Dragon Mountain Redux

Last year I did illustrations for a Boys' Life fiction article called "The Secret of Dragon Mountain". It was a cliffhanger story (quite literally as you can see from the main scene below) that readers were invited to finish. Well, a winner was chosen and I was asked to do another illustration to correspond with the winning entry. In the scene, he looks at the photos from his recovered camera. Luckily, my model lives in the neighborhood and it has not been long enough for him to get to outgrow the role.

It will run in an upcoming issue along with the complete story and previous illustrations. Thanks to Kevin Hurley, current BL art director and Scott Feaster, previous AD who was fantastic to let me work with Boys' Life so much in the past. It's great to have wonderful clients.

See Dragon Mountain sketches here
And also here

Boys' Life Commemorative Print Finished

In the Shadow of the Tooth- 24" x 30" Oil by Greg Newbold

I Just finished up this painting and submitted it for final approval to Boys' Life Magazine. If you have been following my blog, you know have worked with Boys' Life for many years, but this one is a little bit special.  I am really excited for this project since it is the first time that the magazine will produce a fine art commemorative print using one of my paintings. We are still working out the details, but based on previous conversations, there is a particular group of dedicated scouters that will be the recipients of this print. I posted some of the conceptual sketches previously on the blog here, so I thought you might want to see how it turned out. It is a little intimidating to think that this painting might one day hang alongside all the beautiful scouting pictures that Norman Rockwell painted, but I am honored nonetheless.

God Bless America

Young Washington- for Boys' Life Magazine

Last night I had an interesting experience that reminded me why I feel so blessed to be an American. We were at the airport welcoming home a family member when my brother in law struck up a conversation with a soldier in uniform. Turns out he was making his way home for a surprise visit with his family and his ride from the airport had fallen through. We had room in our van and his destination wasn't that far out of our way, so I offered to give him a lift. During the drive I learned a lot about this man named Tim. I learned that he was a 36 year military veteran currently serving in the U.S. Air Force. That he was a Major and that he had recently served a year long deployment to Afghanistan. But what impacted me more than his record of dedicated service was the fact that he was not born an American citizen. Tim told us the story of how he was born in South Africa and moved to the United States with his family when he was sixteen. He shared his love for this country and it's unlimited possibilities. He recalled that on seventeenth birthday, which coincidentally falls on the fourth of July,  he hiked to the top of Mt. Olympus. This ten thousand foot peak overlooks the Salt Lake Valley and there he watched the fireworks and marveled at how great this country is. Shortly thereafter, he made the commitment to serve his newly adopted nation and has been protecting our freedom ever since. He told us of how different things are in all the places he served and how so many of us take for granted the life we enjoy here. After arriving at the home of a friend where was to borrow a car to make it home, I thanked him for his service and wished him well. the drive home was filled with contemplation and gratitude. I needed that encounter to remind me that freedom is not free and how grateful we should be to live in this land and for the valiant men and women who safeguard our families and liberty. Thank you Tim and God Bless America!

Boys' Life Poster Ideas

Boys' Life Poster Idea 1

Poster Idea 2

Poster Idea 3

Here are three ideas I submitted for a Boys' Life commemorative poster I am working on. The concept was to celebrate the outdoor aspect of scouting and to have the magazine plainly in view as the scout enjoys an outdoor adventure (#3 is less obvious as he holds the mag rolled in his hand). I liked both 1 and 2 but they liked idea #2 the best, so I will now be working up more involved sketches based on that idea as well as scheduling a photo shoot. I'll have to locate the right age and look of model with a full uniform. Should not be too hard with all the scouts in my neighborhood.

December Boys' Life Cover

Boys' Life Magazine cover- 9.5x' x 12" Digital

I just finished uploading this image to Boys' Life for the December 2011 cover. I already posted the other two illustrations for this project here and here. I had a soft deadline on this since it won't publish until December and my procrastination skills meshed with other deadlines to delay finish. I left this one until last partly because I knew I would want more time on it and partly as a delay tactic hoping that along the way I would magically get better at Photoshop. Well, I actually think that I did get better. In between the first two pieces and this one, i had a series of pieces with short deadlines that forced me to work quicker and more efficiently. As a result, when I returned to this piece, I felt like I had new skills and processes to draw upon and I think this is a stronger piece as a result.

