Norman Rockell Behind the Camera

I just got a copy of "Norman Rockwell, Behind the Camera", reviewed in James Gurney's blog here. Folks, this is a must-have book. Great reference, great inspiration, great learning tool. As a practicing illustrator, it will be something I return to again and again. As an appreciator of Rockwell's adept views of American idealism, this book is like coming home to a warm fire on a cold day. Recommended.

Rose Datoc Dall's "Flight"

Great congratulations to Rose Datoc Dall, whose excellent painting, "Flight", made the cover of the December 2009 Ensign of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It also won one of a handful of purchase awards during the church's Eighth International Art Competition. Her work can be seen on the magazine cover or on the Museum's review presentation as well as on her blog. Not only is she a superb colorist, her works are prisms of light and storytelling, uplifting and positive. Congratulations again!

Daughter of Doris

During my free time at Illuxcon, inspired by an amazing joint sculpture demo by Jordu Schell and Tom Kuebler, I decided to update my reference for Doris. This maquette is made from Sculpey and is 8 inches high.

This will form the basis of a new painting of Doris, one I concepted at James Gurney's Creature Design Workshop but never finished to my satisfaction. Jim's class continues to bear fruit. And needless to say, Illuxcon is awesome.

Pigs Fly Variations

I've posted two variations to my "Pigs Fly" series of illustations. The cool thing is that you can customize your print! Contact me to order prints with your own images and words on the wings and to change the title.

Prints Now Available

I am grateful for the responses I have had from my two most recent gallery shows and classwork. I have uploaded several images to my new web store at Imagekind.com. You can order original works, prints in many sizes and framing options, greeting cards, canvas prints, and tee shirts.

You can find the complete list of print and tee shirt options on my Web site at lesteryocum.com/products. Check it out and let me know anything else you might want to see.

Thanks!

-Les

More Paintings Added

I've just placed five paintings online:

Silver and Gold Have I None
From Acts chapter 3, this painting depicts Peter and John kneeling to help a man to his feet whom they had just healed. He had been lame from birth.

Amelia Earhart 2066
From the 2008 class of the Illustration Master Class. The assignment was to create a book cover for a novel about a future Amelia Earhart.

This Pig Flies!
A take on the phrase, "We make pigs fly". This pig, with the proper propulsion, can really fly!

Belle
A portrait of my wife's favorite, beloved dog.

Doris
A painting done from a maquette, or small, reference sculpture, at James Gurney's Creature Design Workshop.

James Gurney's Creature Class

I've been having a marvelous time at James Gurney's "Creating Realistic Fantasy" workshop at the Woodstock School of Art (WSA -- details are on his blog).  The author of the Dinotopia series of books, I've been an admirer of James since seeing his work on display at the Smithsonian years ago. He is a humble man of great and broad talent and accomplishment, awesomely supported by his wife Jeanette.

Our focus has been on creating a realistic version of the mythological creature Pan. We've sketched a lot,  art directed a live model, and spent time drawing from a live goat. Excellent references. Today we made maquettes, or small models of our critiqued sketches, which we will light and use as reference for our final work. I will paint mine in oils; others are doing sculptures.

Kudos to James, his wife, and the team at WSA. Two more days to go!

Susan Boyle - Wow!

I can't tell you how impressed I am with this YouTube video of Susan Boyle, dated 11 Apr 2009. I _love_ her attitude. The audience's reaction is _very_ instructive. Very cool.

Photo Shoot: Peter and the Lame Man

Last night we had another photo shoot, this one creating reference material for an illustration for Acts 3, the story of Peter and the man lame from birth. My wife provided marvelous help as two men and one boy from our church sat under the lights. The results were excellent; it was also one of the most spiritual shoots I've had. Now for the post production work -- Photoshop and oils. I'll post photos of my progress later.

This makes eight paintings I now have in some degree of development, a record for me. It also includes five studies of Abraham Lincoln. Now all I need to do is find the time -- or use my time more wisely -- to finish them.

Yay!

Sand Art Video -- Wonderful!

My brother sent me this link to a sand art video on YouTube by Ilana Yahav. It is titled "You've Got a Friend." Very well done:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIOsIbqpR5s

New Online Painting: John the Beloved

I've just placed online a photo of my latest painting, John the Beloved.

The painting is 17X24", oil on Masonite, and depicts John, Jesus' beloved disciple, on his way to do the work of the Lord, looking toward the light.

He holds a pot, symbolizing his capacity to accept and carry the Holy Spirit and his ability to pour it out on others. The rope symbolizes his life. One end trails off the bottom of the picture, showing that his life would not end until Christ's work was done.

I hope to enter this shortly in the annual Portrait Society of America International Portrait Competition. Results posted later. Wish me luck!

Studio Incamminati Followup

The class at Studio Incamminati in Philadephia was very good. It was a challenging re-appraisal of the basic tenets of color theory and modeling, based on the philosophies of Nelson Shanks, the founder and artistic director, and Henry Hensche. The studio fills two floors of a building in downtown Philly, and the walls are covered with gorgeously lit and colored and modeled interpretations of still lifes and the human figure. You could also tour the faculty offices, including Nelson Shanks space, with a huge figure painting. Marvelous.

The focus of the class was to introduce students to the techniques and methods used in later programs. Very quick, very intense. Very patient teachers; a great deal of humbling was required on my part.

Hensche's philosophies on color were transformative, even at my very basic level of exposure. I've painted for years, using the standard color pallets of the Renaissance, updated by modern media. At SI they laid out 21 colors – absolutely luscious looking oils – around the rim of an 18x24” palette. No black, of course, but a lot of titanium white. Instead of flesh tones from alizarin crimson, yellow ochre, and white, for instance, we used cadmium green and cadmium orange. Wow. Beautiful.

I appreciated the chance to be there. I've never seen a more devoted faculty. I learned a lot – dipped my toe in, actually, but a door was opened. Very cool.

Web Site Renovation Completed

I finished updating my Web site, glad to have it with a modern look and modern technology. It includes an RSS link to this blog and extensive use of CSS, as well as updates to my resume' and background pages.

More importantly, it includes recent works and gallery shows, with references to the Illustration Master class and Studio Incamminati. Very good; glad to have it done. I believe it to be a major improvement.

lesteryocum.com Lives!

My Web site is back online again. I took down the Coppermine site I'd had up earlier because it didn't meet basic criteria, especially easy linking to images. I have much updating to do to it, but the basics are there again. More good stuff to come.

Prep for Studio Incamminati

I just ordered the materials I need for the Advanced Painting for New and Returning Students program at Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia, PA. I gave up traditional oil paints years ago in favor of water miscable oils. This class strongly encourages using traditional tools, so I refreshed my stock. I've been told, most recently at the Illustration Master Class (a fantastic class, by the way), that I'm doing well in my paintings but I'm being limited by water-based tools. Now we'll see. I strongly value the health benefits of water based, but if oil based are that much better, I'll switch.

New Art Accepted

I've gotten another painting accepted by a gallery. This painting, called "While Mary Sleeps" (oil on Masonite, 13x13"), will hang in the Museum of Church History and Art gallery in Salt Lake City, Utah as part of their Eighth International Art Competition. The showing will be from March through September 2009.