Prediction

I recently finished up a new spot illustration for FIM Magazine. I've been lucky enough to become the go-to illustrator on Dale Irvin's humor article, which appears every issue, and it's always a blast figuring out how to work his caricature into each piece. 

This month Dale made predictions about the state of the insurance conference planning industry for 2009. My original thought was to have him portrayed as a fortune-teller, looking into the dark recesses of an 8-Ball for his visions of the future. The editors informed me, however, that they had previously depicted him as a fortune-teller, so that was out. Instead, we decided to go with a Ouija board without Dale in the illustration. 

The real fun for me came when I was researching the look of Ouija boards for the illustration and realized that I could still put Dale into the piece by putting his face in the corners of the board with a retro-spooky crosshatching look. And, I think the piece turned out great. I love that moment as an artist when things start out looking a bit run-of-the-mill, then suddenly you get a new idea that send tingles up your spine and makes you chuckle to yourself while doing it. Almost always the sign of the right direction to head in...

Spotlight on Winter Crow Studio

The new Winter Crow website has been reviewed!

John Shore wrote a very nice piece about it for the Portsmouth Herald's Spotlight entertainment section. The website earned a 16 on John's scorecard, which includes design, navigation, content, and cool factor. Many thanks to you, Mr. Shore!

Check out his article here.

Balloon

Today I decided to try my hand at creating an illustration for a weekly participatory illustration forum called Illustration Friday. It's always seemed like a fun thing to do. They give you a one-word topic each week, and your task is to create an illustration around that word, taking it on any tangent you deem fit.

This week's word was "BALLOON." I imagine that perhaps balloons, when they go to balloon-world carnivals, feel the need to buy their children inflatable people...

Textile Artist Exhibit

I just recently finished a poster (right) for the first of a series of art showings at Aryaloka Buddhist Center in Newmarket.

This month the featured artist is Betsy Sterling Benjamin, a textile artist and teacher at the Massachusetts College of Art whose exhibitions have been shown internationally, including in Asia, Europe, Central America and the U.S. Her work is also part of the permanent collection at the Peabody-Essex Museum.

She spent many years in Kyoto, Japan, training in the creation of kimonos, and her work blends her experiences living in the Japanese culture with her experiences with other cultures aroud the world. She uses "hot wax and liquid dyes on thirsty cloth" to create her gorgeous works of art on silk.

Check out her website here, or even better, come visit her exhibit. Opening reception is on December 12th from 6-9 p.m., and her work will be on view from December 12th through December 31 (Mon - Fri 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and  Tues, Wed. & Thurs nights from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.).

p.s. - For all you artists of all stripes out there, Aryaloka is taking submissions for future exhibits & performances. You can contact them at art@aryaloka.org.

To Begin...

Hello everyone, and welcome to my new sketchblog!

To introduce myself, my name is Eric Wentworth and I am the artistic engine behind Winter Crow Studio. I'm an illustrator and a graphic designer working mostly (at the moment) with magazines and other editorial outlets, though my work has appeared in commercial venues as well, and I am open to just about anything as long as it involves creating, creating, creating. 

There have been quite a few changes at Winter Crow Studio over the last year, including a new, completely revamped website, and this blog is an exciting part of those changes. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to share my work with you as it happens, as well as allow you to see some sketches that might never make it out of my sketchbook. I'm hoping to offer you all something from my experiences as a freelancer that will have true value, so I may share a story now and again. I'm always open to comments and critique, so please feel free to share your thoughts.

To start with, I've posted a picture of how I generally use my talents when I'm NOT working...

My daughter was irritated with the crunchy granola bars I was packing in her lunch, because she wrote that she HATED them (emphatically) in a note. Strangely enough, the next morning, one of the crunchy granola bars developed limbs, eyes and a real creepy smile and waited downstairs to see my daughter at breakfast. If you look real close, you can see that the granola bar is asking her why she doesn't like him, while holding her note. 

For those of you who think that's mean, I promise it got a big laugh from her the next morning. She's cool like that.