July 5, 2017
These are quotes I’ve designed/illustrated for my personal Instagram and also for Southern Virginia University.
“In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.” – Thomas Jefferson
Final Exams
“One sees clearly only with the heart. Everything essential is invisible to the eyes.” – The Little Prince
“Trust your instincts. Unless your instincts are terrible.” – Vitruvius from the Lego Movie
“Becoming is better than being.” – Carol S. Dweck
May 8, 2017
Sometimes at work I’m given the task of illustrating/designing a quote for our weekly Monday Motivation post on social media. This one was simply “Action expresses priorities,” from Gandhi, which gave me a lot of free rein. I looked at some medieval paintings of builders for inspiration and came up with this sketch on my iPad.
I refined it to this.
I then took the sketch into Illustrator to build the architectural elements.
After that I brought it all back into Procreate on my iPad Pro to create the final artwork. I decided on doing a two color palette with orange and blue overlapping using multiply. Here are the two color layers separated.
And this is the final artwork. It was a really fun piece to work on and it kind of felt like a stylistic breakthrough for me. I’m really pleased with how the shapes, colors and textures turned out.
March 14, 2017
I always love it when I get the chance to do illustration work for SVU. Here are some of the latest pieces I’ve done for their website.
February 14, 2017
On Thursday, Southern Virginia University hosted me at the opening of an exhibition of the illustrations for “If Dinosaurs Could Talk for Me.” I gave a presentation and then signed books. It was very gratifying being able to share that moment with all my friends and family at Southern Virginia. The university means a lot to me as my alma mater and as a designer and teacher here. Thanks to everyone who was able to come.
Photos by Colin Bigelow for Southern Virginia University Communications.
January 8, 2017
This is it guys — I wrote and illustrated my first picture book. I’m an author! It feels very good to say. The thing I feel proudest of though is the feeling that I did my best and created something true to my heart.
Like the main character in the book, Ben, I’m a bit shy and I use my drawings to communicate how I feel. Just like Ben wants to reach out to Sophie (the new girl), I want to reach out to you to show you who I am and what I have to say. I’m expressing myself through these characters just like they do through their dinosaurs.
So I introduce to you Ben and Sophie. They may be shy and quiet, but if you take the time to listen to them, perhaps you’ll find they have something to say. I’m so excited to share my book with you and I hope you enjoy it!
If Dinosaurs Could Talk for Me is available now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and more.
If Dinosaurs Could Talk for Me
Available now
