"Burn the Ships" CD cover and poster art!

Cover art for Burn the Ships by Ironwood Rain...
CD front cover:


Poster art:

Posters are now available! Contact Toni at ToniB@IronwoodRain.com for more details!

Sneak peeks of "Burn the Ships" cover art!

In honor of "Talk Like a Pirate Day" for a limited time, you can listen to the title track from the new Ironwood Rain CD, Burn the Ships, as well as the single, Ages! CLICK HERE!

Progress on "Burn The Ships" cover art!

Working on the cover art for the CD Burn The Ships by my band, Ironwood Rain.
As a pirate, I can't help but love the concept! It has ships, and fire, and more! And there are songs about ghosts (ooOOoo) and Christmas (Oi... BOOTY!!!) and, of course - "Burn The Ships"!!!

Here are a few of the highlights, in reverse chronological order.

The early stages of laying in the color washes:

oooo... look at that melty jungle!

Work on the final art begins! The initial drawing.


Testing the process, the color palette, and some techniques and effects:


Mapping out the space and the key points of visual interest:


Mapping out the distribution of darks and lights:


The concept sketches:

New art - "Burn The Ships"

My band, Ironwood Rain, is working on the music for our second CD.
The title for one of the songs is "Burn The Ships," In reference to Cortez' infamous act, burning his ships, a statement of his resolute focus on his goal.
This inspired artwork, of course. And here is an initial sketch:


"Burn The Ships 09/Sketch 01"
Pencil, 9 x 12"
I wanted to capture the feel of the smoke billowing from the ship, and the intensity of the burning timbers, while keeping the sketch spontaneous and loose.

Sunken Bones Society's BUCCANEER BASH 09

Avast, me hearties!!! International Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sept. 19) - the perfect date for the Sunken Bones Society "Buccaneer Bash 2009," Held at Red & Jerry's in Denver.

Our MC was the ever-entertaining Cap'n Jack of the Pirates of Ill Repute.

The place was awash in scoundrels, rogues, rascals, ne'er-do-wells, 'really bad eggs,' and villains.

There was lively music, costume contests, a "Talk Like a Pirate" competition (of course,) lots of swag and shiny objects for sale, and - of course - a full bar with lots o' RUM!!!

I made an appearance, to plunder, toss back some rum, and draw caricatures.

I met new friends, reconnected with old friends (some lost at sea for decades!) and everyone had a swash-buckling good time.

Alas, no one heard my dulcit tones regaling comrades with "Bein' a Pirate is All Fun & Games..." Perhaps next time.

Location: Denver, CO


The band Mondragon performs nautical - and naughty - songs for the crowd.



Many of the attendees found themselves behind bars, including Cap'n Jack, leader of the notorious "Pirates of Ill Repute" (is there any better kind of pirates?)
"Complications arose, ensued, and were overcome..."


Not all went quietly into the jail.


The term "dragged, kicking and screaming..." doesn't even begin to tell the tale in some cases.


The infamous Madame Rackham and the notorious Roger Rackham with their caricature. "Wanted"... indeed!


The feared Davy Jones and crew were in attendance.
"So he wasn't always so... tentacley?"


Cap'n Jack and his first mate paused to get their caricature drawn - and quartered!
Coming soon to a post office near you!


Did someone say "draw???"


Cap'n Jack and Nigel square off.
Jack looks doubtful of Nigel's marksmanship...


A failed attempt at the infamous Will Turner ploy... "He can't die... but I can!" ...
Or perhaps "If I can't hit that target, then I can most assuredly hit this one!!!"

Bearing an uncanny resemblance to "Blazing Saddles"
"He's just crazy enough to do it!!!"
Lesson learned: never use the barrel of your pistol to scratch your head.


Keep a lookout for nefarious upstarts, scoundrels and rogues.

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!!!!

Avast, me hearties!!!
HAPPY TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!!!
Now if'n you'll pardon me, I be searchin' fer some swag to plunder!
And if'n ye won't, I'll blast the barnacles off yer mast, ye landlubber!!!

