Robert Squier Illustrations

The Year in Pictures 2011

2012-01-13T23:45:00.000-05:00

This collage represents my illustration output in 2011. Each thumbnail is taken from a different project. Some projects were small and personal, others professional and far-flung. Third row, fourth square is an experiment with a new medium (new for me): gouache. First row, second square represents a six-book series of of Bible parables.

I do this exercise mostly for myself – a way of assessing my progress as an artist. I have a variety of thoughts and emotions as I see a year's work in chronological order. Here are some of the thoughts that crossed my mind:

I rock!

I suck!

I'm my own worst critic (and best cheerleader), and as I saw these illustrations again, I was judging each of them with "fresh" eyes. They're all successful illustrations – but I find some more appealing than others… Suffice to say – this exercise helps me track my strengths, my weakness and the evolution of my style.

Now on to 2012!

Holiday Catastrophe Averted!

2011-12-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

Wishing you and your loved ones a smashing good Holiday Season!

Leave That Thing Alone

2011-10-13T20:55:00.001-04:00

Last night, when I really should have been working on an illustration gig, I did this… this… THING.

John Carpenter's 1982 classic, The Thing, centers around a shape-shifting alien that can perfectly mimic other life forms. When the alien infiltrates an isolated Antarctica outpost, the human inhabitants are discreetly taken over one by one. The remaining humans don't know who amongst them is human... or a THING. And hilarity ensues.

The movie blew my mind as a kid. The creature design was demented, horrifying and totally original – and I LOVED it. The wild creativity I saw unleashed on the screen was profoundly inspiring. Yeah, I was weird kid…

Tomorrow a prequel to The Thing, entitled The Thing, is being released. My expectations for the film are low–but I'm looking forward to revisiting that world. Both the world of The Thing and the world of my youth.

So rather than working last night I played. I drew The Thing and I had a blast. I suspect I'll soon be visiting more creatures from my youth: Godzilla, Alien, Evil from Time Bandits, The Creature from the Black Lagoon… hey, I'm feeling kinda inspired. I guess looking back can do that for a person.

Ramona Quimby Show Poster

2011-10-02T18:12:00.000-04:00

Initial, ugly sketch.

In case you're not familiar with Ramona Quimby, she's a pugnacious and imaginative girl featured in a series of books by Beverly Cleary. The character has appeared in movies, on television and a stage play. My illustration of Ramona is for the Los Altos Youth Theater production of Ramona Quimby.

The theater needed a poster and a t-shirt design. The poster would be printed in color. The t-shirt needed to be line art only.

Digital sketch done in Photoshop.

Effective posters are eye-catching and make a clear and concise pitch. After mulling over several ideas, I settled on this simple and fun approach. The show's title, a big selling point, is big and bold. Ramona is wide eyed and grinning as she mischievously pushes the show's title out of her way. I think it quickly conveys the essence of the character and the show: fun and kid-centric.

Once I had a sketch, I started the line art for the t-shirt. In the past, I'd do this type of work with a brush and ink, but I've gotten more comfortable "inking" on the computer. The Ramona illustration was "inked" in Photoshop. I traced my hand drawn lettering in Adobe Illustrator. Eventually, both elements (Ramona illustration and lettering) were combined in Illustrator and converted into a vector file for the t-shirt printer.

Line art version of the image for screen-printing t-shirts.

Unlike the t-shirt, the poster art had no limitations. I based Ramona's color scheme on a production photo. I chose the yellow because it's a warm, eye-catching color – and the dark teal because it compliments the other colors while providing enough contrast to pop.

Hidden Picture Cover

2011-09-09T21:26:00.000-04:00

Hidden Pictures are a beloved and enduring staple of Highlights Magazine. Kids of all ages love searching for hidden objects within an illustrated scene. I say all ages, because my optometrist's staff is addicted to Hidden Pictures; they even compete against one another to see who can find the objects the fastest!

Showing off at my
local supermarket.

My friend, Chuck Dillon, is a Hidden Picture guru and has illustrated dozens of these puzzles. On several occasions he encouraged me to try one but I never got around to tackling such a challenge until I got assigned a cover for Hidden Pictures Magazine.

I was given a list of objects to hide, a rough sketch and the cover layout. Initially, I expected the challenge would be hiding the objects, but that was actually fun. The real challenge was working around the layout (masthead, headlines and barcode). Eventually, after lots of experimentation, everything fell into place.

Seeing my art on a magazine cover, on a newsstand, right alongside Highlights, High Five and, gasp, MAD, is a real treat and honor.

An unexpected treat has been watching friends and family try to find the hidden objects. I'm always surprised and amused by the order that people find objects. The ones that I think are obvious are often the last objects found. My dad was really stumped looking for the "bat." He was looking for a baseball bat – not a winged bat!

The issue is on newsstand now through October 18, 2011. FYI: there are six objects hidden on the cover…

Pencil sketch with some digital edits.

Evolution of the digital painting process.

From the Archive: Soho Pub T-shirt

2011-07-29T16:20:00.001-04:00

I created this t-shirt illustration for a bar in Old Orchard Beach, Maine – many, many years ago. I don't think I was even old enough to drink at the time.

I did the original line art on tracing paper with a brush and ink. I added the color digitally, and those files are lost, most likely on a hard drive in a landfill somewhere. And even if I had the files, I probably couldn't open them. I was using Photoshop 3 and "painting" with the Paint Bucket tool.

I was just learning Photoshop and the Paint Bucket tool was the greatest thing. Soon I discovered its limitations, including the white "jaggies" it left behind on anti-aliased lines.

Both Photoshop and I have come a long way...

Highlights: Bear Rides!

2011-06-20T23:10:00.034-04:00

These bears at a fair are in the July 2011 issue of Highlights magazine. This drawing illustrates a story entitled "Bear Rides!" by Maggie Murphy. The story is also a rebus. And for the folks scratching their fur thinking, "what's a rebus?" – a rebus is type of puzzle where certain words are replaced with a drawing that represents that word. Here's an example:

This is NOT, I repeat NOT how it was used in the magazine.

The folks Highlights wanted a dynamic composition, with the rocket ride high in the air and the fairgrounds far below. After trying to create this scene in my head, I decided I needed some reference. So I put on my engineering hat and engineered this:

I've got MAD engineering skills.

This silly contraption helped me visualize the rockets in relation to each other and to the arms of the ride.

And here are close-ups of the different characters:

And some more of the icons I created for the rebus.

And an early, ugly sketch:

These bears look like they're about to hurl.

Talkin' About Style

2011-05-23T16:43:00.004-04:00

So, where does an artist's style come from?

That was the question that I, along with fellow illustrators, Susan Savory, Andy J. Smith and Teri Weidner, attempted to answer at the 25th Annual NESCBWI Conference last weekend. (For those unfamiliar with that acronym, it stands for the New England Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.)

Susan, Andy, Teri and I hosted a workshop entitled - deep breath - The Search for a Singular Style: An Exploration for Illustrators. Phew. That was a mouthful.

We kicked off our presentation with slides of our work. And because we wanted to show apples and apples, each of us illustrated a scene from Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Susan Savory's whimsical and mystical illustrations are done with cut paper.

Andy J Smith's work is wacky fun and created digitally.

Teri Weidner's watercolors are beautiful and traditional.

And then there's me, with my slightly twisted humor. This is a drawing with ink wash, digitally colored.

The talk was essentially divided into two parts.

First, we discussed the roots or foundation of style and those (according to us) are Influences, Voice, Experimentation and Practice. This portion of talk featured our own personal stories and work. And for the record, the book How To Draw the Marvel Way was a huge influence on me--that and Wacky Packages!

