A Little Slice

I was fortunate enough to spend some of the holidays in Manhattan with my daughter. It was my first trip to the city at Christmas time. The buzz and crowds of busy tourist and shoppers was intoxicating. A far cry from the little snow covered village I call home.

Like all tourists to NYC at that time of year, we hit all the traditional spots including the various window displays at the iconic Macy's, Times Square (with ball dropping preparations seemingly complete), The tree and rink at 30 Rock, with of course a few moments to admire the wonderful murals by Josep Maria Sert in the grand lobby.

We also managed to drop by the Society Of Illustrators building on E 63rd street. The permanent work on the walls and the current show of society members was very inspiring. The respect for illustration of all kinds does my heart good. My time there was sadly too brief.

So it's with that taste of the Big Apple still lingering, that I look forward to tackling the known and unknown of 2011. Lets hope my little slice of apple can sustain me until I return again.

Yet another Christmas Card

One more card design before we can put the holiday season in the rear view mirror.

On a personal note, I look forward to a little time away from my drafting table over the holidays. That said, I know myself well enough to know it won't be for too long. I can't help myself...I love what I do.

I guess now seems like a good time to wish those of you who check in from time to time all the best of the season. I look forward to the new year, a new website, and all the ambivalence it inspires.

Ignored

I took a little forced time away from existing assignments to doodle a little bit. I love the time I spend with a piece of white paper and a bottle of India ink. While illustrations of this type tend to fight for attention with color and digital manipulations, the simplicity of an ink drawing will always get my attention and respect.

Now back to work.

A Creature Is Stirring

I don't know what it is about this time of year but I am, if you'll forgive the pun, drawn to sketching mice. This little guy along with a veritable infestation of mice have been occupying more than their fare share of sketchbook space of late.

Slim Pick'n

I was surfing the web investigating some of the blogs of illustrators who's work inspire and invigorate me. These session often have me checking in on the immensely talented Stacy Curtis's blog. ( http://stacycurtis.blogspot.com/ ) This time though I came across a fun little endeavor called Dueling Banjo Pigs ( http://banjopigs.blogspot.com/ ) Looking to join in the fun, I have posted this illustration there ( and here ). If you have a minute check out the Dueling Banjo Pigs blog site...The talent presented there is impressive...and more than a little intimidating.

That time of year again

Well it looks by the frost on the roofs around here that we are getting to that time of year when people start thinking about the holidays. As an illustrator however, I have been working on a few card concepts for clients for several weeks now. The first of which I have posted here.

As for those changes I promised in my last post, it looks like things are starting to move forward. I hope to show the fruits of my, and a few talented web designers, soon with a fairly substantial website redesign.....or more accurately an expansion of what already exists online.

Something is Happening Here

Well it's been a while since I last posted but then again after surfing a few other blogs I have discovered that I am not alone in my absence. Besides that I have had little to report.( Not that I had anything earth shattering before but... you get the the idea).

Now however I am almost ready to reveal a little something that has been cooking here in the studio.

So for those who have been checking in I will try and have more to say on this development soon.

Way to build the anticipation huh?

Row v. Wade

Like many illustrators I work in somewhat of a vacuum. Long days sitting in the glow of a overhead lamp makes for some strange realizations and pontifications. For this reason I have always considered myself very fortunate to have the council of Steve Galea (notice I didn't necessarily say sage council). Steve is without question one of the most creative and talented humorous writers I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Steve writes a regular outdoor column for Ontario Out Of Doors Magazine and I have had the pleasure to illustrate these for the better part of ten years or so.... and in the process, have developed one of the strongest friendships of my life.

This illustration that was recently published in the magazine is one of my recent favorites. It is a result of one of our many coffee break phone conversations, where we hash out everything from Geo-political issues and current assignments, to snot absorption properties of flannel.

Anyways it was during one of these chats that a courtroom drama piece was being considered by Steve for a fishing story about a conflict on a trout stream ...An epic courtroom case was needed to set the scene, so when we stumbled upon Row v Wade ( note the spelling) well, this concept immediately jump to my mind.

And So It Begins

I guess it was inevitable..With the welcome return to warmer temperatures to this very cold part of the world come the scourge of mosquitoes...I saw my first larva swimming in a little stagnant water by the side of my garage...Alas, It won't be long till these nasty beasts are ruining evenings on the porch and making just about any evening outdoor endeavor almost impossible. Ill post this portrait of one of the blood thirsty hordes now, before I loose my sense of humor about these little guys.

Ah Saturday

What does a deadline encumbered freelance illustrator do on a rare Saturday off?...Paints and draws of course...

Seriously..with deadlines a week away I promised myself some time to push back from the assignments on my desk and just have a little fun. So I broke out some gouache paints and experiment a little this morning. The results...different yes, but I also kind of like the free sketchy feel. A spontaneity I would like to see more of in my work..Sometimes it pays to just goof off a little.

