Entangled Vines

Please check out my new Website!

2007-10-18T10:43:00.000-05:00

I've moved - please visit me here: http://www.coruscus-art.com/

Illustration Friday - Strength

2005-11-16T13:04:00.000-06:00

I'd been struggling with what to draw this week and had just about given up. Then early this morning while looking out my office window it suddenly became obvious, the Gateway Arch! A symbol of the role St. Louis played as the "gateway to the west", the 630 foot tall stainless steel structure is the epitome of architectural strength. It was built to withstand earthquakes and high winds and is the tallest monument in the country. Besides, I enjoyed doing a sunset so much last week, I figured why not do a sunrise!
A quick sketch, colored pencils on Stonehenge paper.

Click on image to enlarge.

Illustration Friday - Night

2005-11-09T14:57:00.000-06:00

Night falls......

Past the trees, beyond the horizon, the sun paints the sky a kaleidoscope of colors as it slowly falls away. A whisper of wind tickles your neck as purple shadows begin to surround you. The moon, just a sliver in the sky and flanked tonight by it's partner Venus, seems colder than usual. Suddenly, the silence is shattered by the sound of something stirring in the woods, surely just an old opossum or raccoon beginning his nightly rounds, and yet....... burr............ there’s that cold breeze on your neck again. Well, it’s getting late, there’s a chill in the air, so maybe it would be a good idea to go inside and watch the rest of the sunset from there. Oh, and don’t forget to lock the door behind you. Colored pencil on Stonehenge paper.

Illustration Friday - Float

2005-10-04T20:11:00.000-05:00

Hmmmm.... we all know butterflies "fly". They also glide, as I've often watched them surf the air currents over my vineyard on a breezy day. But do they float? Okay, I suppose not, but they sure seem to at times. This particular one is resting...... this is a colored pencil sketch done on Stonehenge paper.

Illustration Friday - Fresh

2005-09-27T16:52:00.000-05:00

I had time this week to do a "fresh" drawing for the IF theme and chose this scene. After all, what could be as fresh as a mountain stream? This one just happens to be tumbling over some rocks! The drawing is done in colored pencil and based on a very popular waterfall located in the Smoky Mountains National Park...... anyone recognize it?

Illustration Friday - Roots

2005-09-08T18:56:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I've contributed anything to Illustration Friday and since my latest drawing happened to be of some pansies I found lurking in the shadows of a garden, I figured why not post it? After all, they do have roots, now don't they! This is done with colored pencil on Stonehenge paper... I faded the edges with PhotoShop to blend into the page.

Illustration Friday - Sport

2005-07-06T09:36:00.000-05:00

Outdoor sports are my favorites and this is a drawing of one of my favorite sport-fishing enthusiasts. My daughter, about the age of 3, shown here with her first fish. At the time, she wasn’t quite sure what to make of it! This is a colored pencil drawing on Stonehenge paper - 9x12..

Illustration Friday - Heros

2005-06-28T18:16:00.000-05:00

I had a tough time deciding what to post for this weeks "heroes" theme. Wanting to be different and having recently finished this drawing (all are recent, this was my second colored pencil effort), I thought why not be even more creative and try to make it fit in with the heroes topic. So try to imagine a sailor seeking safe harbor on a stormy night, would not a vigilant lighthouse keeper qualify as being somewhat of a hero to him and his fellow shipmates? Hmmm.... and given that, the wouldn't a symbol of that vigilance be the lighthouse itself? (Okay, okay, maybe that is a bit of a stretch. I'm sounding like a salesman now!)

Anyhow, when visiting Maine a couple of years ago I took photos of several different lighthouses in hopes of someday using one as subject material for a traditional "stormy night at sea" drawing or painting. But after looking at the photos and remembering the beautiful day that it was, I decided to draw what I and most other tourists who visit the coast actually see, a bright summer scene with blue skies, a quiet ocean and very well maintained lighthouses. Besides, there's enough stormy night, ships being tossed about in wild seas paintings out there already, wouldn't you agree? Of course you would!! So instead, find yourself a cozy looking rock to sit on and enjoy the refreshing ocean breeze. This is a 16x12 colored pencil drawing on Stonehenge paper. It was too big to scan so I had to take a photo.... to see a larger (even more blurred) photo click on the one below.

Illustration Friday - Black & White

2005-06-20T12:24:00.000-05:00

Not having much time this week I decided to share an old copper embossment I did years ago while in grade school.... As it was not a true "illustration", I experimented with PhotoShop to make a Black & White image to fit the theme, I've included that along with the original below. Still feeling guilty for not submitting a "real" drawing, I also decided to include a B & W sketch of my dog, Sam, who is as white as snow with orange markings and a pink nose... she's a Brittany. The bottom images can be selected for a larger view.

Illustration Friday - Summer

2005-06-12T17:05:00.000-05:00

When I think of summer, I often think of the beach. I drew this based on a photo I took while vacationing around Kitty Hawk, NC. The little girl was about six or seven and as you can see was cautiously sizing up those incoming waves on what I remember as a beautiful summers day. This was done with colored pencil on Stonehenge paper, 9x12".

Illustration Friday - Digital

2005-06-05T20:55:00.000-05:00

While I was sitting at my laptop contemplating what to do for the IF "digital" theme I happened to pick up a CD disc. I saw the usual kaleidoscope of colors but also noticed the image being reflected back....... so I thought to myself, what's more "digital" than an image directly from a CD! Hmmm... perhaps one in digital format? Oh well, this was done entirely in colored pencil on Stonehenge paper.

Illustration Friday - Aquatic

2005-05-23T08:55:00.000-05:00

I started out hoping to draw a big eyed frog on a lily pad... but when looking at photos I'd taken recently of water lilies in a nearby park, it was the flower that caught my eye instead. It was a bright sunny day and the refection off the water was intense but so were the vivid colors of the flower. Oh... make that an aquatic flower!!!

Illustration Friday - Nourishment

2005-05-18T11:01:00.000-05:00

This was a tough one for me. For whatever reason I thought of butterflies enjoying a drink of sweet nectar. The drawing started out with Micron pens on a sketch pad and eventually I ended up coloring in parts with pencils. Oh well, kind of an odd looking mix, but it will have to do for this week!

Illustration Friday - Mischief

2005-05-08T18:19:00.000-05:00

My son was always up to mischief of some sort and as you can see by the drawing he loved to climb on chairs to get to "interesting" things on the counter top. Very quick CP sketch from a photo... he was about two years old.

Illustration Friday - Ambition

2005-05-01T01:32:00.000-05:00

We all started somewhere and for most it was a box of crayons and a coloring book..... ambition and desire carried us on from there. This is a colored pencil sketch.

Illustration Friday - Daring

2005-04-24T09:37:00.000-05:00

Okay - so to some this may not be "daring" but this is the first self-sketch I've ever done. I like doing sketches of people, mostly just pencil drawings for family and friends, but I've never done one of the person looking back in the mirror. Used CP which is still new to me and did not agonize with slow layering of color. Wanted to get my feet wet on Illustration Friday after a friend of mine got me interested.