All the Live Long Day

On the first day of drawing class in college we had the nude model. Baptism of fire was how our professors handled it.

The room was big enough for two classes with a temporary wall dividing us. My class had the female model and the other class had the male model. For some students this was the first naked adult of the opposite sex that they had seen this up-close for this long (it was a three hour class, by junior year it was a six hour class).

For the first few minutes there was some giggling and red faces. Not long after that all you could hear was charcoal on paper with the occasional sound of furious erasing. There was no time for ogling, too much concentration was need. Suddenly, being named "Most Artistic" in your high school year book didn't mean much.

After what seemed like an eternity the professor would call a break. We'd all come up for air (or cigarettes) and then get right back to our intense focus of drawing the human figure. In the meantime the professor would walk around and point out what we were all doing wrong by drawing right on our pad or even crumpling up our masterpiece and telling us to start over.

I remember my friends who weren't art majors would think we had it easy coloring all day.

Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

I don't know what it is about eyes. They are my favorite thing to draw. When I was a teenager I was especially compulsive about it. I didn't have a book cover or notebook that wasn't covered in eyeballs. This could explain why I didn't do so well in algebra.

Someday I might figure it out, like those people in that movie. They felt compelled to create images of a mysterious mountain. When they got to the mountain and saw the aliens land it was such a relief.

"I get it now. Whew, I thought I was going crazy. Now, it all makes sense".

Caroline Laughs and It's Raining All Day

I'm taking a little detour from the alphabet series.

This is a design I did for a friend who walks the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

It's hard to be on the planet too long before you know someone affected by this disease, so many mothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, friends, grandmothers.

The walking events are a great way to raise money and awareness. The walk is also a beautiful, public, physical expression of love and support.

Team Pink Princess has reached their fundraising goal this year. Congratulations!

If you would like to donate to another worthy team, click on "team" and follow the instructions.

Stick a Needle In My Eye

When I was eight years old I found a twenty dollar bill on the school bus. Even though my friends told me to keep it I turned it in to the bus driver.

She told me that if no one claimed it within a week I would get to keep it. I asked her every day if anyone claimed it. After a week the money was mine and since then I took that as a universal test that being honest was the right thing to do.

This of course did not always work in my favor (speeding tickets for example)and although I never lied to my parents I did leave out quite a few possiblly important details about where I was and who I was with.

Also, April Fool's Day type of lying doesn't count.

Occasionally, there is a lying or strong bending of the truth emergency. In these rare instances I cross my fingers .

See a Man About a Horse

I think centaurs are funny.
I know they are meant to be strong and sexy. I get the giggles every time I see a depiction of one.

BFF

My daughter and her friend joined me in the studio to make some art. They asked what I was working on and I told them about my alphabet project.

The girls got very excited and asked if I would do a picture of them for the project.

So, I had them pose and here they are representing the letter B.

Next Time Won't You Sing With Me

Here is the first in a series of b&w spot illustrations I did using each letter of the alphabet.

I started by randomly choosing a word from our big-fat-dictionary.

After two letters I changed the rule to whatever word I or someone in my family suggested.

It was a fun experience and nice to have an illustration "job" to do every day.

Bear on Board

This is one of my favorite pages from the recent book.

If you knew Bear like I do you'd understand why.

Life Is But A Dream

Here's the illustrated book jacket for another song by Kathleen Healy.

I decided to scan the black and white ink drawings and color them with Photoshop. It took a bit of trial and error. I have many tutorials bookmarked.

I am starting to get the hang of it.

There was much debate between the blonde girl and the brunette boy at our house about what color the character's hair should be.

Next book is going to have a redhead.

Shoes for the Cobbler's Children

Here's a photo of the new logo, sawdust and all. The logo was inspired by a blueprint detail of a rake.

D & M has been in business since 2001. It's nice to see a distinctive image to go along with the type, finally.

Blog, Blog, Blog

I decided to create a new blog to separate the illustration and design work from the paintings.
I don't on principle believe in separating the genres. I did it for two reasons. 1. It's easier to find the illustration work if it's all on one page. 2. I can blog about the process of creating illustrations that is very different from how I think about painting.