GABEBRIDWELL.COM

1. what materials do you use? penciling: KOH-I-NOOR Rapidomatic .5mm mechanical pencil (my main workhorse) 3H lead- I like to keep my page very clean- no smudging Sanford Turquoise Lead Holder with 3H Lead- for feathering and filling in blacks Pentel Click eraser - for general erasing Helix Electric eraser - for percision erasing** Secret weapon! Ellipse templates and French Curves inking: Pigma Microns - most of what I use these days - 005, 1, 3, 5, 8 Raphael #2 Brush for filling blacks Speedball Super Black India Ink Hunt 107 & 102 nibs (not so much anymore) coloring: iMac Photoshop CS3 Wacom Tablet paper: 2-ply bristol board (strathmore 400 series) with smooth finish 2. how long have you been drawing? I was drawing as far back as I can remember. When I was three or four years old, giant Star Wars panoramics covered every scrap of paper I could get my hands on. I drew and doodled through school and college, but didn't really start drawing "seriously" until I was 22 or 23. Artists aren't born with any more "talent" than anyone else. Everyone draws as a kid. The only thing that separates artists from all the other kids out there is that we just never stopped drawing. 3. did you go to an art school? Yes I did. It took me a few years to get there, but I graduated from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in 2002. The same school I now teach Layout and Design at. My three years at the school couldn't have been better and was one of the most important, life-changing experiences of my life. I learned SO MUCH and made some of my best friends for life there. I highly recommend going to an art school if you can afford one. Be aware though, that if you're more into comics and illustration and head to your local university or community college, you'll probably face lots of resistance toward the type of work you want to do. It can be a very frustrating experience and many artist's horror stories about art school are based on differing viewpoints between the student and the establishment of the school. Do your research and pick the school that's best for the type of work you'd like to do. I'm always more than happy to answer any questions people might have about the Kubert School, so feel free to email me. 4. what books do recommend to improve my art?** A good library is an artist's best friend. It's not necessary to memorize a book in it's entirety before you start applying it's ideas and principles to your work. Instead, keep them handy and call on them as certain problems arise. You'll never "know" everything about drawing/painting/coloring etc. but knowing where to look for the answers you seek is a huge step in your progression as an artist. Keep in mind though, that just having books doesn't make you a better artist. You wouldn't think that needs to be said, but some young artists think that's enough. Books are great for giving you new bits of insight and a deeper understanding of core principles, but reading is no substitute for doing.
the new encyclopedia of modern bodybuilding by arnold schwarzenegger	anatomy for the artist by sarah simblet	strength training anatomy by frederic delavier
visualizing muscles by john cody	the human figure: an anatomy for artists by david k. rubins	playboy magazine
the animator's survival kit by richard williams	the dc comics guide to coloring and lettering comics by mark chiarello and todd klein	comic book lettering the comicraft way! by richard starkings
perspective for comic book artists by david chelsea	Designing with Type by James Craig	Story by Robert McKee
Screencraft Series - Cinematography	Screencraft Series - Costume Design	Screencraft Series - Editing and Post-Production
Screencraft Series - Production Design
5. do you have any advice that might improve my art? The four things I would stress to anyone looking to improve their artwork are: - observe the world around you constantly - draw draw draw - push your abilities further than you think they can go - believe in yourself The first step in becoming a better artist is to start paying more attention to every detail of life that passes you by. Study everything. Study how people move, how they react, their posture. Study the pattern of leaves on trees, how they cluster together, or how they cover the ground in a forrest. Notice how there are water towers on every building in New York that's over 6 stories tall. The more you develop your eye, the faster you'll feel yourself improving as an artist. Draw, draw, draw. There are very few people in this world who can just pick up a pencil and have magic come out of it. It takes years and years to become a "good" artist, and many more to make a "great" one. Those that fall into either category are often times just the artists who haven't given up on the impossible dream. I