Caveman Dinner

Caveman Dinner-10" x 12" mixed media by Greg Newbold

I've been working on a bunch of stuff that either is not ready to show or that I cannot yet show due to confidentiality agreements, so I thought I'd dig around for an oldie but a goodie. This little gem was for an article in Eating Well magazine from a few years back that outlined the benefits of the "Paleo Diet". Since then there has been a barrage of similar diets that seek to recreate what early man must have eaten. Lots of fruits, nuts and grains, lean protein, no sugar, salt or...no taste. Well, anyway, I tried to look at the subject in a humorous way as the scientist observes from a slight distance what the unsuspecting caveman as his daily diet sizzles over the fire. I don't know about you, but I won't be choking down grubs and bugs any time soon in the name of nutritional well being. Not to mention how close he is to the flames. Fire safety anyone? I don't think I have ever posted this one on the blog before. At least I couldn't find it. But if I have, just call it one from the archives while I get to something new I can post.

Puzzled

Digging through the archives a few weeks back, I found this cover I did for a murder mystery set in the southwest. It was titled Death of the River Master by Allana Martin and was published by St. Martin's Press. The story conflict revolved around water rights between neighboring towns on either side of the U.S-Mexican border. Murder and conspiracy ensue. As I recall, I quite enjoyed the story. I went for a metaphorical solution involving the desert mud and a couple of bullets forming a skull. I especially like how the dry riverbed mud puzzled all together. It made the textures and patterns a lot of fun to paint. I still really like this one. 

Feeling Round?

One of my favorite things about the day after Thanksgiving is... not shopping. Actually I like to eat a nice turkey sandwich while catching some football on TV. Not that I need anything to make me feel round after the delicious feast yesterday, but who can resist all those tasty leftovers? The Illustration Friday theme for today is "round". That combined with the football game on TV reminded me of an illustration I did right out of college for a local magazine. It was about the gourmet nature of certain tailgate parties. Given how long this took to paint, I am pretty sure I got paid about $8 an hour for this thing. But I was glad to get anything printed way back then. This was done in 1992, about a year and a half before I dove headfirst into a full time freelance career. At the time, I was looking for a way out of my desk job illustrating educational software on a computer that resembled something out of the Flintstones. 

Beginnings

I was a mere beginner... My first published work done as a student.

Everyone starts somewhere. For me, and I suspect it's the same with most artists, this beginning lies far back in my subconscious, alongside memories of  bedtime stories beside a loving parent, that first traumatic bike crash or the fish I caught barehanded. I simply do not remember the first time I picked up a crayon and tried to draw. I do remember countless hours spent drawing and coloring though. I remember getting frustrated with coloring books because the drawings were not always what I wanted to color. It seemed boring to me to simply fill in what someone else had drawn regardless of my attempts to shade or blend different colored crayons together. My mother suggested early on that I might like to make my own coloring books which I thereafter created with a childlike passion. I recall even creating a custom dinosaur coloring book for a friend's birthday and being disappointed when he did not find it as cool as I did.

Many afternoons were spent drawing on the cool cement floor of our then unfinished basement family room. My brother and I would unfurl huge end rolls of newsprint which my father brought home from his work as an ad executive (the rolls were leftovers from the newspaper press checks he visited). Epic murals of tank battles, dinosaur filled landscapes, or snowmobile races emerged from the never ending rolls of paper. By the time I was about eight or nine, my brother discovered a basketball and I was left to pursue my art without him (though younger brothers sometimes joined in the fun).

Pencils and crayons led to watercolors and then acrylics as I gained more and more confidence in what I loved to do. My parents were ever supportive and never discouraged me in my artistic quest, for which I will be forever grateful. They later told me that they had no doubt I would make a career of art simply because they could see how passionate I was about it. Well, If you count back to the first time I sold a piece of art, I have spent about thirty years as a professional artist. If you go back to the first published work I created, I have been an illustrator for twenty-one.

I searched my files for some early examples of my work (like the floral watercolor I did at age 6 that my mother kept) but was only able to locate what I recall as my first published color illustration. I did the above piece for the campus fantasy magazine early in my third year of undergrad studies at Brigham Young University. I think I got paid about $100. Well, you gotta start somewhere.

