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.

Brushes Painting App

Here's a little something that was done using the iPhone "Brushes" app.
Fairly cool application (and great for killing time while waiting for an appointment) but really hard to export out of the application and into the wider world.

Portrait: Mug Shots

Came across a great website of1940's mug shots. Great hairstyles, and really honest expressions.

Concept Sketch: Guy with huge sword

Projects of all stripes have been keeping me busy these last few weeks, but I thought I'd post a concept development test that I did this morning.

Blog Interview: Blu Penny Sketchbook Stories

Illustrator Cindy Ann Ganaden recently asked me to participate on her uber-cool "Sketchbook Stories" blog feature. I wrote a bit about the process that goes into creating a chapter book cover.

Head on over and check it out and stay to read about all the other illustrators she's already featured. Just click on the button below

Watercolor Test: Landscape

Playing with compositional theories (rule of thirds) and watercolor techniques (laying pigment down heavy and pulling out to model form). More of a formal test, but still fun just the same.

Sidewalk Stroller

The inaugural drawing of my brand-spankin' new set of mid-toned sketchbooks. (Very excited to be drawing in these again!) This stroller was just sitting on the sidewalk today, and while I admire the engineering that has gone into modern "baby-jogger strollers" there's just something evocative about this design.

New Books: The Imagination Station Series

For the last year I have been working on a series of books "The Imagination Station" with Focus on the Family and Tyndale House Publishers. I've recently received my advance copies of the first two books in the series and wanted to show off the covers. Click the horizontal images for all the wraparound cover art goodness.

 

Turkey Transport

Portrait: Einstein

Start of a new term at AiPD -- and as usual I gave my students a "however you want" inclass project of drawing Einstein. This is my take. Kinda' fun to look back at all the versions.