My wife and I just returned from a great trip to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.  We hiked among the big Sequoia trees, gained amazing views of the Great Western Divide and walked along cliff-trails that plunged 2,000ft to the valley floor.  Our last day there we took a leisurely hike into Kings Canyon and found a clearing to sketch and read in.  Among the sketches above are: Sphinx Mountain, Bucks Peak, Kristina reading and an old stump.

You see lots of fire damage throughout the parks – in fact, fire is a crucial element in the reproduction of Sequoia trees: the fire causes the giant tree’s tiny pinecones to release its seeds.  I’m not sure what kind of tree this burned fellow is but I enjoyed sketching it.

The lower ramparts of Glacier Monument in Kings Canyon.

First off: I have finally redesigned my website!  For a long while I’ve been wanting to move away from a Flash based portfolio to some good ol’ html and css, which I created through the folks at Indexhibit.  Here’s the new site in all its ipad/iphone-friendly glory: www.paulantonson.com

So as I’ve mentioned recently, I’ve been hashing out a story while simultaneously gearing my portfolio more towards kids books.   These three friends are the protagonists of my story so far: Toad, a Mourning Dove and a Glasswing Butterfly.  Throughout this process I’ve found myself increasingly influenced by the color and dynamics of today’s comics and I’ll be applying that more going forward.

Sketched this treehouse while on a plane recently.  I’ve been hashing out a story about 3 critter-friends who go on a journey and this was drawn while thinking about their potential living quarters.

Here’s a few bowls from this summer’s class.

I did all the paintings, my wife Naomi made the bowls.

I’m working on a book of Sea Monsters…  Politicians who have said stupid things about the gulf oil spill

Poster illustration I’ve created for cool upcoming collaboration between a great restaurant and wine group in Burlington Vermont.  I need to keep mum on the details for now but I will post additional information when I can!

I recently participated in a benefit for “Powered by a Girl” a campaign designed to educate teen girls about the impact of media on their lives and empower them use their creativity, wit, and individuality to make a difference. Tilbury House Publishers invited illustrators to submit a 6″ by 4″ drawing which would be sold to benefit the campaign.

The idea was to submit an image which best represented who we are, so naturally I worked up the pencil and watercolor drawing on the left.  Before mailing off the furry fellow I scanned it and colored a version in photoshop.  I was happy to hear the event was a success and the yeti is enjoying his book in a nice new home.

Ceramic bowl, sea monster series.

It’s summer, and I’ve taken a ceramics class each year for the past few years. This is the start of the Sea Monster series.  To see the rest of the bowls, please visit my blog:  http://art2go-rtdm.blogspot.com/

I’ve just finished this illustration for the 2010 Siren Music Festival held by the Village Voice in Coney Island each July.  This actually marks the 10th year in a row that I’ve created the art for Siren and its somewhat interesting to look back at the previous years work to see how I’ve evolved as an illustrator.  In terms of the assignment we decided on the Siren having three heads because it sort of jived with the greek mythology of Siren’s hanging out in groups of three, but we never expected that there would be a second Siren Fest let alone ten.  In some ways I think I’ve done the same drawing each time, just with a different interpretation.

It’s been an honor to be able to work on something which has soaked in the amazing, culturally-brackish waters that is Coney Island.  It has such a important and bizarre place in history (well chronicled in Rem Koolhaas’s Delirious New York) and its been a real treat to be able to give it my own strange take.  Why is there always a Yeti, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Black Manta, Easter Island guys and an Octopus hanging out?  I don’t know but if that every manages to occur in the real world it will happen there.  Coney Island is going through its latest round of upheaval and strife (well documented in this project) which is sad on many levels and yet oddly organic as well.

Huge thanks to Diane Perini who has chosen the lineups and been the driving force for all of Sirens 10 years and has given me tons of support.  Mike Gibson has been doing the logos and design of the ads, posters and t-shirts in recent years and has just made the whole thing sing.

I recently completed this batch of fun illustrations for Orange Coast Magazine out in Orange County, California. These were for the magazine’s summer beach guide, and the series of articles offered lots of tips for how to achieve “Beach Bliss”, such as:

• proper surfing etiquette
• how to score a fire pit
• how to ensure parking karma
• how to change at your car
• how to deal with dirty beach bathrooms

The lifeguard drawing ran with an open letter from a lifeguard to parents about some of the things to keep in mind when bringing your kids to the beach. Art direction by Mindy Benham.

This is a painting I just finished of Mc Sorley’s Ale House in New York.  It’s one of my favorite places. I spent quite a bit of time there, when I went to school in Rochester at RIT.   I know, it was a long commute, and as John Belushi said in animal house,  “7 years of college, down the drain.”