Whirlwinds and Tradewinds

I try and keep this blog mostly about my illustration work. That being said, in order not to sound like a used car salesman or a robot, you really do need a balance work talk and real life adventure.

Anyhoo – I had some crazy deadlines all through June and really didn’t have the time for much of anything. 20+ days straight of 14-15 sometimes 16 hour days left little time for a social life or even simple things like grocery shopping and cleaning the house. Lets just say that we pretty much lived in squalor and ate out of Wawa for about a month. I am super grateful and thankful for all of the work but everyone needs a break to re-charge or you burn out.

I pretty much went from super pressure deadline to vacation. An old friend of Brian’s was getting married in Tortola, BVI this past weekend so we took a whirlwind 4 day trip to attend the wedding and just got back last night. It was a crazy amount of traveling in and out of customs, catching planes,ferries and water taxis and wacky open air pickup truck land taxis but it was a ton of fun! We snorkeled, ate fancy and not so fancy food and soaked up the scenery. It is beautiful and wild there. From what hear, much less built up and commercialized than the USVI.

For the wedding, we had the opportunity to stay at the West end of Tortola, at a private 9 cottage resort named Frenchmans on Frenchmans Cay. Gorgeous views of the Sir Francis Drake Channel where we went snorkeling and saw some of the most beautiful underwater life imaginable. Brian mentioned that no matter where you are everything is in constant motion around you because of the 24-7 trade wind breezes. I still feel like my body is moving from the currents while we were snorkeling. All in all, it was a pretty amazing trip.

friendly and it was all very chill. We all spent a lot of time hanging out on the beach under sun and moon, having cocktails, chatting about life and enjoying our time there. I feel very lucky and grateful to have experienced it. Life is good. The trip was a perfect end to the crazy frenzy that had been June.

For the next few days I’m jumping right back into a few projects before heading to the beaches of Maryland this weekend. I LOVE the summer time!

Tim McGraw for Atlanta Magazine

I was asked to do this illustration of country music star, Tim McGraw, for The Agenda section of the May issue ofAtlanta Magazine. The agenda announces his concert on 5/12 and reads, “Tim McGraw was crowned “country music’s first metrosexual” by fashion bible W Magazine, but your assured to see plenty of tough-guy swagger when his “Two Lanes of Freedom” tour stops at Aaron’s Amphitheater at Lakewood.”

I had a great time working on this assignment! I’ve always had a soft spot for twang and cowboy boots so this was a lot of fun. Below, you will see some of the other preliminary sketches, including the one that was picked. I think that the western saddle leather background motif is a nice touch. Enjoy!

Peter Dinklage

Peter Dinklage is an American actor famous for his roles in blockbuster films such as “The Station Agent”, “Elf”, “Death at a Funeral”, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” and “Underdog”, among others. Most recently, you will see him playing the role of Tyrion Lannister in the HBO series, “Game of Thrones” based on the novels written by author, George R.R. Martin.

I did a few different character study sketches of Mr. Dinklage, a few in in the Tyrion Lannister persona, as well as just the actor himself. In the end, I decided to go with a straight portrait of the actor. I wanted to capture the soulfulness in his eyes and am pretty happy with the way that this portrait turned out; clean and simple. Of course, you will see that I did add a little House of Lannister lion tie pin for all of the G.O.T. geeks out there because it was just a nice thing to do. 

Enjoy!

Yes, I am still alive!

I have just been busy with deadlines since I got back from vacation last month!

Some of the things that I have been working on are storyboard illustrations for direction of a motion animation which is for a builder’s company website. I also have a really great piece in the May issue of Atlanta Magazine that I’m SUPERexcited about. It will hit the news stands on April 29th which is when I will be able to share it with you all! I have also entered two illustrations in the 3×3 pro show contest, so we’ll see what happens with that. Sometimes, I believe that shows are a little bit of a popularity contest but ah Hell, you never know if you don’t try, and at least if I don’t get in I can write off the expense of entering.

And of course, I have been sketching and drawing up new self promotion material. I’m working on a portrait of actor, Peter Dinklage right now. All of the Game of Thrones nerds will be happy to hear that, I am sure! I don’t have anything formal down yet, but here are a few screen grabs of some character studies.

Okay, gotta run (literally!) It’s nice out, I need to put in some miles before I sit down to work. And I am SO HAPPY to finally have weather that is nice enough to work with the windows open.

Enjoy!

I love my job.

WELL HELLO! I just got back from vacation and it’s going to be a busy few weeks in the studio so I apologize if this is quick. I’m excited to be working on some really great projects right now and will share a share as soon as I am able. I am thrilled to have been asked by a dream magazine client to do an assignment for their upcoming May issue. Another cool project that I am working on is for a start up as well as the endless cycle of promotion that is the life of the illustrator. But I am thankful and SUPER grateful to be able to do what I LOVE to do!