posted: March 8, 2010

This is my contribution to the Haiti benefit exhibition and auction "100 Heads for Haiti" that Dave Plunkert at SPUR Design is putting together to benefit Doctors without Borders.  I will post a link when I get one.
Thanks you Dave and Jess.

posted: March 3, 2010

Recently I received a call from an AD at the magazine for Drury University.  He liked a  portrait I did for the Atlantic Monthly years ago depicting the 'Organizational Kid.'   The Art Director for the job was Mary Parsons who probably came up with the initial idea.  Thank you yet again dear Mary.

I was on the fence about taking the job.  I was busy and had some other work I thought I might like to do instead.  Still, the AD was a nice guy and was going to send over some recent covers.
This works at times to convice me to walk.  The covers can indicate their taste and show me that I might not get the piece I hope for.  I don't remember all the samples, but one was a great cover by Drawger's own, Chris Buzelli http://www.drawger.com/buzelli/.
Oh, okay.  If Chris did one then perhaps I can turn this article into a opportunity to do a piece I like.
The path was already set;  I would do a homage to my own Atlantic cover.  I wanted to get off the phone quickly as to not commit to too much so soon.
First the Atlantic cover...

Thumbnails were easy and I tinkered with the idea of having the model stand up as if typing in a note to herself before heading out.  I decided that this one was not as iconic and might imply a short attention span or that she is hurrying off to a kegger.

The only thing the AD asked was that I add the logo, which he sent over, and add books, a compass and perhaps a plant.
I thought about a compass but thought a globe would better convey a traveler's mind and look better on the cover.  An iPhone instead of the cell and earbuds rather that the headphones of 2001.

Picking models is a fun but nervous task.  In many cases I purchase reference to use for some of the people I paint or am provided reference.  In some cases however, I have to find a model. 
So it was a Saturday and I was working out at the gym.  On the mat, rehabilitating my sore hip when I looked up and saw a most pleasant face.  This young woman was smiling at some television program as she did her elliptical workout.  I sat and considered her.  She was perfect.
  So I was in full lurker mode; following her around the gym to see her in a better light.  You can't walk up to someone and ask them to model if you suddenly see that they are not right at all.  THAT'S awkward.
So I felt she was right but I lost my nerve.  Suddenly my wife Elizabeth showed up at the gym offering a ride home.  BINGO, a go between.  I could approach this young woman and NOT come off as a creep.  (DID ROCKWELL WORRY ABOUT THIS?  I doubt it.)
With Elizabeth standing next to me I stammered out the offer.  She looked a bit startled but agreed to help out.
Thank you Mia.

One of the main ways that this piece is different is how I like to have information in a piece but not light it all equally.  ADs often ask me to make colors bright and not so dark so I am not winning fans everywhere, but if I have the freedom, I enjoy adjusting the lighting to change the visual hierarchy of a painting.

Will I be asked to repaint this again in 10 years?  If so, what will she be listening to?  My hunch is in-ear buds that stream content to her wirelessly and some sort of iPad device.  Hopefully this device will be filled with illustration, even dark, brooding illustration.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Here is Chris' cover that helped me decide to do one myself.

posted: February 10, 2010

In a new article for Der Spiegel, they claim that nearly 100 clerics and laypeople had been suspected of abusing children and teenagers since 1995.
Many of the cases now surfacing are doing so because the statute of limitations is nearing it's end.  The scandal is a familiar one.  Abuse and cover up by the church.
Last Thursday morning at 9 AM I was asked to have a shot at a cover.  A photoshoot was in progress but I was hired to perhaps add something.
My initial sketch to them was a digital assembly as I had to find reference and see if this was feasible in the first place.  Der Spiegel  kept working on their end and sent me perfect reference by midday.
I worked all night and in the morning had a painting.  The editors went with the photo this time, feeling it was even more arresting.  Sometimes here in the states editors want that distance an illustration can provide.  Der Spiegel is different in it's boldness.
Still, a fun assignment and out of the studio in a flash.  That night I was off to the Society of Illustrators to celebrate our year together.

Here is a quick and awkward sketch. 

It might have worked but they gave me primo reference in the end.

I did move buttons around and remove a grin from the model's face.

But really, it was all about the Napoleon hand.

posted: February 3, 2010

 

I had a fun job recently to paint a landscape for a book cover.  I won't reveal the title until the book is published.  The assignment was to paint a specific place but there was not a good source image to work from.  I had to assemble this scene  with room on top and bottom for type.  Being able to paint a landscape so it looks like it's an old painting is harder than just painting those colors fresh.  Painting a blue sky in a faded and yellowed key is a green.  You have to know that in the painting that color is blue.  That takes some trust and restraint.

Finally, to complete the vintage look I applied cracks on the painting.  This is always a crap shoot for me.  I marvel how Marc Burckhardt  http://www.marcburckhardt.com/  can get such a good reliable crack pattern when he does it.  Mine is always a mess of a pattern but it works.

 

My hint for doing these kinds of scenes is the use of golf courses for reference.  The neatly trimmed grass often meets a wonderful bank of trees that are easy to see and provided they are the right kind of trees.  

I hear this book is one of a series so I look forward to going back in time again soon.

This is the first version without the cracks and a bit too yellow keyed.  I decided to alter the sky and grass for the final files.

I had fun painting this sky.  I blocked it in and did it kind of sloppy and was happy to see it kind of work as is.  I slightly softened some edges but left it rough to keep the look of a painting.

I actually rub shoe polish into the cracks so that they are a nice reddish brown rather than black.  

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