Three children’s books designed and illustrated by me and published by McClanahan. Grimy, Grubby Gardening by Karen Angelucci, Kentucky’s Boone and Kentucky’s Capitol by Melissa Burton. Read an early review of Grimy below. The background for Boone is Cumberland Gap in March-April, the same time of year Boone’s party crossed through and opened the Wilderness Trail into the Bluegrass. Capitol features a night shot taken in the rain with existing light. At bookstores and at www.kybooks.com

http://www.kentucky.com/lexgo/books/story/922893.html?story_link=email_msg

The fun illustration of the goat was done in pencil in 1976. (I'm a capricorn) Center is an award my wife and I went to Chicago to receive for a McClanahan book I designed, Cook Talk withCurtis Grace and Friends. I am especially fond of it because it was done on an old MacPlus in 1989. At that time computer book design was in its infancy. The World Young Reader Prize for 2008 (grandprize) with the old goat at right was for the Woody Washington series awarded in Europe to the Lexington Herald Leader. I illustrated the series and subsequent book. I did six Woody books (published in association with McClanahan) and four series published in 85 newspapers which reached close to a million readers a week.

Shot for an upcoming McClanahan book by David Dominé. It is the Wild Turkey Distillery located atop a hill overlooking the Kentucky River. My wife and I had a two hour hike to reach this site and get this photograph after seeking and getting permission from the property owners to cross their land. Naples Waterfront is currently in production in China. It is large format, full color about the Naples Florida coastline development.

Below are examples of commercial prints. Originals are usually commissioned pieces and prints are marketed to various institutions. The series of pride prints (© Progress Prints) were generally done in the mid to late 70s including the University of Kentucky 78 Basketball Championship with a presentation made in Japan as they toured after the win. The tractor prints were a small series done in the 90s.

Page spread and cover design for Merry Christmas from Kentucky by Michelle Stone. (McClanahan) Order online at www.kybooks.com or find it at bookstores. I did the food shots and design.

Three experiments in portraiture. Above center is a self portrait sketch done in Mexico in 71 and painted in the intense high mountain light of San Miguel de Allende. Above left is my daughter (painted in 81) and at far right is my grandfather (painted in 76). Both of these are much larger than life with the heads about 3 feet high. Both are experiments with concepts of crossovers from photography to painting.

Two illustrations of Charleston, SC. The first was used for the cover of a book South Carolina, Always in Season (McClanahan). That scene was discovered when my grandson and I were driving to the beach. The second is a miniature painting.

The two paintings below depict a darker side of Mexico. The Street Scene (oil on canvas 1976) might more aptly be titled with a quote from Jack Kerouac in On The Road ... “nobody, nobody know what’s going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old”. Below is Girl With a Blue Bike painted in 1972. She was a model at the Instituto Allende.

Above left is a personal experiment which turned out to be an award winner. It is an impasto painting measuring 30 x 36 inches. Above center is a personal graphic from one of my photographs. The original shot was from the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. We had taken the grandkids up there while my grandson went to a band camp with the Cavaliers for a few days. Our granddaughter went with us to the Zoo and stayed with us while we waited. A friend of mine had been marketing director for the zoo a few years before. She had also been director of Adsmore in my hometown, Princeton, and before that, she had headed marketing at a regional hospital where I designed several medical magazines targeting doctors. The editing process was interesting — they had to use medical dictionaries written (it was said) on the 24th grade level.

Above right is a pencil portrait study I did in Mexico. I invite the viewer to study the line quality in this fundamental art discipline, drawing. An artist should be able to think in a visual stream of consciousness and let it flow through the pencil or pen. To the extent possible, I feel an artist should master a variety of media. Before digital photography I had my own darkroom and the early book layouts, adwork etc. were pasteups on boards.

My pieces are usually signed J. Asher, Jim Asher or James Asher. Sports illustrations, rural scenes, food photographs, and more are featured in books and prints and as original art from exhibitions over the years. Recently on Google I ran across an old commercial print of mine from the mid 70's. It was called Gold on the Ohio and I had completely forgotten about it. I had to study it to remember the work. They even had my signature blown up to establish value. My question is where is the original? - I cannot remember. It's an odd feeling seeing one's work selling as antiques.

