Introductions

I'm a freelance illustrator and a Kendall College of Art and Design graduate currently living in Michigan. My work ranges from rendered paintings in watercolor, to still-lifes in pastel, to film storyboards, to more comic-style illustrations in digital or traditional colors. Needless to say, my work is diverse. My intention for use of this blog is to display my artwork in a professional manner and to bring in commission-based business. Essentially, this is my online portfolio. Many illustrators are using blogs these days, and needing a presence for myself, this will hopefully work for me as well. So I encourage you to watch regularly for postings of artwork and perhaps be compelled to call on my services for a commission. Keep in mind that I work in a variety of mediums and subjects, so do not hesitate to ask for something that you might not see here. Just contact me at andrew.shirey@yahoo.com, my work e-mail and my Paypal account.

Read my illustration commissions post as a starting point to get an idea of the potential price range.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Storyboards

Sometimes people can take you in directions you wouldn't have gone otherwise. The person responsible for getting me into storyboard illustration would be Jamie Hanks, now Mrs. Jamie Allison, who I knew from my high school years. It was during my first half of art college when she asked, on the behalf of "Team Zulu", a group consisting of two other film students, Scott Lynch and Nicole Davenport, to aid them in creating a short film called "ONE^3". They were in a tight spot, needing the storyboards done very soon and, as far as I know, without any other potential takers. How could I refuse? Needless to say, after a hectic week of school, storyboards, and sleep deprivation, I was tired but quite pleased with the work.

In the end, the unexpecte
d rewards vastly outweighed one stressful week, as it earned us a trip to Japan in Microsoft's 2005 Imagine Cup short film competition. During this time I came to know Scott, who has since then has used my services to illustrate the storyboards for a short film, "Breathe", (it was, unfortunately, never made due to insufficient funds) and a Heinz Ketchup commercial contest entry, "The Artist". And as recently as this month, I've illustrated a storyboard for a short film in the works, "Dangerous", for Cameron Crosson, an acquaintance of Scott's, who wrote and directed "The Artist".

Storyboards:

Storyboards: Dangerous

Dangerous (2009)
Cameron Crosson and his team will be submitting this short film into Microsoft's 2009 Imagine Cup competition. I anticipate seeing the actual film when it is completed and, hopefully, will be able t
o post it here.

Storyboards: The Artist

The Artist (2007)
After my experience with the first two storyboards, I decided inking was not the way to work for me. For this one, I went with my first love, pencils, which allow me much more detail and forgiveness.

Storyboards: Breathe

Breathe (2006?)
While never making it to film, the storyboards were, however, adapted into a sequential animation of sorts with accompanying music written specifically for this film. It's strange, I find it, that while I personally illustrated these storyboards it wasn't until seeing them put to music that my heartstrings were really tugged by the story it told. To give a general synopsis, it's about a man who receives emergency treatment for polio in an iron lung and, while struggling to breathe, has flashbacks relating to his son's death by drowning.

Watch it here: http://www.cardboardboxfilms.com/fileserver/breathe/BreatheSBConcept.wmv





Storyboards: ONE^3

ONE^3 (2005)
This short film reached the finals in Microsoft's 2005 Imagine Cup competition and was the only finalist from the United States. Scott went on the following year to create another entry in the 2006 Imagine Cup, making it into the finals held in India, though I wasn't involved, personally.