Character Studies

These are some character studies of a bear, from my sketchbook.

The Art of Digestion

Here is a poster I made recently. 

 I watched the documentary "The Phantom Tollbooth: Beyond Expectations" about The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and illustrations by Jules Feiffer. I was inspired to make this sequence about the digestion of knowledge.

The Art of Digestion.

Childhood Camping Memories

Summer is camping time, and I have been thinking back on the memorable times camping when I was a kid. 

Here are a few sketches about such times:

When we complained of being bored at the campsite, suddenly fire wood needed to be collected.

Snack breaks.

Canned meats.

Making stuff, "living off the land"

Some people had different priorities when they packed for camping.

T.P. in the wilderness.

Marshmallows of course. Staring into the flames of course. Smoke in the eyes and soot on the face no doubt.

I remember one camping trip with a friend and her family, we brought our bikes and in the evening we biked around the campsite loop with our camp friends until as long after sundown as we could. We felt so mature and free.

Tent secrets and giggling- Lots and lots of giggling.

New Picture Book Dummy

I have been working on a new picture book dummy- here are a few sketches and "finals".

Lawton Elementary School Mural

On the eve of the first day of the Seattle schools' summer, I feel calm, happy, and dead tired. This is the big mural project that has consumed much of my life since May 1st.

I must add how fortunate I feel to have been a part of this. The Lawton Elementary playground mural was in need of updates. One of the teachers in charge of making it happen asked if it was anything I would be interested in or had experience with. Sure, I'd painted some murals. Oh yeah- also they wanted to have every student (430 kids) be involved. I said "No sweat." Right?

The organization and execution of this gargantuan thing was made possible by some very amazing faculty and volunteers at Lawton. I was a little daunted at first, but it happened. We did some planning, we did some talking, I outlined, the kids painted. We finished. (1100 sq. ft) It was so easy.

Here are a few photos of the process and the end result.

Yeah Lawton, High fives all around!