Tag Archives: illustration

by

New Book: A Psalm for When I Wander

I am delighted to announce my newest book! A Psalm for When I Wander is a poem about God’s guidance and the third book I have written, illustrated, and published.

It is fair to say this book was 9 years in the making. (Representative of the 9 spheres of heaven?) The illustrations were painted in 2014 for a different project that did not come to fruition. Because they had been made to accompany a specific manuscript (not mine), I considered well what to do for a new text that could stand with the illustrations as a complete, independent work. It became clear that the text should not be a narrative depicted or explained by the art, not so prosaic as “One sunny day, the little white goat wandered away.” Rather, the text and the art should complement each other.

Complements exist in other literary forms. I thought specifically of haiga, a Japanese form that unites poetry, often haiku, with art that often does not literally depict the scene or event in the poem. (In fact, it’s better if it doesn’t.) Traditionally, the poems were paired with simple ink paintings. More types of art are paired today.

Given the illustrations’ pastoral qualities, the only thing to do was to write a poem and prayer about God as shepherd. It took shape over the course of a few months and was inspired by a longer medieval poem. So as not to spoil the delight for those who enjoy discovering on their own, that work shall here remain unnamed.

Aside from a few spots that I edited slightly, the artwork remains unchanged from 2014. To see some of the illustration process, have a look at these past posts (which cover other projects, too):

A Psalm for When I Wander is $10 plus applicable postage.

Other books available:

Please email me if you would like a copy of Psalm or any of the other books. Blessings to all.

by

Marching Along

Hmm. Judging by the title, the Art Walks may be done, but wordplay and references to foot travel persist. So be it. I have updates on three projects this month: a long-term one, a medium-term one, and short-term one.

Long-term: Recently I finished illustrations for a Biblical children’s book. It is a retelling of an Old Testament story. After the author and I wrap things up, I will share more.

Medium-term: A few months ago, an illustration project I completed for a client a few years ago fell through. In short, after long absences, the client completely rewrote the story, so the illustrations no longer fit. I have been thinking about how to use them for a book of my own. More on that, too, when things are further along.

I have posted some of the art before, so if you would like to see any, either visit the Illustration gallery (after the Racing Pajamas illustrations) or, for some different images, including in-process work, search for “goats” in the site search bar.

Short-term: A special lady who has has served the organization where I work is retiring from the board. She has served with overflowing love and joy in many capacities over multiple decades. This drawing was part of her send-off and thank-you gifts.

by

Art Walk 3: Elementary, My Dear Bergeson

Today’s Art Walk has a new theme and timeframe: elementary school.

If you are just starting the Art Walks, welcome. Briefly, this series reviews my art from years past. You do not need to read episode 1 or episode 2 before this one because the content is not chronological. 1 & 2 are thematically grouped to the effect of “Memoirs of a Teenage J-pop Fan Artist.”

Watson’s comment is how I chose to continue the unintentional Ohno (Satoshi)/”oh, no” title art trend (and thereby render it intentional). “Misquote” refers obliquely to the fact that canonically, Sherlock never said, “Elementary, my dear Watson.”

I know exactly the drawing to start. Cue Inigo Montoya: “I am waiting for you, Vizzini! You told me to go back to the beginning, so I have.”

As far as school art goes, this is the beginning. When I drew it, I tried to figure out how to do aerial perspective. (I would not have used that phrase then, but I could tell that things look smaller further away.) See the speckled area on the left? I envisioned the neighborhood in the valley visible from my backyard. The small green dots are trees and the larger green patches yards.

In this picture, also from kindergarten, I like that I can see the process—that I built (drew) the snowman before I dressed it and drew hair before putting on the hood. The second is harder to see, but click to enlarge, & look closely at the hood. Part of it is green because the yellow marker blended with the blue. I also like the snowman’s funny expression. (Perhaps I could have used it as the “Oh, no” for the title image.)

There’s no date or grade on the back of the next one. I think it’s from either first or second grade. (Click to enlarge.)

“Frottage” derives from frotter, French for “to rub.” I arranged leaves, laid a sheet of paper over them, and rubbed crayons on it to make the textures of the leaves.

The next pictures are from my early days as an illustrator, long before Racing Pajamas. My elementary school had a small publishing center (basically a cubicle); students could bring a story or essay, select a book cover, and design a title label. A staple-bound book would be ready a few days later.

This is perhaps a desultory illustration to select because the setting is a bathroom, but if Marcel Duchamp can claim to turn a urinal into art, I can show a kid’s drawing of a loo and draw less criticism. (Pun always intended.) I am impressed with the commode & the toilet paper dispenser; all the components are there in decent proportions.

Other projects involved filling blank, pre-bound books, for instance, the fifth grade immigration project. Students learned about waves of immigration to America in conjunction with family history. We read Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse; the next two drawings are depictions of towns in the story.

The soldier at the right of the Berdichev drawing makes me smile because in retrospect, he looks like he’s lying (sleeping?) on the edge of the circle, and his mustache is big.

Unlike everything above, the next two pieces were done in art class (also fifth grade). The first is a scene made after learning about Henri Rousseau’s jungle paintings.

This puma on scratchboard was from a different unit. The directions of the fur were a good challenge.

Thanks for walking. See you again.

by

Bubblegum

The painting shared in my previous post is finished. It’s called “Bubblegum Pop,” which is a style of music as well as what occurs when someone blows too big a bubble. (As usual, click the thumbnail to enlarge.) I may paint another version down the road, one that’s a little more… spontaneous? Brighter? Fresher? The right word will come. Or maybe I’ll do a drawing; I thought of using my Prismacolor markers, but they’re still in Florida. (I couldn’t pack all my art supplies in the car and still have room for an art show.)

Acrylic, 9″ x 12″

I’m adjusting to my new studio space (aka the card table in the corner). This week, the painting table will become the proverbial drawing board as I set up for the next project–once again resuming John Churchmouse illustrations. (Poor mousie–he’s been on and off the drawing board and the writing desk umpteen times since the idea came to me in 2011. But his day will come! This could be the year!)

by

Pre-Thanksgiving Morsels

Instead of turkey, how would you like lamb chops and frog legs for Thanksgiving this year? Oh. Not so enthused? How about the meal menagerie before instead of for Thanksgiving? Take it or leave it–that’s what I’m serving today.

First on the menu, some lamb–a snapshot (yes, it was taken with a camera) of a scene from my latest commission, The Littlest Sheep. Our protagonist, alone, struggles against the wind and rain to climb the mountain.

LS_climb

Second menu item: frog legs. The first leg is that the autumn issue (37:3) of Frogpond (The Haiku Society of Ameria’s literary/poetry journal) arrived the other day, and page 40 is garnished with my first professionally published short poem:

H_FP37.3

(This is the one that rocked the poetry reading opening night of the haiku conference I attended this summer.) The second frog leg is that today I received an email accepting a haiku for the next issue, too.

Have a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving!