Monday, December 17, 2012

Happy Holidays from Barclay-Studio (I.F. Snow)


Happy Holidays

Every Christmas I ask my children what they want on the family Christmas card. This year, one of my daughters asked for a snowman. Honestly, I wasn't too thrilled about that. It is rather a common sight. It wasn't until my oldest son said I should give the snow man a jet-pack that I really got excited about the project. This also matches the Illustration Friday word of the week, “Snow.”

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. All I would ask is that we each find a way to lift someones spirits. There are many people suffering year round. it doesn't take much to bring a little joy into others lives.

Barclay

Friday, November 30, 2012

Christmas Card


Here is another option for christmas cards this year. Again you can purchase them at my Zazzle Store

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Weekly Bow Tie Guy, Stop Making Sense


I created this for the Open Exhibit Stop Making Sense at the Society of Illustrators. I was trying my hand at a different medium.  It was my daughter's idea to have the skunk sitting on a cactus.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Christmas Cards

For those looking for a unique Holiday Card to send to friends and family, The Holiday Blob Card is now available for purchase at my Zazzle Store.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween (Days 27-31 of 31 Creature Bow Ties + 1 if you can find it)


Trick or Treating (trik ôr trētiNG)

Included in my final post for the 31 days of Creature Bow Ties is the wolpertin, the Brain in a jar, the Blob, a dragon and a goblin. There is one more as a hidden creature for those that want to look. Technically, I could add a second mystery bow tie guy as well. I hope you enjoy the day. Now it is on to working on the illustrations for this years faculty exhibit. 

Friday, October 26, 2012

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Day 25 of 31 Creature Bow Ties

Vermont Minotaur (vərˈmänt ˈminəˌtôr)

This minotaur roams the woods of New England. I could do a typical minotaur. 

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Day 23 of 31 days of Creature Bow Ties

Pumpkin Head (ˈpəm(p)kən hed)

I am in the midst of midterms and registration for Spring semester so my drawings are getting faster, but at least I am drawing. This is inspired by John R. Neil's illustrations for Jack Pumpkin Head from the Oz series.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Days 17-19 of 31 Days of Creature Bow Ties

The Dreaded Werpenguin (ˈwe(ə)r, ˈpeNGgwin)

The werpenguin is a rare flightless fowl beast found in the remote regions of the Antarctic. They are generally poor unfortunate scientists that survive a werpenguin attack and can be seen traveling in small flocks on the night of a full moon in the Antarctic looking for victims. 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Day 16 of 31 Days of Creature Bow Ties (IF Water)

Creature from the Black Lagoon

First I feel the need to apologize to Vincent Di Fate, but I could not resist putting my spin on the Creature from the Black Lagoon. I can only imagine what he would think of this if he saw it. Nonetheless, I had fun and it is a wonderful image for this weeks Illustration Friday, Water.


Monday, October 15, 2012

Days 13-15 of 31 Days of Creature Bow Ties

These are 3 aliens I have been drawing since high school. Umlout is the one-eyed guy, Ubu has the tentacles, Uz is the other one.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Day 12 of 31 days of Creature Bow Ties

Giant Octopus (ˈjīənt ˈäktəpəs)

It's big and it has eight tentacles.  On Monday I will post three for the weekend.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Day 11 of 31 Days of Creature Bow Ties

Ammut ('aemit)

This is a creature that has fascinated me for some time. It is the soul eater in Egyptian 
mythology. Ammut is comprised on the three man eating animals in Egypt, of the head 
of a crocodile the torso of a lion and the hind end of a hippopotamus.
They look cool on the Egyptian papyrus. I don't know what to think about this one. I 
hope to refine the drawing a little an re post the color soon. 

If anyone was wondering what happened to the 10th day, there are two gargoyles. 
Life is hectic sometimes.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Day 9 of 31 Creature Bow Ties (IF Mirror)

Gargoyles (ˈgärˌgoils)

One of the places I love to go and draw is the Fairbanks Museum in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont. These two gargoyles are above the entrance to the museum. I added the bow ties, glasses and sweater vest. As they are mirroring each other I thought they would be a good addition to Illustrations Friday's word mirror. 

Monday, October 8, 2012

Day 8 of 31 Creature Bow Ties


Abominable Snow Man/Yeti (əˈbɑm(ə)nəbəl ˈsnoʊˌmæn/ˈyetē)

A variation of the Sasquatch or the other way around. I almost reposted Thursdays illustration with a change of color, but I thought this was better.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Day 5-7 of 31 Days of Creature Bow Ties

Dancing Demons

Since I am not able to post on the weekend I thought I would take care of the weekend in one fell swoop.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Day 4 of 31 Days Bow Tie Creatures


Bigfoot/Sasquatch (ˈbigˌfo͝ot/ˈsaskwäCH-kwaCH)

The massive footed hairy ape like creature of North America. I am having fun.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Day 3 of Creature Bow Tie Guys (IF Book)

Monster Book

Inspired by the Illustration Friday word of the week, book, and Harry Potter. It is amazing what a bow tie does to a monster.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Day 2 of Creature Bow Ties


“There are children here somewhere. I can smell them.”

