Alice Meets The Caterpiller

Impatience

The inspiration for this piece came from the "Illustration Friday" website (http://www.illustrationfriday.com), where artists post different interpretations of a particular word on a weekly basis. That week the word was "Impatience". Enjoy.

In the Forest

This is another self-promotional piece based on "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus". I wanted to create a scene with a lot of characters interacting, rather than focusing on one or two.

Girl in Tree

This is the other piece I entered in the "Communication Arts" competition (see previous entry). It is clearly another fantasy illustration. It's not based on any book; I more or less used my imagination. It's a similar approach that I used in my "Necile" piece, but I've tried to become a little more loose and painterly. I feel that I've been honing a style for a while now that that I'm finally there. I know that I'm enjoying the work more than ever.

Little Red Wakes Up

Though I've been aware of it for some time, I decided to enter the "Communication Arts" illustration contest. Communication Arts publishes annuals on Illustration, Advertising, Design, Photography, etc. The only prize for the contest is for your work to be featured in the illustration annual w/ your contact info. Apparently, this is a good way to get your work in front of art directors, publishers, etc., which could be priceless. This is one of the pieces I entered: It's an illustration for "Little Red Riding Hood" and is self-promotional.

Necile Finds Claus

This is an illustration for the book, "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus", by L. Frank Baum. This is the same author who wrote "The Wizard of Oz". The book is full of fantasy imagery, and the story is interesting. I thought it fit well w/ the style I've been developing. I've become very interested in "Golden Age" childrens illustrators like Edmund Dulac and Arthur Rackham. I think this piece reflects that, but I hope it has a flare all it's own. This is a self-promotional piece.

Diamond Lily

This is artwork I created based on an idea of a friend of mine–It's not associated w/ any actual book. This is another experiment using pastel. I also used this technique on the "Hobart Hucklebuck" book cover. The media is forgiving and quick but it is VERY hard to control.

Hobart Hucklebuck

This is a book cover I did for "The Misadventures of Hobart Hucklebuck", by Stan Swanson. It is available on Amazon but has not been picked up for a publisher as yet. The book is along the lines of "Harry Potter", but for a younger audience. This was done in pastel, which proved difficult, but produced a neat effect.

Circus

This is the result of experimenting w/ doing finished artwork in Adobe Illustrator. I like the effect–It looks a lot different from my "fairy tale" style but I think it works–especially for younger kids. One of the problems a commercial artist sometimes faces is developing a "signature style", so clients know what to expect from you. I would hope though, that versatility also counts.

Don Quixote

This is one of my favorite illustrations I've done. I did it some time ago, and I'm thinking of re-doing it in a somewhat different technique.

Jabberwocky

This is based on the poem by the same name by Lewis Carroll. His work is custom made for illustration. Recently, I've begun sketching out ideas for "Alice in Wonderland".