Watercolor brilliance!

I have never commissioned art before.  I like to leave the ideas to the artists.  Today, I picked up the first piece I commissioned though.  Let me explain.  I was checking out my friend Todd's art blog back in 2012 and there were some pieces I really liked and thought would be great for the crib.  Todd's style reminds me of Quentin Blake, which of course I'm a fan of.  I discovered Blake after reading several of Roald Dahl's books.  I would like to write a children's book like Dahl some day. (The BFG is my fav).  Blake's work so perfectly compliments the whimsy Dahl. 

Anyways' Todd's work is fun.  I really like the watercolors he does of animals.  I sent an email out to Todd to see if any of those were for sale.  I wanted to support a friend and I like watercolors.  I appreciate them mainly because I've tried to watercolor and it is hard!  Nothing is ever permanent with watercolor until the painting is dry and done.  They are fragile in a way.  Only most skilled painters pull of a good watercolor.  Todd is one of those painters.  He replied with the suggestion that he would do a commission of anything I wanted.  I decided to have him do a scene from imagination, which I plan to use in a fantasy novel I have forever been working on.  I've been going through some writer's block, but this piece has me inspired to write again.  Thanks Todd!  Todd is also a kickass comic artist.  Check out his Web comic. 

Bahama Coffee Company

So in case you don't know, I have somehow miraculously engineered a research program (with the help of a colleague) that requires me to spend time in the Bahamas a few times a year.  Hard life, I know.  I'm currently doing research on mangrove ecology on the relatively undeveloped island of Eleuthera.  ps. I'm always looking for some interesting mangrove art, but haven't found any. Because I spend so much time there, I don't really bother with the knickknacks and cheesy souvenirs.  You would be surprised how much of that crap is made somewhere else!  So getting Bahamian art that suits my fancy and is truly Bahamian is a challenge.  I have plenty of more trips to find something though.

On this past trip, I did pick up an interesting poster at a good price, free!  It's for the Bahama Coffee Company, which doesn't exist anymore.  Once upon a time, there was restaurant with that name at the Cape Eleuthera Marina, but it has since been defunct.  The poster was made for advertising purposes and prints were sold at the marina store, but I guess since the place went out of business, the store couldn't justify charging for it anymore.  Yay for me.  I wasn't able to identify the artist, but the print is dated.  The artwork is quite Bahamian in the color usage.  They tend to use pastel colors, particularly in pinks and blues.  Something odd, which I hadn't noticed until my wifey pointed it out is how long the guy's tie is!  I'll let you decide the meaning behind that.