And the Winner is...

My daughter Rosie has chosen (with her eyes closed)...

Chelle!!!

Thank you everybody for all your comments! This isn't the last giveaway - stay tuned for more in the future!

Original Art Giveaway!!!

Well, the stars have aligned and it's time to give away an original piece of art! This pen and ink piece was inspired by the current Illustration Friday topic, 'Prehistoric.' After seeking and not finding a fulfilling way of depicting a dinosaur, I chose to draw the absence of a dinosaur and explore how the jagged, negative space could work with a friendly face.

If you would like a chance to win this framed original piece (this is not a reproduction), all you have to do is just leave a comment here. The winner will be selected in a random drawing of all the comments on Saturday, March 1st at noon EST. And if you live overseas, don't worry- I'll ship anywhere! Good luck!!!

Exotic

Darn you, Illustration Friday! I was going to relax for a while and then you had to go and post a topic that gave me an immediate idea! I wanted to see what I could get away with using just two colors and some overlap. See the pet tiger and the bug-eating plant? Don't you think they're exotic? Don't you? Don't you?

Disguise

I needed an excuse to create a picture with digital collage, and this week's Illustration Friday topic fit the bill. Incongruous household objects were seized and subjected to scanning and masking to produce extemporaneous results. Said objects were then returned to their rightful places.

Strawberry Shortcake on the Moon

A while back, the folks at American Greetings were looking to give Strawberry Shortcake a new look in a sort of 'retro' style for a possible product spin-off. Here you can see her planting her flag on the moon, next to her kitty, Custard, who apparently doesn't need a space suit! This illustration wouldn't have happened without snazzy trend boards by Martha Plank and skillful art direction by Anthony Davila.

Goofy

Here's a scratchboard image of Goofy, submitted for Illustration Friday's current theme, 'Glow.' For some reason, making things glow in scratchboard is really fun!

Book

This monster looks miffed about something- maybe he doesn't like the book he's reading or maybe he can't read at all ('cause he's a monster)! I submitted this image for Illustration Friday's current topic, 'Book.'

Prints of this image available here.

Crooked

Illustration Friday's topic of the week, 'Crooked,' gave me the excuse to draw a crooked path just for the heck of it, and then draw a character that really seems to be Little Red Riding Hood. I'm not sure what's going on with that, or why she's walking towards a castle. Any ideas?

Prints of this image available here.

Father's Day Cards

We are fortunate at American Greetings to have the opportunity, when time permits, to try out our own ideas and techniques when creating greeting cards. It was a blast getting to spend my days creating these printmaking-inspired Father's Day designs, and I was a little sad when the project was over. Get to your nearest CVS pharmacy pronto to see them in person!

Thanks must be given to Valerie Drake for the classy 'wolf' card concept, and thanks also to AG's Editorial Department for the excellent copy.

Scratchboard Leaf

I rescued this leaf from the snows of last winter, thinking it might make a fun subject for a value study in scratchboard. This piece was given to my Great Grandfather for his 90th birthday – Happy Birthday, Great-Grandpa!

Prints of this image available here.

Maryoku Yummy

American Greetings has a charming show now playing on The Hub called Maryoku Yummy, about wishes being cared for until they are granted and come true. I created the images above to depict the magical land of Nozomu, where Maryoku and her fellow Wish sitters live. It was a lot of fun breaking out the brushes and watercolors, not to mention developing new visuals for this unique world. Check out the terrific contributions of the the mighty Jeff Harter and the unstoppable James Groman, both über-talented artists.

Perception of Beauty

Where does beauty come from? Why does it exist? Why isn't everything beautiful (or is it)? Why doesn't beauty always equal goodness?

These are the questions I was pondering when this image, done in pencil, came to mind. I still don't have any answers but at least this piece gave me a chance to respond to my thoughts in a tangible way.

Prints of this image available here.

2010 ArtOrder Calendar

Well, what do y'all know? Jon Schindehette (Wizards of the Coast Senior Art Director) has picked my little old dragon logo to grace the cover of the first ArtOrder calendar. It's an honor to be part of the project. Get yours here as soon as you can- I hear they're going fast!

2010 Madballs Wall Calendar

When I heard that artwork was needed for the 2010 Madballs calendar, I jumped at the chance to be a part of it! This here is my contribution- an acrylic ink painting of Bash Brain (July page of calendar), suspended in a lab jar à la 1950's movies like Donovan's Brain. If you ever wanted the likes of Horn Head, Skull Face and Blech Beard the Pirate staring at you for 16 months, click here to find the calendar!

'Wrinkles 1' at The Bonfoey

The image above, titled 'Wrinkles 1,' was recently accepted into The 30th Annual American Greetings Fine Arts Show at The Bonfoey Gallery in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. To do this piece, I crumpled up a fabric sheet until it looked pleasing, drew a tight sketch on paper, and rendered the final result in scratchboard. It was done over a long period and was satisfying to see completed. Here's a close-up view:



The show runs from July 24th to August 9th, 2009, so swing by The Bonfoey if you're in the area!

Prints of this image available here.

ArtOrder: B&W Vampires

This is for the latest ArtOrder challenge and is drawn with a Micron 005 pen. I've wanted to try using one for a long time! Black and white art has always appealed to me, probably because I grew up looking at great D&D artists from way back like D. A. Trampier (He was the bomb!) and Erol Otus. Ahh, the joys of stippling and cross-hatching...

ArtOrder: Logo Design Challenge Part 2

I had a lot of ideas for ArtOrder's Logo Design Challenge that excited me, but not enough time to do all of them. Thankfully, that changed when the deadline was extended and I had a chance to finish one more image.

ArtOrder: Logo Design Challenge Part 1

Jon Schindehette (Senior Art Director, Dungeons & Dragons®/Wizards of the Coast) has a terrific blog called 'ArtOrder' in which artists are given weekly sketch challenges that allow them to hone their skills, get seen by the wider world, and maybe even learn a bit about self-promotion. One of the recent challenges is for an 'ArtOrder' logo, and this is my take on it. You can head on over Jon's blog by clicking here.

Sight

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! It's taken me forever to do this but better late than never, I reckon. The piece above, called 'Sight', was done for American Greetings' 'Freak Show' in one of my favorite techniques, scratchboard. My aim for this image was to illustrate a strange little fuzzball with the eyes of twenty different critters, to an unsettling effect.

Prints of this image available here.