Christina Hess's

Next Season

2012-01-22T18:02:00.001-05:00

I feel this is an appropriate entry for the icy weather we Philadelphians have been having. Above was created for the 2011 Winter cover of GreenPrints gardening magazine. I added a few more embellishements for my own amusement so it varies a bit from the original image. It's tough to come up with a concept for gardening during a season when next to nothing grows. When the end of winter comes around I get antsy and start fantasizing about what is going to adorn my window boxes, flower pots and herb beds. I decided to take this base concept and run with it....and add lace of course.

R is for Redneck Bear

2012-01-05T13:27:00.002-05:00

Thanks to all who took the time to vote for me on (no name) art group's site. I was fortunate enough to take first place and will be receiving funds to assist in my trip to Kansas City's Spectrum Live. Thank you again!

The above is a continuation of my alphabet series which I started many months ago. My new year's resolution is to finish the series by the end of this year. We'll see if I can keep true to it. Declaring this goal publically out there in cyberspace may be the drive I need.

Anyway, this little guy is a WIP of a redneck bear. You have Pat at GreenPrints magazine to thank for this idea!

2011-12-27T20:22:00.004-05:00

Vote Here!

Tomorrow, December 28th, is the last day to vote for the No Name Art Group Grant. Take a minute and hop on by. It won't take long at all, I promise. You'll see that the image above is a bit different than my original entry. Comment if you like one better than the other.

Thanks!

NoName Art Group Grant Competition

2011-12-05T14:47:00.001-05:00

(No Name) Art Group Grant Competition

Click Here to Vote!

(No Name) Art Group Wine Labels from October's fundraiser for Philabundance.

(No Name) Art Group has been mentioned before but it is well worth mentioning again. This is an organization that was put together by designer/artist extrodinare, Sherry Berger. Sherry puts a lot of time and effort in helping those who are most unfortunate. She has traveled the world to assist in building orphanages in Africa to raising awareness in her own backyard for Philabundance. She pulls from local artists willing to give some time and skill to help her raise money for those who need it most.

Currently she is sponsoring a grant for some of those artists. There are currently six of us up for the grant however a little more money is needed to satisfy the grant requirement. If you have an extra minute and extra $10 stop on by and chip in.

If you don't have the $10 but have the minute stop on by anyway and place a vote. Although I want you to click my name...please click who you really want to win.

In addition, if you do come into some money No Name Art Group is always accepting donations as well as selling beautiful artworks from local artists. Check out this link for more information on buying and donating.

Thanks for your time and please vote.

Whoopie Pies and Illuxcon

2011-11-27T22:21:00.001-05:00

Acrylic on Masonite

Illuxcon was a great experience. It was my first time exhibiting at a convention and I received very positive feedback. I sold a few original drawings which was a plus and I got to reconnect with some amazing fellow artists as well as meet a few new people. A wonderful time to say the least. I have some "scores" from some fellow artists but my studio is in disarray and I must post those finds at a later time.

The above piece has nothing to do with Illuxcon but I thought I'd post it anyway. I have some new pieces to share but I want to take another few hours to tweak them so they're perfect. Unfortunately, those few hours are really hard to come by. Instead I am showing you a demo I did for one of my many classes. This is a 15 minute study in acrylics. You'll see by the upper left hand corner that there is a little crackling. My study gladly became the guinea pig for a student's crackle medium experiment.

Illuxcon 2011

2011-10-31T17:47:00.000-04:00

My Illuxcon Showcase Sign

This weekend the Willshire's will be hosting Illuxcon4 in Altoona PA. The event has workshops, demos, traditional art, digital art and so much more. I'm excited to be part of the showcase this year. It will be my first time taking part in a convention. I will be underprepared and overwhelmed but that's what it's about. Learning as you go!

Grandma's Story

2011-10-06T19:42:00.001-04:00

I know. I haven't been updating my blog. A lot has been going on and once I have time I'll fill you in. But for now here are some interiors I just finished up for GreenPrints mag. All in Corel Painter with the exception of the last drawing which is a plain old graphite comp.

Spider!

2011-09-12T06:00:00.001-04:00

I was always terrified of spiders.

When I was a kid my uncle owned a tarantula. My dad and his siblings thought it would be funny to pass around the molted skin of that tarantula in order to scare the daylights out of all the kids. So one day I walk to the sink to get some water and I see this thing sitting by the drain. That didn't help me get over my fear.

Parents can be so cruel.

That story has nothing to do with this painting. I just wanted to share some of my trials and tribulations of childhood with you. This is a cropped version of a wine label I created for No Name Art Group's charity drive for Philabundance. I used reference of a grape for the body and branches for the legs. Can you see it?

S is for Spider

2011-08-27T17:48:00.005-04:00

It's been a long time since I have done a drawing for my alphabet series. This is based off of the idea of organic gardening. We visited Ravenswood winery a few years ago and they told us that instead of using pesticides they introduce bugs, birds and other animals to assist in protecting the harvest. Spiders are just one of the beneficial residents of a vineyard.

If I take this to color I plan on rendering the body as a dusty looking black grape.

Watercolor Pencils

2011-08-22T15:04:00.004-04:00

Watercolor Pencil

We were visiting Dom's parents farm in the mountains of New Jersey and I saw these cool funky flowers. It gave me an excuse to try out a watercolor pencil that was given to me. They are pretty awesome. I'm looking forward to working on them some more.

Goddess Aurora

2011-08-15T10:22:00.005-04:00

The Goddess Aurora

This is a project I just finished up for "Blue Moon Aurora". The instructions were to make the goddess Aurora pointing toward an overgrown cave/tree structure with her rainbow scimitar. The knight is holding a torch and entering the cave with trepidation but gaining strength from the goddess. There were some requirements with her coloring and attire as well.

