Stan: This video is sponsored by Squarespace.
If you're looking to build your art portfolio website or online store to sell your work,
check out Squarespace. They have marketing tools and analytics so you can build a beautiful
online presence and run your business. [music] Stan: Did you have an art mentor? Sanford: I did, uh, Tyrone Geter. Uh, when
I went off to college, he basically showed me how to illustrate. I was drawing comics,
I drew from comics and he says, "well, your stuff is good but you don't understand anatomy
and it's because you're drawing from a comic book and you're honestly drawing from someone
else's interpretation, not from the literal depiction of the form". Like drawing from
the actual figure and that's what he taught me, drawing from the figure so that I can
come up with or discover my own voice and be able to create my own visual style from
that point. Once I learned the - the foundation, the rules, I was then able to elaborate that
and create the style because style is nothing more than interpretations from the grounded
information. Stan: How did you get him to mentor you? Sanford: Well, he's was my teacher, so - Stan: Oh, okay, it a class result? Sanford: Yeah. I paid for that. Stan: You paid for the mentorship? Sanford: Yes, exactly. Stan: Perfect. Sanford: Yeah. Stan: Did you have an art mentor? Eliza: I've had mentors over the years. So,
back in the day when I was starting out, I took some classes in a private like art studio.
And my mentor then his name is Garo Muradian back in Bulgaria, so that was like a long
time ago. He helped me with foundation, so it was like taught me all the stuff about
academic drawings, that was initially, my goal was to be a professional painter in Bulgaria,
go to an art academy in Bulgaria . And then when I decided to go with animation I had
amazing mentors at school and I tell mentors, I mean, professors who are really influential,
I would call that a mentor. Like someone who you just know is a positive influence on your
work. There I studied under Mike Mitchell and Cornelius Cole who are incredible. Again,
if you are not familiar with their work, please check them out. Mh-hmm, are you laughing,
this is not funny this is serious talk. Stan: Nice. Eliza: And he broke my chain of thought. Stan: He broke your chain of thought. What
animated world would you wanna live in? Eliza: Anything Miyazaki. Anything with just
delicious animated food, oh my goodness, please, take me there. Stan: Nice. Did you have an art mentor? Peter Han: Oh, yeah. It's not even just a
art mentor, it's mentors in general. You know that word of mentorship, I actually don't
take very lightly. So when I have students or people coming up to me asking "will you
be my mentor?", I actually say "no, I can't do that for you" because the word of mentorship
is deeper for me than just you know, structuring a student. It's a relationship that you build
with an individual with a common understanding of what we can bond to as humans and people.
My mentors have been more than just artists, they've been people like language teachers,
just instructors, just people in everyday. So I have had mentors ever since like high
school and every year from that point, I've always connected to somebody. And my biggest
mentor was from ArtCenter, Norm Schureman was my last mentor before he passed away.
He was actually killed in 2010 and that's why ArtCenter came to me asking if I would
take over his legacy and continue the class that I teach now which has been 10 years.
So, the mentor honestly is a very important aspect and I'm sure many of you and students
realize that, but is not a common everyday occurrence. And I understand, um, how difficult
it is to find people like this, so I don't take it for granted. I also understand how
important that part of it. So, I don't let it go and that's why I'm giving back now,
I'm in the position to like help people but at the same time, when people are requesting
it, I don't do it. It's more of a natural connection that has to happen and I'm willing
to then give that time to that person, I actually believe in that part. Stan: Nice. [music] Stan: Did you have an art mentor? Collin: No, I didn't. I kind of regret that
though. I guess I never found someone or I never had the courage to ask someone to help
me out. I think for a while, I was a little egotistical about it. I expected somebody
to see me and be great and then like I would make it sort of thing and that's not how it
works. There have been people making great art like before you, you know, whoever you
are, there's been people making better art before you and they have a lot of tips and
tricks that can like really save you a lot of struggle through the years. Stan: Did you have an art mentor? Pascal: I didn't really have an art mentor,