The second half of the talk explored elements of style, the qualities intrinsic to every illustration that can often be taken for granted. We showed several varied examples of each element of style and urged the attendees to question their approach to each of the following:

• Character Design
• Color
• Line
• Medium
• Texture
• Tight vs Loose
• Composition

As an example: when talking about color, we suggested that skies don't have to be blue (and grass green.) Sometimes just introducing less-than-expected color choices (red, turquoise, lavender skies) can shake up an artist's style and make their work stand out.

We packed a LOT into this presentation. Honestly, almost any topic covered could be expanded into its own workshop. Thanks to the great NESCBWI staff and to everyone who attended our little talk!

Highlights: Dinosaur!

2011-05-22T18:56:00.011-04:00

The May 2011 Highlights Magazine features the poem, Dinosaur, by Myra Cohn Livingston -- illustrated by ME!

I've drawn lots of dinosaurs in my day but not many dino skeletons. After settling on a composition, I set out to learn the basic mechanics of my fossilized friend. I did this by studying dozens of dino, rhino and elephant skeletons.

I'm a big fan of the "drawing through method" which simply means drawing things as if they were made of glass. So rather than draw a big dino skull and guessing where the body, legs and tail might fall, I drew every body part, whether it showed in the final illustration or not. I then combined the bits and pieces in Photoshop and voila!

"Drawing through" gives me confidence in my work -- and I hope it translates into more believable illustrations.

Here's some early versions of the illustration.

The Truth About Witches

2011-01-26T21:12:00.006-05:00

The Truth About Witches, a book I illustrated for Capstone Press, is out!

The book, written by Eric Braun, is a fun overview of witchiness–from folklore to the latest Hollywood blockbuster. I got to draw characters from The Wizard of Oz, The Little Mermaid, Hansel and Gretel, Harry Potter and even Tomie dePaola's Strega Nona!

While working on this book I came to the realization that drawing ugly is FUN! Fun and liberating. When drawing a witch, if I made the nose too big – who cares?! Heck, make it bigger! While creating these witch characters, the more exaggerated or twisted the better.

Drawing normal people–and in particular children–is more restrictive. If I draw a child with a big nose, there's a good chance that will age him or her; the child can quickly start looking like a diminutive adult.

I altered my digital-painting approach with this project by skipping a step. Rather than make one last precise and clean pencil drawing, and paint over that, I used my somewhat sketchy "rough" drawing underneath the digital color.

Why skip a step? Partially, it was a time-management issue. Also, I felt that my sketchy, "rough" drawings had more energy and life than the clean, traced versions. I'm happy with the final artwork and am glad I decided to streamline my process in this way.

What does a Witch look like? This spread sums it up: pointy hat, rotten teeth, hairy wart and a pointy chin.

A witch with her familiar. And a very unlucky centipede.

The Sea Witch and the Little Mermaid. I dig the eels and crabs in the witches seaweed hair!

Illustration Friday: Dusty

2011-01-22T12:19:00.003-05:00

I created this little guy for the Illustration Friday topic "dusty."

I participated this week because I've been itching to try a different digital painting technique and rather than experiment on a client's project, I used this mummy as my guinea pig. Below is a breakdown of the steps and stages taken to create this illustration.

ROUGH SKETCH:

Here is the one (and only) rough sketch. Typically I spend more time exploring different poses and character design, but I was eager to start painting.

FINAL DRAWING:

I scanned the rough sketch and printed it at 5% opacity. The sketch printed very lightly, but dark enough that I could still see the lines. I drew the final drawing directly over the printout.

FINAL DRAWING 2:

After scanning the Final Drawing, I realized I preferred some of the details of the Rough Sketch. Using my drawing tablet (Wacom Cintiq), I changed the teeth and erased some bandages around the mummy's head.

TONAL LAYER:

Here's where I started exploring a new painting technique. Before jumping into color, I painted the values. My hope is that by starting with lights and darks, the final drawing will have more clearly defined volume and structure. I'll also be more aware of how the lights and darks are organized in the composition.

COLORIZE TONAL LAYER:

In traditional painting, adding black to darken colors can make for a muddy painting. Using Hue Saturation, I gave the tonal layer some warmth. Did I mention I'm working in Photoshop? I'm working in Photoshop.

COLOR 1:

Here I started adding color in a layer set to "multiply." This tints the color effectively and works well in the darker values of the drawing.

COLOR 2:

Here's where the illustration really comes to life. On another layer set to "normal," I started adding color and line. The color on this layer is "opaque" and without it, the painting feels flat – like a tinted greyscale image.

I'm pleased with the final illustration. The tonal painting gave me a strong foundation for the color. Adding the lights and darks early also makes me more aware of their effect on composition and how the lights and darks lead the viewer's eye around the drawing.

I also used the project to experiment with character design. Typically, my people (or creatures) have natural proportions, whereas this mummy has a Charlie Brown body.

I had a blast creating this little guy.

2010: The Year in Pictures

2011-01-06T20:21:00.002-05:00

Zombies. Elves. Witches. Cowboys. And a Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Just another year of in the life of an illustrator. And even though I may occasionally complain about deadlines or eye strain or my sore back, I do appreciate the fact I get paid to draw stuff.

A Merry Christmas Card

2010-12-25T17:56:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays to all!

My agent, Bernadette Szost at Portfolio Solutions, asked all of us illustrators to draw a mouse with a wreath for the agency's holiday promo. Each artist gave the assignment their own unique twist. I considered several ideas (a mouse riding a frog through a burning wreath, a la Evil Knievel, was one) but settled on this concept-- inspired by a childhood craft project (macaroni art) and Stephen Soundheim's musical, Sunday in the Park with George.

My "Illustrious" Past

2010-12-15T21:49:00.004-05:00

Oh, dear.

My mom recently found this ancient newspaper clipping. That's the back of my head along with a fine example of my early artistic stylings.

At the time, I was a lowly dairy clerk. I probably volunteered to draw on the chalkboard–and the management was happy to "take advantage" of my talent.

I was just happy to take a break from stocking shelves.

I had mischievous fun with many chalkboards. I recall a spaceship blowing up the store with a death ray. A dinosaur devouring the meat department manager. And Bill Clinton looking for a date on Valentine's Day. That last one received complaints, but my boss took the heat and spared the eraser.

It wasn't the best art gig I've ever had, but it was fun to have an audience. I would often get a crowd watching me draw. And I did develop a following of sorts – heck, the local paper even did a story about me!

And to those vandals who occasionally besmirched my work – HOW COULD YOU?!

I hope you are haunted by remorse.

Don't Think – Draw.

2010-12-07T21:38:00.005-05:00

Signing my books is nerve-wracking. I always want to include a drawing. And I want that drawing to be AWESOME! But it's a bit like walking a highwire without a net. There's no chance to revise. No opportunity to rip the page out, throw it against the wall, scream, and start over.

That's probably why I have a stack of books in my studio, collecting dust, waiting to be signed.

Tonight, I tackled some dinosaur books. I opened "Introducing Dinosaurs: Triceratops" and started scratching tentative, wispy lines. I was planning to draw a straightforward dino but then this whimsical Triceratops came out of nowhere.

Generally, I'm a pretty methodical artist. These sketches are more spontaneous and a reminder that I can (occasionally) trust my instincts.

School Buses: Crunchy on the Outside, Soft on the Inside

2010-11-29T22:59:00.005-05:00

A couple years ago I illustrated a series of educational children's books about dinosaurs; it was a great project! I got paid to draw Tyrannosaurus Rex, Spinosaurus and my long-time favorite, Stegosaurus (among others).

