Scuffy in 3X3 Picture Book Annual.

Last week I received the great news that pictures from  my personal project "Scuffy- A Scarecrow's Tale" have been accepted into the 3X3 illustration Annual. I've been trying to get the story published ever since I started the book as part of my MFA project back in 2009.

Finally, a picture book annual that had an unpublished category has come along and I am gratified to finally see at least part of the book in print. There was a snag in the process when I read in the submission guidelines that even unpublished entries needed to be submitted as "published" spreads and include the "cover".

I enlisted the help of friend and fellow artist Val Paul Taylor to give my spread mock ups and cover a nice type treatment. I am super excited with the wonderful type treatment he came up with for the "book". Scuffy is currently being shop by my literary agent, so hopefully I will actually get to finish the book at some point. Fingers crossed!

Revelation

Revelation - 19" x 13" acrylic

This one is from the Scuffy project also. This is the moment when he looks back and realizes that all the stuff that scared him was really just everyday stuff. All of these pictures are done acrylic over a digital underpainting/drawing. I printed out the drawing after I added some color tones and then mounted it on museum foamcore and painted over the top. Here's a look back at the resolution of the story after Scuffy has captured the crow.

Attack of the Laundry

Attack of the Laundry - 19" x 13" acrylic

This painting is from the picture book that my wife and I wrote together called "Scuffy, a Scarecrow's Tale". In the story, Scuffy is scared of everything and imagines all sorts of dangers (including rabid scarecrow eating shirts and sheets).  I have been shopping it around to publishers (it's been rejected a few times so far) but no taker yet. It was part of my MFA thesis project so I have a complete story and dummy all sketched out and four finished paintings. It's ready to finish and I would love to have somebody pick it up. The closest we came was one of my previous publishers liked it a lot, but were already doing a Jane Yolen scarecrow story. Well, who really wants to compete with Jane Yolen? I posted another picture from this series a few weeks back.

Satisfied

First thumbnail- approx. 2" wide - roller pen

Final drawing - approx. 4.5" wide - black prismacolor

"Satisfied" - acrylic 19" x 13"

This painting is the cover as well as the final spread for "Scuffy, a scarecrow's tale", my MFA thesis and picture book project that I mentioned last post. I typically progress from really rough thumbnail drawings through a more finished value study drawing to the final painting. For years I admit I got lazy and didn't always create an effective value study before my final paintings. That was can be a dicey proposition as it can be hit or miss in the final execution of the art. Going back to grad school and rubbing elbows with so many talented professional artists encouraged me to reevaluate how I work and recommit to the basics of solid picture creation. Through this process I have come to realize that the value study is actually more important than the color study. It makes a big difference to have that value study in front of me before I start tackling color. Nearly any arrangement of colors (given a basic color relationship is present) can combine to make a successful picture if the value masses are arranged effectively.

See how the painting still works without color because of effective value patterns.