Wednesday, December 28, 2016

A Few Sketches from My Sons Christmas Concert


Right before Christmas, my son had his class Christmas Concert. Here are a few sketches from the performance.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Daily Sketch


We had a visitor to our home today. Our kitten Delphi had cornered it on a small ledge above our stairway. It was frightened and would not move so I did what any artist would do. I took some time out of my busy morning schedule to sketch the little guy.

Monday, December 5, 2016

A Few Notes: the 2016 Faculty Exhibit






This year faculty from the Visual Arts department selected original compositions or performances from the Music and Business Industry faculty to be inspired by. I selected Professor Tim Saeed's performant of Chopin's Nocturne Op. 27 No.2

I couldn't resist revisiting themes from high school and drawing elephant's in pink tutus.

The work is being exhibited at the Quimby Gallery on Lyndon State College's campus until January 2017.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

A new exhibit of my work


This week will be the opening of the Lyndon State College's Visual Arts faculty show. I will be exhibiting work inspired by the compositions and performances of faculty from the Music and Business Industry. The Show opens this Thursday at 6 pm in the Quimby Gallery.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Sketching You're a Good Man Charlie Brown


This Saturday we took time as a family to see the local high school's production of You're a Good man Charlie Brown. Surprisingly, I had never seen it before. A good friend of the family was playing Schroeder. It was a fun production and a wonderful musical. Very uplifting. I found a few moments to sketch. Something I have wanted to do at shows but never done before. The challenge is drawing while people are moving and also drawing in the dark. I did well for my first attempt.

The musical was made even better by listening to the joy form my children while watching it. There is nothing like hearing a child laugh.
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Thursday, October 13, 2016

Sketching the Board of Trustees Meeting


A few weeks ago I visited the Vermont State Colleges Board of Trustees meeting. They were discussing an important matter with regards to Lyndon State College. Before I addressed them I took an opportunity to sketch a few of the board members, the president of Caselton University and the Chancellor of the VSC.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Art exhibit opening this week!


This Friday, October 14th at 6p will be the opening of Nuts and Bolts at the Quimby Gallery. I will have the honor of exhibiting with the talented Kevin Harkey (Disney storyboard artist), Robby Gilbert (animation professor at Lyndon State College) and Andrea Poe (a truly gifted artist, animator and illustrator). This will be part of the Vermont Animation Festival going starting Thursday night and running through Saturday. More information can be found at vermontanimation.org

Friday, September 30, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Chimera of Sorts

Chimera (kīˈmi(ə)rə)

This is a personal take on a traditional Greek mythological creature. In stead of the typical lion, dragon and goat headed monster I mixed some of my favorite odd animals together into a storage beast. I am also moving into my bowler phase. 

Monday, September 26, 2016

Weekend Sketching


This weekend I spent time with my youngest son at his soccer practice. He was full of pure joy! He wants to be like Scott Sterling (you can see what I am talking about here.). As can be seen, I took the opportunity to draw a bit while watching him practice and play. I am working on capturing action more. It has been one of the more challenging aspects of sketching.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

More Sketching: A page from this Summer


One day this summer we went as a family to Island Pond, VT to enjoy the water. Here is a sketch of my son in our inflatable raft. It was a wonderful day. We ended up at Crystal Lake because we could not rent the kayaks at Island pond, but we still had fun.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Sketching at Meetings: Johnson State College's President Elaine Collins

Because of my responsibilities at Lyndon State College, I find myself in many meetings. I really have found a great joy in drawing Johnson State College's President Elaine Collins. This is one of my favorites. I drew this yesterday at a community conference discussing the “unification” of Lyndon and Johnson. If all goes according to plan she will be the president of the new unified institution.

I don't discuss politics much. I find them to be humorous and best and down right ridiculous in most cases. It is a funny and frustrating dance of power, and looking out for ones own interest. One of the Vermont State Senators and an alum of Lyndon chose his words carefully. When he questioned the chancellor about the idea he called it “this unification scheme.” I couldn't help but think there was a reason for his choice of words. I had to laugh.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Sketching Open Mic Night at the Fusion Grill



Last Friday Night I had the wonderful opportunity to watch and listen to a group of Lyndon State College's Music and Business Industry students perform at the Fusion Grill. It was a joyful evening listening to my good friend Derek Campbell perform with his students. I marveled at the incredible musicians we have at Lyndon. I love working here at Lyndon. I love being surrounded by so many great students. The food was great too.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Gerenuk

Gerenuk (ˈgerəˌno͝ok)

Hailing from Great Horn area of East Africa, this the long necked member of the antelope family, often eats tall bushes while standing on its hind legs. It is also known as the Giraffe Gazelle.

Friday, September 2, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Saiga

Saiga (ˈsīgə)

Part of my Endangered Species Series, the Saiga used to inhabit large areas of the Eurasian Steppe, a temperate grassland and savanna area through Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Hunting, habitat loss and severe winters have placed these antelope on the critically endangered list. You can find out more about the saiga and what is being done to help them at The World Wildlife Federation.

They are not the most attractive creature because to the large nostrils that point down.

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Mastodon

Mastodon (ˈmastəˌdän)

I am making time to draw again. Life got really hectic, with summer, work and stuff. Here is a bow tie guy I have been working on for a while.

The mastodon lived during the Micene to Pleistocene epochs. The American Mastodon had fur and was smaller than the Wooly Mammoth.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

County Fair Sketches

This summer hit hard and fast wit ha great deal of fires to put out. This impacted my drawing opportunities horribly. I was finally able to make time to draw at the Caledonia County Fair.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Peacock


Peacock (ˈpēˌkäk)

I have been drawing every day, but there have been a great deal of things that have limited my time. Where I would be able to do this in an hour or so in one day, I have distributed the work over four or so days.

