This qualifies as art?

[OhGodtheRats]

Oh man, as a digital entity, I pride myself on keeping track of both the good and the bad things folks have to say about me. (If you see my homepage, you'll find the best/worst immortalized on my ABOUT page...the "Untalented Commie Pinko" being my favorite of the bunch.) I'll definitely be saving some of these and kudos for the community for actually being civil. Trust me, I've survived much worse Hate threads, and that's not even what this one turned out to be.
So yeah, I'm Jared, the guy who did these paintings and, surprise surprise: I agree with you. No, really, you too. And you. I like them but hey, they could be better. Are they for everyone? Hell, I KNOW that one's not true.
I'm just happy that some people dig them...and I was as surprised as anyone when WOTC started talking to me about them. Fun History: When Dangerous Delves was coming out I needed a random art project to get me motivated for a big commission (Children's Book), so I painted that set, doing my best to make fun of the minis. It was mini-hate, but tinged with love....we wouldn't bitch about aspects of our favorite hobby if we didn't care about it so much. To my shock the thing got circulated by my geeky fans and the Wizard's folks asked me to do it a few more times because they liked them. And, as someone else put it, it's just a matter that a couple of folks at Wizard's liked it. I mean, more than just a few WOTC employees dig it, that's obvious from the other stuff going on (Goblinstompers, Jinx, etc), but...yeah.

That's the closest I'll come to defending myself, which is pretty much me saying, yeah I suck but I do it with style. And I have naked pictures of the Dragon staff, so they're "more inclined" to like my art. Somehow.
-Jared
"who would like to thank the Critical Hits boys for sending him a link to this thread...I didn't know ANYONE was talking about this project"

 

[avin]

5 yr old art? I like it better than some Wotc professional art...

 

[Hammerhead]

I can't help but smile when I look at the guy's art. It evokes an emotional response. I can't say that about many of the other art I've seen on the WotC site; in terms of raw technique, they're all better, obviously. But this art is fun.

 

[avin]

By the way, if anybody here thinks a 5yr old can do that, give him ink and paper and ask him to try.

There's a large difference between what a kid can do and an adult trying to make it like a kid.

 

[roguerouge]

That's the closest I'll come to defending myself, which is pretty much me saying, yeah I suck but I do it with style...

How about explaining yourself instead?

What are your influences?

What's your artistic process?

Did you go to art school or are you self-taught? If you went to art school, did you face some of the ... reactions... to fantasy illustrations that I understand are typical in some schools?

What is your desired response to some of your work?

Lastly, what's your favorite piece?

 

[Umbran]

And, of course, I mean "sold out" as in "The casual footwear designed by Jared Hindman is already more successful than anything Kzach has ever done in his entire life." And that only pertains to his shoe line. Add in any commission for his WotC published artwork and I suspect he's already more successful than you ever will be. How 'bout them apples? Doesn't feel so good when somebody uses your own methods and turns them back at you does it?

Them apples are insulting, and get a person booted from a thread. Here's a hint folks - don't get personal. Really, just don't. If you don't like what someone has to say, we have an ignore list function.

 

[Chainsaw]

OhGodtheRats -

Welcome to the board - sorry it had to be under these circumstances. As I said earlier, those pieces don't necessarily inspire me too much, but I can appreciate having a variety of art available for the varied D&D community. Also, I really don't think you should feel like you have to explain yourself at all to anyone.. it's art. Some people dig it, some people don't. Either way, I'm always happy to see people contributing to the D&D community.

 

[OhGodtheRats]

How about explaining yourself instead?

It's a tricky thing. Participating in threads set out against you (again, I'm impressed by the discussion...it grew in a weird direction I wasn't expecting), doesn't always work. Rarely, I've seen. Either you come across as some sort of ego madman who Googles himself like a fiend (every online artist goes through that stage at some point) or you seem a bit of a e-penis by only posting "I don't care what you think" or some such nonsense. For the sensitive artist types, it's not a game to play at all and it's hard to calm the nerves of someone who's decided they "hate you" based off of only a dozen of the thousands of works you have floating around. So yeah, bad situation.

What are your influences?

Funnily enough, when I won the RYZ Goblinstompers competition, they interviewed me with all these questions but never ended up posting the damn thing. The short answer is that I'm a fan of artists who can get away with bizarre/atypical character design, and well, I don't know if I'm self-aware to know all my influences. I really need to bug RYZ and ask them if I have permission to post the D&D-Centric interview of theirs.

Oh and Stupid Monsters are a huge influence. Goofy article aside (CLICK HERE, but chances are you've read it already)
I wrote that years before I played D&D and only because I love Fantasy monsters, the more ridiculous the better. You can't tell me a creature like "MonkeyBees" wasn't inspired by something a kid doodled in the margin of his notebook. I like tapping into that spirit when I can.

