Thanks Brian Stelfreeze!

Brian Stelfreeze of Gaijin Studios spent a few hours with us today sharing his skills and wowing everyone in the process.


There was a good crowd of Illustration and Sequential students in attendance, and everyone was soaking up the goodness from Brian's brush as well as the wisdom from his years of experience.


Brian uses a combination of Acrylics, Acrylic inks (for intense color), and watercolors to achieve his veil-like transparent work that is at once delicate and vibrant. He doesn't hide the process by overly blending his colors, but celebrates the layers of transparent color that activate the work and make it more interesting and organic. He pays close attention to color temperature and to the edges, modulating soft and hard, warm and cool to guide the eye through the piece.


He was working on a block of 300# cold press watercolor paper, using Schmincke watercolors, Golden Acrylics, FW Acrylic inks, and a variety of cheap brushes. I'm telling you this as if it matters, but it really doesn't. It's all about the brush mileage; draw, paint, repeat. And mix in a bit of reading, thinking, and life experience. Then repeat again. And again. Then you might get something like this...


Thanks, Brian!