Our 2010 Calendar

It's that time of the year again! Our 2010 Calendar is now available! Get 'em while they're hot--which is always, but you should get 'em now, nevertheless.

And The Winner Is...

Sebastian Rice! Congratulations Sebastian! This was really tough to judge--there were lots of guesses that had some parts
right, but other parts wrong, so we had to balance it all out by taking into account more rights and
less wrongs. Thank you, everybody, for taking part--you really made this fun for us all!

Here's the actual breakdown on who did what:

The original concept was figured out between Julie and the client.
Boris did the original sketch and laid the main elements out on the board.
Julie painted the background and foreground-- all of the sky, foliage, rocks, trees, etc.
Boris started the wolf, Julie made adjustments and final touches to him.
Julie painted the head of the front horse (on the right) and Boris painted the body.
Boris painted the back horse (on the left).
Boris painted the woman’s body, Julie made some final touches to her face.
Julie painted the woman’s halter top, Boris painted her skirt and boots.
Boris painted the sword in the foreground.

There is no particular formula of how we work together because every painting is different. The decision as to “who paints what” is mostly based on convenience. We are usually working on several different projects at any given time and, in the interest of efficiency, we try to both stay pretty busy. Sometimes Boris will do the original layout, sometimes Julie. Sometimes Boris will paint the figure, sometimes Julie. Same with the background, whatever. If there is any particular part of the painting that one of us really wants to do, we will say so and do that--but we do sometimes have to arm wrestle to come to a final decision. Just kidding! :) There are times when one of us starts a face, then has to stop for some reason, and the other one will pick up where it was left off.

It’s a really fun way to work and we don’t run into ego battles about it. We both respect each other’s vision and ability equally. We do recognize that it’s an amazingly unique situation and that we’re luckier than our wildest dreams could have ever come up with!

So, Sebastian, send us an e-mail at bjart1@imaginistix.com!

Contest! Win a Prize!

As you all know by now, Boris and I often work on the same painting (or drawing) together. When you look at our signatures on the paintings and you just see one signature, you will know that the painting you are looking at has been created entirely by the one who signed it. And whenever you see a painting that has been signed by the two of us, you can be sure that it's one we've done together as a team. We feel that it's a pretty seamless transition and most people don't notice that it's been done by two artists. We like to think of it as a "third artist".

This painting, "Temple", was commissioned by someone who wanted us to paint it together. When we do these paintings together, we often get letters from people who want to guess as to who painted what (Harrison and Jen, you know who you are!). So we decided to make a contest for you to guess!

Whoever comes the closest to guessing how we worked on this painting together will win an 18"x24" print of your choice.
A hint to keep in mind: we never follow any set formula to decide who works on what element. For instance, sometimes one of us works more on the figures and, for the next painting, we switch places. Sometimes we even work on the same figure together. So you can't base your guess on any other paintings! Please post your guesses in this blog by August 25.

Julie's Chesley Award

Wow! I just got a call from our son, fellow illustrator David Palumbo, who is attending the 2009 World Con in Montreal, that I won the Chesley Award for Artistic Achievement! I wasn't able to be in Montreal to receive the award in person, but David graciously accepted it for me. What a complete thrill! Thank you so much to everyone who gave me your vote of support. I wish you could know how meaningful this is to me!
--Julie