Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

It’s no secret that I am a huge Dr. Seuss fan — his art is wonderful, his lyrics fantastic, and his whimsy and fearless storytelling is something from which we all could learn.

Today’s post is in honor of what would have been the 108th birthday of Theodore Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. 

This piece is actually very small — it might be 5″ X 7″, I don’t remember for certain.  It was created on a half of a page from an old sketchbook using a red calligraphy pen and a black Sharpie.  Again, my focus with mimicking Seuss is his dynamic use of lines and block color.

Happy Birthday to the Coolest Cat around! Thank you for your great stories, your inspiration, and your lasting legacy.

Technique: Lines and Seuss

I have loved the nonsensical world of Dr. Seuss since I was about the size of a Who. (“A person’s a person, no matter how small!”)  His linework is incredible, plus the sheer creativity in all of his works — the creatures, the landscapes, the representations of people — how can you not just sit in awe?

I always was intrigued that, for the majority of his work, he only used 3 or 4 main colors in the books.  Generally speaking, his works were black and white, with one or two accent colors. (Cat in the Hat? Blue, red, black, white.  The Sneetches? Yellow, turquoise, black, white.  Sam I Am? Orange, green, black, white.  Get the picture?)

This piece is a tribute to Dr. Seuss.  I am blatantly mimicking the composition off of an image I Googled.  I wanted to see if I could recreate the energy and vibrance of Dr. Seuss’ linework by close study of it and its color palatte.

I really enjoy this work.  It’s one of my favorites I’ve done, even though it is unfinished. I may leave it this way. I like the abstract edge that the unfinished areas add, plus it gives me a brief snapshot of how I work (from the inside out, apparently).