Pencil final of Firstborn

At the teacher critique, I was told to change the pose of the model. In the story, the lead character, Dennison, is unsure of himself and has low self esteem because he is a constant failure at the space battle hologram that he is in charge of. I figured Dennison would be portrayed best by being static in motion and have the tension come from the hologram itself. The teachers said that even though that idea is more true to the story, it makes for a better picture artistically to make the pose more dynamic. So, here is the redrawn pose. Its much better, isn't it? Teachers are right again! I had a great pose that they liked from a photo shoot I had done with Jack before I left. The only problem was, it was too out of focus to get a good painting with, so I had to ask three separate students to pose for me as I reshot the reference photos of their hands and faces to get the details right. Since I don't have a printer with me, I had to use the computer screen on my laptop as a reference of the photos. Ah, the benefits of technology!

The Legendary Michael Whelan

Holy Cow, We got to watch a demo and presentation by a living national treasure: Michael Whelan. I've been a fan of his work since the mid 1970s. If you have read a book by Isaac Azimov, C. J. Cherryh or any Anne McCaffry, you have seen a cover done by him. He is a quiet and reserved man, and generously shared his methods with us. We even got to paw through a pile of his art prints to take home. I got four signed!!

Value Sketch for Illustration Masterclass

Here is my small value sketch for an assignment for the upcoming Illustration MasterClass in Amherst Mass. this week. The book is called Firstborn by Brandon Saunderson. (It is about to be published, this is just a class assignment). The subject is a young man who has been raised to be a spaceship battle strategist for a sci fi galaxy federation. He manipulates a 3-D holographic projection of battleships like in StarWars. He is dedicated, unsure of himself and fails at every simulation he engages in. Ultimately, he ends up saving the galaxy from his much older and impervious evil brother who commands the entire starfleet and attempts a military coup.

Our first day of class will be spent listening to the instructors tear our sketches apart. The second day is redo time with possibly new photo model shoots and starting from scratch. A very good learning experience! I will post the progress so you can follow along. Wish me luck!

Rats!! Deseret Books rejected my children's book

Well, the best laid plans.....Deseret rejected my children's book. The very nice rejection letter said that they are too busy with editorial duties to specify why it was rejected. The good news is that now I can share some of the color images from the non-existant book! Here is a two page spread of the temple at Temple Square in Salt Lake City during the Christmas season. The orange area on the lower left is for the location of the words. All the art for the book was done on Wallis Art Paper (like a sandpaper) with dry pastels. I used them because they give intense, vibrant colors and reproduce wonderfully....no glare! The colors seem to actually leap off the page at you. I also enjoy the roughness of it- the idea is to see the artist's hand in the work: strokes, blurring, and dabs of color. Sort of reminds me of a bullfighter dashing his cape around a bullfight. The down side is that they are very, very messy and fragile.

My story is about a mother who takes her small son and baby daughter to visit temple square for the first time and it just happens to be during the Christmas season with all the lights and Nativity. They visit several of the land marks there and learn more about Jesus Christ at each one. At the conclusion of the story, the boy learns that his feelings for Jesus Christ have grown and that he can take the wonderful feeling of temple square home with him by reading the scriptures. It was supposed to be a children's book and temple square souvenier book all rolled into one. Atleast my someday grandkids will have a book about Temple Square to read when they come to visit grandma.

Interior two page spread

This image is of the two main characters walking down a neighborhood street at Christmastime. The mother is taking her small son and infant daughter to Temple Square in Salt Lake City for the first time. The blank area on the right side is for the words in the book.

book dummy

OK the book dummy is finished and in the hands of the publisher. I'm waiting for the dreaded rejection notice...I can't really post the art work until then. sigh. Many thanks to Mel and Eli for posing for the art! It was great fun.

my son Steve and I at the art exhibit opening...and here it is at the show!