Huge Claw Animation Studio

23/09/2016

3D CG
Production：Hugeclaw Animation Studio
Copyright：Tencent Game
Time：2016/07

Production：Hugeclaw Animation Team Copyright：Tencent Game Time：2016/07

18/04/2016

《Aces Cribbage》
Production：Hugeclaw Anamation Team
Copyrighted：Tencent Game
Time：2015

About us：
www.hugeclaw.com
[email protected]
+86 0755-26853391

18/04/2016

Production：Huge Claw Anamation Team
Copyrighted：Tencent Game
Time：2015

[Video]https://youtu.be/-Qdb2tEg7oc?list=PL-P8h01GHMa3fl-NQE35GmTEVy1z_06La

More about us:
http://www.hugeclaw.com
http://my.zcool.com.cn/tomyWorks.do

Contact us:
[email protected]
+86 0755-26853391

15/04/2016

Production：Huge Claw Anamation Team
Copyrighted：Tencent Game
Time：2015
Video:http://v.qq.com/page/x/e/9/x0172n77xe9.html

More about us:
http://www.hugeclaw.com
http://my.zcool.com.cn/tomyWorks.do

Contact us:
[email protected]
+86 0755-26853391

05/04/2016

Production：Huge Claw Anamation Team
Copyrighted：Tencent Game
Time：2014

More about us:
http://www.hugeclaw.com
http://my.zcool.com.cn/tomyWorks.do

01/04/2016

Name: Donato Giancola
Company/Freelance: Donato Arts
Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA

1.How did you get involved with the Wizards of the Coast?

I first heard of Wizards of the Coast in 1995 at a comic book convention. WOTC artist Bryon Wackwitz showed me some cards he had done and he was swamped with players requesting signatures. I was impressed with the creative potential of illustrating for the game and most importantly wanted to get a piece of that fan action!! Because I was still building up my book cover career, six months passed before I finally sent my portfolio to WOTC. Sue Ann Harkey, the art director, was gracious and complimentary and immediately commissioned four pieces for their upcoming Mirage expansion deck after viewing my portfolio of cover illustrations. I was delighted to have such an opportunity.
I decided to set a high standard for myself in the quality of art for these cards. I purchased a few extra books on various African cultures and proceeded to research the styles and designs of eastern Africa dress and jewelry to bring a broad sampling of culture to the images WOTC desired. I am proud of these first products of my labor and thrilled with the success they’ve achieved: Grinning Totem, Amber Prison, Village Elder and Moss Diamond.

2.What were your experiences like working with Wizards of the Coast? Did you enjoy working with them?

The greatest pleasure I get from working with Wizards of the Coast is know that millions of people will see and enjoy my art. I love that act of sharing what I enjoy so much to so many other players since I am a gamer myself. The art directors and much of the staff are fans of the fantasy genre, thus it is like working with friends who want to put together the best game possible.

3.What advice would you give to aspiring artists to get noticed by companies like the Wizards?

Practice. Practice. Practice. Visit galleries, exhibitions, other artists studios, and museums. Take art classes and try to draw things you like. Learn to struggle. Challenge yourself constantly
and learn to draw people.

4.What kind of artists do they look for to work on Magic cards?
Wizards of the Coast looks for very professional artists, capable of working with the human figure and telling a dynamic story. Great control over rendering, lighting effects and challenging compositions are the standard.

5.How long having you been working in the Art industry?

23 years now as a professional illustrator. All my life as an artist.

6.What was the project you were most proud of working on?

A painting of ‘The Hobbit: Expulsion’ which currently hangs in my living room, and was originally created as the cover to the graphic novel interpretation of ‘The Hobbit’. It represents everything I aspire to and am passionate about in my career as a fantasy illustrator and realist painter; illustrating J.R.R. Tolkien’s work; displaying the humanity of characters in epic conflict; and creating emotionally charged, large paintings. Inspirations accumulated on trips to museums around the world finally found expression in a work like this.

7.How did you first get started in Art?

