Brian Grazer for Hemispheres Magazine

THE CLIENT

Hemispheres Magazine/Ink Global

THE ASSIGNMENT

A full-page illustration of Hollywood super producer, Brian Grazer, for a Q & A feature about his new book, A Curious Mind. It is a book chronicling the conversations Mr. Grazer has had with some of the best and brightest minds on the planet, and what he has learned about the power of curiosity.

THE CHALLENGE

Reflect Brian Grazer’s distinctive style and personality, while communicating the theme of the article, which is his conversations with amazing people.

GETTING STARTED

I was very excited to receive this assignment, having admired Hemisphere Magazine’s stellar use of illustration, over the years. I was extra-excited after learning more about the nature of the article.

Brian Grazer is a partner, and co-founder, with Ron Howard, at Imagine Entertainment. Doing a Google search on Mr. Grazer will turn up the biggest names in show business. One day, he decided to seek periodic discussions with extraordinary people, all for the purpose of learning about them and their world. Over the years, these people have included, Steve Jobs, Andy Warhol, Carl Sagan, and Barack Obama, among many others. These conversations have fueled many of his creative projects, and, in the process, taught him about the hidden power of curiosity. In his new book, A Curious Mind, he shares insight to these conversations and what we can all gain by living a curious life.

Tracy Toscano, Art Director with Hemispheres Magazine, sent me a draft of the article, to help me get a feel for the tone and content. When doing a portrait, I like to get a clear grasp on my subject, in order to best portray him or her with authenticity.

My first step was gathering photos and searching YouTube for interviews, to hear him speak and observe his mannerisms. I learned that Mr. Grazer is not often shown, wearing a tie. He is also a creative, free spirit, with a great sense of humor. His trademark spiky hair is not only part of his memorable style, it helps to filter out people who can’t see beyond it. It’s a big part of his persona, and should be a significant part of the illustration.

One of the many projects with Brian Grazer’s name attached, is, A Beautiful Mind, for which he won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Picture. Because his book's title is influenced by this movie's moniker, I took an evening to see what else I could learn about him, from this film, as part of my research.

I took away some visual cues that I utilized in my sketches...

PRELIMINARY SKETCHES

My client wanted something, generally, head and shoulders. They also wanted to enhance the spiky hair aspect. In addition, they wanted to explore the possible superhero vantage point, to reflect his stature in his industry and the wisdom he has gained in his discussions.

I always like to cover the gamut and provide several options for my client. These were the preliminary sketches...





Light is magic. In this instance, I like how it draws attention to his hair and adds a graphic element. It’s a device I use for several of our sketch options. In case you are wondering, sketch #5 includes photos and writing superimposed in the sky, reflecting the many stories he gathered in his conversations. This visual device also loosely mirrors one used in A Beautiful Mind.

To help attain the right pose and light, I used myself as a model, as I often tend to do.



THE FINAL ART

My client chose sketch #3 — the smiling, conversational pose. They also wanted to be sure there was plenty of warmth, in the scene. I proceeded, making sure the lighting would provide ample opportunity to inject warm tones into the illustration.

I utilize a mixed-media approach, combining acrylic painting and Photoshop. It’s a technique that allows me to maintain a traditional, painterly look, while giving me unlimited control over every part of an illustration — color, tone, texture, and content — in a way that traditional painting cannot. Each aspect is manipulated, independently, and allows me incredible versatility, should a change be required, in either a client request or in my artistic vision. Several years, ago, a change would necessitate laborious re-painting. Today, it is a much more streamlined, exact approach.

Here is the Hemispheres article about Brian Grazer and his new book. It is well worth a read.

Many thanks to my representative, Paulette Rhyne, and to Hemispheres Magazine and Ink Global, for the opportunity to work with you on this wonderful assignment.




Allan Burch is an award-winning illustrator and portrait artist, providing solutions for editorial, book, advertising, and institutional projects.
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Amy Winehouse

If you haven't heard, Amy Winehouse passed away.

I am a huge fan of her work. She injected the type of emotion into her music that I aspire to with my own art. After you read this post, look for a particular video of her singing "To Know Him is to Love Him," live in the studio. It was a heartbreaker on July 22. She was found dead on July 23rd.

Much like my Lady Gaga piece, seen elsewhere on this blog, I wanted to paint her as an individual, like anyone you might see on the street. Someone you, the viewer can relate to, rather than a celebrity who lives on another plane of reality from you and me.

There are the hallmarks, present, that make her Amy, such as the dramatic eye treatment, tattoos, monroe, and mane of hair, but it's also just a beautiful human face, not far removed from you or someone you know.

I felt black and white was an appropriate palette, for its starkness and the way it forces one to consider the forms and marks without the added variable of color.

Plus, her style was very noir, dark, and moody. I thought black and white would reflect this, nicely.

