Something a little different

Here is something a little different than most of my work. I really enjoy portraits even though I don't do many. This still has a touch of stylization, but that just seems to be my thing.

Later!

WHAT'S THE STORY

Quite a while ago I had sketched out this little scene in Photoshop. I found the file and painted it recently. Since I've shown it around, I've been ask many times "so, what's the story behind this?" In truth there really is no story. But as I look at how I make images, I see that many of my illustrations do hold untold stories. I have always loved the book THE MYSTERIES OF HARRIS BURDICK for this reason. In his book, Chris Van Allsburg gives us just enough to wet our visual taste buds and then leaves the rest to our imagination. The wonderful thing is, stories have no limits.

Fairy's Box

Messing around some more

New York Times Best Seller

Ok, I couldn't hold out. THE WIZARD HAS HIT THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER LIST! Even better yet, it's #1 on the list this week.

Radio Flyer

Just messing around in Photoshop.

The Tiger's Egg

I thought I would post the cover of THE TIGER'S EGG. I did this cover as a sequal to THE PALACE OF LAUGHTER. It's a great story by Jon Berkeley.

Later!

No Squish It!

A couple of evenings ago I was doodling away on this small illustration. The next morning my son (who turns two next week) came in and took one look at what I had come up with and said " Dad! Dad! No squish it Dad! No squish it!

Another Sketch

Just another sketch!

Later!

A little sketch here

Along with my illustration work I have a pirate story that is on-going. Here is a little concept sketch of one of the characters.

Fablehaven Book 2

This post is the cover art I did for Fablehaven book 2. It was a fun book to work on. Brandon Mull is the author. He does such a great job it's always a challenge to make the artwork equal the storytelling inside. Check out the website at Fablehaven.com

Later!

THE WIZARD!!!

It's finally coming! The Wizard, by Jack Prelutsky is my first full 32 page picture book.

I'm super excited to see it in bookstores. It releases on July 3rd. Which coincidentally happens to be my son's birthday. he will be two.

The Wizard is an in-verse poem about a wizard who lives in a very tall tower at the end of an everyday neighborhood street. He spies a bullfrog by his door and magically plays with it. First the frog becomes a flea, and then a pair of mice, and then . . . , and then . . . , and then . . . Finally, the wizard gazes out his high window down on the children playing in the street trying to decide "which hex he'll conjure next."

This was a great book to work on. It is published by Greenwillow Books. I would like to say thinks to Paul, who I worked with there for making the whole process so enjoyable. I'd also like to publicly thank Scott Franson, Dan Burr, Wade Huntsman and Leon Parson for their tremendous kindness and direction.

Lastly, without a doubt, my wife has been the biggest support. I am so gratefully for her. Thank you Em.

To everyone else, enjoy the book!

Messing Around

I seem to never be absolutely pleased with the Photoshop brushes that I use. Here is a quicky that came out while messing around with new brushes.

Sketches

Just thought I would post some sketches since I haven't posted in a while.

Later!

Pirates are cool

Pirates are just plain fun to paint. I was shooting purposefully for a cool pallet with this guy. It was done 100% in Photoshop. Not for anything in particular.

A Pug

A few months ago I was hired to do some cover art for a story with a pug in it. I did the sketch and sent it in. I was excited to paint a pug just because I think they are so weird looking. But, then they changed the dog in the story to a wiener dog and I never got the chance to paint the pug. So . . . I decided to see try out a new brush I made in Photoshop and couldn't help but paint this guy and his pearly whites.

Nobodies

This is a cover I did for Harpercollins a early last year. It's actually the second book in a sereis by N.E. Bode.

It was a fun job. I really enjoy working with the people there at Harper.

Enjoy!

Study

Here is a quick study. Most of my work is quite saturated with color, but on this I tried to stay more neutral.

The Big House

A few months ago I did this cover for The Big House, a young reader's novel. It was a fun assignment. Below is my sketch I initially sent in.

Brandon Dorman Award

This week's award goes to Trevor Brown. This piece, more than the others has a "finished" quality. Though done in the computer, it is consistent.

Congratulations!

Some Sketches

Just a page from my sketchbook. I felt Like it has been a while since I've posted anything.

Also, This last Saturday, I had the wonderful opportunity to have lunch with Virgina Duncan and Steve Geck from Greenwillow Books. They were up in Seattle for the ALA conference and invited my wife, son and I to come and meet with them. It was really a treat. I have been working with them on my first 32 page picture book called The Wizard, written by Jack Prelutsky. It will be coming out this fall.

--Brandon

Scott E Franson's Digital Illustration Class

This week in Scott E Franson's Digital Illustration class I have choosen David Theriault's "80's" illustraiton to receive the Brandon Dorman Award. Here it is below.

Not much to tell

Not much to tell here. Just a small sample I whipped up.
I am a little nervous about showing it though. Back in school one of my teachers always told us that the kind of work you get is what you show. So I guess I better plan on getting work with cute little girls in it. Oh, well.

Merry Christmas!

Selfish again

Ok, now I'm back to being selfish and posting one of my own.

Not much to add about this one. It started as a study to see if I could record my painting process, but I still haven't found a way to do it very well, so I just kept working on this here and there. Enjoy!

--Brandon

Scott E Franson

All of my previous posts have been of my own work and I'm feeling like I've been a little too selfish. So, in order to try and redeem myself I wanted to post one of my favorite posters done by the incredible Scott E Franson. He almost exclusively in Photoshop and Illustrator.

Please visit his site at www.ScottEFrandon.com and see all of his amazing work. It is truly inspiring.

--Brandon

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is coming up in a hurry! It will be great this year. My wife and all the ladies in the family are planning a great meal. Myself along with the other guys are looking forward to playing some intense flag football. So, I thought I would post this piece I did for The Friend magazine in the spirit of the holiday.

Thanks!

Today's sketch

Here is a sketch I did today! bye!

Something Simple

This guy is just simple.

TW

Here is a painting that I acctually looked at some reference for. It's based on a B&W photo of Ted Willams. I have a bad habbit of drawing and painting right out of my head and not taking scrap. Anyway, this is not for anything in particular, but just someting simple and fun. Bye!

La La La

More from the Sketchbook!