A Warm Gesture

Spot illustration for Boys' Life- digital

Here's the finished spot for the Boys' Life project I have been working on. It is the final piece in a historical fiction story about an orphaned boy who arrives at his aunt and uncle's ranch in the high Sierra mountains just in time to rescue them from a Christmas Eve blizzard. The gestures here assure the boy that he is both welcome and loved. Once again, all digital (except for the under drawing). Each successive piece I do digitally brings more confidence and comfort with the process. I hope the results are showing this as well. 

Christmas Gifts Spread-Finished

Just finished up this one for Boys' Life magazine. Once again, this is painted in Photoshop and I am continuing to enjoy experimentation with brushes and textures to make this match my traditional acrylic style. I posted the final drawing earlier here. Now on to the cover illustration and spot for this same article.

Christmas Gifts Spread-Final Drawing

Final approved drawing 

Just got approval for the opening spread of my Boys' Life project. Now on to paint. For this photo shoot I actually rented costuming. This is something that I rarely do because of time and cost constraints, but I may have to reconsider. I think the costuming can make a big difference in the photo shoot, especially in situations like this where there are period details and a certain need for authenticity. I did not want to rent all the pieces of the costume, but the coats, hats and scarves needed to feel right. I'm glad I went to the expense and trouble of finding the right costumes, this just means I need to paint faster in order to stay on some sort of schedule.

Boys' Life Cover Concepts

Cover sketch/concept #1

I'm going through the concept and sketching phase for a Boys' Life magazine cover project I am working on. I usually have to do a couple of rounds if ideas to get things approved and here is how things have gone so far.The story is historical fiction about an orphaned young man, Matt, arriving to spend Christmas with an aunt and uncle in the Sierra Nevada area who have agreed to take him in. They are all caught in a blizzard and the boy has to rescue both of them when the uncle breaks an ankle out in the barnyard and the aunt gets caught in the storm as well. At this stage, I am drawing nearly everything out of my head. I will concern myself with all the details when a concept gets approved. I did look at some horses and cabins to get a better idea of where to start, but the figures and poses are drawn from my imagination. Concept #1 shows young Matt just arriving at the farm. Since this is for the December issue, I thought the lantern added a nice Holiday glow.

Cover sketch/concept #2

Editors wanted to show a little more of the action of the rescue, so I did another version with the Matt struggling to get his uncle into he cabin. This version, although very dramatic, seemed too graphic as the figure of the uncle was a bit lifeless.

Cover sketch/concept #3

I did another version, this time showing the rescue of the Matt's aunt. I usually prefer to show faces in my compositions since it seems to engage viewers easier, but this one seems to work. Editors decided maybe it showed too much of the story's conflict resolution, so I went back to the drawing board.

Cover concept/sketch #4

In this version, I show Matt as he struggles to pull the sled holding his uncle across the farmyard to the cabin. It seems like this composition is closer to what the editors were hoping for, so I think this one may end up being selected. I will have to make some compositional adjustments to allow for things like the bar code/address box in the lower left corner, but I am looking forward to painting this one. If not, I'll just figure out the next possible solution. That's just how it goes sometimes.

Opening spread sketch can be seen here

Christmas Gifts Rough Sketch

concept sketch- Pencil/digital 5.5" x 3.5"

I'm starting on another project for Boys' Life Magazine. This one is a feature fiction story about a young man arriving for Christmas at the home of his Aunt and Uncle in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Rather than being greeted with open arms, he finds neither of them in the cabin and must search the surrounding homestead in a blinding snowstorm to rescue them both. This is for the December issue and I am enjoying the rather extended lead time that I have been given. This should be a fun one- hopefully my concept will be approved and I can proceed with this sketch. If so, the next  step will be gathering effective costume and props and then shooting photos for reference.

Moonlight Ambush

Moonlight Ambush - Acrylic on canvas, 15" x 12"

The soldiers of the American Revolution were not ones to surrender. A few years back I had a fun assignment for Boys' Life magazine to illustrate a historical fiction piece in which a main character gets taken hostage by the British Redcoats. In a brave midnight ambush, his fellow countrymen storm the farm where he is being held captive and rescue him. In this piece I wanted to give a bit of an homage to a couple of my favorite Golden Age illustrators who were both masters of dramatic historical subject matter- Howard Pyle and N.C. Wyeth. Any similarity to their iconic work is purely intentional.

