If you have an interest in illustration or our art process then this is the place to come and see what's on our drawing board. -Jonathan and Lola Myers