TheChairman at 05:54, 5 August 2020

2020-08-05T05:54:18Z

TheChairman: Created page with "==Article Transcript== I was born in London, England, in 1972 and am one of five children, including my twin brother, Graham. In 1981, at the age of 9, my family moved to San..."

2020-08-05T05:53:42Z

Created page with "==Article Transcript== I was born in London, England, in 1972 and am one of five children, including my twin brother, Graham. In 1981, at the age of 9, my family moved to San..."

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==Article Transcript==
I was born in London, England, in 1972 and am one of five children, including
my twin brother, Graham. In 1981, at the age of 9, my family moved to San
Diego, California. I lived there until moving to Los Angeles in 1997. I have
always loved to draw. At the age of 6, I found an artist’s sketchbook lying in my
backyard. I picked it up and carried it everywhere I went. From that moment on, I
have never stopped drawing.

I was never a good student in school. I
received poor grades in all of my classes,
including art. In high school, I drew cartoons
for the school newspaper (as well as on all of
my homework). At the age of 17, on a family
vacation in Las Vegas, I found a direction for
what I wanted to do with my life. I spent my
time watching caricature artists draw in the
casino we were staying in. The manager of
the caricature concession stand noticed my
fascination. He told me to practice drawing
caricatures and submit my work to him if I
wanted a job. When I got home, I drew every
famous person I could think of, as well as half
of the people in my high school yearbook.
When I was 18 years old, I heard that Sea
World was looking for caricaturists. I showed
up for my interview with a torn plastic bag containing
my artwork. They seemed desperate
for an artist and hired me on the spot. During
the first week at Sea World, I was offered
the job in Las Vegas. I politely declined and
decided to stay in San Diego.

After my second semester of junior college,
I quit in order to work full time at Sea World.
I could no longer focus in school and I knew
that if I wanted to be a successful artist, I
would need a good portfolio, not grades. My
parents always encouraged my art but had
no idea what I should do with it. They weren’t
thrilled with my decision to stop going to
school and told me if I dropped out I would
have to financially support myself on every
level. It was the best thing they could have
done for me. It gave me the drive and motivation
to succeed in the art field.

During my caricature days at Sea World, I
became fascinated with the work of artists
who drew for Mad Magazine, Mort Drucker
and Jack Davis. Through their great work,
they would become my motivation, and my
mentors. I learned from Mort to get a better
understanding of structure and form. When
I had the pleasure of meeting him at the
San Diego Comic Convention in 1996, he
reminded me that, with art, there is no magic, that everything takes time and practice.
Jack Davis’ work taught me to stay loose,
animate and create energy within a drawing.
In the winter of 1992, I ended up in
Minnesota, where I worked in the Mall of
America. I drew caricatures almost seven
days a week. On my day off, I happened
to stumble upon Tom Richmond (who is
now prominently featured in Mad Magazine)
drawing in another mall. And within
the next couple of days he offered me a
summer job working for him at Valley Fair
Amusement Park in Minnesota.

Upon returning home, I set up my own
business called Silvertoons. The business
mainly consisted of drawing caricatures at
events and cartoon commissions. I also set
up caricature concession stands in shopping
malls during Christmas for the next
three years, and had a concession stand at
the Barona Casino in San Diego.

During Christmas of 1996, as I was drawing
caricatures at the mall, the art team
from the clothing company No Fear approached
me. They asked if I would like to
work for them when Christmas was over.
So, in January of 1997, I showed up with
my drawings at their office in Carlsbad,
California, and was hired.

That year, my parents gave me a newspaper
article about the animation boom. I
decided to submit my work to Warner Bros.
Animation Studios. I made some copies
from my sketchbooks, put in some life
drawings, made my own portfolio case out
of wood and drove to Los Angeles to drop
off my work. It was at that point that my art
career took a different direction. I had an
opportunity to take a character design test
for the show “Histeria.” It was caricature
heavy, my specialty. My assignment was
to design three historical characters of my
choice, and I was told to bring them back
the following week. I went home that night
drew King Henry the VIII, Al Capone and
Adolf Hitler and showed up at the studio
two days later with an armful of drawings.
The following week I received a phone call
and was hired.

