The Chad Frye - Illustration GuyOver on Instagram, folks have been posting the nine images people responded to the most in 2018. These were the favorite nine of my art that made the cut over there.
If you are on Instagram, and didn’t know that I was, you can find me there at https://www.instagram.com/
I tend to post more things on Instagram than I do here on the ol’ blog, so come give me a follow to keep up with all the fun.
Alright – the last of the presents have been opened, and you’ve had a full day to hit all the after Christmas sales. Now is the time to start getting those thank you notes written to Aunt Belinda for the socks, Grandpa Joe for the new hammer, and Mom for the new underwear.
Whomever in your life made the time to thoughtfully pick out a gift just for you, be sure to send them a proper “thank you!”
Earlier this summer, I created a summertime illustration that debuted on a promotional card for my attendance at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conference held the first weekend in August in Los Angeles. It was inspired by a pencil sketch in my sketchbook created this past spring (which you can see if you CLICK HERE.)
I remember silly images like this in my favorite picture books when I was a kid, overcrowded with visual stimulation that made my little mind soar with wonder and amazement. This was likely how the seed was planted in me to one day wish to illustrate children’s books.
While in recent years I’ve worked primarily in animation, my career actually started in children’s books with the first one published way back in 1992. Hard to believe it has been that long. I have worked on around 30 or so books both on my own and together as a team with other illustrators. Maybe one day a blog post about that should be in order.
So, I’d like to do more children’s books, which was why I went to that conference earlier in the month – to get an idea of the state of the industry today. It would be nice to think that my brand of silliness could find a place once again on the shelves of Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or any number of small intimate bookshops scattered across the country.
For now, though, I leave you with some close-ups of this traditionally watercolored and colored pencil painting. (Only the lens flare was added digitally for those of you curious about such things.)
If you would like to see the major steps in the creation of this piece from rough sketch to final art, feel free to seek out my Instagram page where those were posted earlier this summer. You can get to it by CLICKING HERE!
I generally don’t get too personal here on the ol’ blog, but today is a mighty special day in the Frye family. On this day in 1968, my parents were joined together in holy matrimony.
I wanted to do something a bit special for their 50th anniversary. I hope they don’t mind, but I decided to interpret their 1967 engagement photo in my own little way. A time when I could only possibly have been a mere twinkle in their eyes as they prepared to spend their lives together.
As my own experiences have taught me, that had to have been a HUGE decision for them to make. I often marvel at how two total strangers from different upbringings can find each other and choose to craft a life together – a life that will undoubtedly have many ups and many downs.
Through thick and thin, and always with an eye towards the Lord, my parents have come through the ups and downs that 50 years together have presented. They have four children who love them, and love the Lord because of them. They have two sons-in-law and a daughter-in-law who are grateful to them for the children they taught and nurtured. And they have nine grandsons, all in varying stages of awareness of what their 50 years mean to our family.
Due to some mitigating circumstances, we all gathered together on their 49th anniversary last year. It is unfortunate that we couldn’t all be there to jump up from behind doors and couches to surprise them today on the day.
To my folks, thank you for always putting Christ first, and training up your children in the way we should go, so that when we reach your age, we will not depart from Him. (Proverbs 22:6) I love you.
Welcome to the month of May!
Hopefully spring is happening all over the country by now after a prolonged winter in many places. With spring comes a renewal of life. Grass grows, flowers start blooming, and babies are born.
Well, maybe that last one isn’t true for all. But it is true for a friend of mine who is about to have her first baby. I did this little watercolor Pooh for the impending little one. Spring abounds!
Today in the United States we have a little known and even lesser celebrated holiday called Arbor Day. It usually is superseded by the more popular Earth Day that came earlier in the week this year.
Arbor Day is all about trees, and folks are encouraged to plant a tree to mark the occasion. There are so many holidays on which people celebrate with a greeting card, but never for Arbor Day. This is strange to me, because cards most often come from trees giving up their lives to become greeting cards. So it is high time that there is a greeting card celebrating the trees that cards come from!
So, this year I sent these out to close friends, family, and business contacts. While more trees probably wanted to get in on the deal, they are too late. You now get to enjoy the card digitally!
So, all that to say, a very happy Arbor Day to you and yours. I hope you get lots of great Arbor Day presents, and enjoy the many Arbor Day parties you no doubt have lots of invitations to tonight! Stay safe!
A number of years ago before I got into the world of animation, I was a very busy illustrator. I illustrated many books whether of my own design, or sometimes with a team of other illustrators. Much of my color work back then was created with gouache – an opaque water based paint I would apply with both regular brushes and airbrushes. I absolutely LOVED this work.
After having worked for a number of years in the world of animation, and not having illustrated much anymore, the urge to paint more came bubbling up inside of me. While some of my colleagues who spend their days with cartoons want to create fine art, I wanted to create illustrations, even if they were just for me and not part of a greater project. But, I didn’t want to use gouache anymore. The erratic, organic quality of watercolors looked mighty attractive.
So, I bought some tubes of watercolors – Winsor & Newton – the same brand as my gouache paints, and decided to take a crack at ’em. The first serious attempt at using this medium resulted in the piece down below. Watercolors make up the bulk of the piece, finished with the sketchy lines that colored pencils provided.
I was hooked, and never looked back. At least 80% of my paintings since then have been with watercolors. Gouache still creeps in now and then, as does purely digital painting in Photoshop, but I absolutely love watercolors, and try to learn more with each new piece that comes across my desk.
Even though this was my first serious attempt at the medium, it remains one of the more popular pieces with viewers, likely due to the subject matter. There’s just something about the loss of innocence when tempted by something bigger and meaner that we all can relate to. The alligator seemed like a natural tempter to the sweet, innocent rabbit who he is coaxing down to the riverboat casino with his luring words and the push of his tail. It seems like the key moment of a book, doesn’t it?
The image was inspired by a verse in the Bible found at I Corinthians 10:13 where it promises to those who have given their lives to Christ that, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
Last week I had cause to look up my friend Paul Dooley on the internet, and was shocked to discover that he turned 90 on February 22! He has always seemed so much more youthful than that – well, he IS so much more youthful than that! So, I made him this card in celebration!
Now, Paul happens to be an actor – one you may know. He played Dennis Christopher’s dad in Breaking Away, he played Molly Ringwald’s dad in Sixteen Candles, he played Julia Roberts’ dad in The Runaway Bride. He’s played a lot of dads.
Paul also has been in a lot of movies directed by the late Robert Altman, namely the part of Wimpy alongside Robin Williams in Popeye. And if you have kids, you know him as the voice of Sarge in Pixar’s Cars movies! (A little known item on my own rèsumè is a music video I worked on with Paul that is on FunnyOrDie.com.)
So, happy 90th to my pal, Paul!