new art

sad arts district

Today we are heading to North Carolina. The day promised to have big things in store for us, starting with the world's largest chest of drawers in High Point. Then it was off to Charlotte, where we saw the Panthers' Stadium. Not much else to do here. We went to dinner at an award-winning wood-fired pizza place. We ate outside on the patio, where we discovered that the building was interactive. If you pressed on certain places on the exterior wall, sound effects and bright lights went off. Like we said...there's not much going on in Charlotte. From there, we went looking for fun in the arts district –- which turned out to be one intersection with one open bar. We both drank one beer, staying there one hour, and drove back to our hotel. Maybe tomorrow will be more... just more.

Art of Sadness

Everyone gets sad. We all are susceptible to negative thoughts and feelings sometimes. Sadness is a normal emotion that has the ability to make life more engaging. Some of the greatest art in the world was created because the artist was so entrenched in his emotions of sadness, that it bled on to a canvas without control or restraint. Sadness almost always accompanies loss. Loss of life, love, happiness, and the most crushing of all, loss of hope. Hope for something better. Something beyond the feelings that are possessing you at the moment. When you are at your grimmest times, hope is the only thing that will keep you fighting.

Sadness assists us in appreciating our own happiness. When our mood eventually evolves from sadness toward a sense of hope and happiness, the sense of contrast gives a stronger appreciation for the goodness that does exist. My next article will do just that, in showcasing art about hope, inspiration, & happiness.

humber college

“Initially there’s some resistance to accepting traditional approach,” he said, “But once they adopt it, it does so much to advance their skill set.”

After my slide lecture, I did a sketch demo with water-soluble colored pencils. I drew an old brass samovar in a small sketchbook, with the sketch blown up onto a giant TV screen.

Humber is transitioning to a degree granting institution, offering 4-year degrees, 2 and 3-year diplomas, and an array of graduate certificates. It prides itself in 91% job placement for its graduates. There are 17,000 full- and part-time students in the college overall, and about 3,000 in the Media Studies program. The art program prepares students for traditional illustration, animation, or web-based opportunities.

Humber College's Visual and Digital Arts Diploma Program curriculum can be seen at

over there

Well, at least that's what I'm thinking this J.E.B. Stuart miniature keeps asking me.

Why a Civil War mini? Well that's what I've been painting over the last couple of weeks, and the best thing is it's been for work! The great Confederate cavalry commander (above) and half a dozen Union cavalrymen will be making an appearance in the July issue of Wargames Illustrated (#261) as part of our "American Civil War -The road to Gettysburg" theme.

The finishing touches on the re-launch issue (#260) are being finalized in England as I type, and I have to say it has been a pleasure to work with Dan Faulconbridge on this one. I have certainly learned a lot about putting together a magazine that isn't a "house mag". There's a certain freedom that is VERY refreshing. I have also learned that I need to start pushing my personal design and layout skills a bit, skills that have atrophied over the last few years of management. Anyway, this all means I'm very happy with the way my new job is going!

Oh, and I thought I'd throw in this pic. It's my take on a Dutch Windmill for Flames of War (or any other 15mm game with the potential to be set in Holland). The brief was to build a Dutch windmill from materials that are really easy to get a hold of. While I still have a few more things to add to the model above (including paint) this have been made from a cereal box, some Coke cases, a Bic pen, and a handful of bass wood strips (perhaps the toughest thing to get a hold of thus far). As well as making it into the upcoming Firestorm: Operation Market Garden campaign box coming out later in the year, we'll be doing a "how to" in Wargames Illustrated.

The building in front of the windmill is a resin cast of one of the cool Flames of War French village buildings that'll be released later this year. Jason Buyaki (of Gale Force 9, formerly my colleague at GW, and terrain guru) created all the masters for these pieces and boy are they really beautifully detailed!

autumn and portrait

Remember I said that the autumn still-life was put on hold? Well there was a little misunderstanding in the initial instructions which is a little humorous. I was told it should have some gourds, a jack-o-lantern in a white pitcher, a pumpkin, some chinese lanterns and maybe flowers. Well I did think the jack-o-lantern in a vase was a little odd... and soon found out it was supposed to be chinese lanterns in a pitcher! Too funny. I do like some of the compositions I came up with with a pumpkin in the pitcher though!

Anyway, the client lent me her majolica pitcher for the chinese lanterns and here is where I'm at. Actually I got a little further than this today but didn't take another photo.

& I have some good newsand some bad news... I am going to be able to work on this tomorrow and tentatively finish it... the bad news - I have the time towork on it tomorrow because my six year old has the flu and I can't go to work because I will be home with her. So I brought home my supplies and while she's vegging on the couch, I'll hopefully have this finished.

Below is my portrait tromp l'oeil comission. Its finished except for the okay from the client. Enjoy!

roadside dinosaur

Yesterday, this hand painted sign along Highway 116 in South Hadley, Massachusetts beckoned us down a winding dirt road into the woods. We had a few minutes before the lecture at the Eric Carle Museum, and I have a Inside the cinderblock building we met Cornell Nash, museum director, amateur paleontologist, and gift shop manager. He has collected dozens of dinosaur footprints from the quarry behind the museum. Most prints are three-toed, roughly the size of a human handprints, from a dinosaur the size of a Coelophysis. A few are larger—a foot and a half or so—from a meat-eater often identified Dilophosaurus.weakness for funky roadside dinosaur attractions.
He told us that when early American settlers found the trackways in the late 1700s and early 1800s, they had a very different explanation for them. The most popular idea was that Noah had released some giant ravens from the Ark, and let them run around on the vast mudflats after the Deluge.