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Drawing from Inspiration - Iron Man

An Interview with Freelance Artist Cory Siewert

Freelance artist Cory Siewert shares how he draws Iron Man with digital Copic markers in Concepts.

"I tend to draw my creative efforts from things that really inspire me. Anything can do it really - a fun sign, architecture, colors, characters, etc."

Cory Siewert - I grew up in a house full of musical and artistic talent. I can relate to Alain Passard in his quote during his "Chef's Table France" episode where he says something along the lines of "I had a family where gestures of 'the hand' were everywhere". My family is musical - it creates, or sings or writes - and not just mechanically so, but there is a true gifting about the way they do it.

My current line of work is actually in Specialty Coffee. I love it. Though my work in it is not in a capacity where I draw at all. I am hoping that changes in the future!

How did you get into drawing, and how do you approach your creative learning?

Drawing is something I've always done, whether it be doodling or drawing for varying forms of contract work. I remember in school as a second grader getting in trouble for some elaborate drawing of a hockey goalie I had done because for whatever reason - and I still don't know why to this day - but I was told by my teacher that "it was a perfect example of what not to do." That stung at the time, because I am sure I did it with elaborate effort. I laugh now, ha ha!

I tend to draw my creative efforts from things that really inspire me. Anything can do it really - a fun sign, architecture, colors, characters, etc. As I've gotten older, I've developed my ability in drawing to sort of be able to just draw whatever I am asked to by others, whether it be my kids or friends. It's usually very casual though! I will say, if I am being asked to replicate something, my preference is to have a bit of a rough picture to go off of. I love to get the details right.

A couple of visionary urban sketches.

What are your preferred tools for drawing? How does the iPad help you to pursue your creativity?

Currently I am loving Concepts App for iPad. I use an iPad Pro with Concepts App for practically all of my current projects. My stylus tends to alternate between the Apple Pencil and Rotring 800+ capacitive stylus / mechanical pencil.

If I had unlimited resources for paints, brushes, markers, pencils, pens, I am sure I would draw in the raw a bit more. But things aren't getting any cheaper, and as a parent, I don't generally have lots of time for things to dry properly, so Concepts has been perfect. I am a big fan of the Copic color wheel for my creations, as I find in this format they are exceptionally dynamic. And most importantly, my palette is infinite in Concepts. No more trips to the store to pick up more of that one color!

Boba Fett, illustrated by Cory Siewert.

Can you walk us through how you created your Iron Man drawing?

I get my perspective and outline drawn up in pencil from scratch (in this case sketched still life style from a photograph taken from one of the films) just like you would with a pencil and paper, and start working in the base colors in marker from there. I like to call it color mapping, similar to how a painter would work up base colors.

Base sketch and color mapping.

Post that, I usually put on some great jazz to get in the zone, and layer layer layer. My primary tools are pen, pencil and marker from start to finish.

Layering in the colors with marker.

Iron Man, illustrated by Cory Siewert.

Cory Siewert is a coffee professional and freelance artist that lives with his family in British Columbia, Canada. He enjoys detail oriented work, specialty grade coffee, natural wines, jazz, and hand pies. Find his photography @_corysiewert and his art @takk.art on Instagram.

Art and Photography by Cory Siewert
Interview by Erica Christensen

Drawing from Inspiration - Iron Man

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