Three Ridiculous Wishes

"Three Ridiculous Wishes" is a French fairytale from the late 1600s by Charles Perrault, as well as the basis for a recent assignment with the Cobblestone group. Long story short, a down-on-his-luck woodcutter is granted three wishes by Zeus (aka Jupiter) and ends up using them inadvertently and foolishly while arguing with his wife at home about the mere existence of these wishes. On the second wish he accidentally wishes for a stifling sausage or black pudding upon his wife's nose (depending on the version) and when all hell breaks loose he finally concedes that he must use his third and final wish to restore his wife back to normal.

Frontier Kids: Appleseeds Magazine

Had a lot of fun with this illustration so I decided to share it here. In the March issue of Appleseeds magazine the assignment called for a vertical full spread illustration to accompany some informational copy about what life was like for kids on the western frontier and what kind of chores it would have involved. We decided the image should of course depict many of the chores for boys and girls mentioned in the text (chopping wood, tending to animals/gardens, chasing vermin, etc.) as well as be something that would work in a long vertical format.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a serious affinity for the era of American westward expansion. Really, I have an affinity for any era, but the old West stands out to me because of the visuals - it was untamed rolling landscapes of plains, mountains, grasslands, lakes, forests, and deserts engulfing the tiny people and families who endured the hardships in hopes of new beginnings. For this illustration, I wanted to go the opposite, meaning make the kids seem bigger than life against the landscape as if they're overcoming it rather than being defeated by it. Of course once you think about larger than life figures on the western frontier, you immediately think of Thomas Hart Benton, right??

I used Benton as inspiration for this assignment, especially in the way that he composed his murals around the hard right angles of architecture (see image below.) I knew I had to deal with a rectangular box of some sort in the middle of my composition, so it just made sense. From there it was just about adding a modern children's illustration touch to it to help bring to life the text.

Kids on the Frontier

Design and layout by Appleseeds Magazine

Thomas Hart Benton

Animated Gif Test

File this under "Just Wanted To See What It'd Look Like"...

Pulled out an existing illustration and took it into photoshop's animation feature to see what would happen with some subtle movement to it (eye blinks, shadow flickering, sprinkling of the flakes, etc.)

Charles Goodyear

Here's a cropped portion of an upcoming illustration of Charles Goodyear accidentally discovering the process of vulcanization. Experimented with using more crosshatching on this one than I normally would to give it that look that art reproductions had during the time of the Industrial Revolution.

Cobblestone Publishing: April Illustrations

Late posting! For the month of April I was happy to have produced illustrations for not just one, but two Cobblestone magazine titles - Odyssey and Faces. The Odyssey assignment called for a vintage-looking ad for geomedicine products by mail order. I like to think my general knowledge of science is pretty good, but I'll admit I had NO idea what "geomedicine" was; but I find learning something new is the beneficial side product of illustrating for a science magazine.

Faces Magazine is Cobblestone's world cultures topics publication for kids and was a new venue for me this month to my delight. The gig called for a series of narrative illustrations showcasing three ancient and witty Arabic folktales told from the point of view of a wise old man named Mullah, who also stars in each story as a character. The settings range from a restaurant, a lavish party, and the open desert. When you think about it, it's funny how so many ancient folktales around the world are based on either food or social statuses...

Odyssey Magazine: "A Road Map of Taste"

New illustration in this month's Odyssey Magazine - a cute little spot to accompany an article about how the brain determines tastes and splits them into the five main categories. Reminds me of being little and going to EPCOT's "Wonders of Life" pavilion (which sadly closed in 2007.)

Sneak Peek: Odyssey Magazine

Here's a sneak peek, cropped down sketch for an upcoming illustration in Odyssey magazine (Cobblestone Publishing.) If you're wondering how a guy in a suit with a waiter in the background will be pertinent to a kids' science magazine, then tune into the January issue to find out the answer.

On Display at Starbucks in Jacksonville

Currently showing at Starbucks in the trendy San Marco district of Jacksonville is my "Aesop Revisited" series. Since San Marco is a historic district, this particular Starbucks has this old existing brick wall inside that works in great contrast to the rest of the modern, hip look that a Starbucks normally has. The works will be up until the end of July. Each painting is 16" x 20" and done with acrylic on illustration board.

Weathering the Storm