Tripped - Finish

Tripped- 10" x 8" Digital

Here's the final art for the Boys' Life story I just finished. I have to thank my art director Scott Feaster for such a generous deadline. It really gave me time to explore some nuances with Photoshop. I think this one captures some fun textures and atmosphere.Compare to the previous sketch/comp that I posted to see how it progressed from start to finish.

No See Um - Finish

Opener for "No See Um and the River" - Digital, 11" x 17"

Just finished with this illustration for Boys' Life magazine. The story is a fictional account of two boys working for a turn of the century Alaskan trailblazing crew.  This one was also done completely in Photoshop. I am still somewhere on the upward arc of the learning curve but each successive piece elicits more confidence. Thanks to all my Photoshop whiz buds that help me with their tips whenever I call.

Midstream Mid-Process

A day's progress on the project I posted yesterday. Going well so far. I adjusted the figure on the left to make him lean more in toward the flow of water. I like it better this way. Now working on getting the value pattern working and the warm/cool color scheme going. I expect I can probably finish this one tomorrow if it doesn't take too long to do things outside before more snow flies (Christmas lights, getting the rest of the leaves up that didn't get raked before the last storm).

Midstream

Midstream- preliminary pencil drawing with digital tone

Another drawing for the Boys' Life project I am working on. This scene depicts the point in the story when the two boys put aside their differences and use teamwork to cross the rushing river safely. Now on to the final rendering.

Tripped

Final drawing submitted for approval.

I'm working on another fiction feature for Boys' Life magazine. The story follows a young man working for a trail clearing operation in the Alaskan wilderness around 1900. The protagonist is nicknamed No-See-Um because of his slight build.

My initial thumbnail which was submitted for concept approval

I am creating three images for the story. This one shows a moment in the story when an older boy sets up a trip line to sabotage our hero while returning from the river with clean dishes. I'll post progress of this project as I go along.

Rites of Autumn

Rites of Autumn- Acrylic, 19" x 13" by Greg Newbold

With Fall football in full swing, I though it appropriate to show this piece I did for Boys' Life magazine a while ago. Ironically, the article sat in the archive for quite some time before it found a home in last month's September issue. The story was a bit of a period piece that told the story of two young men and the conflict that arose from the Caucasian boy's school (and hence his football team)deciding to integrate the African American kids in the 1960's. In this scene, the white players confront what they think is an invasion to their team by the young  African American player, while his new found friend decides to side with him. It was a turbulent time and one that seems all to soon forgotten or worse yet unknown by many of today's generation. I admit to not having lived through much of it, but I greatly respect the young people who battled to diminish race discrimination in this country.Many of their stories should be required reading in today's schools.

Grasshopper Hunter Almost Finished

Grasshopper Hunter- Digital 11"x 17"

This one is almost finished. I have to get it done and upload tomorrow. Photoshop still getting easier and I think a bit faster, so the learning curve is starting to ease. At 72 dpi, you probably don't get a real sense for the detail or the things that still need to be refined, but I mostly need to work on the grass and an bit on the grasshopper. I like the palette and the silhouette value of the figure and grasshopper against the light sky.

Grasshopper Hunter 2

The Challenge- 10" x 8"- digital

This one is finally finished. One more on this project for Boys' Life magazine and then I'll send it out, but I thought I'd post this one. I am continuing to get more comfortable with the digital tools as I go. Still a lot to learn and the time frame is not yet down to the speed that I expect, but I think I am getting there. Here again I scanned in my finished drawing and painted over the top. Some of my friends work straight onto the computer with no preliminary drawing, but I am not there yet. It still doesn't feel natural to just push pixels around on the screen instead of respond to all the tactile stimuli you get with real paint, but it's not as stiff as it used to be. Slow but steady I guess

Boys' Life Spot Finish

Yesterday I finished one of the pieces for Boys' Life magazine that I have been working on. I had to put it aside for a while as I worked on some other stuff but I am now back on them. There are two other pieces for this project, a fictional account of the Native American chief Crazy Horse called "The Boy Who Hunted Grrasshoppers". The story tels the tale of how as a young boy, he learned to shoot the bow and arrow so well that he could hit grasshoppers out of the air. This one was done digitally as well. Please leave a comment as to how close you feel it looks to my painted style.There is also a poll going at top right of this page.

Compare to the drawing here