Bird Skulls

Sketches in preparation for Chapter 2 (featuring a character with a bird skull mask).

Current projects & a taste of winter

Rachel Schneider and I are currently working on a project together. It's a game of sorts in which we trade titles to chapters and then illustrate the chapter title we've been given. The person who gave the title art directs the other person's piece. The next title is drawn from the illustration of the preceding title. For example, the title I was given is "Death of the Spring Snails." I illustrate this title (with Rachel art directing) and she creates the title to chapter two after looking at my illustration. Meanwhile, she's illustrating the chapter title I gave her. Here are two glimpses of chapter 1:

This is what I woke up to on Sunday:

Interesting Things

Just a few things I'm currently marveling over and thought I'd share:

Fantastic Mr. Fox

I saw this stop-motion animated film in London and went a bit crazy over it. The fall palette is lovely, the lighting quite amazing (in the sewer scene, you can see the light changing as it is reflected off of moving water). And the character design is fabulous. Boggis, Bunce, and Bean have wonderful faces you're certain you were frightened of sometime in your childhood. The first fifteen minutes of the film I felt the animation was too jerky, as if there weren't enough frames per second. But I quickly got used to it and even found that I preferred it, as the animators weren't trying to hide the fact that it is stop motion animation. (Just the way the short Wallace and Gromit films have a hands-on quality (you can see finger prints) that Curse of the Were Rabbit lacks.) Go see it, and keep your eyes peeled for the little badger dressed up in a skeleton costume.

Red Nose Studio children's book posts

Chris Sickels has been working on a children's book called Here Comes the Garbage Barge. He's posted sketches, character studies, reference photos, and photographs of props and sets on his blog. It is worth checking out.

Working in the 3rd Dimension Blog

Liz Lomax has a blog devoted to illustrators working three-dimensionally. Interviews with individual artists are added each week, along with images of their work.

Julie Taymor

I finally saw the musical version of The Lion King while I was in London. I've never liked the story, and most of the music I could do without, but the costumes, puppets, masks, scenery, and lighting create an incredible world. I was gasping at the appearance of the giraffes, gazelles, elephants, and jaguars onstage (more so than the six year old sitting in front of me). Two books to check out: Julie Taymor: Playing with Fire by Eileen Blumenthal, Julie Taymor, and Antonio Monda & The Lion King by Julie Taymor. Penn and Teller also have a video containing a segment on her work- check the VHS section at your library.

The finished Matilda

Matilda: Lighting Options

The lighting for this piece has been driving me crazy. At first I tried lighting it with the television (from the front) but the result, though cool looking, was not something that would ever work in print. Here are some of the better options I came up with (over 100 pictures right now). I love the shadow of Matilda's father on the wall, but it limits the direction from which the light can come (and adding another light results in multiple shadows). Any suggestions or personal preferences would be appreciated.

Current Project: Matilda

I need a new promotional piece, and after being wowed by Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, I got to thinking about Roald Dahl. And, as I was London while I was thinking about this, I ended up coming across Matilda. Here's a sneak peek of an illustration for the children's novel:

Hand-painted check fabric.

Matilda's dad. I think the suit works rather well for a used car salesman, don't you?

European Sketchbook

I am back from my two month backpacking trip in Europe and have spent the past day scanning the two sketchbooks I filled there. Due to the sheer volume of sketches, you can view them on my European Sketchbook Blog. Below is a small sampling of pages....