Talk Like a Pirate Day is Sept. 19!!!

I'll be doing pirate caricatures at the local TLAP Day Buccaneer Bash.
It'll be a blast!

Barbossa and Jack, marker, 8x10
"

Halloween is a-comin'!!!! ARRRGGGHHH!!!!!

Me FAVORITE holiday!!!!!
Time to trot out the ol' slops and don the pirate garb!
Now to practice me pirate banter...
[*ahem*]

Avast!
Look sharp, lads!
Why is the rum gone?
I'll keelhaul ye fer that!
Blast yer scuppers, ye barnacle-bitten land-lubber!
Say yer prayers, varmint. Dead rabbits tell no tales...
(thanks to Seagoin' Sam, "the bloodthirstiest, shoot-em-firstiest, doggone worstiest buccanneer as ever sailed the Spanish main ...")
More starch in the sheets!
Batten down the hatches!
Man the bowspritz!
Stow the mizzenmast!
Jibe the jib-boom!
Hoist the mains’l and lower the catters’l!
Pipe the starb’rd hatch to leeward!
Trim the scuppers on the port poop-deck!
Sliver in me finger... uh... deliver me lumber... uh... Let's see... oh yes!...
Shiver me timbers!
...and some of my favorite Pirate movie quotes:
"Once they find out you've gone soft, then it's nothing but work, work, work..."
"It does strain credulity at that..."
"I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request....Means NO. "
"I LOVE this! AAAAAAAHHH!!!!" [best if shouted amidst the clamor of cannonfire...]
And of course...
"Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of...Ma's old-fashioned cider! Ma's old-fashioned cider!"

Disaster strikes again!

8/31/08:
ARRRGGGH!!!
I am finally back in Colorado.
After moving in August, I was excited to receive the shipments of artwork and to begin new projects.
Now on to the bad news.
My artwork arrived, the boxes undamaged. However, when I opened the shipping container and uncovered the pirate self-portrait, I found to my horror that all the vine charcoal had simply fallen off the paper! This, even after spraying it gratuitously with fixatif!
The dark areas that I worked over in charcoal pencil (dompressed charcoal) stayed for the most part, but all the middle values (most of the piece) were laying in little piles along the edges of the container.
I will once again have to rework the entire piece.
[Insert deep sigh.]
The good news is, I am ready to begin working on new material. I am very excited about my new adventure, and will post new work as soon as I have it.Stay tuned!

Landlocked!

Avast! I be landlocked!
How the heck the ship made it this far inland, I'll never know. Oh well, if''n yer gonna be landlocked, ye might as well like the location, and Colorado is a beautiful place to run aground.

I received a nice farewell broo-ha-ha from the Pyrates of the Coast. Hurricane and Diosa even gave me a nice going away present: a pair of winter gloves! Already I miss the crewe (but my aim IS improving.)

I look forward to returning to Florida to pillage with the crewe. In the meantime, I may see what piratical nonsense abounds in the Rocky Mountains. Yes, it is lunacy at its finest.

Stay tuned for new artwork and updates!

The big move

Ahoy, lubbers!
I'm off to Melbourne for one last hoo-rah with the Pyrates of the Coast before leaving for Colorado.
I'll be landlocked, but keep a weather eye, ye'll never know where Nigel might suddenly appear!!!!

Pirate Self-Portrait

05/17/08
The final piece:

"Desire" charcoal, 18"x24"



05/15/08
Rendering the few remaining elements, last-minute adjustments, and DONE.
Here is the finished piece:

I am taking it over to have a friend take some good photos of it, and then to post it to the American Artist competition.

05/08/08:

More costume and props development.

05/07/08:

Let's add some swash to that buckle.
Now it's starting to look more like a human and less like a disembodied torso.
I'm playing with the exposure settings on my new camera.

05/04/08:
Developing the foreground, the hand, and the arm.