A portrait of Amy wouldn't be complete without alluding to her troubled ways. I chose to do this through a sense of raw energy as well as fragility within the brush strokes.

A distant look in her eye rounds out the story.

RIP, Amy.

Allan Burch is an award-winning illustrator and portrait artist, providing solutions for editorial, book, advertising, and institutional projects.
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Michael Jackson

Young vs not-so-young.

Performer vs the person.

Decisions, decisions.

Michael Jackson is a very complex figure. How do I do justice to such complexity?

The answer, I believe, is in creating a deceptively simple composition, focusing on the man. Upon dissection, however, I hope one might see a whole host of complexities.

I contemplated illustrating the dancer. There would, indeed, be lots of potential for dynamic illustrations -- movement, lighting, emotion...all right there in any of the kinetic snapshots that were his live performances, videos, and stage appearances.

How about the latter-day MJ? I could exploit the face, no doubt. There are a multitude of stories under his skin. We all know them. If not, they are easily Googleable.

Plus, I'm coming from a place where I remember the spectacle of 1983-ish, when Thriller made him the king.

To me, that era Michael Jackson was Michael Jackson. Slowly, thereafter, he shed that skin, so to speak, and ceased to be that person.

Anyway, I wanted to do a portrait with that person foremost in mind. Yet, I had to include an allusion to his future self and the tribulations that would accompany him.

The guy above is circa late-80s, early-90s. He's starting to transition in appearance, headed toward the downward spiral, but still the young man of whom we took note.

The colors in this illustration are also simple. They are pretty flat, actually. The face has minimal rendering, the shirt is very much a basic red shape, the hair is a basic shape, and the background is a basic gray shape.

They have to be, though. The strokes are very complex. Countering the basics in color are very textured and raw strokes -- evidence of human intervention, and an echoing of the complexities that defined the man.

There is no way a complicated color scheme could have stood a chance. Believe me, I tried. Either the mark or the color had to take dominance.

The mark won.

The gray background speaks to the less-than-vibrant future awaiting him, but the brilliant Thriller red speaks of that which he is about to leave behind.

It's tragic and celebratory, at once.

Lastly, it's in the eyes.

Eye contact is important. We form connections with total strangers by making eye contact. Somehow, I feel like I learn everything about a person in that split second of contact.

As such, I thought it important the viewer be forced to look Michael in the eye while drawing his or her own conclusions about it all.

How much more complex can it get?

My thanks to illustrator, Becca Johnson, whose assistance and artistic input helped bring this illustration to fruition.

Allan Burch is an award-winning illustrator and portrait artist, providing solutions for editorial, book, advertising, and institutional projects.
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Lust Caution

Ang Lee is the 3rd portrait I've done for The Wall Street Journal's Hit List section. It's reproduced in color for the website and in grayscale for the weekend edition newspaper. I'm finding the unique challenges that come with these portraits are: doing something interesting in the strong vertical format, creating a definable edge for text to wrap, and making an illustration that will not turn into a gray blob when reproduced in grayscale on newsprint. With Ang, I tried a few things that I hoped would attain these solutions.

It all starts with the sketch and working out his pose. I set up my tripod and shot myself in a number of staged poses at various degrees of overhead perspective. Perspective is always interesting to look at and I thought it would allow me to get more into the alloted space as well as add interest. As I set my timer and ran back to take my position, I heard the click of my shutter about mid-stride. After the initial annoyance from wasting a shot had washed away, an idea hit me. I bet I could achieve some good candid-style pictures with immediacy and active energy by moving into or out of the frame and letting the pose happen. I liked the idea and took a host of shots with this mindset. The task then becomes taming the shots so I'm not flailing with arms askew as I race into the photo. I sufficiently tamed myself, and was rewarded with plenty of interesting vertical compositions.

As I'm working up my sketches, I'm also considering clean value patterns that are tilted toward opposite ends of the spectrum. An overall pattern that is somewhat graphic with strong discernible shapes is what I'm after. Only limited midtones and extraneous value that might push a newsprint illustration to mush. 5 sketches later, I had a nice selection of staged and unstaged poses to send for approval.

Lately, I've decided I need to get myself agitated, artistically, in order to loosen up and release any tension that might come from starting an illustration. Tension can be the death knell of one's painting. So, I popped in my most agitating CD and let the self-doubt evaporate as my earphones block out the world and the brushes, with a tension-free hand, agitatingly sculpt the red oxide across the board.

Of the portraits I've done for The Wall Street Journal, I think this one is my favorite. It achieves my goals, and I came away with some additional knowledge that I'll apply to future work—always signs of a successful experience. The Wall Street Journal folks are always great to work with, too.

detail


sketches



Allan Burch is an award-winning illustrator and portrait artist, providing solutions for editorial, book, advertising, and institutional projects.
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