 I created this redesign of  The Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang a number of years ago. He is not a creature in the real sense of the word, but as a child he scared the heebee jee bees out of me. I still find him frightening. This was done in my  blurry realistic phase of my life. I got over it.

And there is a bow tie.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Day 1 of 31 Days of Creature Bow Ties

I realized again that I need little projects to keep me drawing on a daily basis. I consulted with my eldest daughter and she suggested I illustrate 31 days of creatures, monsters and such over the next month. We  with two of my other children cobbled together a list while waiting for the school bus to come. The idea of a tree monster came up. I thought it would be fun to do a Truffula Tree ala trees from The Wizard of Oz or the Ents from The Lord of the Rings. Its not all that frightening, but what I illustrate rarely is.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Weekly Bow Tie Guy


Ostrich (ˈästriCH)

It has been a while since I posted a Bow Tie Guy. As I have mentioned it has been a busy semester. I believe things are settling down a little. I am trying to determine a special project for the blog similar to  lasts years 100 bow ties in 100 days or less. When I determine what that is I will start posting them.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Mark Tansey (1949–)

This last Friday, while visiting the Boston Museum of Fine Arts with students, I was reminded of my love for the work of Mark Tansey. In a college art program that frowned upon narrative art, I found an artist that not only told a story, but one that told the story with humor and intelligence. 

Tansey has said “In the late 1970s, what was particularly attractive about pictorial representation was that one faced an opening and extending realm of content rather than dematerialization, endgames, and prolonged swan songs. Difficulties lay in the long established and increasingly critical isolation of subject matter from art practice. Critical discourse and art education had restricted the notion of content to two pockets coalescing around formal and conceptual poles. To speak about subject matter in a picture simply was not done.

My feeling was that there was no longer any justification for these restrictions. Pictures should be able to function across the fullest range of content. The conceptual should be able to mingle with the formal and subject matter should enjoy intimate relations with both.” 


Enunciation
Currently on display in the Boston Museum of Fine Art, Enunciation is a double portrait of Duchamp. He is sitting in the foreground and is in the other train as Rrose Sélavy, a pseudonym he created in a series of photographs taken by Man Ray. This is an impossible encounter.



Action Painting II

This, in my mind, is a wonderful example of what others think of artists and how easy it is to paint. In under 8 seconds everyone was able to paint a perfect picture of the shuttle launch. Notice the young girl in the bottom left. Again he is playing with reality. This is an impossibility. One in which I find great delight and humor. Tansey played with reality and realism. He paints art jokes with brilliance and I am grateful for his contribution to art and his influence in my art as well.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Imagination (IF)


This summer I took some time drawing clouds and finding objects or creatures in the drawings. It was fascinating to see how one cloud evolved from one creature to another. It was an exercise I hope to continue with in the future.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Happy National Bow Tie Day! (IF Tall)

In honor of National Bow Tie Day, I thought I would repost one of my Bow Tie Guys with the most bow ties. I hope everyone enjoys the day.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Update on the Bow Tie Front

I just received news that Moosalamoo, the Bow Tie, I designed has been the top selling Bow Tie at Beau Ties LTD for the past two weeks. They are ordering more fabric. This is exciting.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Beau Tie Cover


The catalog for the Beau Ties LTD of Vermont catalog is now out so I thought it was a good time to finally post the illustration. The ties worn are actual ties from the catalog. Again, if your interested in looking at the selection of bow ties or seeing the one I designed you can visit Beau Ties LTD here

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Bow Tie Guy of the Week

Parrot (ˈparət)

With all the preparations for the start of the school year I needed to take a break and just draw for fun.

Monday, August 6, 2012

The First Bow Tie Guy Bow Tie (Moosalamoo) is now available

My first bow tie is now available at Beau Ties Ltd. of Vermont and it is already on backorder (ok so the fabric has been delayed, but it makes it sound like you need to order soon). You can go to here to purchase the bow tie or here to purchase the neck tie.

This is just too exciting.

The Catalog is in the mail. I will post the cover shortly.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Olympic Feats

As always, it has been enjoyable watching the Olympics this year, and In honor of the 2012 Summer Olympics I thought I would post this illustration I created a few years ago. I love watching synchronized swimming. I don't really know why, it just fascinates me.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Painting on the iPad

This is my first attempt at painting on the iPad. I am using the app Procreate and the Nomad brush. This is going to take some getting use to. I thought it would be fun to post.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Te Sound of Music

Just finished the illustration for the Vermont Children's Theater's production of The Sound of Music. This one was challenging. I didn't want to do the typical dancing on the mountains and there wasn't much room for an illustration based on the requirements for the text. In the end I enjoyed it.

