New Dragon Slippers Cover Art

I was asked by Bloomsbury Publishing to create new covers for a reissue of Jessica Day George's "Dragon Slippers" trilogy. This is the art for the first book.

Imagination Station: new book cover

The cover art for the upcoming entry in the Imagination Station series.

Theater Poster: Bunnicula

Bunnicula was one of my favorite books from when I was eight. I got the opportunity to create my version for a theater poster.

Society of Illustrators Juried Show

Honored to have this book cover I did selected for the Society of Illustrators Annual 55 (whoo-hoo!)
The opening reception was last Friday and runs until March 2nd 2013.

Unfortunately my work schedule means that I won't be able to check out the show in person, but if you do go, please drop me a line (and maybe a photo?)

Trinity Cathedral Sketch

Had a meeting in NW Portland the other day. Arrived a little early and did a sketch around the corner at Trinity Cathedral. It was a warm day here in Stumptown and just thought it was amusing and appropriate that a guy had stretched out in the shade of the parish doorway for a mid-afternoon siesta. As religion is supposed to do, the church was giving this guy the comfort he needed at the moment.

Illustration Academy: Project #1 (Part 2)

This is the second image I created at the Illustration Academy for the first project (for more details scroll down ever-so-slightly and check out yesterday's post). I probably created 50 different thumbnails for this because I wanted to ditch linear perspective and yet still give the viewer the sense they were above the guy on the stairs. Alas, it was a no go. Turns out you still gotta' use a couple vanishing points sometimes (but god bless Brunelleschi for figuring it all out)

Illustration Academy: Project #1

Some of you might have noticed in my last post that I mentioned I was attending the The Illustration Academy in Kansas City over the month of June. Well my time there has officially ended -- and a great time was had by all! I wanted to post some of the projects that I made while there and this is the first.

The assignment was to capture the spirit of the location BUT using no line work and no rendering. Only interesting shapes, values and hues. (Oh, and get a figure in there to help tell a story) I added an additional wrinkle of trying to communicate depth of space  without using linear perspective;  instead relying primarily on overlapping shapes and the human mind's natural inclination to "understand" certain shapes in certain ways.

Anyway, all this is starting to sound very art-talky but it sure made the project fun!
In this case I didn't stray far from the studio. The building that the Academy is held in is an old brick warehouse and is a wonderfully exhausting five flights up some creaky wooden stairs.

Travel Sketch: Las Vegas

Went on a trip to Vegas recently. Very interesting place. Odd too. They've created something unique there.

New Book Cover: Tuesdays at the Castle

I just found out that a book I did the cover for is now available at your favorite bookstore!
Written by Jessica Day George, it got a great review blurb from Kirkus:

“This enjoyable romp turns mischief into political action and a stone palace into a cunning character. These kids are clever, as is George’s lively adventure. May pique castle envy.” —Kirkus Reviews

This is a splendid YA fantasy and I had a great time coming up with all kinds of cover concepts.
And what the heck, since you're here at my blog what better place to show some behind-the-scenes stuff:

In hindsight it would have been awesome if I had waited until Tuesday to post this -- ah well, enjoy!

Portland Sketch: Oldtown

A sketch from a while back of Old Town in Portland. Not long after this sketch was finished I was accused by a random (and fairly disturbing) guy of "mentally harassing" him. All in all, a memorable sketching afternoon.

Location Drawing: Japanese Gardens

More from the Japanese Gardens. These are great to play around with limited color palettes.

Location Drawing: Japanese Gardens

Another sketch from the Japanese Gardens

Location Drawing: Japanese Gardens

If you are going to be a substitute instructor then it's pretty great to take on a class you'd be doing any way. I filled in for a "Drawing on Location" class at AiPD this week and had the pleasure of spending the afternoon at the Japanese Gardens here in Portland. Truly beautiful. Definitely worth a visit if you've never been.

Travel Sketch: Santa Cruz

Headed down to Santa Cruz for the weekend to hang out with some very cool folks and did some sketching in my free time. I'll be posting these for the next couple days as I get them scanned in.

Portland Food Carts: Salt and Straw

My new favorite unhealthy indulgence. This uber-cool ice cream cart carries all the traditional Portland flavors you'd expect: Stumptown Coffee Cold Brewed with Cocoa Nibs, Brown Ale and Bacon, Blue Cheese and Pear, etc. But my favorite is Honey Balsamic Strawberry With Black Pepper. If you are in Portland it's located on NE Alberta. Totally worth the trip.

Sketch In Progress

Currently working on some pretty tight deadlines, so not a lot of time for sketching.
Here is about 15 min worth. I thought I'd have a go at this for a few minutes a day over the next few days.

Recent Sketch

I've never been great at sketching directly in Photoshop (always just faster with pencil and paper).
But this is a little digital study done in about 20 min. -- I could get used to this.

Recent Sketch

One of the things I require of my illustration students is that they be able to draw a cube accurately from observation. Figured I should take my own advice.

Recent Sketch

Same room (from last post) different POV.

Recent Sketch

Continuing to refine the curriculum for the Background and Layout course.
I hope to get the students to develop their ability to draw a space from any point of view. To that end I'm trying out a little exercise I came across in "Creative Illustration" by Andrew Loomis. I know I'm a little late to the party in recommending that book but if you don't yet have it -- get it!