I imagined this scene very vibrant and colorful. With her red hair, blue twilight and rainbow scimitar it chanced being too vibrant. I was afraid with all the color the viewer's eyes would be bouncing around and not landing on anything in particular. I researched a piece by Arthur Rackham that was soft in color while depicting a rainbow. I used that painting as a palette based inspiration to direct the viewer's eyes to the knight while trying to keep true to the goddess's illuminating presence.

I believe the book will be out as a pdf and then hard copy at some point soon so keep your eyes peeled.

Jamie of the Jungle and Big Cat Rescue

2011-08-10T09:00:00.000-04:00

Jamie of the Jungle

This was a private commission I finished in July. I was contacted by the owner of Big Cat Rescue to illustrate a fantasy portrait of her daughter. It was a dream job involving a beautiful young woman, wild cats and a whole lot of creative freedom. The client gave me a lot of information and photos to use as inspiration and reference. The main goal was to create a fantasy portrait of Jamie accompanied by icons of her life. She is surrounded by wild cats that she has rescued, nursed and raised, orchids which she grows in her backyard and a swan staff which is her totem animal.

If you like wild cats, rescue stories and wine visit their site.....they now have bottles of wine for sale!

Lily Study

2011-08-08T09:00:00.001-04:00

I had a crazy summer and am only now getting back onto my blog. My schedule is still filled but I at least have a few weeks of catch up before the fall starts. This is a study of lilies for a GreenPrints piece I did.

Phillustration! 2011

2011-07-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

From left to right: Dave Palumbo, Christina Hess, Eric Braddock

Phillustration was a great time this year and it was a pleasure to talk to some fantastic illustrators! It was a mixture of seasoned professionals to fresh graduates entering the field and I had the great opportunity to speak with a lot of folks. If you haven't gotten a chance to walk this gallery make sure to stop by before July 17. You can see originals by Charles Santore, Joe Devito, Julie Bell, Boris Vallejo, Matt Stewart, Dominick Saponaro, Dave Palumbo who was this year's juror and so many more.

In addition to the fun, my Cat Queen was awarded first place in the self promo category!

Phillustration is located in center city Philadelphia at the Sketch Club on Camac Street between Locust and Spruce. Thanks to Rich Harrington for making it all happen.

Teaser - Details

2011-06-29T13:33:00.007-04:00

Serval Detail

Swan Staff Detail

Orchid Detail

These are some details of a painting I am working on. It's almost complete. After it is sent off to the client I'll post the full image for your review. I'll talk a bit about my process as well.

King of Diamonds

2011-06-13T13:00:00.004-04:00

Graphite

I working on several deadlines right now but wanted to take a few hours to hash out something that has been in my mind. I wanted to create a spin off of my previous cat piece. I used Jennifer Oliver's Maine Coon cat, Oberon, for the subject. There is a lot that has to be worked out but it's a beginning. I'll revisit it again when I have more time. Until then I have some serious painting to do!

Phillustration-Call for Entries!

2011-06-08T11:13:00.005-04:00

Every year the Philadelphia Sketch Club hosts a competition of illustration. This is the fourth year running. This is also the first year that their registration is online. Those who do not live in the Philly area need not worry....you can participate as well! Just check the prospectus out at phillustration2011.blogspot.com/for details.

This year's juror is Dave Palumbo. Deadline for registration is June 12 midnight. 1,2 or 3 pieces for the flat fee of $35.00.

Good and Evil - Weekly Theme No. 6

2011-06-03T15:33:00.003-04:00

I always wanted to paint a really cool jacket similar to Jamie Wyeth's "Lighthouse". I could get all crazy ornamental on it. I feel this crop and comp has been done a thousand times by everyone but I still want to do it.

Drawn Today Blog

2011-06-03T09:07:00.005-04:00

Steve Anderson - Entry on Drawn Today

Drawn Today is a blog that was started by IMC alumni. I am fortunate enough to be part of this community. The group offers critiques, weekly sketch themes, networking as well as podcasts about the industry. Recently I took part in my first podcast with a Mark Harchar, Marc Scheff and special guest Cynthia Sheppard. For a listen go to the blog and subscribe to the show.

In addition, Drawn Today just put up a page on facebook letting the world know when new podcasts come out. Also, you can vote on what you might want to hear more of. So stop on by our page. You can like us by visiting the blog and clicking on the right hand like button.

Fold Study - John William Godward

2011-06-01T17:55:00.003-04:00

John William Godward is a source of great inspiration for me. This is an unfinished study I did in about 45 minutes to understand the way he painted folds. I am currently working on a commission that has similar folds and color scheme and I found it extremely helpful to practice from a master before tackling it myself. This was done in Corel Painter with a Wacom Intuos 4.

Sphinx Character Design

2011-05-24T08:00:00.001-04:00

Meet Zaphe. She's a sphinx I created for Blue Moon Aurora. I really enjoyed this project. It was fun working with the wings. I also enjoyed the black and gold requested palette.

Rock and a Hard Place

2011-05-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Small little drawing I did for Drawn Today's Weekly Theme. It measures a super tiny 3.5" x 4".

Dinosaur

2011-05-22T16:04:00.004-04:00

This was a weekly sketch done for Drawn Today. I had a whole lot of fun with this guy. In the future I may try to explore drawing dinosaurs.

Lightbulb Plant

2011-05-08T17:36:00.001-04:00

This is a lightbulb plant.

Commission WIP

2011-05-05T20:59:00.004-04:00

This is for a private commission. I'm still working some things out. Long story short. Strong, independent woman. One with the wild cats. Savior of stranded young cats. Swan is her totem animal.

Character Design

2011-05-02T15:26:00.005-04:00

This is a character design I created for Blue Moon Aurora, LLC. This was a fun project to work on and a pretty cool gaming company. I enjoyed working in the gold and red color palette along with the spin of natural elements. And of course...sparkly glowey things.

