Peep Pipe

2012-01-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

Once again, too much time without a new post. Shame abounds.

BIG ONE

Does the big monster want to eat the kid? or the little bitty fruit he holds?

QUOTING ROBOT

This humble little bot was watching one of the Sunday morning news programs when he heard someone quote Lily Tomlin. He couldn't get it out of his head.

SADLY CROPPED XMAS PRESENT

Mom gave me a couple of nice sketchbooks for Xmas and I love the paper!! This is the first doodle to come about on one of the pages. Sadly, my scanner can't quite capture the whole page. You're not missing vital information but the tiniest bit of loss is obvious to me (and making me crazy). So you should just concentrate on that super cool octo-monster that lives in the deep end.

ANOTHER ONE?!

A strong wind blew her up into that tree and I'm afraid that huge chair won't do her any good. I think her current seat is better anyway. I'll bet she can see her house from there.

DINO PUP

Yeah, he's cute. But he'll bite you in two.

IDIOT

Idiot.

For the fun of it

Unfinished drawing, done with blue pencil. Thought you might like to see one that is just starting out. Gonna have to finish that thing.... BYE!

Collection Du John

2011-11-09T17:12:00.000-08:00

Its been much too long since I've posted anything. Terribly and horribly sorry about that but its been busy. Familial duties and a fantastic trip to France with my wife kept me away. That, and the flu (twice!).
Moving on... I'm giving this new design option a chance. Maybe I'll stick with it or maybe I'll go back to the classic look. Feel free to tell me you hate/love it.

RANDOM

I was surprised to see that I hadn't already posted this. Probably a couple of months old now. Woops.

This is just some fun drawing. Just free wheelin' with my pencil. No alcohol was involved.

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS

I would love to go into an explanation here but for the life of me I can't remember the details. I believe that a special little boy I know was under the impression that he had lived in a submarine while in his mother's womb. Sounded pretty good to me so I doodled it. In fact, I think that one of the reasons for doodling it was so that I wouldn't forget. shit.

PIG and crow

Another drawing that I was surprised to find I hadn't yet 'published'. If I have then I'm doubly ignorant but I don't believe I did. So here is the Pig in his war ship. Name him as you wish but know that he won't respond to your calls. He sails in search of the Crow.

CROW and pig

The Crow! He searches for the Pig with great anticipation. If only he were here moments ago when I saw that Pig. oh well. one of these days.

FRANCE ROCKS!

I took my sketchbook with me to France, assuming that there'd be airport/plane time to do some doodling. I knew there wasn't much chance that I'd be sitting in a cafe, doodling people in the act of French Kissing. No time! But as it turned out, this is the only drawing I did on our trip and I did at least think I'd do a little more than this. As you can see at the bottom of the first page, these are French Monsters. I'm pretty happy with them too. Doesn't happen often for me. I hope I find myself doodling more French Monsters in the future. I really enjoyed our stay there. Thanks for a lovely time, France.

'Freedom Fries', my ass.

The Monsters you see are: Chat Noir (who I should have called, Flying Chat Noir from hell or something....), Le Boo, Petite Giant (and his big ass torch) and finally, Le Grande Coiffure. I'm particularly proud of the spooky "Oooo la laa".

HALLOWEEN 2011

I enjoy Halloween and I enjoy doodling up monster stuff for it. However, due to my being so busy of late, I didn't get much done this year. The French Monsters don't count because they're about something else. I drew Frank's Monster up there, while a plumber jammed one of those snakes down our pink bathtub's throat. What else can you do when the plumber's doing that stuff?

Hope ya'll had some good candy.

Whammy

2011-09-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

VAROOOOOOM

Geez! That guy is flyin!!

AHHHHH.

Unsettling, eh? Didn't occur to me until I scanned this but it really creeps me out. Sorry if it does the same to you.

TITLED PORTRAIT OF A BOY

Don't like the simplicity?

Move along.

TITLED LAURA PETRIE INSPIRED HAIRDO WOMAN PORTRAIT

She had a bitchin flip and rocked the cat suit!

BUS STOP MONSTER

Its your Chicklets or your life!

RANDOM FRIZZY PORTRAITURE

Sometimes I wonder what the hell I'm going to do with all of these damn doodles.

So this post felt a little weener-ish but hopefully no one else feels that way. Weener-ish is not the way to go. I've been listening to Frank Zappa as I worked on this one and it somehow kept me from typing much. Maybe a fear of getting too vulgar. -bye bye-

ROBOTS & MONSTERS (& a bunch of Links)

2011-08-15T18:35:00.000-07:00

PROTOROBOTO

My favorite robots have been R2D2; Huey, Duey and Louie; Jet Jaguar; The Vision and if I'm allowed to list him as a robot, HAL. ...and Machine Man and a million others if I sit and think about it long enough.

With this little sketch, an icon was born for ROBOTOWEAR. From here, a more spit and polished version (a la Illustrator) was created. No need to post that version as you can see it via the link above.

In fact, I don't really have to explain much because the link will take care of that as well.

The PROTO-ROBOTO Made Real & GREEN

I've made a habit, recently, of upcycling wood pallets. Honestly, I need to be sure I'm more careful to chose the more beaten pallets but before I had that epiphany, I had this nicer pallet. I'll still go after a nice one if its an odd size because the odd ones are less likely to be used again. Having said that...

I created this guy for my wife's birthday. (Perhaps I should mention that my wife is a big player down at the Ministry of Robotowear.) I gave him to her a little early because I wanted to show her how proud I am of her (and I wanted to do it asap). His head turns, as well as his arms but that's the end of his mobility. I had designs to make his head a bit more articulated but his shape made that pointless (those shoulders don't allow much room for his head to look up and down). And below is another shot.

FRANK AND JACK

Here we have the two most recent members of my slowly growing Home Made Toy collection. Frankenstein's Monster and a Jack O' Lantern (on a stump). The photo doesn't do them justice (though I admit they aren't my favorites thus far). I keep acting like I'm going to sell these things but the idea of parting with them is difficult to deal with. I should move to oil paints instead of relying so heavily on markers... but that's just me thinking out loud.

Good Morning Weathercock

2011-08-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

Just the Doodles...

GRIP

I DON'T RECOGNIZE THIS BEETLE

GMO

Everything Will Work Out Fine?

2011-07-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

BABY

I was working on some surplus iconography or symbols for myself and thought I had an idea of a small child with a very coarse appearance. This drawing is an exploration of that. It is not at all what I had in mind but I'm not complaining. Its still got an unpleasant quality and I like to think that the addition of the very thin posts on which he sits, add plenty of discomfort. The wrench is his own symbol = work in progress.

PASSING TIME PASSING

I spent some time in one of our State Parks recently (Turkey Run) and took a good deal of notice of the huge amount of exposed root systems out there. Many, I'm sure, are the result of so many feet walking along (and around) the trails. Many more are exposed as trees have grown on rock faces and Sugar Creek has supplied a fair amount of erosion here and there. This drawing absolutely no justice to what I saw but it was never meant to. I just had roots on my mind. When I finished with this, I realized that it was fairly unclear as to whether or not those roots are above ground or if I intended a cut away view of what was going on underground. My intent was the former but I really don't care how its seen. I'm just trying to enjoy myself.

OPPORTUNITIES

I got fed up with my lack of production and/or imagination. Then I forced this thing outta my hands.

I'm not claiming that its highly imaginative but the immediacy was good and I don't hate it (which is huge for me).

TOY TIME

Here we have a Mummy, Robot and Vampire. Not sure how I feel about that Vampire. Not shown here is a Jack O Lantern that isn't quite finished and I have to say that I'm not sure how I feel about it either. But man I love that Robot. Even if his head does sit a bit cock-eyed on his body.

DAY OF THE DEAD

My lovely wife introduced me to the Day of the Dead some years ago. There's a friggin boat load of wonderful imagery associated and after screwing up too many attempts at a sculpy skeleton, it occurred to me to draw on this little guy. Originally he was to be a wood burning adventure but markers took over.

Bye

Disruption

2011-06-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

Following a recent home invasion, I've not found myself up for posting (and haven't done much art either). But, time is passing and I'm working on a shift back to normalcy. Here's a step.

DIMINISH(ing)

One of a number of sketches regarding loss. My memory worries me quite a bit sometimes. This one is about memory loss and the loss of time. But, its not exactly a negative thing. Its more about what these things might convert to. Energy never dies.

NOT NEARLY RAT FINK

Ed Roth came up in conversation today. I didn't bring it up but a very cool friend of my wife's did. So this little drawing is from several months back (another doodle from my desk at work). I hope I haven't posted it before... but if I did, screw it. This isn't nearly as nice as Rat Fink or those fun Odd Rods illustrations by B.K. Taylor but I was only messing around so give me a damn break!

CHARACTER EXPLORATION

It sometimes seems like I'm always trying to work my way back to some art after some frustrating or emotionally crippling event. These are basically that. Trying to remember where I was and to get back in rhythm. Nothing special. But it makes my post look like I been up to stuff!

DIMINISH(ing)(again)

Just another sketch on experience becoming something else. Trying to tell myself that it isn't all lost. I'm not so dismal as I may seem. ...boy that left forearm is messed up.

Bye.

Elegy

2011-05-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

I tend to have a painful interest in the Holocaust. I read of it, watch films and documentaries on it and look over photographs that push out of me the last of any hope or respect I might have for people in general. I won't try to get poetic here. To the point: we suck. I've recently watched a documentary (Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State) which consists of six parts, each ending with Linda Ellerbee doing short interviews on the subject. One of the men to whom she spoke (forgive me for forgetting who he was) was very clear and blunt about the fact that there is nothing to be learned from the Holocaust. It was far too horrible and dark and is void of any positive result. I tend to agree. And you can look to Darfur or Rwanda if you need proof that we learned nothing. Or how about Bosnia?

