Plein Air Coincidences

I went to see my parents yesterday, mostly so I could see my mother for her birthday today (happy birthday again, Mom!) but also to support their fire department's fund raising barbeque.  While on my way I was going over in my mind what I wanted to try and paint.  There's a great giant old tree by their house that I want to document as one enormous limb after another keep falling off.  I thought I might paint the firefighters sitting around the barbeque pit.  Finally though I decided to paint the old chicken house that I grew up working in.

I got to the house and spent an hour or so talking to my mother and brother.  At one point my mom asked me if I "knew what I was doing 35 years ago today?"  I did not.  I was 7.  I barely know what I was doing last week.  "We were waiting on our first batch of chickens."  Weird...did I subconsciously remember what the date was and THAT was why I had decided to paint the chicken house?

No, it's probably just a coincidence.

Also...I got some pencils I ordered in the mail.

So, I sketched one of our dogs while we watched a movie. A good day for art practice.

Life In A Waiting Area

They had come to get their dependable old car serviced.  They sat in the waiting area much the way they sat around the house...each engrossed in their own pursuits and thoughts.  He, reading the daily paper and for her, a comically oversized (for her, anyways) book.  The only interaction was when something caught his interest in the paper and he would lean over and point it out to her.  She would lean to him, making the appropriate comment, and then go back to her book.

They never looked up, so they never noticed me standing at the edge of the waiting area sketching the minimal beauty that was their relationship built by a lifetime together.

New Beginnings and Farewells...

All of today's offerings are toon-based. It's been a toon-tastic kind of week.

First off, I did a"thank you" piece for an old college buddy.  He and his friends do a weekly podcast called Dinner 4 Geeks.  It is a fantastic little podcast going over all aspects of geekly pursuits.  Comic books, tv shows, movies...everything.  However, I noticed that they don't really have photos of themselves so you can't get a mental picture of them while they're talking.  So I did this for them:

I liked it.

And second we come to the "farewell" portion of the title.  This week I am losing two of my cashiers from the day job.  So I thought I would do each of them an individual card.

(The second card is for the "Walking Dead" fan who is moving to California.)

I wish them both well but I'm gonna miss them.  Such is the world of not paying good help enough money.

Refresh-Reboot

Every now and then I get stuck. Whatever I'm working on gets boring and I need to do something new. I've been working on the book so much I just kind of got tired of it. So I needed to do something different. And sometimes that something is just grab something to paint on and start throwing colors at it. Here's what happened...



Occasionally, you just need to get back to the basics to clear your head.

Internet Experiment

Been reading articles about all those stupid Facebook pictures where people post photos to get people to "Like" or "Share" the photo and typically the photo is of a beaten puppy and the caption says something to the effect of "..."Like" this photo if you don't agree with beating puppies with shovels." Who the hell would agree with beating puppies with shovels?!?! And if they do, they probably shouldn't admit to it in a public forum like Facebook.

Anyhoo...my experiment.

I wanted to try it and see if I could get a picture to go "viral" as it were. But I wanted to do it with my own picture, not a stolen photo. So I thought of an idea and decided I would post this...



And see if 1) people remember what this is and 2) (and more importantly) see if I could get something to viral up the interwebs.

Also, I learned that most of those stupid things on Facebook are just people trying to get a ton of "likes" for their page which they will then sell to corporations somehow.

But not me. Click on mine.

Another Sneak Peek...

Here is a quick look at a page from the book I am currently working on.  Thoughts or criticisms? Aren't you just DYING to know what's going on? Find out soon!

Let me know what you think! 

And A Happy New Year...(Finally)

I know, I know...I'm a terrible poster but I have been very busy. I'm several finished pages into the book I'm working on and I have my new submission for Prehistoric Times magazine. I've discovered I really enjoy putting these prehistoric animals into more realistic and less dramatic poses. (More on that in a later post...)

First the sketch...

And now the final version...

Now to be fair, I like both. But I feel like the sketch gets across the itching on the tree better. The head is further down and gives it a more active look. But again, I'm pretty happy with both.

I do have a favor to ask of my blog readers new and old. If you have a moment, how about you go over to this website and vote for my entry "Dawg Sports"? It only takes a second and you don't have to register for anything. I really would like to win mostly for the possibility of meeting my hero Jack Davis on a more personal level than the book signing I got to go to a few months ago. Really, the thought of him seeing my work is overwhelming and makes me a little giddy. Thanks in advance for your support!