More of my model

Sketches from our various outings over the last few months.

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.

Gouache Relief Strawberry

This is the result of a gouache-relief demo from my illustration class. I love this technique because it requires giving up some of the control we all strive for in paintings. In this case the lines are the areas not painted and the colored (or white-ish) bits are the areas that get painted.

Or you could just think of it as a really quick fake lino cut process.

Warm Up Sketch: Watercolor on Watercolor

A quick little watercolor study of a tube of watercolor paint to start my day in the studio.

Summer Fun

Been a little while since I posted anything new. This is due to my attending the The Illustration Academy. The program has been amazing. This little image is pretty much how I feel coming into the studio each day.

Speaker Sketches: Oregon SCBWI Conference

Attended the Oregon SCBWI Conference this weekend. Had a splendid time chatting with everyone and of course doing quick sketches of some of the speakers. I'm looking forward to seeing how the chapter continues to move forward and evolve!

When Animals Act Oddly

I've never fully trusted squirrels.
Sure they're small, cute, and look adorable when they munch frantically away on a nut, but still . . .

Author Sketch: Matt Phelan

Headed over to A Children's Place Bookstore on Saturday to catch illustrator/author Matt Phelan talk about his book "The Storm in the Barn" which was just turned into a theater production by Oregon Children's Theater. Matt was in town to watch the world premier. Really excellent work and a super nice guy.

Roller Derby Sketchin'!!

Had the luck to be invited out to watch the uber-awesome Rose City Rollers in a scrimmage last night and did a bunch of sketching. This was my first time watching roller derby live -- and it won't be the last.

Speaker Sketches: Washington SCBWI Conference

Just got back from the Western Washington SCBWI conference. Had a great time (as usual) and did my customary speaker sketches (they just really help me remember what the speaker said) Should anyone actually know the people in the drawings and feel (rightly so) that my sketches look NOTHING like them, I abjectly apologize and would like to point out that some of these sketches were done 50 or more feet away from a moving subject. I'm lucky they aren't just peanut shaped blobs with hair.

Travel Sketch: Las Vegas

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

Doodles

I've been creating watercolor textures to use for various projects and as I look at some of them characters start to emerge. Here's a couple of little monsters that were hanging out on my desk yesterday.

Characters: People Who Sat Still

A collection of sketches made while waiting. These people were kind enough to sit still long enough for me to grab a likeness. (Bless 'em!)

Portrait: Charlie Sheen

This is a new project for my illustration class.
The idea is to choose a celebrity and after researching him or her assign keywords that will determine how the viewer responds to the finished art. Not one to ask my students to do something I wouldn't, here is my interpretation of Charlie Sheen (circa spring 2011). My keywords were: "Manaical, Self Involved, Dangerous"

Here is the process I used to arrive at the finished piece:

I researched a bunch of photos of Charlie Sheen and chose one that had a single light source and strong cast shadows.
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Adjusted the photo so that it was more contrasty and the shapes that made up the features were clearer.
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The original photo did not have the feel/keywords I wanted so I modified his face to look more like the photos of Charlie Sheen when he was at his most volatile.
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Redrew the light and dark shapes so they could be transferred to watercolor paper
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Created and ink wash of painting of the photo, being conscious to use the brush to create quick angular strokes that would reinforce my keywords.
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I wanted to add a second element that would further reinforce my keywords and decided on the "catchphrases" Charlie would endlessly spout during this period. Again, actively using a mark making style that would suggest a person coming unhinged.
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The two pieces were composited digitally and this is the end result.
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What's really fun about this process is that you can easily substitute other equally compelling images to achieve a similar effect.

Portraits: Visitors

With the holidays we had a number of house guests over. These are a couple of the younger ones who were good enough to sit still while I sketched 'em.

Portrait: Helen Acker

Portrait: John Lock

I titled this John Lock because I'm pretty sure that's who served as the reference for the original sketch (or rather Terry O'Quinn the actor who played him in Lost). Of course a day later as I did the watercolor I "lost" (see what I did there?) my reference so a lot of this is just plain 'ol made up.

Travel Sketch: Maui

Travel Sketch: Maui

Went on a vacation to Maui recently and did some snorkeling and sketching at a place called Black Rock. The name just appealed to the Pirates of the Caribbean fan in me. But it was the visiting sea turtles that really made my day!

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.