Unused Watercolors

Digging through some of my many piles and portfolio cases of art I came across a few of the many unused illustrations that I created for my book Norton B. Nice. These images were included in the original book dummy in which was chosen to be published, but were later omitted by the editor at the publishing company. After spending hours and hours creating new spreads these were forgotten, and are also not included in my self published edition of the book. The bottom image in this post (Original character study) was the first painting I created for the book. This painting was created at the kitchen table of a gite that I shared with my great friends Phil, Niki, Chris, and Carolyn on a trip to Fontainbleau, France back in 2005. So this painting also serves as a fond memory of one of the best times in my life. The original designs for the book were created during a children's book design class in which was taught by my great friend , teacher, and mentor Vladimir Shpitalnik.

Norton Detail

Unused Spread

Watercolor, 9"x11"

Original character study

Watercolor, 8.5"x11"

Pilgrimage to the Stains

Judges Cave, G.H Durrie, 1856

After a few days of rain I figured climbing outside today was out of the question. I was planning to head to the climbing gym but my friend Mike was psyched to go and do the Brown Stain, at Judges Cave (aka the Brown Stains), New Haven. The Stains are nestled in a field above West Rock in New Haven and usually dry out faster than any other blocs in the area because of their exposure to sun and wind.

I usually make the pilgrimage down to these boulders once or so a year just to switch it up and to grab some quality pizza in New Haven. It is by no mean a destination spot as the Stains are comprised of only 3 boulders. Although, just about every side of these boulders can be climbed on and the rock is really solid. The weathered rock has formed some really cool grips and the landings are pretty flat. Starting in May you can drive right up to the boulders, so all in all it a pretty good little spot.

The Brown Stain is the test piece for the area and one of the many fun problems that I climbed on while I was living and going to school in the area. There are a bunch of other lines , eliminates, variations and link ups on the blocs as well. Some being quite tall to extremely low ball, some quite good and some not so good. This was the perfect place to go and rattle off a bunch of problems when I had limited time and and limited gas money to go elsewhere.

These rocks have a very interesting history and the small cave in which the Brown Stain start is the entrance to was once the hiding place for Edward Whalley and his son-in-law, Gen. William Goffe. Here in this little cave the two men hid in order to avoid persecution from King Charles II.. To learn more about this story google: Judges Cave New Haven and you will find all sorts of information about this.

Anyhow here is a little video I shot of a few of the problems on the boulders.

Trip to the Stains from dan yagmin on Vimeo.

Final Headless Horseman

Not feeling so motivated lately in terms of illustration , focusing a little bit more on climbing. I guess this is normal for me, sort of an ebb and flow between art and climbing. Seems like one fuels the other in many ways. Despite the slacking I have managed to finish up a pretty good sized acrylic painting . I showed a color study I did for this piece as well as some drawings in an earlier post. In this post I have included the finished painting along with a little video that shows a little bit about the painting process......

The Headless Horseman

Acrylic on Board 19"x19"

Headless Horseman from dan yagmin on Vimeo.

Deadpoint Illustrations

The newest issue of Deadpoint Magazine is out and features two digital paintings that I created in order to illustrate the story, Rabbits on the Running Boards. The feature is located on pages 58-60 of the digital edition , and is viewable online at:

http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?referral=mypagesuite&pnum=&refresh=wA058eN11F9q&EID=48b2d8ac-bdca-4946-858d-2fb6d331acf0&skip=

Rabbits on the Running Boards 2

Rabbits on the Running Boards 1

A few watercolors

When I am traveling I like to try and do as many en plen air or "in the open air" paintings as I can. This style of painting I find to be one of the most challenging as well as enjoyable ways to paint. Over the years I have seen some growth in the paintings I do from life on location. The quick watercolor studies that I do on location have a definite influence on the illustration work that I later create.

Below are a few from recent travels.

Tonsai Bay, Thailand

Watercolor, 8.5"x11"

2008

Nam Song River, Laos

Watercolor, 8.5"x11"

2010

Spring Bouldering

4 blocs from around the way from dan yagmin on Vimeo.