what I did have though, I had a teacher in school who was very inspiring because he was
so strict. He wasn't as much a mentor as like an eye-opener where it was the first time
I met someone who really considered art as a job and I love the fact that there was discipline
to it and when you were done you could leave, so that was one thing. And then when I started
working in the animation industry I work with those three guys, [?], David Daniels and Ray
DeCarlo. It was a startup company we were at and they were incredibly strong work ethics
people. They just worked really, really hard and they were not necessarily mentor but they
were definitely like people that just propelled me into like what I do today. Stan: Awesome, thank you so much, that was
great. Pascal: My pleasure. Stan: Did you have an art mentor? Sean Galloway: No. Stan: No? Sean Galloway: Yeah. Stan: Cool, that's fine, that's good. Sean: I mean, I look at everybody as a mentor
but passively, right? Stan: Yeah. Sean: That was the thing, I never wanted to
be kind of be a burden to somebody to be like that 'cause like when they're ready to talk
to me, then I'll let that be the gauge to the next level. Stan: Yeah, cool. Sean: My stuff can be found you know in Instagram
and Facebook but @Seangallowayarts on Instagram or tabletaffy_studios. Stan: Did you have an art mentor? T.J.: Yeah, I mean, I've had a few. You know,
you go through phases. Back when I was in like high school and the internet was young,
I came across this French artists who did kind of an anime style. I only know him as
Shauna, which you know, in Japanese is just like boy or whatever, you know it's - So it's
a very general name. I don't know what his actual name is, that was his username. Uh,
but he just did like this cool sketch, uh, manga-style comic of like a fantasy up in
G-world even before like Sword Art online and those kinda animes. So he was an influence
to show like here's this guy and I love the style and I started emulating that. Much more
recently you know, getting into concept art and illustration, I did a mentorship with
Anthony Jones. Stan: Cool, through like Patreon or? T.J: He's like on everything, every platform
at this point, but that was when he was just on YouTube and on Facebook and that's how
I came across him and then he advertised hey through Gumroad. He gave you kind of a loose
assignment to do based on things you wanted to do and then he'd help kinda direct you
through it and show you what the real industry process is like. That was my first experience
because up until then it was just me in a room making art and you know, convincing people
I was legit. He actually kinda gave a backbone to my process and everything, uh, while being
really good about not pushing his way upon you too much, just really helping you find
your way in a way that you can actually work with. Scott Flanders is one of my good friends
and he was also was a bit of like, uh, influence and mentor to me in a bit. I worked on uh,
a board game called, Dreadbound and that was my first experience doing like creature design
and he's all about creatures, he loves that stuff, he's at Riot too, of course, and we're
actually doing some sculpting project stuff together now, but he helped me through a lot
of that project and he's kind of you know, kept up with me to kinda like, we check-in
with each other and see how we're doing. So, yeah, those are the most like kinda handson
mentors I had. My name is T.J Geisen it's just like that on Artstation, I also go by
Geist Rock. Stan: Awesome, man, thank you. T.J: Thank you Stan: Thank you very much. T.J: It's an honor. [music] Stan: Did you have an art mentor? Cutter: Like I said before Moebius and my
teachers definitely, but I had one in college. I had one at ArtCenter, I was one of the last
guys to train under Burne Hogarth, who taught me to paint with a brush. He was extremely
interesting he was the hardest guy, severe personality. He'd come up behind people without
them knowing what they're drawing and grab their hand and go, "I said Blacker [beep]"
and just push the pencil through the paper and freak people out. But I wasn't scared
of the guy. And we used to lunches together. Every lunch on Mondays, that's when the class
was, nine-hour classes and I'd go do lunch with him. We'd talk about comic books and
gun control and all kinds of fun stuff and we'd argue and he was scary to everybody else
but to me, he was like very intelligent and very deep and he was really, really interested
in making people draw well. He really wanted to teach people, everyone. He wanted all of
his students to be able to draw better than him which is the hallmark of a very good teacher.
