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Category Archives: Real Life Adventures of an Illustrator

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

Storytelling with Beautiful Illustrations

Storytelling with Beautiful Illustrations

 I did an interview with 4by6.com… here it is! How did you get into the visual arts? Dogged determination. Like many of your readers, I too was the ‘creative’ kid in class. I just never stopped. How did you get to where you are now? It has been, and continues to be quite a journey.Continue 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

Sleepy San Francisco Squirrel

Sleepy San Francisco Squirrel

Summary: An illustration based on a recent trip to my old stomping grounds, San Francisco. The illustration MFA program that I am enrolled in is great and has us traveling around the country for different contact periods throughout the year. We meet three times a year, spring and fall, and we always go to Hartford Univeristy in Connecticut inContinue Reading

Micro Comics, Maximum Fun! Workshop in Santa Cruz

Micro Comics, Maximum Fun! Workshop in Santa Cruz

On what turned out to be an enchanting rainy weekend here in Santa Cruz, a group of nine wonderful people gathered at the Santa Cruz Art League to attend my first “Micro Comics, Maximum Fun!” workshop. I was amazed at the diversity of people who came out for the workshop. There were teachers, comics enthusiasts,Continue Reading

The Boyler Kat

The Boyler Kat

Summary: Character sketches for a short story that I’m writing and illustrating based on my experiences at Pratt University.  While I was in NYC this past November with my Hartford MFA comrades, we got a unique tour of Pratt University. Betsy and Ted Lewin walked us around the campus and showed us the sights. OneContinue Reading

The MFA Journey Begins

The MFA Journey Begins

Summary: July 2014 marks the beginning of my 2 year journey to receive my Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) degree. These are a few notes from the beginning of that adventure. Continue Reading

Inspiration in a Surprising Way

Inspiration in a Surprising Way

Summary: During three different school visits, I shared my work and talked books with 3rd graders. In the process I found joyful surprises on many different levels. I have been on the road quite a bit during February and March, visiting the Salinas School District on three different occasions to share my work and talkContinue Reading

The Un-taping of Bo Diddley