​Graham Smith Illustration
I am an illustrator, and video maker, working from my art studio in San Diego, California. Available for assignments. and consultations.
Thanks for stopping by. Always happy to answer questions about art projects, cameras, and stuff.
Quote:
"I take ideas and turn them into images, and drawing is the first step."
​
Education
Parsons School of Design, BFA Illustration. New York, New York
​
Awards, Scholarship
The Governors School for the Arts, Pa.
Certificate of Appreciation from California Senate
Arizona Publishing Award 1st Place, 2nd Place
​
Clients include:
Blue Moon Brewing Co., Brookstone, Boston Review, Boston Globe, Rolling Stone, Paste, Texas Monthly, Runner's World, SF Weekly, NPR, Improper Bostonian, ESPN, The Advocate, Philadelphia Magazine, PlanAdviser, The Phoenix New Times, The Washington Post, Amtrak, INC. Magazine, J. P. Morgan Chase, T. Rowe Price, Worth, Women's Sport's Foundation, the Pacific Standard, Sony Online Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Daybreak Games, Strathmore Artist Papers,
​
Random Personal:
Video and Build Officer for Burning Man Camp. have Chihuahua named Lupe. Loves potato chips. Contributes to HWY 101 Arts Alive Banner Project - Charity for the Arts.
​
Graham Smith Illustration
Skills:
Drawing - Illustration, Graphic Design, Drawing Instructor, Concept Art, Character Design, Portraits, Screen Print Design, Story boards.
Software - Adobe Creative Suite, FCPX. Photoshop, Illustrator, In Design.
Video - Video Producer, Photography, Editing, DSLR, Lighting, Final Cut Pro, Premiere.
Education - Parsons School of Design, BFA, Illustration.
​
Project Highlights:
Commercial Campaigns for Agencies
-
Packaging illustrations - Blue Moon Brewing Company, Miller Coors, Molson, E&J Gallo, Mountain Dew. Created illustrations for beverage branding.
-
Brand Characters - Created cute family characters and illustrations for Subway's special advertising promotions with Jack Morton Agency. Print and web. Vector art.
-
Logos - Choose Breakfast Campaign, Saatchi and Saatchi NY, created characters and logos for General Mills cereal boxes, promotions, and TV spots.
Editorial Illustrations
-
Portraits - illustrated for national publications. Rock n Roll legends for Rolling Stone Magazine, and financials, Fortune 500 CEOs, young entrepreneurs…
-
Featured Articles - Beer For Data, Water Thieves, Veterans with PTSD - illustrations that set the scene where complicated stories unfold.
-
Book /Magazine Covers - Small World. I'm (Still) Here. MS-13 in San Francisco. High Country News, The Phoenix New Times
Public and Environmental Art
-
Concept art for urban development project - Rooftop Miniature Golf Course on top of a luxury building. San Diego, CA.
-
Mural for luxury condos - Godzilla - Created a life sized decorative polygon “Godzilla” matching interior designers color scheme. 5 stories tall. San Diego, California.
-
Retail Space Mural - Surreal desert landscape featuring flying bowling pins, motorcycles, and cactus. Delivered artwork as Vector, for super hi res printed output. Over 75 feet wide x 16 feet tall. Tavern and Bowl, Arizona.
-
Public Art Tuna Fishing Sculpture - Designed 100 foot, stainless steel sculpture for Ariel Building. 100 pencil sketches. Final art in Adobe Illustrator. Sculpture spans 1 city block facing the San Diego Bay.
-
Restaurant Branding - illustrated decorative walls and branding collateral for the best Sushi restaurants in Southern California. Blue Smoke Sushi, Big Bang Sushi.
Character Development
-
Women’s Sports Foundation - designed a group of ethnically diverse characters for a national campaign encouraging girls well being, and sports participation.
-
TV Pilot characters, Game Characters - created characters according to specific client descriptions. Character turnarounds and hero poses.
-
Branding. Jolly Green Giant - Rebrand and character development with Saatchi and Saatchi, NY. Concept illustrations of the Giant and the Green Valley. Shot model reference photography for the 3D animators at Calabash.
Workshops & Live Events
-
Oceanside Museum Fundraiser - Art Show and Instructor lead workshop on creating “Dias Dos Los Muertos” masks from cardboard and paint.
-
Life Drawing Instructor - Instructed a series of 8 weeks long figure drawing workshops, teaching the artists and animators how to draw the human figure.
-
Drawing demonstrations - Strathmore Artist Papers, Live drawing demonstrations at art supply convention.
-
Live Art Performance - Onstage for Blue Moon Brewing Company at a beer convention recreating artwork from my label designs, using pen and ink.
-
Featured Artist and Speaker - Southwestern College, West Coast Drawing Group - Topics: professional practices, requirements of freelance artists, and the art development process.
Art Shows:
-
Art Institute San Diego - Book signing and art show
-
Oceanside Museum of Art - Art After Dark, Dias Dos Los Muertos
-
The IN Gallery - Figurative Art Show
-
Terror at the Tenth - Monsters Show, featuring “The Guardian”
-
City Gallery - “New Contemporaries” San Diego Art Prize Nomination
-
Southwestern College, Comic Book Art and Illustration Process Show
-
Subtext Gallery - Superhero Show
Video and Photography
-
Edutainment Videos - created over 100 videos exploring the art creation process, drawing time lapses, and interviews with artists.
-
Video Instruction Series - Sketchbook Fury: The Art Ninja’s Guidebook - for Strathmore Artists Papers.
-
Art Events - Video Officer for a Burning Man camp, Comic Con Interviews, Interviews at Monsterpalooza.
-
Art Process - Videos about the Creative Process. Making Monsters, Sketchbook Process, Cosplayers, time-lapse video.
-
Music Videos - when a friend writes a song, I make a video. (Annabell) (Pampellone)
-
TV Spots -Blue Moon Brewing Company, Mountain West Football - art made for animation in After Effects for TV commercials.
Art Groups
-
Drawsome! Sketchbook Sessions San Diego - Awarded Certificate of Appreciation from California Senate for our Art Show highlighting artists in the underserved community of Chula Vista, California.
-
The Britney Henry Project - Community give back project - Olympic Hopefuls. Created media, press kit, videos, and social presence, blog. Assembled team of photographers/marketers resulting in sponsorship deals, interviews, including a short promotional film by GoPro.
-
Life Drawing - Participation in local San Diego Life Drawing groups, exercising my passion for figure drawing, creating mixed media pieces, as demos and art.
Art Book
-
Marks Vol. 1 - Xupuy -Featuring my figurative artwork and drawings. Photographed artwork creating hi res files. Created the layouts in Photoshop. Designed and prepress of 48 page book, using inDesign. Delivered as PDF.
Leadership
-
Art Director, organized and inspired 6 in house designers, 12 freelance designers. Strategized with head of sales to recognize trends, client demands. Maintained relationships with 120 clients in New York/ Los Angeles/London Fashion Industry. Licensed Properties: Disney, NFL, NBA, Levis Strauss and Co. adhering strictly to Style Guide specifications, color matching, and client approval.
-
Art Director - ArtMasters - a graphic design partnership creating Corporate Identities, logos, sales collateral, product design, and illustration.
-
Graham Smith Illustration - Sole Proprietorship doing everything necessary to run a creative services business.