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| After Lunch © Bill Cone |
Bio: Born and raised in
California, Bill Cone studied fine art at San Francisco State, and commercial
illustration at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. After working as
an illustrator for many years, he began working for Pixar Animation Studios as
a set designer on Toy Story, going on to subsequent projects as a Production
Designer for A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, and Cars.
While working on A Bug's
Life he began using pastels to do lighting studies. Realizing pastel's
inherent benefits of speed and portability, he began doing lighting studies
outdoors. Working in natural light began to influence Bill’s perception of
light and color relationships. 18 years later he is still pursuing the process
of integrating his experiences in nature with film work. His pastel work
for Pixar has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC, and other
venues around the world, as part of the 'Art of Pixar' show.
In 2004, he organized an
artist's pack trip into the Sierra Nevada back country, which has become an
ongoing source of inspiration in his personal work –“visually, the qualities of
light at higher altitudes, the colors of the rocks and how they respond to
light, as well as the nature of water in creeks, rivers and lakes are all
inspiring. Bill has explored the Rock Creek Basin, the Ansel Adams Wilderness
and the Sequoia National Park in his search for painting locations.
Several of his Sierra trips have been covered in Plein Air magazine. His work has appeared in the Pastel Journal on several occasions, including a feature piece in the August 2013 issue, when he was the cover artist.
Several of his Sierra trips have been covered in Plein Air magazine. His work has appeared in the Pastel Journal on several occasions, including a feature piece in the August 2013 issue, when he was the cover artist.
A member of the California Art
Club, Bill's landscape work has been exhibited in various galleries and venues in
California over the last 12 years, including the CAC Gold Medal show. Since
2009, Bill has had 4 solo shows at the Studio Gallery in San Francisco.
Bill currently teaches several workshops a year, one in the Sierra Nevada, and several in the Pt. Reyes National Seashore. Because of his dual career path, Bill began teaching periodic classes about the effects of natural light at work, to get computer artists who were lighting scenes on computers out of their offices to 'light shots' in nature, so to speak. Bill teaches a 12 week class at the Animation Collaborative. This is not a pastel workshop, it is a class that focusses on developing and orchestrating a light- and color-based plan for film.
Bill currently teaches several workshops a year, one in the Sierra Nevada, and several in the Pt. Reyes National Seashore. Because of his dual career path, Bill began teaching periodic classes about the effects of natural light at work, to get computer artists who were lighting scenes on computers out of their offices to 'light shots' in nature, so to speak. Bill teaches a 12 week class at the Animation Collaborative. This is not a pastel workshop, it is a class that focusses on developing and orchestrating a light- and color-based plan for film.
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| Ediza Boulder © Bill Cone |
Subjects:
Landscape
Style: Representational
Technique: "When I first
started seriously trying to do lighting studies with pastels on the movie, A
Bug's Life, back in the mid-90's, I tried working on black Canson paper, as my
inspiration for this, Ralph Eggleston, the Art Director of Toy Story, had done
the same. However, I found in short order that I could not put down enough
color to overcome the effects of the black ground, as Ralph could do so
beautifully, so I went looking for other, less 'extreme' color choices. I
quickly settled on the color called 'Twilight', as it was a middle value,
and the violet grey tone seemed to be harmonious with shadows and atmosphere in
natural light, or at least the kind of light I was attempting to portray in my
studies…" In terms of working methods, if Bill has the time to spare on
location, he begins with several pencil sketches hat reveal a subject’s
potential. He recommends preliminary scouting and sketching on the first day so
that one can better schedule your remaining time in the field.
"As I became more interested in working out of doors, the pastels came with me on summer vacations to Oregon and Canada, and I incorporated the color Tobacco, a rich, warm brown, in my paper arsenal to allow for the colors of lakes, rivers, and streams I was studying. That is my basic history with the use of those two colored papers over the last 18 years, though I have explored, and used, other colors."
"As I became more interested in working out of doors, the pastels came with me on summer vacations to Oregon and Canada, and I incorporated the color Tobacco, a rich, warm brown, in my paper arsenal to allow for the colors of lakes, rivers, and streams I was studying. That is my basic history with the use of those two colored papers over the last 18 years, though I have explored, and used, other colors."
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| Pond Boulder © Bill Cone |
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