Albert Bond Lambert

Here are the first two illustrations for the Notable Missourian book on Albert Bond Lambert. The Notable Missourian books are published by Truman State University Press. This book (on Albert Bond Lambert) was written by Christopher Lynch.

Albert Bond Lambert was an Olympic golfer, an adventurer, and perhaps most importantly a strong supporter and benefactor to early aviation. Here are the first two chapter header illustrations showing young Albert, One shows him as a young golfer (He was on the U.S. olympic team) and the other shows Albert riding through France on an early motorcycle. Albert loved motorcylces, but that love was soon replaced by aviation.

Albert riding an early motorcycle through the french countryside

rough sketch

rough sketch

Jeffrey Deroine settles down

This is the chapter 5 header illustration for the Notable Missourian book on Jeffrey Deroine.  

Jeffrey lead a remarkable life.  He was a slave for a fur trapper, gained his freedom and became an interpreter for the Ioway nation, travelled the world with the Ioway, and ultimately was able to purchase some land and settle down.  

This illustration is for the Notable MIssourian book on Jeffrey Deroine, published by Truman State University Press.

Rough sketch

Final art

Whoops I skipped this one...

This is the chapter 3 art for the Notable Missourian book (Truman State University Press) on Jeffery Deroine.   Here Jeffery is shown witnessing a treaty between the Ioway nation and the U.S. federal government.  

Jeffrey and the Ioway tour Europe

As a slave child, Jeffrey Deroine probably couldn't have imagined that one day he would visit Europe as a free man and rub elbows with some of the world's most powerful people. He was there as an interpreter for his friends the Ioway (most notably, Chief White Cloud) while they toured the continent with the painter George Catlin.

This illustration is for the book on Jeffrey Deroine, published by Truman State University Press.

Final art

1st version - can you spot the differences?

Rough sketch

Using the court to seek freedom

Slavery must've been such a confusing institution, filling people with all kinds of cognitive dissonance. I should probably follow that up with a hearty "Duh". In reading the manuscript for the Notable Missourian story about Jeffrey Deroine, I was surprised to read how Jeffrey tried to use the court system to gain his freedom from his owner, Joseph Robidoux. I didn't know that was possible.

At the time Jeffrey was still a minor, so a family friend posing as his grandmother went with him to the courthouse to file the paperwork. The grounds for the case was the excessive cruelty of his master. Apparently there had been cases where a slave could be freed if the court deemed the master was too cruel.  That automatically makes me wonder what would constitute just the right amount of cruelty when it comes to owning another human being?  Ugh, so strange.  Anyways it's no shocker that Jeffrey's case was dismissed - In large part thanks to Joseph Robidoux's standing in the community and strong connections. Jeffrey remained the slave of Robidoux until his freedom was purchased by his friends in the Ioway nation.

This illustration is for the book on Jeffrey Deroine, published by Truman State University Press.

Young Jeffrey and a woman posing as his grandma filing paperwork seeking his freedom.

Young Jeffrey Deroine - a gifted communicator

This was my favorite Notable Missourian book to illustrate out of the 2015 series.  Jeffrey Deroine was a fascinating guy.  Born a slave, Jeffrey had a natural gift for language.  As a teen he was owned by a fur trapper who used Jeffrey's communication skills to negotiate trades with native peoples such as the Ioway tribe.  Starting with simple exchanges such as these, Jeffrey and the Ioway would form a strong friendship.  A friendship that would ultimately help Jeffrey to become a free man, travel the world, and own property - very rare things for a former slave during the early 19th century.  

This illustration is for the Notable Missourian book on Jeffrey Deroine, published by Truman State University Press.

Young Jeffrey Deroine interpreting for his fur-trapper master.

The Rest of Alphonso

Things are a bit hectic and I'm behind on posts so I'm going to post the rest of Alphonso all at once.  Alphonso was a fascinating guy who continued to have a life full of adventures worth writing about even after he lost his arm in the War of 1812.

These illustrations are for the Notable Missourian book about Alphonso Wetmore, written by Mary Barile and published by Truman State University Press.

Alphonso riding to a fort to bring the soldiers their pay

Alphonso on the Santa Fe Trail recording the days adventures.

Alphonso writing his memoirs or some fiction or maybe a grocery list in his St Louis office.

The Phonz, Chapter 2

This is the Chapter 2 illustration for Notable Missourian Alphonso Wetmore.  Its a bit busy, but as my editor said, "War is busy".  I think I might be paraphrasing that badly, but still it seems accurate.

Anyways the subject of this is the The Battle of Queenston Heights, a pivotal battle in the War of 1812.  

The Notable Missourian book about Alphonso Wetmore written by Mary Barile and published by Truman State University Press.