Now its off for a refreshing walk in the winter woods to recharge the batteries.

Talk atcha soon.

Gotta Be Nuts

Here's a little doodle that I did while watching the Canadian hosted winter Olympic games...I often wonder what a psychologist might see in the illustrations I do and maybe more significantly post on this space...This one just might be closer reflection on my multitasking than I would care to openly admit.

Black and White

Since I launched the new site earlier this week it's been pointed out to me that I it is a little lean as far as sample images are concerned. Fair enough...I did so for brevity purposes but perhaps more is needed? No problem, after nearly two decades of published work it shouldn't be a problem to round up some images for further galleries.

One gallery I am considering is a Black and White image gallery. I love the drama and simplicity of high contrast line art and have done a great number of this type of stuff over the years. Until I can get those galleries posted, I thought I would post a few B/W pieces that I am considering adding as time permits.

New Web Site

After a couple of years with my old site, I am proud to launch my newly re-designed web site and portfolio.

www.tomgoldsmithillustration.com is now up and resting comfortably on the World Wide Web.

This whole endeavor would simply never have occurred without the help of my good friend Richie Tripp from www.trippcreative.ca (more on him in a future post) For now I'll bask in the glow of having it up and out of my, and Richie's hair.

Contact

while searching for the appropriate images to use on my web site contact page I discovered this little guy. As apposed to the subject of my last post, this guy just make it to the promised land of finished portfolio art...

Wakening The Dead

My intention here was to make a little doodle of a Dachshund lost in a deep sleep. As much as I like the end result I am somewhat concerned that he is looking a little too asleep. Cute, but perhaps I should leave him here and not push this particular one through to a more finished piece?

Hot Off The Press

Well, perhaps "luke warm off the press" might be more accurate. When it comes to finished and developmental work I am often required to allow the publication and first right copyright holders to run these images first. So I bring this piece to this forum only after it has been published.

As mentioned earlier I primarily will use this sketchblog to show and discuss my preliminary work and share some of the successes and failures as I bring these ideas along. This piece based on the old twist where the rabbit gets the last laugh on the hapless hunter, is called " A Hare Raisin Tale". This is one that made it through to completion.... and overall I am pretty pleased with it.

Influences part 1

Despite this recent exploration into self promotion through this blog and other experimental means, I am, believe it or not, more than a little uncomfortable speaking or writing about my own work. So from time to time I will spotlight an artist or two that have influenced me and my work throughout my life.Those who find my own work worth looking at might find it interesting to dig through my inspirational roots to see from where I grew.

The first and most powerful person who molded my career through his work was Paul Bransom. A quick flip through my own body of work shows a pretty clear love of animals, so it is no surprise that Mr. Bransom's work played such a huge role in my career choice and love of draftsmanship. Paul Bransom was, during his day, the most preeminent illustrators of animals and animal stories. His work graced the pages of such classics as The Wind and the Willows, The Call Of The Wild, and numerous covers for The Country Gentleman and Saturday evening post. When I was a young and easily influenced young artist just out of school, I fell in love with his work that I discovered within the pages of the young reader series of animal stories by Charles D.D. Roberts..a Canadian author who's books I would find in antique books stores.

Mr. Bransom's work depended on such skillful draftsmanship that came from drawing from his life and experience. No Google searches for images to swipe or projection of photos. No, this master drew his subject that he knew completely, and skillfully incorporated his them into wonderfully designed illustrations the likes of which we will not likely see pass this way again.

Hardly Original But...

Now I wouldn't want to delude myself into thinking that these doodles are very original. I mean ducks, along with mice and other small rodents have always had their share of time in the spotlight with illustrators and animators...That said, the duck just seems to beg to be drawn. so in the grand scheme of things, who am I to stop these guys from showing up on my sketch pad from time to time.

Gottcha

Just a heron ending the life of a fish.
Funny...... if you're a heron I guess?

Searching

I've been searching for an image to open my newly re-designed web site. Soon to be at www.tomgoldsmithillustration.com ..I had originally intended to have things set to simply take the viewer directly to the portfolio page, but when I saw the page designs in development it seemed strange without some sort of a intro page.

This is what I am thinking of doing..This guy came up as I was working hard to complete an assignment. I found myself fascinated by this guys strange contortions and looked forward to getting to a more fully developed finished piece. I'm thinking a brightly colored leotard to give him some dimension as the pattern surrounds his ample form, If it works out this just might be my into image.

Hot Air

This doodle represents the kind of thing that develops on the pages of my sketchbook. Just a random sketch as my mind wanders and my hand follows..Nonsense for sure, but I often find that through these "explorations" an idea for a more developed painting or even series of paintings can blossom.....or not.

Moose Sketch

A sketch theme that I seem a little stuck on of late...

That's The Spot