Illustration Master Class 2011 - Day 1

Let the IMC begin! Day 1 was a flurry of activity (actually, everyday at the IMC was a flurry of activity - I just didn't know it yet!). Most of the day involved small group sketch/drawing critiques with the instructors. When not in critique you had time to get your studio work space set up. It was encouraged to sit in on as many critiques as you could since listening to the instructors talk about other student's work was incredibly insightful because many times the areas of improvement could also pertain to your own work. Before all this though, the day began with a welcome address and introduction of the faculty...

The auditorium was packed with eager students as Rebecca Guay prepared to begin the 2011 Illustration Master Class.

This year's faculty were equally eager to begin the week.

There were three faculty groups critiquing and each group had three separate groups of students they would talk to through out the day. I picked the first group of the day and my instructors were Rebecca Guay, Greg Manchess, Julie Bell and Iain McCaig - a little intimidating, but I knew I would get a good critique. They got right up to my piece and we had to stop and break for lunch. I went to lunch anticipating having to start over completely with my drawing. I learned SO much watching all the other critiques leading up to my own - I was left with a head of changes that my drawing could very much use.

With a full stomach the faculty jump into critiquing my piece. Greg Manchess had us all laughing, I think he was going to use my piece as an example of not having a clear story illustrated in my drawing... and in doing so, he nailed the narrative I was going for on the head. The faculty had a lot of minor thing I could do to really push my drawing to the next level. Overall it was really well received and I was given some really helpful advice. Apparently all my worrying and fears up till now were a complete waist of time!

I checked out the other critique groups as the afternoon went on. It was a good opportunity to get my thoughts together as I prepared to move forward on my revisions and to get a feel for how the other instructors talk about work. Here we see Adam Rex, Dan Dos Santos, Boris Vallejo and Irene Gallo talking about a students piece in the first floor studio.

The extremely energetic and animated Iain McCaig put on a great welcome lecture in the evening. Actually, everything Iain did all week was great and very energetic and animated. He has a million stories, tremendous advice and amazing skill at both art and teaching.

As the evening turned to night I got to work on my drawing revisions. I had a bit to digest and needed a little time to get my thoughts together. So much new stimulus and ideas coming at me all at once. More on the drawing and revisions later!

That is all for today, Day 2 coverage will be up on the blog tomorrow! Until then...

For more samples of my work or to contact me regarding my availability head over to my website: www.christopherburdett.com