William Clark chapter 2 illustration

Here's the art for the 2nd chapter of the Notable Missourian book (Truman State University Press) on William Clark.

William Clark, Meriwether Lewis and their interpreter, Sacagawea, meet with Native American tribes on their journey up the Missouri.

Original rough sketch

Alternate rough sketch

Another alternate rough sketch showing the Discovery being pulled along the Missouri, as William Clark prepares to meet the local natives.  In hindsight there are many things wrong with this illustration even as a sketch.

William Clark Chapter 1 GIF

Okay, I know animated GIFs can be annoying but what the hell.  Here is one that gives an idea of  the process and edits that go into some of these Notable Missourian illustrations.   This illustration is for the book on William Clark (Published by Truman State University Press).  Here a young Clark is shown hunting with his slave and contemporary, York.  York would later accompany Clark on his trip across the continent to explore the Louisiana Purchase and search for a Northwest Passage.

What I'm working on

I've been Sketching up some roughs for a Notable Missourian book on Buck O'Neil.  This is the one I just finished.  It shows Buck while serving in the U.S. Navy getting the news that Jackie Robinson had entered the major leagues.

Young William Clark in progress

Close up of an illustration in progress.  The subject is a young William Clark, before he gained notoriety by embarking on a mission of discovery with Meriwether Lewis.

Can't win em all!

At my agent's suggestion I got to throw my illustrator hat in the ring on a fun story that will go to press next year.  (in other words I got to submit some rough sketches). The editor passed saying they didn't think my style was a fit with the story.  That's a bummer because I think it would have been a lot of fun! This is another example of how a lot of good can come from a rejection.  For one thing I figured out how I like to illustrate skeletons in a fun way.  This is tricky, because as my niece pointed out, when one illustrates a small skeleton you run the risk of people thinking of a kid skeleton.  Kid skeletons are a bummer if you think about it.  Also if you get too anatomically correct with a skeleton it gets creepy.  Now, a bit of creepy is great because it is a skeleton after all, but too much defeats the purpose of it being for a kids book.  So it was a good problem solving lesson among other things. I'm thankful for the opportunity and I got a lot out of it.

Here are a few examples of the sketches I submitted.  I left out some of my favorites because I don't want to reveal the plot before the book is out.

Rejected sketches

Self-rejected sketches need somewhere to quietly die.  Why not here?

Farewell to the Skibbles the Studio Cat

My beloved studio cat Skibbles just passed on.  She was an old lady at 22 years old.  I'll miss her smoker's meow and aggressive nuzzling.  The studio won't be the same without her!

Here's the old lady, affectionately called "Pet Cemetery" by some of our friends.  I'm talking about the cat, not my wife btw.  

San Juan Sketch

Organizing files and came across this sketchbook ink and wash made while in Puerto Rico a few years back.  I still like it.  Quite possibly because its cold and windy here and seeing this reminds me of sitting under a palm tree on the beach with a sketchbook.

Favorite things about KC

So about a month ago Angela Kmeck and I gave a talk at a branch of the Kansas City, KS Public Library about our book "This Is Kansas City".  After Angela gave a lively and fun reading of the book; it was my turn to talk.  My talk went pretty awkwardly at first but I think I salvaged it thanks to a roll of carpenters paper and some crayons.  I told the kids that we had lost  a page from "This Is Kansas City" and we needed their help making a new one.  All they had to do was draw their favorite thing about KC. They jumped right in and got after it!  

I'm on board with this one!  Coffee.  I believe this was drawn by Kristen Howdeshell, one of the illustrators of "The Night the World Turned Royal Blue" whom were also speaking that evening.

Not shocking that my son's favorite thing about Kansas City is himself haha

I'm not sure if this is home or school but its great!

Cats were very popular.

Love this!

More Royals love!

I can look at this one for a long time.  A lot going on!  I love it.

Who doesn't love the Zoo?  Its definitely a fav thing about KC.

Family was another popular "favorite"

This one is mine.  See?  Family!

This is my son, Henry's.  I'm going to say he likes the tech aspect of KC.  Albeit tech in the form of what he has at home.

This awesomeness was drawn by Kevin Howdeshell, one of the illustrators of "The Night the World Turned Royal Blue".  It was great to get to meet that team!

Monster Catch

Here's a fun rough from a project I'm working on.

Dinosaur Identification

Still playing around with these two guys.  There's no context so I'm not sure if it makes anybody laugh but me. 

Busy right now but not a lot I can currently share.   In the meantime I'll keep dipping into the "sketchbook" for stuff to post. 

