Illustration using Traditional Media

I consider myself an illustrator first and foremost; it is what I studied while at art school, and it is the field in which I worked after graduation. I love the narrative aspect of illustration; the fact that—unlike a lot of contemporary fine art works—an illustration usually conveys a story, a specific idea that the artist (or his client) is trying to communicate. Making that point clear is always an interesting challenge.

Traditional media would be “old-fashioned,” non-digital media such as watercolor, acrylic, oil, scratch board, and ink. When I went to art school way back in the 80s, digital design wasn’t even an option, so I worked exclusively with traditional media. Today I do both traditional and digital work. Yet despite my new found interest in digital design and multimedia, I still love good ol’ drawing and painting best.

Here is a sampling of some of the work I've done in various traditional media including acrylic, gouache, watercolor, pen-and-ink, scratch board, and color pencil. There are two broad categories that most of these pieces could fall under: editorial and art for children. I enjoy pieces that comment on aspects of society (editorial). Most of these use humor, but some are darker than others. Creating art for children is kind of like an antidote for the editorial work, a chance to shed the cynicism and sarcasm and to simply celebrate the joy and wonder of childhood. They are like two sides of my personality.