But I won't go on about it. I'm not looking to put a guilt trip on anyone. Its not like I performed even the smallest gesture to give aid to anyone suffering at the hands of these murderers. I think I look to the Holocaust with such interest because I don't want it to be forgotten. I feel like its a duty to remember it and to know about all of these terrible things.

I honestly meant not to write too much on it.

SMOKE

So when I was young, there was a television mini-series called, Holocaust. I watched it with my family though I wasn't entirely clear about what was going on (I was 9 or 10 years old). One character that made a big impression on me was played by James Woods. He was an artist, being held at one of the camps or ghettos. He, and others, created artwork that reflected the horrors being perpetrated and as a kid, they struck me very powerfully. I wondered if I would ever feel so strongly about something that I could convey it in a drawing. By no means do I feel I've accomplished that here. However, after watching the documentary I mentioned earlier, I was reminded of the James Woods character and began doing a little doodling. I don't think I could ever create something powerful enough for this subject matter.

HATE

I think I was in particular tune with any comments in the documentary that were visual in nature - visual descriptions, that is. A survivor of Auschwitz had commented about the constant look of anger on the faces of the Nazis and I made a quick note. Later, in the evening, I found myself drawing this little thing. I had been thinking of portraits framed in something meaningful to the person in the portrait. In this case, a Jewish victim of abhorent, Nazi hatred.

UGLY

Before creating the first two drawings of this post, I had been trying to work out how to draw the uglier aspects of people. I wanted a cruel, unpleasant face. Inner ugly. I never did come up with a successful drawing. I'm not too hard on myself about it because I find it hard to believe that one could draw the kind of evil I had in mind. This is one of many attempts. This drawing, like many others, struck me as a failure because it seemed too interesting.

FACES

I can't do an all Nazi post. This is a page of face doodles. I scribbled out "LOST FACES" at the bottom of the page. That was as part of a thought I've often had about the faces I make up when I draw. They have to be born of a cumulative mass of faces I've seen and experiences I've had. If I know you or have seen you, then odds are you are in at least one portion of a sketch I've done. Nice knowing you.

When The Wind Blows

2011-04-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

THE FOREST

I spent a good deal of time in the woods around our house as I was growing up. The oversized head is meant to be a now incomplete presence. Something between the hazy memories and the idea that I've left some part of me behind.

CHANNELING FRANK MILLER

This is merely a bit of meandering practice that somehow took on, I think, something of a Frank Miller style. I can't deny that I'm jealous of his drawing skills. I began adding ink to this drawing without having finished the pencilling and then, for some reason, I stopped the inking too. Only time will tell if I return to this one.

MUMMY vs BOMB

This evolved from some desire to draw a 50ft Mummy. That bomb would have been a large tree or building perhaps. For some reason that I don't recall, it became a bomb instead. Perhaps because I decided I wanted some kind of powerful antagonist. Sort of like Godzilla vs King Kong. Who would survive? The Mummy? or the Bomb?

TIME CAPSULE

For the life of me, I can not remember what I had originally intended for this character to be thinking. After struggling with my head for a while, I decided to quote Captain Kirk's last words, "Oh My". However, after looking at it hovering over this fellow's expression, I decided that wouldn't do. I moved on to quoting Kurt Vonnegut but none seemed short enough except perhaps Poo Tee Weet, ~~which only just now occurs to me (dammit).~~ SO, I couldn't take it. I whipped out the sketchbook, erased what I had written and replaced it with Poo Tee Weet. For one thing, I realized that what I had written was stupid. It was, "Pour the Amber!" and was a comment on my frequently revisited desire to freeze time. Only upon typing up things here did I realize I should have written Sap instead of Amber. So I snapped and decided to change things. Poo Tee Weet is really good because my wife was just reading Slaughterhouse Five AND its also one of my favorite book covers/shirts AND because the main character became unstuck in time which sounds like a fair bit of fun for me (if not for him). Poo Tee Weet, it is!

Bye now.

Mini Monkey Post

2011-03-31T17:42:00.000-07:00

A brief post for the sake of posting one image.

MONKEY ON A ZEBRA

I fear this will cause some trouble for me. I don't take well to requests unless the requestor is a stranger and great heaping mounds of money are involved. Obviously that's a problem for me because how is a stranger going to know I exist?

So anyway, the pressure of a friend or family member asking me to create something tends to shut me right down. However, once in a mighty blue moon, circumstances seem to allow it to happen. In this case, it was time passing, stars aligning and a lucky doodle dropping before me on my sketchpad.

The person who requested this is not yet aware that I did it. She'll know if she sees the post but in the meantime, I have to remember to tell her or simply drop it in her lap. A tall order for me and my feeble memory. Plus, if I think about it too much, I'll worry it to death and destroy the thing.

More Toys

2011-03-22T17:45:00.000-07:00

PENNY IN A BARREL

My first post of this year was made up of some little toys I had made. I had intended to post photos of more as they were completed but of course, I lost sight of that goal. However! I'm back on track and we'll start with little Penny here. Stuck in a barrel, she is. Poor thing. This is the best shot of her but I didn't do any prep for it so you see a chicken feather (from last summer's State Fair) and a page o' doodles.

TEDDY

This is Teddy. Or Ted, if you prefer. The nice thing about Teddy here is that you can't be sure if he's a creepy killer sort, or just colorful but shy. Ted doesn't talk much. Just likes to look at you.

THE THING WITH 2 FACES (& 6 ARMS)

I didn't want to get bogged down with lots of photos so you don't get a good shot of the arms. Its been hard enough to get a decent shot of his faces. Here's face #1. Cyclopic and happy to see you with a sunburst navel. He draws you in with that navel and then bites you good and proper.

And Here's face #2. Dark and mysterious with bright yellow teeth, as big as your thumbs!! Maybe I'll name him Chompers.

WENDIGO

Here's a cute little cannibal. Seems a shame he'd kill you without hesitation. Especially if you're trapped in the snow because I bet he's warm with all of that fur on him.

BILL, FROM WORK

Oh hey, its Bill, from the office. Asshole owes me some coffee money.

GROUP SHOT

This is my alternate shot for Penny. I figured I'd go ahead and use it. Sorry but Bill didn't make it to the shoot on time so he's not in this one. That guy's an asshole anyway.

Anyone wanna buy a toy?

Scenes from a Larger Moleskin

2011-03-10T17:58:00.000-08:00

These are a couple or three excerpts from a new-ish sketchbook. I began drawing in it back in November or December but then we moved and the mood I was in with the first two drawings was lost. Or changed anyway. I hope to get back to that mood but judging from what I've most recently doodled (not shown in this post), I ain't there yet.

PUPPET MASTER

Its like a little hand-puppet went for a stroll and found himself inside of a Sendak influenced Kubrick film storyboard. Or something. That monster won't eat him. He's just happy for the peculiar company.

HIBERNATING MONSTER

(Uterine Metaphor?)

Awfully tiny hole for him to use as an exit. On the bright side, he isn't eager to get started.

HOOKED!

This is the first doodle after having put the sketchbook down long enough to buy a house and move into it. I'm actually pretty pissed off that I lost the mood of the previous drawings. I know I can move back to it but for the time being, I'm stuck somewhere else. Maybe I shouldn't type anything with these posts. I dunno.

Pitch In

2011-02-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

Don't like how long it takes me to add posts these days. Irritating.

In the interest of getting something up, I'm ignoring my desire to keep things on a specific subject or theme. This is a melting pot of things that I have available for sharing at this moment. Love it or eat my butt.

DEJA VU

You've seen this sort of thing before. Or you have if you've paid attention to all of these posts (and if I remember correctly which isn't something I do much of these days). Honestly, I don't slack off all the time at work. However, there are moments where I stop and doodle on the cardboard that covers the work table. How the hell am I supposed to resist that? Today, as I sipped some coffee over the official coffee break, I drew that fellow with the cup in his hand. See him? He's at the right end of the doodles.

LITTLE GREEN GIRL

Very nearly didn't add this one in. Seemed not quite worthy of posting. However, as I looked at it, I decided that she has enough creepy cute appeal to throw her in. I like that her face isn't in good perspective. And she's green. What's up with that? (I accidentally picked up a green pencil but was too lazy to put it down)

No. 5

(repeat?)

Seriously, I can't remember if I've posted this thing before. Its been on my desk, at work, for ages it seems (and again, I can not stress enough that I do NOT simply sit around at work and doodle). I think that at times, I see the forehead of these people or things that I draw, as a second canvas. I can't resist drawing on them. I sometimes think I want to dabble in face painting but I fear that parents and children might be a bit disappointed in what I chose to paint on their heads.

CUP

Another from the pile of small blank papers I have. There was a large sized post filled with these guys, maybe two posts ago. Actually, that Green Girl is also on one of these bits o paper. I'd call this a scribbly doodle. I'm not sure I could sell it. Not without an ad campaign.

NO SMOKING

Not at all my intention to end up with a political statement on cigarette advertising. But there it is.

I hope to get a post of all of my little toys that I've made. Hard to get a decent photo of them. Maybe I'll ask my wife for help. She's peachy that way.

2011 @ Last

2011-01-12T17:07:00.000-08:00

A move into a new house has resulted in my not posting for a little while (and not having a great deal to post anyway). However, I do have some little somethings that I had begun working on before the New Year and I'm happy to share them with you. Sadly, my photography lacks something (effort might be the thing) and I don't exactly have things set up for it anyway. Still, I think you'll be able to enjoy my little toys to some extent. When I've finished the first batch, maybe I'll repost them with some better photos.

