Eat your Greens

This doesn't count as "Art;" it is certainly a By-Product. But some of you may find it useful, especially if you are working with colored pencils. These are the "natural" green colors offered by four different makers: Prismacolor, Derwent Colorsoft, Faber-Castell, and "Irojiten." I sorted them out by color and make, and then drew a swatch blending from heavy coating to light dusting. All these pencils have a wax lead base and are very pleasant to use. If you blend them together on your page, it can even imitate watercolor. I am not sure whether they fade; I haven't done a fading test under sunlight. These are the pencils I use to make my winery drawings. With this chart I am able to pick out just the pencil I want. There are other brands available and I have a few, but these are my favorites. The "Irojiten" series are especially lovely and their colors are very close to the exact natural shade of green plants or spring grass or autumn leaves. I have another page of blue skies and clouds. I also did a set of color charts using watercolors but I am not actively using them right now. I suppose I'll do a winter set of greys and browns sometime.

Colored pencils with ink notes on sketchbook page, October 31, 2017. Click for more green.

Gryphon

The Griffin, sometimes spelled "Gryphon," is one of my favorite mythical creatures. It is built from a combination of many different animals. This Gryphon appears to be built of both bird, moth, and mammalian elements. Gryphons are fierce and brave which is why J.K. Rowling created House Griffindor, that is "Griffin d'Or" or in French "Golden Griffin." Let me say right now that I am a Harry Potter fan and I am determinedly of House Ravenclaw. No fantasy test has ever placed me anywhere else. One thing I have noticed in the "Potter" tales is that I haven't seen any art or music at Hogwarts. It must be there, though.

Black tech pens inks on sketchbook page, 4 1/2" x 5", October 30, 2017.

Lythande Performs

Oh Gawd, here's Lythande again. This one comes from a story where at one point Lythande, who sometimes works as a traveling bard as a cover occupation, must perform for an audience of petty aristocrats in a small desolate town. She must keep them entertained and not let them think about magic. This story and all the Bradley ones I illustrated are packed into a closet. If I ever move out of my current residence there will be hell to pay.

Black ink on illustration board, 8" x 7", May 1999.

Paper Bag Abstraction

When it's grocery shopping time, my purchases are handed to me in these classic brown paper bags with handles, whether they come from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. Sometimes when the load is heavier, the bags are doubled up one inside another. When I get them home, I empty them and stash the bags on the kitchen floor for eventual recycling. This is the bag stash on the floor. I looked at it and suddenly it became an abstract 3-D work of art instead of a mundane food and drink carrier. My challenge in drawing this was to keep the individual bags distinct while rendering the many handles randomly fitting together. I left the printed logos off the bags to reduce confusion.

Black tech pen ink on sketchbook page, 5" x 7 1/2", October 27, 2017.

The Great Athena of Nashville

On my road trip to the American South I visited Nashville, Tennessee. I have friends in the city who were happy to take me around and show me the sights (and feed me the cuisine!). The most spectacular sight I viewed there was this giant statue of the Greek goddess Athena, holding Nike, spirit of victory, in her hand. The making of this statue, inside a replica of the Parthenon temple, is written about here, and it is quite a wonder. I had enough time and space inside the temple to draw a sketch of this awesome icon. There was a park around the temple, and in the park was a little food stand serving some very good Tennessee barbecue. 

Black tech pen on sketchbook page, about 9" x 8", June 26, 2003.

Conspirators in the Theater

Among the upper middle classes of Haven, a conspiracy is brewing. Two gentlemen whisper to each other of plots and schemes, while down on the stage a tear-jerking melodrama plays out. In the dark it's hard to tell who is doing the plotting....or who is a secret informer for the other side. I used a looser, more scratchy drawing style for this illustration, like the style found in pulp magazines or lurid novels.

Original drawing is black ink on illustration board, 9" x 2", spring 1984.

Autumn Geometrikon

These are the tree colors I'm seeing at this moment in the season. The maples in my backyard have an early manifestation of red with more to come. The rectangular panel at center left depicts the red leaves with the green. I embellished the composition with a digital "wash" and drifting autumn leaves. Hundreds of colored pencils entice me to make more color studies.

Colored pencil, marker lines, Photoshop. Original art 8" x 2", October 25, 2017.