Speaking of Sam Weber, or, MicroVisions 3

I seem to be popular these past seven or ten days. Sam Weber and Dan dos Santos stopped by. Sam was dropping off his MicroVisions 3 painting, and it's to die for.

MicroVisions is a student scholarship fundraising auction. Each year, Dan and I ask a handful of sf/f artists to create a 5x7 painting. These are exhibited at the Society of Illustrators and then auctioned on eBay. 100% of the proceeds are put into the Society's scholarship fund.

(I really didn't mean to get into this but my fingers seem to keep typing...)

Seen here, MicroVisions 1 and 2. The third exhibit and auction will go up in June. A few paintings are done already. Once a few more are in, I'll start showing them off.

This year, our extremely generous crew includes:
Daren Bader
Jason Chan
Erik Gist
Joe Jusko
Nic Klein
Todd Lockwood
Glen Orbik
Yuko Shimizu
Shaun Tan
Sam Weber

Scott Altmann’s MicroVisions

Scott Altmann manages to be both pretty and its opposite, in his MicroVisions. I keep trying to look away,...and then I get sucked in for a closer look.

All the MicroVisions paintings will be in display at the Society of Illustrators throughout May. We'll have details on the auction in about two weeks. Anyone is welcome to buy them all for me.

MicroVisions 5. Or, The Return of 5x7!

Think small.

Each year, Dan Dos Santos and I organize “MicroVisions”, an exhibit and auction to raise money for the Society of Illustrators’ student scholarship fund. Over the past four years it raised $20,000.00 which was given directly to students displaying exceptional promise in illustration.

I am proud to announce this year’s line-up of participating artists. I cannot thank these guys enough for dedicating their time and talent to this endeavour. To carve out time for anything beyond work and family is not a trivial thing to ask, so, applause to:

Scott Altmann
Scott Bakal
Rick Berry
Bill Carman
Jon Foster
Donato Giancola
Michael Kaluta
Tim O’Brien
Omar Rayyan
Jordu Schell
Allen Williams
Boris Vallejo

Bravo guys! Rest assured, the students really appreciate the support these scholarships represent.

The works will be on display at the Society beginning April 26th. Painting and auction updates as I get them.

RELATED: Past MicroVisions here.

MicroVisions 4, auction is live

Any, we're off! The fourth annual MicroVisions auction is up and running.

Check it out on eBay:
MicroVisions 4
And bid, bid, bid!

These are 5x7 paintings created by the field's leading illustrators and comic book artists. All proceeds go to the Society of Illustrators student scholarship fund. They are kept small so that the artist have fun doing them and to make them affordable by casual collectors.

A huge thanks to teh participating artists:

Welsey Allsbrook, Volkan Baga, Chris Buzelli, Justin Gerard, Greg Manchess, Paolo Rivera, Luis Royo, Greg Ruth, Francis Vallejo, Michael Whelan

As it happens, the Society's scholarship exhibit is having it's opening night gala Friday, May 8th. Every year I am blown away by the incredible talent this show pulls together. I'm very excited to be meeting this year's students -- it's never very long before you start seeing some of their names out in the professional world.

Justin Gerard's MicroVisions

It looks like this is Justin's MicroVisions contribution. I only question it because the nut did four of them! And he's taking votes on which to submit.

MicroVisions in Spectrum!

Congrats to Adam Rex, Jon Foster, Vincent Di Fate, and Boris Vallejo. Their mini paintings from the MicroVisions student scholarship fundraising auction have been selected to appear in Spectrum 14. I’m thrilled to see their efforts continue to live beyond the auction and the students that will benefit from it.

Bill Carman’s MicroVisions

Bill Carman gets the gold star for being the first artists done with their MicroVision. Hurray. And he has set the bar high.

Thank you, Bill!

I love that his paintings suggest some kind of strange narrative but are never spelled out. Instead, the we are left playfully wondering, what on earth is going on there.

I haven’t sen the original yet but he’s tells me it is painted on copper — I can’t wait to get a hold of it, if only for a short while.

This painting, and a dozen others, will be up for auction in early May. More about this year’s MicroVisions auction here.

RELATED:
Interview with Bill Carman here.

Allen Williams’ MicroVisions

Allen Williams just emailed me his contribution for the MicroVisions auction. And now I am getting very excited about this mini-exhibit.

Allen created the painting voted “Most Likely to be Stolen by Irene” at the first Illustration Master Class. I love his ability to know just when to push and pull edges — creating images that are both detailed and highly ethereal. He’s one of those painters that I wish I could step into their eyes and see the world as they see it.

