Finally "Cowboys"

At long last... "COWBOYS" is officially under way, I am painting almost every day on this new book, the text is almost finished, by David L. Harrison from Pirates, and the sketches have been approved. I am sooo happy to be working on this book, it's going to be a beauty, at least I hope so, Boyds Mills Press is publishing it. This painting was done from some photo ref I took while on a roundup this fall, I had a great time on horseback for the day, trying to take photos while pushing cows over a mountain was a bit tricky but what a great time, the guy in the painting is a good friend who has modeled for me a few other times, he is a great character and a terrific model, he is a cowboy and spends many days a year on horseback in the mountains checking cows.

Anyway, I will include bits and pieces here and there while I work on this great project.

It's been a while

Wow, I can't believe how fast time flies when you are busy, it's been a busy few months here in the studio working on a variety of projects, sorry for not keeping up on the ol blog.

I just finished a book that kept coming back for change after change after change, I hope it if finally done and the author signs off on the illustrations. Sometimes this turns into work that wont go away, this image is from that book, In the end I think it turned out good, it certainly was a learning experience.

anyway, I 'll try to do better keeping up and posting more frequently.

blender brushes in cs5

cs5 has these new blender brushes that are a bit difficult to use in a practical way, I did this demo painting for a class using the blender brush, I can see how it will be useful in my regular work. I really like some of the features and will continue to try to figure it out so I can use it with my other brushes. Let me know what you think.

Cowboys

Finally, We are going to be making the "Cowboys" book, I spoke with my publisher yesterday and the book is a go. I might post a few of the images here as long as I don 't give anything away. This image might be in the book, not sure yet, it is one I did to pitch the book and get the juices flowing. This book will be a follow up to "Pirates" and I am really looking forward to the paintings.

A new poster for Friends of the Teton River.

This is a poster that I do every year for this organization, I am a board member and believe in what they do, clean water healthy streams and abundant fisheries. I always enjoy designing it and

appreciate the opportunity to be involved. I hope you like it. If your in the area on July 10th, this is a great party in a beautiful place for a great cause.

The Pirate King finished

A las matie, I finished the Pirate King, I added a beard to this guy at some of your suggestions and made his nose a bit more pirate like. I finally feel like it is finished. I don't know why but I love painting Pirates. I have a few new ideas for new paintings and will post them when I get them sketched. for now, this will have to suffice.

A Sketch from a new project

This is a sketch from a project that I am working on, I am becoming obsessed with the subject matter and am chomping at the bit to get this one under way, I have a couple of publishers looking at it, no takers yet. I think these guys were not that different from us and were more advanced in many ways than we think they were.