Es Tevi Milu.

Just a quick drawing of Andrejs Peteris Ezergailis- or 'Mister E'- comforting Miss Mariska Morevna. He's the mentor for a group of young super heroes courtesy of my friends here at Ringling. Generally thought of as a human surveillance camera/super computer, he tries to keep his students safe- often not entirely effective against teenage angst and his mortal foe: social interaction.

Hang in there, Mister E. Hang in there.

Roger and Steve: Do you see what I see?

This was a bit of a gamble in terms of technique, but it seems to work pretty okay and I could definitely see these two being a ton of fun to do stylistically for some children oriented illustrations.

Roger and Steve, monster photographers extraordinaire and friends for life.

The Wind Singer

When told we had to do a book cover for our next assignment, somehow, I instantly knew what novel it was I wanted to illustrate. William Nicholson's 'The Wind Singer' from his Wind on Fire Trilogy has long since been an on again off again love of mine. Just when I've nearly forgotten it, it comes right back to the forefront- We're in this endless dance of memory versus time.

You might know Mister Nicholson as the screenwriter for the blockbuster smash 'Gladiator'. Nicholson's 'Wind Singer'- for me- has always had a similar vibrancy to its storytelling. A bit epic, a lot bizarre, it is the element of strangeness which propelled me to choose Wind Singer. Three children- two of them a pair of twins, Kestral and Bowman- escape from the confines of their home of Amaranth, a city enslaved by standardized testing. On a journey to set things right, they discover that in order to free their families, they must find the voice to the monument left behind by their ancestors- the rickety, large statue called 'The Wind Singer'.

My Father's Dragon

As children, we sometimes have books we never want to put down. It is those characters we play with and those worlds we visit over and over again before we sleep. Places we go by ourselves or by the soothing intonations of our parents' voices.

For me, there were a number of stories that enraptured and engaged but none so much as Ruth Stiles Gannett and Ruth Chrisman Gannett's 'My Father's Dragon', 'Elmer and the Dragon' and 'The Dragons of Blueland'.

Here is Elmer Elevator and his baby dragon friend Boris soaring with the calm preluding the storm from one of my favorite scenes.

Iorangi Jon Paul Key

These were originally created as icons and as an emotions exercise, put together here in a completed group to display the multi-faceted responses of a single character. The character's a bloke named Iorangi J.P. Key hailing from Auckland, New Zealand and he's just about one of the nicest Kiwis you'll ever meet.

My Father's Guns

Editorial piece for the short story 'My Father's Guns'. Simple in design, the concept was to pull together the anguish of the father and the son and the powerful link between the two exemplified in their hunting trips- more precisely, in guns. What was once viewed with reverence becomes the catalyst for tragedy.

Sketchbook: One Foot Forward

Just a few sketches from One Foot Forward. It's neither necessary nor relevant to name one's sketchbook, but it's fun sometimes. And if I'm in a hurry, I can usually remember what's where in what volume.
So something about censorship, a man in a top hat and a strange couple who 'do'. And what they 'do' is up to you~