My wife Carol. She is the author of two books, Especially Herbs and Herbs, Cultivating & Cuisine. The first book was published in 1996 and the second in 2001 (both by McClanahan). The books were designed, photographed and illustrated by me. The author’s photo is from the dust jacket. Above right is a pen and ink from the 2nd book. Both books received several positive national reviews including the following — “Straightforward recipes that offer a practical look at cooking with herbs and a taste of what goes with what. The recipes encompass a full range of culinary herb uses, including seasonings, oils, sugars, sauces, salads, breads and entrées.” Sue Lenthe, Herb Companion

Left: Cover illustration and layout for Assassination at the State House published by McClanahan in 1995. Right: Cover illustration and layout for Murder in Old Kentucky by Keven McQueen (McClanahan). Note: two uses of the same font for different effects. Center: Illustration and cover design I did for the 8th Air Force book Second Air Division.

Book cover illustration/design for A Distant Light, (McClanahan) by Justice Bill Cunningham. This story involves a murder and subsequent trial in Murray, Kentucky and shines a light on racial injustice in the early 1900s in Kentucky. Of art interest - the challenge here was incorporating the two portraits from different eras of the two governors. The train and the weapon are both from that period. Also of lesser interest, I personally modeled as both the victim and the shooter.

A watercolor illustration depicting the late Dr. Thomas D. Clark for the cover of a book, Kentucky’s Clark, (McClanahan) by Bill Cunningham chronicling an extended conversation with the popular Kentucky historian. Dr. Clark graciously invited my wife Carol and I into their Lexington home to photograph him for this painting. Bill Cunningham is now Justice Cunningham, a Kentucky Supreme Court Justice. I did the portrait in 1986.

As part of our personal in-home display, this is a favorite of mine. Painted in the 90s, it measures about 4 ft square. It has been exhibited several times including 3 one man shows. For me the joy of expression comes when subject matter is forgotten. That doesn’t mean that the painting necessarily doesn’t depict something, just that subject matter is way down on the list of considerations and gesture, color, etc. are more important. If no subject matter is obvious, it simply isn’t a concern. I try to use this same mind-set no matter the medium, including photography.

I did hundreds of pen and ink drawings for a series of dining guides written my Marty Godbey in the mid 80s thru early 90s. This is Scarlett O’Hara’s in St. Augustine, Florida from the book Dining in the Historic South (McClanahan). I like this one because it shows the great variety of textures that can be rendered through drawing. I also like the gesture like movement of the pen making the piece come alive.

Image from Derby Entertaining (McClanahan). I shot this at the Ashford Stud Farm in central Kentucky.

Recent digital graphic.

Happy Birthday Carol! Apart from the misfortune of sharing her birthday with the infamous events of 9/11, we have shared many birthdays and almost 48 years together. I took this photo in our hotel room just off the central jardin in San Miguel when we were there on a vacation. We had been there a few years before when I was attending art school and spent at least one other vacation in Mexico after that. Note the water pitcher, the single candle and matches on the night stand. I remember there was a simple wooden cross on the opposite wall from Carol.

Another passing era — a Kentucky tobacco barn.

The illustration below was from some early digital work of several years ago. It won top honors in that division. It was printed and exhibited as a dye sub print. 

Below is one of my sculptures from a few years ago. It is an award winning piece out of walnut and stands about 30 inches tall.

Shaker stairs. Black/white image from Shakertown. Some subjects lend themselves to black/white more than color. In this case both work well.

Winter before last on a gray day I decided to challenge myself to see if I could come up with something inspiring — some beauty in the mid tone, mid winter day. This image from one of my farms would be a typical hillside farm scene, an image, I think, that would be often overlooked but secretly admired. 

