[click for larger image]

Two days ago, the final assignments for my MA were submitted to my professors. After a year and a half of dedicated study and work, I’m left torn between being super excited about finishing, and feeling a little lost. I have been wanting to get an MA in illustration ever since I left my undergrad, and have spent the last seven years researching programs, applying to them, and saving towards tuition. All that work and dreaming, to have it all over. Feels bittersweet.

Also feels like Heimliching out a half-chewed wad of broccoli. After 70+ hours a week in my suffocating studio, I can breathe again! I can go outside! I… I can walk! I CAN WALK!

And I can finally go birdwatching again!

And eat out!

And play games!

So much to do!

Then why the heck am I on the computer? ADIOS!

—————-

Remember, you can always find me on Twitter and Facebook!

After a lot of self-help reading and medication, a couple of weeks ago I crawled into a plane and flew to Massachusetts for a friend’s wedding. I had never been to the East Coast before, and was looking forward to poking around to see what New England had to offer (besides clam chowder). In general, I was taken aback by the beautiful Berkshires, all the old colleges in the quaint towns, and the plethora of vegetarian options at the restaurants. There were two museums, however, that totally converted me to Masslumism.

The  Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge features an incredible section of the Massachusetts native’s oeuvre. All of the Four Freedoms were on display, along with other classic works like “The Problem We All Live With” and “The Golden Rule.”

Being able to get up close and see the textures and brush strokes on Rockwell’s huge canvases was only worth the price of admission. But they were also running an exhibition of William Steig‘s magazine and kidlit output. Everything from Shrek! originals to his New Yorker cartoons and covers filled the two galleries, along with dummy book manuscripts and collage art pieces from his wife.

As if that wasn’t enough for one state, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst has an incredible collection of children’s book art from the likes of Leonard Wiesgard, Leo Lionni, and Eric Carle himself (just to name a few currently on display). Moreover, the day we arrived they were opening an exhibit of the Hans Christian Andersen Award-winning artist Lisbeth Zwerger, who ranks at the top of my favorite living illustrators.

Getting to meet Zwerger was itself a thrill, but seeing her pieces in real life was one of the most inspiring experiences in my life. Unlike Rockwell, Zwerger’s pieces start tiny and are blown up for publication, allowing the slight pencil marks, brush strokes and paper stock to  gain additional texture and weight in print. As an illustrator who always wants a vice-tight grip on my linework and color, her loose renderings and messy watercolors challenged me to continue to branch out in my own work.

Hence the painting above. I did it very small, on a far coarser paper than I usually use, and did my best to keep the color loose. I also focused on rending in ink only those aspects that absolutely had to be, and leaving the rest for watercolor. Full disclosure: the idea was my wife‘s. I personally find the concept of a mouse playing violin to be repugnant. They’re far more suited to the oboe.

Anyway, for anyone interested in beautiful views, great architecture, good food, fantastic museums, and American and literary history, I’d recommend a trip to Massachusetts. And if you’re interested in gold chains and sleeveless sports jerseys with the pastiest arms imaginable sticking out of them, you’ll love Boston.

—————-

Remember, you can always find me on Twitter and Etsy!

-Bernard “Beardo” Nickels, Head Guru, Beardo’s Bounty

INGREDIENTS: Organic tofu, organic patchouli marinade (pine bark shavings, humanely harvested bear sweat, words of healing, incense ash, faerie tears), organic baby bok choy, organic sullen teenage bok choy, moonbeams, eight hour guitar solo, Lucy-procured sky diamonds.

Also Available: Curried Soy Chunks, Tempeh Wads in Saffron Sauce.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT OUR DELICIOUS CEREALS!

My wife and I have recently become obsessed with the British television comedy The Thick of It, after having seen the movie adaptation of the series, In The Loop. It’s superbly written, and all the actors in the series and the film do an amazing job as ineffectual, self-important bureaucrats vying for power in a fictional department in the UK government. But the show would be nothing without Peter Capaldi’s portrayal of Malcolm Tucker, Director of Communications for the Prime Minister.

Malcolm Tucker is the most wrathful, vulgar, cruel, and just friggin’ hilarious character that’s graced the idiot box in a long time. Watching him bend the other characters to the PM’s will and spin their public foibles into something manageable is like watching an obscene Baryshnikov perform political ballet in a blinding haze of spite and vitriol.

It’s fantastic, so I went ahead and drew him. For my wife. As an anniversary gift.

If you’re interested, I’d highly recommend picking up In The Loop. Or, you can start on YouTube with this montage of Malcolm’s best bits. I warn you, though: I am not kidding about the vulgarity, this is massively NSFW stuff.

