Illustration Friday: Climbing

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

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!)

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

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!!!

Summer's Gone...

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

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.