The peacock is the male name for a peafowl. The iridescent blue peacock is from India.

Monday, July 11, 2016

Thursday, July 7, 2016

A work in progress


Here is the rough and final drawing the Willy Wonka poster. Throughout the process I simplified the illustration. The production of Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka will be at the Vermont Children's Theater on July 21,22,23 at 7p 28,29, and 30 at 2 and 7.

In preparation for the the project, I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for the first time. It is a wonderful book. I wish it hadn't taken me so long to get to.

I went more conceptual with this. It is something mew for me. And a special note, to prove a point,  there is no bow tie in this illustration.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

More from Europe: Vendor at the Spanish Steps


While waiting for the group to gather together for our trip back to the hotel, I drew this vendor that was next to the Spanish Steps in Rome.

It has been a while since my last post. I have been dealing with a great deal and I was without wifi for a number of days because of my participation in a young men's camp.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Sketches from Europe: A view of Delphi


Delphi is still one of my favorite places to visit. I would like to go and spend a few days there. It is so peaceful and beautiful. Here is a sketch looking down on the temple of Apollo from my last visit in February.

Monday, June 20, 2016

Preliminary work for Vermont Children's Theater


I hope to have this completed soon. Here is the preliminary drawings for the poster for Shrek Jr the Musical. This has been fun drawing all the fairy tale creatures.

Friday, June 17, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Rowlet

Rowlet

My youngest son wanted me to draw this because this pokémon has a bow tie. Rowlet is a new starter pokémon from Pokémon Sun game. I have never been into the game, but I could not pass up this wonderful opportunity to spend time with my son drawing.

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Sketches from Greece: The Acropolis


These are two sketches from the acropolis. The top is looking up at the entrance to the Acropolis. The other is The Erechtheum. This second visit to the site proved to be more productive drawing wise. My first visit 2 years ago I struggled to draw anything.

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Sketches from Greece: The Isle of Hyrda



One the last day of my trip to Italy and Greece we visited the island of Hyrda. It is a beautiful island where no vehicles are allowed. Most people walk or travel by donkey. It was beautiful except for the plethora of cats. These are two of the sketches I was able to make while on the island.

Monday, June 13, 2016

Sketches from Rome: Piazza Navona


Although I have been drawing, I have limited access to my scanner at this point, so I have been unable to scan in new work. I realized, in all my excitement to get out a daily Bow Tie Guy, that I forgot about my sketches from my last trip to Italy and Greece.

Here is my sketch from Piazza Navona. I love drawing in Europe. I love taking my students on these trips and seeing their drawing skills improve.

Although I continually see room for improvement in my drawing skills, I also recognize improvement. I strongly believe it is the quantity of drawing that helps you improve.

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Vermont Sketches: Church Street Burlington



Yesterday, I took my sketching class to Church Street in Burlington. This is an excellent place to sketch people. It was a beautiful day and I was so happy just sketching and watching people.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

More Sketches of Vermont: Lyndonville



On Monday afternoon, we visited downtown Lyndonville and sketched. Here are a few of my drawings of the Green Mountain Book Store, The Catholic Church, and a view of Depot Street on Route 5.

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Sketches from Vermont




Yesterday my sketching class spent the day in East Burke Vermont and Lyndonville. These are a few of the sketches I did while there. The top is the Congregational Church, the middle is the River Garden Cafe (a favorite place for me and Julia to eat that is now closed) and the Country Store in East Burke. 

I find that as I drive around now I am seeing things I want to draw. This is the start of that. I love sketching on location. It is o peaceful.

Monday, June 6, 2016

Vermont Children's Theater


This is the first of three illustrations for this years Vermont Children's Theater productions. This is for   an original musical Matinicus, Through the Storm. It is based on the story of Abbie Burgess. The director requested a lighthouse. I pulled my insight sketches as references and created this one.

I will not be posting as many bow tie guys this week as I am teaching a weeklong class in insight sketching all day.

Friday, June 3, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Tarasque

Tarasque

A tarasque is a creature that hails from Southern France. It is described as being dragon like, with a lion's head, six short legs and a turtle shell.  In legend it destroyed the landscape. The king attacked it with all he could but it had no effect on the beast. Finally Saint Martha tamed the creature with hymns and prayers. She brought it to the town where they attacked the beast and killed it because it would not fight back.

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Elephant Shrew


Elephant Shrew (ˈeləfənt SHro͞o)

Another Bow Tie Guy from my Elephant Series, the elephant shrew or jumping shrew is a native to Africa. They were named elephant shrews because of the trunk like snout and the resemblance to a shrew. The irony is that the elephant shrew is neither elephant or shrew. Although, they are more closely related to an elephant than a shrew.

They are also one of the fastest small animals. They have been known to tun up to 17 miles per hour.


Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Ankylosaurus

Ankylosaurus (aNGkiləˈsôrəs)

This guy has been on my list to do for quite some time. I like the personality this one has. The ankylosaurus is an armored dinosaur that lived over 66 million years ago during the end of the Cretaceous Period. It was the last of the non-avian dinosaurs.


Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Hedgehog


Hedgehog (ˈhejˌhôg)

These guys  have spines similar to the porcupine but they are not related to them. The hedgehog is a distant ancestor to the shrew. They are native to many areas of Europe, Asia, and Africa. They have become popular household pets as well. 

Monday, May 30, 2016

Bow Tie Guy of the Day: Tully Monster


Tully Monster ()

Tullimonstrum gregatium, it's official name, lived around 300 million yours ago during the Pennsylvanian geological period. It's known found location as been in the MAzon Creek fossil beds of Illinois. It hasn't been until this year, 2016, that it's classification was certain. It was a soft-bodied vertebrate that was about 35 centimeters long.