”Original book cover art from 1980’s & 1990’s….out of storage and into the classroom”

 It’s that time of year again!  Each year during my fall semester Figure painting classes, I always bring in some old illustrations from my time as an illustrator.  I don’t know how relevant these are today, but the students seem to enjoy seeing some of the things I did during my illustration career.  Most of these images are from two series I was involved in over a period that covered the eighties and early nineties!  This is only a portion of the images created during that period!  They were for the most part, images created for book covers.  I always feel a bit of fatigue when I see them spread out once a year, and think of all the hours spent creating these images…..but, I remember it as a fun blur! 

     

During the breaks from painting the live model, students paw through these and some have questions about time schedules/deadlines, technique, sizes, etc.  The reason these are useful, in my opinion, is because of what this class is really about…..depicting the human form in a representational manner, and interpreting the live model on a daily basis from observation.  It’s not so much about learning how to paint, as it is learning how to see….and raising one’s observation skills, as they relate to shape, value, edges, and temperature of color.

Below are a few shots of the paintings I brought in and put up.  My camera was on the blink that day…..so, thanks to Robin Cody for taking and sending these to me.  Robin is a wonderful, highly thought of teacher at Ringling College of Art and Design!

Again, thanks for listening to my Cajun ramblings!

Hodges Soileau   OPA 

Rediscovered drawings, painted illustrations, and sketches from the 1980’s and early 90’s

This summer, I was reunited with some of my old artwork in the form of drawings, sketches and painted illustrations that have been in storage for the past twenty years.  I was pleasantly surprised at how after all this time some of the paintings still held up, and were surprisingly still satisfying to me personally.  The subject is obviously different from what I presently paint, but the application of the paint is very similar (still) to what I do today….and principals were, and are still the same.   Of course, this leads to the question …..What am I going to do with all of this stuff?  Is there possibly a market for some of these? 

When we left Ct. to move south in the mid nineties, I filled a one and a half Ton dump truck with old illustrations and paintings that filled the loft over my garage/barn and part of our attic.  I kept quite a few things from a couple of series….and yes the storage problem is still large.  I have a couple of ideas that I will eventually try, but in the mean time, I bring them to my painting classes for the illustration students to poke through every year in the spring semester.  This is just a sampling of that collection….I hope you enjoy looking at some of these old images…..and, until next time, thanks for tuning in to my Cajun ramblings!

Hodges Soileau  OPA