Oppenheim Platinum Award.

Walker Books and Candlewick Press have brought together three glorious Christmas stories that I have illustrated ,"The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey", "A Christmas Carol" and "The Gift of the Magi" in a wonderful three volume slipcase, lavishly packaged and produced.

Andwe have just heard that the PJ Lynch Classic Christmas Collection has won an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award.

Two Paintings of Tony

Two more of my paintings of Tony.

Tony

Here's another more finished study of Tony.

Rapid Sketch in Oils

Here's a small oil sketch that I did of one of our new models, Tony. I only had a half an hour on this one, but I think the rapidity of the brush strokes works pretty well.

The Nutcracker Book and Exhibition Launch

I will be at W5 in Belfast tomorrow, November 14th from about 2pm, for the launch of the Nutcracker display and the book that W5 have made from it.
There is a fee to enter W5 , but if you are in the area, and you have children aged between 4 and 15, it is a wonderful place to visit.

Still Life of Old Books

I haven't posted a still life for a while.
Here's a slightly different one of a couple of old books.
It still has that quiet, uncluttered quality that I aim for with the still life paintings.

PJ Talks

I am delighted to be taking part in a very cool event called Offset 2009 here in Dublin this weekend.
I'm afraid the whole thing is already booked out, which is a tribute to the organizational abilities of the organizers, including my pal BrenB.

However, I will also be giving a lecture entitled Illustration: The Cinderella Artform at The National Print Museum in Dublin, on Thursday 3rd December 2009. Admission is free.

Here's the blurb.

"Making use of historical and contemporary examples of Artist/Illustrators as diverse as Michelangelo and Leonardo, and Picasso and Bono, Irish illustrator PJ Lynch will explore the changing definitions of Art and Illustration, and will discuss why the distinction between 'fine art' and 'commercial art' seems to be so crucial in the 21st century."

Emperor Giuseppe

I've posted at least one study of Giuseppe before. Here's another more finished painting.
I think that setting the figure within his context always makes for a better picture than a study of a figure floating in space. Of course you need plenty of time to do this.
I enjoyed rendering the fairly swanky chair too, and altogether, I liked the rather imperial look that Giuseppe has in this one.