Excuse the hiatus – one of the difficulties of being a professional video game artist is that by the end of the work day my creative energies get a bit zapped. This is especially true when what I’m doing at work is especially creatively challenging and/or fulfilling. Though I’ve recently finished a project that was both, I can’t show it to you for a few months (another difficulty with being a professional video game artist).

What I can start to show you is the work I did on the recently released (like, today) 22nd installment in the ever-expanding casefiles of one Miss Nancy Drew, entitled Trail of the Twister. One of my environments in this game was a Oklahoman Mom and Pop store called – wait for it – Ma and Pa’s. That’s right, I was entirely responsible for coming up with enough product art to fill an entire convenience store.

So, over the next few weeks I’ll be inundating you with products that don’t actually exist, but definitely definitely should. Like this totally edible-looking cereal:

I don’t know about you, but my mouth is watering just thinking about that delicious homunculus!

—————-

Remember, you can always find me on Twitter and Etsy!

All the images in this post (except the header), © Copyright Her Interactive, Inc.

I’ve been frequenting the children’s book blog Vintage Kids’ Books My Kid Loves for a few months now, and if you visit the site (which you should) it’s easy to see why. Burgin, who runs the blog, posts near-daily scans and summaries of some of the best-loved and sometimes unjustly-forgotten gems from the 50s to 80s — everything from Mercer Mayer‘s non-Little Critter titles (I never knew he did anything but), to Leonard Weisgard‘s gorgeous illustration work. The image-rich site is a treat for anyone even remotely interested in kids’ books, but also for anyone interested in art and design from that era. Really, how much more am I going to need to talk the site up before you visit?! JUST GO ALREADY, YOU LOVE IT!

So I was surprised a few weeks ago to get an e-mail from Burgin asking if I was available for a commission. Her husband’s birthday was coming up, and Burgin thought an original illustration featuring their son would be a good gift. She also thought my penchant for drawing birds would lend itself nicely to the job, since the boy is a huge bird fan (he’s also a huge fan of “enchanted animals,” which is nothing short of awesome). The above illustration is the result.

Burgin’s own write up on the piece features some of the nicest things anyone has said about my art, which was very kind of her (honestly, it was enough to be mentioned in the same post as Ward Jenkins and Cory Godbey). Hope the painting will bring lots of joy to her household, and that her son finds it sufficiently enchanting.

Honestly, what kind of city is home to citizens who just stop in the middle of the street and shout excitedly that they see an object in the sky that may be a bird or a plane? I’ll tell you what city: Metropolis, same place wear a guy can have a pair of glasses on one minute, then take them off and not be recognized by his closest friends. I think the drinking water there had something in it that caused 0.000000001% of the public to gain superhuman strength, and the other 99.9999999999% to become stupendous morons.

Thus concludes my rant against Superman. Always hated that comic.

I apologize to all my Twitter followers who have already seen this Red-Breasted Flycatcher in its first winter plumage, but I’ve been hard at work on something BIG that’ll burst its seams tomorrow and didn’t have time to get something new out. But come back tomorrow for another installment of Drewsday and an announcement that will change your life… FOREVER.

So, high on the work of others, I decided to attempt my own (less ambitious) What Are You Like piece:

How about you guys? I’d love to see some of the favorite things of everyone out there. How about this: if you decide to make your own What Are You Like piece, send it over to me and I’ll collect everyone’s together in a future blog post.

Sound good? ‘ight, get to it then!

As you probably already know, I’ve been employed at Her Interactive for the past couple of years, working as a 2-D artist on the Nancy Drew series of PC adventure games. In previous posts (found here, here, here and here), I’ve shared some of the game art I created for the first title I worked on, The Haunting of Castle Malloy. However, I haven’t posted any art from the games that have been released since Malloy, and if you can believe it there have been FOUR.

So, I’m starting a new segment here on the blog dedicated to showcasing what I’ve been doing for eight hours a day for two years. Every Tuesday, I’ll post a new piece of art from one of my old games.  Should be a hoot!

And I should mention right off the bat that, if any readers have found this site looking for game info, THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD! Proceed at your own peril!

Today’s art is from the 20^th Nancy Drew PC game called Ransom of the Seven Ships. But you had to be pretty smart to discover it – the image appeared on a special Easter egg that only the most resourceful and cheating players could find:

Captain Whiskers of the Spanish Armada, here to pilfer your booty and your heart! He actually the first of several behatted cats I’ve put into the games. I just can’t get enough of cats in novelty headwear. My own cat refuses to wear the bonnet I knitted him, and I suppose this is how I cope with my bottomless disappointment.

Okay! See you next week!

All the images in this post (except the header), © Copyright Her Interactive, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Shawn Levy.

Now please, go eat your ice cream.