Brush Pens

I bought a Pentel brush pen to try out the other day. It's fun to use. It has a squeezable soft body, to squeeze the ink out when it gets dry.

My only complaint is that I wish it was smaller, since it seems like one can only do
large illustrations. It's very difficult to get smaller details without messing things up.

But I can see it'd be great for adding bold strokes to smaller inklines. And it's ideal for doing computery things with... (as in my sample).

I still haven't got quite the hang of it though.

The Magic Lantern...

As a child, perhaps my favorite toy ever was a magic glow in the dark lantern that was for viewing pictures.

What Proustian transports of joy were mine as I'd close off all the hallway doors to create the darkest space in the house, and then gaze for hours into the glowing magic of this toy! I can't recall any of the actual slides... I think they were cartoons of some sort. But I do recall the colors. The glowing blues that shimmered beside the golden yellows and the deep rich reds.

It was sheer magic, looking into this plastic toy. I see now why I turned out an artist instead of an investment banker.

There was a depth to the colors that was enchanting... it took me to a place I never knew existed. Just looking was like being a traveler invited over the bridge to another world.

Of course I had other favorite places to hide. The snuggest and most comforting was beside the kitchen oven, tucked like a little kitty down in between the stove and the kitchen wall, where a heat vent warmed me from the other side. I imagine cookies might have been baking there too in the perfection of memories past.

The other secret hideaway was the attic. It was full of that same mystery. Timeless and secret. Only the attic was always hot and insanely dark and treacherous to get to... but I'd go there because it seemed so far away and mysterious. I'd carry along a little battery operated fan to cool my face. It didn't work at all, of course.

Ah... the the mysteries of childhood. As a child I always believed that at the zoo there must surely be magic too behind the polar bear's and lion's enclosures. There was a sort of castle built up out of a rockery. It was only up to me to get beyond the fence to unlock the secret details for getting inside... none of which were ever revealed by real life.

Sidewalks & leaves... autumn flies away

Polar Bear Art

This public artwork made for a very fun discovery last weekend in a nearby park.

It certainly captured my imagination.

I thought the artist's use of exterior form played against the interior detailing was fascinating. It gave me some ideas for paintings and books done in a new format.

I wondered who the artist might be, so I could see some more of their work. A starving artist, no doubt. And since it's 15 feet up a building, they had to do some climbing to apply the artwork... (which is completely removable).

A Foggy Halloween Farm

I was so carried away by all the political dramas that I forgot all about Halloween.

Halloween arrived exactly on schedule... at first it was foggy. But it soon became a brilliant day.

The usual suspects all lined up as always...

This pathway stretched on to forever... with no one else in sight.


It's hard to decide which leaf is the most perfect. They all qualify.

Snowmans

It's Christmas already... at least it is in the world of illustration.
I always thought it's fun to be able to do seasonal illustrations off season.

So logically, there ought to be a run on springtime artwork coming up before too long. Though now that I think about it, I have already received half a dozen Holiday catalogs. And they have a lot of the Holiday stuff up in the stores too.

The weather is certainly cooperating, as I see it's snowing out East already.

Summertime is over...

It's easy to wax nostalgic over the passing of summer... as brief as it was. The buzzing of bees in the morning glories.

No more morning glories... or hot afternoons.

The cold of winter is going to take some getting used to. In fact it was only the middle of June when gloves, hats, scarves and coats were required.

Luckily my polartec is never far from reach...

Blogger's Block

It would seem that i have been preoccupied... and otherwise can't really think straight.

I think I've lost touch with my inner blogger. I've got blogger's block. It can be detrimental when one's mental state succumbs to indifference. I suspect it's all just a deep rooted biological need to hibernate.

Busy drawing, drawing and painting illustrations though... so maybe there's hope for me yet.

Drawing, Eating, Listening

Drawing : Working on the roughs to a new book. It's really more like puzzle solving than drawing, it's equally satisfying when all the puzzle pieces fall into place.

Eating: Just finished my standard lunchtime repast... vanilla yogurt with ground walnuts and strawberries and whole wheat toast with peanut butter. And a cup of tea.

Listening: To the pitter patter of raindrops...

Thinking: I ought to start hibernating...

Printed to perfection...

Here we have it... the entire set of proofs, printed to perfection!

It was an unexpected pleasure to receive this package the other afternoon, with all the interior pages. The color was perfect... which is often almost impossible to achieve. But this time the printing all came out exactly as I had hoped it might.

So now I've had my moment of publishing perfection. It was a wonderful experience.

:0)

Nature is the best getaway...

The mysterious woods... makes one want to leave the city almost.

It looks stormier than it was... it was actually just foggy and warm. But the drama looks good.

The deep, dark, foggy woods... what better place to get away to?

But the sunshine did peek out on occasion... opening windows to marvels of Nature.

I think movie makers use fog for effects... it's easy to see why.

Roots, trees, people... they all intertwine.

A mist enshrouded shore echoes the shapes of the forest.

A staircase hewn out of rock and cedar. It all felt like it was straight out of Tolkein...

As the elusive islands drift in and out of the fog...

Camping is my kind of getaway. And not a bug in sight the entire trip too!

It had been sunny all along...

The grudging fog lifts enough for a glimmer of color. The break from a bleak monotone was wonderful.

At last! I capture my own 'Painter of Light' original... I always wanted to do that!

The combination of sunlight & fog creates a unique light.

Just a few yards off the water's edge it's been a sunny day for hours. You can see the fog in a blanket, just offshore.

The pilings remind me of a medieval fortress... never having seen one in real life, of course.

A touch of faux native carving adds local color.

And a bit of rusty Americana on Main Street. So ends another all too brief day-trip.

:0)