This Allosaurus never made it out of sketch phase. Everyone involved decided that a child running for its life was not exactly appropriate for the target age.

Rotten Teeth, Hairy Moles and Knobbly Knuckles

2010-11-17T22:31:00.000-05:00

I had a blast illustrating "The Truth About Witches", a book slated to be published January 2011 (according to Amazon.com). Drawing wicked and ugly came very naturally to me. Don't get me wrong–I enjoy cute and cuddly as much as the next guy–but sometimes I want to draw rotten teeth, hairy moles and knobbly knuckles.

Below is a peek at my process from sketch to final digital illustration. I'm looking forward to the book being published so I can share more of my witchy work!

How Doth the Little Crocodile

2010-11-11T20:51:00.006-05:00

I have an illustration in the December issue of Highlights magazine.

ON NEWSSTANDS NOW!

Yeah. That's still fun to say.

Back in June, the folks at Highlights asked me to illustrate the Lewis Carroll poem "How Doth the Little Crocodile." I couldn't say YES! fast enough; there's no one more iconic in children's literature than Lewis Carroll and having the opportunity to illustrate his words was a real kick.

I'd say it was a brush with greatness–but I work digitally (and I'm not a fan of puns).

And I'm always thrilled to work with Highlights. My wife and I have had the good fortune to visit their Honesdale, PA offices and meet many of the talented and passionate people that bring the magazine to life. This reminds me – the Holidays are fast approaching and a great gift for 6-12 year old kids is a subscription to Highlights! And for younger kids, check out High Five. Fun With Purpose – without corporate product placement.

Below are some of the sketches I created on the way to the final illustration. First, the final sketch which I submitted for approval:

And below are some of the early "thumbnail" sketches. Here you can see me experimenting with different compositions.

And one last thing – the poem!

How doth the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of the Nile

On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,

How neatly spreads his claws,

And welcomes little fishes in

With gently smiling jaws!

By Lewis Carroll

Art by ME!

The Truth About Elves

2010-09-18T17:18:00.003-04:00

The truth about elves?

They like Fluffernutter and ketchup sandwiches.

That's a joke.

The Truth About Elves is a book that I illustrated and it was recently published by Capstone Press. The book is about Elf mythology through the ages and across cultures. I had fun illustrating all these pointy eared creatures, from Santa's helpers through Tolkien's warrior elves.

Two "BRAINS!" are Better Than One

2010-09-10T22:27:00.019-04:00

When writer (and friend) Chris Dahlen approached me about illustrating his zombie story, I had only one word for him–BRAINS!

Actually, I don't remember what I said. I was hesitant at first because I illustrate books for children–a horror comic seemed like it could be a a bad career move. I read the story and it wasn't what I feared. It was gruesome, yes – we're talking zombies after all– but it wasn't ultra-violent. I knew the final art would never appear in my official portfolio, but I could see blogging about it one day. Also, graphic novels are very popular in children's publishing and I wanted to give it a try. Well, try is not really accurate – I grew up on Marvel comics and drew my own comics in high school, college and beyond. I wanted to show the world (and show myself) that I could still tell a story in panels.

I quickly remembered that making comics is HARD. It was a real

challenge to break down the story into the three pages I was allotted. Pacing is key – the story had to be evenly distributed over the three pages and the page breaks shouldn't feel haphazard. I sketched dozens of possible layouts looking for a solution that made sense.

A typical children's book project requires me to think in terms of single- and double-page spreads. For this comic, I had to treat EACH panel like a spread–and each panel/spread had to relate to the others on the page (and to the page as a whole). It took a lot longer than I expected to wrap my head around the project. Eventually I found a way to put the puzzle pieces together.

The final product took on a life and spirit that was somewhat unexpected. Chris wrote a darkly funny story inspired by his experience with unruly (albeit darling) children. I found something profoundly sad about the story and that's reflected in my illustrations. I typically work from a completed manuscript and don't meet the author; I enjoyed the working with Chris, discussing the story and the themes it was evoking (intentionally and unintentionally).

"My Lil Zombie" appears in the anthology "ZombieBomb! The Feed" published by Terminal Press. The ZombieBomb series is the BRAIN(S!)-child of Adam Miller and Rich Woodall, who wrangle the writers and artists, edit and design the 64-page comic and also contribute artwork. It's an impressive feat and they have a cool property on their hands. Congrats, guys! The first printing of "ZombieBomb! The Feed" is already sold out but there will be a second run coming soon. I hope to take part in a comic convention to promote the book at some point – stay tuned!

BRAINS!!!

Story Through Silhouette

2010-07-18T10:40:00.003-04:00

When the mere silhouette of a character is identifiable, expressive and visually interesting I feel I'm on my way to a successful illustration.

Illustration is all about telling a story and it's critical that the story is conveyed clearly. By looking at the silhouette, I can assess if my gestures are jiving with the story. The witch above is clearly recoiling from the water thrown at her. Her bent posture and splayed hands project that fact. And we know she's a witch because of the pointy hat, gnarly fingers and scary chin... well, that wasn't too hard to figure out.

In fact, all these characters are pretty easy to identify–particularly that four-legged beast. Still, it's useful to consider silhouette when composing any work of visual art.

Character Study

2010-05-23T20:04:00.005-04:00

Here's a preliminary character study for a chapter book I'm illustrating. This drawing was taped to the wall above my desk while I sketched thumbs and then final drawings for the project. The character evolved a bit while I drew her in action, but she essentially looks the same.

IF: Prehistoric/NESCBWI Poster Showcase

2010-05-16T23:12:00.005-04:00

UPDATE: I'm repurposing this post for the Illustration Friday topic: Prehistoric.

And now, back to your regular scheduled blog post.

This weekend I attended the NESCBWI conference and entered their poster showcase competition. Posters needed to reflect the conference theme: "Moments of Change."

I was thrilled and honored to win both the Best in Show and the People's Choice awards. Thanks to everyone who voted for my poster!

I'm embarrassed to confess I wasn't in the room to accept the award. I lost track of time and didn't realize the contest results were being announced. I was mortified when I realized my mistake.

Sigh.

In any case, it was a great conference! I met a lot of awesome people and I learned a lot. Like maybe I should buy a watch.

Peter Pan Poster Sketch

2010-05-04T23:08:00.002-04:00

Alley Cat in Highlights Magazine

2010-04-28T19:18:00.005-04:00

I'm happy to announce I have an illustration in the May issue of Highlights magazine–ON NEWSSTANDS NOW!

Fun saying that...

The great folks at Highlights asked me to illustrate a poem called "Alley Cat" by Valck Georges. The poem is about a feline stalking imaginary foes. I was happy to have a whole page to draw my cat walking a spooky street filled with menacing shadows, blood-curdling clouds and frightening architecture...

Okay, I just got carried away with my adjectives.

Creatively, it was fun to play on the drama implied in the text. The foreshortening, skewed angles and muted tones all convey unease and possible danger... but not too much–it's a magazine for children after all:)

The final art is a digitally-colored pencil drawing. I used Photoshop and my trusty Wacom tablet.

Here's a look at the digital painting in progress.

Above: my final sketch. Below are early thumbnails where I'm experimenting with different approaches to the composition.

If you have kids ages 6-12, make sure they are reading Highlights! It's a great magazine–and not just because I'm in the current issue!

A Butt Full of Birdshot

2010-04-19T19:46:00.001-04:00

X-ray of our dog "Q." The white dots? A bum full of birdshot. No, we haven't been using him for target practice. Apparently he was up to no good in his youth – trampling Mr. McGregor's garden, perhaps?

