My Poster Illustration for Bucks County Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Iolanthe”

It’s the time of year when singers and musicians from all over the Delaware Valley area converge to rehearse and perform the unique musical confections that are Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. This season the Bucks County Gilbert & Sullivan Society has chosen to perform Iolanthe, which is considered by aficionados to have the most beautiful score of any works of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s collaborations with W. S. Gilbert.

I am again pleased to have created the poster for this musically brilliant show. Iolanthe‘s subtitle is “The Peer and the Peri” and it tells the fanciful story of a “peri” – a Persian word for a fairy – and the peers in Parliament, that is, members of the House of Lords. Because a premise in the show is that fairies are all beautiful and never age, I was reminded of art nouveau posters – these are posters like the one below by Alphonse Mucha at the turn of the 20th century, which celebrated the beauty of women and nature in luxuriantly stylized designs.

In this story Iolanthe is a lovely fairy who, twenty-five years ago, made the terrible transgression of marrying a mortal, which goes against fairy law. For this she was banished from fairy society by the Queen of the fairies, and while in exile she had a son, Strephon, who grew up as a shepherd. When the show opens, Strephon, who is half-fairy and half-mortal, is now a handsome young man in love with a sweet maiden, Phyllis. Problems arise when we learn that Phyllis’ beauty is such that all the members of the House of Lords are also desperately in love with her! And they wish to prevent Strephon from making her his bride.

I started sketching my design, borrowing the circle and column elements from the Mucha poster. I wanted Iolanthe large as she is the title character, but as with all G&S shows, this is really an ensemble cast and so I wanted to include several other characters, smaller, grouped nearby, also as in the Mucha poster. This rough pencil sketch below shows the main elements – in the column area I planned to do foliage with some some distinctive set pieces intertwined among the leaves.

After I took some good photos of the actual cast members I tightened up the sketch. I hand-lettered the title, as did many art nouveau poster artists, emulating their 19th century poster style.

I drew and then digitally colored the decorative column spot drawings – these are based on sketches of the set by our wonderful scenic designer, Henry Heymann. These set pieces will be quite large onstage, giving the magical effect that we are watching a dream-like story unfold. I hid these among the column’s foliage designs, with some tiny fairies sprinkled in. I also placed some fairies flitting around with musical instruments in that column, because I love to reference our terrific orchestra – they add so much to the experience of listening to our shows with their grand symphonic sound.

I digitally colored my larger drawings for the poster, and then put them all together with the text, and the final result is below – my modern interpretation of an art nouveau poster for Iolanthe.

I expect this to be a beautiful show, with exceptionally lovely music! We have a terrific cast of singers and the Bucks County Gilbert & Sullivan Orchestra will accompany everyone with their always-magnificent sound. If you are in the Doylestown are in June, please join us for this funny, radiant musical – for more info about Bucks G&S click HERE . Tickets for Iolanthe can be purchased at the door, and you save on the price if you order online HERE.

“Look Up, Little Mouse,” My Sketches for a New Children’s Book

I’ve recently finished illustrating the latest children’s book by my friend, author Chrysa Smith, which should be available soon. Chrysa’s new story, even though it is about a mouse, has a faith theme running through it, and I think Look Up, Little Mouse has a sweet message for young readers. I’ll show some of the pencil sketches below, and when the book is printed I’ll post some color finishes.

Our little church mouse actually lives in the barn across the courtyard from a church. If you live in my hometown you may notice I based the church vaguely on a little church in town.

He finds himself in an unusual spot, where he has a few visitors.

He also has a bit of a scare when a man makes an appearance – but there’s a happy resolution to the encounter.

I think youngsters will enjoy our little friend’s adventure! I’ll post more when the book is out and I’ll give a link for purchasing a copy. I know Chrysa also does readings and author visits to schools, and this book will be a good one to feature in her school visits.

‘The Lion, the Ostrich and the Squirrel’ Maasai Folktale Coloring Book

About 12 years ago I illustrated the African folktale The Lion, the Ostrich and the Squirrel for the Maasai Cultural Exchange Project. They recently reprinted the book and I am now listing it on my Etsy shop, with all proceeds from its sale donated to the MCEP. Click here to order the book through my shop.

In illustrating this book I learned much about the work of MCEP, an organization that has helped to build wells in Kenya and currently pays the education fees of village women and children. I helped the editorial team frame the fable, which involves all animal characters, by suggesting we start the story by showing a common Maasai family tradition: the grandmother gathering the grandchildren under an acacia tree to tell stories. 