can remember while I was in school, editors would say to me, "Your work isn't bad, you're getting there. Keep at it and in another three years you'll be there." "THREE YEARS!?", I thought to myself. "That's a lifetime!" Turns out, three years was about right. About right for me to reach that next level as an artist, not for me to graduate to being a "good" artist. Even now that I've attained a level of competency as an artist, with "great" being a lifetime away, I still think in terms of three year blocks. With another three years worth of work, I'll take another small step as an artist. Then another three. And another. Draw, draw, draw. If you want to improve as an artist, you need to push yourself with every piece you do. When you start a new piece, your ambitions should be greater than your abilities. Don't ever play it safe or go through the motions. Strive to create something great. Even if your abilites aren't up to par, reach for the stars, and push yourself to catch them. Study. Research. Work. Put the time and the effort, the blood and the sweat into it. You'll soon find that at the end of every piece of work you do, you are a better artist than when you began. And that's all you can ever hope to acheive. My final bit of advice is to believe in yourself, because no one else will. Every artist, and I mean EVERY artist, goes through a crisis of faith. Some go through it every couple of months. Hell, some go through it every day. Glenn Keane, Adam Kubert, Norman Rockwell, Egon Schiele, John Romita Jr., Travis Charest, Hayao Miyazaki, Adam Hughes, Howard Pyle - they all have/had their moments of doubt. "No way, really?"you say. Absolutely. Artists who make it look so easy we believe that it must be. We see that finished masterpiece that puts a sparkle in our eye. We don't see the hours, months and years of exhausting work they put in to reach that level of artistry. Twenty years of sweat just to build the chops capable of producing work of that caliber - and EVEN THEN they still doubt themselves as artists. You have got to believe in yourself. In the idea that if you keep busting your ass, you will get there eventually. The words I live by as an artist: You're never as good as you think you are, and you're never as bad as you think you are. Those words will save your life. 6 . how long does it take you to draw a page? Usually in the neighborhood of 12-20 hours to pencil a page I'll be proud of. My "old" philosophy of drawing was, anytime I came across something in an illustration I wasn't sure how to handle, I'd stop, study and research it. I've discovered that as certain things related to drawing get easier, a deeper understanding of other areas opens up, and any time you might've saved from getting better at one area, is poured into another. Instead of time researching how to do something, now it's time working through the best way to do it. 7 . who are your influences? I've had a very visceral response to all hand drawn artwork since I was a child. Regardless of genre or medium, if it's drawn well, I eat it up. Without a doubt, the single biggest influence on my work is the Capcom Design team (in particular, Bengus, Edayan, Ikeno, Kinu Nishimura and Akiman). I absolutely WORSHIP everything that Bengus and Edayan have done. If there's an artistic compass I navigate by, it's theirs. The comic artists I read growing up that still really influence me were Walt Simonson, Joe Quesada, Howard Chaykin, Adam Kubert, Simon Bisley and Joe Madureira. More recently it's been by Andrew Robinson, Paul Pope, Ashley Wood, Tommy Lee Edwards, James Jean, Sergio Toppi, Jamie Hewlett, Travis Charest, Jimmy Cheung, J Scott Campbell, Duncan Rouleau, Adam Hughes, Jason Pearson, Ed McGuinness and Chris Bachalo. Illustration almost begins and ends with Bernie Fuchs, JC Leyendecker, Egon Schiele, and Gustav Klimt. In animation, I keep going back to Chuck Jones (with Friz Freiling and the WB crew), Giant Robo, the Lupin the Third OAVs, FLCL and anything Brad Bird touches. In Film, it's all about Michael Mann and Jean-Pierre Jeunet as directors, Star, Wars, James Bond and Indiana Jones as formative films and Ken Adam, Nigel Phelps and Stuart Craig as the gods of Production Design. Checkout my current favorites in my bio section above. 8 . what are your comission rates? really don't do commissions anymore. It ends up taking me FOREVER to get them done, and I feel bad leaving people hanging, so I don't like doing them. If you really want something from me, just find me at a convention and I'll be more than happy to do something for you there. 9 . will you draw my comic for me? Probably not. I work hard to keep my schedule full, so I don't usually have time to take on any new projects. That being said, I'll always listen to any offer someone wants to make.