Thursday, June 16, 2011

More poets, more cattle

Here are some more paintings for "Poets and Cattle", coming to Norwood Flynn Gallery in September. All are acrylic on canvas, 8 by 10 inches.

"Thomas Moore"

"Joanna Baillie"

"William Wordsworth"

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

"Mini Takka"


At the top of this photo is "Mini Takka" on the wall of its very neat and clean home.

Friday, June 3, 2011

"Sara Teasdale"

"Sara Teasdale", 16 by 16 inches, acrylic on canvas.
This is another piece from "Poets and Cattle", my September show at Norwood Flynn Gallery.

Shadows

From an old book, Fun with a Pencil by Andrew Loomis, I learned how to create accurate shadows for invented scenes without photo reference. I teach the technique in one of my illustration classes, sometimes to the chagrin of students who try to make it way more complicated than it is.

I used the system in this early illustration for a magazine article on private chess clubs in New York City. Above each table is its own light source. The sconces on the wall woudn't provide enough light to interfere with the lights above the chessboards.

I've used this method a lot, but not all the time. As I tell the students, it's good to know it even if one doesn't use it.