The Last of the Mohicans

It's tough finding time to blog these days. In this post are a few of my illustrations from the book The Last of the Mohicans. It will be available January 2010 through Magic Wagon, a division of the ABDO Group or your educational wholesaler.


The book offered a great opportunity for some rather dramatic images.


I like how the angles turned out in this one. Originally I was going to have the party viewed completely from the side, and was about a quarter of the way into it when I had the idea for this composition. It was worth the extra work to change it.

This was the second illustration I worked on (finished it right before I went to the beach a couple months ago) and is one of my favorites - I love the tension and Cora's rigid posture. She's not taking any guff!

Over the next few weeks I'll share more illustrations and some of the roughs and prelim sketches. Stay tuned!

Colonel Mustard I Presume

Several weekends ago, I took a trip to the beach with family. Overall it wasn't bad, but I came back more tired than ever. While at the condo, we played a few rounds of the board game Clue. It was the first time my brothers had ever played it and they caught on rather quickly. Andrew however seemed to have the notorious problem of rolling ones and twos, making his trek across the board slow and arduous. Each time he played as Colonel Mustard, and I had the idea for this painting (still unfinished). He is known for giving people "that look." Below is an example of how game conversation would often go.

Colonel Mustard: I believe the crime was committed by Miss Scarlet with theeeeee.... Revolver!

Professor Plum: Where?

Colonel Mustard: In the leg.

Mr. Green: He means what room?!

Colonel Mustard: In the Conversationary.

Professor Plum: You mean the Conservatory?

As for the painting, there are about three layers on the face. Probably could use a few more but I've already spent more time on it than I thought I would.

maquette

Here is a small head sculpture made using Super Sculpey. I started it a few weeks ago and for what seemed like an eternity, she sat there bald and earless (creepy) until I finished her today.

The model was based on my sketches in the colonial post from two months ago, and was a big help while working on the book. Some of you may remember the male head maquette I made last year. These are great to have around when you can't get that sketch just right.

yo birdie

I painted this last night for a charity auction that is to be held Thursday. Talk about last minute! But it was my fault. The proceeds will go to help a local hospice.

Work in progress

Just to post something quick. It already feels like it should be Friday... long week ahead.

More Coming Soon...

Don't give up on me folks. I've been a real bum for not posting, I know. The last three weeks have been spent finishing up illustrations for a book coming out in a few months. More on that later.

Here is a quick sketch I did experimenting with different techniques.

New artwork is on its way. Stay tuned!

Foot Study

There's a lot I could say about this quick oil study I did last night. Like how I had to eat 5 pickles to have a jar for my brush cleaner. Very sad!

I was reading Saturday about different color palettes over at Matthew D. Innis' blog, and after looking at all the beautiful work collected there, I had to bring out the oils. To answer the question some of you asked, digital painting is not the same as the real thing. Mixing the oils and preparing the canvas is an experience all to itself, and I love it (when I feel the painting has good results). Also James Gurney mentioned over at his blog in a 2007 post the benefits of painting from the masters.

This study is from Bouguereau's The Bohemian, as seen on the cover of the book below. There is room for improvement, but that's the whole reason for the study! I feel like I learned something from this exercise and look forward to trying it again sometime soon.

Gator Labels

Working through yet another weekend. I'll catch up one day! These two "festive" gators were done for some packaging labels. Originally they were to be vector, but the client wanted to go for a more realistic effect.


You know what I'm going to do? I've got a plan! Every birthday from here on out will be my eighteenth birthday, and I'll simply ignore time. When I die, I'll be eighteen and everyone will say "he lived his short life to it's fullest!"

Seriously, do we live long enough to accomplish the many things we want to achieve? If you are one of those people who do, I salute you.

Stay tuned. More to come!

Colonial America

Over the last few weeks I've been researching 18th century America for a new project I'm currently working on. The images in this post are a few resulting character studies. Hope you enjoy them!

New Study Shows...

This rough digital painting is based on new scientific evidence showing that some dinosaurs were friendly, and looked the part. [citation needed] A few prehistoric reptiles showed a "kind demeanor" and "gentle disposition" which was often confused for lack of intelligence. I mean, who could be scared of this guy?

For over three weeks I've been wanting to play with my new Intuos 4 pad (which underwent neat design changes by Wacom since my December post). It's difficult for me to use the tablet when drawing directly into the computer, but it is great for digital painting. The buttons are now on one side and the pad is ambidextrous.

Oh and the painting program was Photoshop. The layers can be seen below.