From YOUTUBE "Mountain lake Spray Paint Art"

A fun, refreshing and creative video of a painting done with spray paint but Joe Vinten.

Terry Madden's neat demonstration for clouds

Here is a neat demonstrattion for making simple clouds by watercolorist, Terry Madden.

Sketching on July the 4th

Happy 4th of July!
I made these 2 little paintings this morning. I see these things every morning from my front porch .
Someday we'll look up and all of those quaint telephone and power poles will be gone.  It's probably a good idea to sketch the things that you see as commonplace as often as you can .

More on Jack Davis, My Favorite Cartoonist

I have talked about Jack Davis in an earlier blog  but I watched an interview with him by Gary Groth at Strand Books in New York and I was reminded all over again of his greatness and his humility.
Here is the interview, click on the image...

                                               Here's a blog about Jack's Monster Art
                                                       
                                                             

Moleskine Goes Public?

Yes, Moleskine, the European makers of those expensive little pocket sketchbooks and other diaries has gone public. Read about it in the Wall Street Journal.

                                   Here's a page from my little 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch sketchbook

Have you seen this car?  It's spectacular!

Here's an article on Yahoo! Autos Canada

Momiji Gardens in Vancouver, BC

I got the chance to visit Vancouver, BC last week and scored a new "Profile Picture" in the beautiful Momiji (Japanese Maple)  Gardens located on the Pacific National Exhibition grounds.  Ruth York was the photographer in both cases...(Thank you :)

Old profile

New Profile (My hair has grown a bit!)

Texture in Alan Bean's Space Paintings

I saw this gigantic painting by Artist/Astronaut Alan Bean at NASA.  I was blown away by the spectacle of it.

Check out the video interview with him posted on Youtube.

The Halloween Tree on DVD

I'm so happy to see that Ray Bradbury's "The Halloween Tree" animated special is now available on DVD. I have two VHS copies that I have watched many times.  I am told that Ray wrote the story as a  response to his disappointment in the children's special "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown".  "The Halloween Tree" tells the story of Halloween's rich history and of a group of young friends who celebrate it in a special way.
Ray Bradbury narrates the movie and his warm tenor voice adds a wonderful tone to the film.
I often play the video in the background when I work on Halloween themed paintings just to hear the comfortable sound of Ray's voice.
the backgrounds are beautiful autumnal compositions in watercolor.

                                 Here's one of the more dramatic backgrounds from the film

                                                   The Halloween Tree DVD cover

Ray Bradbury's Halloween Tree

A friend of mine who was close to Ray Bradbury told me that Ray bought a set of oil paints and basically sat down and painted this famous, the first "Halloween Tree" with no prior practice or training.

                                                                   Ray Bradbury

The Incredible String Band Perform "The Iron Stone'

I find this video so incredibly eerie!  I think it was recorded in 1967?  1968?

House for Peter Rabbit

Happy Easter!  Let me take this time to reveal my architecturally unsound House for Peter Rabbit.  It includes 2 appropriately lanky fairies.  I hope you have a good day!

Miyazaki Movies

How many times will you watch a certain movie in your lifetime?  We own a lot of titles but there is a short list of movies we will watch over and over again and most of them are movies from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miazaki.
We just watched "My Neighbor Totoro" again and I feel sure we'll watch it again many more times.
Miayazaki movies are subtle and superb. 

Which direction do carousel horses travel?

Evidently American carousel horses travel in a counter clockwise direction while carousel horses in the United Kingdom travel in a clockwise direction.

                                                          An American carousel horse

                                                           A carousel horse in the UK

Windows 98 Paint Job

I think this is the first thing I attempted with Windows Paint when we got our first computer in 1999!

A Tribute to Old E.C. Science Fiction Covers

Here is an illustration I made for a friend's fanzine several years ago.  I wanted to parody the great covers of the E.C. Science Fiction comics.  I enjoyed the experience so I ought to do more!

Ghosts in Photodeluxe

I'm back on the subject of ghosts again (I'm never far from it).
Here is an illustration I made many years ago with an old Adobe product called PHOTODELUXE, do you remember PHOTODELUXE, it was usually free with printers and scanners.  I really liked it, it was simple and straight forward.
I created the little ghosts with an erase tool and the large ghost was created from photographs I took of a friend who modelled for me.  The background was the interior of an old house that was being moved from one of our downtown streets.  I still like the composition.

Art at the Lone Star Round Up

I'm happy to say that my artwork has been chosen, along with many fine artists, to be exhibited at the 12th Annual Lone Star Round Up in Austin, TX, April 5th and 6th.
The Lone Star Round Up is a huge Hot Rod and Classic Car show. I am really looking forward to the adventure!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Painting With Sticky Notes

Do you ever use sticky notes on your paintings?  Sometimes I see problems that need to be addressed on an illustration I'm working on and if I don't have time to fix things right away I may forget the area that needs work.  I've found that Sticky Notes come in handy at those times. 
I'll quickly scribble directions to myself and stick the note right on the spot that needs fixing.
Of course you'll want the painting to be dry before doing this. 
It may seem like an extremely obvious reminder to use but it works for me and I thought I'd pass it on.