Illustration Friday: Dip

2010-04-09T12:29:00.004-04:00

Update: I accidently illustrated last week's topic! Sorry folks!

It's been awhile since I participated in Illustration Friday–I took a crack at this week's topic, Dip, because I was eager to: (A) experiment with some new Photoshop techniques and (B) draw for the fun of it!)

I gave myself a two hour window to illustrate a boy after too long a dip in the ocean. I didn't agonize over the proportions–instead I focused on the pose and expression (but not for too long).

I scanned my sketch and first painted tonal values. Once the greyscale tones were finished, I added color on a layer above. This color layer was set to multiply, allowing the tonal values below to darkening the color. I probably should show some examples of this process, maybe in a later post–I've exceeded my two hour limit and need to get myself to work!

Mind the Music and the Step...

2010-03-25T21:19:00.008-04:00

Some examples of my illustration process from the first rough thumbnail to the nearly finished drawing. After looking at the lively gesture in the initial scribble, I'm going to make some changes to the final art. I miss the arc in the accordion player's body and the pony's lifted tail. I often find the first attempts at a drawing are more dynamic than the polished revisions.

Giddyap!

2010-03-18T21:08:00.003-04:00

I'm working on a project that stars a cowboy. Here's a collection of sketches where I'm "searching" for an appropriate look for the character. Not sure which of these I like–if any. But I know I'm fond of handlebar mustaches.

Zombie Jamboree

2010-03-05T22:01:00.005-05:00

I'm working on a short comic that will appear in an upcoming anthology of zombie comics. Chris Dahlen wrote the bleak story about a zombie preschool entitled "My Li'l Zombie." Not my typical project but comics are near and dear to my heart. I did a lot of comics as a kid.

Here I am working old school – brush and ink. Actually, brush and gouache. I find gouache doesn't gunk up the brush; it lays down smoothly and holds the brush tip.

The downsize is that gouache isn't waterproof but I'll be doing the color digitally so that's not an issue.

NH Children's Museum Meet the Artist Event

2010-02-11T21:36:00.007-05:00

The New Hampshire Children's Museum hosted a meet-the-artist event to celebrate my show, "Introducing Dinosaurs." Gallery manager, Tess Feltes, organized an extensive, informative and fun exhibit around the illustrations I created for the Child's World. I had a blast meeting everyone at the museum and mingling with friends, family and dinosaur fans.

The night ended with a surprise performance by the a cappella group, The Overtones, featuring my wife Jessica.

The show will be up until March 31st. And if you haven't seen the new children's museum, you should check it out – the facility is beautiful and impressive!

From the Archive: Godzilla vs. Gigan!

2010-02-05T20:07:00.002-05:00

While preparing for my upcoming show at The Children's Museum of New Hampshire I unearthed this masterpiece. Clearly, Creature Double Feature made a huge impression on my small, young brain.

Dinosaurs in Dover

2010-01-28T21:14:00.006-05:00

I'm proud to announce an exhibit of my illustrations at The Children's Museum of New Hampshire. The show opens February 1st and features art created for the book series, Introducing Dinosaurs, published by The Child's World. On display will be final illustrations, thumbnails, preliminary sketches and even an example of paleo-art that I created in First Grade!

The Portsmouth Herald and The Union Leader have both written great articles about the event. The Children's Museum of New Hampshire is located in Dover, New Hampshire – for hours and directions, click here.

The Year in Pictures

2010-01-01T13:16:00.010-05:00

Last year was the Year of the Dinosaur. When 2009 began, I was working on a dream job: a 12-book series about dinosaurs. I created 72 illustrations for the project and had a blast, despite an aching back, sore wrist, and tired eyes.

I was fortunate to have steady work throughout the year. As you can see from the thumbs above, the subjects ranged from robots to Greasers to Frankenstein's monster–and a joint of ham. The variety kept me on my toes and certainly kept things interesting. Looking over these images, I realize I've made progress this year with:

Working with tight deadlines
Developing a suitable BW technique
Conveying a wider range of emotions
Refining my digital painting (only 2 illustrations above are traditional media)

And I feel like I'm getting closer to developing my own "style" of illustration. As I learned to work more quickly and efficiently, I found my work becoming more spontaneous and less labored. I'm learning I can trust my instincts.

I'm kicking off the new year with a book about elves and a short comic-book story about zombies.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Holiday Fly

2009-12-28T11:48:00.003-05:00

The Creature from the Brackish Pool - Part 2

2009-10-23T21:17:00.003-04:00

I rounded up my nephew and nieces and bribed them to color my mask. No, that's not true–I didn't have to bribe them. They were more than happy to bring the mask to life and they all did an outstanding job.

Watching a child color my creation is thrilling, enlightening and a bit humbling. They picked colors that were completely unexpected and wonderful. I'm not nearly as bold with my color – I can learn something from these kids!

The Creature from the Brackish Pool

2009-10-12T20:13:00.010-04:00

The Portsmouth Halloween Parade is creative, chaotic and totally awesome.

Anyone with a costume is invited to lurch, shimmy or crawl through the streets of Portsmouth–hundreds march and thousands watch. The parade brings out the imaginative best in the community–it's fun, festive and family-friendly (well, more or less family-friendly).

The organization is run by volunteers. Money is raised through t-shirt sales, bake sales, rock shows, and new this year, MASK-ARADE, a paper mask coloring book! 16 local artists (including yours truly) were invited to create a design. I was thrilled to be involved and loved creating my mask/coloring book page.

And a big thanks to Nick for coloring my mask and modeling it below. Great job, Nick – you look scary!

Have you colored my mask? Know someone who has? Send me a picture and I'll post it here on my blog!

Welcome Back Capt. Chamberlain Part 2

2009-08-20T21:39:00.007-04:00

I used my less-than-stellar Tracer projector to project my sketch onto a piece of 4' x 4' canvas. After tracing the image onto the canvas, I started blocking in the color. Luckily, the acrylic didn't completely obscure the pencil and I could still see my drawing. I started painting in highlights then details. Painting on non-stretched canvas was more difficult than I remembered, but overall I'm happy with the results! The banner next gets hung in the window of a local business to greet the returning Captain Chamberlain.

Welcome Back Capt. Chamberlain

2009-08-18T21:01:00.007-04:00

Back in the day, I painted humorous advertisements in the window of a local computer repair shop. I was surprised (and happy) to get a call from the shop owner's daughter requesting that I come back (after all these years) and paint another window. This window would be a little different – she wanted a welcome back painting for her boyfriend who was returning from Afghanistan. I'm honored to have a small part in welcoming home Captain Chamberlain.

I offered to paint a banner that could then be kept as a souvenir rather than paint a window that would eventually have to cleaned. Above is a sketch of the painting. Below, Jessica is helping out by hemming the canvas. More to come...

That Just-Printed Smell!

2009-08-17T21:31:00.011-04:00

Here's my most recent postcard, fresh off the UPS truck. Love that just-printed smell! I used online printer Modern Postcard and was really impressed with their nearly foolproof - yet thorough - ordering system. Want a card? Send me your address!

And here's what's on the back of the card:

Frankenstein's Monster

2009-07-12T11:52:00.007-04:00

I decided recently that my portfolio needs more monsters. Here's one you might recognize. I originally named this post Frankenstein, but my sister-in-law set me straight. In the original Mary Shelley novel, the big guy is referred to as "monster," "fiend" and my favorite, "wretched devil," but NOT Frankenstein--that's the name of his creator. I won't make that mistake again!

100th Post, New Website & New Look

2009-07-03T23:10:00.009-04:00

You're reading my 100th post! This milestone coincides with the launch of my new and improved website - check it out here. The blog has also been given a modest makeover to compliment the new site.

