 Jeff's approach to illustrating combines a careful study of subject matter with the use of many tools for applying acrylic paints to and removing them from a smooth Illustration surface. Though the end result is his trademark, the process is constantly evolving , filled with discovery and invention at any point along the way.
Before beginning an illustration Jeff examines and expands upon a number of possible solutions with thumbnail sketches. Once the subject matter is determined, all information and references are used to produce a comprehensive sketch in preparation for the final illustration. The computer may come into play early in the process to help finalize the look of this sketch. The computer allows quick changes of components, angles, or colors that affect the mood of the piece.
Jeff begins a final illustration by enlarging a copy of the comprehensive sketch onto a smooth illustration board using an Artograph projector. Colored pencils are used to lightly outline shapes, transferring only the boundaries between forms. These pencils don't interfere with paint adhesion and unwanted lines the way graphite pencils do. This produces a nearly virgin surface for paint while allowing all the necessary guides to be applied.
Jeff's surface of choice is a durable, bright white, highly smooth, reworkable surface capable of handling multiple layers of paint, scratching, and erasures.
In order of choice, Jeff uses Ampersand (smooth) Clayboard, Frisk CS-10, Letramax 6000, and Letramax 4000. The (smooth) Clayboard is the most forgiving surface with a comparatively thick bright white top surface. This allows for maximum reworkability. It is also a very even and sturdy surface because of its masonite backing. Frisk CS-10 is a highly calendared surface made of hot pressed bright white rag laminated to a non-white backing. It's surface has slightly more tooth than Ampersand or Letramax boards, making it less reworkable but more durable against abrasion than other boards. Both Letramax 6000 and 4000 offer a nice smooth hot pressed rag surface comparable to (smooth) Clayboard; However, unlike clayboard, this surface is thin and very sensitive to contaminants.
Jeff uses Medea Com-Art colors exclusively for illustrating with an airbrush.
"Com-Art paints have the best coverage of any acrylics that I have used for airbrushing", says Jeff. There are also a lot of colors available in both opaque and transparent formulas. The transparent paints can be mixed with opaques, and all the paints can be thinned well. Jeff's familiarity with the characteristics of Com-Art paints makes him a good judge of what they are capable of. Jeff is also exploring more options with oils. Although these paints are more toxic when sprayed, there are benefits to using them.
Jeff uses several tools to illustrate with. Among these are three airbrushes, at least a dozen paint brushes, frisket, electric and manual eraser strips, scratching knives, paint solvents, texturing materials, and a computer.
Each tool plays a specific role in helping achieve a desired effect. The tools fall into two categories. Half the tools apply paint, and half remove or block paint (the computer being an exception). In many cases applying and removing paint is what builds up texture and detail. An additive/subtractive painting process is a key component of Jeff's illustrative technique.
 Jeff uses a customized Paasche AB airbrush for a large portion of his work. Imagine shrinking an AB to half it's normal size! This is effectively what he's done to his AB. The result is the ability to get twice the precision and detail out of the airbrush.
The custom AB produces most of the realistic detail appearing in Jeff's illustrations. It is also the most temperamental of his three airbrushes. It's biggest disadvantage is maintenance. It's greatest asset is control. The custom AB allows for freehand work most of the time because it is capable of producing an extremely fine and controlled spray. Frisket is used only when a very precise hard edge is needed, or not at all.
Jeff's other two airbrushes are a stock Iwata Iwata HP-BC and CM-B (probably the best manufactured airbrush in the world) for areas needing moderately wide to narrow spray coverage and superior atomization. Although the CM-B is just as precise as a stock AB, it has advantages over the AB when used for less precise work. The suction fed Iwata HP-BC has an even greater spray capacity and coverage. This makes it ideal for covering broad areas with a lot of paint fast. Both airbrushes are extremely versatile, giving a great deal of overlap in the capabilities of all three airbrushes (which is a good thing).
Not all the details in Jeff's illustrations come from the use of an airbrush.
At the scale Jeff works, no airbrush alone can produce the detail needed to realistically render fine textures such as grass and hair. These details require a few extra tools to help the airbrush. Jeff uses a No.11 Xacto blade for scratching away paint and a 00000 short handled sable brush to apply hard edges and thin lines with paint. When these tools are used with an airbrush the additive/subtractive painting process makes rendering hair and grass possible at this scale.
Some people have asked, why not work at a larger scale? Jeff answers, "I could, but the details would actually be harder to create using the same technique. My technique would have to be significantly altered to produce details on a larger scale. Tools like the Exacto knife and AB airbrush work best within a specific scale. I choose the final size of an illustration based on how much detail I need to add into it. As an illustrations size increases, the time required to complete it grows exponentially, therefore the best size for my illustration will almost always be as small as it can be (without compromising quality and detail)".
Most of the highlights in Jeff's illustrations come from paint removal.
Paint can not equal the original brilliant white of an illustration board unless it is applied very thickly. Even then it may not be as brilliant. Applying paint this thickly is difficult with free-flowing acrylic paint, not to mention that using opaque white paint for highlights is the wrong approach for an additive/subtractive technique. Jeff's solution is to remove paint to reveal the original white surface of the board. This lets the illustration surface serve as the source of a highlight. Sharp highlights are easy to render with an Exacto knife and soft highlights are easy to render with erasers. A variety of standard and electric erasers help Jeff do this. The Sakura electric eraser creates a wide range of sharp to soft highlights. A couple of swipes from this eraser is all that is needed. White Staedtler Plastic eraser strips are best for creating the most subtle highlights. Jeff tends to use these eraser strips manually rather than in an electric eraser. Colored highlights are easily created by spraying a thin layer of transparent paint back over any erased highlight.
Jeff uses a computer as a time and cost saving tool during the early stages of an illustration, and to sometimes make alteration requests to a final illustration.
With a PC, digitizing tablet, digital camera, scanner, printer, and an arsenal of applications that manipulate vectors and pixels, Jeff can quickly produce small sketches and numerous variations on references for illustrations. The computer and the right application can be a powerful combination. One example of this is the manipulation of reference material with Photoshop. Fine tuning color, distortion and placement before starting a painting can avoid complications further down the road. Another example comes at the final stages of the illustration. A client may want to add a figure, change a color, or strengthen a shadow. All these changes can be done much faster by "sampling and adjusting" on a computer rather than starting a new illustration or returning to the original for such changes.
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