Line, silhouette & a dash of bright color

I was pleased with how this piece came out - I managed to keep some of the spontaneity of the sketch in the finished color. It seems like I'm always struggling to choose a line for the finals - but in this one I combined several different solutions - colored line and silhouette shapes and a dash of bright colors.  Thanks to my pastel brush for the painting. 

What have you published.... lately?

I guess one of the hazards of being a children's book maker is having to always answer questions from people who you haven't seen in a long while. "Are you still doing that children's book thing?".  To which I say Ah... why yes!  As a matter of fact that's been my chosen profession for many decades now and I still do, yes thank you very much.  The other dreaded question is "What have you published.... lately?"  With the emphasis being on the 'lately'.  That one can be a bit trickier.  

My feeling is like isn't it enough that one has published more than 50 books - but you have to answer to the 'lately' question also? 

Usually I just say 'Oh I'm working on some illustrations about a rabbit or a fox' - which applies to a large portion of my working life.  But really I mostly squirm at the question. Maybe I need a license plate that says 'CHLDNSBKART' or something.  Or a theme Tee shirt to the same effect. But alas, I have neither.

Spontaneity of the sketch

Here's a fun new sketch to start the week. In my mind I imagined all kinds of different line qualities - pencil, pen, brushed pen - but when I started drawing the final, I stumbled on this digital brush that I tweaked and liked it just fine the first try.

Of course keeping the spontaneity of the sketch in the finish is always the challenge.

It was an ordinary Sunday afternoon...

It was an ordinary Sunday afternoon... when the phone rang and it was my oldest son Arthur calling from Hawaii to say he and Ivy (his girlfriend of the last 5 years) were getting married in an hour! Whew! Congratulations Arthur & Ivy!.. they wanted to avoid all the complications of formality. And they just bought a house last month in West Seattle. Those two are way ahead of me... how wonderful for them! Golly... now I've got some new in-laws.

And they told us last Friday that they were going camping this weekend!

They are way smarter than me - they went into business and I.T. instead of drawing bunnies... 

Try things out...

Digital layers makes it quick and painless to try things out. Here's a history of a two page spread that was a work in progress. Lots of changes in the layout, drawing and color.

Digital art - before and after

Here's a before and after - I'll let you guess which is which. My feeling is that one advantage to digital art is I can revise any aspect of the art without having to tear it up and start over completely... and that saves time & stress!

My New York Times editorial illustration...

And then there's my New York Times editorial illustration. 

There's a story behind that that I'll have to write someday. My first and last debut in the NY Times. But it was all fun.. .. it all started when I showed my portfolio to Steve Heller of the NYT. He seemed to appreciate my work, which was flattering since he's kind of legendary. 

Then one day the regular artist for Craig Claiborne's column was out, so I was invited to fill in. I had to rush it all in 2 days and take the art down by train & subway to drop off in person. It was fun going downtown like that. Those were the days.

Variations on a theme...

I decided, quite by accident one day, that this ought to be a style I should try to stick with.  It's funny, since I'd deleted the original file already, but just stumbled upon an older jpeg version.

One of the things I struggle with forever is how to define figures - either with line or with just shape.  And if it's line, then what kind of line.  In a complicated way this piece answers a lot of those questions for me.

Here are some of the variations on the theme that I tried before deciding on this:

Sometimes an artist forgets the most basic things...

First there was the amusing sketch - which if you examine it in detail it is apparent that one leg has gone missing and an extra leg showed up in the other drawing! Sometimes an artist forgets the most basic things.

But in the final color version everything came out exactly as planned. 

Jury duty & really raining

I've spent the last week with 2 days of jury duty in downtown Seattle - and then catching the 'jury duty cold' and spending the next 4 days recovering from it.

All in all it's more fun going to the dentist, where at least you feel like you've accomplished something. Hours of stressful boredom... thank gosh they allow iPads so I could stay in touch with my little online world.

I had to go in front of 2 judges and plea for my 'hardship' - which is namely two illustration projects due on deadline (38 pages of artwork). Many of the other jurors had employers who actually pay for the time they spend doing jury duty.  It was very stressful trying to explain to the judge the odd nature of my employment. The first time I was a rambling mess - but by the second time I wrote down the key points of my defense, so I was more focused.

Anyhow - the whole thing creeped me out - especially spending days with so many homeless people downtown who everyone just ignores, walking past on their cellphones laughing on their way to a $100 lunch. I had two sandwiches so I offered one to 2 different homeless guys - but all they wanted was drugs or money.

I'm glad to be back in my cozy studio - listening to the radio and painting. And it FINALLY rained some significant rain in Seattle! Our 5 month drought broke at last in a dramatic fashion - with inches of gushing rain and thunder. All it needed was a Beethoven soundtrack it so dramatic - and SUCH a relief to find the world once more cool, dark and dripping wet with water.

How amusing to see Donald Trump is going to jury duty this morning - but he's been summoned 5 times before and never once showed up.

Newsflash! Rain in Seattle!

Newsflash! Rain in Seattle! Yes, you heard that right - for the first time since last April (5 months ago) there was actually a gush of rain sloshing down along with lots of thunder.

Thunder is a rarity here - it was so loud and close I even unplugged my computer. So that made my day...

A little studio painting...

 A little studio painting...

I liked how stacking 3 or 4 similar paintings together creates a 3D effect with the landscape.