04/24/08:
More development of the background, and continuing down into the foreground with the hand and coin. I am using a replica of a spanish doubloon.

Now I am dissatisfied with the flag. It needs work.
However, I had a chance to work into some of the areas and strengthen a few things in the face that I was struggling with previously.

04/21/08: REDEMPTION.
After sitting down and taking a good hard look at the drawing, I decided that it could be salvaged.
Back to the drawing board...


04/18/08 – DISASTER!!!
I was working on the drawing, and finally pushed past the hurdles and the new drawing was pushing ahead of the old one. I had finally turned the corner. I was just beginning to think that I had made the right decision after all.

Suddenly, Clarence [the cat] jumped up and knocked the easel, drawing and all, over – on top of me! The central focus of the drawing – the face – was demolished. The eye, the nose, all the critical areas that I had worked so hard on… I was mortified! All the effort to get the light across the face, and it was a struggle….

Here is a close up of the damage:

AAAAAAUGH!!!
I just couldn’t even think about it for the rest of the night. I had to go into the other room and sulk.

04/17/08:
Developing the tones in the costume. At this point, I am second-guessing my decision to start over. The size on this one is better, but the light in the first drawing was more cohesive.


04/13/08:
Here we go with the body...


...and a close-up:

I think the piece is beginning to take on a bit of a revlutionary war look and feel. lol
As a side note, I am really enjoying the conceptual aspect and the narrative in this piece; it is developing as the piece moves along, taking on a life of its own.

04/12/08:


P.S I really like the drawing at this stage. I think this is my favorite phase of a portrait; just the face without any distracting elements. The face is at its most powerful and dramatic.


I am reading the biography of John Paul Jones. He was not only an American hero, he was father of the U.S. Navy, and considered by England as a pirate. His life story reads like a good adventure novel.

04/03/08:
I decided to start over on the piece. While I did like the light and the form, the coarse paper texture was beginning to drive me out of my mind. Also, I had covered the entire surface with the charcoal, and rubbed it in pretty good to get into the texture of the paper. Because of this, I was having difficulty removing enough charcoal to get the lights to be light enough. I would not be able to develop the form with the subtlety I desired.
Plus, I decided to make it more of a 1/2 body portrait, rather than just the face. In order to do that, I needed to start over on a larger piece of paper, and place the face higher, leaving more room at the bottom.
Here is the initial block-in. I left the bare paper in the area of the face in order to control the lights better:


04/02/08:
Further development on the face.


04/01/08:
Developing the form.
I fixed the location of the eye, this is much better.



Here is a thumbnail, for use as my avatar in the pirate forums:




03/25/08
Chiaroscuro in charcoal it is.
Here is the initial block-in using the rub-out technique.

I like using the rub-out techinique; I like the 'feel' of texture in the background. It looks like a smoky tavern or the dimly lit cabin of a Captain's quarters on board a pirate ship.
That eye on the left seems a little bit high. I blame the model, he was an unruly cuss.


03/14/08:
American Artist Magazine is having a self-portrait competition.
I could not resist the opportunity to do a self-portrait in my pirate costume.
I liked the idea of dramatic, chiaroscuro lighting. I tried several different angles, from a complete side view to dead-on front view. Once I began the initial sketch, the ideas just started to flow. This is going to be fun!

The conceptual sketch:


I am still deciding whether to d a chiaroscuro piece in charcoal, or a full-color piece in acrylic. Also, what to do with the background: black, like the classic chiaroscuro portraits, as if in his cabin, or outdoors under a blustery sky.
Additional props and accoutrements are still being considered.

The image of the pirate is a metaphor for adventure, independence, freedom and an unrestrained spirit. It represents the willingness to pursue your dreams, regardless of the risks.

Pirates have a special place in my heart. Through pirating, I have traveled to exotic locations, had adventures and experiences that most people only dream about, and met some very interesting people.
Along the way, I have learned a great deal about myself, experienced pirate luck, and my confidence in myself and my intuition has grown.