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At a recent SCBWI conference the illustrators were given a chance to show off their skills in a contest. The prompt was to create three different poses of the character Rumplestiltskin that shows our vision of him. I had a vague memory of the character from stories in my youth but couldn't quite put my finger on how the whole story went. So I did a little research. There were several versions of the story including some from other countries and cultures. In one his name meant simply rattle … [Read more...] about Rumplestiltskin

When I look around me as I go through my day, or delve into the reference books on my shelf for an image to illustrate and hone my skills, I conclude with no uncertainty that our creator is the greatest artist of all time. So many beautiful faces. Creating a representation of one of those beautiful faces would be defined as portraiture. Portraiture has been around for centuries and the reasons for these depicitons as well as their styles have been varied. They range from being aquired to show … [Read more...] about Beautiful Faces and Portraiture

Next to the human form, drawing and painting animals is another favorite of mine. Perhaps it's because they share moods and emotions not unlike us. I've gathered second hand books as references for stance and realistic qualities when I'm portraying different figures. And often I will work from photos I've taken. This designer gouache painting was initiated by several beautiful photos of Impalas. As I was drawing their lovely curving horns I allowed myself to get a little creative with their … [Read more...] about Fantastical Beasts

I could illustrate dancers all day. The beauty of their bodies in motion is unrivaled as far as I'm concerned. The extreme commitment and dedication it takes to become an excellent dancer is commendable, and is easily forgotten when you observe the sheer grace with which they move across their stage of performance. This pastel and pastel pencil drawing on paper was done after recently reading some excerpts from a book on the black experience in american dance. It's hard to fathom what has been … [Read more...] about Black Dancer

Batter up! It's baseball season again, and sometimes I wonder how it came from being just a backyard game to such a big world forum. My mother remembers kicking and hitting cans around in her youth. With the large family that I grew up in we had enough for our own baseball team. We just needed another big family to play with. Fortunately there were a couple other large familys who farmed near us. Even though our yard was relatively big, it was still more adventageous to make use of the expanse … [Read more...] about Sports In Art