One of Paick’s fantastical worlds
Anna Weldon speaks to James Paick, here at the Congreso Internacional de Ilustración, which offers numerous exhibitions and workshops around the city
Illustrators and artists from around world are making their way to Bogotá for the sixth annual FIG Congreso Internacional de Ilustración.
From April 21 to May 7, the FIG conference takes to the city, featuring over 50 artists from 15 countries. The event, which is managed by Casa Tinta, gives Bogotá residents the opportunity to attend exhibitions and workshops hosted by a variety of illustrators, focusing on an assortment of topics.
Jose Rosero, the event’s director, explained that FIG is an opportunity for those involved with illustration, or interested in becoming involved, to attend a more formal space including well-known artists from around the world.
“Territory like this does not exist at this calibre at this time in Colombia, in this entire field”, Rosero said.
Another sketched fantasy world.
He stressed that the intention of the conference is to create an important space within Bogotá, featuring people from different countries, with different workshops, chats and exhibitions.
“All of the guests have a very different profile. The idea is to cover various niches in illustration”, he explained.
One such illustrator is James Paick, renowned Los Angeles-native concept artist and the founder and creative director at Scribble Pad Studios.
Like most kids, Paick was interested in video games and cartoons. He would draw what he saw on the screen — the Mario brothers, GI Joe — fostering his interest in the illustration field.
His passion turned into a highly successful career, and he and his designers have worked on the illustrations for several high profile clients, including Call of Duty, Dead Pool, Naughty Dog, Transformers and Mazerunner.
Paick, who has 15 years of design experience, will teach a workshop at FIG that focuses on creating the worlds and environments that are currently seen today in video games and movies.
Illustrations by James Paick, one of the world’s leading video game illustrators and founder of Scribble Pad Studios.
Paick hopes attendees will learn about “basic techniques that we use in the industry that relate back to what you learn in school”. He also hopes to give an idea as to “what you could experience on the job, and hopefully that could give [attendees] insight into the job field”, he said.
For Paick, education is a highly important part of his career, and he has taught in many institutions and at various workshops. He attributes some of his own success to other professionals volunteering their own time to his career, but also thinks some illustrative basics are “being overlooked”.
“I feel that when I was at art school I was taught a certain number of things that aren’t being taught today that I think would really benefit students”, he said. “There is good and bad information out there.”
Paick’s workshop is currently full, but other workshops hosted by different illustrators still have space. Additionally, the exhibitions are open to the public, free of charge.
For more information about FIG and the invited artists, visit their website
By Anna Weldon