Spot illustrations

Spot illustrations are not the most creative assignments but they are mindless, quick and fun to do. It's usually something like, "Draw a cup, or a marker, or a book"..very simple. I did a ton of them today but I'll only post a few of the sketches here. These are for a Math reader for Harcourt Publishers.

Bedside doodle #2

I just got a bunch of small spot illustration assignments and was going to post the drawings but I decided to post my bedside doodle from last night instead. This is a pencil drawing of a fellow caroling. Just having some mindless fun before I dozed off.

Stork and Pumpkin (Color)

I outlined the stork in ink, painted him with Alkyds and finished him off with a little digital love in Photoshop.

Stork drawing (revision)

I did the drawing of the stork over again and tried to bring a tad more animation to the character. I like this one better and will likely slap some paint on him.

Stork and Pumpkin sketch

Todays post is from my sketchbook, it's a stork carrying a pumpkin. I'm going to do a small painting of this in watercolor or oil paint, not sure yet. It's for a baby shower announcement.

Brothers

Oil on Masonite (8x10")

Brothers (Home Stretch...)

Home stretch on this one. I hope to finish this next painting session.

Brothers (Still crankin...)

Brothers (In progress)

I started to lay in some paint on this 8x10" oil painting I'm calling "Brothers". I'm using a wet-in-wet technique so it works for me to start at the focal point and progressively paint my way outward. There are hundreds of ways to approach an oil painting, I'm enjoying this method for the thick, buttery feel of the paint that enables me to work color into the exhisting framework with considerable control...bla-blah-blah.

O Solo Mio (Finish)

I finally finished this small oil painting of a dinghy I'm calling "O Solo Mio". Oil on wood panel (8x6")

O Solo Mio (In progress)

First Officer Thomas McGuinness

First Officer Thomas McGuinness

was the co-pilot of American Airlines flight 11, which struck the north tower of the World Trade Center on September 11. He was married and had two teenage children, lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and was a member of the Bethany Church in Greenland, NH. I didn't know him and I never met him. This sketch is simply a reaction to that empty, helpless feeling I think a lot of people have regarding 9/11. Drawing Mr. McGuinness' portrait allowed me to quietly reflect upon the events of that day in a very personal manner. He and all the victims will always be remembered.

In a memorial to Thomas McGuinness, Mark Truman from England wrote:
"You now have the wings of an angel, fly free and be happy, we will never forget you and your fellow Americans. God bless you all".

Running Holstein (Great bay sketchbook)

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, my cat would stop what she was doing and sprint to the next room with an urgent determination. There was nothing in the other room and no reason to run there with such concentrated intensity. She was sublimely Nuts.

This cow on the Great bay farm had the same temperment as my cats. For some reason, she was compelled to stop what she was doing and quckly run 6o yards to her left. Then she stopped and carried on grazing.

Great bay Beauty

On a breezy day I can smell the earthy scent of Great Bay farm from the front steps of my house. I love it, to me it smells like New England. It's only a mile down the road and has 110 milking Holstein cows and 110 young livestock. It's been here since 1895 and has been run by five generations of the Weeks family. Allen Smith currently carries on the tradition and was kind enough to let me explore the property to sketch and photograph.

Todays post is a sketch I did of one of the Holsteins. I look forward to returning with the seasons with my sketchbook and paintbox.

Valley Forge, PA (En Plein Air)

Today I am posting my Plein Air study of one of the shelters on the grounds of Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. A small shack like this replica would have slept up to a dozen men in the winter of 1778.

Valley Forge was one of my favorite day trips when I lived in Philly, it's great to be back with brush in hand. I used to go there some weekends with my camera and photograph the hundreds of deer that roamed the encampment. The place is infested with them and I loved it.

There were two doe's grazing by me while I was painting, I've included a snapshot of them lurking behind my paintbox.

Artist Gone to Philadelphia...

Alison and I are going to Philadelphia and will be back on Monday, Septmber 11. I'm bringing my pochade and will definitely be doing some plein air painting in my old stomping grounds. Ali and I lived in Philly for three years and I regard it as my favorite American city. I love it, miss it and I'm very excited to get back for a short vacation.

10 things I miss about Philly:
1) The Brandywine river museum (The Wyeth families museum)
2) Valley Forge
3) Tubing down the Delaware river
4) Kelly Drive, Boathouse rowe and the Schulkill river
5) The Philly Art Museum and Ben Franklin Parkway
6) Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Thomas Eakins
7) First Friday Art walk
8) Water Ice
9) Mike Smerconish on the big talker WPHT 1210am
10)L'Angelos in South Philly, best Italian restaraunt on the planet

I'm just getting started, I didn't even mention Yingling Beer, Vietnam, City Tavern, Old City, the Blue Horizon or the Holt Cigar company...by-the-way, Pat and Ginos Cheese Steak is not on my list. I'd much rather have steamers and a beer at Monks.


Today I am posting a figure drawing I did at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts from 2001 when I was studying there. The art scene in Philadelphia is explosively inspiring, I'm looking forward to squeezing in way too much.

If the hotel has wifi I may post while away, if not I will post my Philly paintings when I return on Monday.

p.s. I finished the Rye Harbor Dinghy painitng and posted it very late, so please scroll down and have a look...lots of subtle colors in there.

All my best to you,
Todd

Rye Harbor Dinghy (Finish)

Rye Harbor Dinghy is oil on a gessoed wood panel. (8x6")

Trucking along....

I stole some moments in my studio-under-the-stairs to lay in more paint on this small boat study.

Truro Saltboxes (Cape Cod Sketchbook)

Along route 1A in the Cape Cod town of Truro there are these rows of Saltbox cottages that line the Atlantic. Each one has a plaque on it with the name of a different flower. It's hard to drive by and not be charmed by these humble structures and the symmetry of the design they create on the landscape.

In my original sketch I included a clothesline with laundry blowing between the two shacks on the right of the composition. I loved the movement it added but the design of it created an awkward tangent with the horizon line of the ocean. I tried seagulls flying too but it didn't quite work. I'm going to live with it for a while and look at it with a fresh eye before I paint it.

I have gessoed a 10'x20" canvas for this painting and I'm looking forward to adding color to it soon.

Rye harbor dinghy (In progress)

I started laying in oil paint on my Rye Harbor boat study.