CGSociety

Visual style
Church describes his visual style as coming from a desire to be able to rapidly but accurately portray his design: “I love paintings that convey a lot of action and motion and depth; paintings that pull the viewer in and allow them to participate. Composition is key, leading the viewer's eyes across and into a painting while implying drama. I tend to like illustrations where detail is indicated rather than completely resolved, giving a very accurate but still fresh and painterly result.”

Church’s artistic progression started with drawing and sketching. He then got into painting, using mainly gouache and acrylic. “All through school and early in my professional career I honed my traditional media skills and learned different rendering techniques”, he explains. “By the time I started working, computers were getting faster and cheaper and it soon got to the point that the benefits of digital illustration far outweighed the negatives in the work environment (even for personal projects).”

Church’s style is also driven by the demands of his work environment: “Most of my work these days is done fairly loose and very quickly, which is dictated by my tastes and by the requirements of my daily job. I definitely like to differentiate the design of the 'object' (3D) from the design of the 'illustration' or 'shot' (2D). You can have a great design portrayed in a boring or sterile way and you can do a beautiful painting of the most mundane subject. The absolute best case comes when you have a great painting of a great design, that's what I constantly strive for.”

Inspiration
Church’s personal inspiration comes mostly from his childhood experiences: “I think I must be a bit less impressed by things these days. When you're young, you're so easily impressed! When I'm faced with a particularly challenging assignment, I think back to a movie I watched or a toy I played with or something I saw in a museum that affected me and I try to distill and capture my impression of that experience. A great part of my job is that I'm designing and painting scenes and objects I've had in my head since I was a kid.”

Church believes that in order to get inspired for a project you just have to keep your mind fertilized with stuff you're into. “My favorite subject matter continues to be portraying aircraft in their natural habitat, as varied and beautiful as that can be. Other than that, I'm not really too picky: industrial design, architecture, and the natural environment are all things I love to design and render. Dramatic and exciting 'filmic' moments are a lot of fun to come up with; you have to be pretty creative to illustrate movement, drama and mood in a still 2D image. Of course the most fun comes from the most freedom. My favorite part of any job is coming up with something new and fresh; a variation or concept that nobody has ever seen or thought of before. It's great to be able to create like that and share it with others through an illustration. I consider myself a designer first and illustrator second, and artist a distant third. Being able to create something and render it from any angle as an exciting image is a joy.”

Church’s interest in aircraft, industrial and automotive design, and natural forms help his designs 'make sense' and exist in some sort of reality. “Vehicles are my primary interest as a designer”, he explains, “but film production design mainly deals with environments and architecture which are great subject matter for any illustration. My earliest, most powerful inspirations were the designs of Syd Mead, Joe Johnson and Ralph McQuarrie. I got to know their work early and it just kind of seeped in. This industry wouldn't be what it is today without them.”

The digital medium
Though he honed his artistic skills in traditional media, Church currently does almost all of his artwork digitally: “I do keep a sketchbook though and I'd love to get back into traditional media for personal projects (when there's more time!). For me digital artwork is faster and much more flexible and allows you to be far more experimental with illustrations. You almost never have to fight the media like you do with traditional paintings. Sitting at a fast computer with a large monitor and a large tablet running a good program is as close as I've ever gotten to the seamless transmission of my mind's idea to the page.”

Church admits that digital media does have its drawbacks: “I doubt the computer will ever have the ability or finesse to truly capture some of the specific joys of traditional painting: the feel of brush on canvas, stuff like that. Printing and display technology can't quite generate a permanent and substantial finished product yet, compared to a nicely framed large oil painting. But a different kind of joy comes from the ability to so quickly and limitlessly create on the computer.”

“It's really important to remember that a computer is just another tool for creating images”, adds Church. “It won't help you be a better painter, although it can get you there quicker. Drawing and painting skills are learned through tons of practice. A knowledge of perspective, composition, color, and material indication are essential for any artist no matter what tools they use.”

Preparing for the industry
Church is passionate about the industry he is a part of: “This is a great industry to be in. It continues to grow and reward those with talent and good ideas. One of the great things about it is that it's so competitive, with so many great ways to do things and create images. The advice I always give is to practice all the time, learn the fundamentals, and recognize your bad habits or weaknesses and try and address them as soon as possible. There's so much great artwork out there it's easy to judge your skill level.”

Church also emphasizes the importance of artists doing what they love and presenting only their best work: “The quality of work an artist presents is extremely important. I can scan a 20-page portfolio in about 15 seconds and I can tell everything I need to know about the skill level, creativity and professionalism of the designer. The work either grabs me or it doesn't; it's either fresh or it isn't. There's no amount of hand waving or excuses that can help or hinder the artwork once it's presented. The lesson is to present your best work, be professional but persistent, and always draw or paint what you love because it shows.”

Sharing the experience: Gnomon DVDs
With his talent and experience, Church is often called upon to make presentations and teach his techniques: “I get a lot of emails that ask how I work. I have done many short demos for classes and presentations, but the best way to reach a larger audience is via DVD; the format allows me to take my time and show subject-specific techniques.”

Church in conjunction with The Gnomon Workshop will release a series of five training DVDs in January 2004. Each of the DVDs will have two hours of real-time demonstration and discussion of techniques that Church developed and uses on the job on a daily basis, from setting up the digital workspace to design, composition, perspective, drama, and everything else that goes into the creation of a production illustration. “The lessons show how to bring traditional skills to the computer as well as lots of methods to exploit the tremendous advantages of working digitally”, adds Church. “They are for anyone who wants to learn the way I work and to gain insight into the process.” [CGN]