Character sketch for Elizabeth the First of G. Britain. Did a bunch of different studies of the Queen for "The Pirate Meets the Queen", a book I wrote and illus.d for Phylomel/Penguin&Putnam back in 2003. The Pirate in the title is Granwuaile O'Malley or Granny, Cheiftainess of the O'Malleys in Co. Claire, Ireland. The British were squeezing the old Celts and their system of rule out of Ireland, hence, Granny's attempts to maintain her people by attacking British merchant ships off the west coast of Ireland got her the title of pirate in British reports to the Crown.  The Celtic word for the British usurpers was "Sassanach" (sass-eh-nak), derived from the tribal delineation "Saxon" but could also generally mean outsider or foreigner. The O'Malley's took a particularly nasty beating from the British (burning villages, destroying crops, killing cattle, rape, whipping at the crossroads, the usual) and afterward referred to the hated Queen of Britain as "Red Liz". I thought a leaner looking Liz helped convey this point of view.

In '98, '99 and then again in '01 I made trips to sites related to Granny in Ireland and to London to view paintings of Liz in the National Portrait Gallery. Pencil, 2002. 

A spec sketch of Puck and Lysander for "A Midsummer Night's Dream".  "Spec" work is where an editor or art director asks you to do some sketching, even finished art, prior to awarding you the contract so they can see how you'll handle the material they wanted illustrated. I was still fairly new to the publishing business when I was asked to do this sketch and another by an editor. I liked this one. They didn't. I didn't get the job. Phooey. Pencil, 1988.

Big Doin's!
The shippers just left. In the back of their big blue truck they're carrying 13 of my babies- alright, they're not my babies- my illustrations are on their way to the Appleton Art Museum in Ocala, Fl. (http://www.appletonmuseum.org/exhibits/current/) where they'll be hanging in

 the Maurice Sendak tribute exhibit in November next to some way cool art by the likes of Chris Van Allsburg, Chris Raschka, Leo and Diane Dillon, Brian Selznick and Mo Willems! Woot! Very excited. But I'm feeling a little "empty nest-ish" just now. My babies!

13 of my illustrations are heading to the Appleton Museum of Art in Florida for the Maurice Sendak tribute show in November!

Here we see shipping/packing experts Bill and Ted. First they wrapped the two framed pieces. Then they built a cardboard bow for each and then wrapped and encased the 11 unframed pieces.

Shippers Bill and Ted putting my babies on board the big blue truck!

Just look at those shippers Bill and Ted taking such good care of my babies! 

And so we say "Farewell" to shippers Bill and Ted as they and my babies wend their way southward to the lovely Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, Florida! Bon voyage, you brave young shippers! Have an excellent adventure!

Sketch of Rinvyle Castle (or it's remains), near Mt. Tully in Ballynakill, County Galway, Ireland. I was traveling with a couple of RISD pals, Mike Rafferty and Mike Dorsey, and up to this point in our travels we'd gone from Dublin up through N. Ireland and then back down through Donegal, Sligo, Claire and were about to meet up with my old Arlington High School pal Chris Mattheisen in Galway. It was early in the evening, we'd been touring all day, and as we came over a rise we found this ruin. Not unusual in Ireland. There're ruins just about every few feet out in the west especially. But this one was particularly  enticing in the early evening moonlight. I sketched out the basics and then hopped back into the car with Mike and Mike and finished drawing using my flashlight. Very bumpy ride. Actually, I was very happy to have this drawing to concentrate on because one of the Mikes was somewhat aggressive in his driving technique on the winding, skinny, treacherous country lanes and I probably would've been weeping otherwise. Makes sense that one of our mottos for the quest was "Let's not die or be horribly maimed." Pen&Ink, 1989.

Grumpy giraffe waiting for snacks at the Detroit Zoo in Royal Oak, Mi.. Pen&Ink, 1995.

So, this is the sketch and final art for a single page illustration I created for a book called "Black Belt" which I wrote, publ.d by Knopf.  The book was edited by a great publishing creative (and now literary agent -she represents last year's Newberry Medal winner, Clare Vanterpool) Andrea Cascardi. Don't recall why we cut the three characters on the left of the sketch but I do like the layout of the final better. Back lighting characters in a night scene for a picture book can be tricky. The exposure of a night time image has to be fairly bright so the details can be picked out by the viewer's eye. I really enjoy rendering moonlit scenes. The cool light casts a warm shadow- almost violet. Again- tricky but fun.

Pencil, water color gouache, 1998.

If you're an editor with a big budget and a hankering for way cool yet somewhat odd manuscripts, holysmokes, I have the book for you:
Once per year, in a little town not too far away, the Bunnies, consumed with "Burrito Lust", mob the streets, searching for that elusive perfect burrito. Sketch for a graphic novel I wrote for 9 year olds (and those who sometimes wish they were still 9 years old) called "Mad Bunnies On Parade!". Pencil, 2009.