Illustration Friday: Thanksgiving
November 21, 2006
Here is a piece I finished recently called “Thanksgiving King” for Baltimore Sun. It was for a story about a man who doesn’t feel like he’s adult enough, but finds himself hosting the annual family Thanksgiving dinner, kiddie table and all.
I painted the Thanksgiving crown in full color with dimension, but left the man in just line art… not fully formed, or adult enough for the crown.
For illustration friday’s topic, Thanksgiving.
November 21st, 2006 at 10:08 am
Fantastic illo :-) You have such an amazing and original style! Love it.
And I LOVE your signature.
November 21st, 2006 at 10:40 am
You did a fantastic job representing the story with this illo. Beautifully done
and great style!!
November 21st, 2006 at 11:14 am
Lovely design!
November 21st, 2006 at 11:42 am
Great! lovely colors-
November 21st, 2006 at 11:50 am
I love to see your work in the Baltimore Sun. I live in Frederick, Maryland, just 40 miles west of Baltimore. Everyone is ape over the Washington Post (it’s not the paper it was in the 70’s) but think the Sun is a far better and progressive paper - they nabbed YOU, didn’t they?! LOVE your stuff!
ellen
November 21st, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Charming story behind this bright work.
November 21st, 2006 at 12:51 pm
Very cool. Looks like you painted with a little bit of pumpkin.
November 21st, 2006 at 1:44 pm
This is beautiful — love the image and the concept. Have you written previously about yur creative process as it relates to coming up with the concept? I’m curious if ideas just pop up for you, or if you have any kind of ritual for summoning them up.
November 21st, 2006 at 2:12 pm
Abigail: I don’t really have a ritual… I just read the story and let it marinate for a while without thinking too hard on it. Something eventually pops into my head… some imagery that relates or can be tweaked to get a cool concept. I think, for me, it’s just about trying to be open to the ideas when they come and soaking up inspiration when you’re ripe for it (movies, photographs, being outside, menu type, the farmers market, etc). And if the concept is not hitting, just doodling or sketching bad ideas until a good one comes.
November 21st, 2006 at 2:47 pm
great line work and colors.
November 21st, 2006 at 3:51 pm
that crown looks very heavy for such a young person! gorgeous color!
November 21st, 2006 at 4:11 pm
I like this very much, slick combination of two-d and three-d objects. ciao friend
November 21st, 2006 at 5:00 pm
Very nice. I like your style. It’s so different from everyone else.
November 21st, 2006 at 6:23 pm
oh this is lovely! love the rich colors above his head and the contrast to his simple lines. brilliant!
November 21st, 2006 at 6:44 pm
gorgeous illustration!
November 21st, 2006 at 7:16 pm
I like how the value and burden of this crown is measured by the bounty of a Thanksgiving and not by clusters of rare gems and gold. The young man looks unsure, but his humble
willingness to take on the burden should see him through. Beautiful work and idea.
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:14 am
Oh, wow! This is beautifil, Pen!
November 22nd, 2006 at 2:14 pm
It is fantastic expression of holiday feelings that everyone has at some point or another… Love the bountiful crown, though! Love it!
November 23rd, 2006 at 8:43 am
Lovely illo.
November 28th, 2006 at 6:33 am
I heard you talking about this illustration on Sparks, so I had to come & have a look.
It is lovely, such an original idea.