Through the years...

A while back I saw that some blogging illustrators took to drawing their teenage selves. It inspired me to do not only that but a few others as well.

I still have to draw College Chuck, 20's Chuck and Early 30's Chuck, so stay tuned.

Illustration Friday: Poise

I think I did this illustration for the Philadelphia Zoo about 8 or 9 years ago. It's still one of my favorites and thought it might fit well into this week's Illustration Friday theme of "Poise."

Bryn Mawr College

Obviously the text on this cartoon is incorrect but it gives an idea as to how the layout would work. The original concept (that accompanied this text) was to have a number of book shelves and to use the books to show the donation percentages for each college, but after looking at a few of the sketches the client decided it was not effective enough. Thankfully my wife is a brilliant Pharmaceutical scientist so when I was asked to take on this chemistry concept all I had to do was tell her I was looking for some cool chemistry set-ups that didn't look like a kit that a kid would get for his 12th birthday from his dorky Uncle. I had a pretty terrible school experience and never set foot in a chemistry lab so I was thankful for Daisy's assistance in showing me what to look for. Proper research can make or break an illustration, you know? Anyway I had fun with the bottles and all of that and I hope you enjoy it too. Once I get the version with the correct text I will repost it.

I did another cartoon for Bryn Mawr back here if you're interested in seeing it.

The Art Director behind both Bryn Mawr cartoons was by Nancy McDonald, the first person to give me my big break doing all of that Philadelphia Zoo work many years back.

Latest Hidden Pictures

I am completely overwhelmed with a large illustration that will probably be the death of me. If you don't hear from me for a while be sure to tell my Mom that I love her. Meanwhile, here are the two latest Hidden Pictures for Highlights for Children!

Find the following: paper clip, hammer, fish, magnifying glass, ballpoint pen, slice of pie, shark, nail, butter knife, fork, muffin, paintbrush, key, banana, and a toothbrush.

Find the Following: mitten, bird, lightbulb, feather, book, hockey stick, cowboy boot, wishbone, sock, pencil, heart, and a pennant.

Hidden Pictures are Copyright © Highlights for Children.

Illustration Friday: Legendary

Who is more legendary than Charlton Heston?

He has always been a hero of mine, not only because he was a great stage and film actor (and unknown to most, a wonderful "sketcher") but among the stupidity of most of hollywood, he remained happily married to the same woman for 63 years. In Hollywood today or any other day, that is a miracle.

I will always remember him as a man’s man, someone who was never afraid to speak the truth (even in the face of that hideous monster, Rosie O’Donnell). He had values and he acted on them without apology.

Five years ago Charlton Heston kindly wrote a forward for my sketchbook journal, Two Weeks Southwest and I would like to share it with you...

Yes, Charlton Heston’s forward was a joke and no, I was not a set art director in 1952.

Now go and watch Ben-Hur, the greatest movie ever made.

Philadelphia.

I did these back in 1995 I think. I can't remember what the street scene was for but the city scape of Philadelphia was for some kind of "mall guide" website. I never knew if it was used or not. Now that I look at this, Philadelphia has a new taller Skyscraper, the Comcast Tower, that I will have to squeeze in some day.

Feel free to use the city scape as a very confusing desktop wallpaper.

Opossums.

Recently I was given a job with Highlights to draw a small map for the Science Corner page. To make a long story short, I only needed to draw the map but I foolishly thought that I needed to draw a "opossum playing dead" for an additional panel. Since these will not be used for anything I figured I could post them here. I did two versions, one of which was a bit more humorous.

Trains, Planes and Boats.

I sketch people pretty much every time I am on a train, a plane or a boat (in this case on our cruise last December). I don't use any pencil and alternate between a brush pen (refillable Copic) and a 05 Micron. It's a great way to pass the time and if you're lucky you get some nice characters for future projects.

These last 4 were done on the last night of our cruise at the "American Idol" Karaoke contest. Ted, the guy in the black turtle neck doing the air guitar, stole the show.