Greenhouse Effect

2011-05-01T19:21:00.005-04:00

I am a member of Drawn Today and we decided to institute an optional weekly sketch theme. I volunteered to organize it with Mark Harchar. Every Monday I'll pick a submitted topic from a jar. This is the first drawing I created for the first theme which was "The Greenhouse Effect".

If you visit Drawn Today you'll see some great interpretations of the theme!

The members podcast as well which I highly recommend checking out!

Serval Study

2011-04-30T21:52:00.002-04:00

This is a study of a serval which is an African wild cat. I am working on a private commission that deals with several wild cats and a beautiful lady. I have just started the sketching process and will be creating many studies of the cats as well as some other elements including a staff with a totem twist.

This is a really great project and I have been anxious to start it! I'll be posting the bits and pieces of process as I go. The deadline is in early/mid summer.

Spectrum 18

2011-04-28T11:01:00.003-04:00

Late last week I received a letter in the mail with congratulations on my inclusion in Spectrum 18. This is my first acceptance into Spectrum Annual and I am very excited. Above is the accepted full piece with details underneath. Thank you to the Fenners and the Spectrum judges!

Ode to Students

2011-04-25T16:56:00.006-04:00

I want to take a break from my work and pay homage to some of my students, past and present.

Once in awhile I receive little gems of appreciation that rejuvenates my inspiration as both an illustrator and instructor. These are completely unnecessary but greatly appreciated, especially because I am fully aware of the insane schedules these students have. The fact that they take the time to create something out of want rather than obligation is heartwarming to say the least.

So I decided to feature a few of these small tokens that I hang in my studio.

Left to Right: Trish Oniskey, Amber Davis. Moore College of Art and Design.

Me and my dog. You know what they say about owners looking like their dogs. Uncanny.

Left to Right: Sam Cox, Laura Bushinski. Moore College of Art and Design.

Maybe I was a basset hound in my past life...it's the hair/ears.

Audrey Fatula. University of the Arts.

Audrey created this beautiful little wallet. Hand crafted and sewed. It's almost too beautiful to use!

A big thank you to my students and the fresh inspiration they bring.

Birds

2011-04-10T19:06:00.003-04:00

Black and White Interior for GreenPrints Magazine

I have been neglecting my blog due to some crazy deadlines. Bad blogger. Bad.

Anyway, this is one piece I just finished up as part of a quick deadline. I just finished several interior black and whites for GreenPrints magazine. This one was for a story of a papa bluebird taking over feeding his only offspring after the poisoning of mom and babies.

I would also like to take this opportunity to mention some terrific news. I have been selected for Spectrum 18 and am really excited! I'm not sure what piece got in yet but I will post when I find out.

Some really great assignments are coming up and plan to post some studies and sketches so stay tuned!

Memory Portrait

2011-03-19T19:01:00.004-04:00

So this is it. I'm calling it quits. I could go in and rework some of the areas but it's time to move on. I had a lot of fun with this and opened up a new color palette to my portfolio which was needed. The first image is the cropped version that she will be receiving at 9x12 which is the requested dimension. I have yet to decide which one I want to put into my portfolio.

Now.....arrowheads and wild cats.

Springtime for Illustrators

2011-03-15T16:02:00.004-04:00

Once January disappears all sorts of things happen. Snow melts, birds chirp and illustrators start to come out of the studio and pop up in venues all around.

Matthew Stewart

This spring I had the great fortune of having Matt Stewart visit the illustration department at Moore. My students and co-workers were elated to have him there and his presentation was truly inspiring. Among original oils he also brought in sketches and showed his process. He was a great inspiration to listen to and a super nice guy too!

Joe DeVito

Joe DeVito will be speaking in Doyelstown. He is an amazing person with a rich history in the industry. Among his numerous accomplishments you may know his illustration of Superman and Lois as Spectrum's logo. Oh, and he had a monster marathon party at Harryhausen's for cryling out loud! The man is insane awesome. Thanks to Glenn Zimmer for putting this together.

Gallery Provocateur

Among lectures and visits there are also gallery shows featuring stellar work. Gallery Provocateur in Chicago is featuring a collection of illustrators inspired by Frank Frazetta. Dominick Saponaro and some of the Drawn Today gang are involved. You may notice Dom's piece in this collection...wink, wink.

Since I'm on a roll........The University of the Arts in Philly will be showing Leo and Diane Dillon's work for a few months. You can check out the exact dates by visiting uarts.edu.

I will be traveling to the Society of Illustrators this week to see the Advertising and Institutional show as well. The fun never stops.

Memory Portrait WIP - Details

2011-03-10T12:26:00.003-05:00

I'm still working on this portrait but I haven't posted in awhile so I thought I'd throw a few details up for your viewing pleasure. These are very small areas of the illustration. I'm having a whole lot of fun with these decorative elements!

Memory Portrait WIP Color 2

2011-02-22T11:25:00.003-05:00

It snowed again and I'm waiting for my class to arrive so I thought I'd post an in progress of my memory portrait. Lots more to do...

Oil Study - Valentine Cupcake

2011-02-18T11:03:00.003-05:00

6x6 Oil on Board

This was an oil painting demo. It's a mini Valentine cupcake painted in oils on 6"x6" board.

Memory Portrait WIP

2011-02-13T14:43:00.002-05:00

Detail

This is the Memory Portrait in progress. Still have a ton of work to do but it's moving in the right direction. This week I have to shoot reference of a model to get some interesting lighting. The image I have of the child is good but the lighting is somewhat flat. I need some more definition of value.

I have a student who I am mentoring during this project and she has volunteered to pose for the shoot. It's kind of ironic because she has the same shape face as this little lovely girl! Alright.....time to get to work!

Memory Portrait

2011-02-04T16:15:00.003-05:00

This is a sketch for a memory portrait project. A memory portrait is a portrait created for an orphan or foster child. The purpose is that they can have something they call their own as the move around.