Autumn Rhapsody

Autumn Rhapsody - by Greg Newbold - 20" x 14" - Acrylic

Fall is in full swing around here. Crisp morning air slaps me a little wake up call each morning as I run the kids to school. Most of the fall color has already turned in the foothills and the garden, save a few potatoes and carrots yet to be dug, is spent. Man, I love fall.We already had the first snows of the season and more than a few leaves await raking, but hopefully the brutal cold will hold off for a few more weeks and we can enjoy the sweatshirt weather a little longer. This picture is one of my favorites from my book The Touch of the Master's Hand. It seemed appropriate to welcome in the best of autumn weather. The art from this book won awards from Communication Arts, The Society of Illustrators and was also included in The Original Art Show. 

Read more about The Touch of the Master's Hand here.
Order your copies here

Pumpkin Themed Signing

The color of the truck was changed in Photoshop from red to blue.

The last two days postings reminded me that when I did the first Prize Pumpkin cover, I got to fly back to Chicago for the ABA, national bookseller convention. I was thrilled as they themed the entire Pearson display around the art from my cover.

There's my cover-front and center on the bed of the truck

As you can see from the photos, they got a truck that was about the same age as the one I painted in the picture and filled it with farm related paraphernalia as well as large copies of the various book covers. I signed copies of the textbook sporting my artwork for all the potential buyers that showed up. It was an enormously fun opportunity. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the Chicago Art Institute- which was also pretty cool.

I. F. - Old Fashioned

Prize Pumpkin - Acrylic, 13" x 18" (approx.)

by Greg Newbold

Farmer Dixon here has loaded up his classic pickup truck and is heading out to a good old fashioned pumpkin growing contest. Something tells me he's going to win...if he can make it over that hill. This painting was done a few years back for Pearson/Scott Foresman as a reading textbook cover. It spawned a sequel which I'll post on Monday. On the other hand, my pumpkin vine was pretty pathetic and spawned only two soccer ball sized gourds this year. there's always next year.

Sun Sets on Summer Term

Sunset Campfire - From "The Adventurers" -  19" x 13" mixed media/acrylic

Well, today is the last day of finals for my figure drawing and head painting classes at BYU. I have to admit I will miss being able to draw and paint from life every day and hope I get the chance to teach these classes again. I was digging through the archives last week to pull together a pack of samples for Scholastic to look at when I found this painting I had done a couple of years back. I thought it appropriate to mark the end of this term.

Naughty Marietta

Naughty Marietta - 11' X 14"

Acrylic/mixed on illustration board

I did this piece a while ago for a small theater in Louisiana called the Jefferson Performing Arts Society. I didn't get to take advantage of the free ticket offer from the theater because of proximity, but from what I gather, the operetta is highly entertaining. It tells the tale of Captain Richard Warrington who is asked to unmask and capture a notorious French pirate calling himself  "Bras Priqué" – and how he is helped and hindered by a high-spirited runaway, Contessa Marietta. I love doing theater work and hope to keep having opportunities to do paintings like this.

Rooster Revisited

Rooster- 8" x 10" - acrylic on bristol paper

Many years ago as I was just starting my freelance career, I had a client who frequently gave me black and white work to do. They were sort of a monthly local interest magazine without a big budget for either art or printing. It was fun working for them and I had a lot of flexibility because they didn't have a ton of money. I think I was paid $200 per spot, but it was work and I was glad to have it. I was digging around in the studio for a different painting when I stumbled upon this one. I have always wanted to see what it would look like done in color, so now that I have rediscovered it, I may just do that.

One Frog

Una Rana - mixed medium - approx. 18" x 12"

I have done a lot of work for educational clients over the years and it can be a challenge to create an interesting illustration that still allows for the type and titles, etc. This one was for a Spanish language reading textbook, a poem about t lazy frog that just lays around imagining animals that it would rather be and picking their shapes out of the clouds. The poem went in the right hand area of the pond and the title in the clouds on the upper left. Nighttime lighting can also pose problems but I think this one gives a nocturnal feel without being colorless.