Will probably work on this heron--simplifying etc. They are very primordial looking--and the idea of it devouring one of the key skyscrapers in SF is very Kongular, but also links to a bird consuming/subsuming a city...back to the theme of the year....can you guess? Avian Flu.
How does this happen that many, if not all roads lead to Avian Flu? Is it all meant to be?
Hi. Just got started on this night heron. Did a little thumbnail for fun before getting into cutting one in illustrator. Not much happening here. Grass is growing, promise of rain, Princess Kitty is away, R. is working late--so A. and I have plans for tonight.
Freerange boys going to be the first box wine(BIB)shown at the Nantucket Wine Festival. They are pumped and planning private tastings with the food biggies in the Boston area (chefs, restauranteurs etc.) Meeting with big wigs at the end of the month. I cannot wait to hear about the reaction to the wine and the packaging. It is always amusing to hear the knock-out punch that the boys deliver when it looks good and tastes just as good!
Up this morning at 3:30 to get Princess Kitty to the bus for a wonderful, museum packed 3 days, 2 nights in Washington, D.C. Yipes! Very exciting.The school did a wonderful job of organizing, planning and getting all the kids in one place, focused all going in the same direction. A. did a good job with baseball (no rainout)--hit a few, caught a few, had a brush with a ball and is the hero of the day with the younger set. They hang on every word he utters. Did a few drawings yesterday. Need to jump on the SF bandwagon a little later this week. Ordered a slew of bulbs from Van Engelen this morning. Hundreds! Scented narcissis, some littler allium, a zillion daffodils, amaryllis (to give away @ Christmas)--red and white striped, and the same with paperwhites. YAY! Its so terrific to order them now as the buzz around having a kabillion bulb (many of them dying away) is still alive, which any later might fade with all the richness summer gives us. Gonna check out Mr. Klehm and his gorgeous peonies to shop for that too! Check 'em out!
Beautiful weekend with lots of sunshine and friends. Working busily on new illustration project...the above is a reject but here for you. Still working on the chicken feet.The boys got their go ahead to submit all of our winebox graphics for federal approval yesterday. So we move forward.
Today is R's birthday. Kitty goes to Washington DC tomorrow in the wee hours. Baseball was cancelled (to my delight!).
Another sunny day in the Republic. Bought some coral bells and hosta yesterday at that reviled discount place--and a gardenia and a fab (Mother's day present to me from ME) pale, blue purple, semi baroque looking clematis. Now, time to get em in.
The new illustration client has other desires--so I think I will generate a bunch of sketches in anticipation of a July need. Animals. Any and all...preferably symbolic or illustrative. So, as soon as our little chat finishes, I am off to be a good google monkey--to look for pix and fables. They like the online monkeys...which are not the friendliest. And they like the line work...(So I bought my new tool of choice, the precision Precise V5 from Pilot, with the "needle point"--and am ready to go). They even liked the teacup...so maybe some sketches in paint(!). For those of you who care, the Precise V5 will take water...and do a little watercolor thing too.
They promised us rain. Buckets of it. Day and night--7x24 deluge. And what do we have? Another day in paradise! High blue skies. Shapey clouds. Green grass...I give up. Just got a for real, paying illustration job drawing a picture of a sunface. So, you all may get a gander either here...or somewhere else. Tburg Foundation just approved their new logo/symbol--which looks nice. Will post next few postings. School dance tonight for the young'ens...to their delight. Almost like Christmas or Birthday levels of excitement. Nice.
These dudes are part of the watercolor pottering. They are more sketches to get to the one and only Google Monkey. Unfortunately, they look like people I know. Either unflattering to the people...or the monkeys.
Thinking about having a little mid-afternoon party for Princess Kitty and her pals to celebrate the moving up from Middle School. With that thinking, this little person teacup was part of the watercolor noodling during our baseball evenings this week. The thought is iced tea, lemonade, cakes, petit fours, and maybe some iced cream plus games outside like bocci, badminton, croquet, kickball...Could be fun. Low impact for me, and something with a limited timeframe for the guests. Thoughts?
not sure about the feet. Going to relook at that. Also, plan on lifting the bird and putting into a less "graphic design" environment. I do like the way this background makes it look like the bird is endorsing breakfast cereal etc. except he should be cock-a-doodling instead of placidly standing there with small minded rage brewing on his demeanor.
Another day, another opportunity to do something fun! Spent a couple of hours yesterday watching Alex's baseball practice with Kittycat--piddling around with watercolors. Fun. We have more baseball today, therefore....(you fill in the blanks... I'll give you a hint...therefore, more time piddling with watercolors1). Am listening to two way divergent albums/cds--the new Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris "in the Running" and an old fave, gospel group Marvin Winans and the Perfected Praise Choir, "Friends"-- Its rockin'--but all over the map. No news about all over the map here.The chicken is in the final basting...shadows, tweaks etc.Later today or tomorrow for posting. Finally licked the technique I was griping about yesterday. Cool way to use the transform tool and the opacity mask in illustrator. Man, this tool just keeps going. Later.
