STEVEN JAMES PETRUCCIO

Time Flies

2012-01-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy over the past few months on a variety of projects and school visits. I was able to kick-off the Barnes & Noble Book Donation Drive in which we broke last year's record and I was a judge in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in NYC. Here is some of what I've been working on.

Twitter!

2011-11-11T22:05:00.000-08:00

You can follow me on Twitter and keep up with what I'm working on and my new books coming out! @SJPetruccio

Norman Rockwell Exhibit

2011-06-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

You may have seen a previous post of some of my early illustrations ala Norman Rockwell. Three of my paintings were selected for an exhibit at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in California. You can view the website for more info at http://themuck.org/galleries/upcomin-exhibits/.

While many artists of his day worked in a similar style, Rockwell was able to combine character, expression and Americana in a unique way making him the most popular among readers of such periodicals as The Saturday Evening Post. Illustrators were allowed creative freedom and often generated their own assignments having months to complete a painting. My illustrations were done for specific magazine articles and completed inside of a week from sketch to finished art. It was a great opportunity to work in the same manner as one of my illustration idols.

Book Festival

2011-05-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

The Hudson Children's Book Festival, in Hudson, NY, is fairly new and growing in popularity. This year I was one of the authors and illustrators signing books and I also presented a workshop. Many people came to my table to buy a book or just talk. I even had a visit from old neighbors I hadn't seen in about 35 years who had seen an article about me in the local newspaper! The photos show them as well as my workshop.

Book Festival Report

2011-04-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

The second annual Empire State Book Festival, held on 4/2/11, had much to offer attendees. Great speakers and programs as well as the chance to meet and greet authors and illustrators. I saw some old friends there and made some new ones as well. For a number of reasons the attendance was not up from last year but the energy and interest from participants was. I hope to be back again next year.

New Book!

2011-03-02T16:41:00.000-08:00

After a few weeks of solid painting I'm finally finished with the art for my latest book, " Jonah The Runaway Prophet". This was a great story to illustrate and the research was interesting as well...no whale involved but the "giant fish" was most probably a whale shark. This creature is a filter feeder with a chambered stomach so Jonah could have lived inside for a time. That's probably more information than you wanted but that's what you run into when researching even the simplest of stories.

New School Year...New School Visits!

2011-01-18T12:40:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite aspects of being a children's book illustrator is that I get to visit with the audiences that read my books. When I enter a school it's like being a " Celebrity For A Day"! and that's great but one of the things that the people, young and old, with whom I visit learn is that I'm just like them and we get along great! Many times a few talented students will meet with me at an informal lunch, to share books that they've illustrated.

Here are a few images from a couple of recent visits. As the year progresses I'll post some more. You'll see that young students still love traditional books, especially the pictures! A chance to meet the illustrator means the opportunity to learn about art and how to use the creative skills we all have!

Giving Thanks

2010-11-18T09:16:00.000-08:00

Over the years I've had some holiday themed assignments so here are a couple of them in time for the upcoming season.

Rockwellian

2010-09-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

In the early days of my illustration career I was contracted to create a number of paintings for magazine articles with a "Norman Rockwell" feeling. Rockwell was not the only artist working in this realistic style at the time and The Saturday Evening Post featured many illustrations by these artists, all of which had this feeling to them. Of course, a young illustrator doesn't turn down work and I'm a big Rockwell fan anyway so this came naturally to me. Here was my "Rockwellian" take on these commissions...

2010-08-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

I returned from my vacation and thought I'd share some of the watercolor sketches I did while I was away from the drawing board in my studio. Here are some interesting sites from the Bahamas...a church on the beach, a conch salesman and a carving on the ship among others. So I never really stop drawing or painting.

Studio Art

2010-07-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

For a few years I worked as a freelance studio artist creating paintings for corporate, residential and hospitality accounts. I worked alongside talented artists, learned alot and got to flex my painting muscles again on a large scale. These are some examples of the work I created for a variety of clients including DisneyWorld, McDonald's and HIP Insurance as well as interior decorating firms, cruise ships and a casino.

Beacon Paint-Out

2010-06-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

This is the first time our art center held a plein air paint out and auction in Beacon, NY. I created a painting of an interesting house I'd been noticing for some time. While I was taking some photos for lighting reference, the owner of the house came out and we talked. He told me of the structure's history, it's the third oldest house in Beacon, and of his family's connection to the house. All of the information only made me want to paint it more and the result was just what I wanted. He attended the auction and was the winning bidder for the work. I'm glad that he and his wife will enjoy the painting as much as I enjoyed painting it.

iPad Sketching

2010-06-09T12:51:00.000-07:00

So, here are a couple of quick sketches I created on the iPad using "Adobe Ideas" from the app store and a "Pogo" sketch stylus. As you can see it's very similar to using markers to sketch with. I've played around with the transparency and layers to suit my needs I'm posting these because so many people have questions about what the art looks like on the iPad and these examples are at a very simple level. I'll continue to explore and post new digital sketches as time permits. meanwhile I'm back to working on illustration deadlines and preparing for some plein air painting.

