Tag Archive for: art

Irish ghost story

Only two weeks til Hallowe'en… Fergus O'Mara bargains for his soul in an Irish graveyard—from Fergus and the Night Demon by Jim Murphy.

A nice review of Minnie’s Diner

…over at PBwithJ. This image is several photos taped together of the interior of Charlie's Diner in Pittsburgh—not far from where I used to live.  Believe it or not, they had a waitress named Minnie, although she wasn't working when…

Creepy spooky haunted house

I did this picture for a collection of stories or poems—I don't remember—and this was for the cover.  It's a caricature of my dear old house in Pittsburgh.  That house doesn't have a tower, but what's a haunted house without a tower,…

What do I paint first?

Joanie asks: I work in gouache also and I would like to ask a question if you don't mind. I have trouble working the background and characters at the same time. I usually end up painting the characters/foreground first and then paint the background…

It’s October…

UPDATE! If you live in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and like to hear really old classical music, mark your calendar Oct 24 to attend The Medieval Beasts concert. I'm told it's a costume event, but didn't see any info about that on the…

Westward, ho!

UPDATE!  Ilene, Jerry & Drake discuss digital vs traditional illustration in the comments section below. I get quite a few historical projects to illustrate, and that suits me fine.  I enjoy doing the research—which is crucial to…

Some old sketches

Apropos of nothing, some old sketches from Humphrey, Albert & the Flying Machine.  This one was written by Kathryn Lasky, who also wrote Two Bad Pilgrims—coming this Fall! Humphrey is set within the Sleeping Beauty story, about two…

The Robin Hood Project

I like to listen to really old classical music, and have attended the wonderful concerts organized by the Renaissance & Baroque Society of Pittsburgh.  I do illustrations for their season brochures. A couple of years ago they booked…

More Henry sketches

Here's the thumbnail sketch for the opening spread of Henry & the Crazed Chicken Pirates.  Like in a movie, this establishing shot offers a broad swathe of visual information that tells the reader where the story takes place.  The crew…

Fireflies

I want to warn you ahead of time that I don't have the finished illustration that would normally follow the series of sketches below.  I must have gotten rid of it, or else it's boxed away somewhere in my attic (I moved last November and am…