More on this bird. The Freeranger is about to take flight...awkward and
a bit halting albeit it is action! So, I figured as I have birds on the brain, that I would do some domesticated fowl to compliment (?) the west coast,wild specimens. So, a goose or two, a chicken or ten, and maybe a duck or turkey? From my digital pen to your table...def low fat, high carbs. No calories!
Did I tell you about Layers magazine?Its a great adobe CS related pub with tons of tricks and tips...pretty straightforward. They sponsor a nice Mac event--that had a cool trick having to do with the opacity mask in Illustrator that rocks...only problem is this old bird is having a heck of a time making it go...It only takes 100 tries and we will have it.
I promised chickens. Here goes. Much more in the hopper that you poor devils get to get subjected to. Cheers!
Tried doing some sort of architectural look for the San Francisco pictures and got bored. Tired and bored. My usual approach to "projects" is that you don't start a new one until you dog the other one to death and finish it...whether you like it or not...but I am, in my old age going to do what I want to do--and put the pains aside.Much healthier and much more fun. And, not so damned puritanical. So, more birds to come. I can't decide whether I should do more San Francisco birds, do "cross over birds" (ones that we get here "back east"), or domestic birds like chickens and geese...But I am on it. I figure if I can get enough bird work done, I will have 1) a bird body of work, 2)a thesis in the bag (if I want it), 3) 26 birds and 26 letters of the alphabet make a type of alphabetical bestiary that could be worked up into a book, or 4) 12 birds/12 months equal a calendar. You get the idea.
Want to do some chickens for Freerange. Freerange news is that they will be at the Nantucket Wine Festival at the end of the month. Very swanky and elite.They will be the first "box wine" shown there. The boys are psyched. More happening in the world of distribution etc.
Kitty and Alex were in high spirits this morning as Kitty is going to a choral judging that she has been working very hard on and Alex was going to spend the day on a field trip. Kitty looked beautiful and Alex had an orange shirt that made him look like a dreamsicle creamsicle. (As an aside, my younger friends do not know what a creamsicle is...I guess this dates me!).
The unhappy fellow shown above is a wandering sketch from yesterday. Still working with monkeys...am fascinated by the shapes in their faces. I want to understand them a little better. You may see more of them.
Fiddling around with watercolor and a sharpie during the continuing documentary film festival we are sponsoring for Kitty and Alex. Last night's showing (partial--it got too late and school is tomorrow/today) was of "Farenheit 911". Good to see it, and particularly good to see it through their eyes. It's funny how much they really love this approach to movies--I guess because it's real, it's edgy (the more point of view for those two, the better)and they actually learn something. They are begging to see "Brokeback Mountain" but I am not sure about it.
We are good to go on the skate park work from yesterday. The crowd seems to like it.
Wine man, my new client, weighed in....action on that soon.
The big wine project is moving along...with some distribution deals happening as we speak.
The day is short. Onward!
I was given a sketch generated by high school folks who need some work done to create a teeshirt to raise funds for a skate park. This is the first shot against their thinking. My thinking was to get it to this place, and then look around a little. I was reading my wonderful Juxatpoz magazine, and they have a ton of articles, show notices and ads featuring tattoo graphics, and car art/pinstripers and car letterers (they have a group and call themselves Pinheads (I think)). They have some cool details (like swatches,flourishes,etc) that could be layered onto this graphic. I was thinking roses?
Also, went back to the center of the universe, Shepard Fairey (genius boy and also a creator of some pretty unbelievable skateboard graphics) to see what he would do...and first off...one color is a bit of a problem...but its Tburg and there isnt much money to do this sort of thing....However, when we get going on the final work, perhaps we work in an illustration of the boy the park is memorializing as a tribute and also because we can....Yay Shepard! Any thoughts?
Here in the scenic Finger Lakes, we have the oolooolating common loons. In San Francisco, there is the Pacific Loon, or the red necked loon. This is the pacific loon for our amusement and edification.
A species endemic to the coastal and foothills regions of California, this bird suffers from habitat loss and fragmentation, and to a smaller extent, pesticide poisoning. Its ubiquitous singing and foraging antics have endeared it to nature lovers.
The California Thrasher is a striking songbird with a thick, long, decurved bill; dark iris; and dark eye-line. The 12-inch long bird has orange undertail coverts and buffy underparts. Sexes are alike.
The thrasher eats beetles, spiders, and other bugs year-round, and feasts on fruits when available. This ground-feeding bird will run for cover with its long tail raised.
Don't we all run for cover with our long tails raised? I do! Its a real attention grabber here in the hamlet of Rongovia.