Merry Christmas!

...and happy holidays! I hope you have a wonderful season and pray mother nature hasn't undone all your travel plans. See you in 2010!

Mr. Fox

I went to see Fantastic Mr. Fox the other day and highly recommend it. If you get tired of formulaic, dumbed down, predictable movies (*cough* Blind Side *cough*), this is for you! Part Raising Arizona, part Royal Tenenbaums, part Wallace and Gromit. I am always so happy to see such creative, original, quirky movies and am glad people are sticking their necks out for such uniqueness. Mr. Fox lies right in that not really for kids, but not quite for adults sector. Perfect for the creative minded adult who never really grew out of childhood (or rather, never fully gave over to 'adulthood'). Wes Anderson has such a personality about him, and his movies are so specific, mix that with awesome stop-motion animation and you have a wonderful film.

A word of warning, it is different, if you know what I mean, but if the thought of an awesome animation doesn't make you excited, go see Blind Side.

Meet Mortimer

Mortimer is the frog who stars in many adventures that are told to a couple of kids by their very imaginative father. Included in the stories are Mr. Beaver-the builder, and the princess Raccoon. I did this painting for a good friend who is trading a snuggly hand-knit baby blanket for it. A fine trade, exclaims Mort!

Also, I've missed illustration friday lately, so here are a couple images for that. I have SO many music inspired paintings, I can't believe I missed the week it was the topic! The first two are for "music", and the last picture is a page from my upcoming book called "ZISHE - The Superman of Strength" published by Kar-Ben publishing fall of 2010. Zishe used to crack nuts and drive nails into boards with his bare hands. So here we are:

A little Christmas and a cartoon

I love doing a new Christmas painting, something I do every year. Something about the magic feeling, something bigger than us, but smaller somehow that draws inspiration from me. This year I thought I'd try a new color scheme and get away from the usual 'red/green'. I knew I wanted to use gold leaf, but after painting it, I thought the orange/rusty copper leaf would go better with the blue/greens. So here it is, "Adoration".

Also, I've done another small stop-motion animation so I'm posting that as well. This is my second 'video' and they are so fun to do, I love picking music to go with the art. On a side note; I'm not actually left handed. I had to shoot the video upside down, then when I flipped it over, it played backwards. Anyhoo, give it a look-see.



P.S. can't believe I missed Illustration Friday the last couple weeks, so I'll post another couple pictures this week!

Have a good winter

I hope this winter season is fun for all, put please be safe and watch your speed! You may become 'unbalanced' in your pursuit of happiness.

This is a new postcard I'm sending out for the holidays. Good times!

Surfing Pig

A little stop motion video I did of myself working on a painting. I love watching other artists work and seeing how they work and where they work, so here is a little peek into me. Enjoy!

Sendak on Sendak

Last night I went to see the exhibit of Maurice Sendak's work at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in Sf. If you are anywhere near San Fran and have any interest at all in Sendak, go see it. It is always so inspiring and enlightening for me to see other illustrators work, especially a master.

One thing that surprised me was the size of his work, there are a few spreads from "Wild Things" there and they are half the size of the book! So the Nutshell Library drawings are like, actually that size. Anyway, fascinating guy with a fascinating story who does fascinating work.

"Infinity"... or "The night cat caught a shooting star"

The moon and a shooting star. How far does the star fly? Infinitely!

Also a cat, just for fun.

Welcome!!

I got the okay to show some art from "Zishe the Strongman", the second picture book illustrated by yours truly and coming out next Fall through Kar-Ben Publishing. So here is a scene from the book, when Zishe coming from Poland arrives in America, his reputation having arrived before him.

A big welcome from the big apple!

...And while we're on the topic, here is a nice 'welcome' spread from "Meet the Howler's", my other book coming out next year, about howler monkeys. It will be released in Spring 2010 from Charlesbridge, so be shure to pick up your copy of each book!!

STRONG!

Well, this is one Illustration Friday topic I have many pieces for. As some of you know, and some of you will find out, I recently finished illustrating a book for Kar-Ben publishing about a real life strongman from the early 1900's. It was lots of fun to do and is coming out fall of 2010.

I'm not sure I should be posting any of the art from the book just yet, but what the heck, above are a couple sneak previews!

Below are just a few other "strong" images. Strongmen are just so fun to draw ( I think it's the mustache)!

September Art Show

For the month of September I'll have art hanging at "3 Bees Coffee" in downtown San Mateo, CA. It's located on 3rd at B street. Really cool little place with great coffee! Hope you can make it!

Here is their website.

Wrapped

My painting for the kids over at Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty (just try and say that without smiling!). They have asked artists for some 'fan art' based on the kids drawings, and I picked Lily's "Booked"... but I like to think they are all 'wrapped' up in a good book, or 3!


A piece I did for a friend's going away present. A scarf is the perfect accessory for a long neck, and what better way than to make your own.

Impatience

Two drawings this week, they just happened to both fit this theme (roughly). Impatience can get you stuck in a bad place. Or a good one.

Modify

The zoo monkey modifies a passer-by without notice! A sketch for a book idea I'm working on, stay tuned...

Idle

A cat will idle where it pleases.

Tango at Trieste

This is a piece I did recently for my show at Caffe Trieste in downtown San Jose. Not specifically a tango painting, but it has that feel. I've been experimenting with a few new techniques also. Lately I've been really into Bossa Nova and all manner of jazz from Brazil, which is what sort of inspired this. Check out this great blog (Loronix) for tons of great records and info!

