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Category Archives: color

Fabulous Friendly Freaks

Fabulous Friendly Freaks

Summary: Reflections on an Instagram Character Design Challenge Last year I put together a really fun five day Instagram Character Design Challenge called Fabulous Friendly Freaks. The challenge kicked off on June 15th, and ran through June 19th. This creative sprint was filled with fun, freakiness, and fabulous artwork that brought together a community ofContinue Reading

The Un-taping of Bo Diddley

The Un-taping of Bo Diddley

Summary: A nice drawing, two big mistakes, and a failed in-class demonstration. Scroll to the bottom to see this painting’s satisfying conclusion. This illustration started as a simple sketch for an in-class demonstration. I’ve been hammering away at the Chris Payne illustration process for some time now. Mixing in elements from here and there tryingContinue Reading

Painting of a Young Jedi

Painting of a Young Jedi

Over the past few months, I’ve been pushing myself to continue learning. Most recently I was motivated by the exercises in the class on painting that I teach. During the demo’s and in the studio I tried a few new materials, such as the Strathmore 4ply 500 series vellum board, and gouache. This painting wasContinue Reading

Mr. Trump’s Wild Ride

Mr. Trump’s Wild Ride

Powered by xenophobia, religiosity, and the interests of the 1%, Trump drives the GOP jalopy hard to the right. Swilling black gold, drunk on power, he salaciously leers at Lady Liberty, and she is having none of that! He remains unaware that the sword of Justice is swiftly catching up. #Resist.Continue Reading

Visiting with Friends

Visiting with Friends

Summary: Nameless Toads Playing Cards, Clandestine Notes, and Surprises! And so it was, that on a bright afternoon friend and fellow Foolscap Press owner Larry VanVelzer stopped by the studio to ask me to create a watercolor as a surprise birthday present for his wife and partner Peggy Gotthold. Without hesitation we set about crafting ourContinue Reading

The Fantastical Baron Von Münchhausen

The Fantastical Baron Von Münchhausen

Summary: A Quixotic Journey from Doré to Don Quixote leading to an illustration of Baron Von Münchhausen It was a dark and stormy night. Well, it was dark at least, and I was doing some late night internet ramblings into The Public Domain Review website which a friend had turned me on to. The website is really funContinue Reading

The Devil Gets His Brew

The Devil Gets His Brew

Summary: A brief discussion of diabolical draftsmanship and details discovered during the creation of this devilish illustration.  Ok, truth time. I listen to the Grateful Dead… a lot. I know a lot of you might be stunned, but I feel like I just need to come clean on this one. Anyway… this project starts with the Grateful Dead song, “FriendContinue Reading

Slappy the Squirrel

Slappy the Squirrel

At the end of August, I began to make regular sketches of a character I’d thought of long ago. Slappy the Squirrel was first conceived of maybe 5 years ago amongst a whirlwind of story ideas I was dreaming up. Recently Slappy popped up again during the SCBWI’s LA conference Illustrators Intensive. After graduating in July,Continue Reading

The Un-taping of Bo Diddley