Rock and Ice Issue 189 Illustrations

Bush Pilot

Watercolor, 8"x8"

River Crossing

Watercolor, 8"x8"

Strappo vs. the Vultures

Watercolor, 9"x11"

Village Elder

Watercolor, 8"x8"

During my recent trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, I was contacted by Rock and Ice Magazine in order to see if I would be able to create four Illustrations to accompany an article in an upcoming issue. The article was about legendary climber, Roger" Strappo"Hughes, and his epic adventures climbing Venezuelan rock formations known as Tepuis . This was one of the most enjoyable assignments I have ever worked on, as the article was full of wild content to work with. Super thanks to Jeff Jackson, Andrew Bisharat, Duane Raleigh and the rest of the Rock and Ice staff!

So get out and and pick up a copy! Rock and Ice Magazine issue#189, should be found at most major bookstores, newstands, and online at:www.rockandice.com

To learn more about the author , Roger "Strappo" Hughes check out this video:

Strappo and the Tale of the Mountain Room Bar from Rock & Ice on Vimeo.

Weekly Sketch 4

Another page from the sketchbook:

WMCC RENDEZVOUS

It's that time of year again and the climbing season in New England is right around the corner, and with comes a lot of great things. One of them is the Western Mass Rendezvous. I was asked again this year to create a poster for the event , and this is what I was able to put together while I was on the road in Colorado. I handled the imagery and WMCC president Jeff Squire took care of the layout and type setting. This was a fun collaboration to benefit a great cause ..If you are in the area be sure to check out the event!

Here is some info on the event:

On Saturday, October 2nd, the WMCC will be holding the 2010 Western Mass Rendezvous. A day and evening long event featuring breakfast, bouldering competition, gear demos, clinics, raffles, a huge BBQ, and highlighted by the 2010 REEL ROCK TOUR(www.reelrocktour.com).

Free camping and parking available. More information will be available soon (westernmacc.com).

All proceeds benefit the Western Mass Climbers' Coalition for the protection & preservation of our climing resources in western Mass.

Robot Attack

Over the past few years I have been working on various techniques for digital painting. One of them involves scanning a series of abstract marker compositions in layers into Photoshop. Once the marker comps are scanned I will go ahead and tweak the layer properties, opacities , etc.. After that I will see what can be created, by working with the large shapes,textures and patterns in which I have created through this process. This is a very fun way to work, and is kind of like staring into the clouds and picking out an object or image. I usually approach this without anything particular in mind as far as subject matter, and simply see where it takes me. What I love about it is that you will usually end up with shapes and patterns that you would not have otherwise drawn by hand.

This is one of the many things I learned during grad school from fellow illustrator Ron Spears.

So the image in this post was created using this technique:

Robot Attack

Digital

Weekly Sketch 3

Third weekly sketch.. Nothing fancy , just another page from the sketchbook.

East 28th

Weekly Sketch 2

Second weekly sketch here, sticking with the skateboarding creatures theme!

Pool Riding Beast