This illustration for the Notable Missourian book on Ella Ewing (Truman State University Press) shows the Missouri giantess Ella Ewing as an attraction at a state fair.
Final Art
Rough sketch....she was a little too big here. I was approaching "Lord of the Rings" giant size.
Rough sketch with details honed in.
Animated GIF showing the difference between the final art completed on the computer and the rough base hand painted on panel.
This illustration is for the Notable Missourian book (Truman State University Press) on Ella Ewing. Ella was a giant hailing from Missouri. I'm not sure if calling someone a "giant" is politically correct, but it seems like one of those words that can't be used in a diminishing way. Well I guess when you use it as an adjective it definitely can be used to diminish. Like "Fred is a giant @#$&#%$". But! as noun its hard to imagine that it would be offensive. That said what do I know?!
Okay, forgive me that tangent. This illustration shows a young Ella and her parents visiting Chicago for the first time. Ella's parents were initially reluctant to accept any of the offers to "display" her at fairs or the circus, but the money was good and Ella thought it would be an opportunity to travel and meet new people. Her parents ultimately agreed so long as they could travel with her, no doubt to look out for her.
Ella and her parents disembarking from a street car in Chicago ~ 1890
Original rough sketch. I thought the view was pulled back a bit to far. Was afraid the people would get lost.
A tightened rough sketch with a closer view of the street car. I was mainly thinking the street car would be a good device to show the relative sizes of the people.
This is actually a painting that I "started" a year or two ago. I painted the lady bugs very roughly on top of an old painting, brought said rough lady bugs into photoshop, cleaned them up and made them into wall sticker art (see below). Well the other day I was re-arranging my studio and came across the half done rough and decided it would be fun to finish the actual painting (vs finishing it digitally as before). Honestly I like it better. Wall sticker art made for certain limitations. For example I didn't want any long, skinny protrusions as they can get torn off or folded onto themselves relatively easilly when made into vinyl stickers. And dang it my bugs need legs and long antennae. Anyways this is all part of my prep for Katy Days, my annual excuse to go to Parsons, Kansas, see old friends and hock some art. Looking forward to it!(Memorial Weekend).
Original rough painting.
Digitally finished art for wall stickers. Meh.
This illustration for the Notable Missourian book on Buck O'Neil shows him scouting for the Kansas City Royals.
Rough Sketch
Alternate rough sketch showing Buck and his wife, Ora, observing the construction of the Negro League Museum in Kansas City.
Here's the Chapter 4 illustration for the Notable Missourian book on Buck O'Neil.
While Buck was serving in the Pacific he got the news about Jackie Robinson getting signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Black players finally being "welcomed" into the major leagues was a big deal; it also meant the inevitable death of the Negro League which had become a celebrated contributor to black culture. Still, Buck and most of the country was thrilled. Finally, the best could play with the best.
This illustration is for the Notable Missourian book on Buck O'Neil, published by Truman State University Press.
Final Art
Rough sketch
Here's another illustration for the Notable Missourian book on Buck O'Neil (Truman State University Press). This one shows Buck playing 1st base for the Kansas City Monarchs during the Negro League World Series against the Homestead Grays.
Rough Sketch
This illustration is for chapter 2 of the Notable Missourian book on Buck O'Neil by Truman State University Press. Many early Negro League teams would "barnstorm" small towns to play baseball against local company teams or other Negro League teams. The towns loved this because they weren't often able to watch high caliber major league players, and in every sense the negro league players were exactly that. It is still commonly believed that some of the best players to ever play baseball were likely in the negro leagues.
Anywho I'm on a tangent! I've been on a Ken Burns kick and am smack in the middle of the Baseball series which dovetails nicely with this book about Buck O'Neil. This illustration shows Buck and a bunch of his teammates driving to the next small Florida town where they have a game scheduled. If one of the cars would break down, the guys would have to all cram into a single car to make it to their destination. Some of the guys would even stand on the running boards and ride on the outside of the car! Now that's dedication.
Rough Sketch
Here's some more Notable Missourian artwork for a book on baseball legend Buck O'Neil (published by Truman State University Press). This illustration shows young Buck and some friends watching a baseball game through a fence.
Final Art
Approved rough sketch. I ended up moving the fence and the ball field up for the final art.
Alternate rough sketch
Another alternate sketch
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Here is an older William Clark in his council house meeting with a tribal leader. This image is for the Notable Missourian book on William Clark published by Truman State University.
Again...in some ways I like the orginal rough draft better than the final. I love these Notable Missourians but some seem to stiffen up when I make the final art.
This rough shows Clark along with artist George Catlin visiting the imprisoned chief Black Hawk.
Another alternate rough showing Clark along with Prince Maximilian visiting the imprisoned Chief Black Hawk.
Rough sketch
William Clark spent much of his later years as an Indian Agent - basically someone who acted as a liaison between the native americans and the U.S. government. Its easy to look back at Indian Agents as bad guys but it should be noted that many of them such as Clark worked hard to make sure the natives weren't exploited or booted off their land during the explosion of western expansion. In fact, Clark lost a bid to be Governor of Missouri because his opponents painted him as too friendly with the Indians.
This illustration for the Notable Missourian book on William Clark shows Clark and other officials meeting with native american leaders for a treaty signing. The Notable MIssourian book series is published by Truman State University Press.
Alternate rough sketch
Another alternative rough showing Clark meeting with an tribal leader. I ended up using a version of this for the chapter 5 artwork.
The illustration for the 3rd chapter of the Notable Missourian book on William Clark shows Clark on his return from searching for a Northwest Passage to the Pacific.
The final art shows Clark taking notes while passing through the Yellowstone region (He didn't see any of the geothermal stuff)
Rough of final art
Here's an alternate rough showing Lewis and Clark returning successfully to St Louis.
Another rough showing Lewis and Clark's return to St Louis from a different POV.
This alternate rough shows the discovery crew quickly rowing with the river current and starting to pass signs they've re-entered civilization, such as a flatboat heading up-river. As one can imagine, the return trip going with the river current went much much MUCH faster than the outbound trip where they had to fight against the current all the way to the mountains of Montana.
Here's some cropped close ups of some Buck O'Neil illustrations currently being worked on..
What are these guys looking at?
One of the Homestead Grays makes a mad dash to first base. Where's Buck?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Self-rejected sketches need somewhere to quietly die. Why not here?
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.
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.
