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First let me say that your sweet little cow has a very perky bosom. : ) Vert cute.

Next....yep, I do not think I could handle doing to art fair scene myself. It is expensive and you have no control over the weather.....which this weekend in Chicago was laden with het, humidity, thunderstorms and tornadoes. And it was the weekend of the biggest and best art fairs in the city. I look forward to it every year, but between the gas prices and the weather, I did not go this time. I feel bad for the people who were selling their wares there.

Very perky udders!

You are not alone Paula - I feel the same, for all the same reasons.

Miss Moo Cow is "udderly" adorable...sorry couldn't resist.

I'm with you, I did not inherit the "Art Fair" or "Stand in the heat" gene. I did an outdoor craft show about 20 years ago with a friend...the wind picked up in the afternoon and we spent the rest of the day hanging onto the tent bars like a couple of chimpanzees. A life changing experience, I guarantee you.

I have never been tempted to do an art fair for the same reasons: I hate feeling like a street peddler. The Placer County Art Studio Tour, which I do at a group location once a year, primarily to promote and sell my books, is bad enough. At least they sell, which is more than I can say for a lot of the art.
I do think you need to find a good venue somewhere for all your cool stuff, though.

Art Fairs are hard, but I guess I took those twenty plus years of abuse in the retail industry to toughen me up for the fairs.

I will say the "up" side of the fair is one-on-one with the patron who buys one's artwork. Another biggie is seeing my own hanging under (mostly) my own parameters.

Happy New Year Eric... interesting questions :) I find that immediacy of the sketch is a hard one to capture as i am a bit of a "worrier" with the paintbrush and find it can deaden the work. I think that some element that is a little out of your control keeps that unpredictable element in the work - for me this has been the wanderings of watercolour as against oils or the outcome from a printing press.
I agree about preferring Rackham too :)
Best wishes for a happy and busy 2008 :)

I like the style and looseness of the sketch Eric.
Real fresh looking.
I'd say that it has to be part performance and that would be where style comes into play. How the same composition, done in a different style, or by another artist changes the outcome. Like a cover tune.
Does that make sense?

It's a tough balance to strike...but I always thought you did it so well! The new pirate paintings to me are a perfect example. I haven't mastered that yet either...
I think illustration and drawing are both things. Putting your ideas together well, and thrilling people with the way you choose to execute them.
See you soon!!! :)

Thanks Rima! Watercolour does tend to keep things loose, but I use gouache which can get too tight sometimes, I'd really like to retain some of the freshness of a sketch.

That makes total sense, Frank. I've thought of it in those terms as well. Thanks for your thoughts.

Thanks Ambera! I'd say you're pretty close to doing that, especially in the last few months.

Hi Eric,
Yes I agree with you.. it is very hard to retain de wonderful quality of the sketch in a final drawing. Don't know why that is.. maybe the line is more alive when is connected to the thought that is bringing it to life, you know?
I prefert to use a lightbox to transfer my drawings rather than the other transfer method of rubbing pencil. I am starting to use my underline sketch in the lightbox as a guide and trying to draw it again rather that trace. Think is working better for me.. although it is not as great as the initial sketch.

I love your sketch by the way, the boy has a wonderful expression...

I think illustration is a performance where composition plays an important role. It can have rythm and movement like in music and can transport you to places far beyond your imagination.. ahh.. I truly love doing it :o)

Thanks Alicia! I've never used a light box, I've always used the tissue-transfer method. I think I'll look into it.

I love that you say it's a perfomance with an important element of composition, I think you're on to something.

I see a sketch as tool on the way to a painting - I used to worry about how 'nice' my sketches looked, but now I am too interested in getting things right to worry about what it looks like! For me, it's just getting the idea down, sorting out the light/shade before getting the painting done. Once I get into the actual artwork I can relax, becasue I know where everything is going.

Thanks, Gretel! So your sketch serves more as a map to the final piece? It's interesting how varied the purposes for sketching are. 'To draw does not simply mean to reproduce contours; the drawing does not simply consist in the idea: the drawing is even the expression, the interior form, the plan, the model.Look what remains after that! The drawing is three fourths and a half of what constitutes painting. If I had to put a sign over my door [to the atelier], I would write: School of drawing, and I’m certain that I would create painters.' - Ingres,

Yes, I would say that the sketch is a preparation, (or map, if you will) and if it ends up looking halfway decent, that is a bonus! Once I have the sketch nailed, then I know the painting, as yer man Ingres says, is more than half way there.
I also avoid taking notice of other proclamations of what one should or should not be doing art-wise, as I have found that the best way is to find one's own path. (But then I am a bit of an anarchist!)

HA! I know-I'm obsessed with everyone elses thoughts. One thing is I like to be suprised by the final painting, so I don't want everything in the drawing. That's the problem. Do you transfer your sketches?

I am a Cancerian and I don't like surprises, especially in my paintings! :) I usually scan my sketches into Photoshop and bang them up to size, and print out the result - then I quite often do some last minute alterations (in biro, very un-artistic) or add something - and then use a lightbox to draw it lightly out onto the watercolour paper. I think because I am confident with my paints, and do lots of light, loose washes, I don't end up with over laboured work, but I have a tight style anyway, so it doesn't necessarily matter. My God Eric, you are actually making me think about what I do, I don't know if this is good or bad...

Um....Sorry? Your work is lovely Gretel, as long as you keep making art it doesn't matter what you think about.

Frazetta would do very rough sketches and color layouts, and then after minimal preparation would begin work on the painting...he said that the key was not to waste all his energy on the prep work. I think perhaps focusing on the basic composition in sketches, and then saving the rest for working on the final product is the key.

Congrats on the contract with Raincoast by the way...it makes me feel wonderful that your amazing talent is being recognized in such a way.

Thanks Bruce! That's a good point about Frazetta, working on the composition.