Rough sketch of an alternate version

Alphonso Wetmore Chapter 1

Alphonso is another Notable Missourian to be featured in the Truman State University Press series by the same name (Notable Missourians). This book was written by Mary Barile.

Alphonso was a veteran of the war of 1812, a leader of expeditions on the Santa Fe Trail and an all around adventurer.  Even better, he was a good story teller too.  I suppose one has to live up to a name like Alphonso.  I can't even imagine anybody named Alphonso being a couch potato.  Heck, when naming my kids, I kind of wish I would've thought about the name Alphonso.  Alphonso Hare.  Yeah, lucky for them that never crossed my mind.

This illustration shows young Alphonso studying hard in his families cabin.  Alphonso was smart and curious even at a young age.

Original rough sketch showing evening life in the Wetmore cabin.

Alternate rough sketch showing the tension between the new settlers and the Native Americans.

Another sketch illustrating the tension.

And another.

A plane picnic

This is an illustration showing Marie Meyer Fower and her husband having a picnic under the wing of one of their private aircraft.  They continued to get enjoyment out of their aircraft long after retiring from the barnstorming business.

This illustration is for the Notable Missourian book on Marie Meyer Fower written by Christine Montgomery and published by Truman State University Press.

Final Art

Orignal rough sketch

Wing Walker

Here is another illustration for Truman State University Press book on Notable Missourian Maria Meyer Fower (Written by Christine Montgomery).  Here she is shown climbing out onto the wing of her JN-4 Jenny.  A common thing for her, but this time was different.  They were flying through downtown St Louis on a particularly gusty day while attempting to whip up crowds for a show.  The intense wind made it harrowing enough that the pilot cut it short and returned to the open air in short order.  

Final Art

Rough Sketch

Alternative Rough Sketch

Barnstormstress

I made that word up.  Its kind of a cool word methinks, but I suspect anything made feminine by adding "stress" to the end is understandably pejorative.  I mean you're adding the word stress to something to a title to denote its a woman!  Sheesh.  All that said, if there's one word I think could easily have stress woven in to it its barnstormer.  Hmmm Is that one word or two?  Anyways, ironically I don't think stress was part of Marie Meyer Fowers vocabulary when it came to anything flight related, it was her love and she was incredible at it.  Here is an illustration of her after jumping from another JN-4 Jenny while impressing a gathered crowd.

This illustration is for the Notable Missourian book on Marie Meyer Fower written by Christine Montgomery and published by Truman State University Press.

Finished art

Initial rough sketch

Marie Meyer Fower Learns to Fly

This illustration for Chapter 2 of the Notable Missourian book on Marie Meyer Fower (written by Christine Montgomery and published by Truman State University Press) shows Marie being instructed on how to fly the famous and at the time ubiquitous Curtiss JN-4 Jenny.  The Jenny was designed as a trainer aircraft during WWI. After the war thousands were sold as surplus for next-to-nothing prices.   All these easy easy to fly aircraft were suddenly in the hands of civilians brave enough to fly them in an almost completely unregulated environment.  Thus began the barnstorming era!   That period really helped put the plane into the public consciousness....although not always for the good.  In the daredevil world of Barnstorming, dramatic accidents were not uncommon.

Rough Sketch

Rough painting, acrylic on panel

Final image

Marie Meyer Fower, a Missouri Barnstormer

This Notable Missourian book (written by Christine Montgomery and published by Truman State University Press) is about Marie Meyer Fower. Not only was she one of the rare women pilots in the early days of flight, she was also a barnstormer, wing walker, and all around daredevil with a true love of aviation. This first illustration shows Marie playing with the other kids in St Louis and noticing an early airplane flying in the distance.

Rough Sketch

Colors roughly blocked in by hand in acrylic

Finished art, completed in Photoshop

Stan the Man Musial

Before working on these Notable Missourian story illustrations for Truman State University Press, I honestly had no idea who Stan Musial was.  So I was surprised when I'd mention this project to people and if they had so much as an inkling of Cardinals fandom they would indignantly declare that Stan was not a Notable Missourian, he was a Famous Missourian.

So How did this amazing baseball player who grew up in poor coal mining country in Pennsylvania to Polish parents become one of the best known names in baseball in the 40s, 50s and 60s?  If you mentioned "Stan the Man" during that time, everybody knew exactly who you were talking about.  So why don't folks remember him now with the other baseball greats?

Young Stan and other AAA baseball players trying to keep up with a tight game schedule.

Stan in the 1942 World Series

Stan always made time to sign autographs

After reading this story and watching some videos I honestly think its because he was simply a nice guy!  He wasn't a tortured soul, he wasn't an ass, he wasn't a drunk or a womanizer.  Basically he didn't have that juicy backstory that makes for great movies.  He married his high school sweetheart, he went to church, he was warm and welcoming when the league started to integrate and many players were...well.. not warm and welcoming.  He even befriended a young cardinal in Poland who just happened to end up becoming Pope John Paul the II. Their friendship was a close, casual one that lasted their lifetimes.  I mean think about that.  The guy was a buddy with the pope.  Nice guy!

