Go get 'em, Tiger.

My 20th high school class reunion is this weekend. I've been asked in the most flattering way possible to create something for the event's dinnertime raffle, which I assumed meant a drawing or painting and not crocheted potholder. I'm hoping this is the case, as I've never crocheted before.

So after some internal mulling over pictorial options, I settled on this.

He's my high school mascot.

Last time I saw him, he was, like, big and awesome and strong and fast. Always snarling, or haughtily prancing about. He had a closet full of sports jerseys, as far as I could figure.

But it's been 20 years. I'm sure he's still roaring and prowling on the inside.

 

oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches

Beatnik Turtle.

With thanks to my dear agent, Abigail Samoun, for requesting the theme.

The beatnik thing, that is. For some reason, the turtles just came to me. I mean, who doesn't just think about turtles?

Out on a Linseed Oil Bender

So yes, I'm finishing up work on a book project for a sizable non-profit public outreach organization. The deadline has been a little tight; from initial pagination, sketches and on to finished oils the turnaround will top out at around a month and a half. Just for comparison, the usual time frame for a project of this scale (33 illustrations total, including spots, full pagers, spreads and cover) would be between 6 and 9 months.

It's been a bit of an adventure, but aside from the time constraints, said client has been among my most relaxed and trusting. And, as I mentioned before, they let me paint mismatched Lego people doing battle. So really, no complaints.

It's also led me to a rumination or two on some of the artistic challenges of illustration. Namely, aside from its end goal of communication of some point, concept, narrative or all of the above (as opposed to obfuscation, of course), illustration requires one to find imagery where one might not have otherwise looked or found inspiration, and to compose it in way that is compelling while still serving its source material, in this case a manuscript with a clearly defined philanthropic goal.

That, and in a forty page book, one has to thoughtfully pick out clothes for everyone.

Needless to say, while working on this, I've made little or no effort to pick out clothes for my own children. I should probably go make sure they've changed out of their pajamas.

Maybe Wednesday.

 

A Beast of Mythic Proportions

Any job that lets me include an image like this is okay by me.

More on this soon.

Upcoming from Christy Ottaviano Books

Here's a small peak into the project I've been working on for most of the year, Rock and Roll Highway: the Robbie Robertson Story, by Sebastian Robertson.  It's due out from Christy Ottaviano Books (an imprint of Holt) in Fall of 2013.

Oil on Paper, 2012.  19 in. x 27.5 in.

The Summer in (mostly) Mass Transit Sketches

Maybe it's worth noting that I'm left handed.  I bring this up only as a bit of clarification; to avoid perching my drawing hand on a metal spiral, my sketchbooks are all backwards. I've been using the same brand and scale since Fall of 1997 with only a few exceptions. The covers all look sort of like this:

The insides often look like this. I do an awful lot of my sketching in places where people are happy to ignore their close neighbors.

 

pen on recycled paper, 5" x 7"

Morning warm up.

 

Oil on canvas, 12" x 18" 

2012

I should probably go get that second cup of coffee.