THE BOYS

Here are Four, (pretty much) finished toys that I put together. I had been wanting to make some simple little toys such as this for over a year now. On my desk, at work, I have this short little cardboard tube (the center from a roll of twill tape) upon which sits a small white rubber ball. On that rubber ball, I drew a little face and on the cardboard tube, I lightly doodled a little suit. I've erased and redrawn that suit several times but that's beside the point. These guys you see here, are the children of that little rubber headed fellow on my desk. And yes, I hope to end up with some female characters as well.

NAME GAME

I wanted to point out the first creation but things got a little weird and I sort of lost control of who came first. The little fellow on the right here, was actually 3rd in what I think of as creation but he turned into the 1st when I realized that I needed a test subject. As test subject, he was considered expendable and as is the case with anything that I plan on being expendable, he turned out to be pretty good. He was going to be a throwaway toy that I used to test varnish applications. And as I keep typing I realize that I really need to give some names to these things. So...let's see... Okay, the furry guy on the left is named "Cliff". The one on the right is "Hucklebucket". Of course, I reserve the right to change their names whenever I feel like it.

UNO

So here we have...oh I don't know....."Stumpnugget" on the left and "JayJay" on the right. JayJay is, in fact, the first of my little guys that I created. By that, I mean that I thought out and doodled up his face/character before all the others. It was only as I began adding color that I realized that I needed a fall guy for the process that I hadn't worked out and so, Hucklebucket took the lead. I think of Cliff as being a sort of "Where the Wild Things Are" sort of character (not the movie!) while Hucklebucket is sort of an unhealthy sort. He feels fine, I'm sure, but if you hang out with him, I imagine that you'd get a headache. Stumpnugget is a zombie. Nuff said. JayJay was meant to be a fairly generic, happy guy. I like that he's got sort of a Charlie Brown thing going on (largely from his coloring).

One thing I've not made a final decision on, is whether or not to allow these toys to retain their head/body interchangeability.

ON DECK

I have two more of these toys that are nearing completion right now but I decided not to add photos of them. Not yet. One of them, I will call "Wendigo" while the other... I just don't know yet.
If you're curious, these are about 4.5 cm tall.

There Can Be Only One

2010-12-04T06:13:00.000-08:00

Born To Be an African Mask

I removed the color from this digital file so that it would be a smaller file size. I only mention it because now I'm thinking that it had more effect on it than I had thought it would. Maybe it won't matter to you as you haven't got the original in your hot little hands (as I do).

I began this sketch while at work, sitting at the break table as coworkers had a meeting. Shame on them for having a meeting while and where there should only be pointless conversation and beverages (though I think that's exactly what happened regardless of it being a meeting - snap!).

This image is to represent a tree before it becomes an African mask, later in life. Or perhaps its a representation of the soul of such a tree. I was thinking about what sort of life (and location) these trees might have had before they ended up in pieces and then carved into some remarkable masks and figures. When I have "free time" at work, I like to do inventories of the storage areas and the bulk of that so far, has involved our ethnographic collection. Since starting this inventory, I have become very fond of that collection. There is a huge amount of fantastic imagery and imagination to be found there and I wish I were more knowledgable of these things so that I could point you toward some super cool stuff. A quick Google search didn't help me too much but you could always go to your local library or poke around a museum.

Subtle Deteriorations over Time

2010-11-17T16:40:00.000-08:00

Big post? Don't mind if I do!

This post is going to be a couple of works short because I had forgotten about two pieces which remain thumb tacked to the wall at work. Just means I'll have something to post later on though.

What you see below are a bunch of necessary doodling I did at work. Usually these take place between projects (or in the middle when I need to step back for a moment) or during lunch or else maybe they happen magically during black outs.

I don't know if I can title all of these things or not. I guess we'll see how my imagination holds up for it. And without further ado....

SMiLES FROM HOT AIR

What the hell do you think I should have to say here?

Next!

PARIAH SMURF

I can see how not fitting in with the crowd can suck but please believe me when I say,

"There are perks."

The BOY IN PORTRAIT Doodle

Well there really isn't much to say here. This one is atmosphere and free thinking doodle.

OUR LATEST MODEL

This is the very most recently doodled work doodle from this set. This one is different from the rest in that it is my working on/out some ideas I've had. Technically, this is a failure.

STUDYING STUPIDITY

This is about creating a look of stupidity on a buffoon.

BE NICE

Purposefully drawn to be peculiar. Be friendly and don't make fun.

DIMINISHING

Look at that picture. Is it receding?

SAD EYEBROWS

What makes this character look sad? The eyebrows.

PHOTO 0276

Looks like a little bit of work snuck into my doodles. That's okay though. I'm sure I didn't really need to remember a photo titled "0276".

GESTURE

There's good gesture here. Very little detail but the gesture gets across and tells a lot. Or is it just me thinking that?

GOOD GRIEF

He's no Charlie Brown but.. but... well he's no Charlie Brown and maybe that's frustrating.

Oh GOOD. A LEAF.

If I hadn't added that leaf to the doodle, I wonder what I'd think of this thing? or what anyone would? What's up with that leaf anyway?

SHIT CANNED

Yeah. Being shit canned sucks.

SOMEHOW ESCAPED THE RECYCLE BIN

Seriously. Why didn't I throw this away? Its weak. But maybe I'll like it later on.

HOW DO YOU DO?

He may be a monster but that's no reason not to be friendly. Suck it up and shake his hand.

ROSEY

Speaking of narrow escapes from the trash.. I don't know how many times I looked back at this one and thought I was nuts for not throwing her away. Still, somehow she remained. Maybe its her boobies.

STRUNG OUT

I was going to say something about the lines making her look strung out but that's really stupid. Obviously the lines make the drawing. However, the lines in this doodle weren't intended to bring that out. They were just part of the sketchy business and ended up becoming expressive. ...but again, of course they did. Screw this, I'm moving on.

$#!!@#$!!

You $#%@!! little #!!#$#!! crap!

GO GETTER!

You betcha!!

BORIS VALLEJO WANNABE

Sexy chick on a monster's head. Hot stuff.

DAD

It may not be a spitting image of him. But it is him.

THE FOREST FOR THE TREES

Can't you see it? Don't worry so much. Its another monster.

WHIMSICAL ZOMBIE BOY

Just like the title says. He's having a good time considering what's happened to him.

ALIA ATREIDES

This chick is an abomination!

You ever read, DUNE?

Okay, that's it! How many doodles was that anyway?

Long Doodles

2010-11-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

Just a quick little post cuz its how I feel like rolling this evening. I brought some work doodles home with me but I have yet to scan those in. Gimme a break, eh?

PUSHMEPULLYOU

I think the image says it all, right? Even though its nothing like the animal in Doctor Doolittle. ..which is why that boy doesn't look as excited as he should.

OH NUDIES!

And here are some doodles that appear to include some nudity. See if you can spot the nakedness.

And as I said, this is a quick little post so.....good bye.

The Cask of Amontillado

2010-10-31T16:04:00.000-07:00

Its Halloween time again and I've hardly posted a single thing related to it. Actually, I've posted nothing related to it. Well, here's something and a little more.

Montresor and Fortunato

I suppose I could have drawn Fortunato being walled in, but I didn't did I?

MADNESS

Some crazy monster and I couldn't think of something good for him to scream so I decided on a reference to Bertrand Russell. Look it up if you like but you may not like it (depending on your belief system).

WHUZZAT? (& Bat)

Tried and true ball point action. I don't quite know why but it always makes a nice creepy image. Of course, drawing a crazy looking thing helps too.

ZOMBIE ACTION

Let my pen do the walking on this guy. He can put a finger into that brain hole when he wants to see pretty colors. He dressed up for Halloween with that two headed worm thing around his neck and the big leaves for wings, but I have no idea what he thought he was dressing up as.

Hope you had a good Halloween. Its a great holiday!

More from the MoleSkin

2010-10-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

Whipped out the ol' tiny moleskin and did a bit of doodling. Here's some results.

Shine Little Glow Worm

I feel like this is a success. Maybe I should go back and do some shading in around the figure. That probably doesn't sound like much to you but it sucks the life out of my fingers when I'm pressing that pencil down so hard.

Ohhh, Just Missed It!

This damn thing was started... I don't remember when. Seems like I started it before my Father passed away in July, then I picked it up again while recently in Atlanta and then finally I gave up on it just this last week! The symbolism faded on me with all of the pauses in this thing. You may not see that there's a sheathed blade hanging at the top. That's the bit with the bird/tree/cityscape. Look for the sword's handle at the left. I also had the girl placed as well as the place holder figures on the left and right. I know I had something specific in mind for those two guys but it got lost so I tried to go over the very faint lines I had created, hoping to remember. Oh well.

Not Exactly a Self Portrait

This little portrait has more meaning in it than the previous doodle. Actually that's not so much the truth. I just know what this one is about, while I forgot the last one's meaning (or intention). This is some self pity right here. I'm not ashamed of it because I was feeling low for a good reason and ended up finding this at the tip of my pencil. If you aren't familiar with The Cat in The Hat then there's a reference that might not work for you. ..but even if you are familiar, I'm not sure you'll get it. I'm sorry.

Back in Black

2010-08-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

"Mai lajf is byutifull

Mai Bet soft end Worm

Wejk ap mai lidl lembs

Sun yt uyl bi daun.

Oll sings, ar wondefull

Houm is neva far

Your Poppa hyrs ju nau.

Aj hijr hym krain.

Uan end Tu end Sfri end vor

Hold on Tajt end dount let gou.

Stiks end stouns uil brejk

jour bouns.

God hes left as on aur oun.

Uan end Tu end Sfri end vor

Aj dont keer end dont nou.

Hold on tajt end dount let gou.

God,hes left as on aur oun"

ASHES

He's lucky I didn't throw what's left of him out the car window. Dad, I suspect that the rest of you was mixed in with the spent kitty litter she left inside the door.

