A couple children’s books that I’d been working on are finally out in print.  It was pretty exciting to get a chance to work on two of the great classic Greek myths - Odysseus and the Cyclops, and Jason and the Argonauts.  Here are the covers.  I’ll share some interiors in some future posts!

The world of Pheon, an alternate-reality game sponsored by the Smithsonian, was once a pure world where the balance of science, art, and technology triumphed in supreme unity and clarity.  However, when humans were allowed to enter Pheon and mingle amongst it’s perfection, a select few Pheonites were not so pleased.

In an arrogant bid to lock out his perfect world to humans, the young and handsome General Farben Vidar cast a spell.  But the spell backfired and instead hobbled the world of Pheon, splitting it into factions of warring Knaves and Staves.  The spell also had the effect of mutilating the once beautiful and perfect face of General Vidar.

Pheon can only be healed with your help through gameplay (yes! start here!), and through the wily determination of Hans Ørsted, Christine de Pizan, and the unlikey young hero Eddie Wriggle.

Here are avatars I created for these characters.

Farben Vidar

Hans Ørsted

Christine de Pizan

Eddie Wriggle

I’ve been taking a gesture drawing workshop with Alex Woo, Pixar story-artist extraordinaire.  What’s really fantastic about this class, and also super challenging, is that Alex is teaching how to capture the gesture and not get caught up in the anatomy, or classicism, or realism.  What is the model “doing?”  How can you communicate the gesture quickly and effectively?  Simplify.  Exaggerate.

It may seem easy to simplify but it’s actually really challenging to switch off that classically trained part of the brain and get to the essence of the pose.  It’s a whole new way of approaching drawing for me, and most importantly it’s FUN!

Alex asked us to draw with our non-dominant hands for last night’s session.  Oddly enough, it helped us remove the crutches we tend to rely on and made for better gesture capturing.  Some of these work better than others, but I thought I’d share some of my efforts, goofiness and all.

Springtime in Yosemite is a quite a sight.  The massive snowstorms of this past season has led to a snowpack trembling under it’s own weight, melting into a raging mass of water that tumbles over the edges of cliffs like geysers shooting sideways.

So most of my weekend in Yosemite was spent hiking up slippery granite steps and trails to experience the gushing falls in all their springtime glory.  (And get thoroughly soaked in the process.)

I did, however, manage to sit myself down for a couple sketches later on in the week.  Here is Bridal Veil Falls.

And a fallen tree and some branches along the ground.

Happy news!  I just learned that page one of the intro to Pheon, the online alternate-reality game sponsored by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, has been accepted into the Society of Illustrators LA juried show!

All works will be exhibiting at Gallery Nucleus in Los Angeles and opening night is Jan. 21st.

Blue and Violetta are having a blast.  Wishing you a warm and cozy holiday and a very Happy New Year!

Are you a Stave or a Knave?  First you must choose…

Pheon begins this Saturday, Sept 18th!  This alternate-reality game is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and the kick-off event will be held at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, complete with bellydancers sending encoded messages to players within their dancing. After this event, anyone can play Pheon wherever they are in the world through Facebook and Twitter.

I had the opportunity to be involved in a very small way with the Pheon design team by helping create the comic intro to the game.  In it is a quick description of the world of Terra Tectus and how the once beautiful and harmonious world was laid to ruin.

You can also read more about the game of Pheon here in Wired Magazine.

Back from the whirlwind of ICON6 in Pasadena!  The entire conference was an incredible experience and well worth the travel.  It was well organized, thoughtful, informative, and an excellent forum to connect with other artists and art directors and feel part of a strong community.  I met some really wonderful artists and was so inspired by everyone’s talent.

Above are photos of my table at the Roadshow, a forum where 100 selected artists showed their wares to invited art directors and buyers from all industries.  You can see a few of the children’s books I’ve illustrated, some postcards, my portfolio, and my animated short Elegy screening on my brother’s laptop.  (Thanks bro!)  My good friend and wonderful talent Julia Lundman also had a table there.

All in all, it was an extremely rewarding experience and I’m convinced I should be attending all future ICONS!  Many thanks to all involved with the organizing, it really was a blast.  And meeting featured guest Todd Oldham was a treat and insanely inspiring!

I’ll be attending ICON6, the illustration conference, in Pasadena this week from July 14th through the 17th.  I’ll also be participating in the Roadshow on Thursday the 15th, where a select group of illustrators will be showing their work to invited art directors, buyers, and media professionals.  Looking forward to some inspiring workshops and meeting incredibly talented folks!