Little River: Print copies available!

This has been a long time in the making, and I'm excited to see this one come to life! Previously this was available as an eBook only, but James L'Etoile jumped into the self-printing world and here we are today with a final version of the cover with my artwork!

 

The book is available for purchase on Amazon and I'm looking forward to holding a copy of my own; a great read and it'll look great on your coffee table, end stand, or book shelf.

 

Whimiscal 3-Panel: Final and delivered

I'll admit it, it was a little sad to say good-bye to this one. I enjoyed working on it so much and the person who commissioned it was kind enough to provide me lots of inspiration and guidance. We had a great color palette. We had music for inspiration. We had a general concept with a "whimsical tree" to be within the content.

Beyond that she gave me free range to create the world that this whimsical tree would live in. Here is the environment that poured from my mind onto the canvas, inspired by the music and direction she provided.

The wall color looked great and we only messed up with one nail while hanging.

 

 

Here are some detail, close up shots of the panels. I really love the details and texture that was achieved in this piece.

 



    

 

 

Bucks for Ducks 2013

 

While wrapping up work on the children's book illustrations for Debbie Fike and the Whimsical 3-Panel for Christine Austin, I was also working on 2 donation pieces for the Bucks for Ducks 2013 fundraising event.

 

Being from California, I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to do what I love (artwork) while capturing an area that is close to my heart (home). It's an honor to produce art for any reason and what better reason than for a good cause. I hope that the two pieces I did will bring in a pretty penny during their silent auction.

 

Beyond that, here they are for all of you to enjoy :) Both pieces are 8"x8" acrylic on wood panel. This was the standard for all pieces donated to the event. I can't wait to see what other artists provide for the auction.

 

 

Counting Creatures: Awaiting Publication

The handoff occurred over coffee at a quaint little shop the author and I have made our regular meet up joint, Rayner's Chocolate and Coffee Shop. Amidst the aroma of fresh chocolate croissants and between sips of fresh coffee, I flipped page by page as Debbie and I pictured these illustrations soon becoming the visual counterpart to the story she had written.

I was delighted to hear she had already started the self-publishing process! We spent time chatting about business of course, how we might market the new book while re-marketing the previous (My Sweet Lady Dog), etc. It's always lovely chatting about the potential with Debbie. She has such fun stories to be told. I can only hope to continue this relationship with Debbie so that I can bring these stories to life just a little more with illustrations.

I don't have a publication date, but will keep you all posted on when we expect to have copies and when it might be available to order online! In the meantime, here are the final images:

[This illustration served as the cover and the last page]

 

Beyond sketching, painting, consulting, and fine tuning, an artist has to be somewhat up on technology. I've got a long way to go to be "up on technology", but I understand the importance of having quality images of my work for future reference.

 

I thought you all might enjoy a quick little clip as I work through scanning 9 of the illustrations. Once I have finalized all 11 illustrations I'll post all of these nicely scanned images. Until then, enjoy this short show and the photos of my progress on the last two illustrations and keep an eye out for the blog of final work coming soon!

 

Goodnight my S's ... until tomorrow

I ended the night with final touches on the sorrels and some progress on the background to the snakes. More to come this evening after a day of work :)

 

 

Here is a preview of the images in the order of the book. Those six snakes are almost home...

 

                       

 

 

Snakes and Sorrels

Two of the last three illustrations are coming along nicely. I've started six snakes and seven sorrels. Sorry for the fuzzy pictures ... here are progress shots nonetheless: