Bloomin’ books!
This is a super duper first: I have 3 new books recently published! They are written by different authors, and have very different stories to tell. BUT, they have a few things in common, besides featuring my work: Each book has lots of blue on the cover, yup! And there is water involved. And the moon plays a part in every story. Here’s a list of bookish events coming up: June 27 at 10 AM Hello Hello Books Rockland, Maine Author of ISLAND BIRTHDAY, Eva Murray, and I will have our first book event together. Two islanders’ ferry schedules converge, watch out. Eva will read and I...
Read MoreOceans away!
Today is World Oceans Day! Now’s a good time to share my recent visit to Portland’s Reiche Elementary School at the invitation of Side x Side, an arts integration program. I felt right at home upon seeing this lively mural: I came to draw ocean creatures with three second grade classes, and talked about using the long horizontal for this illustration in Here Come the Humpbacks! by Caroline Arnold. I brought along my handy humpback toy for reference. This artist made great use of his page area, lower left. Everyone was provided with a line drawing of their chosen creature to look...
Read Moreslow motion ocean
Isn’t the internet grand? How else would I learn that May 23 is World Turtle Day? Now’s a good time to share a recent assignment for Cricket Magazine’s May/June cover about loggerhead turtles. I did a pile of small thumbnail sketches, and within this batch Art Director Karen Kohn chose the direction to go. She asked for a visual “reveal” to appear on the back of the cover art. I did this colored pencil sketch next, showing the mother returning to the sea at sunrise, her eggs in a sandy nest. This final illustration appears inside on the Contents page. Inside, a...
Read MoreMECAF follies ’15
I inexplicably missed the last couple of Maine Comic Arts Festivals, for shame! But the fog lifting over Portland pulled me right in this year. It’s important to check out the local peeps first. Here is the inimitable Fulton Beal, wacky dad and crazy cartoonist. Former MECA peeps here, Meagan Gibson and Declan McCarthy: Something about Murilo Martins book, I’m A German Shepherd looked familiar. When I found out he was from Brazil, I gave him one of my PDX zines, about the Other Portland. Lo and behold, he was at ICON8, too! Funny how tight the circle of illustration/zines/comics...
Read Morepapermaker
Growing up in a mill town brought resonance to my illustration for Papermaker by Monica Wood, now playing at Portland Stage Company. J. E. Henry built his mill in Lincoln, New Hampshire back in 1892, but it was in decline by the time I was in high school in the 1970’s. Still, our team was the Lumberjacks. My most vivid memory was of those smokestacks, a recurring element in all of my rough sketches. It seemed necessary to collage some newspaper in there somewhere, too. After all, I began my freelance career in newspapers, namely the Boston Globe. The play is set in a fictional Maine...
Read MoreGo, MECA illo Class of 2015!
Maine College of Art is in celebration mode as seniors prepare for tomorrow’s commencement at the State Theater. We’ve been putting our illustration majors through their paces over the last month. Along with portfolio reviews, each student is required to write a thesis paper, make an oral presentation in Osher Hall, and install a visual display of work. During his talk, Paul Gray said he left behind his horrible angsty drawings from high school to concentrate on illustrations that bring happiness. This bear and fox are featured in his thesis display emphasizing moral values via...
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