Thursday, November 27, 2008

New Art Showings!


FRESH PRODUCE at Anno Domini Gallery in San Jose, CA. Opens Dec. 5. I have 10 pieces in the show. They make great gifts-all work in the show is under $250. Above piece is one of 10 that I have in the show. Contact Anno Domini for purchase.

BLUE SQUARED at Vino Paradiso in Portland, OR. I had 2 pieces in this show. Dec. 3-Jan. 4.

Monday, November 17, 2008

San Francisco Trip


Just got back from a weekend trip to San Francisco. Love that city. This view is from Fort Point just under the south side of the bridge. I love to walk from Crissy Field to this spot whenever I go to the city.
This is the new California Academy of Arts and Sciences. Even though it's been open for a while now the line to get in was very, very long. Worth the wait. It is an amazing place. Great for kids. It's a natural history museum and an aquarium. I especially liked the green building features.
Restaurants
Eating is a big part of travel for me. Went to a few new places in S.F. this time around. I recommend: Chez Mamman-a small french bistro on Portrero Hill, Laiola-Spanish Tapas on Chestnut Street in the Marina and Paul K on Gough in Hayes Valley.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

New Illustration Completed

Just finished up this illustration project. It was for a magazine in Canada. Article was about a new energy distribution system. Instead of a main power plant that distributes power to all the homes and businesses in a city, they are working on a system where power and hot water are delivered to a sub-station then distributed to homes and businesses in a small area.



Here are my sketches leading up to the final art. Final art is executed in ink then scanned and layered and colored in Photoshop. I used to work, years ago, in traditional media which was fun but with Photoshop changes and moving things around are so much easier.
I start out with word associations then quickly move on to imagery. I work quickly. Usually the ideas come quickly so I have to catch them.

Here are the sketches that I sent to my client. As you can see, I leave them somewhat rough but put in some tone to give them some oomph. The client choose "E".
I likened the energy distribution system to the human body's circulatory system but instead of one heart I created a body with many hearts or sub-hearts like the system from the story.

Here is the final illustration. It went through a few different versions. I had different versions with variations in the background texture and overall colors. A fun project. Can't wait to see it in print.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Sketchy


Page from my sketchbook.
I usually don't post pages from my sketchbook because my sketchbook tends to be just a dumping ground for ideas and not a pretty thing. I go back to my sketchbooks for ideas for finished art pieces. But, this may provide a view into my process...a jumbled mess :)
I'm currently thinking a lot about monsters. Hmmm.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Making art

Preparing for the FRESH PRODUCE show at Anno Domini Gallery in December. Here are a few process shots. Sneek peak.
Things get a little messy.

Utter chaos. Seems to be the way I work.
This is how my pieces start. I make supports out of panels with framing glued to the back so that the piece appears to float on the wall.