The Next Phase...

After struggling with time elements as well as the sometimes unpredictability of the pastel or the wax bloom of the colored pencils, I decided that I would try a combination of Markers and colored pencils. My hope was that it would go a little faster so I took an old illustration originally done quickly in cp's and re-did it using the new technique,
It went twice as fast and gave a much crisper finished image.
The results are below (old one underneath). (click on all images to enlarge)

This was my second try at the marker/colored pencil technique. I did another "re-do" this time of the dragon Duck. He has since gotten a lot of attention and I was encouraged by an agent last year, to write a story based on him . I have never envisioned myself as a writer but I never shy away from teaching myself anything new.

This piece is marker/colored pencils and was done as an assignment for an illustrator conference I went to in October 2008. I am enjoying this new technique.

Below is a study done for the book "Drake".This book will be for the most part, told illustratively. I learned two very valuable lessons from doing this. Number one, if it is "working" don't try to fix it. Meaning, the original color palette was better, bolder. I am not sure what I was thinking doing it this way. Second lesson...trust my instincts. In the first one without the background, I LOVED it! It had power and punch. Once I put in the background (because I thought I was supposed to) it seemed to lose all it's impact. In the future, I will trust my first impression.

The revised story board for Drake is forthcoming as well as a re-do of Drake himself. Always learning.....