Animals from History - The Beginning

Meet Seymour as Teddy Roosevelt (detail)

123 backers and original goal exceeded I have begun the process of creating "Animals From History"!  The last few weeks I have been taking care of the business end of things.  

Meet Trixie as Florence Nightengale

What's been happening...

•Big Cat Rescue received my donation check of 2600.00 last week!  That's 25% of the proceeds from the kickstarter campaign.
•I have priced out (again) all materials and printing costs.  I have also been researching calendar printing sites.  Once I surpassed my original goal I added a stretch goal that was met.  All pledges of $15.00 or over receive a calendar.

Meet Mr. Phoxhead as Shakespeare

•Planning out the next year.....when due dates for drawings and paintings will be.  When due dates for purchasing and designing.
•Researching ebooks so I know just how to layout the story properly.  This involves and ebook reader I recently purchased.
•Copyrighting via the governement
•Drawing, drawing and more drawing!

The drawings you see are in progress.  I will be continuing to refine them throughout the year.  This way I can be sure that they are cohesive with one another for the final book.

Stay tuned for updates here or visit my kickstarter page.

Seven Days to Go!

Meet Mac - as ML Jobs

I wanted to create a portrait of Steve Jobs to honor his memory.  He was a brilliant inventor and his work changed the way I illustrate.  If it wasn't for Steve Jobs and his creation of the mac I would not be here typing today.

For those who are PC users Apple names all of their operating systems after wild cats.  I originally wanted to create him as a snow leopard but I felt it only right to portray him as the newest release in mac software...the mountain lion.

While searching for reference I found a gorgeous image on Big Cat Rescue's Facebook page of a mountain lion and when I saw this guys name I laughed out loud.  Mac.  How appropriate.  I guess it must be fate.

Pledge 250 or over and choose from any one of my incentives.  Visit the updates section of my kickstarter to pick your sketch, ML Jobs included.

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Nine Days to Go!

For the next few days I will be offering incentives for my kickstarter project.  Right now I'm 65% funded and hope to get full funding with in the 9 day time frame.  So back my project if you love animals!  Even if it's a buck or two.  Every dollar counts.  Below are two incentives that I posted today.  Frida Kalhocelot went within 10 minutes of posting so I drew another.  If you are the first to pledge 250 or more you get the Rufus and Skip Wright sketch in addition to your rewards!

Happy pledging and help spread the word by sharing on Facebook!

 Frida Kalhocelot

I used Amazing Grace from Big Cat Rescue as inspiration for Frida

The Wright Brothers - Rufus and Skip

I used Rufus and Skip from Big Cat Rescue as inspiration for the Wright Brothers

Please visit and share my kickstarter with your ebook lovin' friends!

Jamie of the Jungle and Big Cat Rescue

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!