This is a scanned pencil drawing. I will continue to work out some of the decorative elements in Photoshop and then start painting out the illustration in Corel.

It's egg month 2011!

2011-01-28T14:44:00.005-05:00

Under-paintings

Every spring semester I teach an oil painting class for sophomore illustration majors and I introduce several techniques using an egg as the subject. The egg offers a simple breakdown of value offering a clear and concise mapping of the different lights and shadows.

They poke one hole in the top and bottom of the egg and blow out the contents (gross) and then they have an egg to work with for several weeks. They use different lighting effects as well as oil painting techniques. Underpainting in acrylics and over painting in oils, wipe outs, mounted drawings with overpainted color, glazing and scumbling and much more.

It's a challenge but it's a great build up to the trompe l'oeil project. It's gotten fun for me to do and now I have a serious collection of eggs!

L is for Luna Bird

2011-01-17T21:56:00.003-05:00

Graphite on hot pressed watercolor paper. If I take this to final color I would make the orb glow and look all misty. But for now it's just a sketch.

Last of the Dingbats

2011-01-17T17:43:00.004-05:00

These are some more dingbats I did in Illustrator. They lie beneath the title separating it from the body text. These are derived from portions of the stories.

Dingbat 2

2011-01-16T12:53:00.003-05:00

Here are some past dingbats I did for GreenPrints. They were done in Adobe Illustrator. I chose to use Illustrator because I can work really fast in that program (I've been teaching it for 10 years) and it has super crisp output. These guys were printed about the size of my thumbnail so clarity was really important.

I have done pencils and Painter for dingbats in the past but they usually didn't work out. It's easy too caught up in gradations and values and more time was spent rendering something that didn't show up or show up poorly.

Sketches and Dingbats

2011-01-14T15:59:00.004-05:00

This is a page from my sketch book that shows a small study of decorative patterns. I found that some of these worked for my dingbat assignments. Dingbats are small decorative symbols used in publishing. Most of the time you will see dingbats accompanying type. They are used to fill up dead space and liven up the article or story by giving a interesting visual for the reader's eye to land on for a split second.

I also have found that these studies help me add decorative additions to some of my final illustrations.

Drop Caps Drawings

2011-01-07T15:19:00.003-05:00

These are some drop caps I drew up for an interior article. Just pencil. I wanted to feature the texture of tweed within the letters. Tweed is a big part of the story.

Last Summer

2011-01-06T22:39:00.002-05:00

Oil on Panel

I kept meaning to post these but they ended up on the back burner. In August Dominick and I were very fortunate to visit our friends Will and Shelly in Colorado. They took us sight seeing in the rocky's and we drove north to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park. It was a wonderful trip hiking and being engulfed in nature.

We wanted to fit as much sight seeing in as possible so Dom and I didn't paint that much. This is the only one I didn't wipe off my board. It is a view of the Tetons which was painted in a small alcove off a hiking trail. The sketch was a little flower we saw in Colorado right before encountering a moose.....which was my biggest find!

Cat Queen

2011-01-02T14:21:00.002-05:00

Cat Queen

And so it is put to rest. I finished the never ending project in time for the new year. Open deadlines are a pure nightmare for me to work with. I work much better under pressure. I will say that I did take advantage of the time and explored a lot of techniques I wanted to work with before but couldn't find time to do.

This became a pivotal piece for me. I'm happy. The client is happy. And now it's time to move on to a follow up piece. Decisions, decisions.

End of the Year Clean Up

2010-12-30T22:18:00.001-05:00

Watercolor on Bristol

It's amazing how teaching at three different colleges can put me in a tail spin during the span of one semester. Once I finish with a lesson I dump the bag filled with whatever material I was using in my studio until I can find time to clean it out. Well, I just did one of five totes tonight and found this watercolor study. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to finish it. I would like to say that I'll work on the chipmunk and spider but in all honesty that probably won't happen. Watercolors are fun but by no means are they my forte.

This will end up in my file of misfits. Unloved and unfinished. But I at least grabbed one swatch to use in a pattern repeat for your viewing pleasure.

Happy new year to all and may you find organization and cleanliness in your studio.

Watercolor Letters

2010-12-26T22:50:00.002-05:00

Watercolor on Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

I rarely work in watercolor but I decided to play around a little bit with some old letter drawings. They measure a whopping 2.5 inches.

The Holidays

2010-12-20T16:54:00.005-05:00

The end of fall semester wrapped up this past Friday and my list of duties for Christmas break has grown enormously in the last month. I must say that some of the projects I will be working on are very exciting and I am looking forward to the process as well as the results.

In addition to GreenPrints interiors, a memory portrait, self promotion and learning a new program (yikes) I will be designing a small book on last year's "Krampus Challenge" for Jon Schindehette's ArtOrder blog.

For those illustrators who are not aware of ArtOrder I highly suggest you check it out. It's an insight into the world of an art director. Jon offers great advice for illustrators and introduces illustration challenges. It has become a great community to be part of.

The image above is the holiday card I designed for Dominick and I. We only had a few prints to send out and just dropped them in the mail today. I wish everyone a wonderful holiday and a whole lot of snow to play in!

5 Days on Ebay

2010-12-06T18:20:00.005-05:00

Click here for store

I'm cleaning out my studio and am putting up an ebay store for 5 days of bidding. All small oils going for under $100. Go ahead....get a present for your mom.

Cat Queen WIP

2010-11-30T12:24:00.003-05:00

Detail of commission for a cat in Queen Elizabeth dress. Working on it. Almost finished.

Black Friday Sale

2010-11-26T12:25:00.005-05:00

Set of four pendants with silver chain for $25.00

Set of two Gerber Daisy pendants with silver chain for $15.00

I just updated my etsy shop to include some pendants and chains featuring my artwork. In addition to some glass jewelry I also have some new prints and small oils for sale including a framed print of "White Sangria".

