Country Doctor

The assignment:

Create an illustration to reflect the compassionate relationship between doctor and patient for a book of short stories about country doctors.

The challenge:

In order to capture a compassionate, intimate scene, I felt it important to create a close sense of space -- using the bedside and curtain partition, as well bringing the viewer outside looking in through the room door. All this helps create context. A warm, lovely light helps to add emotion and a sense of intimacy.

It was also important not to make it about specific people, which is what can happen when faces and eyes are involved. Through viewing angles and use of light, I attempted to make the faces a lesser area of focus.

The process:

My mother and father just happened to be visiting at about the time this assignment was given. I asked if they would be the subjects. They graciously agreed. We then proceeded to do a photo shoot at their hotel room.

It was about 2 hours of some of the silliest doctor-patient conversation one would ever hear -- certain to cause heads to roll at the AMA. But, I captured some terrific poses.

From this, I crafted several sketches.



The last entry was the chosen candidate for the final.

It was a pleasure, not only to be involved with the project, but to also be able to immortalize my parents in this way. To me, every nuance reveals the compassionate relationship they share -- here, as doctor and patient.

Allan Burch is an award-winning illustrator and portrait artist, providing solutions for editorial, book, advertising, and institutional projects.
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Amy Winehouse

If you haven't heard, Amy Winehouse passed away.

I am a huge fan of her work. She injected the type of emotion into her music that I aspire to with my own art. After you read this post, look for a particular video of her singing "To Know Him is to Love Him," live in the studio. It was a heartbreaker on July 22. She was found dead on July 23rd.

Much like my Lady Gaga piece, seen elsewhere on this blog, I wanted to paint her as an individual, like anyone you might see on the street. Someone you, the viewer can relate to, rather than a celebrity who lives on another plane of reality from you and me.

There are the hallmarks, present, that make her Amy, such as the dramatic eye treatment, tattoos, monroe, and mane of hair, but it's also just a beautiful human face, not far removed from you or someone you know.

I felt black and white was an appropriate palette, for its starkness and the way it forces one to consider the forms and marks without the added variable of color.

Plus, her style was very noir, dark, and moody. I thought black and white would reflect this, nicely.

A portrait of Amy wouldn't be complete without alluding to her troubled ways. I chose to do this through a sense of raw energy as well as fragility within the brush strokes.

A distant look in her eye rounds out the story.

RIP, Amy.

Allan Burch is an award-winning illustrator and portrait artist, providing solutions for editorial, book, advertising, and institutional projects.
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Bert Degheri for USD Magazine

Bert Degheri -- a 1961 alumni of what is now the University of San Diego, a significant donor to the school, and the subject of the "Giving Back" feature of a recent issue of USD Magazine, for which I was fortunate to illustrate.

My challenge with this illustration was to keep the color palette more natural, rather than use the pumped up reds and oranges that tend to permeate my pieces. By the same token, I wanted to give the eye something extra to feast on, so I let the radiant warm undertones just peek through between select seams in the composition.

The University of San Diego is a long-time terrific client, for whom I'm always honored to work.

So how are things going, out there? Well, I hope.

How are things with me, you ask?

Things are good, thanks!

Where in the heck have I been, you ask?

Thanks for asking! I've been illustrating, as usual; creating all sorts of creative work for lots of terrific clients, to which I'm always grateful.

I've also discovered photography, and it's gotten under my skin. I'm enjoying the challenge of learning and applying my visual sensibilities to this new (to me) medium.

My illustration work derives a touch of influence from fashion photography, so it was only natural that my efforts at photography take on those same influences.

Here's a recent effort featuring the lovely Melodie, my frequent collaborator.



So, between my many attempts at visual creation, and trying to learn with rabid fervor, I'm afraid my blog has suffered undue neglect.

Thanks, again, to everyone who has checked in and supported this blog and my work. I haven't forgotten about you!

Thanks, as always, for taking some of your time to check us out! Stay tuned...

Allan Burch is an award-winning illustrator and portrait artist, providing solutions for editorial, book, advertising, and institutional projects.
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•Purchase prints»

Long Time No Post

Well, hello there.

I hope everyone out there is doing well.

I wanted to make a quick post to let you know I'm still around and making art at a feverish pace. In fact, as you've no doubt noticed, I've had difficulty keeping my blog posts current.

Thanks for your patience and your continued support of this blog. I'll have some new work to show you, soon! Stay tuned...