So, he was - he was fantastic and he, um, he never gave me much trouble we got along. Stephen: When I was doing caricatures at theme
parks, there was - the guy who hired me, his name is Dave Camish and he was a real mentor
to me as far as really introducing me the - the artist of Mad but showed me so much
work and he was the guy that really helped me. My mentor in that sense through work came
for me just being at school, I was just in the life drawing class and someone said, "Hey
they're, hiring caricature artist." I went then I applied that's how I got to know about
that during caricatures and through that, my boss ended up being my mentor. But the
thing I think, as far as finding mentors, I think the most important thing to do nowadays
is just ask. You know, there's a lot of professionals out there just offering this and can help
you and it's important to have professional eye-balls looking at your work to help get
to that next level. But if there's someone that you admire their work and you feel them
to be an expert, that's the best thing to do in regards to getting a mentor and just
ask. The worse they're gonna do is say, "no". Stan: Don't you mentor some people? Stephen: I do, yeah. Stan: Through Patreon or what? Stephen: No, just through Skype mentorship,
it's part of a class session that I do while I'm mentoring people. Where every Tuesday
I'll mentor people for about 30 minutes at a time. Stan: If people want to be part of that do
they just go in your website? Stephen: Yeah, yeah, if you wanna be a part
of it they just go into my website on silvertoons.com it's called face-to-face, it's in my classes.
I just do it on Tuesdays between 9 and 11 AM and people just meet with me just to uh,
from all over. Just to go over their portfolio, get some better direction or understanding
of their goals and their intentions of what they wanna do, but I think it's a very important
step in the process. Stan: Nice. What superpower would be most
useful to an artist? Stephen: Just speed, really, that way you
could just blow through any deadlines and just finish stuff and buy more time for yourself.
So you can just go - and you're done and is just like now you got the rest of the day
to do what you need. Speed. Stan: Nice, awesome, thank you. Stephen: Thanks, man. Bobby Chiu: Did I have a art mentor? Yes.
Actually, when I was starting off my career, I wouldn't get any good work uh, offers. In
one of my lowest points, I emailed a couple of my favorite artists at the time, one of
them was Dean another one was Stephen Silver. And Dean wrote back said some
really nice things, he's like, "keep going, you can do it", you know. My email was like
"should I give up? This is what I'm doing right now, do I have any hope?" And so that
was very nice to hear those kind words from Dean. And then Stephen Silver just wrote,
"Give me your number, I wanna call you." And he never called and so I felt quite depressed
but then two weeks later he did call. Stan: Oh, okay. Bobby: And he talked to me for over an hour
just telling me why it's all about the mindset, it's all about the - the passion and the motivation
that will get you past that finish line to becoming a successful artist. I really took
that to heart and at the end of the conversation, I told him "you know what, today you changed
my life, how could I ever repay you?" And he said, "You know, when it comes to a point
in your life when you can give back, give back to somebody else and we'll call it even." Stan: Yeah, invite me to Lightbox expo. Bobby: There you go. So, it's been my kinda
thing where I'm like going okay, well, now I'm trying to give back and if any of the
things that you get from Lightbox Expo or anything else that I might be involved in,
uh, helps you, I'd say give back to two other friends and we'll call it even, I guess. Spread
that positivity. Stan: nice. [music] Stan: Did you have an art mentor? Sean Andrew: One of my professors at Syracuse
University in the illustration department and his name was Bob Daisy, I do consider
him to be a mentor of mine. I did an independent study with him where I was doing like a graphic
novel, I was developing comic and he really helped me sort of through some creative hurdles,
I also had him for other classes. And Ian Miller is a mentor of mine but not because
you know, we - we talked or he knew who I was till much later in my career uh, but just
because of his work. I mean, I would sit with his illustrations for hours and hours. Stan: What do you think is the biggest thing
you got out of that mentorship? Sean: Bob encouraged me to not pull my punches
when I had an idea for something. Sometimes I might hesitate or think maybe that's a little
too weird or - or something like that and you know, he would always encourage me to
go for it, you know, like to push it further. A lot of times with creative endeavors, I
find that it always helps to go a little bit too far because chances are, you are maybe
overthinking things and people's visual knowledge and - and sophistication is constantly growing
and the things that people look for is something that is eye-catching and something that draws
them in, something that speaks to them. And I think if you're too timid about sounding
off with your voice, you're own personal voice, um, then you miss opportunities to really
draw people into your work. So, he really encouraged me to - to push the boundaries
beyond what I - I thought was acceptable. Stan: Did you have an art mentor? Chrissie: I did have an art mentor, my teacher
in college, his name is Jamie Franki and he actually designed like the nickel and some
points for the mint. He always had my back, he was always telling me, you know that just
keep doing what I'm doing and especially in art school, there were very like looking down
at illustration kind of and not really like promoting the comic book type of artwork,
it was more like the fine arts stuff and I was more into the illustrative stuff and he
always pushed me to go through with that and see what - where that will take me. And, um,
I'm really thankful for him to kind of like being - besides my parents who were always
very supportive, he was sort of like another parent figure for me, uh, in college and so
he really helped me kind of be where I am today. Lucio: The first mentor was my father because
he's an art teacher, sculptor, and painter. He's still now, every time I show him my work
he still tell me, "oh, this is wrong, so you have to change to this" or "you can make better".
