Drawing Science

Although I love doing whimsical illustration, I also really enjoy doing science artwork.(Quite fitting since science is a passion and, not to boast, since I'm also the proud father a wonderful scientist daughter.) The illustrations above are from the May/June issue of ASK magazine. ASK is an award-winning science and art publication for 6- to 9-year-olds.

More info about ASK: https://shop.cricketmedia.com/all-childrens-magazine-subscriptions/ASK-Magazine-for-Kids.html

La Fiesta, NOT Tijuana

Left — Original La Fiesta rub-on lettering from Chartpak. My winning design in Chartpak’s 1988 International Typeface Competition.

Right — A few samples of the hundreds of examples of the font being used that I have come across so far

 

Whether online or in the physical world, it’s always interesting to see how my creative work is being used. Some of my work -- like my education clip art and other projects -- has taken on a life of its own (and, frustratingly, not always officially sanctioned or compensated). 

 

Another creation that has lived an interesting life is my font, La Fiesta. Hand-rendered with pen and ink, it was a winner in Chartpak’s 1988 International Typeface Competition, and often pops up on websites, products, menus, and signs around the world. As one of the winners of the competition I was given a certificate, a small payment, and had the typeface produced as rub-on lettering and sold at art stores and through graphic arts catalogs.

Once used heavily by graphic arts and architecture professionals, rub-on, or pressure-sensitive transfer lettering, made creating attractive designs for publications easier and more affordable. If you needed a fancy or unique look for your work you just drew a baseline using a non-repro blue pencil and burnished the type down on your art board — one — letter — at — a — time. No need to try and hand-letter the type or run around town looking for a typesetting company with just the right font. This was a great cost and time saving tool back in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.

 

Of course, typos were not easily corrected. And underestimating the right number of sheets it would take to produce an ad with lots of body copy could be a big problem also. Likewise, hazards like pets, small children, heat, tape, and various liquids could ruin your rub-on type sheet (and your day as well.)

Then in the 1990s, with the growth of personal computing, everything changed. With this change came the rush to market of fonts for desktop publishing. Many fly-by-night software companies began copying and selling typeface collections. These unscrupulous companies often changed the font names and gave no credit (or money) to the creators. Thus, somewhere along the line, La Fiesta’s name was unofficially changed to Tijuana.

 

 

A second typeface I created was chosen as a winner in Chartpak’s 1989 International Competition. Named Crayon, it was pretty popular as transfer type but faded when desktop publishing came along.

Award-winning Junior Ranger Book and National Parks Week 2018

If you happen to be headed to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for National Parks Week (April 21-29) with the kids, be sure to stop by one of the visitor’s centers and pick up a free copy of the Junior Ranger Book.  In late 2017, the book and the creative team that put it together was awarded First Place for Site Publications by the National Association for Interpretation (NAI). I was one of two artists on the team and I illustrated the interior activities in the book. The other artist, Nicolle Fuller, created the art for the front cover. The team was led by the parks' Visual Information Specialist, Erika Williams.
 
Filled with lots of fun and facts, kids ages 5 and up can earn an official Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Junior Ranger badge by completing the fun activities in the book.

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In June 2016 I was the Artist-in-Residence in Sequoia National Park. You can read more about my experience by clicking on the snapshot below...

Free Clip Art for Teachers

Introducing Educator Clips royalty-free clip art for educators!

Well, to be honest, the name and website (EducatorClips.com) are new, but a lot of the clip art in the gallery has been around for many years. In 2000 the artwork was licensed by Discovery Channel Education for exclusive use on their education website in the Discovery Clip Art Gallery.

The idea was originally inspired by my teacher wife's need for images for her weekly newsletter for parents of her students many years before computers were used in the classroom. The first digital versions were created way back when computers were painfully slow and storage capacity (think 250MB hard drives) and applications were quite limited. Later, to make the art available online to users with mostly dial-up modems for connecting to a young and very limited World Wide Web, all the images were made small and not of the highest resolution.

Discovery no longer hosts the Gallery or licenses my artwork but you can still download a few of the best whimsical images from the collection for free for education and noncommercial use at EducatorClips.com. And the artwork featured has been totally reworked to make the images bigger and better.

I've already been asked to add more images to the gallery and will do so as time permits. In the meantime, I hope all you hard-working, underpaid educators will use the art and spread the word about Educator Clips.

Limited-Edition Artwork

On the Savanna

A copy of this signed limited-edition giclée print was recently acquired by the new Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford for the permanent art collection to be displayed there. Only five of these 18" x 24" prints were created and no more will ever be produced. 

Whimsical Illustrator Me

When I was a young artist just starting my career my work was very often called "whimsical." I wasn't sure I really liked the term because it seemed so limiting. However, even though I do much more than whimsical art, I came to embrace the label over the years. So much so that I purchased the domain www.whimsicalillustrator.com. Be sure to visit the website. It features a few samples of some of my favorite pieces of whimsical artwork from the hundreds I've created for books, magazines, and more over the years. If you are an art director, editor or other art buyer there's contact info on the site as well.

2018, The Year Of The Earth Dog -- A View From The Southwest

2018 is the Year of the Earth Dog according to the Chinese zodiac. I'm not quite sure what an Earth Dog is, but I immediately thought of a coyote when I heard the the term. My Earth Dog/coyote was inspired by the beautiful artistry and craftsmanship of Hopi katsina dolls. You can learn more about katsina dolls here.

According to online sources, the last Earth Dog year was 1958, which, by the way, just happens to be the year I was born. The horoscope says that those born in the year of the Earth Dog are talented, good communicators, compassionate, sensible, serious, highly principled, and idealistic. Also mentioned was something about the pancreas being important and avoiding fatty foods. That last part sounds pretty accurate to me.