Back to it

Well its been a good holiday break!  I've had some fulfilling travels, some good encounters with strangers, some lessons in humility, some uncomfortable moments with family and some near disasters involving backed up plumbing at the worst possible time. Disaster averted in case you're wondering.  Anyways 2015 was a good year and I'm thankful for it. 

So now on to 2016.  And what do I start this year off with?  Creepy skeletons!  Explanation?  Yes there is one! 

Something different.

In my spare time I've been playing around with these characters just to see where it goes.

Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for lots of stuff. My Family, health, sunny days, not strangling my kids, having enough toilet paper, pipes not leaking, leaf blowers not blowing, old cats not dying, old friends I neglect too much, new friends waiting to be neglected, good neighbors including the ones I'm strangely awkward around, interesting times, taco night, , sunglasses, kind strangers, words that have the letter z in them, electricity, perspective, regular doses of unsolicited humility, my dog coming to me when I call him (I'm about to test that one out), an awesome city to call home, etc etc.

Anyways in the spirit of the holiday of thankgivingness,  here's a painting from several years back but its still one of my favs. Its supposed to be my late big bro playing piano while I played with my toys nearby. I would literally grab my toys and rush to the piano when I'd hear him start playing. It was like having a live music soundtrack to my imagination.  Anyways super thankful for family and however much time we're granted with them!  

This is still one of my favorites.  Its the right panel of a two panel set.  Each canvas is 2'x4'

Here's both canvases together showing my other brothers and a close family friend who is a de-facto bro.

Beware the sock stealing robot

Where do missing socks go?  My 4 year old son blames robots.

This is a sketch for something I'm playing around with.  It actually has nothing to do with sock stealing robots.  Well, it didn't but now I'm not so sure.

Albert Bond Lambert and Charles Lindbergh

This illustration is for the Notable MIssourian book on Albert Bond Lambert by Christopher Lynch and published by Truman State University Press.

Albert Bond Lambert was one of the first investors to help Charles Lindbergh finance his famous aircraft, The Spirit of St Louis.  By investing early and investing a lot, Lambert made it easier for Lindbergh to attract other investors as well.  Its old hat nowadays but back then LIndbergh's attempt at a non-stop solo flight across the atlantic - something that had never been done - was akin to a moonshot.

Rough Sketch

What's better than motorcycles and balloons?

Answer:  Many things depending on who you are!  Maybe its ice cream, or bungee jumping, or quiet walks on the beach, or doing crossword puzzles in the bathroom.  But if you were Albert Bond Lambert, the answer to that question would be airplanes!  Albert loved adventure from his youth on.  He first satisfied his thirst for adventure with motorcycling.  That gave way to ballooning. Once the Wright Bros proved the viability of the fixed wing aircraft, Albert was immediately intrigued.  He took lessons and bought himself a Wright brothers built aircraft.  Not only did this become a hobby of his, but as a business man he could see how airplanes were going to change the world.  Thus (yes...i said thus) he became a major investor in aviation and aviation infrastructure.  I hear he also still really enjoyed doing crossword puzzles in the bathroom though.  Some old hobby's are hard to let go.

The illustration below is for the Notable Missourian book on Albert Bond Lambert.  This book was written by Christopher Lynch and published by Truman State University Press.

Albert flying a Wright Model B

Balloony!

Here is another  illustration for the Notable Missourian book on Albert Bond Lambert, written by Christopher Lynch and published by Truman State University Press.

Before there were airplanes or dirigibles, balloons were the way to experience flying.  The problem with flying a balloon is you're totally at the mercy of the air.  You go where the wind blows you.  Of course this made it exciting too. Albert Bond Lambert, ever the adventurer, spent much of his time flying and racing balloons.  In fact some people thought he spent so much time with his gas filled hobby that he was neglecting his job as a city counsilman. 

The more I think about it, "balloon race" is a bit of a misnomer as it was more about distance then getting somewhere first. How far would they go?  Well, one time Albert and his fellow aeronaut H.E. Honeywell packed two fried chickens, twelve sandwiches, water and a thermos of coffee....so they clearly planned to be aloft for awhile. They landed almost 20 hours after takeoff in Tiger, Georgia - 450 miles away from where they started in St Louis.

Evan's Evans

So Evan wanted to paint.  I asked him who the figures are supposed to be and he said "Those are both Evans!"   Lets analyze this and make sure he didn't draw stick figures and call them "Evans" after the fact.  Head fused to torso, check.  Crazy hair literally floating above skull, check. Unevenly sized "Bill the cat" eyes, check.  A line possibly indicating a massive underwear skid mark, Check.  Yes, these are very accurate Evan likenesses indeed.  Well done lad.

Seriously though I really do love the one on the left.