omg… what happened to barb? oh, she’s working on her thesis… which is less than 30 days away. YiKes! anyway, i made this little diagram of my space which i thought was kind of funny. we’ll see how it looks in “reality” on april (- gulp- ) 21st… i’ll post an invite soon.

The Atomium. A building that simply does not take a bad picture. Don’t be fooled—it’s not a new restaurant at LAX. It’s in Brussels, and a must see you for anyone interested in 20th Architecture, make that futuristic architecture as well. Designed by André Waterkeyn. Built in 1958 for the International Exhibition of Brussels. 102 meters high and based off of an iron molecule magnified 165 billion times. It reopened in February of this year.

Just returned from a trip to Brussels. I have to say, Belgium is a great city for graffiti, street art and comics (has a comic museum to prove it, although I wasn’t as impressed with the museum as with what I saw on the streets and in bookstores. Here’s a great place for comics, it’s called Brusel (Boulevard Anspachlaan 100 Bruxelles 1000 Belgium (www.brusel.com). Check it out when you’re there. They had a signed Chis Ware print in the window…

These are my first illustrations for The Hartford Courant. They ran a series of stories this week covering the college application process. The drawing on the top ran with a pair of stories that dealt with how both the students and the parents deal with the anxious waiting period in different ways.
The story that the bottom drawing ran with was about a new breed of private consultants who promise to help get your kid into the best school, starting very early on.
You can see larger versions here and here.

This small painting is actually a study for a much larger painting that will be placed next to the front door of my brother’s home in Holderness, NH. The final painting will be 31″x45″. This study is 11″x15″. Ordinarily I do all of my painting in oil: the initial drawing or rub out, the underpainting and then the final glazes. In this case I am doing the underpainting in acrylic and will finish with oil glazes on top. What we are looking at here is the acrylic underpainting of the study. My next step will be to grid out both panels and transfer everything to the larger panel. When that is done I will go into the study with oils and then repeat (sans mistakes) on the larger panel.
Once the oil has dried on the study I will make another post and show the results. I am hoping to have the large panel painted and in NH by early summer. Till then click on the study to see a larger image.
I needed the large panel to be a specific size and be as sturdy as possible so I special ordered it from Prospect Heights’s own, Simon Liu Inc. Fine Painting Supports. The panel was not cheap but the expense was worth it. Simon Liu produces incredibly high quaility painting supports and my panel is no exception. Simon Liu also has a well stocked art supply store in the back of his workshop. If you are in the neighborhood stop by.

I’m working on the second drawing of a two-part newspaper illustration series tonight (due tomorrow morning!)…Just wanted to share how much I enjoy the underpainting part of my process…Working out the values alone can be very satisfying. Then, you must wade into the unknown currents of the color. Exciting, but can be scary. At this stage, I try to stick to the burnt sienna hues, just liked I used to in ‘traditional’ paintings. Texture is key at this point…Gonna be a long night!

Here’s my Dad surfing at York Beach in Maine, back in the late seventies. Any more pictures of parents in water?

I’ve been looking at images of my parents lately, trying to figure out a possible film or photo project.
I think it’s imperative that artists explore the subject of family no matter how corny or banal it may seem.
The first of our teachers, our folks are the complex beginning. For many of us it’s a place far away or a terrrible trudge to even think about.

Here’s the poster/ad art I’ve come with for this year’s Siren Festival in Coney Island. Click here or on the image to see a larger version. I’d initially come up with a blue/red/purple color scheme but after I began the color temperature felt too cool for this setting, so I added lots of yellow. Because Dave Bias designs a variety of ads and posters for the Voice at different sizes I gave him the final art with the Siren and her magic swirl on separate layers. The big open space to the left of the Siren will facilitate the names of the bands playing the fest. And yes, that is John “Stumpy” Pepys (Ed Begley Jr.) from Spinal Tap playing the drums by the big wave.