This blog started March 2, 2007 with an awkward post entitled "My First Blog Entry". Early on, I half expected I might loose interest in blogging. But as the months and years passed, the posts began to accumulate and the blog took on a life of its own. These 100 posts chronicle my evolution as an artist.

Example: when the blog started, I worked almost exclusively in acrylic. Today, I mostly work digitally; the blog documents my shift from traditional to digital illustration.

Looking through these 100 posts was fun. A couple stood out as particularly amusing...

Here's a photo of a window I painted for Halloween when I was a kid.

Here I revisit a drawing from grade school. This post was inspired by the Illustration Friday topic "Then and Now"

Here I explore the theory that birds are really dinosaurs.

Here are a couple photos of my wife and me with a T. Rex. The photos were taken approximately 20 years apart!

Space Monkey vs Angry Octopus

2009-06-28T21:28:00.005-04:00

I'm creating illustrations for my new website that should be going live this week. A menagerie of critters will take turns appearing in the header, depending on which image is randomly plucked from the database.

I often work on assignment. When I do have time to draw for myself, I sometimes feel overwhelmed. What do I draw when I'm free to draw anything?!

I knew I wanted fun, quirky creatures. I found inspiration by watching Animal Planet and looking through my handy book: Copyright-Free Illustrations of Mammals, Birds, Insects, etc. Mostly I chose animals I haven't drawn recently or creatures I loved as a kid. Here are two of the critters I've done so far - stay tuned...

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

2009-06-21T09:53:00.007-04:00

I wish I knew when this goofy card was made. I'd guess I was either in first, second or third grade. Unfortunately, I can't take all the credit for the card - apparently this was a collaborative effort with Robert A. That would explain the dissimilar themes; I had been wondering what a burning snake, a truck and the ocean had in common. And why is there a stack of quarters under the fire snake?

The truck is clearly my drawing; my dad was driving a tractor trailer at the time. I probably drew the ocean, because fishing with my dad was one of my favorite things in the world. Robert A. must have been responsible for the snake - maybe his dad was a snake charmer? I don't recall...

This year, in lieu of a Father's Day card I offer this blog post to my dad. Happy Father's Day, Dad! And that's with a big 10-4, whatever that means. Love, Robert

More Dinosaur Cover Art

2009-06-19T13:03:00.005-04:00

DINOMANIA!!!

2009-06-13T17:16:00.005-04:00

Yippee! My 12 dinosaur books are on Amazon.com! It doesn't seem that long ago I submitted the final illustrations, and now the covers have emerged online. The books are not yet available; the publishing date is Aug '09. It's a real thrill to see my books there on Amazon!

Oddly enough, the books are not under my name in the Amazon database. You have to search under the author's name, Susan H. Gray, to find these books. My first three books do come up under my name.

New Site Coming Soon...

2009-06-13T16:48:00.006-04:00

Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself by announcing to the blogoshpere that I have a new website in the pipeline. The design is nearly done 'cept the tinkering (and second guessing). Picking the illustrations is the next hurdle, along with writing some content. A programming guru/friend owes me a big favor, so thankfully I won't be slogging through HTML this time around. ETA is within 2 weeks - stay tuned...

Grease is Still the Word

2009-06-11T22:34:00.004-04:00

I live in a great town. Portsmouth is a small city with an extraordinary amount of art and entertainment to enjoy.

Prescott Park is a quaint riverside park that becomes an outdoor theater during the summer. Many musical acts grace the stage, but the cornerstone of the season is a big musical production. Thousands of people flock to the park with their picnic blankets and bug spray to enjoy a show.

This year that show is Grease! The folks at Prescott Park Arts Festival asked me to create a poster for the event and I was happy to oblige.

I hope to see you in the park one night this summer, just don't forget the bug spray.

Four-Legged Figure Drawing

2009-06-01T21:37:00.007-04:00

Here's a sketch of our new dog Q (aka The Beast). Generally, he's not a cooperative drawing subject; he's usually prancing around like a kid with ADD on a pogo stick after downing a 6-pack of Red Bull. Well, that's an exaggeration. Q is actually a very even-tempered dog. Sure he gets crazed, but overall he's a cool guy.

I grew up with cats and always assumed I would have feline pets but I married a woman that's allergic to cats. We agreed to get a cat-sized dog someday.

I've been pining for Pugs since I can remember but fate had a different plan. Q, a Puggle (half Pug, half Beagle), came into our lives serendipitously. Friends rescued Q from a shelter in South Carolina fully expecting to keep him. When they brought him home to NH, the family dog didn't take kindly to the new addition. Our friends decided they had to find the Puggle a new home.

And that's where my wife and I come into the picture. We took Q for a night. Then a weekend. Then a week. Two months later, and he's become an integral part of our lives. A dog is a lot of work but well worthwhile.

Figure Drawing

2009-05-12T19:41:00.007-04:00

Here are some sketches from a figure drawing workshop I attended last week. My illustration style is rooted in realism, and sketching from life helps me keep a fresh perspective. The human body is so complex it's mind-boggling, and working from a model is humbling. The more I observe and sketch from life the truer my illustrations will be... Well, that's my theory.

Sometimes the model assumes a pose that leaves me with nothing but a head of hair to draw. When this happens I turn my attention to the other artists in the room. FYI: The gent in the hat is actually drawing with a Wacom tablet and a laptop!

Tradition!

2009-05-04T21:33:00.004-04:00

I've been working digitally for months and today I returned to traditional media.

I've been bouncing back and forth between traditional media and digital media for a couple years but this is the first time I've been away from real paint for months. I was apprehensive about busting out the acrylics - after all there's no undo! I spent a lot of time this morning reacquainting myself with brushes, paint, medium and the additive known as flow enhancer.

Creating a color digitally is easy: pick a swatch, move some sliders around and presto! The perfect color! Mixing paint is more like alchemy. Rarely is paint straight out the tube satisfactory. Some colors are easy to mix, others are counter-intuitive. The dino's tongue is medium magenta and vivid lime green with a little cad red and a dash of Payne's Gray.

Overall, I got back in the groove fairly quickly (I think). This piece is a gift for an unsuspecting person that I hope doesn't follow my blog!

SCBWI Poster Recap: Start to Finish

2009-04-27T21:07:00.003-04:00

IF Hierarchy/SCBWI Poster Part 4

2009-04-22T00:18:00.007-04:00

Update: I'm repurposing this post for the Illustration Friday topic Hierarchy. Thanks to Chuck Dillon for suggesting I submit this illustration; it's perfectly appropriate!

Original Post: Here's the finished poster for this weekend's NESCBWI conference poster competition. Overall, I'm happy with the results and I think it's a good representation of my style and sense of humor.

I'm looking forward to the weekend and the opportunity to mingle with other artists (& authors), learn something new, get inspired and maybe meet some folks (editors, art directors) that can give me some work!

SCBWI Poster Part 3

2009-04-13T19:46:00.005-04:00

Part 3: Illustration start to finish

I've made a lot of changes since the last post. The fly is completely different. Because the fly is the focal point I wanted him to rock. My first version of the fly was adequate but I felt he could be better. Here's what's different and why:

The pose is more dynamic: All the limbs have been tweaked but the kicking leg is lifted higher making the fly feel less balanced - that's a good thing
Fly is more fly like: I looked at photos of real flies and that inspired me to make the overall body shape more squat. I also added hairs and made the wing shape more accurate.
Add the funny: I made the bow tie ridiculously big. The proportions are also more humorous, a squat body with big head and thin arms is funny!

I also changed the snake and made the hawk one of those goofy looking barn owls.

