Distelfink Girl

This is a sketch for a current project involving personalities from Lancaster county. It will be featured in a local magazine and gallery show at PCAD along with several other artists interpretations. I've had the itch to create something with hex sign elements and snagged the opportunity to incorporate these symbols into a profile portrait. Distelfink is Pennsylvania Dutch (German) for Golden Finch. Depending on the number of them and how they are interacting the meaning behind them can vary. The basic idea is good luck and harmony. I'll be sure to post the final when finished.

Graphite on Vellum

Phillustration '09!

So in all the awesome creative chaos that was IMC09 I want to take a second to step back to a previous event that took place here in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Sketch Club held their bi-annual illustration show featuring such local talent as Joe Devito, Charles Santore, Bob Byrd, Megan Halsey, Stephen Heigh and many others. I was fortunate enough to have my "Autumn Garden" piece chosen for the front of the promotional post card. Dominick's piece "Swashbuckle Dom" graced the back as well as the flyers and awards! He also won 1st prize with a piece from his pirate series. While we were away our good friends visited the exhibit and sent us a picture of the gathering. Thanks guys!!!

A special thanks to our good friend Rich Harrington for putting together yet again another awesome show! I can't wait until the next one.

IMC '09

And we are back from Massachusetts and the 2009 Illustration Master Class. Wow!! I can't begin to tell you how awesome it was. I have pictures, sketches, information and oh yeah, a new painting! But I admit...being in the studio until 3AM with the smell of turp and oils gave me the bug to go back to traditional. I think I may print this puppy out and work over it....Oh, the possibilities! I am about 93% finished (digitally) with it but still need to go through a few more additions.

Illustration Master Class

On Sunday we will be going to Amherst Massachusetts to participate in a week long illustration intensive featuring industry celebrities such as Rebecca Guay, Greg Manchess, Boris Vallejo, Julie Bell, Dan DosSantos, Donato Giancola, Scott Fischer and Irene Gallo, art director from Tor Books. Jon Foster and Michael Wheelan will also be attending as special guests. This is a great opportunity to work in a studio environment with leaders in the industry critiquing and helping you with your work. About two months ago assignments were sent out for us to pick. We completed the sketches beforehand and will start off Monday with a crit. I chose a rendition of King Arthur's "Lady of the Lake". Above you will see my value sketch out of graphite. I scanned it in and worked the glows in photoshop and painter. I'll be sure to post my final when finished! I'm very excited!

Check it out! Illustrator Master Class

Illustration vs. Design

What becomes interesting when your in the process of learning illustration is the crossover between fine art and design. This is a sample piece I did for two of my classes. The flower portion was done in Adobe Illustrator to demonstrate repeats and transparencies. I then used the rounded image (which you can find on my site) by cropping it and adding text in InDesign for a Graphic Tech class I was teaching. One of the benefits of working like this is the easy ability to change the colors in order to fit the clients preference. Not being a usual aesthetic approach to how I work I still found this refreshing and fun to do.