For a SUPER discount you can plug in HESSBLOG1 for 25% off of any and all orders. This will only last until 11:59PM Cyber Monday. A special discount for my special readers!

Happy Shopping!

Patterns and Stuff

2010-11-08T20:14:00.004-05:00

I'm slowly branching out my portfolio to include pattern and ornamental illustrations/designs to target the licensing industry. This is only a very small beginning. These patterns were based off of my previous post on the "White Sangria" wine label. I created the blue bird afterwards but thought it fit the theme.

B is for Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

2010-10-20T14:00:00.004-04:00

This is part of my alphabet series. An ode to "The Office".

"Return to Happiness"

2010-10-18T17:32:00.005-04:00

I have been super crazy busy this past month so I haven't been able to post. The good news is that I have a lot of content just very little time to showcase it!

GreenPrints hired me to create several illustrations for the upcoming winter issue. This one is a black and white interior for a love story entitled "Return to Happiness".

IMC New Year!

2010-10-06T19:56:00.008-04:00

Rebecca just posted the new registration for IMC 2011. In addition she showcased some of the student work from this past summer. Above is a small extraction from the fantastic selection of artists. The themes you see illustrated are "Beauty and the Beast" and "Joan of Arc".

Left to Right....

Now I Remember...

2010-09-14T18:52:00.005-04:00

Pattern for WIP commission

Corel Painter and Photoshop

Copy. Paste. Rotate. Select. Group.

I am a big advocate of illustrating in oils but if I had to paint this traditionally I would have thrown myself out the window. Thank you computer.

Wine Label for Philabundance

2010-09-03T16:20:00.003-04:00

"White Sangria"

Corel Painter and Photoshop

This is a label created for Sherry Berger who runs the "No-Name Art Group". Sherry sends out a call for entries for local painters, designers, illustrators, craftsman and many other disciplines every year or so for charity events. In the past she has traveled to VietNam, Africa and South America to help in orphanages and community projects. After her return to the states she then organizes charity events dedicating all proceeds to the groups she took precious time to help.

This year she's keeping it local and all the money is being donated to Philadelphia's own Philabundance. This year's theme was wine, one of my favorite things!

If you like art, wine and friendly faces I highly recommend attending the opening on Saturday November 6 at the B Square Gallery. Click here for all the info...

Thank you Sherry and Philabundance for all of your generosity and selflessness!

Flower 1

2010-08-23T12:44:00.007-04:00

Fall classes are about to start and I thought it would be a good idea to post some in progress works before the flurry of faculty meetings and syllabi touch ups hit me. After the first week I usually have a little over a month before I go MIA. So in light of my slow building of yet another new portfolio.......I now unleash my flower. This guy will be part of a collection to pitch to the licensing industry. As for now...he's just a lonely gerber daisy. His girlfriend is red and is 75% done. This was done in Corel Painter.

In addition to these types of illustrations I am also in the process of painting a commission of a cat dressed as Queen Elizabeth I. That is the mental image I choose to leave you with today;)

Butterfly and Branch

2010-08-09T15:44:00.004-04:00

Graphite on Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

Click here to Buy

Inspired by the extremely cool dead wood in Yellowstone and the Rockies I decided to do a little drawing to pay homage to the beauty of gnarled wood sculpted by time and nature.

Ferns and Lilies

2010-08-07T14:29:00.003-04:00

Graphite on Hot Pressed Watercolor

Click here to buy

This is a little guy measuring about 4 1/2" square.

D is for Dunce

2010-08-06T12:51:00.003-04:00

D is for Dunce. It started as another idea involving a lightbulb...then into a girl with a beehive hairdo....then a girl with a dunce hat.....then a ramped up dunce hat.

O is for Octopus...Sleepy Octopus

2010-08-05T20:39:00.007-04:00

The alphabet series is back! I started this last year and went on a serious hiatus with it. I figure I can get a few more in before the craziness that is Autumn hits.

This is a sketch I was working on before I vacationed. It's a sleepy octopus. And it has 9 tentacles so it was born abnormal. So be it.

Autumn Cover

2010-08-02T17:54:00.006-04:00

This is a cover illustration for GreenPrints Autumn 2010 issue.

I just got back from a terrific vacation in Colorado and Wyoming. While trying to get out of campfire and hiking mode I'm recharging and planning my August schedule. There may be some wildlife posts so stay tuned!

Drop Caps Autumn

2010-07-13T13:49:00.003-04:00

These are some drop caps I just finished for a job. They will be printed in black and white but I wanted to create them in color for my own amusement. The story starts out pleasant, moves into sadness and then ends on a happy flourishing note. I made sure to correspond the letters with the part of the story. I being the beginning, A the end and J & T in the middle.

Mini Tree Study

2010-07-06T22:04:00.004-04:00

Oil on Illustration Board

I did this awhile back on a plein air excursion with my PCAD students. It was a really quick study. I had fun with it but I was only using a four color palette and it felt limited to me. Normally I like that challenge but I was getting frustrated with it.

In a few weeks we will be in Colorado. We will be doing some plein air painting with Will Spear who graduated with us from Uarts. His paintings are amazing and I'm looking forward to setting up shop a few times in Yellowstone and possibly the Tetons!

His wife Shelly is extremely knowledgeable on the plants and flowers in the area so I may be picking her brain for names. If I don't get too carried away with all the hiking and sight seeing I may be able to create a good sketch book from this trip. We'll see....I will at least come back with a great farmers tan!

Surtex 2010

2010-06-28T21:15:00.000-04:00

Cindy Ann setting up her booth.

Side angle

Product corner...birdhouses!

