Babybug... the real and the digital

I greatly enjoyed doing these 6 pages of artwork in the new Babybug magazine, which just came out.

It was interesting in that I first was going to do the final version with photoshop. But then I changed my mind and decided to do the real paint instead.


It's hard to decide which I like more. Each has it's pros and cons. Since the publisher seems to very much prefer real paints, I stuck with those... even though I spilled some paint on one of the faces and it was a bit of a pain to fix with real paints. That sort of thing wouldn't have taken 20 seconds with the digital version.

I had numerous different backgrounds in mind for the digital version... which is one of the fun things which that medium allows. And I have yet to find any paint that can equal photoshop for doing opaque highlight details.

It's all in the drawing anyhow, so the medium is secondary I guess.

Cherry Blossom Time

It's cherry blossom time on the quadrangle... a glorious time indeed. Imagine a faux-elizabethan college square lined with 100 year old cherry trees... all in blossom.

The many Asians here are especially devoted to cherry blossoms. It's easy to see why.

We are fairly choked with cherry blossoms.
But never fear, rain & snow are in the forecast. April is the cruelest month, they say... but actually it's June-uary that takes that prize here in Seattle.

Last weekend I was there in a sunny crowd of cherry blossom fans.

An aged and very frail old woman in a motorized wheelchair went by. She looked to be on her last legs... but the wonder of it all seemed to have entranced her completely. Her face lit up with joy. She caught my eye and declared... 'Isn't it all wonderful?'

Yes it is!

Seattle Scenes...

I noticed the other day...

A white sail as elusive as the wild swans... which now, alas, have moved on.

The cormorant dries it's wings... an iconic totem for sure.

And tulips. I could look at tulips all day.

Ferris wheels must be very popular...

Ferris wheels must be very popular. I have been perplexed to discover this after noticing that this image, which I posted on my blog about a year ago has been one of the most popular pages ever on my site. It seems to come up almost every day in web searches.

Maybe that's a good sign for my new upcoming book. Let's hope so.

So I've reposted it... along with a link to my new book's URL. So maybe now folks from Kyonggi-do, Seoul, Jakarta Raya, Kyonggi-do, Costa Rica Madrid, Bratislava, Ontario, and Virginia will know where else to click if they like this image.

By the way... my most popular link by far is: How to unclog a Canon print head. That one wins bar none. I'm thinking of adding a new update titled: How to refill a Canon inkjet cartridge for $1. That's sure to cause a sensation!

:0)

My New Book - Layers & Layers of Art

As part of the run-up to my new book, 'Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle', I thought I'd share this fun little step by step animation.

This image is built from layers in Photoshop. With the magic of digital technology, these layers can be transformed into an animation of sorts.

The original drawing forms the basic structure... while the layers add depth, color, type, background and shadows. It's sort of hypnotic to watch as the layers click together...

Photoshop can be useful in adjusting the elements... without some of the drawbacks of real paints.

The title of my new book is 'Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle'. It's a fantastic true story about a boy named Cromwell Dixon, who was known in the newspapers a century ago as America's 'Boy Aeronaut'.

He had a dream to build his own flying airship in Columbus, Ohio in 1907... and this is a book about how his dream came true.

This is a real boy's book... with imagination, daring, adventure, danger and amazing inventions... all built by a boy in his own backyard.

That was always one of my favorite boyhood things to do... build amazing new contraptions out in the backyard.

I'll be blogging more about it in the not too distant future.

March

This picture reminded me so much of one of those illustrations for 'March'. Our particular March is not coming in like a lamb.... more like a penguin actually.

Meanwhile, inside the conservatory, summer remains intact... worlds away, under glass.

Nothing quite like a hot-house jungle for a freezing day in March.

I wasn't sure what this was until I peered through the device. It's a bit of clever artwork... sort of a time machine.

Meanwhile, the valiant crocuses put their best foot forward.

Art Supplies

Usually I don't use watercolors... but I did for this new book project. I splurged at the art store... down at Daniel Smith's in Seattle.

There was this box of great looking paints... at a big discount. So I succumbed to temptation. I was amazed by all the granulation in the paints in the samples they had in the store. But in real life, I'm finding it's hard to duplicate that same granularity.

I think it requires doing really, really washy washes... which simply is not possible when doing really small scale illustrations.

But they're still gorgeous... and the tubes are huge! I'll have a lifetime supply.

Still, any trip to the art supply store is usually fun... and the temptations sometimes prove difficult to overcome. Digital art is all very fine... but there's nothing quite like a trip to a real art supply store.

I'll have to show you pictures of my new chair next...

Art on a sunny saturday

I'm afraid that my blog is longing for insignificance... as if it were lacking such a thing.

The weekend... the weekend... the weekend.

Let's see. Start with a trip to the zoo... watching the elephant pull leaves off the branches over the fence. What fun!

As a child, my grandpa once lifted me up over the fence at the zoo to retrieve a colorful feather. I don't think there were any rhinos about at the time. That's the sort of memory one tends to cherish.

A coffee shop... and glorious sunshine! The music was deafening... the lines were long... the tables were jammed. The patrons sit for hours and hours. I don't know how they read with the music that loud. We were the last in and the first out... even though I tried to linger.

A trip to the museum of porcelain. Actually it's just a bath design showroom... but it's what one must resort to when the Metropolitan Museum of Art is out of reach. Essentially it's the same experience as admiring art I think. Everything is perfect. The porcelain and fixtures are immaculate... and unused... and don't even have real water. I'm thinking about remodeling the downstairs bath.

Such perfection resembles art on a sunny saturday.

Oh... and my feline's perfect sense of oblivion. I cannot compete with this sort of languor. This feline has mastered the art-form far above my skill level.

A real book...

Yes... the waiting is nearly over. My long awaited picturebook has finally arrived... at least the advance copy has. It's always like magic to finally hold that real book.

After all the imagining... it really does arrive. Unexpected.. unannounced... but not for long.

The FedEx package appeared on the porch. I knew this had to be it. Of course one is afraid to open such a package after all the years of expectation. Bravely, I went ahead and opened the package. Gladly, I was not disappointed.

And so soon, we hope, the world might take a little notice of my new book, 'Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle'. Due out in May.

I read on a Putnam PDF that authors are supposed to blog about 3 times a month about their book. So you'll be hearing more about this all from moi.

The Return of the Swans

A true rarity, the swans have returned to Lake Washington. This is the first time I've ever seen them here, but I hear from birders of yore that they used to always come here. It's easy to see how they're associated with ballet. They move in elegant gliding motions, always in a group... just like ballet dancers.

A meeting of the 'Tails-Up Club'. Very amusing. I have yet to see a swan that is not in the water. And they seem very skittish... never getting closer than 100 yards.

It was a sight to see them all taking off fleeing an eagle overhead.

A new beginning...

I very much liked the inaugural poem by Elizabeth Alexander.

It was so simple and real and effective at describing the small things in ordinary lives that make for big changes...

Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.
Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.
A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."