The Shakespeare Alphabet Book

Elder Artist I may be with no computer art skills but I still managed to illustrate this book, the old fashioned way.  The writers who are younger have artistic skills of both kinds and they did an amazing job.  I was happy to be able to hand over the finished illustrations and not worry about a thing.  They
did all that tricky, stressful color correcting  and clean up stuff.   They made me look good!!  I think the three of us did quite a nice job.

If you like Shakespeare and /or have small children this is the book for you.  It's for sale on Amazon -
The Shakespeare Alphabet Book by Ehren Ziegler and Shannon Sneedse.

Are We There Yet?

When I was just beginning my career, we young artists could only dream about the kind of jobs we'd love to have as soon as we had the experience.  The older artists had been through it all - they knew the secrets and had the hard won, long time coming Skills and Experience.  They were hired for the wonderful, life changing jobs but we knew our turns would come.

I worked hard, learned all about color separation, setting type on big complicated machines, learned that
the camera wouldn't pick up blue pencil lines and that if I messed up I had to start over.  I finally reached that place in my career where I knew I was  the one with the experience and knowledge. Things were  going well.  But wait-- What do you mean it's all done on the computer now, I need a program for what- - - what are programs?  Where do I learn all this?   What just happened here, how come now it's the young artists with the skills who get the great jobs?

Oh well, at least I don't have to relearn everything and get a job.  I can still do art work using my old paint brushes and pens.   And some people are amazed that there are actually people out there who can still do that.

New Stuff

I'm still doing art work, still learning new things on the computer.  It gets easier but still have a ways to go.  I've found a new (for me) form of art that's pretty easy, taking pictures.  I've started with my back yard and sometimes other places if they take my fancy.    This one was taken yesterday.  It was 27 degrees but the sun made it look warm.

Graphic Arts Olympics

Have you ever asked yourself "Why not a graphic Artist Olympics"?  I have.  We've probably all raced against time on those dreaded deadlines so it wouldn't  be much different than running, swimming or vaulting into the air as hard and as fast as you can.  We practice all the time while earning  a paycheck.  I might not make it as an all around artist but who knows?  I definitely want to go for the gold in the greeting card and kids book category.  It would be fun to win over over the expected winner.  I can see it now - "Look how fast that pencil is moving, have you ever seen a paint brush fly.  And the winner is
Judy Z, she's scored an almost  perfect 10, 15, (whatever) with her almost perfect christmas card.  And she wins her 2nd Gold with her illustration of Banana Luke."  The crowd goes wild and I shed a tear while our flag is raised.  Will I come back in four years?  You bet, age hasn't stopped me yet!

First Job

That's me on the right, probably the start of my career. I was in the 2nd grade, our art project was to do a self portrait. Mine, as did the others, looked like a 2nd grader
(well, maybe a 3rd grader) had done it but it LOOKED like me. My beloved teacher asked me to do a portrait of her and IT looked like her. It was shown round the school and soon I was doing teacher portraits during recess. I felt pretty special. I never did become a portrait artist but I can still do a cartoon that looks like you.

The Party

So what is this about? Who knows. I really just like to illustrate.
After all, that's what I do. There's no reason here, no good explanation, no words of wisdom - just an illustrated blog. Once I did it I couldn't think of any reason why. Maybe it's just that when I was in art school the teachers always wanted you to explain everything and now I don't have to and I didn't. Enjoy!

The View

I came across this drawing, hadn't seen it in a long time and it brought back memories. This was one of my first jobs. I was hired to help put a catalog together of some things I never thought I'd ever be drawing, let alone get paid to draw. Things like tanks, pontoons, old army jackets, mysterious looking pieces of large machinery. It was kind of fun, but not a long time career choice.
Anyway, this was my view and I drew it one day when not much was going on. It was all good but I much prefer the views I've had since becoming a free lancer.