So anyways, Learning about Stan Musial was refreshing.  His legacy stands on his excellence in his profession and his being a nice guy.  It may not linger like the legacy of more dramatic and controversial figures in sports, but I don't think he would want it any other way.  Hell I don't know why any of us would?

While retired, Stan and his wife spent a lot of time doing charitable work in Poland...and introducing them to baseball.

Katy Days 2015. I'm back!

Its Katy Days time!  Katy Days is a festival celebrating the railroad heritage of the town of Parsons, Kansas (where I was raised). The town was founded by the MKT railroad (the Katy) and since its founding trains have continued to play a big role in that town.  Everybody there knows a railroader.  Or 10. 

Last year I skipped being a demo painter at Katy Days because I was feeling swamped with work. I was about to skip again this year for the same reason, but I had some time in between projects to whip something up.  The paintings that resulted are modeled after the old black and white images of locomotives that I used to love to look at as a kid. There was something about those engines in black and white that really gave them personality.  Anyways.  These are the ones I came up with in a pinch.  

While there I will be selling many other train paintings as well as art featuring regional people and themes.  I'm going to be selling them cheap because I need to make some room!  So those folks in my beloved PK come out and get some cheap original art!  And oh yes, I will be doing a paintings demonstration too.

Acrylic Black and White, 22" x 22"

Acrylic Black and White, 48" x 24".  I had to throw in the water tower for good measure.  When I was a kid I was convinced that thing was going to collapse and flood the town.

Jean Bartik and the Glass ceiling. And other stuff.

Here's the last in the series of chapter header illustrations for the Notable Missourian book on Jean Bartik.  This illustration attempts to give a sense of the glass ceiling felt by many women, especially during the 40s and 50s. Jean and her fellow women programmers did a lot of the heavy lifting in programming the ENIAC.  Their work was often attributed to the male supervisors. In fact, the hard work of these women was not fully recognized and appreciated until many years after their accomplishments.  After working on the ENIAC jean entered the corporate world and felt the effects of the glass ceiling there as well.  

Next up in the Notable Missourian series is Stan Musial. Some of you may be saying "Who is that?" and some others are no doubt saying "Pfff....he's not a notable Missourian, he's a famous Missourian!" Ahh such is sports!  He was a star Cardinals baseball player and was one of the most famous people in the country for years.  You ever hear of "Stan the Man?" Well thats this guy! Stay tuned for those. 

I also need to say a bit more about THIS IS KANSAS CITY, the book I recently illustrated for the awesome Angela Kmeck of Possum Trot Productions. It seems like I showed some of the art but didn't really talk about what it was for other then mentioning a "Mystery Kansas City project". THIS IS KANSAS CITY is a board book for kids of all ages showing the awesomeness of our town. The printing has been completed and it is getting ready to ship now. We will have a debut coming up soon at the Hilliard gallery down in the crossroads. More info to come on this.

Other stuff too. Maybe Katy Days even. Been busy and haven't been posting as much as I'd like. In fact I need to end this because I only have a few more hours to work this morning and I don't want it all to be blogging.  

From super rough to finish - Jean Bartik and the ENIAC

Rough hand painting.  Rough rough rough..

So the way I'm going about this year's round of notable missourians is way different then the way I did the recent "This Is Kansas City" illustrations.  The TIKC illustrations we're made completely by hand on panel.  The Notable Missourians are hybrid hand/computer illustrations.  First I start with a rough hand painting. Really rough. I mean people think my kid did it and I don't correct them rough.  The main purpose of the rough painting is to give me some good textures and colors and the basic location of the illustration elements.  I digitally bring the rough painting into photoshop and thats where I chip away at it.  Its a great method that makes experimenting, editing and changes no prob, and I think it gives a nice hybrid look.  

The Notable Missourian series is published by Truman State University Press.  The book on Jean Bartik was written by Kim Todd.

The illustration after some computer lovin'.  

Small town girl in Philly

This illustration is for chapter 3 of the Notable Missourian book on pioneering programmer Jean Bartik.  It shows the former farm girl taking in the big city of Philadelphia for the first time.

The Notable Missourian series is published by Truman State University Press.  The book on Jean Bartik was written by Kim Todd.

Jean Bartik gets news of the War

This is an illustration showing Notable Missourian Jean Bartik and some of her friends learning about the attack on Pearl Harbor.  This illustration is for the Notable Missourian series published by Truman State University Press.  The story of Jean Bartik was written by Kim Todd.