Phillustration Award

Every year the Philadelphia Sketch Club, historically the oldest club for artists in the country, holds a juried illustration exhibit, Phillustration. I am thrilled that one of mine was awarded second prize in the show this year.

The illustration I painted for Lodging Magazine, Office Churn, was among many other creative and colorful pieces in a show I highly recommend visiting. The exhibit runs thru November 24 and Sketch Club hours are Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun 1 PM – 5 PM and the venerable brick building that houses the Club is at 235 South Camac Street, Philadelphia PA. their website is http://sketchclub.org/ I also congratulate Joe Kulka, whose Smokey Bear art took top honors in the Advertising/ Institutional category. Sketch Club President Rich Harrington, a terrific illustrator in his own right, warmly welcomed the crowded room full of artists and emceed the reception with plenty of good humor.

My New Yorker cartoon was also accepted into the show, and I got to chat with John O’Brien, a creator of many many New Yorker cartoons and covers, at the reception, as well as Eric Fowler, the archivist at the Society of Illustrators in New York. A number of other Bucks County Illustrators Society members were accepted into this show, including Lauren Walsh, Joe DeVito, Joe Kulka, Piya and Christina Wannachaiwong (who also ‘exhibited’ their adorable new baby boy at the show), Mark Schaeffer and Dennis Wise. A few snapshots of our BCIS members’ work from the show:

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BCIS Hosts Illustrator David Wiesner

The Bucks County Illustrators Society and the Lahaska Bookshop will host a talk and book-signing by Caldecott award-winning author-illustrator David Wiesner this Thursday evening, April 4 at 7:00 PM.

David Wiesner is the author and illustrator of many childrens books such as Tuesday, The Three Pigs and Flotsam, and is a three-time winner of Caldecott Medals, which recognize distinguished American picture books for children. Mr. Wiesner will speak about his illustration career and how childhood memories and  images influence the stories he creates. He will sign any of his books purchased that evening. This event is free and open to the public.

Please take a moment to g HERE to register for the event – it is free, but registering will give the Lahaska Bookshop an idea of how many people will be attending, so they can provide enough seating.

The event takes place at the Lahaska Bookshop, located at 162A Peddler’s Village, Old York Rd. (Rte. 263) and Carousel Lane, Lahaska, PA. There is parking in front of the shop, with other lots nearby in Peddler’s Village. For further info contact 215-348-4837 or bcillustrators@gmail.com.

Bucks County Illustrators Society exhibit “Fantasy Tales” at Cabrini University

We are happy to announce that Cabrini University in Radnor, PA, has asked BCiS to mount our Fantasy Tales exhibit in their Gorevin Gallery. Our show will run through April 8. We invite the public to join us at the opening reception next Thursday, March 15 from 4:30 – 6:30 pm (it was originally scheduled for earlier in March but the large snowstorm and power failures forced us to change the date). Cabrini University is located at 610 King of Prussia Road, Radnor, PA, and the Gorevin Gallery is in their Holy Spirit Library building.  A campus map can be seen HERE,

For the Fantasy Tales theme, each illustrator chose a story or excerpt from a story that has elements of fairy tale, supernatural or fantastical events, and created an illustration to accompany the story. The artwork in Fantasy Tales encompasses a wide range of illustration styles among BCiS illustrators,  and varies from traditional media to digital to combinations of both.  The stories chosen span classic fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella to a Native American Folk Tale to the epic King Kong saga. BCiS produced a book of the exhibit with the artwork and each illustrator’s biography, available for purchase by emailing BCiS at bcillustrators@gmail.com.

The show includes artwork by Joe DeVito, Glenn Zimmer, James Bennett, Monika Hinterwaldner, Gil Cohen, Katie Maxwell, Joe Kulka, Piya Wannachaiwong, Christina Wannachaiwong, Rich Harrington, Becca Haushalter Klein, Rebecca Rhodin, Marie Thresher, Pam Convery- Hamilton , Dan Fione, Deb Hoeffner, Kim Kurki and Pat Achilles, and the exhibit was coordinated at Cabrini by Jeanne Komp and Nicholas Jacques.