Now it is on to finishing the cover for the fall Beau Ties Ltd of Vermont Catalog.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Dr Dolittle

Just finished the poster for The Vermont Children's Theater production of The Adventures of Doctor Dolittle. The best part was my 2 year old son recognized all the animals except the pushmepullme.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

IF Space


This is one I have been working on for some time. My initial thought about space was to do something about outer space and aliens. As time passed I came up with more ideas and thought about finishing this illustration which is about space and the lack thereof. The title is, “They realized they had a problem when the rhinoceros sat down.”  I had posted the black and white version a while back.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Vermont Children's Theater Beanstalk! The Musical! (IF Secret)

I have been away for a while dealing with family matters. Here is the preliminary illustration for the Vermont Children's Theater production of Beanstalk! The Musical! I am also posting it for Illustration Friday's Word, Secret. Here the bean seller is revealing the secret of the magic bean.

I still have a week to finish the illustration so if anyone has any suggestions on making it better let me know.

For those that are in the area, the performances are:
Thursday, July 5 at 7 p.m., Friday, July 6th at 7 p.m. and Saturday, July 7th at 2 p.m.

I am busy working on the other two posters and the cover for the fall catalog of Beau Ties LTD. of Vermont. I will be posting those as I get them finished.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Leo Dillon 1933-2012


Another incredible illustrator has left us. Leo Dillon was a master.
To find out more about him visit Tor here.

Some of my favorites of his and Diane Dillon's work are the covers for the A Wrinkle in Time series. I wanted to read the book because of the Illustration. The story and illustrations for Pish Posh Said Hieronymus Bosch is also delightful. Everything he did was magic.



To add to his skill many of my students interviewed the Dillons for various projects and they all reported how kind and generous he is. I am grateful for the impact he had on me and many of my students.

IF Faded


This is a minor reworking of an earlier post. The old tractor has faded and is not quite what it used to be, but it is beautiful nonetheless.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Summer Sketching (Church Street, Burlington, VT)

Yesterday  the class went to Church Street in Burlington to draw. I spent the time trying to capture as many different people as possible as they were walking by.  I love drawing on Church Street. There is such a variety of people.These are a few of my better sketches.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Summer Sketching (Simon Pearce Glassblowing)




Yesterday, I took the sketching class to the Simon Pearce workshop in Quechee, Vermont. Blowing Glass is a beautiful process to watch and a wonderful drawing exercise. It was a challenge for everyone to capture the process. These are a few of my better sketches.

The shop has been closed for the past nine months due to damage from Irene. The entire area was floor where they blow the glass was under water. There is still great deal to be done, but the workshop has been open for two weeks now. The remodeled room was wonderful to see. If you are in the area, I would encourage everyone to stop in and see the work.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Summer Sketching at Shelburne Farms


Yesterday I took the sketching class to Shelburne Farms, in Vermont. The day was overcast and drizzly so we had to keep to covered areas to draw. As such we stayed at the barn area where there was plenty of wonderful things to sketch. We were not going to let the weather stop us.

These are some of the better sketches of the day. Chickens are hard to draw, moving chickens are even harder. I even got to milk a cow! I am looking forward to visiting again.


IF Sight (sketching at the Fairbanks Museum)

As part of the sketching class I am teaching we visited the Fairbanks Museum in St Johnsbury VT. They have a wonderful selection of taxidermic animals that are wonderful to draw. It is great practice and warms them up to sketching from life when everything is moving. Inevitably all the animals I draw their end up with bow ties, glasses and sweater vests. The owl seemed to screech “sight”

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Summer Sketching

I am currently teaching an intensive sketching class. We travel around the state drawing. This is one of mine from yesterday's class. To get started I stay local. This is in Lyndonville. I love the houses on this street and have wanted to draw them for some time.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Maurice Sendak Passed away at the age of 83

A truly great artist and writer passed away today. He is a master storyteller. You can read more about it here at the New York Times

Friday, May 4, 2012

What if I designed the Avengers?

A few months ago my older brother suggested I illustrate my childhood heros as if I had the opportunity to design them. With the opening of The Avengers today, I thought it was a perfect opportunity to start. I have been a comic book reader for years and only stopped because the cost was getting to high.

The one comic I consistently collected was the Avengers (I have every issue, some reprints, up until the last few years). Needless to say I am somewhat excited about the movie. I replaced Hawkeye with The Vision (he's the red guy at the bottom) because I couldn't do an illustration of the Avengers without him. He is my all time favorite superhero. He is Spock and Data combined and then some because he can walk through walls as well. I remember the day I was at the local drug store and saw him in a comic and thought he was so cool. The Hulk was another favorite of mine. I think because he was so misunderstood. I could relate to that.

In my redesign, I tried to think of the characters that would actually wear bow ties. It just didn't seem to fit Thor, Captain America or Black Widow. The suspenders worked for the first two. Thor was strongly influenced by the mechanic in the movie Adventures of Babysitting.

This all emphasizes my realization that I am a big geek.