Expanding the Porfolio

Ah, freelance. You're either working until the wee hours of the night, or not at all! I'm in a bit of a lull right now, and while I am looking hopefully towards the horizon for the next project, I'm also enjoying the opportunity to build my portfolio with some personal pieces. Sometimes, it is more of a challenge to create concepts and illustrations out of thin air than to illustrate with a manuscript! So, I have been drawing inspiration from my own childhood memories and fantasies.

One of my favorite memories was of growing up in Boston. My brother, sister and I would spend so many weekends at the beach, perfecting the art of sand castle building, and digging deep moats to protect our creations from the tide. (The ocean always won out, by the way). One particular sand castle stood out. It was as tall as me (well, the 6 year old me), and we decorated it with all the shells we could find. It was magnificent. Looking back at photos, our castle was really just a very very large embellished pile of sand, but that does not seem to taint the vision that I still have in my mind. So, I painted "The Grand Castle" in honor of our childhood architectural achievement.

Like most kids, I went through a phase where I was obsessed with dinosaurs. I loved to explore the field across the street, and imagine that all of the rocks I collected were fossils. Of course, no 4 year old palentologist should exlore alone, so Dad would take me "trail blazing" across the uncharted territory of the field behind the middle school. I never did find a real dinosaur back there, but you never know where they could have been hiding. Perhaps during my next trip out to Boston, I'll stop by my field and take a look, just in case. Until then, my new "Trail Blazing" piece will keep the fantasy alive.

For my next trick, I will be working on some pieces with more unusual perspectives. I just need to play with some concepts and thumbnails. Stay tuned!