Chase Stone
Chase Stone is a freelance illustrator and concept artist based in New York . He works regularly in the realm of fantasy and science fiction, but has extensive experience in all shades of illustration from book covers and interiors to editorial, advertising, and film. Chase’s exemplary grasp on combining atmospheric composition, color palettes and refined figures evoke a timeless mood in his narrative illustrations.
Applibot Inc
The American Interest
becker&mayer!
Colony
Geometry Global
Meredith Vieira Productions
M&C SAATCHI SAL Beirut
Nike Graphics
Publicis Healthcare Communications Group
Random House
Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness
Wizards of the Coast
WSJ
I like to start working on a project with very quick, loose sketches. The questions I ask myself at the onset are focused on mood; does this feel the way it’s supposed to? Something that should be ominous has to feel ominous. Understanding what triggers those emotions informs everything thereafter; composition, lighting, color, shapes. Thumbnailing continues until I have several possibilities to choose from, which I’ll narrow down to three to five solutions to work into developed sketches. I try to have my compositions and value schemes more or less figured out for each sketch, and I’ll keep developing them until it becomes clear which is working best, both pictorially and for the client’s needs. All the while I try to do as much research as possible, gathering as much reference material as I can. You need to do your homework if you’re image is going to be believable, and the devil is in the details.
When working on the finish, I like to spend some time working strictly with shapes and silhouettes. Once the shapes look the way I want them to, are in proportion, are expressive enough, etc, I paint over them with color and value according to my sketch. After that I’ll continue painting details, adding textures, and so on. With the underlying forms already firmly established, the actual painting process tends to unfold smoothly.
