SO LONG, OLD PAINT...

I wish I could better remember the  circumstances and the players involved in how I was selected for these two double-page spreads (seen as the original art and the printed pages), but all I can say is my friend and associate John Treworgy most likely was involved.  He was on the staff of the Robb Report at the time and may have mentioned my name to the concerned parties.  Thanks, again, Trees!  You continue to rock! Let's get to the art: The first piece was a montage depicting shows you could watch in-flight at the time.  I drew The Statler Brothers, a fashion show an image of Lou Grant, the ever-popular "Rambo," and a screen showing Pac-Man.  You also had the option to play video games on the plane in those days.  Options are probably limitless now.  Let me say  a little bit about the monochromatic technique here.  I was instructed that this piece would be printed in black and white, which was still fairly popular at the time.  Later, when I saw the printed piece, I saw that it had been scanned in color.  I was told that the art director liked the warm and cool tones of the piece and decided to preserve them.  In fact, the image turned to a near sepia in print.  My first reaction was "Jeez, if I'd known it was going to be printed in color, I'd have thrown in a little green or something."  But, I've come to like the tones.  I was still experimenting with textures and clouds (see The Cardiff Giant from a couple of years earlier).  I still have the original art and a mounted copy of the printed spread which I photographed for this post. 

For the second image, I was was informed it would be in full-color, so I didn't skimp on the hues.  I wanted to make the ocean waves as convincing as possible, which is not always easy to do.  I used to study the water when I was young, but it's not easy.  The dang waves just don't stay still!  I decided to take a good look at Winslow Homer's art before drafting the pencil image, and that gave me some direction.  I'm no Homer, but I was pleased with the result.  The translucence of the swells showing the texture beneath and the contours of the crests worked pretty well, I think.  The color didn't reproduce anywhere near as densely as the original, but that was the reality of four-color printing back then.  I often throw in cameo appearances of friends and family in my work, as many artists do, but this piece didn't really lend itself to such indulgences.  I settled for naming the boat after my wife and daughter.  

I greatly enjoyed my foray into liquid pigments, but I've always been pretty obsessed with line art.  What Herb Lubalin could do with a perfectly-controlled stroke of a pen still knocks me out.  I could name dozens of others who bring life and style to line art, but let's just say there's nothing like the bold, striking contrast of crisp black line on a white surface.  For stark, dramatic contrast, you can't beat it.  For whatever reasons, most of my work in the '90s and thereafter was done in ink.  I pretty much left paint behind after I went digital, hence the headline.

As always, click on the thumbnail image for the full-size picture.