Although there are milestones in my arts career, I can’t really say exactly when I “began” drawing and painting in a serious manner. My childhood is peppered with memories of making models, toys, drawing tanks, spaceships and almost anything in the afternoons, reading comics, painting lead figurines for Dungeons & Dragons, creating maps and art for role-playing, producing art projects for school… the list is endless! Art was a passion, yet always a hobby. My formal training came late. I began my college career at UVM majoring in electrical engineering, but it wasn’t until my second year at the University of Vermont that I withdrew from this career path, frustrated with the creativity missing from the classes, subjects and assignments. I still remember the day I dropped out of three engineering classes in mid semester. I shocked my friends, my family and even myself. Do not try this without proper adult supervision it could screw up your life! I enrolled in an art course the next semester, my very first formal lessons on drawing had begun. That same year I picked up my first set of oil paints, created some horrible paintings, and realized I need guidance, lots of guidance!
Very quickly it became obvious to me to take painting seriously I needed to pursue an education at a more challenging art college with competitive peers. I enrolled at Syracuse University in the fall of 1989 and majored in fine art painting. The doors which were opened to me at Syracuse proved unfathomable; from color theory to composition, anatomy, paint techniques, experimental drawing, post-modern, modern and abstract theorizing. Anyone who tells me I have a god given talent hasn’t seen the hours I labored to understand how to properly put an oil glaze of alizarin crimson on my paintings. Practice, practice, practice. Create, create, create. That was one of the greatest lessons I learned at school. No art can be made perfect and you need to keep moving onto your next project/vision. All told, my “college career” lasted six years, but it paid off: I’m doing what I love to do. Yet with that all said, my training did not stop after I graduated in 1992.

8.Which artists are you inspired by?

My love of oil painting reaches back to my education as fine arts painter at Syracuse University. For me, the most important issue about painting is not the printed image, but what a person takes away when experiencing the original work. I moved to New York to be near its wonderful museums, like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Frick Museum, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Dahesh Museum, and Pierpont Morgan Library. I still spend many afternoons visiting my favorite artists -- Hans Memling, Jan Van Eyck, Velazquez, Caravaggio, Vermeer, Mondrian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Ribera, and Titian. I strive to comprehend their complexity and bring that into my work. There is nothing so impressive to me as standing in front of a huge Velazquez that is 12' wide and 9' tall with fully life-sized figures! (I actually made a pilgrimage to the Prado Museum in Spain to see that one.) Or I will spend long stretches of time gazing into the minute details of a tiny Van Eyck, 8" by 12", bumping my nose on the glass straining to see details almost invisible to the eye. It is the combination of classical aesthetics with my love of Modern abstraction that I attempt to meld into one art form in my paintings. You can see these influences in some of my illustrations. For example the woman ‘Cartographer’ is inspired after Lorenzo Lotto's portraits; the dense compression of figures in ‘Faramir at Osgiliath’ are the melding of Caravaggio-like renderings with the surface patterning of a Pollack; and the vertical columns in ‘Ashling’ recall Barnet Neuman while building upon the atmospheric illusions of Van Eyckian perspectives.

14/03/2016

We interviewed Greg Hildebrandt of SpiderWebArt Gallery from Hopatcong, NJ USA. His work has been used in Warcraft/Hearthstone cards.

1. How did you get involved with the project?
I had been working on trading cards for Wizards of the Coast for many years and the Art Director at Blizzard called and asked if I would like to do some cards for their game. I said I’d love to!

2. What were your experiences like working with Blizzard?
Actually, almost everything I do goes directly through my agent, Jean Scrocco. Jean works with the art directors to gather the descriptions and reference for me on all of my projects. I do know the art director and very much enjoy working with him, but my direct contact working on the trading cards with the company is very limited.

3. Did you enjoy working with them?
I enjoy working with everyone! If I like the project and the people are nice, I enjoy working with them. It’s very simple.

4. What advice would you give to aspiring artists to get noticed by companies like Blizzard?
I would give the same advice to any artist, regardless of whom they would like to get noticed by. I basically tell them to pick a direction that they feel would be a good career fit for them. I then tell them to research every company in the market that is presently making art in that specific direction or genre. The next thing I tell them is to contact every company. It’s important to have a very varied portfolio. Be persistent, work extremely hard, learn something new every day, and do art 26 hours a day. If you are not willing to commit to your art, you will not be successful.

5. How long have you been working in the Art industry?
I began working professionally at the age of 18 with my brother, Tim. Our very first job was with the Jam Handy Organization, an industrial film company in Detroit, Michigan. It was 1957, and we started working for $1 an hour on salary. Truth be told, we worked side by side with such great artists, we should have paid them to allow us to learn from them!

