H is for Hygieia

Okay....so....I think I'm going to challenge myself and create a "Visual Alphabet". Hopefully every week I'll get a letter up. I'd like to say I'm going to stick with mythology and fantasy characters but I might stray into another genre once in a while. So "H" is the first and I'll randomly pick letters here and there.

This is a child portrait of the goddess Hygieia. She was a healer and prevented the spread of disease. She was often depicted as a young woman with one snake and a bowl. The snake represents the delivery of medicine as well as a courier of spirits from the underworld.

Gustav Klimt has a spectacular rendition of Hygieia that I used for inspiration. Go ahead and google that! You know you want to.

New York Visit

Listed from left to right....Stephen Heigh, Glenn Zimmer, Rich Harrington, Walt Reed, Dominick Saponaro, Tegan Bellitta and myself.

Last week we visited the Society of Illustrators in New York during the last days of the stunningly awesome Spectrum Exhibit.  Donato Giancola was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to provide an inspirational lecture and Q&A session for the students.  It was cold and rainy but afterwards we made it to the Illustration House to drool over some more artwork.  Floating about the premises were some Berkeys, De Seve's, Rockwells, Cornwalls, Parrish, a Dr Suess, one Sendack and a stunning Flagg.  Some were color studies, some were rough drawings.  All originals ... All breathtaking.  An experience I recommend to any illustrator.

Snowflakes

This is the finished version of the previous sketch I posted. It is going to be printed as a black and white interior. The quote mentioned how mother nature crafts everything with such intricate care even down to each and every snowflake. My idea was to make the snowflake jewel like to emphasize the craft. I researched jewelry and found alot of interesting incorporation of beads and stones laced within silver, brass and gold. I tried to create a glow around the stones to soften the look and give it a fluffy snowy appearance.

Drop Caps - Final

This is a follow up to a previous post on drop caps. They will be printed in black and white at probably about 1 inch in height. Keeping the final print size in mind I tried to keep the value somewhat simple. I kept getting carried away with the detail so I had to make sure those little areas were keyed in properly. Below I have a close up of the "A". I particularly enjoyed painting the Queen Ann's Lace as well as the drippy background. Karen Appleton sites a quote from Alfred Sisley that I found appropriate for this little painting..."Every painting shows a spot with which the artist has fallen in love".

Painting Demo

This is a demo I did for my class at the University of the Arts. The class is based on the techniques of Corel Painter...a digital program that mimics traditional medium. I used an image of one of my mom's irises and painted it using the the oil brushes. No matter if you choose to paint digitally or traditionally you have to understand drawing, composition, color and value. The computer will not magically make everything beautiful which is a common misconception when considering digital work.

Snowflake

Graphite on Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

This is a piece that I am currently working on. The final will be published in black and white but I decided to paint it in a limited palette of blues. Before going to final I did make a few changes from the sketch. I felt the snowflake was too centralized so I moved the whole composition over to the right. This cut off a bit of the ribbon shape on the left but I felt it made a more interesting flow through out the composition. I drew one leg of the snowflake and after scanning I copied and rotated it to create a solid repetitive shape. Traditionally I would do this with tracing paper but photoshop makes it so much faster! I will post the final when I finish it.

Cardos and Scottish Thistles

This is a combination of two thistle flowers. One from Italy and the other from Scotland. I tried to combine the different elements of leaves and thorns from each one towards the bottom. The first is a pencil sketch (traditional) and the second is a digital painting. I am currently working on several pieces for a client so hopefully I'll have some more fun stuff to post. I have a very long week of painting ahead but plan to take a few breaks here and there to spend some quality time walking my basset hound....preferably with his new banana outfit I bought him. Hmmmm....maybe the next sketch?

Drop Caps

These are some sketches I'm doing for GreenPrints gardening magazine. They are accompanying a touching story involving a mother, daughter with leukemia and their garden. Along with these will be a key and spot. I plan to take them into Painter and work with black and white value. Right now I'm working on a bunch of sketches but I'll post the final when I finish. The deadline is coming up fast so I'll be working it!!

It's a little modern twist on Illumination which is one of my favorite genres of art history. I don't get a lot of chances to work with this style so I like to take advantage of it while I can. Off to paint!

6"x6" Collaborative

Cover for Fig Magazine

Collaboratives are fun! A few months ago PCAD sent out a call for submission. They supplied a 6"x6" stretched canvas and gave us the theme "Personalities from Lancaster". PCAD will be hanging the submissions of over 30 artists in their permanent collection. In addition, Fig Magazine will be publishing a number of these paintings in their fall edition. The image above is the cover of the up coming issue.

I always find it exciting to see the different interpretations and methods in a collaborative effort.

Personal Challenges

A colleague of mine, Stephen Heigh, has challenged himself to completely fill up a 100 page sketchbook by the beginning of the school year. Stephen started mid July and has created sketches on location as well as from reference. He starts with tonal pencil and then dry brushes with acrylic to create a sepia underpainting quality. Here are some of his excerpts.

This process of multiple studies sharpens your eye and speeds your execution. It can also become extremely therapeutical. I host two online painting groups and am now starting to believe that a "sketch off" might be introduced sometime in the next few months.

Until then....good luck finishing the sketchbook Stephen! Nine days left. No pressure.

Plein Air Excursion

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Dominick Saponaro

Last week we went to Jersey and stood in the middle of tomato fields for the afternoon to do a little plein air painting. For those who are unfamiliar with the term plein air it basically means painting on location.

I started with a grey acrylic tone over gessoed wood panel. I then drew out the composition in raw umber oil with just gamsol as a medium. Then hit with color. I used alkyd white (for fast dry time), rose madder, cad yellow, raw umber, colbalt blue and sap green. It is quite liberating to only use a handful of colors instead of my normal assortment. Next time I'll switch up the colors for a different palette.

Just Drawin'

Last night I spent over 6 hours cleaning my studio and felt inspired at 11:30pm to do a little drawing.

IMC '09 - Final

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I know....two posts in one day....weird. Anyway I wanted to get the final Illustration Master Class project up. Lady of the Lake in all her glowy glory. Tomorrow, a plein air posting. Yeah, that's right. Oils on location.

History of Design

As an illustration student I found it difficult to juggle the different disciplines assigned. Typography was a course that was mandatory and it was hard to grasp letterforms while simultaneously learning the fluidity of oils, the theory of color and the emotional responses of composition. Nancy Stock-Allen is a design professor at Moore College of Art and Design. I find her integration of typography into the illustration department intuitive and exciting. She posts a website for her students ... designhistory.org ... that goes through the history of design from illuminated manuscripts (my personal favorite) to European poster art to the basic letter forms. The site is chock full of information for artists of all mediums and styles. Check it out and get educated!

Distelfink Girl

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As you will see from my previous sketch I made a few changes such as the main circle. I already focused on double distelfinks in the hair I though it was a bit redundant to feature another one. I decided to use the Rosette hex which symbolizes good luck for each month which is represented on the outer ring of the circle. The inner rosette is an added good luck for difficult times of the year. Every symbol represents something positive...from the tulips to the oak leaves.