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Here’s something I did for the May 2011 issue of Chirp magazine. It’s obviously the Taj Mahal. It’s interesting how much you learn about something when you have to draw it. A larger version can be seen if you click on the image.

And I’ve included some close-ups, below. Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun…fun.

Well, hey! It’s mid-week and I have some samples that came in the mail today that I’d like to share. I received the November 2010 issue of Chirp magazine, which has a spread I did entitled “Carnival in Germany” (I blogged a little about it here.) This was a booger of a job, I gotta say, never-the-less fun! There were just so many elements that had to be incorporated, such as animals and people that needed rescuing, and the people and vehicles that would rescue them. And this being set in a real place, I was asked to incorporate a few architectural details that were in the waterfront carnival area in Cologne, Germany (in this case, a cathedral and bridge). I did a lot of fudging all-around, as there was just no real way to depict Cologne’s waterfront as it really looks in the space allotted. So perspective is skewed here and there, the bridge is changed up (so people, etc. can be seen on it), foliage and trees eliminated, etc. Below is the finished, final spread, scanned from the magazine. A larger version can be seen if you click on it.

Since some visitors here like to see the work behind the work, I included the spread (below) I received from the art director with some direction, but primarily showing where copy, etc. would be, along with an idea of how they envisioned the spread looking.

Below: I initially tried to stay pretty true to the initial layout, but there just simply wasn’t enough area to include the many items I needed to incorporate. I didn’t waste a whole lot of time with this and moved on to a different perspective.

Which is below. I took it more birds-eye and skewed the streets, etc., so I could use some streets in the back as well as side streets for things. After this was approved, I tightened up this rough and made sure I pretty much knew what was going where. This wasn’t one that I could just let develop without some thinking about it first. The final piece is pretty close to the tight rough.

And now I’m happy to say I’m finishing up a fun winter spread for Chirp! I believe it will be in the

Happy Tuesday, people. After an invigorating (albeit cold!) morning walk outdoors and a strong cup of coffee, I’m energized and ready to tackle the day. So I begin with posting a piece I worked on back in November  for the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Chirp! magazine (Owlkids).  I worked these up on my laptop and [...]