Mother Earth

You can see a larger version here.

I recently created an illustration for a charity event being held by (no name) Art Group here in Philly.  It is in honor of earth day and the proceeds will be going to charity:water which is a non profit that provides clean drinking water to people in developing countries.  The event will be held on April 20 at B Square Gallery in Philly.  All artwork has been printed and will be available for inserts into a reusable water bottle.  Great fun for a great cause.

For my piece I wanted to focus on Mother Nature as a figure who is nurturing with an element of attitude.  I decided to incorporate a side kick of sorts and placed an otter on her shoulder.  I wanted him to hold something significant for Earth Day and thought of a wind turbine.  But it wasn't working so I decided to transform the turbine into a 3 spoke pinwheel.  Below are some of the stages that I went through and the final product that Sherry posted on the (no name) website.

Thumbnails to hash out some basic ideas.  This batch was just for me so it's more rough than what I would show an AD.

When deciding where to put the spokes of the pinwheel I found it helpful to paint all the lines that have been created from positioning.  This allowed me to see that the lines were converging on the otter and I wanted more direction heading towards the Mother's face.  The spokes of the pinwheel helped with that.  In addition I found that at the end the otter was getting lost in comparison to Mother's face.  Enter the rose colored monocle!  I always compare creating an illustration to dancing.  A constant back and forth until it creates a consistent harmony.

After I sent off my jpg and dropped my print off to Sherry at (no name) I was tickled to see that she chose my piece to represent the event!  Learned lesson.....when in doubt add a monocle!

Spider!

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?

Wine Label for Philabundance

"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!