Beethoven's Pastorale, IF-Storm

We're really digging back in the archives for this one.  I did this piece for an illustration class I took back when I was in college.  Colored pencils on gray matte board was my main medium at the time.  The subject was Beethoven and his Symphony no. 6, the Pastoral.  I grew up in a home of classical music lovers, and Beethoven was practically a god.  We even had a sculpture of him above the piano.  On top of that I was a Disney geek and especially a Fantasia freak, so of course the Sixth Symphony was my all time favorite.  I have to admit that I am still fascinated by it.

A little tidbit, that illustration class was one of the very first things I ever charged on a credit card...

IF-Myth, The Mermaid

A piece I illustrated that fits this week's Illustration Friday theme, "Myth".  This is another of my early pieces from when I got back into painting in acrylics.  I was trying out combining opaque and transparent techniques on this one.  I still like the idea of it but probably would interpret differently if I were to do it now.

Out on the Bounding Main...IF-"Ocean"

I pulled up an old piece for this week's Illustration Friday topic; ocean.  Captain Hook, Smee and the crocodile enjoying a little jaunt to find a little treasure.  This was one of my very early pieces when I started working in this stye in acrylic.

IF-Edge, or "The Cliff"

Another quick sketch for Illustration Friday.  This week's subject is "edge", and I guess this is an awfully literal interpretation, but with all the recent debate about the Fiscal Cliff, why the heck not?  I took it as an opportunity to do more experimentation with Photoshop.  Brian Bowes had a post on his blog recently about doing value studies for your illustrations that I found very helpful.  Though I had done value studies in the past, his post showed me how to approach them more clearly and with better purpose than before.  I'm happy with the result and look forward to doing value studies when I do my next illustration in traditional media.  Thanks Brian!

IF-"New'

A quick sketch for this week's Illustration Friday challenge.  The drawing itself was done with pencil and paper, then scanned and colored in Photoshop.  I'm still experimenting in Photoshop, trying out different brushes and effects.

Boeing Boeing!

This was my final illustration done in 2012.  This was a commission from my good friend Jim Webber, a very talented director and set designer.  His next show is Boeing Boeing being done by The Community Players of Concord, New Hampshire, February 15, 16, and 17th. The painting is for a view that will be seen outside a window in the set.  This was an exciting challenge for me.  In my other career as an animator I almost exclusively drew characters, human and animal, but not the settings.  I had to dig in and really figure out how to paint the settings that my characters are in for my first picture book, "Dan the Taxi Man", and this assignment gave me the chance to exercise and develop those muscles even more.  

Merry Christmas Oops!

I  was so busy this last month before Christmas that I completely forgot to post my Christmas Card for this year. This was inspired by the old Ella Fitzgerald Christmas song, "Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chimney". So here it is...Merry (belated) Christmas!  Best wishes for a happy, productive and creative 2013 for us all!

IF-Whiskers

Here's an item that I pulled from my sketchbook that I thought would fit this week's Illustration Friday topic of whiskers.  This is a subject I like to play with a lot for some reason; a Victorian era impresario type character, perhaps evil, perhaps not.  I threw the sketch into photoshop and added some color to it, but eventually I'd like to explore this guy I bit more.

IF-Zoom!

Well, I almost made it!  This piece was done for this week's Illustration Friday, the theme being "zoom".  This was based on a sketch I did in one of my sketchbooks a few years back and always planned on finishing someday.  I've always been a big fan of Mickey Mouse, especially the old Floyd Gottfredson comic strip version.  I just got the first two volumes of the new reprint collection and I'm enjoying and savoring them now.