New Illustration at Seanchappell.com
Hi all!
Sorry that I haven’t posted a lot lately. I’ve been busy trying to find a job so that Cath and I don’t starve in the near future. It’s funny how an impending total lack of monetary funds can creep in and fill up your days with job searches, resume writing and interviews.
Any who, I’ve been working on some new ideas which have been born out of necessity in conjunction with my return to the drudgery of the work-a-day world. I’m going to find myself cramped for time very soon so I’ve been experimenting with some new ways to continue to create artwork but do it in a more timely manner than I’ve been acheiving with my acrylic paintings. The idea is to create one new work a week. Here’s what I’ve come up with.
It’s just an experiment really. It’s gouache and ballpoint pen on PK5 board. For those of you who don’t know what gouache is it’s kind of like watercolours more evolved cousin. It’s water soluble, reacts similarly like watercolours in that it can be thinned out and used for washes yet it has an acrylic like permant quality when used in a concentrated form and is very vibrant in hue. Highly pigmented, it can cover just about anything in one pass. It has been fun playing with it.
I’ve pulled out my drawing skills to fill in all the little details and so far I think it’s worked out very well. This piece was certainly acheived a lot faster than an acrylic painting of the same size and detail would have been. I’ve been thinking of working up a series of these pieces so I can put together an illustration portfolio.
I’m a fan of the look of this artwork. It reminds me of old school etchings from books and newspapers of yesteryear. I’m going to be working up a lot more pieces like this in the future. I’m placing them in their own gallery under the heading ‘Illustrations’ in the right hand column. Look for updates to go there.
It’s already been suggested that I should do childrens books. I think I’ll have to tone down the creep factor just a bit first. I hope to be able to take this style of work into the world of book cover illustration or possibly even into comic book covers etc. If you like what you see and think it might work well for a project you currently have in the works please don’t hesitate to contact me. As I said early, I’m on the verge of poverty so any work that utilizes my skills as an artist would not be turned away.
If you like it or you don’t, don’t be afraid to tell me what you think. I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment 
For now, that is all. Goodnight.