6. What was the project you were most proud of working on in your whole career so far?
So far, the project that I am absolutely the most proud of is the one I haven’t started yet. I’m sure that will sound strange, and possibly arrogant, but it is what I truly believe. As an artist, I can look back at every piece I have ever painted and honestly say I would do it better now. So, for me, there is no favorite project. There is no favorite painting. There is only the continuing pursuit of getting it right in the next piece of art. I’m sure I never will, and I am thankful for that, because honestly, if I thought that I actually got it right for once, I would stop. And I have no intention of stopping until I die.

7. Did you have any mentors or guidance on your path to where you are now?
I’ve had dozens of mentors if you want to count all the great artists that have ever lived! I have studied art all of my life. There is very little in art that has been done that I can look at and say I do not like. So, for me, each piece of art done by a great master or contemporary artist is a learning process for me, making each piece a mentor, an inspiration and a source of guidance.

8. How did you first get started in Art?
Art chose me; I did not choose it. At the age of 3, my brother, Tim, and I were already obsessed. My parents did not understand it as there are no other artists in our family, but they nurtured it in every way possible. Even as small children, they exposed us to art in great illustrated books, they took us to museums, and they encouraged us to get better every day. Our dad made sure that we had a continuous, never-ending supply of pencils and paper with which to draw. As we got older and became obsessed with film making we built miniature sets in our parents’ barn that were inspired by 1950’s sci fi movies. Then, we filmed them and blew them up for the scenes where Martians were attacking. Even this was okay with mom and dad. As I mentioned earlier, our first job was in industrial film animation. We were both very interested in going to work for Disney as animators, but we were offered a position working for Bishop Fulton J. Sheen making documentary films on world hunger. It was an opportunity we could not pass up. So, at 21 years old, we left Detroit and came to New York City. After working for the Bishop for 6 years we turned our eyes toward illustration. It was a new and exciting venture for Tim and I, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Each time my artistic path has changed in life I have been excited about the possibility of doing something I had not done before. That still applies today at 77 years old.

9. Which artists are you inspired by?
Specific artists that have inspired me in my lifetime include, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Raphael, Da Vinci, and many others from the Renaissance Period. I have also been inspired by artists such as N.C. Wyeth, Walt Disney, Norman Rockwell, Diego Rivera, Erte, Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas, and Frank Frazetta. And let us not forget Joe Schuester, Joe Kubert, Joe Simon, Hal Foster, Alex Ramond, Will Eisner, Milton Caniff, and god knows how many other artists!!

10/03/2016

We interviewed freelance artist Matt Gaser from Petaluma, Ca. His work has been used in Warcraft/Heartstone cards.

1. How did you get involved with the project?
I was approached to work with Blizzard around 2005 for their TCG project. I had a longtime friend (roommate) from art school who was working at the blizzard campus as an illustrator. He asked me if I’d be interested in doing some cards. I said yes and the rest is history.

2. What were your experiences like working with Blizzard?
They were great, the card assignments were always fun, and still are! I’d say the approval process can sometimes be tricky with many requested revisions at times. I guess you could say they have a very strong quality bar and want all the artists on the TCG project to match a high standard. They push the artists to do their best work. This is a good thing.

3. Did you enjoy working with them?
Yes, I did enjoy working with them. So much they asked me to come to their campus and do a painting demo for their art dept. I was completely honored and humbled by this opportunity.

4. What advice would you give to aspiring artists to get noticed by companies like the Blizzard?
If you’re interested in working with Blizzard doing illustration work I’d say reference the work they produce. Study the card illustrations and work on a portfolio that mirrors the subject matter. Make sure your paintings and designs have a strong sensibility that resembles oversized armor, good anatomy (muscles are in the right place), and thick forms that turn well in perspective. Dynamic lighting is very important too. Above all show a strong sense of imagination and originality. It’s ok to have a portfolio that isn’t exactly like Blizzard material. You just have to prove you are talented and can do great work.

5. How long having you been working in the Art industry?
I’ve been a concept artist working in the industry since 2001. About 15+ years. Whoa, that was scary to write just now, I’m getting old.

6. What was the project you were most proud of working on in your whole career so far?
There have been several, I’d say on the top of my list was working at Skywalker Ranch as a lighting concept artist for the animated series: Star Wars The Clone Wars. Another exciting project I’ve been proud of is the new Angry Birds animated feature coming out May 2016. I did 8 months of preliminary design work on the feature and helped craft the bird island and pig island. Total blast creating a new world based on a simple game.