Allen has been writing (damn, overachiever ;-) and illustrating a series of kids book for Little Brown, due out next fall. I’ve seen bits of pieces of the drawings and they look amazing. His blog, I just Draw, shows a few sneak-peaks.

Paolo Rivera's MicroVisions

Paolo Rivera, of Mythos fame, has just sent in his MicroVisions. Thank you, Paolo! It's a beaut.

This and nine other 5x7 paintings will be auctioned, via eBay, at the end of April -- all proceeds will go to the Society of Illustrators student scholarship fund. Full list of contributors here.

Ya'll should check out Paolo's blog, he shares lots of great process information - color studies, photo shoots, sculpture references....

MicroVisions 5 auction now live!

MicroVisions 5 auction is now live on eBay.
Opening bids start at $50.00.
Auction ends Wednesday, May 26th.

Each year, Dan Dos Santos and I ask about a dozen artists to create a 5x7 painting of their choosing. These miniatures are exhibited at the Society of Illustrators and placed on auction with all proceeds going to the Society’ student scholarship fund.

This year’s contributors pulled out all the the stops and created an amazing exhibit. A huge thank you to the artists that have given so generously of the time and talent: Scott Altmann, Scott Bakal, Rick Berry, Bill Carman, Jon Foster, Donato Giancola, Michael Kaluta, Tim O’Brien, Omar Rayyan, Allen Williams, and Boris Vallejo.

The Society Scholarships are among the illustrations industry’s toughest awards. Less than two hundred students are chosen to be in the exhibit from nearly 6,000 entries—about half of them earn cash awards. Not only do these awards help subsidize students financially, they also go a long way to boost the confidence of young artists (and their nervous parents) by proving their voices stand out amongst thousands of others. It’s never long before you start seeing the winners on their way to becoming the field’s biggest names—John Jude Palencar, James Jean, Tomer Hanuka, Dan Dos Santos and hundreds of others since the Scholarship’s inception in 1981.

For those of you in New York, the exhibit is on display at the Society of Illustrators through May 22nd.

MicroVisions Auction: Ending Tonight!

MicroVisions 3 auction will be closing at 9:00pm (eastern time) tonight. Last chance to get your bids in.

MicroVisions 3 Brings in $4,550.27

The ten 5x7 paintings sold for $4,550.72, ranging from $100.00 - $1,100.00 each. Thanks so much to everyone that bid, whether you won or lost you’ve helped but a smile on some as-yet-to-be-chosen art student’s face. And super thanks to the artists involved.

Dan and I already have a great start on a list of artists for MicroVisions 4 so, start saving your pennies.

MicroVisions 2

We got the first two MicroVisions paintings in and I am getting very excited about this show!

John Harris
Red Nose Studio

These 5x7 mini works, and nine others, will be up for auction on eBAy in June. All proceeds will go to the Society of Illustrators Student Scholarship fund. I’ll post details as the time draws nearer.

MicroVisions 4, the line up

Dan Dos Santos and I have organized an auction the past three years called MicroVisions. It features ten to twelve 5x7 paintings, drawings, and sculptures with all proceeds going to the Society of Illustrators student scholarship fund. The first three editions totaled over $16,000.00 raised for the scholarship fund.

This is the first of many "thank yous" I want to express to this year's contributors....

Welsey Allsbrook
Volkan Baga
Chris Buzelli
Justin Gerard
Michael Kaluta
Greg Manchess
Paolo Rivera
Greg Ruth
Francis Vallejo
Michael Whelan

Each of these guys will produce a small work of art that we will auction via eBay late in April. I'll be updating as we go.

And Because somebody has to be first, here you can see Volkan Baga's beautiful little painting. I'm holding the original right now and it's a stunning shinny thing. (I say this every year but it doesn't make it any less true: my "pay off" is that I get to live with these wee paintings for a few weeks....Ok, that and meeting all the students at the exhibit and seing how excited they are.)

MicroVisions: The Bidding is On!

Buy art and double your money!

The third annual MicroVisions auction is now open. Dan Dos Santos and I asked ten artists to create a 5x7 painting of their choosing. These minis are on exhibit at the Society of illustrators and, as of now, on auction on eBay. All proceeds go to the Society's student scholarship fund.

