Memorial Day Memories

"On the River" - Mixed Media - 9 1/4" x 10 1/4"

This post is purely selfish. It's been four years now since I lost my Dad and I think about him every day. He taught me how to work hard, what it means to be honest and loyal, how to have faith, never said I shouldn't be an artist and he taught me how to fish. On our numerous trips to Montana or wherever, he would put me in the "best hole on the river" while he headed up stream or down, invariably returning with a creel full of trout. He would be dismayed if I hadn't caught a fish or two of my own and would casually throw in a line and hook one right under my nose. Of course this never failed to upset me. Once, as we arrived at a fresh hole together, he had a worm in the water before I could cross the fence. Exasperated, I complained that he "always did that to me" and "why can't you ever let me catch one first". He laughed, reeled in, and coached me where to toss my worm in. Sure enough, I felt a nibble, then a tug and the fight was on. After quite a battle Dad deftly scooped my trophy brown trout into the net. I was all smiles and Dad got a tickle out of seeing me with that nearly a five pounder, so fat with a big hook jaw. It was the biggest brown I had ever caught- before or since.

I am grateful Dad that you let me catch that fish. I am sure you would have caught it if I hadn't said something, so someday, when I get to that big fishing hole in the sky, please have a pole waiting for me. 'Till then, keep your hook wet- I love you Dad.

Recalculating...

I about cried laughing when I saw this Real Life comic.

SO close to home.

Me with Ron Spears at N.C. Wyeth's studio

Last July, I went on a cross country road trip to Hartford to finish up my MFA. My sidekick (or maybe I was his sidekick since he drove every mile) was good friend and fellow artist Ron Spears. Despite having an Apple iphone maps app, a GPS unit and a dog-eared Rand McNally road atlas, we still managed to get ourselves lost in a corn field in Michigan. In our defense, road construction and a driving rain storm combined to make us miss a turn off and then it was going to be a roundabout way back to get back on the right freeway. The "recaculating..." coming from our talking friend the GPS unit got so annoying that we started giving her nicknames like "Helga". Finally we turned her off, resorting to the iphone to get us back on track. We actually did manage to make it to all of our destinations including a visit to Brandywine, PA and the N.C. Wyeth studio. More about that in a future post, but here we are outside N.C's famed palladian window. I salivate over north light like that. In the meantime, you might want to check out this post by James Gurney about Wyeth's studio.

Satisfied

First thumbnail- approx. 2" wide - roller pen

Final drawing - approx. 4.5" wide - black prismacolor

"Satisfied" - acrylic 19" x 13"

This painting is the cover as well as the final spread for "Scuffy, a scarecrow's tale", my MFA thesis and picture book project that I mentioned last post. I typically progress from really rough thumbnail drawings through a more finished value study drawing to the final painting. For years I admit I got lazy and didn't always create an effective value study before my final paintings. That was can be a dicey proposition as it can be hit or miss in the final execution of the art. Going back to grad school and rubbing elbows with so many talented professional artists encouraged me to reevaluate how I work and recommit to the basics of solid picture creation. Through this process I have come to realize that the value study is actually more important than the color study. It makes a big difference to have that value study in front of me before I start tackling color. Nearly any arrangement of colors (given a basic color relationship is present) can combine to make a successful picture if the value masses are arranged effectively.

See how the painting still works without color because of effective value patterns.

Here's the Deal

"Here's the Deal" - acrylic - 19" x 13"

First thumbnail sketch - approx. 2" wide - roller pen

Final Drawing - approx. 4.5" wide - black Prismacolor

During my first session at the University of Hartford Limited Residency MFA-Illustration my assignments included writing and illustrating my own children's book. I spent many a midsummer night the first week creating a thumbnail dummy book version of "Scuffy, A Scarecrow's Tale", a project my wife and I had been writing. The story follows the adventures of our hero Scuffy as he overcomes his fear of just about everything in order to defeat his nemesis the crow. The full dummy book included a refined manuscript and black and white drawings for each spread. I also completed four finished paintings based on these drawings. I am extremely satisfied with the project so far and am in the process of hunting down the right publisher (anyone willing to have a look?). Here is a bit of the process.

Snow? Really?

"Pip's Letter to Santa" - 6" x 6"-acrylic on wooden snowflake

OK, so it was May 24th yesterday and I woke up to snowflakes- giant snowflakes which didn't stop until we had three inches of the fluffy stuff on the ground. What cruel trick to play on all of us who have had tomato plants  in the ground for over a week now. It was the record latest measurable snowfall ever at the airport (they seem to like to measure snow at the airport- go figure) Anyway, seeing all those flakes made me remember another snowflake that I  did for a charity fundraiser called Robert's Snow. A bunch of artists were all given 6" blank wooden snowflakes to paint or decorate and the flakes were all auctioned off to raise money for cancer research. My flake was in memory of my father who had just passed after his own battle with cancer and I based it on one of the characters from my Christmas book The Barnyard Night Before Christmas. By the way, the snow was all gone by afternoon and I hope I don't see any more in my yard before November.

Fishing = Catching

Me with one of the "beasts"

Beasts = Feasts

"Fat 'bow" - acrylic on illustration board, 9" x 9"

Friday and Saturday I got to go camping with my youngest son Will to a private ranch about 45 minutes up the canyon from home. Our hosts have a private lake there that was drained down for repairs. As a result, all the fish were congregated in what was left of the water. On his first cast Will caught a 22 inch long 3 1/2 pound rainbow trout . Despite waking up to 2 inches of snow on the tent, we ended up catching 7 "beasts" ( as he called them),  six of which were 3 1/2 pounds or larger. The "small" one was merely 2 pounds. None were quite as fat as my "Fat 'Bow" though. I told Will that he might never have another fishing trip quite like this one, but he's willing to try again sometime.

Bridgeman's Hands

Drawings From The Book of a Hundred Hands

by George Bridgeman

Details of hands from a few of my paintings

Hands are the second most expressive part of the human anatomy next to the face. I love doing a good hand and work hard to make them look right. I have heard it said that you can tell how good an artist is by how well he draws hands. I learned how to draw hands from George Bridgeman. Sometime around 1988 as a student, I bought a copy of The Book of a Hundred Hands. It became my bible on how to draw a good hand. Bridgeman was an exceptional teacher and artist and had a knack for breaking down the human form and anatomy to it's essence. Whenever I am battling a hand or some other aspect of the human anatomy, I turn to my old friend George and he calms me and sets me on the right track. it's no wonder his books are still around. If you don't have a copy of  The Book of a Hundred Hands or better yet his Complete Guide to Drawing From Life, I would highly recommend picking them up. Here are also a couple of details of hands I have done.