7. Did you have any mentors or guidance on your path to where you are now?
Yes, my first mentor was my art director when I intern on the Rugrats cartoon series while still in art school. His name was Alex Dilts and he was incredibly talented. Another mentor was several years later when I worked in the games industry. My art director then John Kleber really took me under his wing and improved my skills, became a great friend. So, I guess the mentors in my life have been my bosses so to speak. Having respect towards other that are talented and perhaps more talented than you can open doors for artist growth.

8. How did you first get started in Art?
I got started at a very early age. I entered lots of art contests growing up and eventually was chosen for CSSSA, California State Sumer School for the Arts. I spent a summer at Cal Arts learning animation. Quickly learned I don’t want to be animating and should shift gears towards a career in illustration and design.

9. Which artists are you inspired by?
The list is long but closer to the top would be Dean Cornwell, John Singer Sargent, Iain McCaig, Ashley Wood, James Gurney, Michael Scooner, Robert McCall… just to name a few. It’s a mix of master artists of old and new.

10. What is your favorite piece of art that Huge Claw has done? Please like or comment it!

Xuan Yuan Legend – Female
I like this piece because it shows great anatomy and sense of character, super soft and accurate lighting. The design is simple and the colors are striking. Overall, impressive work!

09/03/2016

We interviewed freelance artist Richard Wright, whose work has been used in Warcraft/Hearthstone cards.

1. How did you get involved with the project?
Back in 2004 I was sharing an office/studio with 2 other artists who were both doing work for Magic the Gathering. They let me help out with some of the work – environments for Ravnica I think. The Art Director liked my work and a few years later when he moved to Blizzard to work on the Warcraft TCG he got in touch to see if I was interested in illustrating some cards for them.

2. What were your experiences like working with Blizzard?
They're obviously very professional about Hearthstone but they're also very friendly, supportive and provide really helpful feedback.

3. Did you enjoy working with them?
Definitely. Working with the guys at Blizzard is great.

4. What advice would you give to aspiring artists to get noticed by companies like the Blizzard?
Keep practicing. Don't give up. Join the various art groups on Facebook like LevelUp, Brainstorm, Art Cafe. Post your work and get involved. Get a group of friends who you can share your progress with. Keep posting your work online – Artstation is great. Eventually you'll get noticed.

5. How long having you been working in the Art industry?
I started working as a freelance artist around 2004 I guess but I'd done some illustration work before that.

6. What was the project you were most proud of working on in your whole career so far?
Painting a picture of a cat for my mum!

7. Did you have any mentors or guidance on your path to where you are now?
Not anyone specific but my friends and everyone I've worked with have had the most influence.

8. How did you first get started in Art?
I've been into art since my childhood.

9. Which artists are you inspired by?
The list is too long! And I'd hate to miss someone out.

08/03/2016

We interviewd Steve Prescott from Columbus, Ohio USA, who worked on Hearthstone/Warcraft card designs.

1. How did you get involved with the project?
I worked on the World of Warcraft TCG for a few years before switching to Hearthstone. The art director at the time recognized my work from Magic the Gathering and D&D (plus I had met him at GenCon years ago) – he decided my style suited Warcraft (and Hearthstone)

2. What were your experiences like working with Blizzard?
Sometimes difficult and sometimes easy. I’ve always gotten along great with my art directors – but sometimes there is a miscommunication on what is needed from a certain image (whether my fault, their fault, or neither). That leads to having to go back in and fix work after it was thought to be done which is easier for digital artists than a traditional painter like myself. But more often than not, it is smooth, easy, and fun work.

3. Did you enjoy working with them?
Yes. While their style is fairly refined, they have a lot of room for having fun with the illustration – either in drawing style, action, or loud colors.

4. What advice would you give to aspiring artists to get noticed by companies like the Blizzard?
It depends on what product you want to do work for. If you want work for Wizards of the Coast working on Magic the Gathering, you’d want moody, atmospheric, dramatic work in your portfolio – with realistically handled characters. But for Hearthstone, there needs to be an element of fun, strong bold shapes, an ability to take difficult character designs and make it work in a smaller frame, and an ability to handle bright colors well. All illustration work boils down to being able to draw well though. As cliché as it sounds, always be improving your drawing ability – it’s the base for your whole illustration.