A CLEAN SLATE

Anger made drawing difficult. Time and again, I drew the little hillbilly bitch. Often with burnt stumps for arms. The drawings were poor. Driven toward weakness as I fought the idea of any image of her coming out well. Here, you see a difficult step away from it.

CASE IN POINT

Here, you see a step back. Viciousness and corruption unsuccessfully rendered.

The BRIDGE

Before I managed to get hold of my Father's last painting, I tried to mimic it. Not copy it but work toward understanding what was on his mind.

HEADPHONES, PYRAMID POWER & EDGAR CAYCE

Contrary to the drug addled beliefs of a certain goat/woman hybrid, my Father was not Christian. Do not confuse the lady in the sketch with the goat woman.

ANOTHER STEP AWAY

These two were a welcome surprise. And they're not even that great.

PLEASE DON'T WORRY

Albin Frank Nelson is to be credited here. As is my Aunt Carolyn who gave my father this little greeting card/book, long ago. I looked at it over and over when I was little. I need to let her know I have it and ask if she'd like it back. I'm procrastinating a little bit because I want to keep looking at it, over and over. These odd little daisies litter the background of the scenes in this little card/book (which warns you that too much worry will result in your navel falling off).

ANOTHER STEP BACK

These angry images continue to fail. I hold back from shoving the pencil through my little moleskin and nothing is given the strength it needs.

MORE MIMICRY

The bridge drawing seemed to help so I went back to a little mimicry. A touch of Dad's style thrown in with my own. The "G" you see is the largest part of it, I think. Dad had a way with text that I enjoy. I don't quite capture it though.

I DON'T KNOW

I'm working on it.

Now and Then

2010-07-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

TREE

When I was a kid, I once painted a tree with some acrylic paints my father had given me. It was just about the worst thing you could imagine. A very brown tree with no leaves, surrounded by a suffocating, black sky. It was absolutely awful and I was ashamed of it. Still, I showed it to Dad because I felt that I needed to show him that I was using the paints. I can't remember what he said about the thing. I'm sure I was so terrified of being judged by him that I barely heard a word. Its an enormous regret of mine now, that I didn't share more of my work with him. I've had that same fear of letting him down stay with me throughout my life.

So here's a little tree that I wish I could share with him now. Hindsight is 20/20 and so is regret. Only now do I realize how much I loved my Father.

VooDoo Viking Killbots

2010-06-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

The title has nothing to do with the post and that doesn't matter so don't worry about it. But its a good title, isn't it?

WOW

I bought a long narrow sketchbook, purely because it was so oddly shaped. I had visions, I think, of newspaper comic spoofing. I suppose that may still happen but for the second drawing from this sketchbook (the first stank so badly that I threw it away in disgust) this doesn't seem so bad. She's very hip, this one. Hard to turn a doorknob with those little feathery arms though.

GRAFFITI MYSTICISM

Another sketch from the long book. Had graffiti on my mind. Nothing more that I care to share here but it is sort of the leftover material that was sifted from my mind through the process of creating it in the first place. clever. I just bought a copy of the Tao of Pooh because I thought I needed it but I'm beginning to think I'm not cut out for Taoism. Not giving up just yet though. I'm way too angry these days and...how the hell did I go off on that tangent? Do you like my marine life graffiti?

WHAT'S A LOOPER GOT TO DO WITH IT?

This is a little extra unfinished but I don't care. I wanted to post it regardless. Although this was drawn, thinking of the inchworm attacks on my wife's garden, I now see it as a very contemplative scene. ..sort of. That enormous looper he's got there doesn't really seem to be of much consequence. He's preoccupied. So am I. I'm going to go listen to the Moody Blues while I watch Caddyshack.

Ebony Eyes

2010-05-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

That Bob Welch song was playing in the pet supply store the other day. I hadn't heard it in a very long time and now I can't get it out of my head. I'm thinking its something like The Ring in that if I share the song and it gets in your head, I'll be spared. Here's your link.

HEY!

Caught ya! Obviously we've interrupted something. Maybe a crap game. I'm trying to remember a quote from 1984 but it escapes me. How about this, "You are the dead!" That'll do.

I drew this nice and loose because I wanted the pencil to flip and slip over the paper and make something new for me. Something new, something different.

BORED SWIMMER

The title says it all. All except that this was more of my letting the pencil find something. I suppose I was wanting to draw another figure so maybe it wasn't all the pencil's doing. I really like how disinterested she ended up looking. I think they just blew the whistle for her competition to begin but she's not terribly impressed. Kinda wish I'd drawn a pack of cigarettes under the shoulder strap of her suit. oh well.

Smile Darn Ya Smile!

I just noticed how pitiful my scans look this week. They're all dark and grey and stuff. Sorry about that. Meanwhile, this is the result of my getting fed up with the idea that I should excuse poor behavior with a smile. That, my friends, is ignorant bull plop. There's a difference between positive thinking and being a dumbass.

FUN MONSTER

You should keep in mind that I don't do these sketches, one right after the other. I don't leap from one thought or feeling to a drastically different one, in the blink of an eye. ....actually I do that a lot. But these drawings don't reflect that. This fellow was born of a brief thought I had about Where the Wild Things Are. I think I spotted the movie on dvd or something in a store and thought to myself that I wanted to draw my own wild thing. Not to mimic the book though. Just a monster that was kind of fun without losing his monster-ness. ..er somethin'.

LADY IN PROFILE

This is getting back to being exactly what it seems. A lady in profile. She's accentuated of course. She's special. Love those eye lashes. I should go back and make them crazy big and curly.

Nudies

2010-05-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

Don't be offended, baby. Just be groovy. I don't know how many naked people I've had posed in front of me for hours on end. Its a bunch. A lot of assumptions are made regarding what that's like. Yep.

No one posed for me here though. This is all out o' me head.

SLEEPY

This pretty much is exactly what you see. A nude. I like her expression the most. Maybe a happy memory on her mind.

YIKES!

Again, I'm liking the expression. She's a little bit harsh and I can't be sure if she's just making a face as she stretches or if she's feeling sassy or if she just broke wind and doesn't give a damn who noticed.

ANATOMY? WHAT'S THAT?

When I started this one, I wanted to draw a very very distorted female figure. However, as I worked on it, I realized that while I had begun the drawing as a distortion, I had been working out the distortions as I doodled. Woops. Now I just want to draw a zillion curls and squiggles in her hair. Although I find that this mix of distortions and proper anatomy (or close enough) is bothering me. I feel like I should turn it back to a distortion or just fix the whole thing. Or maybe I'll just draw something else on the next page of the sketchbook. How about the breasts though, eh?

Sex Appeal

2010-05-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

Time for a sexy post.

SUZY STITCHES

I could tell that this little portrait/doodle was going to need a little oomph and frankly, I love putting the ol stitch treatment into drawings. The curled end of the mouth was my head and hand on autopilot. Give us a kiss.

KISS KISS BANG BANG

I think there was a movie called Kiss Kiss Bang Bang but I'm referencing the song by Specimen. More to the point, however, is the naked lady and the TNT circuit closing boom box thing. What are those called? Back to some kind of point, I just want to say that I was doodling and trying to work out a little bit of sexy but cartoonish imagery. I really like that smiley face on the boom boom thing.

BUBBLES!

Don't even think about being offended by this. If you're offended by this, then I'm sorry but I think its important that someone point out to you that you are, in fact, a D-Bag.

Moving on...

As I said before, I needed a change of pace. This is a good one and I hope I keep up the pace. I have no idea how she's remaining standing when her center of gravity is way the heck back there. ...well I do have an idea but I won't go into it. 'Big shoes', my wife tells me.

Totem, Seuss Mutants and Angry Doodling

2010-04-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

First, let's have a totem.

TOTEM

Now we're talking. I wanted to do a totem of animals that I haven't noticed on many totem poles. I'm sure that most if not all of these guys have appeared on some totem pole somewhere but I ain't been privy to it so here we are. Top to Bottom: The Pig, The Catfish, The Rat, the Anteater and the Turtle. If I weren't in a hurry to get this post posted (where does my time go?) I might go into the symbolism (as I see it).

SEUSS MUTANT

As I was trying to think of something entertaining to draw, I happened upon an idea to draw some Dr Seuss characters that better reflect what was in my head. I thought that in that world, there might be some monsters or mutants or simply a very different type of character. One that might be judged harshly, regardless of how Dr Seuss might want people to not judge in that manner. I'm wordy tonight. SO anyway. Here's a three eyed, Whomosexual.

Angry Doodling

So I'm fairly sick of seeing these teabaggers on my television. I'm certain that there are some out there who are not racist morons but I'm afraid that its the racist morons that I'm seeing every night so if you're not a racist moron, but you are a teabagger, then there's no need for you to be offended by my commenting on the racist moron teabaggers out there. These buffoons of which I speak are the most remarkably unpatriotic pieces of crap I've seen. The fact that they drape the flag about themselves only makes me all the more enraged. Fake patriots. They're human chain letters.
Obviously, I'm not happy about them. This rather messy bunch of doodling is an example of how my anger toward them came out on paper. I wonder if political cartoonists are objective about the subjects they choose, or do they just get worked up in a lather and draw something to represent it. I do not feel that these doodles are particularly successful. Mostly I was just toying with the idea of the teabag replacing the old fashioned "dunce cap".
The End.

Bits and Pieces

2010-04-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

Late for another post. Apologies all around as I'm sure its ruined your month. I was on "vacation". A little Shuttle launch here, a little Magic Kingdom there and a nice bit of the Dali Museum (and Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum).

Getting on with business....

