IMPACT co-authors Chris Seaman and Jim Pavelec both received high praise and awards for the awesome work they presented at Gen Con this year. Chris won Best in Show for his entire body of work, which means that he gets to judge the art show next year. Jim won third place for a Star Wars cover he created for Dark Horse earlier this year.

Jim and Chris along with Thomas Manning and Chuck Lukacs are the authors of Wreaking Havoc: How to Create Fantasy Warriors and Wicked Weapons. Jim and Chris also co-authored How to Draw Blood-Sucking Monsters and Vampires (available soon), and they are currently working on Ink Bloom (available in April 2010). More on their latest project will be coming out soon.

Chris and Jim at Chris’s booth.

You can see some of their award-winning art and follow their progress on Ink Bloom at their blog.

If you are interested in gaming, Gen Con is the place to be! Gen Con Indy has been going on for over 40 years and features some of the newest games on the market, sneak peaks at up-and-comings, and booth after booth of game-related FUN, and runs this year August 13-16, 2009.

The IMPACT staff will be walking the show floor on Friday, August 14, visiting some of our favorite IMPACT authors (Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, Bill O’Connor, Chris Seaman, and Jim Pavelec to name a few), and just seeing what there is to see. We hope to see some of you too!

Check out the new blog by Jim Pavelec and Chris Seaman, two of the authors of the 2008 release, Wreaking Havoc: How to Create Fantasy Warriors and Wicked Weapons.

The pair has teamed up again to create another IMPACT book, due for release in Spring 2010.

While I can’t share with you the details just yet (well, I could, but you know what I’d have to do next…and quite honestly, I just don’t have the time), I CAN tell you that this next book will be incredibly cool, and you CAN follow along with what Chris and Jim are reading, looking at, stressed out about, at the blog they set up to chronicle their creation of the book: Ink Bloom.

As the publication date nears, of course, details will be revealed.

In the meantime, if you haven’t picked up a copy of Wreaking Havoc, or of Hell Beasts: How to Draw Grotesque Fantasy Creatures, what are you waiting for?!

Horrifying beasts from below were the subject of Jim Pavelec's first how to draw and paint fantasy art book.

The tradition of learning always amazes me. Sometimes I forget, and sometimes I am reminded. Like yesterday. Chris Seaman, one of the authors of Wreaking Havoc, forwarded to us at IMPACT a couple pieces of art created by budding artist, Jordan, age 12. (In case you haven’t heard, we LOVE getting art from readers.)

This morning, while emailing back and forth about how COOL these drawings are, I recalled an interview I did with John Howe when I first started with F+W Media (then F+W Publications), IMPACT Books’ parent company. The interview was for Artist’s & Graphic Designer’s Market.

(In the interest of full-disclosure, I’ll tell you I’ve referenced this interview several times recently, on different occasions, for different reasons. I love it when something gives me a lot of mileage…but I do worry about the horse. Ahem.)

Jordan’s first sketch is from Chris Seaman's Wreaking Havoc gnome.

In the interview, John said:

“The deeper you throw yourself into copying someone else’s work, the faster you get through it and identify the elements which may eventually become part of your own way of approaching things. It’s a tradition that’s been going on for millennia. You’re trying to understand another’s work and the only way to understand is to try to do it. I must’ve copied millions of things when I was in my teens.”

I love that Jordan did the gnome, then seemed to take the stuff she really wanted to use—like the armor decoration for example—and put it to use with her own creature. Perhaps that’s all learning is—whether it’s drawing or writing or whatever. We see or hear something we like. We emulate it. And we should emulate it, at least for a while.

Jordan’s second sketch is her own creation.

John explained it like this:

“You’re looking for yourself somewhere. You’ve identified something that you think you can use. You need to try it and you need to make it your own. Imagine a road. You see a section of it way up ahead—because someone else has been drawing for ages and they’re professionals with all these techniques and gimmicks an gadgets. You get a glimpse long before you could get there by cutting through the woods yourself. Now you can forge on.”

So forge on, Jordan. You drew the gnome, then discovered how to take elements from that drawing and incorporate them into your own. Who knows what you’ll discover tomorrow? 

To read the entire article, originally published in 2004 Artists’ & Graphic Designer’s Market, click here.

The best 4 days in gaming have come and gone and IMPACT was there. Between panels, games, the art show, costumes and everything else we got home happy and exhausted.  Here are the highlights.

The IMPACT ladies on the floor

A random fake sword fight

 “The Wreaking Havoc Guys,” Jim Pavelec, Chris Seaman and Chuck Lukacs, were kind enough to participate in a panel for us. Their message was one for aspiring fantasy artists interested in marketing their work to gaming publishers. One of the first things they told the crowded room was to not be afraid to talk to anyone in artist’s alley. They insisted that fantasy artists are always eager to talk about their work, share advice, and even review portfolios. There’s a definite feeling of community among artists who work in the gaming business—there has to be.

Chris, Chuck and Jim

Fantasy artists have to rely on networking and talking to other members of the gaming community to find work. “There are no ‘on-staff’ fantasy artists,” said Pavelec, talking about the trials of making a living creating gaming art, “It’s all freelance.” All of the panelists agreed that art directors don’t typically seek out new talent and artists have to hustle to get their work noticed. “It’s a job—it’s work,” said Seaman, who has sold his work across all kinds of markets, including to children’s books publishers.

Everyone agreed that being a gaming artist isn’t easy. “The pay isn’t great for a long time. You need a real job and have to work on art in your spare time,” said Pavelec. “Art school gives you a start, but not everything you need,” Lukacs chimed in, stressing how many art colleges don’t focus enough on the business side of things, which you have to learn to be successful.  

So why bother, when you can make better money doing something else? The guys say it has to be something that you love to do. “I like to draw badass weapons, I don’t know about you guys,” laughed Seaman.

"I like to draw badass weapons."

The panelists went on to give advice about everything from marketing yourself as an artist to best practices for staying productive. Chuck Lukacs showcased samples of his impressive portfolio, stressing the importance of having professional looking samples that include your contact information and web address. And speaking of websites: “Don’t put up everything you’ve ever done,” Lukacs warned of a common mistake made by artists who create their own portfolio websites, “focus on your best stuff.”

The panel lasted about an hour and was packed with great advice about creativity and good business. When asked for final words of advice Jim Pavelec told everyone to “continually draw,” Chuck Lukacs warned about watching your time and working fast and Chris Seaman, getting quiet for a moment, said, “see it through to the next level—don’t quit doing anything.”

Check out the book.

A bunch of us IMPACT chicks–Mona, Wendy, Jennifer, Kelly, Erika and I–are off to GenCon today (tough work, but somebody’s got to do it). We’re totally looking forward to seeing our friends Chuck Lukacs, Jim Pavelec and Chris Seaman there, as well as the awesome con crowd! The guys are authors of Wreaking Havoc: Create Fantasy Warriors and Weapons; Chuck’s working on a Fall 2009 book; Jim’s the author of Hell Beasts; and Jim and Chris will soon be creating some art for a vampire drawing kit in time for next Halloween. They’ll do a panel at GenCon, moderated by big IMPACT dude Justin. We’ve also got great projects coming up in October, including Comic Artist’s Photo Reference: Men and Boys by Buddy Scalera; Manga Martial Arts by David Okum; and Cartoonimals by Harry Hamernik. — Pam Wissman, Editorial Director, IMPACT Books

Comic Artist's Photo Reference: Men and Boys