seattle lad starts first c.s. jennings gallery

as you can see, he is way stoked.

Uncle Pennywhite's Verticopter

The best thing about Abigail--and there was lots that was great about her--the best thing is how she was not a girl. I mean, she was a girl, she had the hair and eyelashes and the dresses and all that. The other girls, though, most girls--allright, ALL girls, except Abby--didn't go for the more boy stuff. You know, frogs, spiders, and swinging from ropes, the get your knees dirty kind of things.

Abby had been to the colonies, she said. Told me stories about elephants and lions. She'd seen them face to face, you see. Her mum, she tried to get Abby to be more girl, a proper lady, but Abby just couldn't. She was too interested. She was interested in what was under the grass, in the sky, what made the earth tick, you know.

Her parents must have finally given up because they sent her here, to London, to live with her uncle. Abby's uncle is more like Abby. Cut from the same cloth, you could say. He likes to invent things. Always tinkering and going on and on about "The Great New Science." I don't mind the going on. He does some really keen things. Every once and a while those things blow up and then it's really exciting. Plus, he pays me a couple quid to help him. Who doesn't need a couple quid?

To be honest, when Abby first came, I didn't like her very much. I thought at first she was going to be like a girl and make us drink tea and say things proper. One afternoon though, when her uncle was out, Abby says to me, "Reggie," she says, "Reggie what do you reckon is under that tarp?"

Well, I knew what was under the tarp. It was the verticopter. I pulled off the tarp and showed her.

"Smashing!" she said, "Let's try it!"

I told her that's exactly the sort of thing we should not try. The first thing her uncle told me after inventing anything, he would set down his wrench or whatever and say, "Reginald. See this? Don't ever touch this."

Abby didn't care what her uncle said, "He's my mother's baby brother, and who listens to babies?"

It was at that moment I knew I was going to like this girl a lot. I mean, if you could like a girl and all.

the thumbnail:


to see more detail: click here.

artist's note: this illustration represents a slight shift of my style. it is more realistic. i have a few juvenile reader fantasy projects i am developing and i am working to bend my style a bit to fit the tone of those projects.

©2007 C.S. JENNINGS

the boys

party man

"say, C.S., what do you like to do for fun on a friday night?"

"i like to watch a movie and then stay up into the morning drawing OZ stuff!"

(this should be my last Wizard of OZ post. no promises though.)

Monkey Napped

VERSION B : 4.20.07

see a side-by-side comparison of the original and new versions.

the monkeys fly in. the monkeys beat the stuffing out of the scarecrow and the other guys. the monkeys carry dorothy off. long shot of dorothy being carried off.

i wanted to pull the camera in. follow her up from the ground and into the sky. originally i planned to show her high above, but the drama of being lower, with the tree line, and just being nabbed, is a little more visceral.

(technically, the left wing should prolly be in front of the tail, but i wanted the visual element, so, you know, whatever.)

to be absolutely frank, while these are the explanation of my rationale for this piece, from the very moment i suggested this topic, this is the image i saw in my head. i toyed with making her shoes silver as they are in the book, not ruby, but i thought that element would stop the viewer at a point where i didn't want him thinking about the small details.

i know. this is a sketchblog. i had to go to finish on this one.

so, here's a sketch or two.

---

this is a sketch i did for the monkey, kind of working out the elements. i knew i wanted aviator scarf, goggles and (i thought) hat, but the sweater had to go. monkeys are vest wearers, and a vest wearer mine shall be. i am making a real effort to develop my backgrounds, so there's a little witch's castle in there.

---

this is a quick sketch, a test to see what "traditional" versions of the characters might look like in my style.

this topic is addicting. i do want to tighten these guys up, apply some ideas i have for them.

Batter UP!

When your baseball bat turns into an actual bat it forces one to evaluate one's life. Billy thought it might be time to be nicer to Esmerelda, the girl in the lunch room who dressed all in black. She'd said she'd get him, and while he wasn't for sure this was her doing, it seemed like the sort of thing she would do to him if she could. Regardless, he determined next time he saw her he wouldn't call her "EsmerSMELLda."

Tally-ho! The Draw Blog

I have been promising to create a place on the web to show my drawings and junk for a long time.

Wait no longer lads and lasses, that time has now come.

What sort of things can I expect to see on this blog? you ask.

Well, my drawings for one.

It will be a place I post stuff about my art. For instance, when my book comes out (SPRING, 2008!), that will be on this blog. Or a show I am having. Here too.

Also, I'm going to tell you about things I think are cool.

...there are some illustrators I've been wanting to share.

...there are some sites you should see.

...there's a book you should look into.

All, though, about, and pertaining, to pictures. Moving and non-moving.

So here's the first drawing.

Literally. It's oldest one I have of my stuff.



(Yes. It's real. I was early single digits, I am told, when it was drawn.)


**A shout out to my buddy Paul for helping me set up the whole hosting thing.