TOTEM

I had totem poles in mind as I began working on that thought and this little sketchy doodle. I have another sketchier doodle regarding totem poles but its so very very unfinished (what the hell is wrong with me anyway?). So here's this fellow instead and I do think he's pretty good. I should turn it into a painting or something. Hmm... Anyway, he's not like most totem poles (most that i know anyway) in that he's really made up of the arms and legs of totems. Or arms and legs from the same totem, over and over. If you don't like thinking about that, just look at him instead. He's cool looking and poking at an apple.

STRONG WOMEN

Or in this case, A strong woman. My lovely wife and I just returned home from seeing The Runaways so I'm particularly keen on this subject at this moment. Joan Jett kicks ass. BUT, that's not why I drew this simple image. This was just fun, off the top of my head. I had thought, after drawing it, that I might want to change that rock into a fist. ...but I didn't do that.

GRAFFITI BIRD

I had another bird doodle that I was going to add to this post but I decided it was too weak (which is saying a lot). Here instead, is a comical and stylized bird with a bit of graffiti. I'm sort of excited about graffiti but I doubt that I'll ever do it. For one thing, I'd have to do so much practicing with spray paint and I just don't have it in me to run around the city looking for a nice wall. I also doubt my ability to outrun the cops at my age.

Anyone notice the repeated vertical nature of these doodles (and the fact that all face left)?

Hello! Hooray!

2010-03-16T16:29:00.000-07:00

I have little or nothing to say. I've been trying to put together this post while also deciphering what Alice Cooper was getting at with his song, 'My God'. Moving on..

ON SECOND THOUGHT

Apparently, I decided to return to my thought bubble doodles/art. Oh how I do likes it.

WRENCH

Something is wrong and needs fixing. Perhaps if I had a wrench....

KISS ME, I'M 50% IRISH

This was actually born from an old magazine ad I spotted over the weekend. Loved the lines in that illustration and tried to somewhat copy them here. Why the Clover? Cuz my wife just made a super deluxe pinata for St Patrick's Day.

On Doodle!

2010-03-07T18:20:00.000-08:00

All of these posts are about practice. This time, its practice on paper and practice on screen.

King Worm

Doodled up and rethought a few times. Bit of erasing and a bit more doodle but none too involved. I began this with only the idea of drawing in mind. Nothing specific. Little did I know that it would become another piece of practice on my new digital tablet.

King Worm in COLOR

Honestly, I don't know if this was success or not. I did feel like I got a few steps further. I definitely need a good stretch of several hours work with this tablet. Pretty bird, yes?

ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD

This was drawn for the sake of allowing some of this practice to be more about letting something happen. Or rather, I needed a break from concentration. And that's all.

Re-Education

2010-02-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

I've gotten my hot little hands on an Intuos 4 tablet and have been practicing as much as I can handle. The eye strain, the back pain, an ill suited chair, static electricity and a pounding headache all working against me. Doesn't exactly help that I'm re-educating myself in some ways while learning entirely new things at the same time. That should be enough complaining and excusing. Let's see what we have to see this week....

DEJA VU

Please remember to go easy on me. You may recognize this guy from last week's rambling. I took that scan and began practicing with the Intuos. The worst of things is working out how to recreate the kind of brush stroke I wish I was experiencing. ...make sense? I want the virtual paint to behave more like the real stuff. I was given a complimentary copy of some Corel Painter Sketchpad thing but it only crashes. I have yet to actually close the application! Its a guaranteed crash after I begin playing with the thing. Its too bad because I think I might enjoy it if it worked. But anyway, you can probably see how I'm getting used to the "painting". I see it in the horns and in some of the color changes.

Oliver

A bit of contrast here. This is also practice in that I was working out a composition and patience. This is a weak doodle of a friend's baby boy with a little layout framed around him. I don't know where its going to go. This is number 5 or 6 in regard to this subject and my attempts at creating something of which I won't be ashamed. I don't know when I lost my patience but it is greatly missed, I can tell you.

REPEAT X2

Back to the digital work! This is yet another practice image. You may recognize the drawing as it has been posted in two other forms on this web log. Here, I'm trying to work out underpainting and a satisfying method of working over it. I'm being quite stubborn in that I keep refusing to work more simply in starting out. I should work on simple shapes like cubes and cones and so on. More impatience but I imagine it will pass. After all, this tablet is an exciting toy.

TECHNICOLOR

Again, I'm using already scanned drawings to work over. I have a painting of this general image but I hate it. ...and its unfinished. I set it aside and then we moved to this apartment and yadda yadda I haven't gotten back to it. So there's little to say here but that its another practice session. You like?

Odd Rods

2010-02-21T08:27:00.001-08:00

When I was young, my older brother(s) had access to the greatest trading cards of all time: Odd Rods. Although those images left their mark in me, I never pursued that style of drawing. Never drew Hot Rods or cars in general.

Recently, my wife and I spent some time at a local car show and I found myself mesmerized by a vendor's collection of patches and decals (many of which can be found here). I purchased a couple of decals and one patch. I'm going to be very amused at seeing them on my Honda Fit.

But in the meantime, I found myself wanting to take a poke at creating some similar imagery.

I didn't have a lot of time to put into it but I have enjoyed playing. Look below for some of the results.

LIZARD DeVILLE

If only I knew more about cars. I might have come up with a more clever title. This guy was supposed to have been working a stick shift but by the time it came to add that bit to the drawing, I decided that it didn't quite fit. It would only look like a cane. If the page had been larger, I could have drawn a little bit of hot rod around him. His left arm on the door and his right hand on the stick. Oh well.

SCARE-AVAN (?)

I don't know why I'm bothering with the "clever" car related titles. I'm still not drawing cars. Just the monsters that drive them. At any rate, this was my quick sketching, off the top of my head, as I looked for a style of my own while still holding on to the general look of the Hot Rod monsters I loved as a kid.

And that's all I got.

Baba

2010-02-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

Tragically, I have nothing to say.

A MACHINE

A curious thing that happened when I was playing with pencil and marker. Another monster though. Can't get enough of monsters.

Seuss Nightmare

This started innocently enough as I was drawing something slightly sinister but by the time I was drawing that body and those hands, I realized that I was creating some kind of nightmarish Dr Seuss character. He isn't a good thing.

CONTINUED

From last week. I don't know if I'll fool around with this drawing any more or not. It was exercise and good for me. And that's a yo-yo, not a hamburger.

iDoodle

2010-01-31T07:22:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to get started with this blog without ranting about something. I've rewritten the opening paragraph countless times over the last hour! I don't have time for this crap. I should just stop but its Sunday morning and I've watched the various news programs so I'm friggin incensed and its really hard not to let some anger out in the form of poorly written rambling. I have to let go but can't seem to do it. I suppose I'll settle for just one of the many irritating subjects in my head...

Sarah Palin is an ignorant slut and that does NOT mean that I don't love my country, so kiss off. Also, the next time you feel like forwarding chain mail that's veiled in patriotism, go here instead: CLICK.

now then.....

WOLFMAN

You must be aware of the remake that's coming out soon. If not, here's another LINK for you. It was that remake that led to this quickie doodle. I wasn't looking to make a scary image but something of a mischievous Wolfman. When I was younger, I drew things with a much more serious tone. I don't know what changed. Maybe I wanted to prove something back then. Or maybe I do now. One thing about creating a character like this is that I could draw him with this somewhat cute look but put him into an action which is very unpleasant. In other words, he doesn't have to look so evil and menacing because I can draw him in the act of eating some cute little forest creature (or some chick with a pony tail).

CHICK WITH A PONY TAIL

This was a very quick drawing which I decided to ink with a marker. I'm adding it because I can. Not much going on here but I like it alright. Suppose I could have drawn Wolfie sitting next to her on that bench. Anyway, I drew her as I was thinking about making simple scenes (again). I feel like developing that thinking (when I can remember to!) Luckily, it occurred to me to do another right after her (some guy on the phone).

SOME GUY ON THE PHONE

Actually, this was going to be just a tad more meaningful. This was to be a sketch for the next sketch. It had to do with people who have completely opposite views of the exact same circumstance (no, I haven't seen Rashomon. ..yet.) The idea was to have a split panel with one person smiling and happy -on the phone- wile the other person in the other panel is angry and unhappy - also on the phone. Get it? But I didn't do that drawing. I've been a little caught up in a lot of things and amongst them is another drawing I've been playing with. Just something a little more complicated than these simple scenes I want to develop. Simple but loaded.

SIMPLE BUT LOADED

And unfinished. And too big for my scanner. I'm a little put off by some aspects of this thing because I'll be drawing along and realize that the style of my lines isn't what I had wanted. There's a lot that I wanted to be very tight but I'll look back and see that portions are not. Granted, my hand is smearing the heck out of things as I go but that's not what I'm talking about. But I digress. This is unfinished but I wanted to show it. What's it got? Spaceman and spaceship with special accessories plus a wacked out alien that's riding a warm globe and offering a glass of Tang. Read into it as you will.

Welcome to Paradise

2010-01-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

A Wednesday night post. What the??!!

FRUSTRATING IN AND FRUSTRATING OUT

Here's an example of frustration worming its way down my synapsis to my squirmy fingers. Aside from poor time management and outside influences, I can find myself occasionally blocked completely from producing any art, good or bad. Sometimes, the frustration that builds from that blocked desire finally becomes the thing I make. Sometimes it turns out nice and sometimes, such as here, it comes out weak. I'm still posting this though, with the hope that its good for me not to ignore these pieces. As for what you see here, its the frustration forced to form a new mouth for screaming. What does it say? Something fleshy with hairs and a beak. But its all good (hence the halo).

WORKING BACKWARD

I remembered that I had been wanting to work on these giant headed clip art scenes and so I sort of forced the issue on myself. All part of battling my blocked imagination sphincter.

