eclipse

Last night there was a lunar eclipse, coinciding with the winter solstice - I heard that these two days, before last night, had not converged in something like 400 years. Did I see it? No.  I think I felt it, though.  How else to explain the urge to paint, coinciding with the discovery, amongst the ruins of my closet, of two beautiful sets of paints, both oil and acrylic, and a box spilling out canvasses, all shapes and sizes, all blank.

So I painted this. It's small, but I like that about it.  And I like the way it looks on my wall.

I think I'm going to make more like this.

Christmas Carousel Rabbit

Growing up, my delicate stomach made all but the tamest carnival rides off limits.  So I spent many happy childhood moments on carousels.  Okay, maybe some grownup ones, too.  I find vintage carousel art especially beautiful.  This is one of a series of images I made based on antique carousel carvings.  The original art is available here

Kate

For some reason lately I've been obsessed with paper dolls.  They are kind of old school, but maybe that's why I like them.  Here is my first go at a doll for children (and possibly grownups like me.)  Kate is available on etsy

Meadowlark

For my sister's birthday, this small canvas of a meadowlark, painted with acrylic and, when I ran out of that, gouache.  I chose this bird because a Meadowlark in your home is thought to be a good omen.  Happy Birthday, sis.

Halloween

One of my my favorite holidays is just around the corner, so I've been in that kind of mood lately.  Which explains Mr. and Mrs. Jack-o-Lantern.  Happy haunting!

Haunted History

Purely for fun, here are two portraits I painted, based on similar portraits by the masters Domenico Ghirlandaio and Hans Holbein. In the spirit of  Halloween, (one of my favorite holidays),  I have altered them to my taste with some gothic touches. 
Goauche on paper.

Fall

The word 'fall' traces it's origins through the old English faellen and the Old Norse fall, words having the meaning "to fall from a height".  The term came into use in 16th Century England as a contraction of expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year".

There are so many ways to fall - overboard; to pieces; in love; to sleep...and there is that famous fall of Alice's.  I love this season for it's feeling of transformation; for that last bright flare of the candle before the dark of winter... 

To Fall.

Hansel & Gretel

In honor of Fall, something appropriately gothic - illustrations for Hansel & Gretel, commissioned by Wireless Generation.  I love fairy tales.

Summer

"In summer, the song sings itself." - William Carlos Williams.

Ahh, summer...it's been wonderful having time off to do whatever I want.  I still haven't made it to Central Park with my sketchbook, but there's still time...if I don't end up simply lying in the grass, whiling away the time looking at the clouds, that is.

Digital painting, inspired by this season, all-too-fleeting.

summer rain

Lately I find myself weary of this heat and wishing for a nice cooling summer rain...

Pencil drawing enhanced with digital painting, 6.5"x14"

Theatre Backdrop; Blue Lagoon

Five hours, 2 cups of coffee and plenty of blue paint = this backdrop for The New Acting Company.  Acrylic on canvas triptych, 6x8 feet.

Bluebird

"A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song." - Chinese Proverb

acrylic on canvas, 2.75" x 2.75"

Happy Gothic Birthday

Question: What does one give a red-haired, Edward Gorey-tattooed southern belle for her birthday? 

Answer; a 2.5"x 3" vampiric memento, painted on an appropriately dark and stormy night, with acrylic paint and glitter nail polish.  Small enough to travel in a padded envelope to New Orleans, where all good vampires live.

Dancing Dinos At The Beach

Just in time for summer, Dancing Dinos At The Beach has been released by Random House. This is the third book in the Dancing Dinos series. It was written by my mother, Sally Lucas. Mom always said, 'one day you and I will do a book together'...I used to roll my eyes at this, never thinking it would actually happen. Well mom, you were right. Times three.

TGIF

New York Times Review of Peter Pan

I'm thrilled to have been mentioned in this review of Peter Pan that appeared in the New York Times today : )

Mural for Peter Pan

Impossible to describe the rush I feel when facing a 10 by 20 foot white wall that's just waiting for color. When you paint this big you paint with your whole body. It's an amazing feeling - exciting yet peaceful at the same time. My only regret was that I had only 2 days for this - I could have painted like this, all day, every day, for a very long time....

Details from the finished mural (sketch in an earlier post) for the play Peter Pan by the New Acting Company, NYC.

The Girl Who Was Loved By The Night

I painted this a number of years ago. It's part of a series of figurative paintings done with gouache on paper...it's one of my favorite paintings.

Scenic Painting

Just back from a production meeting for the play Peter Pan, where I presented my design for a painting that's to cover the back wall of the stage, providing a theatrical backdrop for much of the play. Thankfully the director loved it, though I may enhance some of the colors, and he wants an Indian camp added to the forest...there are always changes to be made.

I love doing scenic work. Since so much of my work is now digital, I rarely get a chance to do 'old school' style painting like this - with brushes and paints, and all the mess and unpredictability that goes with it.

My watercolor sketch for this mural is deliberately light on detail - scenic backdrops don't need detail, because the audience is far back and won't see it...this type of work is more 'atmospheric' in nature...it's actually a great contrast to my digital work for the publishing world, which is clean, tight, and carefully planned down to the the smallest details....and involves sitting for hours in front of a computer screen.

Painting a 10 by 20 wall is an entirely different experience - I might make the barest sketch on the wall; just enough to map out basic areas, but after that it's all about laying down paint - big, broad strokes that you put your whole body into - you're jumping up and down on scaffolding, running back to look at it from far away, then back to the wall again-I tend to work pretty fast, so it's exhilirating, a real workout. And very meditative - when you lay down real paint, there's no going back...you have to be completely into the image...it's everything - the colors, the mess, the paint-spattered clothes - the total exhaustion you feel when it's finally finished...there's nothing like it.