What's your artistic process?

It Varies a LOT. Since I'm a Luddite, my photoshopping skills can't be relied on, so everything I do is typically a combination of acrylic, watercolor, & ink. Typically I doodle something for a while until I either get a design I like or come up with something funny, and just go from there. Depends on the project. In this case, I was pretty much told "have fun" which means trying to balance being weird & artsy (a LOT of folks liked the Chain Devil from the 1st set) to being funny (a LOT of folks liked the Barghest from the next) and few of these fan groups overlap, I think.

Did you go to art school or are you self-taught? If you went to art school, did you face some of the ... reactions... to fantasy illustrations that I understand are typical in some schools?

It's a little of both. I was an apprentice for an Art Professor all through my teens, went to school for Experimental Film (trust me it's as pretentious as it sounds), and stumbled into cartooning with Fine Art materials when I found that I had too much free time here in Berlin. My first round of doodles ended up getting snatched up by a bunch of Opera companies and I took it as a sign that I might want to work on my painting chops a bit. So the answer is Classically Trained while Young but recently Self-Taught and Did his best to forget said Classical Training for the sake of fun and impatience. I think. I really don't think about these things too often. I love to paint and I'm lucky that some people dig the voodoo that I do.

As for your second question: I don't do fantasy illustrations. Well, I think I do now, technically, but I think of it as "Fine Art Cartooning", kind of what Phil Foglio did with his early MtG acrlyic pieces. (Foglio is also the reason I started playing Magic years ago...to collect his awesome artwork.) He's a good example: Not everyone liked his stuff but some of us gushed over it and thought it was better than any of the more Hardcore "serious" illustrations you'd find on the cards. I'm NOT saying I'm Foglio or anything, but the vibe of there being another option around besides "Serious/Realistic" art in the game does ring a similar, if distant, chord.

As WotC puts it: There's a psychographic (Psychological Demographic, I may be mistyping it) that digs the goofy stuff.

What is your desired response to some of your work?

Well, any reaction is a good one, but desired? A smile? Maybe. I'm not too picky. I actually was asking myself this question while I was at GenCon this year and folks asked to see my portfolio. I've been a digital entity in Berlin for 6 years now and it was pretty much the first time of actually watching people look at my stuff in the meatworld. So....yeah. I don't know if I do it for a desired effect...I do what I do (and have done for years) and some folks find some joy in it. I'm lucky to make a living doing it. As for my intent: It's meant to balance somewhere between whimsical and experimental. (And childish, I won't lie.)

Lastly, what's your favorite piece?

Honestly, the one I'm most proud of isn't the best painting in the set. It hasn't been released yet, but the Deathrattler Snake painting features real discarded snakeskin from my pet. I saved a few of them, glued them onto a canvas, and painted the whole thing. It looks interesting (and is better if you know I used real snake) but really I only like it because it opens the gateway to trying even weirder stuff and techniques you only come up with if you have too much time on your hands. When stuff like that works, I'm happy.

So yeah. I don't know if that explains anything, but it's been a fun thing to attempt this Wednesday afternoon.
-Jared
"who would still like to say he sucks, but he does it with style"

 

[OhGodtheRats]

OhGodtheRats -

Welcome to the board - sorry it had to be under these circumstances. As I said earlier, those pieces don't necessarily inspire me too much, but I can appreciate having a variety of art available for the varied D&D community. Also, I really don't think you should feel like you have to explain yourself at all to anyone.. it's art. Some people dig it, some people don't. Either way, I'm always happy to see people contributing to the D&D community.

Are you kidding me? I've survived threads that culminate in the general population wishing that I'd "Get AIDS & Die" for my Art. This thread? It's golden, like soft silk, and no apologies are needed. You don't do what I do for long unless you develop something resembling thick skin or healthy defense mechanisms, such as ego-driven warmechs or the like.
Also I've actually been a member here at EnWorld for almost a year & a half...I just didn't have a reason to chime in until now...which was, potentially, not the wisest move. Then again, I like to be accessible. As for the thread: everyone seems civil and pretty open and I'll be the first to say that not everyone likes my stuff. Or Has to. Like you say, it's "Art". It just is.

I'm sure there are other threads here on the board about other content Dragon's released that other folks don't like, why should my stuff be any different?
-Jared

 

[Garthanos]

So yeah. I don't know if that explains anything, but it's been a fun thing to attempt this Wednesday afternoon.
-Jared

Greetings, welcome and thank's, not a fan of the art just presented, but think you come off pretty cool.