Great Way to Start 2011: Illustration Magazine Past Issues Online

For free! What a resource! Click on the issue you want to read/look through.

Hat Tip to Lines and Colors, fabulous illustration blog...

http://www.illustration-magazine.com/archive.html

Holiday Cards 2010

These are the holiday cards I created this year. I'm not above offing Frosty. :)

Have a wonderful New Year, everyone!

Miss Sassy.

Hope everyone had a great holiday! ....looks like I missed a fun Illustrator Party :~/

These are sketches of one of my roommates' cats, Miss Sassy. AKA: Sassafras. She only looks drugged and cranky, she's actually quite happy and sweet. ;~)

"Sister of the Sword"

4.5"x6.5"
Pastel on toned Canson paper

A present for my step-sister.

Christmas Cards 2010

Three this year, one old, one new and one of the cat (not posted here but here). Have a safe and fun celebration this year and post your cards!

Now it is time to get ready for the teens and leave the naughts.

As I mentioned, Winter is part of a four season series. I have Spring sketched and will hopefully have it done by then.

Spring teaser: Stay Tuned!

My Mom's House

This is a picture I did for my mom, for her birthday that was...um, back in ...ahemOctober. I finished it just in time but then had it printed on gallery wrapped canvas by Harlan Graphics (excellent printer in town that I have experience with) and that took a bit of time. However, now it is finished! I just have to deliver it when we see my folks after Christmas.

After printing, the colors are a little more muted, which was what I was hoping for. It's a bit of an experiment for me, this new style that I seem to be digging. This is the first architectural-ish of drawing I've attempted. I honestly think it just looks kind of weird. I think I would have added some other things into the picture if I could do it again. At the end of the day, my mom likes it and that's all that matters. It is from a recent picture of the house that she was literally born in and then lived in until she was about 5 or 6. The fire hydrant in the foreground is significant because that is nearly the only memory she has from the house: playing around it. I wanted it to feel like a portrait, but also include that hydrant as an important item.

Hope everyone is having a good holiday season. Looks like the Christmas party was a lot of fun!

"The White Hart"

8"x10"
Pastel on toned Canson paper
Unpublished
This piece is dedicated to Gary at the Celtic Myth Podshow. Please check them out at: http://celticmythpodshow.com/


9 months in the making! And not because it took that long :P I was on the verge of giving it up after a huge mistake. But, after some cropping and a little time (an hour :P), I finished it :P Enjoy!

Christmas Party 2010 Pictures Part Duex

OK, I do not know how I missed 6 pictures that Jerry sent me but enjoy!



The Big Picture



Mary Jo and Tom

Tom and Woody



Tom, Linda and Troy









 Tom, Woody, Viki and Tim

Dawna Got This Great Photo of a Gift from the Exchange

Christmas Party 2010 Pictures!

Of course what do you expect at an illustrators party?Jerry started drawing people. I have to admit my favorite is curly Justin.

Great turnout this year!  Hopefully next year will be even better though we were busting at the seems. We may need to look at a bigger room next year. Slatt's is always really good to us and let us stay waaaaaay after close.

I have no idea who got my sketch in the exchange either. Could someone tell me?

Anyway, pictures by me and Jerry. Enjoy!

I hope everyone had a fab time.

Brian and Natalia

Carol, Justin, Linda and Pam

Brennan, Craig, and Gerry

Brennan

Craig, Jerry, Woody, Gerry, Viki

Justin, Mary, Patrick, Meredith

Troy, Daryll, Dawna, Tom



Tom, Paula, Chris, Dawna



Steve, Mark, Mary, Linda, Patrick, Meredith, Woody, Viki, Tim's Head

N.C. Wyeth Study

Here's a study/re-envisioning of one of my favourite N.C. Wyeth pieces. The original is posted here, too. This is my brother's Christmas present this year :) When I was thinking of what to get my brother, I was reading a book by Andre Norton, called "Quag Keep." I had only to read the first 20 or so pages before I was struck by the description of one of the characters, Naile fangtooth. He's a wereboar, with a frightening boar crest on his helm and a huge battle axe only he can wield. In human form he has large tusks that jut past his lips. The character reminded me so much of my brother, right down to temperament. I wanted to draw this guy so badly. The image I had was of a Celtic, tribal warrior, especially in regards to the helm and axe. I also thought of this Wyeth piece from "Legends of Charlemagne". For some reason right at that moment the two concepts just merged together. I'd been wanting to do a value study of Wyeth work for a while. And this gave me the perfect opportunity to both feature Naile Fangtooth and copy a master work :)

This piece was very much the struggle you see pictured. It was tough, but extremely fun :) It was awesome spending so much time looking at one piece. I got a chance to spend some quality time with Mr. Wyeth and deconstruct some of what he was doing in terms of Value. He uses the light and ark method Mr. Gurney described in "Imaginative Realism" (the same technique used by Rembrandt-another favourite of mine). That has been something I've been wanting to explore lately. Planning out every piece, making them work in terms of classical ideals of symmetry and balance. I'm fascinated by the Golden Mean and the way the Renaissance Masters labouriously (and thoughtfully) planned out their work.

I also included some of the additional reference I used for this piece.

Mark Willenbrink: Sketchbook Confidential

Saw this great book at the Christmas party last night. It goes throught the thought process of 40+ artists including Mark Willenbrink.

Just released and a great gift for your illustrator friend!

http://www.amazon.com/Sketchbook-Confidential-Secrets-private-sketches/dp/1440308594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292849816&sr=1-1