Beaver Lodge Cutaway Sketch

Certain things pose particular challenges when trying to illustrate a concept, such as how to show an entire environment, including both the inside and outside, in a single image.  I say illustrate, because whenever this type of problem is posed, it usually is not something to be solved using photography. This conundrum is often best solved by doing a cutaway illustration. I am working on just such an illustration right now for an educational publisher.  As I gathered information to design my own version of the cutaway beaver dam, I was surprised how poorly rendered most of such existing illustrations were. I ended up relying on photography to inform me on what the beavers and their houses looked like  and then created my own version. I referred to elements from dozens of sources to come up with my drawing, which I hope not only solves the problem, but does so in an aesthetically pleasing way. I am pretty happy with how it is coming together. I will post the fully rendered color version when it is complete.

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

Autumn Dusting in 90th Annual Spring Salon

Autumn Dusting (Mt. Olympus)- 36" x 60" Oil on canvas by Greg Newbold

I am proud to announce that my painting Autumn Dusting has been accepted into the 90th Annual Spring Salon at the Springville Museum of Art. I am always happy to be accepted an I was pleased to see many of my friends and several former students on the accepted list. The announcement of the award winners is yet to come, so my fingers are still crossed for that also. The show opens this Wednesday, April 23rd, 2014 and runs through July 6th.

Previous post about Autumn Dusting progress

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.

Monster Sketches

I'm working on a fun project that includes a poster and eventually a complete board game. Client has given me really good creative freedom that sparked the characters I came up with. I'm looking forward to populating the project with these guys in all sorts of fun situations. I'll keep you posted on the fun as I go along.

3 Dutch Girls

3 Dutch Girls- 8" x 8"; Oil by Greg Newbold

In 2009, I drove cross country with a friend to my final summer session of graduate work. On our way to Hartford Connecticut, we made a few fly by stops, including Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This is the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country and it was interesting to see some of the Amish farms and get a glimpse of the horse drawn buggies that populate the roads there. I also took a pit stop to photograph these cows on a local dairy farm. The painting's name, 3 Dutch Girls,  comes from the location and not the breed, but I liked the ring of it. I painted this one in oil on MDF panel- over the top of another failed plein air attempt. I sanded off the most obnoxious texture, but some of it telegraphs through the paint and adds to the final look of this new painting. You can get this one at Meyer Gallery in Park City, UT.

Third Wheel

Third Wheel- 9" x 12"; Oil on board by Greg Newbold

Another small oil that I will be taking up to Meyer Gallery in Park City, Utah this week. Whenever I am out searching for subjects, I take tons of photos and never quite know what I have until I get back in studio. This is one of those cases where I didn't think there was a painting in there until I started looking at the photos. I decided that if I combined elements from several photos I could create an arrangement that I liked. It's a fun challenge to come up with a painting from seemingly nothing. It goes back to my assessment that picture making subjects are everywhere depending on your point of view. Almost anything can make a good painting if you apply principles of strong design, storytelling, color and value arrangement. The title refers to the horse on the left side who is about to awkwardly insert itself into the nice quiet lunch of the pair of horses.

See all my paintings available at Meyer Gallery