In August of 1999, I left Warner Bros. to
work for Disney Television Animation on
“Clerks: The Animated Series.” I had the
opportunity to take a test designing the
main characters; Dante, Randal, Jay and
Mr. Plug (Silent Bob had already been
designed). After several meetings with the
show’s director, Chris Bailey, I was hired.
Unfortunately, the series was cancelled
after airing only two episodes out of the six
that were produced. The show, however,
connected me with the creator, Kevin
Smith. He put out the whole series on
DVD, and later I was contacted by him to
design the “Clerks” Inaction Figure toy line.
In 2000, I received a call from Chris about
developing the characters for a brand new
show at Disney called “Kim Possible.” For
this show, I turned to another of my artistic
influences, world famous caricaturist Al
Hirschfeld. I have always been moved by
his rhythmical line and tried to bring that
sensibility to “Kim Possible.”

In November 2001, after the first season
of “Kim Possible,” I received a call from
Nickelodeon. They were in the process
of developing a brand new show called
“Danny Phantom,” created by “The Fairly
Odd Parents” creator, Butch Hartman. I
dropped off my portfolio and within a few
days got the call to come in to meet Butch
and take a test. I have been working on
many projects, studio, commercial and
licencing ever since.

As an artist, I continue to search for new
ways to draw. Uninhibited by style or
rules, I am constantly motivated to improve
my craft. It is exciting for me to look
back at my sketchbooks from year to year
and see how my artwork is developing.
I believe that what Mort Drucker said is
true: “There is no magic in art.” The dedication
and desire that I have as an artist
will help me reach high artistic goals.

I believe the success I have achieved as
an artist can be attributed to my ability
to draw in many different styles. In
the animation industry, versatility is an
asset. Committing myself to becoming
a full-time artist at a young age was the
best decision I ever made. As long as I
keep drawing, I know I’ll keep improving.
Drawing has become an addiction for me,
a habit I cannot break. I feed my addiction
by drawing in my sketchbook every single
day. It feels great!

'''DESIGNING CHARACTERS'''<br>
When I develop characters in the animation
industry, I am designing off a script.
The script will call for, let’s say, an angry
bus driver or a bodyguard in a Jamaican
nightclub. It is up to me at that point to use
my imagination and start drawing. I will
usually try to grab as much photo reference
as possible to help me base my drawings
with a reality, such as a bus driver’s uniform
or a Jamaican outfit. It is very important
for me to constantly draw from life. Every
Tuesday and Thursday, I draw at the coffee
shop with a couple of friends during our
lunch break. It is a great way to break up
the day. And on Fridays, at lunch, I go to
a life drawing workshop. Drawing from life
gives me lots of ideas as well as lots of
body types and faces to draw, which inevitably
comes out in my work when I have to
design people.

Caricature and character design, to me, are
one in the same. They both deal with using
contrasting appealing shapes and sizes
as well as squashing and stretching the
characters’ proportions.

I will usually start my drawing by using a
red or blue col-erase pencil, and when I
am happy with the look of the piece, I will
tighten it up with a graphite pencil. I will
then lay a new sheet of paper on that and
clean it up using a brush pen. I am still
experimenting a lot with color, but I feel
myself using prismacolor markers and
colored pencils. I am also experimenting a
lot with watercolor right now. It seems to be
a lot faster and looks real good. I am one of
those artists who likes to experiment a lot,
and not be so constricted to doing something
only one way.

I will try any medium or technique at least
once to see if it works for me. I feel it is
important as an artist to be inspired by
other artists, but I realize that we are all
individuals and must find our own voice
and what works for us. I enjoy sharing
with other artists what I have learned, and
hope that that inspires them to experiment
themselves. I have learned a lot from
studying other artists, but have consciously
made an effort to learn and not to copy
their styles.

