Bird of the Day- Chicks

Baby Chicks - 6" x 8" - Digital over Graphite, by Greg Newbold

The ending page for the Egg book shows the freshly hatched chicks. This one was the only one in the series that I had to revise at all. In the original sketch, I had some eggshells as well as a couple of unhatched eggs. The client asked that I have all the shells hatched so that there would be no confusion as to the number of eggs which needed to match the text. I was happy to oblige. Overall, this project went as smoothly as any I have ever done, including speedy payment. Thanks Dinardo Design! The shadows were created the same way as I did on the Hen piece I posted yesterday. The drawing is posted here.

Bird of the Day - Hen

Hen- 6" x 8" Digital over graphite, by Greg Newbold

This is the second to last in the Egg book series. This one shows a laying hen on her eggs. I really enjoyed creating the shadows on this one and the effect is better than I hoped. I basically just used a warm gray gradient fill over the top half of the finished piece on a multiply layer and then erased out anything that wasn't my intended shadow. Once again, I am a believer in experimentation and learning on the job. I had about two weeks to complete all of these images from sketch to finish. I figured out a streamlined process that allowed me to paint all of them in a quick and efficient manner. I also learned how to create some pretty cool shadow patterns. Here is how the drawing looked.

Bird of the Day- Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker- 6" x 8" -Digital over graphite by Greg Newbold

Another in the Egg book series. This one of the Pileated Woodpecker was a fun challenge. I was asked to make it look like the bird was attending to it's egg rather than pecking away at the tree. I decided the best way to do this was to have the woodpecker's head be silhouetted against the dark opening of the nest hole. It served the secondary purpose of creating a nice value contrast to lead the eye to the bird's head. I also had some fun with a little sunset lighting in the background. All of these were meant to be simple backgrounds in order to keep focus on the bird and the egg. The texture of the tree was fun to paint. Have a look at the drawing here.

Bird of the Day - Tern

Tern - 6" x 8"- Digital over graphite by Greg Newbold

Another in the Egg book series. Terns lay their eggs in plain view right on the sand with little to camouflage them beyond their speckled pattern and coloration. The biggest challenge in this one was effectively mimicking the texture of the sand and the subtle changes in color. Here is the drawing.

Bird of the Day- Grebe

Grebe- 6" x 8"- Digital over graphite, by Greg Newbold

Another in the Egg book series. Grebes pull vegetation out of the marshy areas where they live to build a floating nest. I did not know this fact. Goes to prove that you can learn something every day. I posted the drawing here.

Bird of the Day- Robin

Robin- 6" x 8"- Digital over graphite, by Greg Newbold

This is the cover image for the Egg book I just finished. I thought I would post one finished painting a day for the next week or so until I run out of birds. This one of the Robin is the cover as well as one of the interior images for the book.  I love the color of Robin eggs. I posted the drawing here.

First Line Contest

It was a dark and stormy night...

The Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference is sponsoring a First Line Contest. If you are a writer, aspiring writer, or illustrator who wants to start writing their own books, you may want to enter this contest. The competition is open to all genres in the Young Adult market and there will be prizes.  Entrance rules and requirements are posted here. I attended the writing  for picture books workshop a couple of years ago and it was a very valuable experience. This year's picture book writing workshop will be taught by Kristyn Crow- author of Cool Daddy Rat, Skeleton Cat and Bedtime at the Swamp.There is also a week long workshop for picture book illustrators. This year's guest artist is Kevin Hawkes  illustrator of Library Lion and many others.

Spring Plowing

Spring Plowing - Acrylic, 22" x 11"

The snow is gone and it's time to start thinking about cultivating my garden plot. Seems like more often than not, I get distracted and miss my early window for tilling. This year I hope to have the ground ready for planting by mid May. We usually grow everything from beans and squash and corn, to beets, carrots, potatoes and peppers. I grew a really sweet watermelon a couple of years back and I can already almost taste those late summer tomatoes. I am really looking forward to getting plants in the ground. Nothing like fresh grown veggies in the summer. This picture was from my picture book Spring Song, by Barbara Seuling.

Howard Pyle's Studio

Howard Pyle studio- Wilmington, Delaware

In the summer of 2009 I had the privilege of visiting the studio that Howard Pyle, widely regarded as the father of American illustration, built and worked in. In 1883 Pyle bought a lot on Franklin Street in Wilmington Delaware and constructed what would become a Mecca of sorts for artists wishing to hone their skills under the tutelage of Pyle.

Pyle Studio circa 1906

Acclaimed artists that studied in the shadow of Pyle include N.C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Harvey Dunn and Jessie Wilcox Smith. During my cross country trip to Hartford to attend my final summer MFA session, Ron Spears and I arrived unannounced, but were graciously given a tour by current caretaker and occupant, artist Carolyn Anderson.

Stepping into the Pyle studio , one could sense the history and imagine  the many late night lectures and critiques that took place there and in the adjoining studio space that Pyle constructed to accommodate his top students. Pyle was a consummate craftsman and teacher with a penchant for storytelling and hyperbole. On more than one occasion, Pyle stressed the importance of getting inside your work, breathing life into it. "When I was painting this picture of a battle'" he once told a class of students, referring to his painting The Battle of Nashville, " I felt the reality so vividly that I occasionally had to go to the door of the studio and breathe fresh air to clear my lungs of powder and smoke!"

Main room inside the Howard Pyle studio

Student Frank Schoonover once recalled visiting the master one evening in which he was painting "The Battle of Bunker Hill". The painting seemed nearly finished but when he and Stanley Arthurs returned the next day, they were shocked to see a new canvas with a different composition on the easel. He asked what had happened and Pyle replied that he had taken the canvas to the boiler room and burned it because he "couldn't smell the smoke". He then reinforced that "You have to smell the smoke." Good advice to this day. If you happen to be in the Wilmington area, swing by the Pyle Studio on Franklin Street between Thirteenth Street and Delaware Avenue. Then go to the Delaware Art Museum and see the largest public collection of Pyle work in existence. You won't be disappointed.

Creating Visual Balance

Back cover for Jack Black and the Ship of Thieves- 8" x 8" , acrylic

Finding balance in your composition can be a tricky process. One rule of thumb that is helpful to keep in mind is the fulcrum and lever principle. Once again I pull a page from  Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis to illustrate the concept. The value of creating appropriate distance between compositional elements is evidenced in his sketches. A basic rule is to have the larger heavier object nearer the center of the composition and the smaller object further away from the "balance point".  If the two objects are of similar size and shape then overlapping the two forms can add interest to the composition.

From Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis

In the back cover spot illustration at the top, I  used the smaller scale of the plane to balance the larger forms of the ship's smokestacks. I broke the "keep the larger elements toward the center" rule in order to add drama and keep the plane the center of focus. The simplicity of the smoke and sky shapes against the complexity of the plane also provides a nice visual counterpoint. Obviously no rules are set in stone, but if something looks wrong or out of balance to me, I look at changing the scale, spacing or location a bit until things look right.