Illustration Friday: Stripes...and Selznick!

Every  now and then I need to take a break from my drawings of botanicals and everyday objects, and after doing that turban squash, it was time! For this week's Illustration Friday topic, stripes, I decided to do another in my series of little trompe l'oeil drawings, using mostly white pencil on black paper. It's a complete departure for me, and a fun mental exercise, figuring out what's white and what's black. Here are the three together, you can see the original posts here and here):

But while were chatting about black and white drawings, I'm dying to tell you about my amazing evening a couple of weeks ago: Brian Selznick was in town talking about and signing his incredible new book, Wonderstruck, which is two stories intertwined, one told in words, one told in pictures. I've written about him before, especially my love for his book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. If you ever get a chance to hear Brian speak, you have to go—he's an amazing speaker and storyteller; everyone in the school auditorium was enthralled. While he spoke, we were treated to a fabulous screening of images from the book, his writing and drawing process, and the trailer for Martin Scorcese's new film, "Hugo". Brian answered tons of questions, and shared some fascinating things: 

There are hundreds of pencil drawings in these two books. He works really small (about 4 x 5 ) with a mechanical pencil on watercolor paper, and then the drawings are enlarged for the books. (He has an exquisite way of cross-hatching...I try not to drool on the pages.)

He decided to tell one story in pictures after watching a documentary about deaf people. (He has learned to sign really well; there was a deaf student in the audience and he chatted with her afterward.)

As a child, he was obsessed with the wolf diorama at NYC's Museum of Natural History. The wolves and the museum are important parts of Wonderstruck. 

He said that Martin Scorcese was unbelievably faithful to his book, and that the movie uses 3D technology in a new, sophisticated, artful way. When he visited the movie set, he saw that Scorcese, as well as most of the cast and crew kept his book with them  throughout the filming.

As he toured the set, built to look like a Parisian train station, Brian noticed how perfect a certain wall grate looked. He asked the production designer, the talented Dante Ferretti, where they found the grate, saying, "It looks just like the one I drew!" Ferretti answered, "It is the one you drew!" He was amazed that they had literally brought the smallest details of his drawings to life.
It was such fun meeting him as he signed my books.

(He had on the coolest silver leather shoes.)

I could go on and on, but I'll let you experience the genius of Brian Selznick firsthand. Check out his website here and the movie trailer here. It opens November 23...I can't wait!!

Turban Squash

Turban Squash

Prismacolor colored pencils on Strathmore Bristol, vellum finish

"I wonder how they do that?!" exclaimed an older woman in the grocery line as she pointed to my turban squash.

Isn't nature amazing? Of all of the winter squash and pumpkins that I adore, this one has got to be the most exotic. There were lots of them at the farmer's market this weekend, and when you view them right-side-up, they do look like little heads sporting turbans.

This squash was the perfect little model: no wilting like a flower does, no drying out like blueberries and tomatoes do. It just sat there in all of its I-can-last-all-winter smugness. I guess that's why I like drawing botanicals like nuts, pine cones and winter squash—there's no hurry. So, I took my time (and used almost every pencil that I own in the green and orange families) and even made work-in-progress scans. As is often the case, I wasn't really happy with this final scan...the reds look a little splotchy and bright. So I took a quick shot with my iPhone4:

Not bad, huh? I stopped short when it came to adding a shadow, as I kind of like how it looks without it. What do you think? Does it look unfinished without one?

Here are the WIP views (click to enlarge)

Illustration Friday: Scattered

I panicked when I saw Charlotte's feathers scattered around the yard. Had the raccoon, that had savagely attacked my neighbor's cat, attacked one of my "girls"?  Fortunately, Charlotte soon scurried out from under the tangerine tree where she likes to dust bathe, and it all started to make sense—it's molting time.  

A molting chicken is not a pretty sight. My hens were too young to molt when fall arrived last year, so this is their maiden voyage. While May seems to be replacing her feathers a few at a time, poor bedraggled Charlotte has been looking like something the cat dragged in. But I noticed yesterday that her pin feathers are coming in, so she's looking more normal. Actually, she looks a bit like a hedgehog—something I've always wanted! (If you'd like to see the girls in all of their pre-molt splendor, click here to go their page.)

Feathers are amazing structures; I could use some practice drawing them. Also, the sheen of graphite complicates the scanning process, so I had to play around with the scanner settings. (I've really got to take a day and get the hang of using a camera and my copy stand...especially for graphite drawings.)

The scan above is in color, and the one below is in greyscale...which do you prefer?

Illustration Friday: Contraption

Prismacolor colored pencil and graphite on Strathmore charcoal paper

I haven't posted on Illustration Friday for a few weeks; and this week's word, "contraption", had me stumped. I just kept visualizing the "Mousetrap" game from my childhood. Then, seeing all of the beautiful fall apples reminded me of this one which peels, cores and slices. It always entertained my kids, and I still feel like I'm playing whenever I use it!

Work-in-Progress: I always enjoy seeing WIP shots on other people's websites, but I rarely think to stop mid-drawing to record those images. I'm having fun working slowly on this drawing of a turban squash, and I'm actually remembering to scan it along the way. Check back soon to see the finished product!

Happy First Day of Autumn!

I love the fall. Though I've spent my adult life in northern California (where it was 90° today and autumn won't really arrive until closer to Thanksgiving), my Indiana childhood programmed me to feel the spell of fall today. All day, I've been wishfully humming Clint Black's "A Change in the Air."...a musical love letter to autumn.

Falling leaves, wearing sweaters, apple cider, and pumpkins. Last fall, I drew these three...it was originally supposed to be a group of four, but a big orange pumpkin that I had in the back just didn't look right, in the end. In this quick scan I did today, the colors aren't as accurate as those in the original photo I used in my blog banner, but I wanted to get this up before the day was over. It's funny what a difference a year makes. At the time, I was really satisfied with how the drawing turned out. Now, even though I still really like the bumpy green guy, I'm critical of other parts—but it's definitely still saying "Fall is here!" and that's what's important today.