Make Art Your Own: Exploring Artistic Identity

My Sketchbooks over Time

A course by Gary Baseman , Artist, Illustrator, and Animator

Artist, Illustrator, and Animator. Los Angeles, United States.
Joined September 2020
99% positive reviews (223)
5,621 students
Audio: English
English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch

About the video: My Sketchbooks over Time

Overview

“It's time to see how I’ve used the sketchbook as a tool in various ways. The sketchbook holds my initial ideas for major projects, it’s where I document experiences and experiment with materials and techniques. Sketchbooks made over time also provide me with a good record of how I have evolved as an artist.”

In this video lesson Gary Baseman addresses the topic: My Sketchbooks over Time, which is part of the Domestika online course: Make Art Your Own: Exploring Artistic Identity. Define your unique visual language by connecting with your ideas, emotions, and life experiences in your sketchbook.

Partial transcription of the video

“My Sketchbooks over Time In my exhibition "The Door Is Always Open" everything that you've seen started in my sketchbook as an idea. Here you're gonna see my sketchbooks over time. Sketchbooks in particular that really inspired me or were a benchmark in my art career. This sketchbook is very important to me. It was at a time when my art and illustration was very colorful. It was created with pastels. It was more cartoony at a place where I needed to really develop my own art and to expand. Here, in this particular sketchbook, I limited my palette. I was very inspired by Russian constructivi...”

This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.


Course summary for: Make Art Your Own: Exploring Artistic Identity

  • Level: Beginner
  • 99% positive reviews (223)
  • 5621 students
  • 4 units
  • 14 lessons (3h 20m)
  • 7 downloads
  • Category

    Illustration
  • Areas

    Creativity, Drawing, Sketchbook, Sketching, Traditional illustration

Gary Baseman

Gary Baseman
A course by Gary Baseman

Teacher Plus
Artist, Illustrator, and Animator

Gary Baseman has always considered himself an artist. Since elementary school, he was known as the class artist, signing his drawings just like Picasso. The First Amendment about free speech was what inspired his career decision, spurring him on to major in Communications at UCLA. He then left Los Angeles and set off to New York, where he started working as an Illustrator—or as Gary calls it—a visual problem solver. His first big break was for the cover of The New York Times Book Review, which put him on the map as a commercial illustrator. He went on to publish with TIME, The Atlantic, Discover, Rolling Stone, and newspapers all across the US, including the LA Times, New York Times, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, and more. He also created commercial campaigns for Gatorade, Nike, Levi’s, and Mercedes-Benz.

After ten years in New York, he realized his creativity could go much further than the constraints of commercial illustration. He moved back to his hometown, Los Angeles, where he worked on pilots for animation. After a few unsuccessful attempts, Disney took notice and Teacher’s Pet became a worldwide success, earning him several Emmy and BAFTA awards. His first major exhibition was Dumb Luck and Other Paintings about Lack of Control at Mendenhall Gallery, Pasadena (US) in 1999 which began his transition from commercial to fine art. His work challenges viewers to reflect on the meaning of life’s challenges and triumphs through horrific yet endearing characters and scenes. Character development is a prominent trait in his work, with which he develops collectible toys and figurines like Toby, Dumb Luck, ChouChou, Ahwroo, and Blackie the Cat. Gary’s fine art creations have been exhibited in countless renowned museums and galleries across the globe. He has received many awards for his work, including the reputable Art Directors Club award and has received the Fullbright and Sundance New Frontier Lab fellowships. His most recent projects include collaborations with COACH, Dr. Martens, and Lladro; a documentary film Mythical Creatures about his family heritage; and a creative collaboration with music artist Moby in the documentary Moby Doc.


  • 99% positive reviews (223)
  • 5,621 students
  • 14 lessons (3h 20m)
  • 21 additional resources (7 files)
  • Online and at your own pace
  • Available on the app
  • Audio: English
  • English · Spanish · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch
  • Level: Beginner
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Make Art Your Own: Exploring Artistic Identity. Illustration course by Gary Baseman

Make Art Your Own: Exploring Artistic Identity

A course by Gary Baseman
Artist, Illustrator, and Animator. Los Angeles, United States.
Joined September 2020
  • 99% positive reviews (223)
  • 5,621 students