And when I was a kid, I was very inspired by his art because he loves to do like surrealistic
stuff. And after him, I just studied by myself, so everything I did it by myself, I'm self
uh - Stan: Self-taught? Lucio: Self-taught, okay. Stan: Did you have an art mentor? Karl Kopinski: Uh, no, no, I've never had
an art mentor. Nobody's mentored me, I went to uni but they - I thought everyone would
go, oh, this guy is quite good at painting but in actual fact, they told me to do abstract.
Well, okay, tried it, hated it. I went way off the rails, grew dreadlocks, became a hermit,
came out the other side with a bit more kind of a drive. Stan: So that's what happened? Karl: Yeah. Stan: Okay. Karl: Yeah, there was this seven-year period
that I don't really remember, it's probably best I don't, really. And there's very few
photographs as well, no photographic evidence. Stan: What animated world would you wanna
live in? Karl: Animated world? Stan: Yeah. Karl: Quite like Adventure Time, looks a fun
place. I think I'd like to go there. [music] Stan: Did you have an art mentor? Phillip Tan: Yes, I worked for Todd McFarlane
for a while and he was the best teacher I ever got. I can’t say that I, you know,
his style is something that - that - that I tried to copy or learn but the way he approached
art is what really made him the best teacher I ever had because of - of how he sees art,
how he approaches art, how he adapts with art. I think I learned a lot from that, more
than just the specific like how to draw the hand or how to do certain things, it's this
attitude and the concept of how he approaches art. Yeah, so that's what I learned most from
- from Todd. And telling a story, you know, how to you know, effectively you know, give
a comic book experience to the readers and stuff like that. Stan: Yeah, how did you get that mentorship? Phillip: He was looking for the next artist
to take over Spawn nine-years-ago or eight-years-ago and Brian Harberlin the one who - who discovered
me in the first place was his editor-in-chief at that point and says, do you, you know,
do you wanna do it? It's a very good gig and Todd's a great teacher and you know, come
over and he was right, you know. And Todd is very vocal about what he wants to see on
the book and he would sit you down and say, "okay, this is how we do this, okay?", you
know, and - and it was - it was a great experience. Stan: Awesome. Did you have an art mentor? Brian Haberlin: I really didn't, I'm pretty
much self-taught. I was accepted at ArtCenter out of high school, some scholarships for
that but I knew - it's real hard back then, so this was like 80s, early 80s and a lot
of guys that came out of there kinda looked the same a little bit back then and I was
film school instead. So, my only - my only real art professional artist, Roger Hubbard
who is a well-known illustrator taught three classes at Loyola Marymount. I took all three.
He was one of those guys that - 'cause when you're trying to be an artist especially back
then 'cause there wasn't that much information around, you didn't know what pieces, how they
were done. What is this? Is this oil? Is this acrylics? Is these colored pencils? Is it
squash, what is this? And he was a guy that could take California workbook which used
to be old book that had go around, all the illustrators would have their adds in it.