In May Dominick and I traveled north to New York to assist our good friend Cindy Ann Ganaden set up her booth for the Surtex licensing show. While there, I planned to do some research in the market. Licensing is an area of illustration that I never really looked at. It is a very lucrative market and has a diverse amount of artwork that can be used on products from paper plates to curtains. This was a convention for artists to show their designs to companies who produce products. So think Target. A large portion of the art you see on gift, bath, bedding, baby products comes from freelance artists.

Cindy flew in from Oakland and carted all her materials with her. Printouts to wall fabric she decked out the booth with flip flops, binders and mobiles. To my surprise we were located catty corner to Megan Halsey. It was quite a wonderful experience and a great avenue of illustration to pursue.

Cindy recently contacted me to fill me in on some of the contacts she made and jobs she got. It seems like it was well worth the travel and I wish her the best of luck with the rest of the year. Although, I don't think she'll need it!

IMC 2010 Final

2010-06-24T13:00:00.005-04:00

Joan of Arc

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This is the final for Joan of Arc created for IMC. Rebecca Guay runs the IMC and is submitting entries to Imagine FX for possible publication. Ten pieces will be chosen by the Imagine FX staff as to what will appear in the next issue. In a group of over 80 students and awesome work it's gonna be a tough call for judging!

Phillustrtion 2010!!

2010-06-23T23:19:00.004-04:00

Illustration by Dominick and Design by Dominick and myself.

An overview of the front wall. That's Rich in the left corner.

Dom judging. This photo was taken by our good friend and fellow illustrator Glenn Zimmer. Thanks Glenn!

This is one of the interns at the Sketch Club and a participant of the show. Alicia Padron is also one of my students at Moore.

I am really behind in posts so please forgive me. These are some pics of the Phillustration Show drop off in May. Phillustration is held at the Philadelphia Sketch Club every year. It was started three years ago by Rich Harrington who is a colleague of mine in academia. Dominick won best of show the first year so he was asked to come back as a juror this time around. I was fortunate enough to be able to tag along and watch the progress of judging. Above are some photos of the process and the pre-set up. The show has been extended to July 16th so if your in Philly stop on by. You can get the Sketch Club's info here.

There are some really unbelievable pieces in this show. Some of the participants are Julie Bell, Boris Vallejo, Dave Palumbo, Matt Stewart and Eric Braddock. There are so many more terrific artists here so take advantage of the extended time slot!!

IMC Progress

2010-06-16T02:02:00.003-04:00

This is my progress at IMC. It's the end of the 4th day (2am) and I'm beat. Many things to do and lectures to hear. I changed quite a bit to benefit the piece thanks to the crits of Greg, Julie, Boris, Scott, Irene and Dan. I did not intentionally eliminate some of the elements from my sketch....I just didn't get to them yet. Ready to sleep!

IMC Joan Value Comp

2010-06-10T00:35:00.003-04:00

Here is my value comp for Joan of Arc. Tomorrow I will be packing, cleaning, prepping for the dog sitter and running errands so this is pretty much it until my crit. I need to fill in the pattern on her skirt and the crosses on the sword but I figured I'd wait until my application of color.

On Saturday I get input from the big guys at IMC. I'll let you know who I have as my 2 critique instructors and what they recommend. Until then......

IMC 2010 - Line Drawing

2010-06-08T16:40:00.003-04:00

This is my line drawing for IMC. I am going to be starting the value comp shortly. I'll post the progress and suggested changes in the upcoming week.

IMC 2010 - Gearing Up

2010-06-03T16:33:00.003-04:00

IMC is coming up next Friday! I'm very excited and a bit stressed. I have a lot to do before then including my sketch! This is my fantastical rendition of Joan of Arc. It's just a thumbnail so I will be shooting reference and drawing it out next week.

I'll update on the progress and the shenanigans at IMC! I'm looking forward to being encompassed in a studio of over 75 illustrators working until 3am and starting the day over again at 8am. It's an intense time but well worth the lack of zzzzz's. Dom and I will also be reconnecting with some folks from last year's IMC and members of Drawn Today's blog and podcast.

Drawing update next week. Stay tuned.

Urania

2010-05-31T19:25:00.005-04:00

Urania

This is the final for Urania. I made several changes from the original sketch for simplicity's sake. Next step is to start my sketches for IMC. It's almost here and I need to get moving so I probably won't be posting for a little while. I do have so much to talk about so stay tuned. Some things on the summer blog agenda are Surtex, Graduating Seniors, IMC, Art Order, DVS, Colorado plein aire, Etsy new arrivals and much much more!

Muse Challenge

2010-05-03T22:03:00.004-04:00

Graphite on Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

This is the preliminary for ArtOrder's Muse Challenge. Jon Schindehette is an art director for Wizards of the Coast and runs some pretty fantastic challenges that are a great way to build a portfolio. Click here to check out the specifics.

There are nine muses in greek mythology and I chose to illustrate Urania who is the muse of astrology. She is often depicted looking up at the heavens holding a globe in her left hand and a staff in the other. I was working with taken reference of Veronika, a professional model, so I chose an image showing the direct look at the viewer for a more captivating immediacy. The deadline is June 1...so...here it goes!

Shoo-Fly Pie

2010-04-29T21:30:00.004-04:00

Another Etsy Treasury featuring the theme Shoo Fly Pie. Deeelish.

Color Themed Free Advertising

2010-04-26T23:22:00.004-04:00

As a seller on Etsy.com once in awhile I will get an email informing me of a treasury featuring my artwork. A treasury is a page put together by a member of the Etsy community featuring a link between several pieces of art. Sometimes it's a meaningful theme and other times is simply by color. This time my avocado painting has been featured. It's a great way to stay involved with an artistic online community as well as utilize for promotion. The link is only active for seven days so you have to act fast to spread the word.

