New Sketchbook Pages

Just a few pages filled during some recent travels.  I mostly used pen and ink with touches of marker and watercolor pencils.  Enjoy.

 

Spider Magazine

Spider, a children’s literary magazine, features four of my latest illustrations this month.  They accompany “Happiness on a Piece of Paper,” Valerie Hunter’s short story about Garrison, a ten-year old boy living in 19^th century rural Pennsylvania.  Garrison loves to draw but worries that his family will insist he stop “fooling around with pen and paper.”  Keeping with the central theme of the story, I wanted to maintain a subtle tension between Garrison and his family.  The illustrations are mixed media: colored pencil, watercolor, and acrylic with some digital touches.  Big thank you to my art director, Suzanne Beck, for the great assignment.  

 

 

SILA 50

Happy news, I've had two pieces accepted in this year's Society of Illustrators West annual exhibit!
Virginia Hamilton (Ohio Magazine AD Lesley Blake) was accepted in the editorial category.
He Worried His Friends Only Loved Him for His Golden Scales won Gold in the gallery category.
Many thanks to the judges and congratulations to all the winners. The exhibit will be shown at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, CA sometime at the end of March. More information to come.

The Offering

I completed this drawing today. I love the feeling of longing and isolation. After finishing, I coated it with clear gesso to protect the linework from the numerous layers of paint.

The Offering will be part of a small exhibit of new pieces at Galiara, a gallery in San Francisco, sometime next year.

Sketchbooks

It's been a while since my last post, so here are a few choice pages from my sketchbook. Most are pen and ink (SKB 1000) but markers and watercolor pencils are beginning to stake a claim. Enjoy.

Also, here's a peek at my "idea book" and a few thumbnails.

New Illustrations

Two of my illustrations hit newsstands this month; both portraits: Dorothea Dix for Cobblestone, and Virginia Hamilton for Ohio Magazine.

Cobblestone wanted Dorothea Dix shown directing a crowded hospital ward. With the complicated composition and large number of figures, I decided to combine a traditional drawing with digital paint and color for more flexible editing.

Ohio Magazine wanted an image honoring Virginia Hamilton’s legacy as a pivotal figure in children’s literature. After sending several sketches, the art director and I fell in love with the concept of a field filled with book-like flowers. With the simpler composition, I created the illustration using traditional media, my preferred method.

I’m so proud of both these pieces; many thanks to my art directors, Debra Porter at Cobblestone and Lesley Blake at Ohio Magazine, for giving me the chance to create them.

Oprah Selected as Staff Pick in Breakthrough Competition

My illustration Oprah in Saudi Arabia has been selected as one of twenty staff picks in the Richard Solomon Breakthrough Competition. It can be seen here.

Be sure to also check out the grand prize winner and four finalists.

Congrats to all the artists.