I buld a hand in front of him open it up, "what's that? That's squash on matte medium
on illustration board. Great, okay, then you go play, right?" Okay, okay, this? That's
- that's hatch board with this kind of a quill, great. 'cause he was an illustrator and the
good thing about illustrators especially back then is you could do any technique, any style
because you were a professional illustrator, that's what you were hired to do. One day
you do cartoons, one day you do photoreal, one day you do Bernie Fuchs wash style and
he was just amazing for that. Stan: Do you maybe have advice for - for people
trying to find a mentor or maybe have you mentored people? Brian: Oh, yeah, there's plenty of people
who I've brought in the industry and trained. I was very lucky to start in comics at Armored
Studios. And Armored Studio was Top cow, Wildstorm all in one open-air plan studio. So, you had
the best of the best in that studio. So you could walk around and watch Scot Williams,
the best anchor in the world, right? You walk behind Marc Silvestri while he's penciling
a page. Walk behind Jim Lee while he's penciling a page, you know? And there was Joe Chiodo
who used to do the color guides for - most of image lines, super talented painter. I
learned so much from him and then I started to work with Todd McFarlane, I got to absorb
everything with Todd McFarlane. Greg Capullo was there when I was editor-in-chief and I
was - I got to suck in everything from Greg. So, it's really also about not being a jerk
and being able to go and hang out with people and them showing you stuff, you know? So a
lot of times people get too pushy with it and stuff like that. If you're patient and
you're not a jerk, just hang out and you know, be cool. I mean like these guys over here
are doing these great drawings and they wouldn't be angry if you said, "can I - can I watch
you draw?", they'll say, "yeah". And you can ask them what tools they're using, what paper
they're using, the whole nine yards. Stan: Who's your cartoon crush? Brian: Uh, Wilma Stan: From? Brian: Flinstones. Stan: [laughs] Why? Brian: I like redheads and she seems pretty
sensible and, you know. Stan: And what animated world would you wanna
live in? Brian: Herculoids, it was old school, gleep
and gloop old school Hanna-Barbera sci-fi. So, I wanna ride dinosaurs with Wilma at my
side. Stan: All right, thank you very much. Brian: Thank you. [music] Stan: State your name. Marshall: My name is Marshall Vandruff Stan: Occupation. Marshall: Art instructor. Stan: Where can they find your work? Marshall: Uh, in my website marshallart.com. Stan: All right, did you have an art mentor? Marshall: No I did not have an art - hey,
Cobby, get your face in here just for a moment. This is Cobby Tiherian one of the finest
human beings on the planet. He hates everybody, but he loves me. So that's why his love means- Cobby: He's the only one worth loving. Marshall: Yes. I hardly had an art mentor.
The closest person to an art mentor to me was not really my mentor, but he did give
me time, it was Drew Struzan. And Drew Struzan pointed me toward what I needed to learn to
become a better professional. And he did give me his time to say "here's what you should
master". It was technique, draftsmanship, anatomy and perspective and rendering, composition.
He was the one who clarified those categories of mastery. Stan: Did you study with him? Marshall: I spent a week with him in a workshop
and then he gave me time after that. When I was putting - when I was first a teacher,
put together the class drawing from the masters, Drew gave me advice on what should be in that
class. So yes, that's why I say he was the closest that I had to a mentor. Out of a total
of maybe six or seven hours of talking with him but it was very concentrated, over a period
of years. Stan: Nice. Did you have an art mentor? Erik Gist: I had a few but the biggest one
would be Jeff Watts. I still work for him and with him till this day, he's one of my
best friends. And for the last 25 years or so, 20 years, he's kinda been there with me
every step of the way. Even when we've not necessarily agreed on things, he's always
been there to support me and it's valuable to have someone that you look up to that also
supports you along the way and is more than a teacher but also a really good friend. Stan: For people who are looking for a mentor,
do you have any advice of finding one that's good? Erik: Ugh, man, finding a mentor? That's a
tough one because I think often it's something that happens organically. I don't know that
you can necessarily go out searching for a mentor. You can go out searching but it's
not necessarily gonna work out the way that you think it's gonna work out. Often, the
people that you admire for their work, you don't always admire them as people once you've
met them. Um, so it's a tough one. So I guess the goal would be, find the type of field
that you wanna go into, find someone who does it well and then amongst those people that
you find that do it well, find one that you resonate with and then you can get along as
much as friends, as co-workers and as teacher and student. It's like a marriage, I mean
it's a lot like a marriage. You know, just that initial attraction isn't enough, you
also have to find a deeper friendship in that if it's gonna be a long-lasting marriage.
Same way with a mentorship. Stan: What animated world would you wanna
live in? Erik: Venture Brothers. So, the Venture Brothers
world would be the one I'd wanna live in. Stan: I should have been able to guess that
one, you - you got a mentor. OK. Stan: Did you have an art mentor? William Stout: I had several art mentors.
While I was still in art school, I got hired by Russ Manning to work as his assistant on
the Tarzan, the Ape Sunday and daily newspapers strips. We also did three graphic novels together.