Leading the post is a Photoshop color study.

SCBWI Poster Part 2

2009-04-11T15:35:00.007-04:00

Part 2 of chronicling my process as I create an illustration from start to finish:

Previously, I posted a crude thumbnail, my first attempt at composition. Here I start developing the character design. I'm also paying attention to the character interaction; these guys are happily singing barbershop but I also want to hint at what might happen after the song ends.

Hence the mantis eyeing the fly, the frog the mantis, the snake the frog and the hawk the snake.

I'm creating this illustration for the upcoming NESCBWI conference poster competition. The theme of the competition is "Many Voices." My first idea was a doo-wop group of singing frogs (inspired by the musical Forever Plaid). That idea morphed to include a fly lead singer. I then came up with the circle of life angle that dovetails nicely with one of my favorite books as a kid, A Fly Went By.

SCBWI Poster Sketch

2009-04-08T23:13:00.003-04:00

The SCBWI New England annual conference is coming up at the end of April and once again the weekend features a themed and juried poster competition. The theme this year is "Many Voices" and the art will be judged on storytelling, character, setting, color, focus and composition.

I've mulled over several ideas and have settled on the concept above. Ain't it great! Well, I admit it doesn't look like much at this stage. This is how all my illustrations start, with a doodle. I'll post more as the illustration progresses - stay tuned!

Rub-a-dub-a-dubby!

2009-03-20T21:35:00.002-04:00

Here's a peek at a portion of an illustration from a forthcoming book. What are boy and ducky looking at? Hint: something with sharp teeth and claws.

But in this cropped view the image is more benign. It reminds me of Ernie's ode to his very best friend, Rubber Duckie.

Rubber Duckie, you're the one,

You make bathtime lots of fun,

Rubber Duckie, I'm awfully fond of you;

Woo woo be doo

Rubber Duckie, joy of joys,

When I squeeze you, you make noise!

Rubber Duckie, you're my very best friend, it's true!

Doo doo doo doo, doo doo

Every day when I

Make my way to the tubby

I find a little fella who's

Cute and yellow and chubby

Rub-a-dub-a-dubby!

Rubber Duckie, you're so fine

And I'm lucky that you're mine

Rubber Duckie, I'm awfully fond of you.

Illustration Friday: Legendary (UPDATED)

2009-03-13T21:18:00.014-04:00

This illustration is getting long-in-the-tooth, but it fits this week's Illustration Friday topic "Legendary."

When I say Legendary, I'm referring to those Abominable Snowman snowshoes the boy is wearing. I wanted a pair of those as a kid but now I'm not sure if they even existed! Were they only a figment of my imagination?!!

I've searched online for some evidence of these Bigfoot-shaped plastic snowshoes but came up with zip. Does anyone else remember these?

I suspect they were manufactured by K-Tel (yes, K-Tel), the same folks who made the Snow Block maker (and all those groovy music compilations). I'm afraid this will keep me all up night...

UPDATE: Thanks to Roberta Baird for bringing Redfeather Snowpaw Snowshoes to my attention. These are not the Bigfoot snowshoes of my youth but a modern equivalent. Sadly, no adult sizes–dang!

Dino Detail

2009-03-10T22:45:00.002-04:00

I've been working diligently on a series of dinosaur books since November. I'm eager to show off my latest work but feel compelled to keep the illustrations under wraps until the books are published. But I can't resist an occasional tease; here's a small portion of a larger illustration featuring the tail of a well-known dinosaur. Care to guess which dino-type?

Those of you that have seen the final art are not allowed to "guess".

Illustration Friday: Breezy

2009-02-27T18:16:00.004-05:00

This breezy painting was done with acrylic on gessoed paper. This was the first time I used gesso as a foundation. Why gesso?

If I make a mistake, I can cover the offending area with gesso, confident that I'm reverting to the same base color and surface.

Gesso can add texture. I purposely left brush stokes on the gessoed surface (rather than sanding it smooth).

Unfortunately, my experiment had mixed results. The texture adds visual interest but it's distracting (especially when scanned). Next time I'll sand the gesso smooth or vary the direction of the strokes.

Portfolio Solutions

2009-02-05T20:41:00.003-05:00

My agent, Portfolio Solutions, recently updated my online portfolio. I love seeing my recent work gathered together and on display. But there's a downside: I'm reminded how out-of-date my website has become. The thing is long overdue for a redesign.

You know what they say: "the shoemaker's children wear no shoes."

There's a total of 51 Squier samples on the Portfolio Solutions website in four sample categories: color, black line, historical and fairytale/fantasy.

Illustration Friday: Flawed

2009-01-30T21:49:00.007-05:00

There is a serious flaw in this sketch. Can you see it? I didn't notice my faux pas until a friend pointed it out to me; I felt like a dope when I saw what I had done.

Don't see it? The flaw is revealed below...

The boy has six fingers!

When I was a kid I would often draw hands with too many (or too few) fingers, or I'd put the thumb on the wrong side. I thought I had outgrown this type of mistake – apparently, I was wrong.

This sketch became the cover of an educational book about Independence Day. Thank goodness the extra digit was caught early – that's not the sort of mistake you want to discover after a book has been published!

Final (5-fingered) art below. Thanks to Teri Weidner for her ability to count fingers correctly!

Illustration Friday: Climbing

2009-01-23T20:36:00.008-05:00

This climbing chameleon graced my holiday card a few years back. Below you'll see some of the preliminary work that led to the final illustration. From top to bottom: an early color sketch, the final pencil drawing and some practice tree branches.

FYI: The final illustration is a mix of watercolor and colored pencil and maybe a little India Ink(?).

Dino Project Sketches

2009-01-19T22:47:00.006-05:00

I've been neglecting this blog recently because I am working tirelessly on a series of dinosaur books! The project is a lot of fun and I'm eager to show my new work. Unfortunately (for me) I feel it's best to keep this project under wraps until the books are published. But, I'll share a few details...

Holiday Card Sketches (Start to Finish!)

2009-01-13T18:35:00.015-05:00

This ugly blue thumbnail sketch was created in Photoshop with my Wacom tablet.

I then used black to draw on top of the blue. My goal here was to find the best lines from that blue mess above.

Next, I printed out the digital sketch and traced it on my light-box. The characters continue to evolve. I like my Wacom but it can't beat pencil and paper at this stage.

I rescanned the image and traced it again in Photoshop. At each step I continue to hone the characters, background and details.

Done!

Geeking Out With Dinosaurs

2009-01-08T22:10:00.006-05:00

I was fortunate that my recent trip to California coincided with the San Jose stop of Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience! The 90 minute show consists of life-sized animatronic dinosaur puppets that, if I were 5 years old, would have BLOWN MY MIND!

And considering I'm currently illustrating a series of dinosaur books, I could rationalize my attendance without feeling too geeky.

The puppets are a marvel to behold. They moved with near biological accuracy and when combined with smoke, lights and a deafening roar, well, they're pretty awesome!

Not everyone was impressed; my wife fell asleep.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

2008-12-21T20:38:00.007-05:00

Summer's Gone...

2008-12-16T21:51:00.001-05:00

After the horrid ice storm that ravaged New England this week, I thought folks might appreciate a sunny beach picture. If you hold your ear to the screen you can actually hear the ocean!

I did this acrylic painting for my agent, Portfolio Solutions. It was part of a larger promotional piece that featured each illustrator's interpretation of the theme "toy box".

FYI: I had a big stuffed shark like that when I was a kid–and wish I still did!

Dinos All Around Part 1

2008-12-15T11:17:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm working on a series of dinosaurs books. Since starting the project, I've become aware of the many dinos that have accumulated around around the house. These pencil "toppers" have been sitting atop the door frame in my kitchen for several years.