Forever gone. An image of a Caldwell County Kentucky country road from before the 09 ice storm.  After the storm the beauty of the region was destroyed for the most part. The trees along many roads were cut, hauled away and burned by FEMA. It took about 5 months to clean the roads throughout a vast region of several counties. Now, for an artist, it is very hard to find that special place for inspiration.  One can define aesthetics in many ways, including the beauty of scars from hard experiences, but I admit to major difficulties in appreciating the blow mother nature has handed us.

This road is on the way to one of my farms where I walked as a boy. It looked largely the same until this year. Neighborhood kids and I would play along this road as we walked to meet the school bus. Ironically I first walked on this road after an ice storm when my father bought the farm and we had to walk roughly 1 mile on ice to see the property. I remember that day, running and skating along these same paths. I was 8 years old —  58 years ago. 

Bardstown Bike. This photo is part of shoot for an upcoming book by David Dominé.

Looking up from the rotunda inside Kentucky’s Capitol. One of my photo illustrations from the book by that name by K. Melissa Burton and published by McClanahan. The book, designed for children, is photographed, illustrated and designed by me.  Order it online at www.kybooks.com or find it in bookstores. 

One of my photos from a year-long shoot of Adsmore in Princeton, Kentucky.

Grand Rivers Kentucky

Civil War cannon on Cumberland Gap.

Fancy Farm political event. 

Girl with basket at Shakertown.

Whitehaven in Paducah, KY. One of my photos of sites across Kentucky.

Newly released, Haunts of Old Louisville by David Domine (McClanahan). This is the third book in the Old Louisville ghost series. At book stores or order it at www.kybooks.com. 

The illustration below, from the Woody Washington newspaper series and subsequent book, features my granddaughter posing as Betsy Ross. The image and all the images from the book are under my copyright and the book was published in association with McClanahan. This series won an international grand prize in Europe for that year.

A neighbor's pond in Caldwell County, Kentucky.

Below is one of my Boone Tavern shots, Berea, Kentucky.

A recent graphic.

One of my shots from the Red River Gorge area in Kentucky.

Below is a one of my shots from Derby Entertaining. Photograph is copyrighted as is all the artwork shown in this blog.

Above is the cover design for Derby Entertaining (McClanahan Publishing House)

I photographed, designed and illustrated this book in 2008. Below is a food shot/page layout from the same book.

Below is my illustration for the title page from Kentucky's Boone by K. Melissa Burton (McClanahan Publishing House).  The portrait in this illustration is based on the only life portrait done of Daniel Boone as he neared death and from descriptions of him as a younger man taken from various biographies. 

I design a variety of book covers from history to light comic work. I have designed in one form or another (cover, book layout, illustration, or all of the above) over 200 books. Many of the books created through McClanahan are books published by subsidiary publishing companies in association with McClanahan. In this case Time Keeper by Anthony Frohlich from Enchanted Valley Publishing Company (on the right) and Women Words & Wisdom by Kim Mitchell and Judith Ralph from the Hen House Press (left).

My design work and illustrations cover a wide range of subjects including children's books. I am the illustrator/designer for K. Melissa Burton's Kentucky's Capitol and Kentucky's Boone, both published by McClanahan Publishing House. http://www.kybooks.com/. For the past several years I have been the illustrator for the award winning Woody series featured weekly in more than 85 Kentucky newspapers as well as in newspapers in several additional states. One year the project won grand prize in Paris, France and have won numerous awards in the United States. The newspaper illustrations which reached close to a million readers each week and the books from the series were designed by me including cover design. The images, all under my copyright, were used in a series of children's books in addition to the newspaper series.

Welcome. My hope is to use this blog to discuss the art of illustration/design as an equal avenue to communicate ideas. I tell clients that the success of a book is three legged, great idea/marketing, written content and eye catching design. A book, product, project can originate from any of these sources. The final product can be a work of art, a fine thing look at, to hold and appreciate for itself; or it can be a profound message, expressed through written content as in poetry or expressive thoughts and storytelling. In some cases it can simply be a masterpiece of creative marketing with the ability to reach many. Ideally of course, a product should combine all three elements to achieve success.