Jester Week day 6

The '09 jesters catch us up to this season! The '08 cover was so odd, that I decided to go classic in 2009. And what's more classic than an old fashioned, Norman Rockwell homage?



These kids are twin daughters of two of the theater owners. This is the only jester painting I've used photo reference on. We did a photo shoot at the theater, they were wearing jeans and hoodies. I faked the outfits and the masks.

This painting was a send up of this famous Norman Rockwell illustration:

I even did my signature in the Norman Rockwell font. This is as close as I've ever come to straight up copying an illustration. I've gotta say, it was really fun.

Ouch, seeing them side by side like this makes me realize that ol' Normy's roughly 400 times better at painting than I am.

Jester Week day 5

The 2008 jester is the weirdest of the bunch. A total departure from the earlier ones. The hat is supposed to be reminiscent of an egyptian head dress. One of the big shows that year was the musical AIEDA, so I tried to put a little egyptian twist on the jester. Yeah, didn't quite work. But there is something about this image that keeps you staring at it.

Jester Week Day 4

2007's jester is a little mysterious. He's a more subdued and sober jester than the earlier ones. He's dressed in mourning black. The HCT family suffered two deaths in 2006, director Syd Riggs and owner Sally Hale. So the jester wore black in '07, but he's carrying the little theater around as if to say, "The show must go on."

Jester Week Day 3--it's Like Shark Week with Jingle Bells

Here are the 2006 jesters doing a tightrope routine over Utah Valley. The mountain range in the background is Mount Timpanogos as it appears from Orem. The theater is visible somewhere on the grid below. Can you find it? I can not.

[Update] I meant to mention that the city lights and moonlight were inspired my Mark Buehner's paintings in the book A Job For Wittilda. I forgot to post that--then tonight I ran into Carol Buehner, the author of the book, at an author get-together. Woops! Consider it now mentioned! And check out Wittilda!

Mr. T's take on Jester Week

Okay, how weird is this? We're in the middle of Jester Week, and who should bring up jesters, but Mr. T!



I just read an interview where Mr. T was asked if he had ever seen a ghost. He said the following:

Have you ever seen a ghost?

I’m not sure whether it was just my imagination, and the memory might have become blurred in my mind, but again, as a child, one night I peeked out from my bed covers and I saw a court jester wearing curly-toed shoes and a spiked hat with bells on sharp points. Perhaps I was dreaming – influenced by the sound of the wind whipping around outside the house, the building creaking and the rain tapping on the windows, but it seemed very real.

(via boing boing)

There you have it. Mr. T was visited by the ghost of a jester.

Seven Days of Jesters Day 2

Here's 2005. The jester orchestra.

Seven Days of Jesters Day 1

I've talked before about how I got my start in illustration doing theater scenery. I don't get much time to do it anymore, which is too bad, because it was always a lot of fun. Especially the outdoor, summer theater stuff.

The only chance I get to be involved with theater anymore is the painting I do for the Hale Center Theater's seasonal brochure. The theme is the same every year, basically: Jesters.

I thought I'd post the past seven jesters for your enjoyment, then on the last day, I'll reveal 2010's brand new jester. Here's 2004:

click for larger version

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW the Movie

I haven't blogged about this before, but movie rights for my first picture book, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW were optioned back in 2007 by Fox, with Shawn Levy, director of NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM in the producer's seat. It was all very exciting. Shawn Levy even called me to say congratulations. Wild huh?

Well, the option was renewed last week. And yesterday I found out a little more about the script from a New York Magazine "Culture" interview (see the whole article here.) The interview is with Thomas Lennon, one of the script writers, (and one of my all time favorite comedians, remember MTV's "The State?" My family has a worn VHS tape recorded back in the mid-90's which we know ALL the lines to. Monkey Torture, Porcupine Racetrack--even Froggy Jamboree, the skit so bad it had to be placed under the credits--we LOVE you Thomas! We want YOU to play the role of the little devil!) anyway, as the script writer, he says:

"The Devil You Know is based on a children’s book by Nathan Hale, about an American family that buys this house in Galway and it’s got this horrifying little goblin that lives in it. They hire this Irish nanny, a kind of fairy godmother, and it turns out she’s much much worse than the goblin — hence the title."

This is my first peek into how they are approaching the story (sounds fun!) I wish I could be a fly on the wall and hear all the screenwriting ideas. I'm always interested to see what movie studios do to turn a 32 page picture book into a full length movie. The Ireland angle is something I didn't expect, but it makes sense. I'll let you know if I find any more news.