The SI Scholarships are among the industry's toughest awards. A little over 100 students are chosen to be in the exhibit from nearly 6,000 entries -- about half of them are given cash awards. Not only do these awards help subsidize students financially but they also go a long way to boost the confidence of young artists (and their nervous parents) by proving that their voice stands out amongst thousands of others. It's never long before you start seeing the winners out in the world and on their way to becoming the field's biggest names -- John Jude Palencar, James Jean, Tomer Hanuka and hundreds of others since the Scholarship's inception in 1981.

So! Bid often. Bid early. The reserve price is just $50.00. Bidding ends Monday, June 23rd, 9:00pm.

I've said it before, and I'll say it many more times: Huge thanks to the artists that have generously donated these works. (I owe you all many drinks.) A round of applause for:
Daren Bader
Jason Chan
Erik Gist
Joe Jusko
Nic Klein
Todd Lockwood
Glen Orbik
Yuko Shimizu
Shaun Tan
Sam Weber

Seen here are Sam Weber, Glen Orbik, and Nic Klein's offerings.

Donato Giancola’s MicroVisions

Anyone following Donato Giancola’s website closely has seen a few new Lord of the Rings drawings and paintings. That’s because he’s working on what sounds like a dream job, a Tolkien inspired art book for Underwood Books (the publishers of Spectrum.)

Donato took advantage of the time spent on MicroVisions to creat this portriat of Dwarf Telchar forging Aragorn’s sword, Narsil, which will also appear in th ebook.

I’m getting so excited to see this little show. It will be on the walls at the Society of Illustrators starting April 27th. The auction will be the first or second week of May — stay tuned for details!

MicroVisions Raises $4,000.00

The MicroVisions auction ended a few hours ago. Eleven wee works of art raised $4,000.00 for the Society of Illustrators' Student Scholarship Fund. Individual works went from $100.00 - $700.00. I was lucky enough to walk off with one myself: Eric Fortune's exquisitely painted and very funny robot assassin. (Note: that's not a sword she's wielding...)

The SI Scholarships are among the industry's thoughest awards. Only about 100 students are chosen to be in the exhibit from over 5,000 entrees -- about half of them are given cash awards. Not only do these awards help subsidize students financially (and possibly allows them to dine on something other than ramen noodles for a time or two) but they also go a long way to boost the confidence of young artists by proving that their voice stands out amongst thousands of others. Many past winners have become the field's biggest names -- John Jude Palencar, James Jean, Tomer Hanuka and hundreds of others since the Scholarship's inception in 1981.

All of which is a very long winded way to say: Thanks to all the artists for giving up their time (a few of which had been past scholarship winners) and thanks to all those that bid. Even though you may not get to see it, next year some student will have a large grin on their face because of you.

MicroVisions 7 Contributors Announced

MicroVisions 7 has begun and it’s a stellar line-up.

For those new to the event, each year Greg Manchess, Dan Dos Santos, and I ask a dozen artists to create a 5x7 painting of their choosing. These miniatures are exhibited at the Society of Illustrators and then placed on auction with all proceeds going to the Society’s student scholarship fund.

This year’s contributors are:

Scott Bakal

Julie Bell

Scott Brundage

Brian Despain

Nathan Fowkes

Rebecca Guay

Scott Gustafson

John Picacio

Dan Dos Santos

Peter de Seve

Chris Rahn

Terryl Whitlatch

The exhibit will run in May, with the auction taking place late in the month. Details will be posted as the event draws near.

The Society Scholarships are among the illustrations industry’s toughest awards. This year, over 8,000 entries weher examined by 25 judges. Just over 200 students will be accepted into the exhibit, and about half will earn cash awards. Not only do these awards help subsidize students financially, they also go a long way to boost the confidence of young artists (and their nervous parents) by proving their voices stand out amongst thousands of others. It’s never long before you start seeing the winners on their way to becoming the field’s biggest names. John Jude Palencar, James Jean, Tomer Hanuka, Dan Dos Santos and hundreds of others have become noted illustrators since the Scholarship’s inception in 1981.

Once again, I would like to thank the artists involved for heir generosity. The illustration community is incredibly supportive. Not every profession would donate time and energy into supporting their future competition.

MicroVisions 4

MicroVisions 4, lookin' good.
The eBay auction starts May 2 and runs to May 9th. I'll re-post over the weekend when we have a direct link to the auction.

Jon Foster’s MicroVisions

...and the cow jumped over the moon-girl.

Mr. Jon Foster, always an Art Department favorite.

This MicroVisions is becoming insanely good. I have to thank all the artists, again, for being part of it
.
*wondering what the inbox fairy will bring me next*