Haystacks

An illustration from a story I wrote about a mythical village that is terrorized by a wind demon. Acrylic on watercolor board.

Teacup chihuahua

A line drawing for sample art. This might become a series of visual puns but basically just a fun drawing that came to mind.

Wind Demons

An illustration for a kids' story. I wrote it a while ago and decided it was pretty good so I am developing it for an upcoming writer's conference. I re-drew the kid in this about twenty times. I'm learning that creating a children's book is a lot of work.

Dragon's Back

Another illustration for my kids story Days With Dad. This is based on an actual incident when my Dad decided to install a totally new engine in our car the day before we were supposed to drive from Oakland to Los Angeles, about a 400-mile trip. My mother freaked out, like any rational person would and my Dad was like, "What's the big deal?" The idea that something could go wrong never entered his mind. So we were driving up a long steep mountain called the Grapevine and the engine started to overheat because it should have been broken in properly before being subjected to strenuous usage. Dad was about to pull over and stop when it began to rain. The rain cooled down the engine, we got over the mountain, and Dad proceeded to go about 130. I'm calling the Grapevine the Dragon's Back in this story.

Windwalker

An illustration for my kids' book illustration portfolio. After struggling with at lot of problems with the paper falling apart when I use washes on regular illustration board I heard about watercolor paper illustration board and gave it a try. Problem solved. It's got a little more texture than I like but the paper takes washes so much better that I can live with the texture.

Tiburon Fireboat

A piece for an upcoming group show called Marinscapes, an annual fundraising event in Larkspur CA on July 2-4. This is acrylic on canvas. Am getting more comfortable using Golden's Open Acrylics. I do an underpainting with traditional acrylic and finish with the open paint. I can achieve the blending and brushstroke look of oil without the hassle of solvent disposal that comes with using oils. I'm working on a portfolio of art for kids books and after that it's time to get a little nutty and try some ideas that I've been seeing in my head--look out! A link to the Marinscapes event: http://www.buckelew.org/marinscapes/