Book Illustration

Throughout my career I've had the pleasure to do a number of commissions, some of which were illustrating children's books. Most of these book projects have been with small publishers and with authors who self published their books. So, I thought I would share some samples of my illustrations from two of these books. A few of the books that I've illustrated are unpublished but I still enjoyed making the illustrations. I am working on a book right now that is about lullabies, a perfect subject now that we have a little one of our own.

MAGIC MARMALADE and the MOONLIGHT FAIRIESUNTITLED BOOK (a book without words)

Have a great day!

~James

Portrait of Kelley

I often do commissions throughout the year where I use portraiture and illustration together. I've been doing this kind of thing for some time now and it is always exciting for me to try to capture the subject's personality and emotion and place them in a magical setting. In most cases, it always deals with the imagination, mostly "childlike imagination". In fact, most of the portraiture that I have done has been depicting children.

The above portrait illustration is a recent commission I had done for a wonderful lady who wanted me to capture the essence of her imagination in an illustration. Her name is Kelley and she was a joy to paint.

Today, it is raining and my little son is listening to the raindrops as they musically tap on the rooftop...ah, the sound of rain, there is nothing like it. It always opens the door to my imagination.

Have a magical day,

~James

I love this little guy.

I thought that today would be a good day to start making a better effort of writing on my blog on a more daily basis as my life has changed of late. What better way to start then with my little son who has me smiling constantly every time I lay my eyes on him. He is such a beautiful gift to my wife and I thought that I would post a little picture of him. He is now 3 months old and he is doing absolutely wonderful. So here he is, little Noah James.

Noah and the Tree

I can't stop looking into the eyes of our little baby boy. He is almost a month old and I find it very hard to walk away from him. However, I was at an art show this past weekend and little Noah James was on my mind, so I decided to do a little sketch of our wee one. I can't wait to introduce him to the trees.

He is truly a gift from above. ~James

THE BEE KEEPER

THE STORY:

It was the old man who found the lost bee that had wandered far off and had not been seen for many a day.
Barely alive and clinging to a purple flower, the bee sensed his keeper was near and with all it's strength he buzzed his frail wings as a cry for salvation. At that very moment, the old bee man suddenly appeared and said, "Hello, my little friend. I have been searching for you for quite some time. I have now found you and will now keep you close to my heart. For I love all of my servants and I will never loose any of you". ~JB

MY THOUGHTS:

This painting and its meaning kind of grew while I was creating it. To be lost and suddenly found is a very beautiful thing. It's inspired by how God loves us and how He keeps us close to Him and also how He searches us out when we are lost.

THE MEANS:

I painted this using watercolor and gesso on Arches 140 lb cold press paper. It measures 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches.

ILYS

This is a Christmas card I just completed for my mother inspired by a story she had written a few years back. It is a beautiful story about Christmas and what it really means. Not loosing hope. I did another painting of this story two years ago called, "THE BELLS WILL SOUND" Anyway, I hope you like it and the story. I posted a little portion of mother's story below.

This original was done with sepia watercolors and gesso on Arches 140lb hot press paper. It measures 5 x 7 inches.

"After what seemed like forever, she looked for a place to rest. There was a clearing below; however, not having ever ventured this far from Gogalea, she was afraid to be in the open, so she searched further and soon found a grove of cranberry trees – a perfect sanctuary and sure to be a source of nourishment for her journey. Hungry, tired and feeling very much alone, Ilys went from branch to branch among the cranberry trees, looking for just the right berry ripe enough to eat. Frost covered cranberries were the tastiest and being very good at berry-picking, she soon found the best one, then flew to a nearby moss covered rock to enjoy her breakfast. She thought filling her stomach would take away the deep sadness she felt, however, it only made her feel worse." ~S.B.

Nadine at 7 months.

I had another wonderful day today in the studio. I will certainly be posting more art in the next few days but in the meantime here is a picture that I took yesterday of my lovely Nadine at 7 months. I am looking so forward to the arrival of Baby Brownie but I just love soaking in all the beauty that I see in my wife being with child. She has such a glow about her and I still get goosebumps when I'm with her.

I hope you are all doing well.

~James