Monday, September 30, 2013

Backlit San Francisco

Another study (8x10) based on a photo I took in San Francisco a few years ago. I like painting subjects that are backlit. It simplifies the shapes and creates wonderful atmospheric perspective.


Saturday, September 28, 2013

Intensity/neutrality

This is a little 6x8 painting based on a photo I took a few years ago in San Francisco. Aside from the point of view and the interesting shapes of darks and lights, I was interested in the neutrality of most of the color with just a few accents of intensity.


Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Painted a canal this AM

Got out and painted a canal this morning. Weather's cooling down so we can do this now. Bright sun glaring off water and the new paved bike path. I was mostly concerned about getting a color idea down and an interesting composition.

(shot on site: a little out of focus and some weird reflections that look like pixie dust)

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Harvest Moon over New York

My friend Brad Teare, art director at the Friend magazine (he's also an accomplished painter with a good blog) asked me to do a cover for their October issue. He said they wanted something that looked a little more urban than their usual pastoral settings. Also, that I might include something about the season.


The Friend is a publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (of which I am a member). For their covers, they assign an illustrator a month and let him or her come up with five or so ideas and they choose which one they want. It's not real often that I get that kind latitude. Thanks Brad!

Here is one of the reference photos I took of my grandkids.


Monday, September 9, 2013

Parched. A book cover

Claire Counihan, AD at Holiday House, asked me to do a cover. It's a book called Parched. The world has gone through decades of drought and is dried up, except for a domed city built by some of the surviving people. It has it's own biospher. This is the work in progress.


Monday, September 2, 2013

Superstition Sunrise

Between illustration jobs and teaching, I haven't had much time to paint. So I've started doing quick half our sketches of the sunrise looking east from my neighborhood.