Empire State Book Festival

2010-04-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

The First Empire State Book Festival seemed to be a success. The panel I was on, "Childrens' Books In The Digital Age" was well attended and we gave the audience alot of insight into our processes and technology. There were a variety of programs to attend and probably not enough time for attendees to do it all. We did a book signing at the end of the day but that should have been immediately following our panel. All in all I'd say it was a good experience being part of the first time event. I got to see someone I'd worked with many years ago and my fellow panelists were great. It was my honor to be included with them.

2010-03-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

I've been busy working on a number of illustration assignments and visiting schools as well. My own book dummies have been put on the back burner once again in order to meet deadlines for other jobs. I'm creating black and white line drawings for two coloring books for Dover Publications. These are not "cute" drawings to color but rather well researched illustrations for the subject matter. History of the Civil Rights Movement in America and American Tall Tales and Legends are the books for which I've also written the text. I recently completed The History of The White House for Dover as well and will be starting on The Bill of Rights soon. These books are really interesting in their own right and will be a great lead-in for young people to learn about important and interesting topics. Okay..how many people knew that the White House was completely gutted during the Truman presidency in order to make structural support repairs so the current interior is fairly new. Interesting stuff!

School Visits

2009-12-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

I've begun my school visits for the new school year and have been to some wonderful places thus far in New York and Philadelphia. My program "A Day In The Life Odf A Book" is always well received by students and teachers alike. In fact, teachers often get more excited about it than the students. They have the chance to get inside the book illustration process and see original work. I'm including a link here to a video which tells a bit about my school program and workshops so you can get a better idea of what I do. My program meets Arts-In-Education standards in an interesting and entertaining way and brings visual art to places that often have cut classes due to budget constraints. My visit inspires young students to work for what they want and do their best!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gtxp3g6jAc
You can also visit http://encoreperforming.com/ to book a school visit and learn some more.

Meeting Charles Santore

2009-11-13T19:52:00.001-08:00

It's not often that you get to meet one of your idols and having that person turn out to be as impressive as you'd imagined is a bonus. I took a chance and called illustrator Charles Santore a few weeks back and told him I'd be in town. I asked if he would have time to meet with me and, without hesitation, he invited me to his studio. Mr. Santore was as nice a person as one could hope for. I had the opportunity to see many of his original paintings which were illustrations for his wonderful books. Snow White, The Wizard of Oz and Santa Claus to name a few. We spoke about illustration and he gave me his opinion of my own work which was encouraging and complimentary. He also gave me some advice on making my work even stronger. I value his suggestions. This was a great chance for me to see the artist at work on a new project as well. This is one day I won't soon forget.

Rhinebeck Paintout '09

2009-10-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

Painting on location is one of the best things an artist can do and I took advantage of the opportunity at the latest "Paint-Out" event for Barrett Art Center. My watercolor painting , 20"x20", on paper was completed in four hours, framed and ready for the auction that followed. The day was overcast so I improvised lighting with cast shadows...experience gained from painting outdoors. The building was constructed and used to sell homemade and used goods during WWII, by relatives of FDR. Interesting architecture and history.

Time Flies

2009-09-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy with interesting illustration and painting projects. "Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea" published by Soundprints, Inc., has finally been released and looks great! I also finished the research intensive b/w artwork for a Dover coloring book, "The History of The Whitehouse". I'm currently working on some other Dover projects.

I'm also showing my fine art paintings at the local Starbucks and at the Marist College Faculty art exhibit. It's a great digital photo self portrait hanging alongside a new b/w acrylic painting I did for the show. In fact, it's a painting I've been waiting to get to and the exhibit was a great chance to finally get it done. I'll be launching a new website soon as well as updating this blog more regularly so stay tuned.

Morning, Starr

2008-11-16T16:16:00.000-08:00

Getting out of the studio, to paint outdoors, is a wonderful opportunity I always embrace. I recently took time to paint for a fundraiser for my local art center. The day was perfect and as I scouted my place to paint I came upon this structure, The Starr Library...perfect time of day too. With the right amount of editing, this scene became one I was compelled to paint.

Painting. Painting.

2008-09-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

Painting for illustration and exhibition takes up most of an artist's time. I'm no exception.
Even when not working on a project I always encourage young artists to continue to create new works. It's also a good time to learn about and experiment with, new media and techniques. My most recent painting was done for the faculty art exhibit at Marist College. I passed by this scene last year and have been waiting to get down what I remembered from a quick sketch done on a pamphlet. Sometimes something strikes you and you've got to do it.

Narwhal Artwork

2008-07-11T19:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a sample of the pictures I created for the Narwhal book.

2008-07-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

Welcome.
Sharing thoughts on art, whether creating it or experiencing it, is exciting.
I just finished the art for my ninth book in the Smithsonian Oceanic Collection, titled, "Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea". It was a very educational experience and proved most interesting in terms of the colors available to use in the particular part of the ocean where the story takes place. It's always a great feeling to finish up fifteen paintings that tell a story and looking at them all laid out on my studio floor. Next step...waiting for the published product!