Featured Artist

Posted by norcalgag.

Bardo

Kraken ©Bardo 2011

What is your background?

In high school I took a gamble and went to a start-up charter school, the Marin School of Arts and Technology. The name was slightly deceiving since we only had an art teacher the first year, but the project-based curriculum was very open and lent itself well to creativity. Over a couple summers I supplemented my formal art education with classes at the Academy of Art University. I also took a3D intro course there as I was interested in the video game industry. I scored an art internship at Toys for Bob, a local video game company owned by Activision/Blizzard. I worked there during my breaks while I was going to SCAD where I majored in Illustration. I have also been experimenting with sculpture, furniture building, jewelry, web design. I want to do things involving fire, metal, and light. I am currently working full time at Toys for Bob as an Environment Artist and experimenting/doing freelance projects on the side.

Green Hare Packaging ©Bardo

Wolves ©Bardo2011

What is your technique?

I combine digital and traditional to get the tactile organic look I want while having a degree of speed and flexibility. I normally use graphite or ink to do the black and white drawing. The line art and most of the rendering is resolved at this point. Depending on the use and composition of the drawing I may have the image split into separate drawings to be layered. The black and white gets scanned and arranged, and colors, adjustment layers, textures are added. Having everything on separate layers here makes it easier to make changes based on clients’ requests.

Beowulf Cover ©Bardo2011

Event Horizon Film Poster ©Bardo2011

Zombie Prom ©Bardo2011

What is your involvement with the Guild?

I first learned about the Guild when I was taking a Self Promotion class for Illustration at SCAD and we used the GAG Ethics & Pricing book. I want to be more involved in creative rights, knowing what the expectations are from clients and artists, being educated enough to inform others and conduct my business wisely. When I came back to the Bay Area I found there was a chapter here. The first event I went to after joining was a summer potluck. Tamales and cupcakes were eaten, business cards were exchanged, and new faces were met.

Bike Ghost Light ©Bardo2011

Edward Lear Rabbits ©Bardo2011

Mutant Warrior ©Bardo2011

Do you have a favorite client story?

My first client story started as a contest in high school making logo sketches for a catering company. The winning artist would be selected to do the final logo and get some cash. I somehow managed to get in contact with the company and bypass the entire contest part, which disgruntled some of my peers. After a week or so of sketches and revisions, I had 3 logo ideas that I thought were quite clever and looked good. I also had one that tried to fit an exact description of what they had in mind; it looked the worst. Of course, they ended up choosing the worst looking one. 4 years later I’m driving through town and see the horrid final logo emblazoned on the side of a building. I shudder. The moral of the story: don’t send sketches of a drawing you don’t want to complete.