Color Study Follow Up

2010-04-22T11:02:00.006-04:00

Watercolor and Oil Glaze on Canson Watercolor paper

For the last week I have been discussing thematic palettes and atmospheric perspective in my classes. I assigned a project where the students have to find one landscape photo that demonstrates clear atmospheric perspective. They then will create three different color schemes for the one landscape. Nathan Fowkes has a wonderful post on his blog showing the many thematic color renditions of the view out his office window. This above photo shows the final version of my three color scheme demos. View the previous post for the earlier palettes.

This painting was done with walnut oil rather than liquin or galkyd so it is still very wet. I took a pic with my iphone and will update a better image when it dries and I can scan it.

Color Studies

2010-04-12T21:09:00.004-04:00

Oil on Illustration Board

Oil on Watercolor Paper

This was a quick class demo on painting the same scene with different color palettes. These are bastardized versions of the beautiful Yosemite park. The original pic is a mixture of bright and soft blues.

Eye, Aye, Yi

2010-04-05T21:14:00.003-04:00

Oil on Illustration board

This was a demo I did in oils. I wanted my students to work with oils in an anatomical study concentrating on hard and soft edges. I often see eyes painted and drawn flat, losing the roundness of the orb of the eyeball. This single study allowed them time to create and understand the structure.

Happy Egg Day

2010-04-04T19:59:00.004-04:00

I'd like to wish everyone a happy egg day. These photos are of an egg that one of my Moore students, Elise Anzini, was gracious enough to give to me. It must have been all of the egg studies I made her do....it was brainwash!

This is a real egg that has been hollowed out. She then used a batik method by adding hot wax in a design and then dipping the egg into dye. After the egg had been pretty much covered in dye and wax she then baked it.

Thank you, Elise. And also thank you to the mystery person who gifted me a Klimpt tea canister as seen in the background of the first pic. Nimble students, huh?!

Loomis Study #3

2010-03-30T17:53:00.000-04:00

Copy of Andrew Loomis Portrait Study

The third Loomis study. Again, just looking at colors. Her eye kind of got messed up in the process. Just a bit....flat.

Loomis Study #2

2010-03-27T16:07:00.000-04:00

Copy of Andrew Loomis Portrait Study

Here's another Loomis study. The original painting that he did has a completely different color palette. I wanted to play around with greens and reds so I decided to use his as a guide to lighting and temperature changes.

Cherry in That Cookie

2010-03-23T12:00:00.000-04:00

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Oil on Illustration Board

I'll be back with some more Loomis studies but for now here's a cookie for you to look at.

Andrew Loomis Portrait Studies

2010-03-15T11:55:00.000-04:00

Copy of Andrew Loomis Portrait Study

4" x 2"

I have some more small paintings to post but I first would like to spend some time on portrait studies. It is important to constantly study how different painters handle color, value and shape handling. James Gurney mentions in his amazingly informative blog the necessity to copy other artists to truly understand the way that artist's method. The study above is from Andrew Loomis's "Creative Illustration". He has a page of four portraits with different tones, colors, hues and the skin's effect with each palette.

I made a black and white photo copy of Loomis's four small portraits on one letter size sheet. I matt mediumed it. Then tried to copy the colors and tones he was using. This is the second one I did. I found the reflective light to be the most exciting part of the painting. Afterwards I found another image of the portraits online (the link above) and see a different color combo that has much more depth. That's what I get for using a bad color photo copy for my reference!

Blueberry Tart

2010-03-11T17:56:00.001-05:00

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Oil on Illustration Board

This was a dessert I bought from a South Philly bakery that was topped with blueberries, stuffed with pastry cream and dusted with powered sugar. The main goal was to quickly represent the temperature of the blueberries and build up the structure enough to show preliminary steps for alla prima painting.

Abandoning my normal use of a little Liquin or Galkyd I used a homemade mixture of Liquin, Turp and Linseed Oil. The washiness of it is not normally how I prefer to lay down initial paint but I thought the use of a thinner medium was a valuable lesson to impress upon the class, especially for those students who prefer a transparent representation.

The Fancy Strawberry Man

2010-03-10T17:57:00.007-05:00

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Oil on Masonite

I used this as a demo on alla prima painting desserts. It happened to be after Valentines day so the local bakery had all sorts of fancy looking strawberries. I usually go for the cannolis myself but I couldn't resist the "cuteness" of it.

Origami

2010-03-05T12:36:00.001-05:00

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Oil Paint on Cold Press Illustration Board

This was a study on angles and light. I found this origami in the prop closet and decided to give it a chance. It was pretty fun to do. I'm trying to score some more so I can play around with some more angles and patterns.

This painting is also listed in Etsy's Art>Painting gallery for today only. Check out my shop for more updates.

March Madness! It's Small Painting Month!

2010-03-02T16:46:00.003-05:00

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Oil on Masonite

So Philadelphia got over three feet of snow this winter....whatever. It just makes me appreciate the first flower of spring so much more.

Spring is also the time when I get to introduce students to oil paint. I have been working digitally for so long that going back to the basics gets me giddy. I have so much fun on the demos I do. As you saw in February I had introduced eggs as a beginning. Well now we get into other items like, paper, fabric, portraits and food. Enjoy.

Not Just a Donut....

2010-03-02T16:38:00.005-05:00

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Oil Paint on Masonite

It's not just a donut....it's a Dunkin' Donut. Toasted Coconut to be exact. This was a small alla prima demo I did. Illustrators usually have a mess of preliminary work to do from thumbnails to sketches to revisions to color comps to finals to reproduction and sometimes to design layout.

It isn't very often that we get a chance to work alla prima. It's fun to play with paint for an hour or two while studying light and form on objects. It's especially fun when you can eat it later. My favorite part of working this way is the free nature of the product. If the painting doesn't work out....who cares? It didn't take that long. Move on....

Egg Month! Ow....My eyes.