5. How long having you been working in the Art industry?
I’ve been an artist seemingly my whole life – but professionally, I have been working since 1995.

6. What was the project you were most proud of working on in your whole career so far?
Difficult to answer – I am proud of different projects for different reasons. I’m proud of the personal hard work of publishing my own art book (Aggregate: the art of Steve Prescott) back in 2009. I’m also very proud of all the work I have done on my various concept design stints at Wizards of the Coast working on Magic: The Gathering – a ton of drawing and serious brainwork went into all of that – tremendously fun, challenging, and rewarding stuff. I guess maybe I’m most proud of my work on the app game SoulSpark by Copenhagen Creators. The game floundered for various insurmountable reasons (namely, we’re not a gigantic corporation with deep pockets) but I got to do all the artwork for the game. It was a long year of hard work but the illustrations I did for that are some of my most personal from-the-heart work I have done as a professional.

7. Did you have any mentors or guidance on your path to where you are now?
Not one in particular (though Chris Moeller was off-n-on like a mentor to me). My mentoring came through the fantasy art community as a whole. We’re a nurturing family and almost everyone I have met in this industry is willing to offer opinions, advice, and assistance.

8. How did you first get started in Art?
Professionally speaking I got my first true paying job with White Wolf back in 1995. An art director came to my college and talked to the illustration majors. He looked at portfolios – liked my stuff. Within about a month I was working on art for a White Wolf book!

9. Which artists are you inspired by?
There are almost too many. Hundreds probably. Heck I get inspired by artists that do installation fine art sculpture even. But I’ll try and pair the list down for the sake of this question. Most notable in my development was Mike Mignola. I did a ton of black and white work in the 90’s and his drawing style and inking style helped me a lot. I didn’t try to copy his look as much as just learn about composition and breaking up shapes. Others: Brom, Frazetta, Mark Zug, Chris Moeller, Tony DiTerlizzi, Chris Rahn, Dave Johnson, Re*****on, Mucha, Klimt. I could go on and on.

07/03/2016

Calling all character designers!

We are looking for character concept designers to work on character designs on one of our original productions. The style we are looking for is modern Chinese. The design would be for two human characters and one monster creature.

Please send us links to your previous character design work and contact information.

Thank you,

- Zoe from Huge Claw Animation Studio

07/03/2016

We interviewed Mike Sass from Canada who provided freelance work for the Hearthstone cards:

1. How did you get involved with the project?
I met the art director at a convention in 2009 and worked with him for a few years on the physical Warcraft tcg. When they cancelled that game and created Hearthstone, I started working on that project.

2. What were your experiences like working with Blizzard?
Blizzard is very good to work with. They have capable employees and are very organized to achieve quality and consistency. Communication is good and They are very good at making sure your art hits their target. The art director has many good suggestions that improve the images, it can be a team effort.

3. Did you enjoy working with them?
Yes. They are the best client I have had as a freelancer.

4. What advice would you give to aspiring artists to get noticed by companies like Blizzard?
You have to hit the mark with the company style. You also have to make sure you inspire confidence by having a portfolio that show good fundamentals. You cannot be limited in your skills or narrow in what you can do. You have to be able to accept and successfully illustrate anything and do so with the proper aesthetic.

5. How long having you been working in the Art industry?
I have been working for about 20 years and more specifically focused on illustration full time since 2009.

6. What was the project you were most proud of working on in your whole career so far?
I am most proud of my original oil paintings for games; Magic and Warcraft. Its much more work and difficult to achieve a quality that can compare to digital art, but it's worth it to me.

7. Did you have any mentors or guidance on your path to where you are now?
I had to mostly learn on my own. When I started to fantasy art there was really no books or information, and no internet resources. However, I took a fair number of workshops over the years and attended lots of conventions to meet other artists and observe what the standards are.

8. How did you first get started in Art?
I have been doing art fairly seriously since I was a kid. I went to art school on the 90s for illustration and graphic design, then worked at BioWare for 12 years as the marketing artist.

9. Which artists are you inspired by?
Many of my fellow peers in the gaming industry inspire me. Not so much the digital artists, but the ones painting in oils and acrylics. I am mainly an oil painter now so I am looking at the craft of those around me working in the same manner, and on the same products. I am inspired my Alex Horley, Mark Zug, Steve Prescott, Brom, and many others. I don't pay much attention to digital art these days, actually. There is so much out there!