Let’s face it: there’s nothing new. We create only by standing on the shoulders of giants. What came before is a blueprint for our every effort. The legacy of Western culture is a valuable gift because without it, there’s hardly anything for us creatives to draw from. The classics of literature, for instance, can become […]
Michael asks: Thanks so much for posting your technique, I am currently working on my first painting and have been doing exactly what you’ve done here. i think i did do something wrong though, a friend of mine said to do a light wash over the entire piece ,but I think it just confused me. […]
Here’s a fun little spot illustration I did for the Renaissance & Baroque Society of Pittsburgh, this time to promote a concert of ancient Scottish and Irish music—both sacred (church liturgy) and profane (drinking songs). The costume is from a painting of a highland aristocrat wearing his hunting clothes.
Here’s a wonderful story about some overdue library books, and how the anonymous borrower redeemed his/her honor 50 years later.
Another spread from Two Bad Pilgrims. This is the big splashy first glimpse of the Mayflower. Here is the thumbnail sketch: Everything’s there that needs to be, but I was concerned that the direction of the drawing didn’t show the Billingtons being rowed toward the Mayflower in the background. In the tight sketch, I turned […]
Awhile back, Ann Mason—then-exec-director of the Renaissance & Baroque Society of Pittsburgh—and I thought it would be screamingly funny to create a promotional bobblehead of the august Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach. And, by George, we were right—it is funny! Here’s what I envisioned: One of the rbsp board members, Joy Troetschel, has some expertise […]
People do judge a book by its cover. Or at least, it’s the cover that gets people to pick up the book in the bookstore and see whether they like it. Here are rough cover ideas for Two Bad Pilgrims. Art Director Jim Hoover liked Idea A I did tight sketches of the boys, the […]
The costume color indication for Samoset, for Two Bad Pilgrims. Not that there’s much costume. Samoset walked into Plymouth Plantation in the middle of March wearing hardly anything at all. He was showing the pilgrims he had no concealed weapons. He was being theatrical and used symbolism to communicate: as ambassador from Chief Massasoit, he […]
Here’s my costume color indication for Master Jones for Two Bad Pilgrims. ‘Master’ was what they called the ship’s captain back in the 1600s. I couldn’t find a contemporary picture of him, like an engraving—so I made him up. I tried to give him a salty swashbuckling air with the plumed hat, sash and of […]
It’s November—time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and pilgrims! Here’s another scene from Two Bad Pilgrims. This one shows the pilgrims beginning construction of Plymouth Plantation. The first thing they built was the common house/fort. This is my thumbnail sketch, 2 inches tall. One of the great things about being an illustrator is that you’re […]
