#progressive problem

This is an illustration from my book "The Progressive Problem." While it is not an image I Have promoted much in the past, it brings me more joy than it probably should. I am rather fond of how the exhaust in this illustration turned out. I was trying to come up with a way to show smoke/exhaust without drawing a cloud. I was a little wary at first about using cross-hatching, but after experimenting with some curved cross-hatching, I found the look I wanted. Aside from the exhaust, the cat's wary eye still makes me smile. I think you all know what happens next. If not, though, you can find out more information about the book here, including a link to get a free pdf of the book (and all my other books) in exchange for signing up for my newsletter.

I had not posted an image from "The Progressive Problem" in a while, so here one is. If you would like to get a free pdf file of the entire story, or to find out more information about the project, go here.

Here is another illustration from my last book "The Progressive Problem." While I was overall pleased with the look of the landscape in this one, it was only later that I realized that I left something important out, or rather, drew something quite wrong. Can you figure out what it is? I only see this error now, whenever I look at the image. If you would like to learn more about this book, or download a free pdf of the book in its entirety, click here.

With tonight's weather, I thought it would be appropriate to share this illustration from "The Progressive Problem." I ended up having to struggle with the snow on this one. I penciled in the entire illustration and started inking, leaving white spaces for the snow. I quickly realized that this was not going to work. I wanted the snow to dominate the foreground, without interrupting the flow of the background. By trying to stop the strokes of my small cross-hatched lines around the little bits of snow, I was making a mess. It looked horrible. The snow was anything but natural. I realized I needed to do something else and instead inked the entire drawing without any snow. After the ink dried sufficiently, I got a small brush and used white acrylic paint over the top. I was a bit surprised with how effectively this worked. I felt a bit silly for avoiding this approach in the first place. If you would like to find out more about the book itself, or to read a free pdf, click here. Stay warm out there tonight.

I have decided to start posting some of the illustrations from my latest book, "The Progressive Problem." This particular illustration is a favourite of mine from the book. I am especially fond of how the frame is broken up into white and black, and furthermore how the open door is letting in the dark, rather than the other way around. I especially wanted to make sure that the cat being held looked realistic. I drew it once, and almost inked the drawing before realizing that the cat was not limp enough. I wanted the image to convey the cat trusting the human, and not fighting him. I redrew it, and the second time felt much better to me, which is the inked version you see above. If you are interested in finding out more about this book, or reading a free pdf, click here. I hope to post more of these illustrations soon.