Illustrations for Three Digital Picture Books on utales

Here are the covers of three digital picture books I illustrated.

They are available at www.utales.com. There is also an iphone and ipad app available on itunes. Paloma's Pie is written by my collaborating author Jean Heilprin Diehl.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/utales/id465334751

I did all the illustrations on an ipad using Sketchbook Pro. I included sounds and animation in The Princess on the Pea and The Baker Dog, by utilizing the utales tools.

Any book you purchase on utales supports Pencils of Promise http://www.pencilsofpromise.org/who-we-are So you can read a picture book with a child while helping another child somewhere in the world!

Portrait of a Family

This is a portrait I finished recently for a family in Ridgewood, New Jersey. I used the repetition of a triangle, referencing the shape in the roof of the house in the composition of the three figures. This is a device often seen in Early Renaissance panel paintings and frescoes which anchors the figures to the foreground while creating a connection and harmony between the foreground and the background of the painting.

Two new interiors-"Girl in Chair" paintings

Beauty and Beast; a Donut on the Table (oil on panel 8" x 10")

Girl in a Red Bandana with Cat (oil on panel 11" x 14")

Summer Mural Installation

The mural I have been working on all summer was installed on Tuesday. I spent yesterday, touching up the seams and adding a few things. The installer, Stefan Alexander did a beautiful job putting it up. It is not an easy task handling all that canvas in a small space and hanging it without a crease or a wrinkle. I painted the hinges in the little door in the wall to disguise it. And I painted the doorknob, adding a few ladybugs. I also added some vines and olive branches wound into the shape of an infinity sign, among the doves above the window. And I put a big rabbit right in the foreground. He will be a guardian to Nicole when she plays in her room. Here are some details:

Summer Mural

This summer I am working on a mural for a private home in Washington DC. The subject of the mural is a tree house, a mystical garden and portraits of the clients' three children.(and their dog Sophie) It is a great project and challenging in certain ways. There is a window and radiator in the wall which I am working into the composition. Changes are being made along the way to accommodate the interests of the children. Today I added a mare and her foal in the field behind the tree house. The progression of the images in this post are the thumb nail sketch above, then the color gouache study below and the third image is the mural about half way finished. The mural is painted in Golden Matte Fluid acrylics on primed flame retardant muslin.

Young Girl and Two Dogs in Summer

I finished this painting the other day. The catalyst for it was a photo I took of my daughter when she was about 13. I have had it on my drawing table in my studio since then (eight years) and I have always wanted to incorporate it into a painting. The setting is Andy's Way and it is late in the day- my favorite place and time. The dog running through the water is Rembrandt, who discovered that he loves water last summer. I guess he has some lab in him deep down in his gene pool. The Springer was inspired by my friend's dog, named McDuff.
The painting is 18" x 24" oil on panel.

Portrait of a Relationship

This is the narrative portrait that I finished recently. It was commissioned by a woman for the man she was about to marry, as a wedding gift. It was presented to him on the nineteenth and they were married on the 26th! It was a great project because the client completely understood the concept of a narrative portrait and had so many ideas to bring to the painting. The picture tells the story of their first "meaningful" date as well as the story of the proposal. Elements in the painting tell of her interests and his interests and how they are bringing those things and melding them into their relationship. Their dog, who is a big part of the picture (real and metaphorically) is the narrator of the painting and makes eye contact with the viewer. The client didn't want to be very "big" in the painting but rather wanted to be secondary to the story the painting is telling. Thus they are the couple standing in the middle distance, on the bank of the Chesapeake. Other elements of the painting emphasize the concept of a twosome- two sailboats, two trees, two towers on the bridge, etc. Here are four images from the first thumbnail studies, to the composition on graph paper, to the grisaille with partial imprimatura, and the finished painting below. It is oil on panel, 24" x 36".