“The Lion, the Ostrich and the Squirrel” is a traditional oral Maasai folktale that tells about a clever squirrel who outwits a fierce lion to save a mother ostrich’s little chicks. As the cover art indicates, we open with the Maasai grandmother circling her grandchildren around to pass on this tale to them. The inside pages of the book tell the story in both English and Maa (the indigenous language of the Maasai) with black and white pictures for coloring. The last few pages have a map of Africa indicating Maa-speaking areas, a list of common English words translated into Maa, and information about MCEP. ‘The Lion, the Ostrich and the Squirrel’ helps children understand both the daily life of children in a Maasai village and the stories that frame their culture of courage and community. Again, you can order a copy by clicking here, with all proceeds going to MCEP.

My cartoon in this coming week’s New Yorker magazine

Always a kick to see my drawing in the New Yorker – this one is among those published in the magazine for March 11, 2024.

It’s on the magazine’s website here: https://www.newyorker.com/cartoon/a28498

Children’s Concert this Saturday

From the wonderful Lenape Chamber Ensemble, a delightful concert for children (and parents can come for free!) –

My Illustration for a New Musical Work based on Poems of Dorothy Parker

Composer Misha Dutka has written numerous operatic works in the past, and I have created logo images for his Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, Liebovar and Brandon’s Song. He commissioned a new illustration for a work he’s developing now, based on the poems of Dorothy Parker, a writer of the Algonquin Round Table fame. While Ms. Parker had wit and humor in her reviews and stories, her life was not such a happy one. Her colleague Alexander Woollcott once stated of her, “That bird only sings when she’s unhappy.”

I’ll post more about the work when there are details for a premier performance, but here is the working image for “Unhappy Bird.”

Looking at Illustration: Arthur Getz – January 1958

In scrolling through the Conde Nast archives of his New Yorker cover art I have found another terrific painting by Arthur Getz, whose covers  – over 200 of them – became the set piece for the magazine’s tone from the 1940s through the 80s. Let’s take a look at this cover from 1958.

(This art is available as a print or on other items at
https://condenaststore.com/featured/new-yorker-january-4th-1958-arthur-getz.html )

This jazz trio may be three anonymous musicians from a long-shuttered nightclub, but Arthur Getz immortalized them beautifully in this painting. His composition, as always, leads the viewer’s eye in a clear but interesting path through the scene. You first note the ray of smoke-hazed blue light falling from the upper right to left, flashing on the double-bassist’s left hand. Those fingers point your gaze across his chest to his right sleeve, where it tumbles down the back of the pianist, to snake around the drummer’s head and jacket, and then follow the drummer’s arm into orbit among all the cymbals, hi-hats, sticks and drums!

If you allow your eyes to take that trip a few times, they might eventually land in that mysterious cloud of dark, raw ultramarine in the nightclub background in the center right. I love it when Getz buries a masterstroke in the shadows like this—in that blue vapor you can just barely make out a dark-haired woman seated, one arm on the table, one hand at her chin. In a few loose, masterful strokes he drops this woman into the story, and while she might be the guest of the necktied gent to her right, her eyes seem to be right in line with the drummer’s gaze as well – is there a connection between the two perhaps?

Getz’s command of the value and temperature of colors is on full display in this piece. It is painted primarily with blues and yellows, so the cool tones separate distinctly from the warm ones, giving clean contrast between different forms whether they are brilliant in the spotlight or dimmed in the shadows. The suits on the three men are all neutral warms and cools, so that the gleaming yellow cymbals and rich sienna brown of the double bass stand out. I like too how the magazine picked up the cymbal yellow for the magazine masthead.

I wondered what medium Getz used for covers such as this, and was kindly answered through Instagram by his daughter Sarah. She posts ‘The Art of Arthur Getz’ - @arthurkimmiggetz – on IG and she explained that his work through the early 1960s was mostly painted in casein tempera. After that he expanded into watercolor, pen and ink and acrylic paint.

Getz sometimes uses another device in his paintings, one that I see often and admire in the work of early 20th century Swedish illustrator Carl Larsson—the faces of his subjects are deeply shadowed, or slightly blocked, or turned away from the viewer. It gives a realism and spontaneity to the scene, an unrehearsed beauty to it. The bassist and drummer in this painting have unusual angles to their turned faces , and I can tell you those angles are quite hard to capture in loose strokes, but Getz’s hand had a casual precision to it that conveyed the angles easily.

I’d call this piece another triumph for Arthur Getz, brilliantly catching on paper a slice of New York City’s cool mid-century nightlife with expert composition, effective colors and that extra punch of mystery veiled in the background.

