Sketch of Lucci

This is a sketch that I did over my latest vacation while my son Lucci took a nap. I just particularly like this one as I think I caught a good likeness of him.

Sincere Deceit Book Cover Illustration

This is the second book cover that I did for John Eidemak. A new book cover illustration for the second edition publication of his book titled Sincere Deceit was needed.

After discussing the author's wishes for the cover, I provided 3 initial thumbnail sketches.

The top one on the left was the one closest to what the author had specified that he wanted. In the end, this was the sketch chosen for me to pursue.










So I worked up a more detailed sketch for the client including some text to indicate where I intended it to be placed.








The final painting was done in acrylic on board. They chose to go with a different placement of the text than I had designed. They really should have let me know they intended to do this because the final cover has the window with missing parts to it's framing.

Coloring-In Poster for School Summer Fair

I was asked to create a poster that the kids at Westbourne Primary School could color in and hang up in their windows to promote their summer fair this year.
They are going to have a contest for best coloring. I can't wait to see what the kids do!

Book Cover for John Eidemak's Upcoming New Crime Novel

Oil painting on canvas with text added afterwards.

Author John Eidemak hired me to do the art and design for his upcoming new crime novel about a London barrister whose wife and child are murdered. His wife was a ballet dancer and he becomes involved with her sister, another dancer.

This is all I know! We shall have to wait for his book to come out to find out the rest of the story.

Detail of the two dancers.

He has now hired me to re-do the cover of his already published book titled Sincere Deceit. Check it out on Amazon:
John Eidemak on Amazon

Fine China Illustrations for Rude-Chintz

A start-up company named Rude-Chintz hired me to create three designs for fine china tea sets. All with a traditional look on first glance but if viewed closely revealing a "rude" aspect to them. Due to the nature of the work, I can only show one of the designs with an area deliberately out of focus!

Delft inspired Farm Scene for the center of a plate.

Book Cover for Telling Stories in the Dark

My grandfather has written a wonderful book on how to tell "head stories", as my family has always called them, to your children titled Pete Seeger's Storytelling Book. It is out of publication now, and he wants to do a second publication with the new title of Telling Stories in the Dark (the name he originally wanted for it.)
He asked me to illustrate a new book cover for it. I recently completed a version of it. I'm not sure that this will be what goes to print. I put some text in to indicate where I intended it to go. No doubt when an art director is involved, there will be changes requested.

My Wedding Invitation Artwork

Columbine block print

 I

Well, five years down the road, I thought I might post the artwork I made for my wedding.

I've been bidding for freelance jobs on Freelancer, and have come to realize that while my versatility as an artist is pretty broad, in an effort to keep my portfolio consistent, I have not shown a lot of the work I've done in the past on my website. (That said, it's also terribly out of date! I really must get on that one.)

My blog seems like an appropriate venue to showcase some of the other things that I've been up to as an artist!

Columbine block print II

First version of doves that I didn't end up using.

Kissing Doves - part of my save-the-date mailer

Columbine Heart - this had text in the center and was used as my save-the date mailer.

This is the Doves Block Print that I used for my actual wedding invitation. Each one is numbered and is an original artwork. I used an overlay on a semi-transparent vellum with the details of the wedding.

This was the border I created for my Valentine's Day engagement announcement. I had text in the center.

Dryads In The Haze Of Morning- New Drawing

This is a drawing I worked on over the Summer which comes from a series that I've been working on for some time depicting spirits of the elements. I've got two large paintings titled Flamenco and Splash which represent fire and water. This is a preliminary study for a large painting to represent earth. I'm not quite satisfied with it yet, it still needs some work, but I'm pleased enough with it to want to share it. I've also got it in mind to build another series with this style of detailed pen and ink depicting literary and myth subjects.

Moody Moments from My Visual Diary

Here's some of the more personal images over the past couple of months from My Visual Diary project. Self-portraits of various kinds, dealing with some of my darker moments. The assignment: no more than 30 minutes, with no photo reference, only my memory of the day as my guide.

August 17, 2013 Walking on Eggshells

August 20, 2013 Job Interview

September 3, 2013 Strung Out

September 30, 2013 Falling

October 9, 2013 Drawing

Images of Summer from My Visual Diary Project

July 15, 2013 Moths

Well, the Summer has slipped away and I thought I would share some of my favorite pieces from My Visual Diary project that I began on July 1st of this year. The assignment: no more than 30 minutes, with no photo reference, only my memory of the day as my guide.

