Haven't done anything girlie in a long time. A quickie of Kato.

Happy Halloween!

I applied a palette from a design project to some Halloween goodies. Costumes are in the works!

Something a little different...

These are backgrounds for a upcoming catalog/planner for a company that does pre-school curriculum. A little different than my normal fare but still a lot of fun. It's kind of nice working on non-representational images.

Place-mats

These images were for a company that produces place-mats for the restaurant industry. It wasn't a high paying or high profile gig, but it was a heck of a lot of fun for a couple of reasons.

First off, all I was given was a title for each mat and a few guidelines the rest was up to me, total creative freedom!

Secondly, I was responsible for all of the content, the art, the games, the clues... all of it! I've always wanted to create dot-to-dots, mazes and coloring pages. I'd done a few for my kids but nothing like these. It was a total blast from start to finish!

I should add, each mat has a black and white coloring page on the reverse side. You can see those here.

I hope you enjoy!

Keep on Truckin!

Here's a few concepts I did for a t-shirt for a 5k walk/run. It was a fundraiser for LAMP for Haiti. They provide medical care for the people of Haiti and the race was to help fund their mobile out reach clinic/truck, hence the name "Truckin' for Haiti". They ended up picking a very different image. One that was a more literal take on Crumb's "Keep on Truckin" character. These however were my favorites. You can check out the image they chose on their website. While you are at it donate a few dollars. Every little bit helps and it's a great cause!

Keep on Truckin!

Merry Christmas!

QPB cover Concept to Final

That's Quality Paperback Books to you. I could use a little sun as the snow settles in on Traverse City, so here's a cover I did for them this summer for a catalog of "great summer reads".

From concept to final excluding a few other ideas I tossed as them.

Happy Halloween... a bit late

Last year for Halloween my son and I made this great robot costume. I stumbled across this picture a day ago and decided to give it some zip.

Fall Leaves

Just for fun... I'm tired of raking leaves, but they are so amazing to look at.

Better late than never?

Yes, I am a terrible blogger. I admit it, but it was summer time. When you live in a northern climate summer is not something to take lightly or let slip by. We had an amazing summer full of good company and good weather. Now back to work...

Here are a few dinosaurs and birds for a preschool curriculum company I do work for on a regular basis. More to come.

No no dear readers... or reader as the case may be, I'm not going to let April go by without an update. This is the last in the 5x7 series. I'm also including a new tutorial. This time I put together a quickie website to take you through the steps.

I use matte medium a lot. Why? Well for one it adds a layer of protection to your painting. This is particularly useful if you use cut paper like I do.

Also, if you get to the point where you really like a painting a quick coat will protect what's underneath. If you let is set up over night it's even better. You can apply the next coat of paint and if you don't like it you can immediately scrub it off with a damp clothe. This technique great for creating subtle layers of color.

More 5"x7"s

Phew... I almost went all of March without a post. That is something I vowed not to do this year. Here are the latest for the 5"x7" show at the Dennos Museum. These were fun to do. To get the look I wanted I used a lot of techniques I've not used in a long time. I'll post a quick tutorial on some of those techniques in the near future.

Praying Mantis

I am all about moving forward. If a piece doesn't work it gets reworked or painted over. I did this piece early this summer using the same process I did for Hobo Kitty. It never felt quite finished, so last month I decided to revisit it. I added the wings, and reworked the eyes and legs. All in all I think it works much better now. I'm thinking more bugs are on the way. Stay tuned!

Hobo Kitty 3-D

I did this piece some time ago to experiment with materials. I started with Super Sculpey, but given the characters thin wrists and ankles I could tell it was not going to work. Luckily my friend and 3-d artist extraordinaire Kevin Buntin turned me on to Apoxie Sculpt. It's not the easiest material to work with, but it is remarkably versatile stuff once you get a handle on it.

The armature is made of tin foil and wire. A thin coat of Apoxie Sculpt covers that which in turn is carved, sanded or dremeled as needed.

Three New Paintings

These are for a show at our local museum. It's a yearly event. All paintings entered must be 5"x7" and no more than $50. I've prepared 12 panels... lets see how many I get finished by May 1st.

First Sign of Fall ll

Number two in the series.

First Sign of Fall l

Considering there's a 18 inches of snow on the ground this isn't exactly seasonal, but... This will be available soon on Etsy as a print.

Madeline Island Sketchbook 1

Robots!

I just put the finishing touches on these. There were five, but one has found a home. They are all around 3.5"x2.5"x8.5". They are for sale. If you are interested send me an email.

-C

Lately I've received countless emails (one actually...) asking me how I work, so I thought I'd post a quick step by step on my completely backwards process.

Prep
I almost always work on birch panels. I like the way they feel (no give) more than canvas and since I often glue down old paper it's a much easier process. I apply a light coat of water to the board, then glue, then paper. I'll wet the paper lightly too before rolling it out flat and setting it aside under a few heavy books to dry. Once it is, I'll lay down a few coats of clear gesso, sanding lightly between each coat. Lately I've been sealing each panel with Matte Medium in place of gesso.

Step 2- The sketch
The title says it all.

Step 2- Color study.
I like to plan my colors carefully before I paint, so often I'll do a very quick color study in Illustrator.

Step 3-Vidal
Meet Vidal. This ain't no mamby pamby hair drier like the ones they make now a days. This sucker will burn your scalp off if you hold it too close. Besides letting me feather my bangs like a Partridge, it speeds things up for me. I can lay down a coat of paint or matte medium, blast it, and move on.

Step 4 and 5-Background
In this case I started with tissue paper. A light coat of matte medium, tissue, and more medium. This time I coat the panel with it. Why? Well, once the matte medium is dry (the longer the better) it creates a very nice barrier for the next layer. If I mess up on the next layer, and I work fast I can often rub it off with a very wet paper towel. Next the pink clouds, the white lines, and you guessed it, another coat of matte medium.

Step 6-Everything else
Once the background is complete I usually layout the rest of the image with a colored pencil (I use Mongels) that will wash off with water. Anytime I'm happy with what's going on I'll hit the whole panel with matte medium, let it dry, and move on. It's the closet thing I've found to an "undo" button.

Honestly I got so into painting I forgot to take more pictures, but there's not much else to it. I did the head with another piece of cut paper and the eyes with a circle template I dry-brushed through. The hat is tissue paper.

The end.

That's it.

Go paint.