That's all she wrote!

16 of the 17 pieces done for my October Art-a-Thon.

Hey everyone, thank you for watching my blog this past month. I am almost at 4k views, so I know many stopped by to check it out. Here is the finished art (sans Rich's Scary Fairy piece...which is already in his hands):

I am now going on to prepping for a few conferences in the spring. Attending both SCBWI conferences in Austin (February) and Houston (April).

October is here!!!

Holy Cow!! It's October already!?!?

Okay guys,

Can't say this has been easy, but I am nearing the end of the commission/requests... Since I only got 15 requests, I decided to release them every 2 days, starting on October 2nd. Here is the order of dates:

October:

2nd
4th
6th
8th
10th
12th
14th
16th
18th
20th
22nd
24th
26th
28th
30th
31st

And if that wasn't enough, I decided to not just do drawings...

but to PAINT them!..

Some would say I was crazy for doing that, some would say I was crazy to just ask for a $20 dollar donation to my school's art program (I do accept higher donations--hint hint!)... the ones finished so far have came out to work of anywhere from 2 hours to 6 hours... to give you an idea of time spent.

The style differs from piece to piece, as well as the medium used. Hope you guys enjoy it, and make sure you stop by on the dates mentioned to see what is new. I will be contacting everyone who made requests individually, to arrange delivery.

...and PLEASE! Feel free to comment, or to just follow my blog.

Cheers! Joel

Artwork: Scarecrow

Inked art (L) and finished color art (R)

I thought I would try doing a piece for the Covered Blog, and redid a cover from Marvel Comics' Wonderful Wizard of Oz...  If you have a chance and can read any of them (I think they are on the 5th series), give them a shot. Great for all ages.

The Art:

I tried to keep the rough sketchy style of art that Skottie Young does in the books. I used solely a brush and ink on the drawing (above left)... using a mix of dry brush, some linework and spattering the ink. I used my fingerprints in the ink to help make the shadows... if you look close you can see my prints. I have seen other artists do this, particularly a great piece by Chuck Close... and thought I would give it a shot. It worked with moderate success, although I think next time I will use an ink pad.

The finished work is a mix of watercolor, gouache, colored pencil and ink.

You can really get some beautiful lines with the ink. I did this one pretty big, and I think in retrospect I would have liked to do it at half the size.

Artwork: Untitled

Currently working on a character design for a book I was thinking about writing. My main experience is in picture books, but this story would be a little bigger, like a beginner/chapter book...

Ok, I finished the blue character first, before I went on to the other one. I usually don't work this way, but I usually don't work this early (9 am). I usually am up til the am's finished a piece.... So I did half in the morning, and the other half at night:

I listened to an album I used to have in college: C'mon Feel the Lemonheads by The Lemonheads... Forgot how great of an album that was... almost 20 years ago. Wow. I am old.

Artwork: The Stinky Cheese Man

Once in awhile, I like to take a shot at doing some of my favorite characters. One of my all-time favorite children's illustrators is Lane Smith. One of his books is called The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. Wikipedia describes the book as such:

The Stinky Cheese Man and Fairly Stupid Tales is a postmodern children's book by Jon Scieszka. Published in 1992 by Viking, it is a collection of twisted, humorous parodies of famous children's stories and fairy tales, such as "Little Red Riding Hood", "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Gingerbread Man". Illustrated in a unique style by Lane Smith, the book won the New York Times Best Illustrated Book award, was a Caldecott Honor book, and has won numerous other awards in various countries.

The book has proved to be popular with children and adults, as its lighthearted approach creates interest while educating young readers about some of the features of books (such as title and contents) by poking fun at those conventions.

-He designs the book along with his wife, Molly Leach, who does the layout/typography. She is amazing... Here is a YouTube video of them discussing some of their books:

...And here is his site: Lane Smith Books

I really wanted to do a painting of the main character, who tries to entice everyone to chase him. Nobody does, however, because he stinks so bad.

I tried giving it an energetic background, and tried using some salt to add texture to the watercolor. I probably need to use bigger rock salt, because I did get a texture, but I wanted a little more.... 

Beginning Washes

I also tried to make the lines in the back give the feeling like odor was just coming off him in droves. I wasn't sure what kind of color to give him. I always thought a "Blue Cheese Man" would be interesting... but I went with orange-ish hues.

A man made of cheese, who stinks really bad. I love this kind of stuff!
All said and done, maybe 4 hours or so.

Artwork: Flying Monkey Flashback!

I am not obsessed with monkeys, honest... I was at the bookstore and got inspired by a Wizard the Oz book, and wanted to do a piece of one of the characters. I have always been drawn to the Tin Woodsman, because when I was a little kid, I thought he looked the most futuristic, like a spaceman... So I chose to do him, as if he was having a flashback to the Flying Monkey attack. That scene to me was scary: strange creatures attacking, complete chaos, the scarecrow being ripped apart, and kidnapping! I can't think of many other movies I saw when I was younger that gave me the feeling that scene did.

Left: Sketchbook, Right: Drawing on watercolor paper 

Thinking of doing the original in watercolor, and coloring the scan digitally, just for a change of pace.

Penciled Woodman: levels adjusted

..and after, I dunno...maybe about 5-7 hours (Thank you Spotify, for keeping me sane!), the watercolor is done. 2 things: I forgot how much fun watercolor can be, and I didn't use a marker. I have been trying to get away from using them, if only because I don't like to rely on them all the time. I researched to see what rust looked like on tin, because I always thought it was strange that, in the movie, the Woodsman would just freeze, but you would never see any rust on him: 

Finished WC... The new scanner did a pretty good job!

For a little while, I was worried. When I started adding the rust, he looked like he has thrown up on himself, or had the Ebola virus. I tried to add rust in the grooves and joints of his metal, or anywhere there would be excess moisture (eyes, mouth). He is coughing up a screw, because instead of phlegm, I would imagine a metal man would cough up rivets or washers or something of that nature.

I also have his funnel rising off his head, as I always assumed it was a hat that he would take off... like when he entered a church or stood for the National Anthem.

As always, Comments/Criticism welcome :)