July 17, 2013 Fireflies

July 19, 2013 Hornets, Wasps, and Bees Everywhere

July 20, 2013 Ashes

July 25, 2013 Hugging Mom

August 5, 2013 First Time Underwater!

August 11, 2013 Our Sandcastle

August 14, 2013 Blackberries Everywhere

August 15, 2013 My Little Friend

Competition entry & Visual Diary for September 15th

This is the piece I entered for the competition.

I've been busy working on my Visual Diary every day since I started on July 1st. It's been an eye opening experience. My computer's memory is tapped out, and until it's resolved and I can again scan every painting in, I'll have to post only the especially meaningful ones. Stay in touch for a post coming soon showing the last two months' worth of highlights!

Abstract Floral 2   My Visual Diary September 15, 2013

Meanwhile, I've been on the job hunt and decided to enter a competition for a website banner for a wedding floral company on Freelancer.com. Here is my entry and it got me inspired to make one similar for my daily diary. They want something dotted and abstract/ geometric. I tried to adapt to that but still keep in mind that is was for a florist. Though now it looks like they really wanted something much more geometric than I thought they did! Oh well, at least it was fun to paint and has me thinking of pursuing this to see where it leads. A range of greeting cards perhaps?

My Visual Diary Days 3-12

July 3, 2013   Stars

Well I've managed to get through the first week and a half doing my visual diary. Already it has been really enlightening for me. I've set myself the task of no more than 30 minutes on a piece. I've been able to stay within an hour which is much better than past attempts at this!

July 4, 2013 Roald Dahl Museum

By far the most challenging aspect has been the self-imposed rule of using no photo reference for this project. The images are memories of the day, and therefore I must use only my memory as a guide. This has led to some interesting things! People only vaguely resemble who they are meant to be. This was most especially a struggle for me when I was remembering my grandmother who passed away this week. I wanted to capture her when she was younger, with long hair. I loved her hair. Even the magpies, which at the time I studied closely, were difficult to remember which parts of them were black and which were white.

I realize how far I am from being truly observant of my day.

July 5, 2013  Seagulls in Bath

July 6, 2013  Strawberry Picking

July 7, 2013  Bayswater Road Market?

July 8, 2013  Planting Lavender

July 9, 2013  A Working Printer!

July 10, 2013  Goodbye Grandma

July 11, 2013  Plum Wine

July 12, 2013  Five Magpies Sitting in a Row

My Visual Diary - Day 1 & 2

So I have set before me a new goal: My Visual Diary. 

One piece of art a day chronicling an element of my day for a year. I will spend no more than 30 minutes on it. (I've already cheated on this, but at least it is a format for me to strive for!) This will be very hard to do for me, as my life is so chaotic at present. But here goes...

July 1, 2013: The Purple Dress

July 2, 2013: Chocolate Chip Cookies

More new paintings in the "Little Gems" Series

Dragonfly with Dewdrops

Yellow Fairies

Thistles on the Isle of Wight

Thisles on the Isle of Wight

Another painting to be in my Isle of Wight show, which I'm hoping to have in the fall of this year.

This is a very recently completed painting inspired by the beautiful countryside on the Isle of Wight in England where my parents-in-law live. The path is along where an old railroad used to go and is now a lovely lane to walk or bike along that takes you from the center to the edge of the island. This particular winter morning was cold and frosty, but nonetheless enchanting.

Reflections

My newest painting titled Pink Water Lily Reflections

I taught an art class for the first time on Sunday this past weekend at the Merton Abbey Mills art market. It was really fulfilling to be teaching again after this past 2 and half year hiatus! There seemed to be interest in the classes, so I'm hopeful that they will grow into a solid future enterprise.

 This month I'll be focusing on painting with watercolor. Teaching these watercolor basics: how to choose what tools are needed, how to prepare your painting surface, painting light to dark, using the transparency of the paint, what common errors to watch out for and how to correct mistakes, building a painting up layer upon layer versus laying the paint on thickly, and with an emphasis on color mixing and color theory as the situation permits.

In preparing for teaching the course, I've been going over my notes in old sketchbooks from my CCA(California College of the Arts) days. Wow, do I ever miss art school! There is nothing like being surrounded by people who feel as passionately as you do about art and the feedback and interaction are to be treasured.