Here are a few other events involving BCiS members coming up:

Etsy Round Table for Artists. Wednesday March 14 from 6:30 to 8 PM at Phoenix Art Supplies & Framing,  (1810 S. Easton Rd. Doylestown – they are on Rte 611, just a little north of Edison-Furlong Rd.). Pat Achilles will lead a free round table discussion on ‘Etsy for Artists’.  Pat has had an Etsy shop for her illustrated greeting cards for a while and finds Etsy a low-cost platform for selling art. She’ll begin the meeting explaining steps on starting an Etsy shop, so if you are considering creating one you’ll learn the basics.Then she’ll open it up to discussion & questions. The hope is that other artists who do Etsy will attend and share their experiences as well. Phoenix asks you to call to let them know you are coming, only so they can have enough chairs for everyone. So if you think you’ll come, just let them know at 215-345-0980 – the event is free. (And if you need any art supplies, Margaret told me the register will be open)

 

Bucks Fever Art Exhibit. This exhibit kicks off the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce ‘Bucks Fever’ cultural season. Submission deadline is March 20. The theme for this year’s show is ‘Black & White’ in any medium, and the exhibit itself will run have an Opening Reception Thursday, April 26, 2018 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at The Bridges at Warwick, 1600 Almshouse Road, Jamison PA 18929.  The Exhibition continues through May 10, 2018, 11am – 5pm (daily), 10am – 3pm (weekends). Admission to the event: FREE. Information: 215-348-3913.  All info is at  http://centralbuckschamber.com/bucksfever/byersart.cfm 

Rich Harrington Exhibit in Lambertville.  Rich’s paintings are featured at The Final Four (4X4 Winter Group exhibit series) with work by Laura Rutherford Renner, Jane Adriance and Joseph DeFay. The show is March 8 to April 1, with an opening reception: Saturday, March 10, 2-6 pm .  Gallery Hours: Thurs, Fri, Sat & Sunday 11:00 am – 6:00 pm or by appointment.  At the Artists’ Gallery, 18 Bridge St., Lambertville, NJ. 609-397-4588. contact@lambertvillearts.com  

 

Charles Santore Podcast and Exhibit. There is a great podcast interview of Charles Santore at https://soundcloud.com/woodmereart/santore-podcast . The Santore exhibit is at the Woodmere Art Museum, Chestnut Hill, now through May 13. To see the catalog of this exhibit go to https://woodmereartmuseum.org/explore-online/catalogues/ and click on ‘view catalog’ under the Santore heading.

The Bucks County Illustrators Society’s next exhibit

And the public is invited!

 

 

My Illustrations in the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s Phillustration Exhibit

I’m very pleased and honored to say that I have two illustrations accepted into Phillustration 8 at the Philadelphia Sketch Club.

The juried show at the Sketch Club, which is the oldest association for artists in the country, has an opening reception on Sunday November 20 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. The show runs from November 11 to December 3. It features some of the best illustrations in the Philly area in categories such as books, editorial, advertising, institutional and student work. This year’s jurors were freelance illustrator and designer for 3×3 Magazine Skye Bolluyt; and Steve Spatucci, an illustrator, animator. author and multimedia creator whose Plasmic Studio develops identities for companies and implements them in various media formats.

The pieces of mine that will be in the exhibit are my illustration for the Bucks County Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s production of HMS Pinafore:

And my portfolio piece for The Pied Piper of Hamelin, published in the Bucks County Illustrators Society showcase book Fantasy Tales:

I invite everyone to take in this exhibit; illustration is fine art that tells a story. The Sketch Club is located at 235 S. Camac Street in Philadelphia, and the gallery hours are Wednesday, Friday,  Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

All artwork (c) Pat Achilles.

Poodle Posse Picture Book

Author Chrysa Smith has written a prequel to her stories of the Poodle Posse, books that are geared to grades 2 to 4, and this one will be a picture book for younger children.  I love the title – Once upon a Poodle. Since I’m just in the sketch-tightening stage I can’t show much yet. but here’s one spread that’s pretty much complete.

I’ll post updates as we move the book along. The other Poodle Posse books, and info about Chrysa’s school visit programs, are on her site http://www.wellbredbook.net/ .

And allow me just to again plug our Bucks County Illustrators Society book Fantasy Tales, which includes terrific art and stories by 19 illustrators, available on my Store page here.

 

Animals and Musical Instruments

Reprinted from the blog of the Scatter Joy Center for the Arts:

On June 24, Scatter Joy’s new exhibit “Fantasy Tales” opens, featuring the work of members of the Bucks County Illustrators Society. Pat Achilles is not only one of the founders of this incredible group, she’ll be showing her work, too. Here, she shares some of the inspiration that shapes her work.

“My father was very musical and I have always loved drawing musical instruments – I’ve done a series of little animals playing instruments for greeting cards, and for years I’ve illustrated posters for the Lenape Chamber Ensemble with little musical menageries too. Strings, horns and woodwinds are beautiful in their design as well as being functional. I think that’s one reason I chose to draw the Pied Piper for ‘Fantasy Tales,’ to work a beautiful instrument into fanciful story.”

