1971 - finished illustration

This illustration is inspired by a photo of my uncle Jonathan with one of his motorcycles in 1971. I found the photo at my grandmother's house and was immediately reminded of famous images of motorcycles with movie stars like James Dean and Steve McQueen. The picture was started on watercolor paper with brown colored pencil and ink washes. All color was added digitally painted in Photoshop. The final illustration measures 27" x 18" and was completed in August of 2010.

Some in progresses versions of this illustration can be seen here. You can see that the piece originally had a shorter composition but I widened it as it got closer to completion and am much happier with the final composition. This picture is one of those pieces I started a while ago and had to keep putting it on hold for various reasons. However, this piece will be on display at the New York State Fair from August 26th until September 6th, 2010, which was great motivation for finally finishing it off.

Prints of this illustration are now available through my print shop!

Watercolors at the art desk

I'm working on a commissioned painting today and thought that I'd share a couple of quick photos.

Watercolors in progress

Happy Friday! Here are a few photos of some watercolors that I'm working on today.

Inspirations: Vintage Books no.9

Last weekend I visited the local used book store and found two more vintage hardcover books to add to my collection. Both were in beautiful condition, with the only markings being either the previous owner's name inked on the inside cover or a stamp from the school library the book used to belong to.

The first one is a cute early reader book published by Beckley-Cardy, Chicago in 1953 titled Bucky Button by Edith S. McCall, with illustrations by Jack Faulkner. This book has the two color printing scheme that I find myself drawn to in many of the vintage books that I pick up. I particularly like the design of the cover, with the truck being off center and cropped halfway out of the frame.








The second book is titled Eight Fairy Tales, edited by Watty Piper, and published by The Platt & Munk Co., Inc. As far as a publication date, the book is listed with a copyright for 1934 and 1938, and the former owner wrote 1958 on the inside cover. The book is in really good shape, so I'm leaning more towards a 1950s printing. There is no artist credit listed for the illustrations save for a signature that says "Eulalie" on several of the illustrations (there is a mix of color and black and white pictures throughout the book).










The eight fairy tales told in this book are Peter Pan (which I think has the best illustrations), Cinderella, Dick Whittington, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss In Boots, The Three Bears, and Tom Thumb.

Sketchbook - Taughannock Falls

A drawing of Taughannock Falls, near Ithaca, NY. We definitely need rain around here, the falls were much smaller than normal.

Clay Cliffs watercolor

A small painting of the Aquinnah Cliffs, as viewed from Philbin Beach on Martha's Vineyard. This was done in my watercolor sketchbook and measures approximately 4 1/2" by 6".

Two years ago I posted a painting from the same watercolor sketchbook of the same cliffs, just a slightly different view. It's fun to look and compare the two.

Foggy State Forest

Another page from my watercolor sketchbook, this time featuring a foggy State Forest on Martha's Vineyard. Measures approximately 4 1/2" by 6".

Old Stone Wall from Up-Island

I love those old stone walls that you can find all over Martha's Vineyard, especially up-island. This picture was done in my watercolor sketchbook and measures approximately 4 1/2" by 6".