So here's a simple guy who is somewhat peeved and I decided that an angry thought bubble was better drawn as a tiny black dot. And there ya go.

NUT w/ BENDY STRAW

I am not particularly pleased with any of these posted images but again, I felt like I shouldn't pretend to have never done them. AND, I had to force myself to make them or I'd never get passed this constipation of the head. Too much anger, I suppose. So here's a gentleman with awkward teeth and he likes his acorn drink with a bendy straw. In pencil, he looked far more anxious. Gonna have to work on keeping that feel when I go over things with a marker. I suppose he could poke a hole in that nut with those teeth and then jam the straw inside. Still won't do him good unless that's a coconut which I doodled so poorly that it only looks like an acorn.

All Mixed Up

2010-01-10T16:36:00.000-08:00

Long time, no blog. Holidays, a new iMac (which required some 48 hours of setup time and included one returned iMac! -hey Apple, bite my butt!!), a new scanner which cost a few more days in shipping and then had to be set up, and finally, a new video game that includes a good deal of killing Nazis (doesn't get better than killin' nazis) ALL worked against me accomplishing anything. Of course, I couldn't help myself and was, in the meantime, looking at other's artworks and feeling less and less like I had any talent.

In short: here's a very late post and it ain't much to look at. A mix of old and new and fooling around.

MIX

A mixed up doodle-rama. This is an older little thing and I really only picked it because it seemed like a good flagship doodle for this post. ...because its so mixed up. Just a mess.

EZRA DooDLE

This may not be recognizable as my nephew, Ezra. I drew it from a little bitty iZone polaroid photo that I had taken of him several years ago. I remember that I had also gotten him to say the word "fart" into a digital recorder. I think I still have that recording. I'll have to see if I can't get it off of that recorder. Forgive me for being so juvenile. At any rate, this isn't so bad. That photo is super small!!

TRYING TOO HARD

I wanted to draw something fun when I started this one. It quickly became anything but fun for me and I struggled with it to the end. Can you believe that? Look at this thing. There's nothing to it. And so I go with putting myself down.

WOOD BLOCK PRINT

I came across this print while tidying and thought I'd post it. I made this years ago, printed up a few from the woodcut and proceeded to give one to my then girlfriend (now wife). Either she liked it or she's pretending to have liked it. I'm guessing that she really liked it. I can't remember what I might have titled it but right now I feel like it should be known as Bang Bang.

Shake It Up

2009-12-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the post last week. All of it due to not bothering with much text. I'm sticking with it this time around.

These doodles are for practice and with more than a little interest in the work of Lew Hymers (look him up).

GLOBE

A recurring theme for me here. An enclosure or scene.

EXCLAMATION!

And here I am messing with caricature to some degree. I suppose its more direct to say that I'm messing with exaggerated emotion/character and summing it up in a simple image. ..maybe.

FLAP

More of the same.

SCIENCE

This is also more of the same but with more fluff (or extraneous detail). As far as I'm concerned, that's a blow torch in his hand.

Handle With Care

2009-12-13T10:10:00.000-08:00

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then why am I bothering with the weekly rambling? Let's cut it short this time around.

INKING THE BIRD

Found my black Copic marker. The bird is in the head. Its not real but symbolic. No, this is not an attempt at Haiku.

THINKING BACK

More with the Copic marker. This is my trying to remember what went through my head, way back in the early 90s, when I was drawing.

PreINK in PROGRESS

No ink here. This is the beginning of a piece regarding wishes coming true but finding that they weren't quite what you thought they'd be. I could call it, "Genie in a Wife Beater".

Road to Somewhere

2009-12-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

Somebody turned up the clocks and now Xmas is speeding toward me at a blinding speed. I'd much prefer to experience it as I did in my youth when every day was an eternity. I imagine most people share that feeling.

Need an idea for presents? How about a custom painted mailbox? Pay me oodles of money and I'll take care of it for you. ...not sure how I'll get it done though. I'd probably have to use enamel paints? or sign paint... yeah, that's it. Okay, I can do that in my little semi-studio room so yes yes go ahead and ask. Again, OODLES of money. Make no mistake. Unless you pay too much. Bizoodles of money?

ANGRY DOG MAILBOX

Its a bit messy but you can see how lovely it would be after you paid me those big bones. I have to admit that I'm not sure I could create the dog ear post. I guess I do know someone who could though. I'll just share some of my bizoodles with him. You should take note that the flag on your new custom doggy mailbox will look a little out of place. Perhaps the 'flag' itself could be in the shape of a bone or small kitty. By the way, you haven't missed the obvious lame joke regarding mail carriers and dogs have you?

Before I move on, I want to urge you to write a physical letter and mail it to someone. So called, 'snail mail'. Perhaps if you're young you wouldn't remember (or know) how nice it is to send and receive actual letters. Its still cheap. 44 cents? Is that so bad? Cheaper than dial-up.

RUDOLPH IN THE ROUGH

There are times when I've drawn something very quickly and very much like the result and there are times when I draw something off the top of my head and later have to wonder if I haven't seen it somewhere before and only think I'm witty. This is both of those moments, wrapped in one. Here's a little Rudolph with a super friggin bright nose which hinders his own ability to see. Look at them squinty eyes!

So I drew this so quickly you'd think it was all my fingertips' idea. It was only after I'd finished that I began to wonder if I had seen it before. Its hard to know sometimes. So many images in my head. Still, I felt it was worth drawing a second time (see below).

NOT SO ROUGH RUDOLPH

Okay, so he's still a bit rough. Cleaner than the original though. And I have to admit that I'm actually not as pleased with this version. Its missing something. Probably should simply thicken up some of the linework. Plus, there's no background. If I had some of that halftone pattern stuff..... Maybe I'll throw it into Photoshop or something and do some editing. Could end up on a shirt... but maybe not. Didn't you say you wanted a mailbox?

SHAME

2009-11-29T09:36:00.000-08:00

Something like three weeks have passed with no new post from me. I hate that. I wanted to never miss a weekly post. However, my wife and I have recently moved to a new address and the whole thing has been an enormous drain on time and energy. Just this weekend, I've managed to find a tiny bit of time for art. I hope not to miss another post without good reason.

I drove home for Thanksgiving and along the way, I noticed a birch tree just inside the edge of a small wooded area. It looked fantastic, framed by the darker trees around it and slightly hazy. ..or it looked fantastic to me. And so, the first image for this post is explained.

THE WHITE TREE

I can't say that I'm 100% satisfied with this in relation to what had been in my head on that drive home. I knew I could make it work and its not that it doesn't look like a tree or anything but that background could have been better thought out. Somehow, I ended up with a repeated shape on the right side of the tree, but I didn't see it until now. I was going nuts on the dark areas with an eraser and must have simply repeated my movements there. This is another sort of book cover illustration but I didn't feel the need to make the text so very finished. I like it but I hope that's not because of laziness.

WHO WAS THAT?

Yeah...my biblical knowledge is far from worth mentioning. Spots of the more colorful imagery stay in my head but the rest just isn't there. So isn't there a seven eyed angel? Or did I just dream that up from too much television and Neon Genesis Evangelion? maybe its just the seven eyes of god? For whatever reason, I do enjoy revisiting the seven eyed image. This fellow isn't my first. I like putting seven eyes on other things as well. I also like the number. Seven gets a big thumbs up.

FRANKENBOY 3000

A good case for "name says it all". Obviously, he's the result of some Franken-surgery, he's young and he's got a ray gun. Thus, Frankenboy 3000. Feels odd to be using 3000 as the new, official date of a future almost completely alien to our modern day. But I digress. This is just more of what this blog is about: doodling (and perhaps, rambling).

BIZARRO WORLD FRANKENBOY 3000

Oh mama! What did they do to Frankenboy??!!! Too bad his head is so big. With that snake body, he could have been slipping in and out of all sorts of tiny spots. Maybe his skull is collapsable (note to "mad scientists" of 3000).

Its nice to be back.

Whip It

2009-11-01T17:13:00.000-08:00

I'm late! Everything is busy busy plus the ol "brighthouse" cable internet is exactly as unreliable as you might expect. Can't blame it all on a busy social schedule because I've been up to playing Katamari Damacy. Still...

Let's jump to it.

THE BIG PICTURE

I've done posts like this one before. Here's the over all sheet of doodling and I'll follow up with a couple or so details. I had thought I'd be spending this post with the remainder of my Halloween scarecrows but due to the busy busy I mentioned above, I just don't have it in me to weed the rest out. Some were better than others...but I won't go on about that. I'm sorry to say that this page of sketching has suffered some smearing which made scanning a bit troublesome. I couldn't easily clean up the smears without removing the loose line work. I tried to reach a compromise though. If you're like me (good for you, if you are) you'll immediately take note of the spray can head guy, the hamburger, the doll with a spike over his head and the robot fellow. ..and those hands. I like those hands. I was fairly "on it" when I doodled this page. It feels soooooo good when I'm not thinking nutty things and I can just let this stuff flow.

SPRAY CAN HEAD!

So here he is. Ain't he nice? Got that grin/grimace/gnash going on, eh? Plus that crazy crooked spray comin' out his head!! Face it, he's good. The downside, for me, is that its been done. Its frequently hard for me to continue with some things, knowing that someone out there might think I'm just copying someone else. Makes me nuts and I need to get passed it. One day.... Meanwhile, this guy is good. Even I can admit it. I don't know why I don't do more graffiti ( or any ).

LITTLE ROBO GUY

I knew you'd like to see him up close (but that smearing is awful and I apologize). The things I like about this little character are his arms and legs shooting out from him, his nice round eyes, big white teeth and that wonderful antennae. I wanted energy in this little guy and I got it. Big thumbs up for little ol me. And there I thought I had no self esteem.