Holiday Cards Arrive!

2008-12-10T23:25:00.011-05:00

Here's another detail from this year's holiday card. I'm keeping the card under wraps until I have a chance to send them out. I'm one step closer to having the card in the mail–250 cards arrived from the printer today!

Want a postcard? Send me an email with your snail mail address and I'll send one along. Supplies (and stamps) are limited!

You'll find my email address on my website.

Mad Painter

2008-12-05T17:03:00.010-05:00

Character Actor Paul Benedict died recently. Who's that? You might know him as Mr Bentley from the 70's sitcom The Jeffersons. He played the crazy British neighbor.

A Google search on Paul Benedict produced this image. I recognized it instantly; memories suddenly began bubbling up from my subconscious. I knew that brush, I knew that bald head–I knew every brush stroke leading up that moment.

A few clicks and I was reacquainted with the Mad Painter, a character Paul Benedict played periodically on Sesame Street. As you might guess, the Mad Painter painted numbers on people (or objects) to comic effect. A great way for kids to learn their numbers.

I'm sure Mr. Benedict helped me learn my numbers, but it was the way he painted those numbers that inspired me. Today, watching Mad Painter clips on Youtube, I became cognisant of the impact this man likely had on my young psyche. I must have been transfixed, watching his steady and confident hand paint all those numerals.

Thank you, Mr. Benedict, for inspiring me when I didn't even know it!

Velociraptor with All the Fixin's

2008-11-28T23:09:00.006-05:00

UPDATE: I decided this post was perfect for the current Illustration Friday topic, Similar.

I'm doing a lot of research on dinosaurs for a book series I'm illustrating. Theories about dinosaurs are constantly changing, but one idea that seems to have gained consensus is that birds evolved (or devolved) from meat-eating dinosaurs.

When I was eating my turkey this year, I kept thinking about the similarities between a Butterball and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. My mind wandered to a parallel universe where folks eat Velociraptors for Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays everyone!

And to all you vegetarians, I apologize for this gruesome post–I hope you enjoyed your Tofurky!

Holiday Card

2008-11-25T22:48:00.003-05:00

Here's a detail from the Holiday card I'll be sending out soon. I had been on the fence about whether or not to do a card this year. I'm really busy with the dinosaur books and I always question if a promo has any chance of making an impression during the craziness of The Season.

Then I remembered my brother-in-law's rehearsal dinner back in July. Uncle Dave, acting as MC, introduced me to the room by saying "everyone here needs to get on this guy's mailing list because his Christmas cards ROCK!"

That was nice to hear because I wondered if my wife's extended family thought my Holiday cards were deranged–and by extension perhaps I was deranged. Admittedly, my cards are often on the dark side.

So, this card might end up lost in a sea of holiday cheer at publishing houses around the country, BUT Uncle Dave will hang it on his fridge–and that's pretty cool!

Hurray for Dinosaurs!

2008-11-17T21:23:00.008-05:00

This photo of me and T. Rex was taken at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in DC a few years back. I'm posting this photo now because I'm currently illustrating a series of dinosaur books! The project is extensive and lots of fun! It's now my job to research dinosaurs, watch Jurassic Park movies and buy dinosaur toys (more about toys in a future post).

And here's an adorable photo of my wife posing with the same T. Rex a couple decades ago.

Art Talk

2008-11-13T18:30:00.005-05:00

Recently I spoke to a class at the Monsterrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts. Fellow illustrator Nathan Walker, an instructor at the school, invited me to speak to his Illustration 1 class. Public speaking is not one of my favorite activities, but I was honored to be asked; and I figured I've been doing this long enough that I've accrued some wisdom!

Nate assured me the class was small and informal. Rather than prepare a speech, I gathered my portfolio (along with lots of preliminary sketches) and headed to class.

The school is charming! It's housed in a cool historic nineteenth-century brick building that looks like a classic high school. Before the class I wandered the halls and absorbed the familiar sights: a room filled with easels, rows of cubbies with enough space for large oil paintings, a naked man posing in front of a throng of students - ah, memories!

The aim of my presentation was to share my process. I showed the class examples from each stage of an illustration, from rough thumbnails to finished art. Creating an illustration is rarely a linear journey. My process involves searching and experimenting to find the composition, the character, the pose, the color. Rarely does my first stab at an illustration resemble the final product.

What do I wish someone had told me when I was in art school?--That's the question my wife suggested I contemplate while preparing for this talk.

I wish someone had said it's okay to emulate other artist's work. I avoided studying and learning from other artists because I thought it was "cheating." I've come around to the realization that I can learn a lot from other illustrators and artists without polluting my integrity!

BB King was asked how he found his style of guitar playing and he answered--and I'm paraphrasing here--I was trying to imitate my guitar heroes but fell short–that's where my style came from.

And similarly, in the words of Stephen Sondheim from Sunday in The Park with George:

Just Keep Moving On

Anything you do

Let it come from you

Then it will be new

Give us more to see…

UPDATE: After further thought, this Sondheim quote, out of context, sounds a bit trite. I assure you, in context, it's wicked profound and life-changing.

Lemonade Girl

2008-11-04T23:29:00.013-05:00

This is an illustration I did for a local insurance company. The ad copy makes the case that the right insurance coverage can help you turn lemons into lemonade (how sweet is that?).

This was painted digitally using Photoshop with a Wacom tablet. And here are three of the ads in the series:

Happy Halloween!!! (Resurrecting an Old Post)

2008-10-31T14:25:00.006-04:00

When I was a kid, the local Recreation Department held a Halloween window painting contest and every year I would enter. I recently made a high-resolution scan from the negative of this old photo. The resulting 2400 dpi scan is full of details (and memories) that until now were too small to see in the original print. I can now read what I wrote on the coffin - "Dracula's Pad." Also, I can make out a witch riding a vacuum cleaner and a Jawa (from Star Wars) onboard a spaceship. That's my brother David stealing my limelight.

People familiar with my home town might be curious where this was painted - that's the laundromat on Lincoln Street.

Collecting Faces from Television

2008-10-24T23:08:00.007-04:00

Educational Work

2008-10-13T00:49:00.005-04:00

I've been busy working on illustrations for an educational publisher. The client was looking for black and white illustrations with no outlines. My portfolio was lacking that type of work but I felt it was well within my comfort zone. I whipped up a sample and convinced the client I was a good fit. FYI: The fellow is this illustration survives his heart attack!

Mess of a Desk

2008-09-20T11:04:00.005-04:00

This is what my drawing table looks likes when I'm painting. I keep a printout of my color study nearby as well as the original sketch. The spiral pad is there to remove excess paint from my brushes. I use Liquitex acrylics and cheap brushes. My butcher tray palette is MIA, probably sitting in the sink waiting to be cleaned.

High Five!

2008-09-13T15:06:00.006-04:00

I'm thrilled to have my illustrations featured in the pages of Highlights High Five magazine! Look for me in the October 2008 issue, in stores now!

The Other Side of Summer: Color Study

2008-09-11T21:12:00.005-04:00

This is a Photoshop color study for an acrylic painting I'll be starting soon. Photoshop allows me to experiment quickly and effortlessly with color. The final painting will surely take on a life of it's own – but this study gives me a clear direction before any paint leaves the tube.

Bears, Squirrels and Kids, OH MY!

2008-09-09T22:20:00.008-04:00

I've been working on these two paintings over the summer and chronicled my progress on this blog. I've posted sketches, color studies, different stages of painting and FINALLY (?) the finished illustrations! Next, I will turn them into postcards and hopefully generate some more interest in my work!

