The Artist’s Journey with Iain McCaig & Karla Ortiz: Do I Have What It Takes?

Iain McCaig divides his energies between a lifelong love of storytelling and a passionate belief that everyone in the world can learn to draw.

As of 2021, McCaig has worked for 41 years in the entertainment industry. Many of his creations have become pop-culture icons, like his cover for Jethro Tull’s ‘Broadsword and the Beast’ or his Star Wars designs for Queen Amidala and Darth Maul. He has created art for games, from LucasArts ’The Secret of Monkey Island’ to Respawn’s ’Titanfall’, and for many films, among them ’Terminator 2’, ‘Interview With The Vampire’, ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’, ‘Hook’, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Charlotte’s Web’, ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, ’The Avengers’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’, Disney’s live-action ’The Jungle Book’, and the ongoing 'Star Wars' movies, as well as designs for the 'Star Wars: The High Republic’ graphic novels, and ’Star War: Galaxy’s Edge’ theme parks.

In his spare time, McCaig writes, produces and directs, and wanders the land encouraging people to draw and tell stories. In 2008, Palace Press published ’Shadowline: The Art of Iain McCaig’, a combination of 28 years of McCaig’s commercial and private artwork, a mini-course in how-to-draw, and a fictionalized expose of his creative process.

In May 2008, Spectrum Fantastic Art gave McCaig their GRAND MASTER Award, and in September 2021, the Concept Art Association honored him with a LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT award.

Karla Ortiz is a Puerto Rican, internationally recognized, award-winning artist. With her exceptional design sense, realistic renders, and character-driven narratives, Karla has contributed to many big-budget projects, including Jurassic World, World of Warcraft, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Marvel's Thor Ragnarok, Black Panther, Infinity Wars, Loki, Eternals, and most notably her design of Doctor Strange for Marvel's Doctor Strange. Karla's work is also recognized in the fine art world, showcasing her figurative and mysterious art in notable galleries, such as Spoke Art and Hashimoto Contemporary in San Francisco, Nucleus Gallery, Thinkspace, Maxwell Alexander Gallery in LA, and Galerie Arludik in Paris. She currently lives in San Francisco with her cat, Bady.