Thursday, February 21st, 2008
february
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008
pears
… for this morning’s sketches, I combined a few choice characteristics of a possum, a bear, and a bit of sloth.
Creating the look of my new character was difficult because I had so many options, and I wanted to make it believable. My first attempts resulted in spending too much time rendering a very boring, wanna-be realistic eye or paw.
The thought that helped me move past these initial distractions was designating a personality for my character. The first person that came into my head was my dad. He has always been happily pear shaped… so I drew pears.
Drawing my character came naturally now that I had a clear model in my head. I thought, “if my dad just woke up and was prowling for food, would he do this… if he walked on all fours, would he move like this?” It was a lot easier to see which sketches weren’t working now that my character felt real to me…
Saturday, January 5th, 2008
one musical moment
… if I could be present, floating in the background of one musical moment in time, I’d want to witness U2 conceiving the song “With or Without You”.
The runner up moment would be experiencing Hans Zimmer’s musical score of Disney’s the Lion King for the first time.
Anyways, here are my character sketches for today. Hope your new year is treating you well…
Tuesday, December 25th, 2007
*
… belly-full and very satisfied with this year’s Christmas.
And here are the new animal sketches…
Thursday, December 6th, 2007
grumpy faces and snow
… yesterday, I needed a breath of fresh air from my studio, so I visited the Brandywine River Museum. It is a treasure trove of original children’s book illustrations, including my favorite pictures by Maxfield Parrish, Howard Pyle, and N.C. Wyeth. I’d easily give up one of my dogs to have a conversation with these illustrators today.
Pencil study of a few N.C. Wyeth Pirates
(the Pirate faces remind me of my Grandfather)
We also had our first snow of the season in Philadelphia last night. Here is a picture for all of you who can’t leave the house without forgetting something, just like me…
Tuesday, December 4th, 2007
lions & girls
… sketches for this morning. Two beings who know they can be the most intimidating things ever…
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
one new person, and one animal
… a little while back I received my first rejection letter from one of the BIG STOMPERS in the children’s book publishing world. In the same week I was turned away by a children’s book illustrator rep, because I didn’t show enough faces in my pictures.
I felt like a freshmen art student again; in over my head in a burgeoning pool of clever people, but still ambitious to make better pictures and prove I belong. The words that rang especially true to me in those rejection letters were,
“… can you draw faces?; can you draw the same character with different expressions?; can you draw different ethnicities? Thank you for applying but we already have enough artists who can do all these things.”
I realized that my pictures and sketches didn’t answer a lot of basic questions. These dismissals encouraged me to draw at least one new person, and one animal character (mostly from life) every day.
(here’s a sampling of this mornings drawings)
I’m grateful for all the firsthand criticism that I received during that “kick in the pants” week. And I’m still very hopeful to find another open door to the story publishing community…
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
thank you
… a while ago I said a prayer and I wasn’t sure if it would be answered, but I needed to say something to someone… And today, I randomly had a very good day. So I looked up at the sky and searched for a face to thank… but I couldn’t find one; not even a cloud to stretch around. But I said thank you anyways, and just pinned it up there…
Monday, October 29th, 2007
Bring ‘em out, bring ‘em out, let’s see those pumpkins!
… unwanted pumpkins, good ol’ Windsor & Newton acrylic, and a belly full of pre-game candy kept me smiling this morning…
Thursday, October 4th, 2007
Philadelphia Flyer’s hockey
… new head coach John Stevens loads the gun this year with two bullies named Riley Cote and Ben Eager…
All hail the new skipper, Jason Smith, and our two new soft-spoken heroes Danny Briere and Marty Biron… we’re not worthy, we’re not worthy, we’re not worthy.
And also a big shout out to Peter Forsberg; you are a killer and a gentleman, and I can’t think of another former fly guy to whom we Philadelphia fans so readily extend our hearts.
Can’t forget to mention the Philadelphia Athlete/Man-crush runner-up of 2006, Simon Gagne… thanks for giving us a little dignity during last year’s abysmal, hiccup of a season…
Hopefully the Orange and the Black are not riddled with too many injuries this year…oops, time for the game; Let’s do it flyers…And in other news, fifteen caramel apples and a half of pumpkin pie have met an early demise; the Thanksgiving feast is only a month away; and the fightin’ Phillies beat the Mets.
I hope your new October is treating you well too…
-
illustrator & storyboard artist
