Seth Engstrom has worked as an art director, concept artist, layout artist and production designer for animated features like Avatar, Bee Movie, Shark Tale, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmeron, Sinbad and El Dorado.
His blog contains an interesting range of images, from color and black and white concept art from the above mentioned films to oil paintings of highway overpasses, to figure sketches in oil and location sketches in gouache.
The most recent entries are a series of monochromatic watercolor or ink wash studies of freeway ramps and overpasses, in which he seems fascinated with the geometric arrangement of the structures and the negative shapes that they carve out of the space they surround. The series includes some finished oil paintings of highway structures and airport terminals with a brusque finish to the paint surface.
Farther back in the blog posts we come across some of his film concept work, also often monochromatic, usually in wash or graphite. These are frequently highly detailed, with a great feeling of texture and dramatic lighting. Some of my favorites are his moody and atmospheric drawings of Mayan temples for El Dorado (image above, top).
As you continue down the page, you’ll encounter work from other films and then some of his oil figure studies. Don’t miss the fresh little gouache sketches toward the bottom of the page (above, bottom).
[Link via John Nevarez (see my previous post on John Nevarez)]
Amazing!
Awsome! really great work. I would love to find out more about the graphite technique. Eg pencil, or sticks & how to lay down such consistent tones!
W-O-W-! o__O
Now I know what inferiority complex is…
Seth makes CONCRETE BEAUTIFUL!
Stupendous art (on his blog). Seth Engstrom
makes the mundane cool! – KUDOS SETH !
(the ‘concrete beautiful’ is my phrase, if any bands
take it as a cool new name!! ;-] )
mark jaquette