Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Little Engine - pencil sketch

This fast draft was done after several previous explorational sketches. To my horror - I seemed to have internalized the images I saw of "The Little Engine..." - while researching the book online.
My first roughs - which were either action line scrawls or attempts to figure out the mechanical
shapes of a steam engine, looked a lot like covers you can see in a Google image search
of the book. On the bright side - I guess that indicates I am a quick study;)

The Little Engine



This is a final draft - comp for a book cover - created for the company I work for. The story, "The Little Engine That Could" is a classic and a fun subject to illustrate. This version will not see the light of day as is. The image was created entirely in Adobe Flash from a quick rough pencil sketch (The Little Engine - pencil sketch). The idea was to give the Engine a cute, bright, happy look - atypical of previous versions - but give it a clean, cartoony solidity.

Monday, September 28, 2009

IF: pattern

All it took was a little ingenuity to change the pattern of his life.

Friday, September 18, 2009

IF: infinite

Seemed like Grandpa had an infinite amount of lines in his face.

Monday, September 14, 2009

IF: welcome

"Welcome" always strikes me as part of a bigger picture, a slightly longer sentence: "Welcome home!".
The image I picked for "welcome" - is from a book that didn't happen. This is a couple of pages - Grandparents welcoming there grandkids to a day at the farm.

Friday, September 4, 2009

IF: Strong


Strong can cover such a broad range... Its hard to pick an idea that pins it down... So I am going to add several interpretations. The top one being the first that came to mind.


A big strong gorilla
Created with Studio Artist
Anansi the spider - strong in wits and back.
pencil and digital watercolor with SA


A strong hand - but a gentle touch
Created with Studio Artist