Illustration Friday: Clutter (from the Archive)

2008-09-06T11:41:00.010-04:00

This unfinished illustration is from my early days. I was fairly comfortable with drawing, but painting was a different story. After meticulously transferring a sketch to watercolor paper, I would freeze up for the painting stage.

I felt like I was walking a tightrope every time I applied watercolor. I didn't think there was any way to "fix" a mistake - it was DO or DIE. It was seriously stressful and not much fun at all!

My mind became cluttered with doubt and I abandoned this piece.

Since then, I've learned that watercolor is reversible to a degree. It's possible to "lift" a poorly chosen color out of the paper by saturating the offending pigment with water and scrubbing it off with a brush. My watercolor work was much more successful when I learned such tricks, many thanks to my friend Teri Weidner!

Honestly, watercolor is a drag and still causes me anxiety. For me, acrylic has proven to be a more flexible and freeing medium. A mistake in acrylic can simply be painted over and forgotten!

Here's a closeup of some clutter.

Illustration Friday: Memories: THEN & NOW

2008-08-29T22:05:00.006-04:00

You're probably wondering, "What am I looking at?"

Inspired by the Illustration Friday topic, "Memories," I dug out one of my composition books from grade school. The notebook was devoted to a catalogue of state facts (state tree, state flower, state nickname...). Throughout the notebook are doodles. Inexplicably, the page for "Oklahma" has a sketch of a boy spitting seeds with the caption "watermelon spitting contest!"

Above is the sketch from thirty years ago. Today I took another crack at the subject. It's encouraging to see that I've improved. (I have improved, right?!)

Below is the complete drawing. As I often do for Illustration Friday, I challenged myself to create an illustration in short order. I completed this in an hour and a half. Medium is acrylic with some colored pencil.

Here's some fascinating state facts from my research:

"Magnet Cove etc make AR a wonderful state!"

"AL has a statue in honor of a bug (boll weevil)"

"AK is the closses state to Russia"

"IA has the biggest popcorn-packing plant in the USA."

"People visit Las Vegas to get rinch??"

The Other Side of Summer

2008-07-27T23:36:00.003-04:00

Bear Scare

2008-07-25T15:08:00.003-04:00

I've been working away on this illustration for a couple weeks. It's come a long way since I first posted sketches; I feel it has further to go but I need to take a break. I'll step away for a couple days, collect some feedback from other illustrators and gain some fresh perspective. Then I'll get back to painting and finish it off or good.

Project Runway is Back!

2008-07-14T21:43:00.004-04:00

I sketched these two contestants from the Season 3 DVD of Project Runway (got to love that pause button). And yes, those are real tattoos on that guy's neck.

I think creative types of all stripes can (and should) enjoy this show. Every week an eclectic group of fashion designers are challenged to create high fashion under a variety of constraints. How would you like to create an evening gown out of garbage? Or redesign the uniform for US mail carriers? Oh, and you have 30 minutes to sketch and 6 hours before your garment has to walk down the runway to be judged.

Project Runway is about creativity under pressure. Anyone that has pulled an all-nighter to meet a deadline will relate and empathize with these contestants.

Season 5 of Project Runway begins Wednesday, July 16 on Bravo in the US!

Kids vs Bear

2008-07-13T17:32:00.002-04:00

Kids vs Squirrel Final

2008-07-13T17:31:00.002-04:00

Scare Bear

2008-06-30T22:22:00.005-04:00

Here are some sketches for a new illustration. The final will be handled much like the previously posted Kids vs Squirrel. The top sketch is nearly ready for transferring to illustration board and painting. The bottom sketch is earlier in the process.

Some of the changes I made between the two versions and why:

I moved the bear up. He now has more presence, he's also bigger/closer to the viewer
The dog is more animated and stylized - a little goofy looking. I like that!
The kneeling boy has been nerdified - I think that makes him more distinctive.
I changed the standing boys gaze and expression to differentiate him from the kneeling boy.
Details! Between the two drawing I spent time studying: bears, canteens, hiking boots, trees and ferns. I also took some reference photos of myself (and my wife) assuming the poses in the illustration.

Illustration Friday: Fierce

2008-06-30T18:12:00.004-04:00

FROM THE ARCHIVE: The heart and soul of my hometown is The Music Hall, a 125+ year-old theater that features live performances and movies. Summerfilm is the Music Hall's film series that runs from Memorial Day through Labor day and features an eclectic mix of Hollywood blockbusters, art films and classics. Where else can you see Tarzan and his Mate (1932) one night and No Country for Old Men the next?

I created this poster for one of the first Summerfilms and it hung around town and in the lobby. It's a loving homage to the giant monster movies I grew up watching. I think that thing qualifies as fierce.

Special thanks to fellow illustrator John Watson for insisting I submit this for the Illustration Friday topic "fierce."

Illustration Friday: Hoard

2008-06-22T15:39:00.003-04:00

This balloon cheeked vermin was inspired by the Illustration Friday topic "Hoard".

I gave myself three hours to create the illustration (from concept to final piece). I experimented with a style that I want to cultivate - line art with color washes. The black line is India Ink; the color is acrylic with colored pencil. I did this on toothy, "cold press" watercolor paper.

Kids vs Squirrels

2008-06-19T21:58:00.003-04:00

Almost done!

Attic Detail

2008-06-17T23:23:00.003-04:00

I first posted sketches for the "Attic" back on May 18th. I'm putting finishing touches on the final painting this week. Here's a closeup of a scaredy squirrel.

Illustration Friday: Punchline

2008-06-15T20:54:00.004-04:00

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One of my first paying clients was a comedy promoter. These are a couple of the many posters I created for comedy shows. Although the pay was modest, it was a great way to beef up my skimpy portfolio and get some much needed exposure - plus I always made sure I got myself some free tickets!

A sad side note: I had to scan the actual posters because the digital files are too outdated to open!

Attic Kids: Painting Progress

2008-06-12T21:04:00.004-04:00

I'm making progress on the final attic painting! The actual piece is 14" x 10" and done in acrylic. This is approximately 75% done.

Illustration Friday: Forgotten

2008-06-08T15:28:00.003-04:00

I had forgotten my "pillow in the freezer" technique to keep cool on hot and humid summer nights. And yes, I did have Pac Man sheets.

I just celebrated a milestone birthday and that has me feeling nostalgic. Another year older plus the first heatwave of the year brought this memory to mind.

Speaking of minds and forgetting - while working on this illustration I jumped up from my desk and ran to the kitchen. Once there, I had NO IDEA what had compelled me to go in there. I stood stupefied for a moment and returned to my desk. I then remembered I had intended to study the fridge for this illustration.

Illustration Friday is a great excuse to try a new technique. For this illustration I scanned the pencil drawing and printed it on heavy matte paper. I then applied acrylic washes to to the print. I also worked fast and loose (for me). I spent just under three hours on this illustration.

Inspiration!

2008-06-03T21:10:00.003-04:00

One of the fringe benefits of being an illustrator for the children's market is that it gives me an excuse to buy TOYS!

Toys connect me to my past and to the stories and characters that have inspired me. That hunk of plastic sitting on my desk reminds me of the hours I spent sitting in kindergarten, drawing Godzilla over and over.

I got married last year. I'm starting to look into buying a house for the first time. I'm fast approaching one of those milestone birthdays. There's no doubt that I've grown up. But I'm happy (and relieved) that I haven't grown out my love of monsters, aliens, ghouls and dinosaurs!

Acrylic Study

2008-06-01T15:17:00.003-04:00

OK, OK - I know, everyone is sick of these sketches and color studies! But this is the last one!