I really need to create a short story for each drawing I post. Let's say this little fellow pops out of a chimney...maybe the stack on an old train. ..or a new train. In fact, he sits within a pipe of a futuristic train and simulates the sounds of an old train by saying "Choo" each time he pops up. He pops up more and more frequently until he finally spins around in the air, whistling.

..and farting.

Thank you all!! Good Night!

Go Go

2009-10-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

Halloween is nearly here. I'm surprised at the low number of creepy doodles I've created. I have a fair number of these little scarecrow things but I got so caught up in coming up with a new sort of scarecrow for each drawing, that I forgot about the whole Halloween creepy theme. Oh well.

Pumpkin Head

Here is a tiny thing I drew this morning, with the intention of getting some creeps back into things. Something was lost in the scan in regards to the pumpkin itself. I'm not saying it was the best drawn pumpkin, ever, but its much better than the scan lets on. This doodle began, as I just said, with the intent of making something creepy. Therefore, I drew a ghoulish head with a bit of a scrawny neck. The more I looked at the neck, the more I thought it seemed vine-like and from there, the pumpkin seemed obvious. Might have been a larger pumpkin but I was already at the bottom of the page so...

Scarecrow Hellbot

If his appearance won't scare off the crows, then he just rolls up and bite 'em. From somewhere in my head, I ended up with the desire to make this guy fat and simple. He's got a big eye for lookin' and some big teeth for bitin'. If he weren't surround by wheat (or something) then you'd see he has some treads on the bottom for movin'. The drawback to this scarecrow is that he destroys the fields as he moves about, chasing crows. C'est la vie!

Perfect Scarecrow

One day, I had the thought that a cat related scarecrow would be very good but now, I've changed my mind. A little boy would be better. Here we have such a scarecrow, waiting patiently for his next victim. There's snow in the air because I felt the composition needed it. No other reason. Likewise, I couldn't resist using a mix of ink pen and pencil simply because it works.

A Good Foot

Stand in awe of this mighty foot doodle!! This is pure doodling. No forethought. Just a pen in hand, running wildly over the paper until something forms. Love it. Its not unlike gesture drawing (and I think I may have compared doodling to gesture drawing before if I'm not mistaken). Now tell me that's not a good foot. I dare you.

Wake Up

2009-10-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

In the weeks and months prior to the theatrical release of the film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are, I came across a fair number of websites which were hosting virtual galleries filled with artwork inspired by that famed children's book. It was always the same basic theme: 'we invited artists to create work based on....yadda yadda.' After a while, I began to feel smaller and smaller. I know I'm only a speck in the world of artists and that I'm nowhere near the top of that rather large hill but it still began to wear on my fragile (or enormous) ego. I shrugged it off fairly well but still couldn't resist a few doodles on the matter. This week's post hosts a couple examples of that desire but my ego requires that I point out that these are not drawings that I spent much time on. These, as most of the images on this blog, are simple quick sketches and/or doodles.

Meanwhile (for those of you who don't know), the song you have heard in most of the film trailers for that movie, is not on the soundtrack. If you like that song (and don't already know) it is called "Wake Up" and is by the band, Arcade Fire. Here is David Bowie singing along with them. I like David Bowie very much. I'm sure you knew that because absolutely no one dislikes David Bowie. I also like this song and mean no disrespect to the band when I mention how I'd enjoy hearing Mr Bowie cover it by himself.

Art:

MAX SCARECROW

The scan of this little drawing turned out a bit brighter than it truly is. Or perhaps I think so because I like drawing in dim light. Obviously, this is another little October Scarecrow doodle of mine but with a Where The Wild Things Are theme. I might draw this again because of some troubles I had in the production. Sometimes, some of my markers don't like to get along with other kinds of inks. I quickly discovered that my ball point ink was at serious odds with the markers I chose to use here. It sucks because I just had to use that particular orange-ish. I had to! I also wish I had thought to include the tail in the costume. Shame on me!!!!

QUICK MAX

And then there's this doodle. I nearly didn't include this one because I'm ashamed at the lack of patience I had when creating it. Sometimes, I need to take a deep breath and slow down but its difficult for me to subdue my excitement when I want to do something so badly (or know I have precious little time to work on it). There's little more to say about this than what you see. A stylized version of the main character, with moon above.

That's all I have to share this week, in regards to Where The Wild Things Are. ...but I have been trying to work out something else and I suppose it could appear here in the future.

HARLEQUIN SCARECROW

If Zombie Liberace had a scarecrow, I think it could look a little like this. Maybe I should draw Zombie Liberace some time. This drawing began with a little desperation as I was trying to come up another of these scarecrow sketches (I think I've got about 15 or 20 now; some not as nice as others). I didn't think this would be a winner but by the time I put the little spirals in, I liked it. Go figure.

SIX ARMED, MONSTER CYCLOPS, KITTY SCARECROW (with Fanged Belly)

The title says it all, I think. After realizing that a good scarecrow would be a big crazy cat, I drew this. I have one or two others but this one is the best. Its hard not to imagine his arms waving wildly but if I think that way, then I tend to lose sight of him being a scarecrow. Instead, I chose to believe he's a scarecrow version of the real monster which does, in fact, have six arms that wave about in a wild manner.

2009-10-11T15:18:00.000-07:00

This is blogging while angry (minus the expletives). Suffice it to say that Apple does NOT make computers which are free of bugs and their web browser, Safari, may be the buggiest piece of crap on the planet.

As there are no expletives in this post, I haven't much to write.

Here's an image.

Another scarecrow. When I drew it, I had planned on mentioning Judge Dredd, Nemesis and Strontium Dog. Now I'm too angry to do that. Perhaps, if you are a fan of those comics, you can see some influence.

Another image.

I created this coloring page and then I colored it. With crayon. Its alright, but I'm still too angry to write.

Third and final image before my iMac decides to crash AGAIN.

Another scarecrow. Another pumpkin headed one but with a different style than the previously posted one. Lots of places for a crow to land but he might get skewered.

Apple owes me a new computer.

This Mortal Coil

2009-10-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

October has arrived and I'm loving it. The leaves are changing and that melancholy air is settling around me. Thinking is so much easier for me at this time of year and under these circumstances. I'm pensive. You could print that on my headstone.

Another wonder of October is, of course, Halloween. I've been waiting for what I felt was the appropriate time to start doodling a more spooky sort of doodle and with October 1, I hit the ground running. I pulled out the ol ball point pen because, as I think I've said before, I find it to be a good medium for me to create a nice creepy atmosphere in a drawing.

This post is all ball point and largely Halloweenish but honestly, the first two drawings are of a sort of Xmas theme.

The Ghost of Xmas Past

It wasn't quite October when I created this, and the next, drawing. I was thinking about past, present and future and contemplating the percentage of time I spend on each in my head. That led to my thinking of A Christmas Carol. Without actually illustrating each ghost from that story, I was wondering how I might illustrate a representation of each. Get it?

Well regardless of whether you do or not, this image that is not of the Ghost of Xmas Past is what I drew to represent the Ghost of Xmas Past (or just the Past in total). That's why there are lines which sort of fall from the figure. Loosely attached and easily lost. Floating around the figure and just barely holding together. In flux. It might just as well be the Ghost of My Thoughts. I scanned this in and kept it fairly large in size. Larger than actual size. I couldn't bring myself to shrinking it down because I just really liked how it looked, all blown up. (Click on the image for the blowed up version)

The Ghost of...what now?

Here is what I had originally thought would be the Ghost of Xmas Present but it looks like it should be the Past as well. That's a young me there (and looks nothing like me) but was my hopeful idea that I'm maintaining my youthful energy and outlook. Maybe not realistic of me but I don't care. A good bit of this really was influenced by film versions of A Christmas Carol, though it may not seem so. The life(foliage) around the central figure is what I'm referring to. Its a "New Year".

ScareCrow #1

Wooooooo! That'll scare away the crows, right? Or who cares anyway because I just like the way it looks. Must have been tough on the more artistically minded farmer who couldn't help but forget the purpose of his scarecrow and ended up creating something which considered form over function.

Not much to say here except that I wanted this guy to have a Jack O Lantern head. Mission accomplished!

ScareCrow #2

This one seems to have a little bit of an 'ax murderer' feel to it. I put the wisps of hair on there to help create the idea that there might be a real head under that bag/mask. Scared yet? I would hope that even if you're not scared, you can see the creepiness in the drawing. I certainly tried to put it there!

With this doodle, I think I'll end the post. I have more ScareCrows but I don't want too lengthy of a post and my back hurts from sitting in front of the computer.

Thanks for looking!

Pink World

2009-09-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

I have no reason to be titling the post with "Pink World" (aside from the fact that its coming down). I got the old double album out the other night and remembered how much I enjoy it. I could probably come up with some relationships between the theme of the album and my bent toward SciFi/Monster/Peculiar sorts of illustrations. But instead....

I've finished my little Robot sketch book. I'm only adding one more image from it here. I wanted to keep some of the images to myself as I may have plans for this little sketchbook and they're all secret plans. hush hush. Shame on me for bringing it up though because the first image to share is not from that book at all. Its another of my coloring book ideas.

The Think For Yourself Serpent

What do you think? Feel like coloring something like this? I left his little 'speech bubble' empty because I thought someone might want to not only color this lucky 7 serpent but also put words into its mouth (perhaps a Kanye quote?) I could have put the number 8 on it, or leave that space blank, but I like 7, so 7 it is. Its interesting when you start creating coloring book pages because you begin to realize what it is in a coloring book image that you like or dislike. ...or something. What I'm saying is that I don't want to have any space be too large. As a child, I never wanted to bother coloring in large spaces. In that regard, this image is bad for encouraging a longer attention span and patience.

