Illustration for a Children's Book

A backdrop for my upcoming book "Hattie Bell and the Christmas Skates." This is the left section of a panoramic illustration that will span two pages and include people, street traffic etc.

Executed the old-style way using watercolors and India ink. The sky was added in photoshop and will be replaced with a painted version.

A Shakespeare Feast

A color sketch- about 80% complete of William Shakespeare. The piece is one of several ideas I'm working on for the cover of a book of recipes taken from meals in the works of the Bard. This is based on the well known woodcut that was executed years after his death. 

The two color portraits are believed to have been painted while Shakespeare was still alive. The authenticity of the portrait on the left, known as the Cobbe Portrait is disputed by scholars. The center painting bares a much stronger resemblance to the woodcut (right.)

Judi, Judi, Judi

Click picture to enlarge.

Book Illustration 1

A drawing done the old-school way. This started out as a quick pencil sketch a few days ago. I used to use india ink, water colors, pens (the kind you dip into a bottle of ink) and brushes every day of my working life but it's been quite a while since I worked in that fashion. To me- few methods match the beauty of a picture composed with lines of varying weight and density used to create depth and texture. The master of this technique was the late Ronald Searle.

It's a dying art form that's rapidly being replaced by simulators (styluses and tablets.) I see some gorgeous work being done digitally but it's hard to tell one artist from the next. The same can also be said for the overuse of felt tip pens and spray paint. Ideas-creativity, whether in writing, music or art, start with a simple pencil and a piece of paper.

The drawing was too large for my scanner so I had to piece it together from two separate scans in Photoshop. There are several (too-dark) lines that were enhanced in p/s.

Here's an experiment with superimposing one drawing- the little girls, over a separate background. It's the common practice for animated cartoons that would be useful, at times, for book illustration. Both layers are executed with watercolor on paper.

Hawaiian War Chant

Greatest version of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra classic- dig those tom toms! From the 1970's Time-Life series release of the Swing Era- Billy May orchestra version.

Click here!

The State and Gargantua

"The State" from my "Fresh Kills" series. This piece was inspired by "Gargantua," (below) 

drawn by the great French cartoonist Honore' Daumier in 1831.

Concept for a Bas Relief- The Portal

In my original sketch I envisioned a working electric buzzer or bell. This would be a permanent installation, approx. 10' high, embedded into the wall. The piece will be constructed with wood and painted pure white.

Charles Trenet - Boum

Watch for the little kicker near the end. Trenet's most famous song is probably La Mer. Bobby Darin recorded a hit version called "Beyond the Sea."

Concept for ArtsPaper Print Edition

"It looks too much like the New York Observer," - Palm Beach ArtsPaper Publisher/Editor, Greg Stepanich.  He is correct, of course but I couldn't resist the salmon-colored paper that sets off art and photography so well. I also took a good look at The New York Sun. I like the old-timey look of the mastheads. 

Best yet is this picture of Actress Noel Neill as Lois Lane, holding a copy of the Daily Planet- a massive broadsheet that would fold into a neat tabloid size. It has a classic masthead as well. And who wouldn't snatch up a newspaper with headlines that large? GRAPHIC ART GENIUS TRIUMPHS! NEWSPAPERS SAVED!

Theatre Invite

The initial sketch (featuring Hamlet) that I sent to the client. 

They requested a couple of changes. Can you see them?

Cutie And The Boxer Official Trailer (2013)

My favorite scene in this excellent documentary about the Japanese-born, Brooklyn-bred painters Ushio Shinohara (The Boxer) and his wife Noriko (Cutie) occurs late in the film as the two are preparing for a joint show in a New York Gallery.

Life for the couple, who have been married 40 years, has often bordered on desperation. Ushio's career peaked thirty years earlier and they have been living from painting to painting in the same cramped Brooklyn apartment, ever since. They NEED this show to succeed.