Are you coming to the Fantasy Tales exhibit by the Bucks County Illustrators Society? Our opening reception (everyone invited!) is Friday June 24 from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm at the Scatter Joy Center for the Arts, 305 Horsham Rd, Horsham, PA.  More info on my blog post https://achillesportfolio.wordpress.com/2016/06/06/announcing-fantasy-tales-a-bucks-county-illustrators-society-showcase/ .

Invitation to Fantasy Tales Exhibit

I designed our invitation, based on Glenn Zimmer’s cover design of our book Fantasy Tales. Friends, family and art lovers are kindly invited!

Announcing ‘Fantasy Tales,’ a Bucks County Illustrators Society Showcase

I’m thrilled to be part of a unique publication of The Bucks County Illustrators Society – a showcase of the talent of the Society’s members, a full color book with text and illustrations entitled Fantasy Tales.  As a co-founder of BCiS, I am especially pleased to see the work of so many of my friends in the arts highlighted together.

The book includes art by me as well as James Bennett, Deb Hoeffner, Gil Cohen, Dot Bunn, Joe DeVito, Ponder Goembel, Rich Harrington,Monika Hinterwaldner, Becca Klein, Glenn Zimmer, Marie Thresher,Joe Kulka,  Rebecca Rhodin, Pam Hamilton, Sandy Bender, Kim Kurki, Seth Robinson and Kathryn Maxwell. Each illustrator chose a story or excerpt from a story that has elements of fairy tale, supernatural or fantastical events, and created an illustration to accompany the story.

In conjunction with this publication, we are mounting a show of Fantasy Tales artwork by our members, with many of the pieces in the book displayed as original art in the exhibit. The exhibit will be at the Scatter Joy Center for the Arts gallery, running from June 24 to July 20, at 305 Horsham Road, Horsham, PA. The public is invited to the opening reception on June 24 from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm, to meet the artists and enjoy light refreshments. Copies of the book Fantasy Tales: A Bucks County Illustrators Society Showcase will be available for purchase at the opening.

The artwork in Fantasy Tales encompasses a wide range of illustration styles among BCiS illustrators, and varies from traditional media to digital to combinations of both. The stories chosen span classic Fairy Tales like Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella to a Native American Folk Tale to the epic King Kong saga. Each illustrator’s biography is also included in the book.

I invite all my friends, and any fans of illustration or fantasy art to come to our opening or visit the gallery during June and July. In Fantasy Tales the Bucks County Illustrators Society also thanks three institutions with whom we have special friendships: the Philadelphia Sketch Club, whose history of supporting artists and mounting exciting exhibits stretches back to 1860; Phoenix Art Supplies and Framing, a vital resource in Bucks County helping artists find the best supplies; and the Scatter Joy Center for the Arts, founded by artist Kathy Davis, which regularly hosts changing gallery shows and art, craft and music classes for adults and children.

Regarding parking for the opening reception, the Scatter Joy Center for the Arts, where our exhibit will be held, is in a beautifully renovated stone farmhouse on the northwest corner of Dresher and Horsham Roads, in a shopping plaza called ‘The Elements,’ which has ample parking.

Painting the Pied Piper

In yesterday’s post I showed some of my pencil sketches for my Pied Piper illustration. The finished art, along with an excerpt of the story (which I rewrote, wanting to put my own spin on it) will appear in the Bucks County Illustrators Society’s portfolio book coming out in June.

I wanted to depict the scene of the Piper drawing all the rats of the town out into the main street, and leading them away. In my version of the story the rats literally dance to the Piper’s music, and everyone in the town gathers along the street to gawk and cheer. The Mayor and his councillors watch too, incredulous of the scene before them.

I roughed out a very general composition of the big shapes in the scene and shaded it in pencil for basic tones and contrast.

I drew the separate parts of the busy scene in detail on tracing paper, some of which I showed in yesterday’s post, and put all the tracings together into one drawing.

After tightening up it somewhat, I transferred it all to illustration board and made the foreground more prominent by outlining in prisma pencil.

I then painted it in using acrylic paints thinned with water – I took a few pictures of the stages –

Now the final piece, as it will appear in the BCiS portfolio book, along with the story excerpt :

To see samples of the work of some of the illustrators participating in the Bucks County Illustrators Society book, take a look at the gallery page on the BCiS website. And if you are interested in purchasing a copy of the portfolio book when it is published, please leave me a comment or email me, and I’ll give you ordering info when it’s available.