a day at the park with my friends, painting. this sketch was about an hour and half.

i'm working on a still life painting at home in my livingroom/studio. hopefully by the end of next weekend i'll be finished.

Oh, Those Puritans

Last week I illustrated several Puritan costumes for the Thanksgiving release of Pogo "Mini's" avatars on the website I work for, Pogo.com (a division of EA). So, like always, I dove into research. It is widely held that the Puritan clothing of the 17th century was nondescript, but I find it anything but. Would the clothing of Roger Conant, depicted in the statue below, be more powerful if it were something else? I seriously doubt it.

Can you imagine meeting this guy on a dark Salem street?

(from wikipedia)
Roger Conant (c. 1592 – 1679) was the leader of the company of fishermen who founded Salem, Massachusetts (then called Naumkeag) in 1626. He was later supplanted by the governor sent by the Massachusetts Bay Company, John Endicott. He nevertheless remained in high standing with the community, giving long service as a juror and member of the Board of Selectmen, with duties including the establishment of boundaries for new communities.

i did another variation on the hair theme last night. i was surprised that using green on the face seems to work, oddly enough. so today when i went out with my friend Elaine to get a manicure i thought i'd try green on my nails. green is the new transparent oxide red! :)

Here are a couple of small plein aire studies from recent weeks. I wish I had more, but I'm working a lot. It seems I only have time to sneak in personal work a few times a week, which is very distressing:

More sketchbook stuff

I love working on this collaborative sketchbook project with my friend Cheryln. My train of thought always takes me to unexpected places. The blue mushroom drawing led me to the bavarian hair portrait after I saw a photo of a "coral head" in my friend Rhode's incredible studio:

http://www.pablosinferno.com/blog/?p=256