Thursday, July 29, 2010

Alternative style

I really had a great time at the writing/illustrating conference last month. After talking with Kevin in the workshops he encouraged me to try this style I've been playing with a bit more, and see what happened. So I've been spending the last month working on some new page layouts for my book along with these other ideas. I'm curious to here any ones thoughts as to weather or not this style is worth pursuing (be honest I can take it)





Circus Peanuts


Dogs in Purses

Leave of Absence

I took 2 weeks off to sketch.












Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Drawing and Storytelling

I just found this great video of one of my favorite artists, Pascal Campion.  In the video Pascal talks about drawing as a way to tell stories.  To him drawing is really just a means to an end.  The real power of drawing comes not in the perfection of the drawing but in the ability to communicate a story with that drawing.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Latest submission to the New Yorker: A Poem

Pretty Flowers that My Chipmunk Friend Devours on My Cedar Deck as I Sip My Coffee and Ponder Mortality

by Neil Hughes



Pretty Flowers

gone

again.

Thanks Chipmunk.

Thanks a lot.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Pigs and Banjos

I got bored at work and started looking at Guy's pigs and banjos sight, and was inspired to started doodling.
It started out as a pig angel playing a banjo instead of a harp, then I added the BBQ just to add that element of "you're not sure if you understand the statement that the artist is trying to make but you don't want to ask for fear of looking ignorant" you know the way that fine artist do. Forgive the high quality image, (I took it on my phone and used paint to crop it)

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Will Strong Has an Art Show

That's right folks, I'm having an art show.  To become an official graduate of the BYU Illustration Program I need to have a BFA Final Art Show to demonstrate how far I've come in the program and just how much I've learned (hopefully very far and very much.)

The show will be held in main floor gallery of the Harris Fine Arts Center (HFAC) on BYU Campus from July 17 through July 30.  A reception (big art party) will be held in the same location on Tuesday, July 20 from 6:00-8:00 pm.

The show is called "Monsters Make Me Happy" and it will be full of children's illustrations and plush toys all of my own creation.  So bring the kids (it's really for them after all.)

If you're in the Provo, Utah area and want to attend then come on down.  You'll see lots of stuff like this:

Thursday, July 8, 2010

My "fantasy" that doodles lead to illustrations



This is another drawing I performed during a class that I should have been listening for relevant information. Two-dimensional drawings are as complex as my drawings get. I tried hard to make these sketches look three-dimensonal, but my drawings seem to be missing something. I fanatasize of my fellow "bros" illustration abilities.

Documentary on Kid Lit




As a documentary junky I'm fairly excited for this one coming up.  As an author/illustrator, I'm REALLY excited for this upcoming documentary.  Check out the trailer at the website:  www.libraryoftheearlymind.com

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Fan Fiction Lost in Translation

I'm all for fan fiction, it's fun and therapeutic (on occassion.)  But this guy seems to have taken just a few too many liberties with the story of Batman.



Why do I feel like this comes from China?

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

You can't spell "fantasy" without n-a-s-t-y.






Hey! So the other day, an editor friend emailed me asking me to try out for an upcoming Asian fantasy novel. With only those two words: "Asia" and "fantasy", I toyed with a bunch of different ideas. Can you identify my favorite reoccurring themes? (Babes with swords, and monsters)

Oops, gotta get back to my D&D game - the guys are starting to argue about Druid Lore.