Merry Christmas!

I used to work for a design firm where I was given the job of designing and executing the company Christmas card every year. I loved working on the illustrations for those cards and this particular illustration was my favorite. I call it "We Three Trees." I painted this with acrylics on Crescent cold-press illustration board.


This is another of my Christmas card illustrations. This one is entirely digital, created using Adobe PhotoShop.

PhotoShop is Phun

A local tile store wanted to place an ad in this high-end glossy magazine. The problem was they are more than just your average tile store. This place has tiles that light-up! And they can create awesome mosaics and other fabulous decorative designs in tile. As I said, not your average tile store. My task was to create an ad that would highlight the unusual nature of this business yet fit in with this upscale magazine.


First I found this stock photo image. This gave me an idea. I began searching...


...and found this stock photo image. Perfect! This is exactly what I had in mind. Well, maybe I didn't expect the polka dots, but I like 'em.


I combined them to make this awesome photo composite image using Adobe PhotoShop! I illustrated in some drop shadows, elongated the legs a little and added some sparkling rubies to the shoes.


The final add looked like this! If the Lollipop Guild need someone to lay down a new yellow brick road, this ad tells them Valerie is just the one to create something amazing enough for the land of Oz.

RIT Imaging Hall of Fame

The Rochester Institute of Technology, Center for Imaging Science commissioned me to draw the portraits of scientists whose discoveries have contributed to the advances of imaging science. I have had the privilege of drawing close to 30 such portraits so far and here are 3 of them. From left to right, George Eastman, James Clerk Maxwell and Marie Curie.

I draw the portraits in pencil, scan them and set accompanying text that summarizes each scientist's accomplishments. The final file is sent to a vendor who then outputs the images etched in brushed metal mounted on wood plaques. The plaques are displayed in the main lecture hall at the RIT Center for Imaging Science. The whole display looks awesome!

I have a blast working on these portraits and the folks at RIT are wonderful to work with.

Gil-Galad, King of the Elves

Welcome to my blog!
For my first entry, I submit my watercolor illustration of Gil-galad the Elven King.
I got the idea for this illustration from a poem in the book The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien. It goes like this:

Gil-galad was an Elven-King
Of him the harpers sadly sing:
the last whose realm was fair and free
between the Mountains and the Sea.

His sword was long, his lance was keen,
his shining helm afar was seen;
the countless stars of heaven's field
were mirrored in his silver shield.

But long ago he rode away,
and where he dweleth none can say;
for into darkness fell his star
in Mordor where the shadows are.