The Secret Shofar of Barcelona

I'm happy to announce that my 5th illustrated children's book, "The Secret Shofar of Barcelona", written by Jackie Greene, has hit the stores this month. I finished these paintings back in January and I've been anxious to see them become a real book. It has been published by Kar-Ben Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Lerner Books. My copy just arrived and I wanted to share some of the spreads from the book here.
The story is about a musician and his son who find a way to secretly celebrate their Jewish faith while living under the inquisition. The setting is 1500's Spain, so I looked to Renaissance and Baroque painters like Titian, Vermeer and Velazquez for inspiration. I wanted to have something of the mystery and moody, soft light that they have in their paintings. I looked at Piero Della Francesca as well, I love his simple forms and the spiritual quality they convey. When I'm working on a book I like to dive into old and new influences that I find relevant to the subject matter and which help me find colors, textures and shapes that evoke the mood and setting of the story. I hope you enjoy the results!

Illustration Academy 2009

Illustration Academy 2009 held at Ringling College of Art in Sarasota, Florida has just come to a close. My head is still spinning from 7-weeks of non-stop action and amazing stuff done by the students and visiting artists there. I taught full-time again this year as a core instructor along with Jon Foster, George Pratt, John English and Brent Watkinson, and on top of that we had Mark English, Gary Kelley, Sterling Hundley, Anita Kunz, Robert Meganck, C.F. Payne, Barron Storey, Sam Weber, Jillian Tamaki, Francis Livingston, Natalie Ascencios, Terry Brown, Andrea Wicklund, Robin Eley, and Ed Kinsella all teach as visiting instructors. I'm not sure how to begin to describe the amount of information that was exchanged, for a great impression take a look at Academy Guy's podcasts, there is one for each week posted on you tube.
I miss everyone already!
But...there is a new academy website that was launched last week and it is an incredible tool. It is an unlimited-use subscription site that lets you stay connected to the instructors, member artists at large and fellow students through discussion forums, member galleries, and instructional videos. Take a look at the visual literacy program site if you'd like to get more information, or write me or any of the other artists on the site if you have any questions about it. There is already a ton of activity on the site, as the community grows it I think it will become an unparalleled online resource for artists and students.
Thanks to everyone who took part this summer! Below I've posted a few of the drawings I did along with the students during the 2 hour figure drawing session held twice each week.