2010-02-14T20:12:00.001-05:00

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Oil on Illustration Board

What's in that paintbox? Every once in a while I will acquire a new color that I rarely use. In this case I found a tube of Cadmium Orange and decided to take out for a demo.

The magic of compliments. Adding blue to orange turned the shadows green. Using a bright saturated color keeps one in practice of the age old theory that opposites really do attract.

This will be the last of the egg paintings. Not to worry. More fun little studies to come.

Egg Month! Complimentary colors within white

2010-02-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

Oil on Illustration Board

In honor of my snow day (Philadelphia's snowiest winter in history....75 inches and more to come) today I am going to spend some time talking about white. It's clean and simple...well it's simple until you try to paint it. It does make sense after doing it a few times, like everything, it just takes practice.

It's rather easy if you don't think too much about it. White takes on the color of it's surroundings. A white egg on a purple background will have a lot of purple and a warm compliment of purple. A sunset landscape will take on the color of the sun and it's compliment. I have a few links that shows some artist's use of white. Take a gander and really look to see how they work with it. Michael Whelan Greg Manchess Andrew Wyeth

Egg Month! You Failed!

2010-02-03T20:16:00.007-05:00

Both are acrylic on gessoed water color paper

Some days are better than others. Some paintings are stronger than others. Some days I wish I would have went to veterinary school. Some call it writers block others call it a creative stint. I call it bored and antsy. At this point I painted my fair share of eggs and wanted to try a fun color. The green was working but I got bored and wanted to peek around at the students work which was coming out better than mine.

Lesson to be learned. Don't fall in love with your paintings and never expect a masterpiece from a study. Underpainting was cool. Overpainting....not so much. Failed.

Egg Month! Warning: This is not an egg

2010-02-03T20:11:00.002-05:00

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Oil on Masonite

This was a quick demo on reflective surfaces and glazing. After drying I coated it with galkyd. Alot of times when painting in oils the paint dries dull. Varnishing will bring life back into the colors.

Egg Month! Light Source and Illumination

2010-02-03T20:08:00.004-05:00

Oil on Masonite

Using a light source is detrimental to a painting. Having a specific light evident can create volume to the human eye. If you aim a light onto your subject you will see the highlight, mid-tones and shadows more clearly. If the subject is white or light against a dark background it is possible to achieve a glowing illumination. This illumination will also expose the temperature which stimulates the eye and tricks it into seeing a two dimensional object as a three dimensional object.

Some examples of this technique outside the egg are as follows.... Michael Deas's - Paramount Mark Ryden's - Ghost Girl Kinuko Craft's - Scent of Magic Donato Giancola's - Lady of Shalott

Egg Month! Underpainting and Overpainting

2010-02-03T20:06:00.007-05:00

Acrylic Underpainting (Bottom)

Oil Overpainting (Top) on Illustration Board

Question: Why do an underpainting if I'm going to cover it with color anyway?

Underpainting is beneficial to do for several reasons:

1. All value and drawing problems can be figured out in this monochromatic stage.

2. When overpainting you concentrate on the color and temperature not the value. To match the overpainting color squint at your underpainting and chosen color and you will see the value relationship. This I learned from the esteemed Professor McGovern at Uarts.

3. Underpainting can be done in acrylic to assist in fast deadlines.

4. Underpainting can show through to assist in color and temperature.

Under-paintings can be any color. If your key color is going to be red try a green underpainting. That green can show through in the shadows to create a complimentary temperature change. If your unsure burnt umber is always a good bet. It can take on a cool or warm tone depending on the overpainting color.

February is Egg month!!

2010-02-03T15:51:00.005-05:00

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Acrylic and Oil on Illustration board

They're incredible. They're edible. They're really great to teach smooth tone transitions and painting techniques with.

Every spring I teach a pictorial fundamental course which introduces oil paints to sophomore illustration majors. The main focuses are composition, lighting, mood, color, value and handling a paint brush. The egg offers a perfect matt finish that absorbs and bounces light while reflecting and collecting environmental colors.

This guy was sitting on a blue paper. I under-painted it in acrylic burnt umber and overpainted it in oils using scumbling and glazing.

In these small exercises I teach different gessoing techniques as well as acrylic and oil under and over painting. So this week will be dedicated to some of the egg studies and little tidbits on working with eggs.

Someday I'll do a Faberge egg. I just know it!!

U is for Underdog

2010-01-26T11:35:00.005-05:00

Graphite on Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

As a child one of my favorite cartoon characters was Underdog. He is a canine caped superhero who has a girlfriend named Polly Purebred. This is a drawing of my trusty sidekick Roscoe...attitude and all.

Q is for Q-bert

2010-01-24T18:37:00.004-05:00

Graphite on Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

He's tentacley. He's cute. He has duck feet. What else could you possibly want from a baby monster?

This was inspired by tor.com's month of Lovecraft which celebrated sci-fi/fantasy author H.P. Lovecraft's novels. Irene Gallo, art director from Tor, hosted a blog challenge for artists' renditions featuring some of Lovecrafts characters.

I wanted to name him Henry....but H was already used in my alphabet. So I named him Q-bert after one of my favorite Atari games. Ah, Atari. How I miss the simple one orange button.

The next alphabet entry will feature the infamous Roscoe P Coltrain as a model. Stay tuned.

Sketch #6 - P is for Parasite

2010-01-15T10:52:00.005-05:00

Graphite on Hot Pressed Water Color Paper

This was created for an online group I participate in. One of the members recommended "parasite" for the theme. I researched online and found a close up of a hookworm that was pretty creepy. Teeth and indents as eyes. Jordu Schell mentioned that nothing looks more alien than insects and if your creatively stuck with ideas just look through at some scary insects. Although a parasite is not an insect it most definitely looked alien.

As I was drawing this it evolved into a story in my head. I pictured him as a poor guy who can't get dates. I kept thinking of what he would put in a personal ad if he posted one. Funny where the mind goes when drawing!