When We Last Left Harry Potter…

It's been a long time since I had done anything photorealistic. So when I originally pitched the idea to paint the cover to The Salt Lake Tribune's Harry Potter section instead of photoshopping it, I thought I had bit off more than I could chew. Fortunately, it was just like riding a bike — you never forget.
I had a blast painting it — even though I was working with a nasty cold at the time. It came out far better than I had hoped. 


Below is the finished piece, by itself. It's 15" x 20" acrylic on illustration board. The pictures after it are minimized step-by-step of my process.

The basic idea of the painting was to give fans and readers a short rundown of what happened at the end of the last movie, but in the style of an old pup fiction novel or serialized movie poster. Props to my wife for the idea!


First, after I figured out the size, I did a very (VERY) rough comp of how I wanted to compose the images. I went through several sketches before I decided on this one. Then I scanned it in, colored it and added text in Photoshop.

Then  I did several pencil sketches of Hogwarts, Harry, Ron, Hermione, etc., scanned those in and composed a tighter comp to use as a guide. I also used photos for certain elements like Draco, who was a last minute addition.

Then I printed out the comp and projected it onto a gessoed piece of illustration board. I lightly drew the basic features so I wouldn't get graphite smudged all over the gesso.

Then I proceeded to paint it using thinned acrylics. 

And here's the how the final piece appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune's special Harry Potter section. The final layout was done in InDesign.

Purrcasso Art & Craft Gala pieces

This year I've donated 2 pieces of art to the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society's 5th Annual Purrcasso Art & Craft Sale & Gala . The pre event gala will be held Saturday, November 6 fromm 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and the Art & Craft Sale will be from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, November 7. More info on the event that benefits the shelter and how to get there can be found at their website here or at the Purrcasso site. 
First is an 81/2 x 11 piece done in watercolor, gouache and ink on watercolor paper called "Astro Cat Turns His Enemies into Kitty Litter."

I also did a companion piece made from a Munny World DIY Vinyl toy.  He's called "Astro Cat in the Third Dimension." He stands about 6" tall.

A silent auction and art sale will be held Saturday night with music and entertainment and more arts and crafts will be sold Sunday. If you live in the San Francisco area, please be sure and check it out. You could get a really cool piece of art and help out a great cause at the same time!