Carmelo Anthony

I just finished this portrait of Carmelo Anthony of the NBA's Denver Nuggets. He is a great player and is currently leading the league in scoring.

I figured it was a fitting time to do a portrait of 'Melo after his first All-Star appearance. I painted a LeBron James portrait around this time last year and thought I would do a similar composition for Carmelo.

The flames/smoke and Carmelo's initials are inspired by one of his tattoos. The Rocky Mountains in the background are based on a photograph I took about 10 years ago when I was in Colorado on vacation.

There are a few more players I have in mind to do portraits of so you'll be seeing more of those in the weeks to come.

Steve Nash/Pan's Labyrinth/Childhood Obesity

I've been a fan of Steve Nash for a while but not until the last couple years have I really started to follow him. He has the Phoenix Suns playing such a fun style of basketball and doing it so well that he is a candidate for his third consecutive MVP award.

I just finished this portrait of him and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I also just completed an illustration for a Pan's Labyrinth movie review. I got to see the movie a few weeks ago and really liked it, although it wasn't at all what I expected. It was a lot darker and more realistic than I thought it would be but I still thought it was quite well done.

Finally, I just finished an illustration for a magazine article about childhood obesity. I really enjoy painting birds so I was happy that I was able to incorporate birds into the concept.

Worms are pretty fun to paint too. Anyway, that's all for now! Don't forget to subscribe to this blog's RSS feed to get updates on new work.

On My Desk

I just had my studio space profiled on the great website, On My Desk, which is put together by fellow illustrator Linzie Hunter.


You can get a glimpse into my studio space and get a sneak preview of my Pan's Labyrinth illustration as well. Check it out and take a look at some of the other illustrators' workspaces as well if you get a chance.

Promotional Pieces

I thought I would post a couple of photos of the recent promotional packages I've put together.

This first image is of a few of the Wild West cigarette tin cases I created back in November. Each tin contained a booklet of 14 of my Wild West related images (you can see them on my portfolio pages).

Most of the tins were different brands and different sizes, so in creating the labels for each tin I created each one to reflect the imperfections and colors of the case it was going to go with.

Some of the tins were newer and just didn't have the charm of the older tins so I sanded down the bright colors and hammered away at them to give them some character. After I pieced together all the books to place inside the tins, I created custom boxes for each one using corrugated cardboard and then wrapping that with kraft paper. I then stuffed each box with raffia (fake hay) and they were ready to be shipped out.

A couple of weeks ago I put together another bunch of promotional packages that included my newest editorial illustrations. It was a pretty simple package this time around, especially compared to the Wild West tins.

I took 14 of my newest pieces and printed them on heavy gloss cardstock and tied them together with a black ribbon. Pretty slick looking.

I have a lot of fun putting these things together although they are pretty time consuming. I still have a handful of the Wild West tins and a few of the editorial packages remaining so if there are any art directors who are interested in one, please send me an e-mail and I will be happy to mail you one.

Of course they're always hard to give away, but I always keep one for myself!

Plague Doctor

I completed this quick painting this week, again drawing the plague doctor who just looks really cool. I'm surprised there isn't a super villain with this costume, unless there is and I've never seen him (although the Spy vs. Spy guys look pretty similar).

Anyway, I painted it on hot press watercolor paper which is quite different from the cold press I normally use. There isn't as much room for error on the hot press, although it is a lot better for ink work because it's so smooth. It really soaks up the watercolor quickly and is more likely to show brush strokes. I still really like it for certain paintings that don't require a lot of glazes of color, it helps give a more loose feel with the paint.

I thought I would give the impression of a man on a chicken farm, taking the necessary precautions by wearing the plague outfit to prevent the spread of avian flu while handling the chickens.

I have a couple more ideas for this plague doctor before I exhaust myself of the idea. As well I am working on a Pan's Labyrinth piece, another global warming piece and an illustration of Steve Nash, the greatest athlete in Canadian history.