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.

Loomis on Toning a Color Palette

The first project in my Intro to Illustration class this semester calls for incorporating a "toned" palette. Some of my students asked for a more in depth explanation of how this is done. One of my all time favorite descriptions on how to do this is contained in the long out of print Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis. His brief but meaty description on how to incorporate a toned palette into your work is above. Notice that only one color in the mix stays pure- the toner color itself. As you mix in the chosen color, all the other colors shift toward that color, thus creating a unifying effect.

The key to creating color unity in a toned palette is to not overdo the amount mixed into the various other colors. To heavy a hand will result in muddy, monochromatic color. You will notice the influence of the toner color in the skin tones of each of Loomis' examples, yet the flesh tones feel totally natural in context. I frequently use a "toner color" to unify my color scheme. I think Creative Illustration is a must read for any illustrator, or artist for that matter. I found my copy of  for $30 about eighteen years ago after a lengthy search. It's still available, but no longer so affordable. If you can't find or afford it, PDF facsimiles are available online as well.

Picture Book Marathon

Picture Book Marathon logo designed by Nathan Hale

Starting February 1st, I am going to run a marathon. OK, not really one of those huff and puff perspiration soaked masochistic torture sessions where you kill yourself to perambulate 26.2 miles and then collapse in a sweaty heap type races. This one might actually be possible if you work at it every day. I signed on to run the Picture Book Marathon. Jean Reagan and Lara Koehler have set up a handy dandy website with all sorts of tips and hints at www.picturebookmarathon.org with all the info you need to join in. By reason of me telling you all, I am now accountable to try and finish the thing. The goal is to write a rough draft for a picture book 26 times in the month of February (you get a couple days off). I figured since I am always talking about writing and illustrating my own stories, I needed a kick in the pants to actually write some. Well, so far so good. I cheated and jumped the gun by writing my first one already. I have also begun to compile a list of possible story ideas to make the work a little easier. I am hoping that the simple act of deciding to write will help get the creative juices going. Join in- it'll be fun and you might find that you have a real winner on your hands by the end of February.

Shirt Design

I was recently asked to do a t-shirt design for the local high school swim team. They always commemorate their trip to the State Championships with a team shirt, so I was excited to help since my son swims on the team. I wanted to do something with a little of a retro flair in the vein of motorcycle logos. The lettering was modified extensively from an existing font and the wing emblem was hand drawn and cleaned up in Photoshop. I added some distressing to give it an aged look. I like how it turned out and look forward to seeing it on the shirt.

Lion-Fish Demo

Lion-Fish; in class demo- Holbein Acryla gouache on board- 6"x6"

Today in my Illustration 1 class at BYU I did a painting demo to get the students started. They all have a good basis in drawing, but many of them have little or no experience with paint. I remember feeling the same way as an undergrad student. I had never painted much with acrylic in high school art class, preferring to work in Prismacolor pencil or watercolor. It was inspiring to watch Robert Barrett (whom I now have the pleasure of calling my friend and colleague) create a simple acrylic portrait in around two hours. I now enjoy this demo process from the opposite side of the coin as I try to pass on some of the things I have learned to my students. This fish represents about 2.5 to 3 hours of work. About an hour was used in research, sketching and transferring the drawing and then two hour in class painting. It is not finished, but I thought I'd post it anyway. It goes along with my previous posts the Dog-Fish and the Cat-Fish.

Evolution Of A Picture- Part 4

Crimson Harvest - by Greg Newbold - 24" x 14" acrylic on canvas

Dusting off this step-by-step tutorial has been a lot of fun. I hope you have enjoyed the previous installments. Here's the fourth and final post on this project- enjoy!

With the finished drawing in hand, I now prepare the panel onto which it will be transferred for the final painting.  I use a variety of surfaces depending on the result I want to achieve.  For this picture I chose a canvas covered hardboard panel. I don’t like the factory texture on most canvas boards so I prepared the surface by scrubbing on several coats of unbleached Titanium colored acrylic gesso, sanding a bit in between if necessary.
I then project the drawing onto the canvas and begin laying in rough values with diluted semi- transparent acrylic paint. I do this in a fairly monochromatic manner to establish the value relationships. For this piece I used a mixture of umbers and purple, though the chroma and saturation varies depending on the project. I then begin to lay in color and texture. I tend to be impatient and have been known to employ a hairdryer to hasten drying time. The acrylic paint is applied opaquely and then glazed over with transparent washes to build up to a finish surface that I like. These washes are sometimes mixed with different mediums and at times merely thinned with water. Glazing helps to unify the color scheme and adds subtleties to the surface that I enjoy. I often scrub the glazes back off to varying degrees ( I use a damp tissue or paper towel, sometimes fingers) before the paint is completely dry. This results in some of the wash remaining behind in the lower areas of the canvas surface.  The shadow areas have a more transparent paint quality while the highlights are built up with opaque paint. The paint nuances continue to build through successive layers until I am satisfied with all the areas of the painting. This painting needed around 30 hours of working time to complete, not including the planning and drawing time.
I like to have a consistent level of finish  all over the canvas and work the edges as much as I do the center. The brightest highlights and cleanest strokes of color go on last.  When I think it is finished, and if I have the luxury of time (some jobs are sent out minutes after the paint dries) I set it aside for a day or two and come back later to evaluate whether it needs any final touches. The painting is then varnished with a satin acrylic varnish and sent off for photographing and framing.

Evolution of a Picture part 1
Evolution of a Picture part 2
Evolution of a Picture part 3

Evolution Of A Picture- Part 3

Once I have my composition well in hand I carefully evaluate what additional reference material I may need to complete the painting. Usually this involves finding a model and appropriate costume. I am always on the lookout for the right model and scope out people at church, school, neighbors and friends to enlist in the cause. Most people when approached are willing to work with you and I always compensate them in some way. If I am in a bind, I know this guy that models for me quite a bit. He works for free and is always available right when I need him. The only problem is getting my spouse to shoot the photos. (Thanks Hon!) I usually take loads of photos and then filter from them the information that I need to flesh out my drawings. I pay particular attention to faces and hands as well as drapery and shadows. These seem to be the hardest areas to get right if you don't have good reference material, and look the worst if you try to "fake" them. I always shoot detail shots and sometimes finesse the drapery  with a tug here or there to get the folds and shadows right. You will never be sorry you took a little extra time and attention at the photo shoot stage. It can make the difference between an average work and a really good one. The drawing at bottom is the one I used for the final painting. Note that the basic value patterns are already established. Early in my career, I often neglected to do a full value study which sometimes hurt my work.  Since I did this painting, I have put more effort into making sure the value study is clear.Photoshop is a great tool for laying in values quickly and getting the pattern working. I simply scan my sketch and lay in grey tones in a multiply layer.

Evolution of a Picture part 1
Evolution of a Picture part 2
Evolution of a Picture part 3
Evolution of a Picture Part 4