FAVORITE ILLUSTRATIONS: LITTLE WHITE DUCK

I found this book at the library a few weeks ago, LITTLE WHITE DUCK by Na Liu and Andres vera Martinez. It's a really good read and I think the art is fantastic. Just look at the emotion in the girl's face, that's great drawing.

FAVORITE ILLUSTRATIONS: RAGGEDY ANN

I was recently visiting my wife's parents in Utah and I found an old copy of the "Adventures of Raggedy Ann", written and illustrated by Johnny Gruelle. I don't know anything about him but I thought the ink drawings were great. These were two of my favorites. They're quite simple, nice line work and not a lot of hatching. I also like the use of the solid blacks, very well composed.

THE BLACK ARROW

I've been reading "The Black Arrow" by Robert Louis Stevenson. I read it and loved it a long time ago and I'm enjoying reading it again. It's made want to make some pictures. Above are a couple of my rough starts and below a little inspiration from N.C Wyeth. We'll see where it goes. Have a great long weekend everybody, and do some drawing.

BEAUTIFUL IMAGES FOR SPRING

After enduring the long winter my kids an I have been enjoying seeing the blossoms and birds near our home in Brooklyn. It's reminded me of these beautiful prints by Hokusai. Years ago when I was an unhappy engineering student I fell in love with  Chinese painting and Japanese printmaking. It was images like these that inspired me to start painting. I hope you're all having a lovely spring.

FAVORITE ILLUSTRATIONS

I took this book by Jon McNaught with me on vacation in Utah. I was unfamiliar with Jon's work when I bought this but I thought the cover was amazing. I couldn't resist. Sometimes you can judge a book by it's cover. Dockwood is beautiful book. Below is a spread that I thought was especially good.

If you haven't seen this book you should give it a look. Great work.

HOW TO DRAW LIKE HOWARD PYLE, SOME THOUGHTS ON THE CREATIVE PROCESS

This illustration, "The Coming of Lancaster" by Howard Pyle, was a very important part of my education as an illustrator.  It taught me one of the most valuable lessons I would learn, a lesson that was key to almost everything I learned afterword.

I started my illustration education after two years in the Engineering program at Brigham Young University. I had never had any formal art education but I knew that I wanted to make pictures.

In my second year I was taking a History of Illustration class taught by Robert Barrett. I loved this class. I was inspired by all the great work but I was also a little discouraged. I began to doubt my abilities and wonder if I would ever learn how to make pictures like the ones I was seeing.

The day I saw "The Coming of Lancaster" projected on the screen I remember being especially discouraged. I saw it and thought, How can I ever learn to make a picture like that?" It just didn't seem possible to me. Thankfully, before the despair set in, Bob showed us the next slide.

This one of Howard Pyle's early rough sketches for "The Coming of Lancaster". I saw this and thought, "THAT I CAN DO!" What an epiphany, I finally understood that great works don't begin as great works. They begin as rough ideas. I realized that creation is a process. I thought if I can understand the first step I can learn the next step. I was fully aware that I had much to learn, but I was confident that I could learn it.

Here's a rough sketch of my own. This is the sketch that later became the cover for "the Bad Beginning"

Today, I'm still learning and I still can't draw like Howard Pyle. Even after illustrating many books, whenever I start a new picture, I still get anxious and doubt my abilities. When this happens I just remember to start scribbling.

FAVORITE ILLUSTRATIONS

My daughter recently brought this book home from the library. It is written and illustrated by Luke Pearson. I was not familiar with his work, but I am a fan now. If you haven't seen this book, I highly recommend it.

FAVORITE ILLUSTRATIONS

I love the work of Russell Patterson. Beautiful compositions and simple elegant lines. I found this image in  a book called "Top hats and Flappers, the art of Russell Patterson." I highly recommend it.

FAVORITE ILLUSTRATIONS

This is one of my favorite illustrations by one of my favorite illustrators, Fritz Eichenberg. If your not familiar with his work you should have a look. This is the cover image from his edition of Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. This picture is a great example of using composition to tell the story. It not only illustrates the narrative but also captures the mood and emotions of the scene. Few have done it better.