Witness illustration

Here is an illustration I did for this month's Friend/Liahona magazines (dream job!) entitled "How Can I Be a Witness Of Jesus Christ?"

...And just because I was most proud of the part that got covered up by text, here are close-ups of all the fun I had with acrylic over gesso on these paving stones. (I know, just indulge me).

IF: Haunt

Thanks, Illustration Friday! This was too much fun.

Doodle Tree

I had a birthday recently, and this is how I chose to celebrate/stave off panic: by making a doodle tree!

I was lucky enough to find a spot downtown and brash enough to experiment on it with little working knowledge of spray paint, stencils, or wheat paste. I had some good help though, learned a lot, made something for passerby to enjoy and almost managed to forget about turning OLD.

It's funny - as an artist it's easy (natural, even) to be super-critical of your own work, and I've been guilty of that a time or two BUT - I actually really like my doodles. Too trivial to invite criticism, asking approval of no one, they spring into being and simply are. Maybe someday I will be that wise, even in the face of time passing with its attendant host of lost opportunities. Until then, I'll just keep striving to make my mark on the world (probably not with aerosol... but who knows?)

Hobo Artist

I got to be part of a really fun project recently called 'Chocolate Chips and Rocket Ships, 99 1/2 poems in 100 days' by John O'Marra. Each poem is illustrated by a different artist. (Check it out, some of the art is pretty phenomenal!) The offbeat poems are definitely up my alley - so much so, it was hard to choose just one, but this is the one I decided on, entitled 'Art.'

A polar bear in a snowstorm.
A massive razor-sharp fang.
Flying through a fluffy cloud.
Five minutes before the Big Bang.

Four different paintings,
Four different visions,
Four studies in shadow and light-
Not half bad when you realize
The only color paint I have is
White.

William Penn, What a Guy

Wait a second, why are they arresting the Quaker Oatmeal man? Actually, this is William Penn (no relation to 'Larry' from the Quaker Oats logo). Besides getting in and out of jail (for being a Quaker activist, and later for debt) he also founded Pennsylvania as a place of religious tolerance, drew up plans for Philadelphia and wrote the Frame of Government, a document that would later have some influence on the Founding Fathers. Well done, Will.

I'd gladly leave it at that and hope the subject matter would distract you from the imperfections of the art, but my ego would never allow it - I must abase myself! This project is not all I hoped it would be... but it was an experiment, first in ink (which was really fun to play with) and second in time management. What can I say? I'm learning.

I get to draw conquistadors?? My job is awesome.

Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto sharing a 'friendly' meal with an Indian chief

De Soto's men discover Ortiz, a survivor from a previous failed expedition who has been living among the Native Americans

De Soto meets the Lady of Cofitachequi

Here are some more illustrations I just did for an educational publishing company called Core Knowledge. The biggest challenge was finding a way to simplify my process in order to meet a tight deadline without sacrificing quality (hence the huge stylistic departure). Don't know that I'm there yet, but I was super-glad for the opportunity and had a lot of fun (maybe too much fun, as evidenced by all that ridiculous foilage?)

What do you think of this style? Does it work, or no? As always, your opinions, critiques, sage advice complete with lengthy anecdotes and heck, even bad puns are most welcome, so please feel free to comment.

New Year, New Work

These are some illustrations for a 3rd grade textbook on ancient North American civilizations. I didn't know much about the Moundbuilders, so it was neat to learn some about the people that left behind these really cool, kind of mysterious earthworks.

It seems some rust has accrued in my inner illustration machine, and I'm feeling motivated now to brush up on a bunch of stuff (anatomy, perspective, value contrast! cast shadows! reflections!) Mostly though, it just feels really incredible to be working, so yay for producing stuff!