I wrote two other Getz cover reviews which you can read HERE and HERE. To see other New Yorker covers by Getz go HERE .

‘Animal Musicians’ Variety Box of my Notecards

I’ve just listed a new item in my Etsy shop – I’ve combined my popular, hand-illustrated, animal musician notecards into a variety pack of 2 each of 4 whimsical drawings: a panda playing the piano, a fox playing the cello, a mouse dancing while playing the violin and a portly bear playing the French horn. The variety box is $12 (plus postage) and if there’s one specific animal you want, I also have boxes of 8 of each card separately, listed in my Etsy shop.

My notecards are printed in full color on sturdy card stock, invitation-size, which is 4.25″ wide and 5.5″ deep. Eight white envelopes are included with the 8 notecards, all in a sturdy white cardboard box with clear lid. The cards require standard first-class postage if mailed, and the cardstock is made from partially recycled paper and printed in the USA.

These notecards make a lovely gift for any musician, music teacher, music student or classical music lover. And if you live in the Central Bucks county area & would like to avoid the shipping charges (which can be over $5) please skip Etsy and just email me to see if we can arrange for you to pick up the cards in person.

To see everything in my Etsy shop just click HERE, and to see just this listing you can click HERE.

If you wish to have a pre-printed message put inside the card, or for special larger quantities of cards, please email me at achillesportfolio@gmail.com or through Etsy to inquire about charges for special options.

All artwork is (c) Pat Achilles and may not be reproduced.

Rabbits and Runner Ducks

Once again I have happily illustrated the flyer for the Lenape Chamber Ensemble’s Children’s Concert for next spring. This concert gives youngsters a taste of lovely classical music and teaches some things about composers and themes they explored, and it’s a delightful afternoon event. The world-class musicians of the Lenape Chamber Ensemble make it fun and enjoyable for kids and their parents alike.

For this one I first sketched a scene in pencil with some springtime animal musicians – rabbits and runner ducks, plus a little hummingbird and some bumblebees. Runners ducks are great characters, they stand tall and much more erect than common ducks, resembling a bowling pin on legs. I added an audience of baby bunnies and chicks, and decided a background of tulips would be appropriate for a March concert.

I then tightened up that sketch, to put some detail in the instruments –

And finally traced that drawing through my lightbox, in ink onto paper and added hatched toning to finish the drawing.

I highly recommend the Lenape Chamber Ensemble concerts, for kids and of course for adults as well! Their whole schedule of concerts is on their website here.

“Squiggles, A Very Merry Chrismouse,” with my illustrations, is now on sale

I wrote previously about Squiggles, A Very Merry Chrismouse while I was still working on the finished illustrations, but now, through the hard work of author Laurie Nowlan, it is out in print – and as a beautiful hardback book too! It’s such a sweet story to give to a young child this Christmas, I think it could easily become a family favorite that is read and enjoyed as an annual holiday tradition.

Below are some of my pencil sketches for the story, about Squiggles the mouse and his Mama getting ready for Christmas. Their house will soon be empty of people because its owners are going away for Christmas this year.

While Squiggles gets into a pickle trying to hunt down a Christmas gift for Mama, rest assured there is a happy ending to the story! Here are a few color scenes –

Author Laurie Nowlan and I worked very well together on this book – we both felt that, in keeping with the sweet, rather old-fashioned flavor of the story, I should give a Beatrix Potter-type look to the characters. Laurie also suggested an illustrated border around the pages, and young readers will have fun finding all the Christmas items tucked into those borders. The mellow, natural color of the paper we chose for the book also adds to its homey, storybook feel, and the publisher did a lovely print job – it’s a sturdy hardback book with a bright cover, and I am really pleased with it! If you know a little one who loves Christmas stories, please consider picking up Squiggles.

You can meet author Laurie Nowlan and buy a copy of Squiggles at her book signing on Saturday, November 25 from 12 to 2:00 pm at the Shoppes @ Gladwyne Pharmacy in Gladwyne at 352 Righters Mill Road.

To purchase Squiggles through BookBaby, click HERE to go to Laurie’s author page and don’t miss the offer under the “Overview” section, which says: “Receive a $5.00 discount at checkout by using the coupon code Squiggles.” So don’t forget to type Squiggles into the coupon code box when you purchase!

Squiggles is also available (currently) to pre-order through Amazon HERE. If you preorder on Amazon please note, they will email you with an estimated ship date, but I don’t know that it is guaranteed to be delivered before Christmas.