Saturday, March 27, 2010

Velociraptor



This is one of 4 interior illustrations for a yet-to-be-released CD by Rich Rubietta. The song is called "Run From The Raptors" and uses the velociraptor to personify the various commercial interests that prey upon today's youth. Arriving at an appropriate sketch was a difficult balancing act. We both struggled to inject the right degree of warmth and humor into his cautionary statement against rampant consumerism.

I compounded my problem by insisting that the dino should resemble the long-snouted version found in fossil beds rather than an imitation of the familiar Jurassic Park dinos. I stopped short of pushing for raptor feathers and hair.

8 comments:

  1. Great work as always Chuck - looks like you hit the balance you were looking for with the namesake critter, and the kid has your signature movement, expression and life!

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  2. Wonderful! The contents of the bag are a special treat too-esp. the yellow cats. Raptors really are quite different with feathers.

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  3. Very fun to look at and then you see all the fun detail! The expressions on the faces (both kid and dino) are wonderful. Love that it's on a street corner peddling its "commercial interests". Really great stuff :-)

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  4. Great stuff Chuck,

    I may think some of your opinions are wackadoo man but I always love you work. Well designed, well drawn, and most important fun!
    Good stuff.

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  5. Thanks, guys! Glad to see the word "fun" in your comments. It means a lot.
    Thanks, Woody. I'm always looking for ways to inject more wackadoo into my work. If you can't count on an artist to raise eyebrows now and then, who can you count on? :-)

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  6. I'll say it again... this is what excellence in illustration for the kids market is all about! Appealing expressive characters, rich, dynamic contemporary color palette in a fun layout.

    Hats off to you sir!

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  7. And the invisible choices that make the work more difficult for you, and yet they're more rewarding and richer. You learn, grow, and your falling hourly wage transubstantiates into the meaning of life. Happens constantly to me, too.

    Or have I gone too far again? Oops.

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  8. Thanks, Daryll! As always, you are too generous with your praise.

    Brian, your comment could open a day-long discussion. At its simplest, a job involves listening to some basic directions and then putting your expertise and trademark flourishes to paper. In the real world, a job comes down to an infinite series of decisions to make and record visually. We never get to them all, but if we prioritize right, we can nail the important ones.
    Every job involves unbillable work (maybe it's buying supplies or archiving the job after its done.) Putting in the touches that speak directly to my audience or adding things that are educational for a child are concerns that I simply add to the list of unbillables that are a necessary part of doing this job and doing it right.

    There's a lot that I like about this piece, but for all my efforts, I'm still haunted by this question: Should the girl be wearing a helmet?

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