Russ was a very patient guy, he introduced me to Japanese prints. I was completely unaware
of Japanese prints until I started working for Russ. He was exposed to them when he was
in the navy and stationed in Japan. Not only did he teach me how to be a comic professional,
but, uh, he also showed me how to be a really good father. I observed the way he was with
his kids and I mean, it had a lasting effect on me. Another two guys that influenced me
were Harvey Kurtzman and Bill Elder. I was doing stories for CYCLEtoons and I did a story
that was sort of a tribute to Kurtzman, Elder, and Wally Wood. And when it was published,
I sent them copies of the magazine and I got a letter back from Harvey Kurtzman asking
me if I'd like to come back to New York to assist him on Little Annie Fanny for the Playboy.
And I learned an enormous amount from both Kurtzman and Elder. Frazetta was another mentor,
Moebius was a - was a powerful mentor. And I studied privately with Harold Kramer. He
was the head of the illustration department I studied privately with him for
over 20 years. I took figure painting with him but I also took landscape painting with
him and, uh, he had a nice policy, he let me bring in any projects that I was working
on and he would critic them. And he was one of the best critic instructors that I've ever
experienced. I always learned something from him and he always found ways to make my work
better. I tell my students that if I want someone to tell me my work is great, I show
it to my mom, she never fails. But it doesn't do me any good as an artist, it doesn't make
me a better artist. If you can find a peer that you respect and get their advice, boy,
that's gold, that's really fantastic. Stan: And I'm just curious, did you have any
mentors before you became a professional and started working in the industry or was it
people you worked with mostly? William: I didn't have any mentors before
I became a professional because I became a professional during art school. Now, Harold
Kramer, who I just mentioned was one of my, uh, best instructors. But the way I became
an artist is - is sort of interesting 'cause I was gonna be a doctor. I was a science math
major in high school but when I was in the 5th grade, my teacher caught me drawing in
class when I should have been listening and instead of punishing me, he said, "Do you
have any more drawings like that?" I think I was drawing some dinosaurs and the kid next
to me says, "Oh, you should see it, he's got a whole book of them. He's got books of monsters
and all kinds of stuff." And the teacher said, " Would you bring that book in so I could
see it?" I said, sure, I was just happy not to be in trouble for not listening. So the
next day I brought in, uh, the book, I guess he recognized my artistic talent and he began
to assign me extracurricular activities involving art. He'd, say, "Bill, I think the class needs
a chart of a human skeleton, could you draw that up for us?" So I was like, "Oh, yeah,"
and so I draw that up. "Bill, I think the class needs a chart of the human musculature
system." So I'd draw that up, cross-section with the human eye, cross-section with the
ear 'cause he knew I wanted to be a doctor. What I didn't realize is I was teaching myself
anatomy by doing that, so it was fantastic. I dedicated my first book to that teacher,
uh, my first dinosaur book. As part of the dedication, I said, "one man, can make a difference". Stan: Wow, that's cool. Being an artist, it does help to have an art
mentor to help you out and show you the ropes. One thing you won't need a mentor for is setting
up a website with Squarespace. Squarespace is a great way to get a professional
website up and running without the hustle of learning HTML and CSS coding. No matter
what level you're at getting your work online is the best way to jumpstart your career in
the industry. And Squarespace makes it easier than ever; letting you import your work directly
from Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms. Their sites automatically scale from desktop
to mobile viewers so you can worry about the art you're making and not the website formatting
issues. And Squarespace has 24/7 email support from actual humans in Squarespace's offices
who typically respond within one hour. Squarespace has a bunch of portfolio site
designs to give your webpage that professional look. So if all that inspires you to stop
procrastinating and start on that website you've always wanted, check out squarespace.com
for a free trial. And if you like what you see, go to sqarespace.com/proko to save 10%
off your first purchase of a website or domain. Thank you, Squarespace for sponsoring this
video and thank you to all the artists who shared the wisdom on the comic-con floor.
Do you have an art mentor? If so, how did you find them and do you have any tips for
other artists who are looking for one? Drop a line in the comments to let us know and
if you haven't done it yet, ring that bell icon and hit the "Like" button. It supports
the channel and helps other people see this video. We got one more of these videos left,
so check in next time.
