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Greg Preston

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Greg Preston
Born
Gregory Mark Preston

(1960-06-02) June 2, 1960 (age 66)
OccupationsPhotographer, writer
Notable workThe Artist Within
Spouse
Sharon Sampsel
​
(m. 1986)​
Websitesampselpreston.com

Gregory Mark Preston (born June 2, 1960) is an American photographer and writer, known for his portraiture of artists within their creative spaces.[1][2]

Early life and education

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Preston was first exposed to comic books at age eight and was immediately drawn to the visuals. At age thirteen, Preston was reintroduced to comics by a friend and from that point on he was hooked.[2]

For college, Preston enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for his first two years as a fine arts major, thinking he wanted to be an illustrator, but really his desire was to be comic book artist.[2] An instructor's advice that Preston seek out a more serious art school with commercial sensibilities, led him to enroll in a community college for graphic design.[2]

Preston bought his first camera, an Olympus OM-1, during that third year of studies, to shoot reference photos for his illustrations, and found his passion.[2]

After graduating with a degree in graphic design, Preston then moved to Los Angeles to study photography at the Art Center College of Design.[2] In school, Preston began shooting with Nikon and Hasselblad cameras; and his favorite photographer influences were Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Albert Watson, Mark Seliger, and Andrew Eccles.[3]

Preston met Sharon Sampsel at the Art Center, graduating in 1986, and the couple married the same year.

Career

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Preston would go on to find work as commercial advertising photographer, specializing in hotel, resort, hospitality, weddings, portrait, editorial, food, and architectural photography.[4] Preston and his wife opened their Las Vegas-based photography studio, Sampsel Preston Photography, on April 1, 1988.[1][5]

Preston's love of the illustration and fantasy art – and a suggestion from cartoonist Scott Shaw – brought about the idea for Preston's project of portraits of artists within their studios.[2] The fifteen-year-long project brought together 101 cartoonists, comic book artists, and animators into an award-winning book of black-and-white portraits whose subjects include Frank Miller, Al Hirschfeld, Joe Barbera, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Moebius, Walt and Louise Simonson.[2] The Artist Within: Portraits of Cartoonists, Comic Book Artists, Animators and Others (ISBN 978-1593075613) was published by Dark Horse Books in 2007.[2]

After the success of his first book, Preston crowdfunded the companion book. Launched in March 2017, the Kickstarter campaign received funding of $30,624.[6] The Artist Within: Behind the Lines: Book 2 (ISBN 978-0692917565) was published in November 2017, and features both black-and-white and color portraits of more than one hundred artists, including Drew Struzan, Jack Kirby, Mark English, Keith Knight, Syd Mead, Steranko, Ron English, Glen Keane.[7][3][8]

Preston's portraits from The Artist Within project have been seen during the Academy Awards and the Eisner Awards.[9] Preston's The Artist Within portrait of artist Marie Severin was used by publications including The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Newsday to announce her death.[10][11][12]

In past years, Preston has also been the official portrait photographer at events, including Spectrum Fantastic Art Live in Kansas City;[13] and CTN Animation Expo in Burbank, California;[1] setting up a pop-up studio to take portraits of the guest artists in attendance.

Preston has been an invited speaker at various venues. In 2011, he was a guest speaker the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers convention in London, to speak about being a hotel and resort photographer.[8][14] He has also spoken about his The Artist Within project before audiences at the CTN Animation Expo,[15] Loyola Marymount University,[16] and at the Art Center College of Design.[17]

Bibliography

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  • 2007 The Artist Within: Portraits of Cartoonists, Comic Book Artists, Animators and Others ISBN 978-1593075613
  • 2017 The Artist Within: Behind the Lines: Book 2 ISBN 978-0692917565

References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Greg Preston – Profile – CTN animation eXpo". ctnanimationexpo.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Keller, Katherine. "The Artist Behind the Artist Within: Greg Preston". sequentialtart.com. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Blitz, Stephen. "FOG! Chats With Photographer Greg Preston, About His 'The Artist Within: Book 2' Kickstarter". forcesofgeek.com. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Greg Preston". 500px.com. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Samsel Preston Photography". samselprestonphotography.com. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  6. ↑ "The Artist Within, Photographic Portraits Of Artists: Book 2". kickstarter.com. July 24, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Greg Preston Talks The Artist Within Book 2". tripwiremagazine.co.uk. November 10, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  8. 1 2 Dooley, Michael (November 3, 2016). "Picturing Famous Comics Artists and Animators, at Ease". printmag.com. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Greg Preston Comic Obsession: Portraits of 100+ Top Artists at Work". epickmagazine.com. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  10. ↑ Sims, David (August 31, 2018). "Remembering the Woman Who Changed Marvel Comics". The Atlantic. Boston, MA. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  11. ↑ Cavna, Michael (August 31, 2018). "Hall of Fame artist Marie Severin, 89, was a beloved and irrepressible comics pioneer". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  12. ↑ Schudel, Matt (September 1, 2018). "Marie Severin, versatile Hall of Fame comic-book illustrator, dies at 89". Newsday. Long Island, Ny. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  13. ↑ Preston, Greg (June 3, 2015). "Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2015-New Portraits". sampselprestonphotography.blogspot.com. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  14. ↑ Preston, Greg. "Making a Living in Sin City". swpp.co.uk. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  15. ↑ "More of Greg Preston and Michael Dooley: Artist Within Book 2". November 28, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via YouTube.
  16. ↑ "KaleidoLA Speaker Series: Greg Preston, Commercial Photographer, Sampsel & Preston Photography". cal.lmu.edu. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  17. ↑ "Greg Preston at Art Center Tonight!". si-la.org. February 29, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
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