Styles are too personal and can only be
found by drawing what you know how to
draw. It takes time, but it comes. When designing
characters, the most important part
is building up the foundation, making sure
there is solid construction underneath all
the accessories. Without that basic fundamental,
I feel that is where most designers
fall apart. Always think of the general shape
to the particular details. Character design,
to me, is very rewarding, I feel it is my
strength, the thing I do best. Therefore, that
is all I will put in my portfolio.

It is my hope to continue my career in
this direction. I also am very passionate
about teaching other artists what I have
learned. A lot of that is in my books. I
have found myself, lately, going to a lot of
animation schools and giving my presentations
and lectures on how I approach
character design. My advice to aspiring
artists is to carry a sketchbook, draw
from life as much as you can. Learn from
others and have fun. If you would like to
learn more about the work I do and have
done, please visit my website at www.
silvertoons.com, and if you are interested
in learning more about drawing tips and
techniques, you will find that in my Online
class at www.schoolism.com. If you are
interested in learning with me in a face-to-face
hands-on session, you will be able to.
I am building a physical art school, coming
soon. [http://www.silverdrawingacademy.com www.silverdrawingacademy.com]

'''“The road to success is paved
with failure”– English proverb'''

I was recently in Japan doing a
seminar, and I find that as I do
more lectures, I learn something
new as I explain things in different
ways. The more I speak, the
more I learn to simplify my points
in order to get them across.

As I was discussing about my
journey as an artist, I explained
how I have never seen failure
as failure in my life but as a
learning lesson to make sure I
don’t repeat what I have done,
or completely change direction
from what I thought was the
right approach. I was trying to
think of what to use for a title;
for instance, “Failure is the
stepping stone to success,”
or “Failure will lead you to
success.” – proverbs that,
for whatever reason, are retained
in my mind, possibly
a past life. And then, a day
later, this proverb, “The
road to success is paved
with failure,” which is well
known, came out of my
head. I then realized that
I have heard this many
times in my life but
never really knew what
it meant back then like I
do now.

If you accept the fact that there is always
going to be some kind of obstacle in your
life, maybe the wrong job, the wrong
relationship, the wrong friends, the wrong
school, the wrong teacher, FOR NOW,
then you will truly understand the meaning
of this phrase and the truth it holds.
Yes, there are hiccups in life, divorces,
deaths, loss of work, rejections, wishes
not coming true, phone calls not being
returned, not getting accepted for a
position or other desire. But as long as
you keep going and keep trying, you will
eventually succeed in what it is you truly
want to do. I have had so many failures
in my life, but the reality is, many people
will never know of them, nor do they need
to know, because I have always prevailed
and succeeded in other ways. This is so
important to grasp. It will open your eyes
and make your life clear. It will give you
hope, a vision and a feeling that you are
never alone and that this life is yours.
How do you want to live it?
To learn more about Stephen, visit his website
at [http://www.silvertoons.com www.silvertoons.com].

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@@ Line 259: / Line 259: @@
 soon. [http://www.silverdrawingacademy.com www.silverdrawingacademy.com]
-'''“The road to success is paved
+'''“The road to success is paved with failure” – English proverb'''
 I was recently in Japan doing a
@@ Line 322: / Line 321: @@
 never alone and that this life is yours.
 How do you want to live it?
 To learn more about Stephen, visit his website
-at [http://www.silvertoons.com www.silvertoons.com].
+''To learn more about Stephen, visit his website at [http://www.silvertoons.com www.silvertoons.com].''
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A Master Piece with Stephen Silver - Revision history

TheChairman at 05:54, 5 August 2020

TheChairman: Created page with "==Article Transcript== I was born in London, England, in 1972 and am one of five children, including my twin brother, Graham. In 1981, at the age of 9, my family moved to San..."