illustrationclass

Things I Carried: Ipad & Sketchbook

Back in sleepy Kutztown after 6 weeks of traveling through the Yucatan and Belize. I carried a sketchbook and an Ipad. My most recent on-the-road blog entries were done on the Ipad. WordPress for IOS worked pretty well. It doesn’t have the full toolset or versatility of the computer version of WordPress. I couldn’t manageContinue reading “Things I Carried: Ipad & Sketchbook”

America’s Funniest Archaeologist

Dr. Bill Saturno is in the news again for unearthing an ancient art studio in Guatemala. The post below is from July 2011, when I met him in Belize: Dr. Bill Saturno has got to be America’s funniest archaeologist. His discoveries of Maya murals made page one of the New York Times. That’s him picturedContinue reading “America’s Funniest Archaeologist”

Jean Charlot, an illustrator worth knowing.

Jean Charlot was born in Paris in 1898. His name is pronounced in the French manner, something like “Jahn Sharlow.” Oddly enough, Charlot was a great Mexican illustrator. His mother was from Mexico and after World War I, she returned to Mexico with her son, Jean. By that point he was a young man, havingContinue reading “Jean Charlot, an illustrator worth knowing.”

Catherwood, illustrator in the Yucatan

Above: Maya stela at Copan by Frederick Catherwood. Blogging on an Ipad on a bus racing through the Yucatan can be difficult. For one thing, I can’t insert links. Also, I haven’t been in WiFi range for a day. Last night I slept at the Hacienda Uxmal, the same hacienda where the great English illustratorContinue reading “Catherwood, illustrator in the Yucatan”

Something Craig Frazier taught me.

Craig Frazier has a great illustration studio website. Beyond that, he also has a wonderful blog about children’s picture books called 36 pages. I heard him speak at an illustration conference in Philadelphia, PA, around 2003. He is an interesting artist. The art shown at right, lifted from his blog, demonstrates that he is atContinue reading “Something Craig Frazier taught me.”

Lewis and Clark and Houdini

I loved the graphic novel Houdini, The Handcuff King written by Jason Lutes, drawn by Nick Bertozzi. My only criticism: I wanted the story to go on longer! I was thankful for the introduction and the fascinating and detailed end notes. The added text helped flesh out the historical and social context of Houdini’s enduringContinue reading “Lewis and Clark and Houdini”

Jan de Vos: In the flesh.

Update: July 25, 2011, Jan de Vos died yesterday morning in Mexico City. Below is my sketch from last month in Chiapas, Mexico. We met a holy man in Chiapas. Jan de Vos is 75 years old. He was born and educated in Belgium, He studied philosophy and theology with Prof. Ratzinger, who is nowContinue reading “Jan de Vos: In the flesh.”

Yachitlan

An hour from Bonampak we reach the frontier town, Frontera Corozal. We descend across two springy, cablebound causeways to the banks of the Umumacinta River. The Umumacinta has been called the River of Ruins. According to Dr. Alfonso Morales one of our guides, and one of Mexico’s great archaeologists, Umumacinta can be translated as RiverContinue reading “Yachitlan”

Maya Murals at Bonampak

Above is a photo I took yesterday of the Maya murals at Bonampak. Picture a small vaulted room atop a great stone structure in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, not far from the border with Guatemala. This detail is from a section called The Musicians. It was painted close to the year 800 A.D. TheseContinue reading “Maya Murals at Bonampak”

In the Maya World

I’m off campus at the moment, far off-campus, on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. I am participating in an NEH Institute along with 23 other professors of various topics from across the U.S. The NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) and CCHA (Community College Humanities Association) are co-sponsoring a five-week study tour of the MayaContinue reading “In the Maya World”