Career Boy

He was sitting at the window at Starbucks talking away to a girl acquaintance next to him, about his career, his MBA, the people he knew, his professors, meeting famous people, just going on, or as they say in business school, going forward. This young thing had done all the career sh*t that I had never done and would never do anyway. His resume could pulverize my resume any day. His laptop is full of business contacts and consulting work. My laptop is full of pictures of the Virginia countryside, and ambient music. I don't even bring my laptop to Starbucks. I'm not on the same page. I'm out of the loop.

I'm inspired by the work of Paul Madonna, whose "All Over Coffee" visual stories are amazing. I wish I could do work like Paul M, except that urban Northern Virginia isn't as full of wonderful things to draw as San Francisco is. So I resort to drawing what I see in Starbucks. All over coffee, indeed. I would love for something of mine to be published.

Sometimes fans are just nice

Marla commissioned this miniature portrait nametag from me at Boskone, the annual Boston science fiction convention. She already had one from me with a Darkover theme, but she wanted her own face as well as a unicorn, one of her favorite creatures.

I don't usually get the opportunity to depict something innocent and kindly, so I enjoyed it and tried to give the mood with the golden-yellow lowercase type as well.

Marla's nametag miniature is watercolor on Fabriano paper, 3 1/2" x 2 1/4", February 1981.

Wine Barrel Artificial Cave

I've been working on this one for quite a while, that is, more than a week. It is a commission from the owner/vintner at Chateau O'Brien vineyard in Linden, Virginia. He plans to create an artificial wine cave excavated out of a hillside on his vineyard property. The cave will be earth-sheltered and kept naturally cool as a place to keep the barrels of maturing wine. There will also be a small tasting area and a pavilion (wooden trellis in drawing) where people can sit and sip. The walls of the building will be piled up in boulders from a local quarry so that it looks like a mountainside, with the central door and opening looking like a mine entrance or perhaps a treasure cave. The buildings behind the barrel repository are existing utility structures for winemaking equipment. You can see some rows of vines in the upper left area. I hope to do lots more wine-related art. I get paid for this one with a case of Chateau O'Brien's fine wines.

"Wine Cave" is ink and watercolor on Fabriano paper, 17" x 13", July 2011.

Bagel Fruit

Fruits of summer, flowers and sky adorn Mena's lunchtime sign this month. It's the best time of year for me, the only time I'm warm enough with enough light in the sky. I gave the sign a "farm stand" look. The grapes are maturing on the vines. There's plenty to eat at "Bagels, Deli, and Donuts." It's an ideal world of color, warmth, and good flavors.

To Kill the Undead

Over the years of its existence I did many illustrations for "Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine," a well-produced publication which showcased work by semi-pro and professional artists and writers. I was especially connected with the "Lythande" stories by Marion, which told tales of her cross-dressing wizard Lythande. This character was a woman who had snuck into the all-male guild of magicians by pretending to be a man. She was discovered and her punishment was that though she could continue to be a wizard, she would always have to disguise herself as a man and never reveal her true gender. In this story, Lythande must stop a zombie from terrorizing a village. This image illustrates her final victory over the zombie. How do you kill something which is already dead? By magic.

"To Kill the Undead" is ink on Bristol board, 7 1/2" x 5", March 1994.

Linnea of Darkover miniature

This miniature portrait nametag hits on all the motifs that made up the Darkover mythos. Red hair, grey eyes, Renaissance clothing, bladed weapons (she's holding a stiletto), heraldry, magic crystals, and romantic Celtic styling. Darkover may have faded, but the components are still going strong in the fan art you might find on deviantART or other fantasy sites.

Linnea's nametag is watercolor on Fabriano paper, 3 1/2" x 2 1/4", Summer 1983.

Wine Pavilion

This is part of the inking on a piece I am doing for the owner of a winery in the countryside. It is a concept sketch for a major building project at his winery. He is building a wine barrel cave which will be excavated from the side of a hill. Over and around the cave entrance will be an imitation mountain made of big rocky boulders piled up. There is an open gravel parking lot in front of the "mountain cave" and on the border of the lot will be the trellis pavilion depicted here. Vines will grow along the planks of the canopy and give shade to the wine sippers who will sit underneath. I have just begun coloring this whole scene and when it's done you will see it.

Technical pens on Fabriano paper, about 7" x 5", July 2011. Click on the pic for a bit larger view.