Anyway, it's been quite the "tango" dancing through all the projects I'm currently working on. See the previous post for more on that. But to see this painting in person, and much more, visit Caffe Trieste at 315 S. First Street in San Jose from 7/24 - 8/30. There is a reception the First Friday of August, the 7th, from 7pm-whenever. It'd be great to see you if you can make it (and are in the bay area, of course)!

Upcoming shows

Some of the events and shows coming up featuring my art:

SUDIO Gallery website: www.STUDIOGallerysf.com

Art on the Square info here.

Festa Italiana info here.

Caffe Trieste info here. Opening reception is Friday, August 7 from 7pm-whenever.

Art on the Square info here

Drifting

A piece I did recently that I titled "Adrift". Then I noticed this week's Illustration Friday topic was "drifting", then I noticed I haven't posted on my blog in many moons. So here is the triple play!

You can buy a print of this here.

Paper Making

Last weekend our art group made paper out of recycled junk mail. So this morning I carved a linoleum block and printed on it. Some of them turned out well, but I need to work on getting the paper smoother, less texture. All in all, a fun experience. Here is a photo of the print on a sheet of handmade paper.

Coming soon!

The story of Walter, and how he satisfied his hunger. 4 part series.

Hierarchy

This week's Illustration Friday topic, "Hierarchy". Don't know if these two know, but the order seems a little mixed up between them! :)

Time lapse, an impossibility

So it's been some time since I've posted here. Maybe not so much an impossibility, but that is this week's Illustration Friday theme. So here is my "Impossibility". Maybe impossible, but a pretty good day dream!

Barefoot show pics.

Here are a few pictures from my show at Barefoot Coffee in Santa Clara. Thanks Lisa and Sarah for coming out! It's up all of April, so after you get your taxes done, go have a nice relaxing, tasty cup of espresso.

Art Show in April

Come on by if you're in the area. Here is Barefoot Coffee Roasters website. Here is a map to the coffee shop. I'll have lots of little original paintings, as well as some medium size stuff and some felt ornaments.

This place has some super awesome coffee as well. Really funky cafe. Artists reception this Saturday from 8-10 pm (I'll probably be there earlier).

Top 10 picture books, at least for today.

So over at Fuse #8 the gauntlet has been thrown down, and the challenge is to come up with your 10 best picture books of all time. Then a list will be compiled of the 100 best picture books of all time, using the results of everyone who entered.

As this is such an awesome challenge, I couldn't let it pass me by. However, this is a bit difficult for me because my favorites today are not the same as my favorites next week, or next month. So, despite my easily swayed sense of loyalty and unquenchable thirst for my next favorite artist, here is my list as of March 25, 2009:

Top 10 Picture Books Of All Time


1) Where The Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.
Okay, no surprise here. You'd be hard pressed to find a list without this one. Obviously, awesome.


2) The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs.
This book is so beautiful and magical. The mood is so powerful and real to life, but so much like a dream. The scene when they are flying over the city gives me chills every time I see it. Lovely.


3) A Pirate's Night Before Christmas, by Philip Yates, illustrated by Sebastia Serra.
This book just came out last year, but it's already high on my list. This is exactly the type of book I would have loved as a kid. Pirates. Christmas. The illustrations are so fun and filled with little details. Makes me happy.


4) The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg.
It was hard for me not to make a list of 10 of my favorite Van Allsburg books. But this one would be on the top. A classic Christmas story, and the illustrations are so mysterious and quiet. I so want to go to the north pole.


5) Listen, Listen, by Philis Gershator, illustrated by Alison Jay.
Okay, Alison Jay is radical. This poem is so fun to read, and I had a hard time picking one or two of Alison Jay's books for this. But this book is just such a good idea and evokes each season so well.


6) Good Night, Mr. Night, by Dan Yaccarino.
Speaking of great ideas, make night a "Mr." and show how he wakes up and closes the world down, then he goes to sleep when the day starts. Such a wonderful idea and soothing paintings.


7) Chowder, by Peter Brown.
Look at that dog's face. Nuff said.


8) Katy and the Big Snow, by Virginia Lee Burton.
Why do so many of my books involve snow? I always loved this book as a kid, and still think it's great. There are so many neat little details in here, and it flows so well when Katy starts to plow the town. I love the limited palette.


9) The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, by Chris Van Allsburg.
It was hard to pick just one of his other books, but this one always sticks out in my mind. The illustrations are so mysterious and atmospheric. I would love to get lost in the garden.


10) Hondo & Fabian, by Peter McCarty.
Just such a wonderful buddy story, and the perfect bedtime story. Soft, quiet pictures with gentle, flowing text and great characters. All with such minimalism. Beautiful.

So there it is. There are several books that are on my honorable mention list, but for whatever reason these ones made the cut. Maybe they just seem to stick in my head, and isn't that what a good picture book does?

Legendary

It's been a couple weeks since I've posted on Illustration Friday, but I've been painting a lot lately and a lot of my work might fit under this category, so here we go! I did this painting the other day, small, like around 6x9-ish, for a show I'm doing in Santa Clara at a place called Barefoot Coffee (awesome coffee by the way, if you're ever around Steven's Creek area [Brandon] check it out).

Anyhoo, a little scene of Walter Elephant roaming the lost city. Enjoy!