A Strange Boat

Robots!

2009-07-13T00:11:00.002-04:00

I just put the finishing touches on these. There were five, but one has found a home. They are all around 3.5"x2.5"x8.5". They are for sale. If you are interested send me an email.

-C

2008-11-27T01:00:00.006-05:00

Lately I've received countless emails (one actually...) asking me how I work, so I thought I'd post a quick step by step on my completely backwards process.

Prep
I almost always work on birch panels. I like the way they feel (no give) more than canvas and since I often glue down old paper it's a much easier process. I apply a light coat of water to the board, then glue, then paper. I'll wet the paper lightly too before rolling it out flat and setting it aside under a few heavy books to dry. Once it is, I'll lay down a few coats of clear gesso, sanding lightly between each coat. Lately I've been sealing each panel with Matte Medium in place of gesso.

Step 2- The sketch
The title says it all.

Step 2- Color study.
I like to plan my colors carefully before I paint, so often I'll do a very quick color study in Illustrator.

Step 3-Vidal
Meet Vidal. This ain't no mamby pamby hair drier like the ones they make now a days. This sucker will burn your scalp off if you hold it too close. Besides letting me feather my bangs like a Partridge, it speeds things up for me. I can lay down a coat of paint or matte medium, blast it, and move on.

Step 4 and 5-Background
In this case I started with tissue paper. A light coat of matte medium, tissue, and more medium. This time I coat the panel with it. Why? Well, once the matte medium is dry (the longer the better) it creates a very nice barrier for the next layer. If I mess up on the next layer, and I work fast I can often rub it off with a very wet paper towel. Next the pink clouds, the white lines, and you guessed it, another coat of matte medium.

Step 6-Everything else
Once the background is complete I usually layout the rest of the image with a colored pencil (I use Mongels) that will wash off with water. Anytime I'm happy with what's going on I'll hit the whole panel with matte medium, let it dry, and move on. It's the closet thing I've found to an "undo" button.

Honestly I got so into painting I forgot to take more pictures, but there's not much else to it. I did the head with another piece of cut paper and the eyes with a circle template I dry-brushed through. The hat is tissue paper.

The end.

That's it.

Go paint.

2008-11-10T08:39:00.002-05:00

Look! The rest of the images for my November show. I've even included prices if you're having a hard time finding that perfect Christmas gift. Nothing says love like Deathbot 3130!

New Works!

2008-10-19T19:19:00.005-04:00

These are for a show in November.

I really like the transparent layering I can do in Photoshop and Illustrator. It is a very difficult look to replicate with paint. I've used matte medium with small amounts of pigment before, but I've never been quite happy with the overall effect. I used cut tissue paper on these, one to several layers thick. I think it comes close to what I've been looking for.

2008-07-21T14:17:00.002-04:00

Sketchbook

2008-05-07T14:28:00.002-04:00

Some pages from the sketchbook... new work to come.

Roller Coaster

2008-02-05T19:16:00.000-05:00

This was for an educational publisher. I haven't been able to post it until now. Never take on a job that says "roller coaster" in the art spec...

Monsters!

2008-02-05T19:04:00.000-05:00

These are for Peaceable Kingdom Press. They will be part of a matching game.

New Works

2008-01-12T00:41:00.000-05:00

Some paintings for my new show "Unnatural Selection" over at Bluebottle Art Gallery in Seattle.

Fun animals!

2007-09-24T09:53:00.000-04:00

For an educational publisher.

Random Images (Editorial)

2007-09-24T09:47:00.000-04:00

A small sample of recent and not so recent projects. The black and whites are pencils for Bank Director magazine. The color image was for Voir Dire magazine.

2007-02-28T18:59:00.000-05:00

Here they are! All of the painting for my show at Bluebottle Art Gallery. A few are older works, but most are new. It's quite a mixed bag of images. I hope you enjoy them.

The Books Are Out!

2007-02-20T18:59:00.000-05:00

The project that almost did me in! I was surprised to see these on Amazon. They look quite nice I think. They have a heavy library binding and are printed on nice thick stock.

Buy a set and you too can have kids with perfect manners!

2006-10-21T23:37:00.000-04:00

If you see this guy riding toward you run! Or better yet stop. Maybe you are about to do something really dumb.

Finally a little free time... just a little. I have weeks of yard work to catch up on and the leaves just keep piling higher. Next year I am going to cut the trees down. It will be a lot less work. : )

I just finished off 60 illustrations (most of them double page spreads) and it nearly killed me. It was one of the few times in my career that I actually blew a lot of the deadlines set by the art director. I did manage to finish up the entire project within the set date, but I blew just about every other deadline in between. Luckily they were very understanding and in the end we were all happy. I just hope it never happens again. Feeling like you are constantly behind is too stressful!

I have been sitting on some good news. This coming March I am have a one man show at the Bluebottle Art Gallery in Seatle. If you are in the area please come by and say hello. My wife and I are both planning on attending. I plan on eating a lot of seafood and soaking in the cool factor.

Oh, and if you have any ideas for paintings send them along!

Busy, busy, busy

2006-08-17T19:19:00.000-04:00

Here are a few images I cooked up for next years Workbook. This is not the ad I went with, but they have a lot of the same elements.

IF-Capture

2006-08-08T00:40:00.000-04:00

A quickie!

Vacation....

2006-08-03T08:58:00.000-04:00

It's kinda nice when you can take a vacation a half hour from home and feel like you are a world away...

Out on a limb

2006-06-11T19:30:00.000-04:00

I love to paint, but I am not really all that confident yet as a painter. A lot of it has to do with the medium. Paints are so darn finicky, and they seldom do what I want them to. The computer however does everything I want it to, and since I can "undo" anything there are only happy accidents in the digital world, not so in the world of paints. It's a transition that I can sometimes find difficult to make.

Sculpture is another beast all together. I am comfortable as a sculptor. It is really my natural medium. I spent more time as a child building things than drawing them.

All that to get to this. I did this little painting (4" x 5 1/4"), and I liked it okay. Then I had the idea to build it. I used a shadow box I have had lying around for years. I really like how it turned out... More are on the way I think.

New Paintings

2006-06-11T19:23:00.000-04:00

Here are a few new pieces. They are very small 3"x4 1/2". They are titled "Love me not" and "Cemeteries give me the creeps".

I've got worms

2006-05-19T23:52:00.000-04:00

I did these a few year ago and just stumbled across them. I liked them, my client... not so much.

Visual Thesaurus

2006-05-19T23:41:00.000-04:00

This is pretty cool--->Visual Thesaurus You can only look-up a few words, so choose them carefully.

One more robot!

2006-05-14T09:18:00.000-04:00

I think this poor little guy just lost something important...

IF-Robot ll

2006-04-25T22:46:00.000-04:00

I had to do one more... another robot with bad intentions. Hey, being a robot is not all fun and games.

On a side note: If you are in or around the Chicago area go to the Center of Science and Industry and check out the awesome collection of robot and space toys, very cool.

Check out Tom Torrey's robots for more inspiration.

IF-Robot

2006-04-24T20:24:00.000-04:00

One for Illustration Friday. I wish I could do a dozen more...

Voir Dire

2006-04-21T10:32:00.000-04:00

This is a recent cover (and spots) I did for Bryan Tyson at Voir Dire Magazine. The magazine is all about the jury system in America. Of course you know this because you subcribe to the magazine, right?

Brian always gives me a lot of creative freedom, and I have a lot of fun. I think it shows. We are both always pleased with the end result. Best of all he keeps coming back for more.