Swordwhale Walking: Illustration, stories, photojourneys, videos

Ah, if only it were as simple to get the image out of my head and onto the paper as it is for my young Elven illusionist at the top of the page here. Just wave your hands, say the magic words and the image appears. It's a little more complicated for most of us, so here are some ideas on how to make it less annoying and more fun. The PDFs, and links to other pages, below will, I hope, show you how I did some of the pieces here, and how you can have fun with watercolor, wildlife sketching and other illustration.

Stuff from the sketchbook. Dolphins, martial artists, ravens, wolves, sled dogs, horses, grackles fishing, baby burrfish, mystery blobs found in the swamp, and other fodder for the imagination. A sketchbook is a necessary tool for any artist; recording what you see for later use in creating a finished piece, practicing anatomy. It's also a great tool for putting you wholy in the moment; focusing on what's in front of you.

Although watercolor and tradigital are my favorite media, I sometimes use other media; Prismacolor pencils, pastels, crayons, even squashed rocks. Here's a few examples.

If you live nearby (or visit our area), you can take up a pencil or a brush at Blue Hound Farm (click on the chipmunk above for their page and address in southcentral PA). Using the landscapes, vast pond, fencelines, woods and wetlands of this "little piece of paradise" as reference and inspiration, you can try your hand at watercolor, sketching (we'll shanghai Iberia the Jersey cow or Fiona the Goat or a Silkie into posing), or go large with a murals class. Various other crafty brainburps may surface: yard turtles from old oil drums, portable stained glass from old windows, or recycle Barbie into a garden fairy. Classes for all ages and experience levels run throughout the year. Bluehound has beautiful landscapes, sheltered stable areas (to sketch livestock if it rains), and a large art studio.

A few ideas to spark the creative side of your pre-schooler; for parents, babysitters and others. Messy, not so messy, using recycled wonders, jello, soap, finger paint, salt and flour and other stuff. Click on Gabriel's Fish!

A step by step look at how I did these watercolor/acrylic/Photoshop illustrations of the Pride of Baltimore II, a reproduction of a privateer of the War of 1812. Click on Pride to go to the secret page.

So your realtor painted all the walls of your new house one of the forty-two shades between hospital white and  curdled cream. Or little Kristen has outgrown the Painfully Pink Princess Decor. Oh, what to do with those walls!

Polar Bears. Lifesized Killer Whales (my personal favorite). Some Fruit Bats. Perhaps Kaa (the thirty foot python) from The Jungle Books (Kipling, where he was a teacher, not Disney, where he was a villain). The York County Park System has allowed me to smear paint on a few of their walls, for educational purposes. Cramming a lifesized (100 foot) blue whale into a 20 foot room is a challenge (perspective is my friend), but lifesized whales, or a whole rainforest in your bedroom, can create a kind of connection that is very different from a small picture in a book, or a DVD on a TV sized screen. 

You too can create landscapes, seascapes, jungles, prairies, faerie tales and (for that horse-crazy 12 year old) a whole stable of her very own equines. It's not as hard at it looks. Click on the pics below to take you to further pages that show you how it can be done.