Art Out Loud!

A really fun day is ahead at The Society of Illustrators in New York City. On September 24 from 1 to 5 pm, we're scheduled to do painting demonstrations alongside 3 of our buddies and fellow illustrators, Donato Giancola, Greg Manchess, and Rick Berry. The link is HERE
We did this a few years ago and had a great day painting and visiting with everyone. Plus, the Society of Illustrators is just a great place to visit!

Upcoming Conventions!

We're scheduled to be at a few conventions in the upcoming months, so we thought we'd let you know about it!

First, we've been invited to speak at The Calendar Club Conference in Austin, TX on August 5 and 6.

Next stop is Reno, NV where Boris will be the guest of honor at World Con. We'll be joined by our sons, Anthony and David Palumbo as well as Winona Nelson, in giving several talks and painting demonstrations. We'll be there from August 17 through August 20.

Also, along with David Palumbo, we were judges for the art show at Dragon Con where we'll be attending September 2 to September 5 in Atlanta, GA. Anthony Palumbo and Winona Nelson will also join us and, again, we'll be participating in lots of panel discussions (especially a really cool one about our upcoming Tarot Deck and book).

In November, we'll all be going to Illuxcon (November 3 through November 6) in Altoona, PA. We'll be in our usual cozy spot, up in the crow's nest, doing painting demonstrations most of the time.

Also in November, we'll both be the Artist Guests of Honor at Philcon (November 18 to November 20) in Cherry Hill, NJ.

Busy, busy, busy! And thanks to all of those painting demonstrations, we'll still be able to get our work done! See you there!

MicroVisions!

Here's your chance to help future artists as well as to own an original piece of art! The Society of Illustrators Scholarship Fund is holding an auction of 12 miniature paintings (5x7 inches) by 12 different illustrators, of which I am privileged to be one. The paintings will be on exhibition at The Society of Illustrators in New York City through the month of May. The bidding will begin the first or second week of May. This is an annual event (each year featuring different artists) which was the creation of Irene Gallo and Dan Dos Santos. Irene, who is the senior art director at TOR Books, has posted all the paintings in her always-inspiring blog, The Art Department. Check it out and get ready for the bidding!
--Boris

Illuxcon 2

The second Illuxcon took place last week from Thursday the 12th through Sunday the 15th in Altoona, PA. More than sixty five artists were at hand displaying several hundred incredible pieces of art. Numerous collectors were also in attendance purchasing
original art as well as high quality prints for their collections. David, Tony, and his girlfriend, Nonie and the two of us had a grand time. Julie and I also gave an impromptu demonstration as we were working on two paintings for our 2011 calendar. The above picture of Julie appeared in the first page of the local newspaper. What fun!
--Boris

Illustration Master Class III

To all of you who might be interested in attending this year's Illustration Master Class, we've just gotten word that now is a good time to register! Don't miss this amazing opportunity to study with the two of us as well as Rebecca Guay, James Gurney, Greg Manchess, Donato Giancola, Dan Dos Santos, Scott Fischer, and Irene Gallo. Experiences like this don't grow on trees!

Spectrum Show at The Society of Illustrators

This past weekend, we had the thrill of attending both the Spectrum exhibit at the Society of Illustrators in New York City AND going back the next day for Art Out Loud. Painting demonstrations were being given by Donato Giancola, Gregory Manchess, Charles Vess, Sam Weber, and James Gurney, who was painting a portrait from life of the great art historian, Walter Reed. It was such a blast! By the way, in case you didn't know about it, James Gurney not only paints awesome life portraits and is an honest-to-goodness nice person, but he has one of the best blogs about painting we know of.
So now our heads are filled with new art and inspiration as well as all the fun we had getting together with our fellow art-loving friends! If you are anywhere near New York City, you will be doing yourself a great favor by stopping by the SOI to see the show while it's up.

Julie's Chesley Award

Wow! I just got a call from our son, fellow illustrator David Palumbo, who is attending the 2009 World Con in Montreal, that I won the Chesley Award for Artistic Achievement! I wasn't able to be in Montreal to receive the award in person, but David graciously accepted it for me. What a complete thrill! Thank you so much to everyone who gave me your vote of support. I wish you could know how meaningful this is to me!
--Julie

Illustration Master Class

We've just returned from the most magical week! We were two of the faculty members of the 2009 Illustration Master Class, organized by Rebecca Guay, located at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. If you have an interest in developing and enhancing your artistic skills and would like to be surrounded by about 80 of the most dedicated students in this solar system as well as a dozen or so professionals at the top of the field of fantasy/science fiction illustration, cross your fingers and hope with all your might that Rebecca organizes a third Illustration Master Class for next year and join us! It's a gathering like no other. Everyone involved, faculty and students alike, seemed to feel the electrical energy, inspiration, and newly refreshed enthusiasm that was generated there.
We truly hope that the Illustration Master Class will be around for many, many years to come!

Small Works show in Philadelphia

Opening tonight, there is a fantastic selection of Small Works up on the walls at The Artist's House on N. 2nd Street in Old City, Philadelphia. They've got paintings, drawings, and sculptures from 35 different artists. We love to go to shows like this where you get glimpses of so many different styles of working. Seeing good original art is the best kind of brain food for an artist--always inspiring! Makes you want to go home and paint!


Randi by David Palumbo


Olga by Anthony Palumbo


Self Portrait by Anthony Palumbo


Randi 2 by David Palumbo


David Palumbo, Lorraine Reisenbach (owner of The Artist's House Gallery), and Anthony Palumbo

Hajime Sorayama Show

Last night at the Opera Gallery in New York City, we were privileged to attend the opening of an exhibit by the seriously great artist, Hajime Sorayama. His work is a huge inspiration to each and every one of us and meeting him in person was an amazing experience. He's as down-to-earth, gracious, and friendly as a man can be!

Hajime Sorayama, Julie, David Palumbo, Anthony Palumbo, and Boris

Illuxcon, 2 days after

Well, if you weren't at Illuxcon this past weekend, you missed a pretty good time and a unique opportunity to see tons and tons of beautiful fantasy paintings, drawings, and sculptures by some of the best artists in the business.  Here are pictures of some of the fun(Left to Right and then down) View from the second floor, David Palumbo during a painting demonstration, Patrick Jones, David's table, Michael Whelan, John Jude Palencar, dinner at El Campesino in Altoona, Justin Sweet.  
Dave Seeley's corner, Julie with sculpted figure by Tom Kuebler, Boris with sculpted mask by Jordu Schell, Jordu with a sculpture that he traded us for a sketch!

First Friday in Philly!

Our sons, Anthony and David Palumbo, had a show last night at The Artist's House on 2nd Street in Philadelphia...
Alana Bograd, Anthony Palumbo, and Don Riggs


Anthony Palumbo's painting at The Artist's House Gallery, Lilia


Molly McIntyre, Dave Palumbo, and Boris


Dave Palumbo's painting at The Artist's House Gallery, Pink Man Blue Bird


Alana and Julie


Boris, David, and Anthony


Street Musicians singing "Waterfalls" for us.

Appearance at Illuxcon

We wanted to let all of you know that we're going to be attending Illuxcon from Thursday, November 6 through Sunday, November 9.  It's going to be an amazing event with tons of top fantasy and science fiction artists.  There will be painting demos by such notables as 

Dave Palumbo, Justin Sweet, Bob Eggleton, Dan Horne, and Jon Foster as well as a sculpture demo by Joe DeVito.  

See you there!

Boris and Julie