Elvis loves Seattle

In honor of  the 35th anniversary of Elvis's death today here is a painting I just completed. It is for an art show coming up at Seattle's Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival over Labor Day weekend. The show is called "Elvistravaganza! The King Returns to Seattle!" Thanks to my former Cornish teacher Jo David for asking me to be a part of it. The lineup of artists is incredible. Here is a link to learn more about the show http://elvistravaganza.blogspot.com/.

It marks the 50th anniversary of the Space Needle built in 1962 and the same year Elvis visited Seattle to film the movie "It Happened at the World's Fair". My piece was inspired by an actual souvenir Space Needle pen from 1962 that went back on sale this year. The creator had some lying around these many years. So if you buy the painting ($500) you get a pen! The pen hangs on a string. Elvis really did love Seattle and so do I.

Camel in my back pocket

Today I was asked by a client if I had any paintings of camels for a possible project. I have horses, oxen, cows, kangaroos etc, but no camels. I spent an hour quickly sketching this up. Now I have a camel in my back pocket.

Mummified illustrator

YES that's me as a mummy wrapped in toilet paper for a recent project. YES I take this job very seriously. That's called dedication.

Another award for The Can Man

More great news for The Can Man! The book won the 2012 New York State Reading Association's Charlotte Award! Nearly 12,000 students across New York State voted for the winner from the list of nominees. It's especially exciting because they only choose winners every 2 years. I am so glad to have been a part of this great project.

New sample fresh off the easel

I just finished a new painting I'd like to share. The story behind the painting is interesting. Late last year I completed some drawings for a client for a book but because the due date was changed around the holidays I was not able to complete the final paintings. Sadly they needed to find another illustrator to finish them based on my sketches. It was unfortunate but I am making the most of it by completing some of the final illustrations myself. They story is set in the Maine woods. Hope you like it!

"The Can Man" wins an award!

Great news! "The Can Man" won one of the state reading awards it was nominated for! "The Can Man" was voted by the participating students of Pennsylvania as their favorite and is the intermediate level winner of the Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award for 2011-2012!

Mount Rushmore revisited

In honor of President's Day I decided to revisit the subject of Mount Rushmore with a series of new paintings. Last year I completed one painting of the monument that proved very popular. I love the subject so much I couldn't resist another go at it!

For this project I wanted to create something with a graphic novel feel so I designed this two page spread that shows the evolution of part of the carving. I could see this idea working really well as a picture book (hint, hint). In total it took them 14 years to complete the monument. My paintings took about 3 weeks. I had lots of great old photos for reference that I based my paintings on. Enjoy!