This is a new digital painting based on the old story, “Jack and the Beanstalk.” In this version, Jack is making off with one of the giant’s geese, who in turn is doing her best to summon her dim witted master, hot on Jack’s trail.

The fairy tale story behind the image is obviously geared for a young audience. However, I strive to create work that has a lasting appeal to viewers across a broad age spectrum, illustrations that are loved by children and appreciated by parents. For me this means work that tells a story in a way that is easy to understand, yet has a solid, classic feel.



The painting process started by scanning a fairly large and well fleshed-out pencil drawing and importing it into Painter. As usual, the pencil was duplicated and then the original floated into its own layer, the style set to a see-through “multiply” allowing me to add color below without destroying the drawing.



Color with added with several broad brushes, (airbrush, acrylic, square chalk), over a textured and toned Canvas layer. From the start I had a finish piece in mind that would have a gold/green color scheme, inspired by recent viewing of some of Grant Wood’s midwestern landscapes. By using a base layer with a reddish hue I was able to create some interesting color vibration quickly.

Most of the color application at this point would be described as “thin” if I were using a traditional medium like acrylic or oil paint. I work on Gel or Multiply style layers or use low opacity brush settings and build tone as I go collapsing layers to the canvas from time to time and adding new as required. When the base color lay in is complete, I will then either drop the pencil layer to the canvas, or paint on a layer above the pencil layer if I feel I need to preserve it. From here most of the work was done using the acrylic, square chalk and pastel brushes with higher opacity settings.

It’s not uncommon to switch off between Painter and Photoshop several times in the course of a piece, taking advantage of each programs strengths, but in this case painting was completed almost exclusively using Painter, with the final details and adjustments handled in Photoshop.

The following pieces are part of a series, created for an upcoming magazine for kids. Though not officially unveiled, the publisher has been kind enough to allow me to show a few of the paintings ahead of the publication’s debut. When the magazine is officially available, I’ll make note here on the blog.

The project began with a call from the client, in which I was given a brief overview of the new venture. A rough outline of the particular story, setting and characters followed, along with the usual details of budget, usage, and timing. The assignment sounded like a lot of fun, especially when we agreed this would be a great opportunity to employ a looser approach to the artwork, something with a nod toward to the graphic novel ethos. The result is a series of paintings that I feel are more intuitive and freshly rendered than some of my other children’s publication work.

As usual, Photoshop and Painter were used to create the paintings. I rendered the color in layers over a base canvas containing a scan of a favorite textured background along with a scan of the original pencil drawing. This allowed me to leave some areas of the paintings unfinished and open to the “canvas” which is most easily seen in the first piece. The line work of the pencil scans is used as an element of the finished illustration as well and helps define various shapes within an overall image.

This was a great, fun project and the illustration style and technique is one I hope to use more often.