The Word of Mouth Bots

Now that I look at this one, I feel a little awkward about how little there is to it. Shouldn't worry about it, I suppose. Not one of these guys is actually yelling to the next because none of them can hear. It was an enormous engineering blunder and someone surely got promoted because of it. (my cynicism is showing)

Then again, maybe they can hear. They don't need ears, after all. Just some kind of sensor. What do you suppose they're yelling though? I should have left little 'speech bubbles' over each of them. Not too late, now that I think of it. You'll never see it though. Sorry.

In Case of Emergency

I brought all of this stuff to my scanner to begin my blogging chore for the week and somehow ended up with less to post than I had thought. Being too lazy to go back downstairs and grab more drawings, I decided to break out an emergency doodle. In other words, I picked up an old notepad and a ball point pen and furiously scribbled the above image. If he looks angry, its because he is. That's a dandelion growing on his head and wouldn't you think that would make anyone angry? Plus, I was angry about not having more to post so I imagine it came through in my fury doodling. If you're in a garage band and need a name: Fury Doodle.

Lucky Man

2009-09-20T13:39:00.001-07:00

I thought it would be just wonderful if I went straight into talk about the artwork and didn't linger on myself. Lucky for you. I'm going to be writing fairly quickly so please forgive mistakes and nonsense.

From 2D...

This image is actually quite small. Maybe an inch in height. I had a few other sketches of this idea but I'm far too lazy to go find them for this post. Besides, they look pretty much just like this one but without the color. I've had this small box which I nabbed from my lovely fiance (it had held some makeup as I recall). Anywho, I had an idea for the box from the moment I saw it but only recently did I go forward with the thought. This tiny sketch was almost the "at the end of my rope" sketch. I was having a terrible time working out what the body of this little robot should look like. I knew what sort of texture I wanted but that was all. Finally, this little drawing comes along and Shazam!

To 3D

The head of this guy was almost no worry for me. Except that the original eye sucked eggs. Instead of white, I had used some fluorescent orange and yellow and it just looked terrible. Anyway, the box I mentioned above, is the head. It has a round window in it, which I knew had to be a half open eye. Love it! I have a second body for him due to the struggle I was having with figuring out exactly how it should look. It might interest you to know that this box/body was the failure until I came up with that super small sketch at the start of today's post. It was basically just that orange-ish color and I wasn't satisfied with it. After the sketch, I realized that I was on the right track after all but simply needed the triangles and the drawn arms. (My original ideas gave him 3D arms) I named him, "Halloween Bot".

Speaking of robots.....

HeliBird Bot

Another page from the ol' Robot Sketchbook. Sometimes I feel like that thing is blessed. Little robot drawings just show up on the pages. This is an example of just that. I had some other drawings in the book that I was going to scan and post but then, this morning, I drew this. It began with the head. The shape in particular. I had a bird's beak in my mind and my hands seemed to decide that it was stylized. Then the eye came along and the body followed. The small size and shape fit with the head, compositionally. It had to be the way it is. The wings were similarly created. But half compositionally driven and the rest, just more stylized fun from my fingertips. The legs were more thoughtful. I had a couple things in mind but the end result was more composition with a bit of contemplation mixed in.

I knew the little guy's wings just weren't going to be enough to keep him aloft so I gave him the propeller on his head. Now he buzzes to and fro and chirps like a robo birdy would.

I've Got Your Brain-Bot

This fellow, I drew over my lunch hour. Actually, I think I drew him in pencil over the lunch hour and then, after getting home, inked him up good with a marker. How about that crazy brain, huh? Its fantastic, yes? I really think that if you don't like it, you might be severely lacking in good taste. I wanted the brain to mimic the shape of the dome, regardless of what an actual people brain looks like. Maybe the dome is pressurized and forces the brain up into that shape?

He's drawn to 'trading card size' (more or less). I've recently had a little card made up (actually Despi, my fiance, had it printed). I think this guy would make a good one too though. Then again, I have been thinking of adopting these drawings into my coloring book project. Time will tell.

Time

2009-09-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

I was going to title this post with "iRobot" (thinking of The Alan Parsons Project more than Isaac Asimov). However, as I looked up the song on Youtube, I ended up listening to APP's Time as well as David Bowie's very different song, Time. That led me to giving a listen to Pink Floyd's, Time. So...I titled this post, "Time", even if this post doesn't much involve it. It involves robots more than time. Still, my time is flying by and I feel like going with "Time" and so....

I've been doing some cleaning up and organizing as my Fiance recently purchased a set of drawers for me to store my art supplies (Thanks Honey!). In the course of that, I stumbled upon a couple of old adhesive labels I had held onto, just in case I might want to draw on them one day. That was at least fifteen years ago and I can now say that I finally drew on one of them. Did it this morning.

LABEL

Still got some sticky to it so I suppose I could slap it onto something... but what? For now, it stays on its original backing. This was so simple and quick and easy that I don't think I could ever come up with anything to say about it. Nice though. Nice to throw something like this out of my head and have it hit the target. He's good. He's verrry good.

ALL SEEING KEYMASTER-BOT

Now, back to the Robots. Here's your Keymaster bot. He's also got some luggage so watch out because he likes to stay over without asking. Easy for him since he's got the big key. You have one way out and that is to live like a complete slob. His all seeing eye will catch on to that and he won't bother coming over. Easy.

Mobile Memory Unit

This handy little bot is technically, a cyborg (I think). He's just a living brain on a stick with wheels. Hook yourself up to those bits sticking up out of him and dump your noggin's worth of thinking. You'll sleep easier. I drew this while thinking about doodling brains and the ways I could stylize them. He just came to be as I let my mind and pencil wander.

TIME

You're right. This isn't a normal drawing. Seems that Time is more of a theme to this post than I had thought. I began with the fifteen year old, adhesive label and I end it with a... let's call it 5 year old, unfinished linocut. I found this guy, hibernating in my 'toolbox of crap'. I've pulled him out and hope to finish cutting. I promise a post of the print (if it doesn't suck). I remember that this simple image represented an illustration of having an idea about how one might illustrate having an idea. Ain't I clever?

Stand Up

2009-09-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

I feel the end of my Sunday creeping over my shoulders and so I'm very tempted to fly through this post (which means my grammar and spelling are likely to be worse than usual).

Most of what you see today was actually created or finished just hours ago. Ain't that somethin'?

TWITTER

Here's some political cartooning of sorts. I suppose its more social networking cartooning. or whatever. You figure it out.
I'm no fan of Twitter. Apparently my age group is, but I ain't. I'm with the kids on this one (assuming that, like me, they don't see the point). However, I do know people like it and people I know like it and in the interest of not having those people hand me any crap for my picking on it, I'll hold back with my picking on it. Having said that, I'd like to voice the opinion that its bull plop. This is just a little sketch to visually represent that generally negative opinion. Things to note: the dunce cap and the enormous mouth on that guy. Nuff said.

Now, to rapidly move on to some new Robo Doodles...

CAPSULE BOT

Back to my Spacey/Robot/Spaceship sketchbook that was introduced last week! How about this guy, huh?! Not bad. Not bad at all. I've been playing with drawing capsule 'people' for a small painting/drawing and ended up with this little robot as well. I like him. He's nice.
Next!

ZOMBIE BOT

I was watching a piece of a zombie movie the other day and began thinking of a zombie robot. What would he look like? What might he want to eat, if not brains? My answer to the first question is the above image. My answer to the second question is that he'd probably still want to eat brains because, robot or human, a zombie eats brains. The thing about a Robot Zombie is that it might not be able to eat brains and so, this guy for example, would just mash your head against his "teeth" in a hopeless attempt to eat them brains. I write funny when I'm in a rush, eh? NEXT!

A SPACESHIP! (at last!!)

Took me long enough to get around to doodling up a ship in this little sketchbook. Wasn't sure I'd ever do it. I think I just get more of a kick out of bot doodles. Not much to say here, other than that this is, indeed, a ship and yes, that's a bot in the window waving at you. Wave back.

Or better yet, go Twitter that you just saw a robot in a spaceship on my blog. It may be the most important thing you do today.

And forgive me for my lack of Twitter love. Really.

I Thank You

2009-08-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been lucky to find some old ZZ Top albums. Most recently, I laid my hands on Deguello and Tejas. I gave Deguello a listen earlier today. That's how we end up with the title of this post. The specific thank you is to my brother and his family, for this year's new sketchbook (and not at all in regards to the lyrics to that song!!!)

You may or may not be aware that this blog was born of the previous birthday sketchbook they gave me. It has since branched out a bit but is still basically a 'sketches only' web log.

Now let me introduce the new sketchbook. Here's the cover:

Not bad, eh? Robots and space ships! This isn't like my other sketchbooks though in that the pages are thick and super slick.
So, of course, I had to use markers for this one and I have to fill it with robots and space ships.

Robot Brushing Teeth.

This is the first for this sketchbook and I was pretty stinking happy with it. I like that its loose and I like how happy he looks and I like that round, motorized toothbrush.

X Marks the Spot.

Number two in the book. Another good one, in my humble opinion. Lots of pencil mess around it but that's okay. He was going to be on a weirdo planet landscape and then in the hatchway of a spaceship and finally, this sort of splatter/cross came about. Done.

Robo Fingers.

You may have guessed that this is the Third sketch from the book. Bingo. That sphere is nothing in particular. I made the squiggles on it for no good reason. You shouldn't be thinking about that ball anyway. Look at those crazy robo fingers! Crazy. And he's got that big smile to boot!

Robo Burping.

Scanning these pages is a little bothersome in that the big plastic spiral that binds it all together, also keeps it from laying flat on the scan bed. I guess that's fairly unimportant to bother you with. This fellow just let out a zapper of a belch. Now that I'm looking at him, he reminds me of Richard Scarry's, Lowly Worm. You'll have to look that up. I can't find a good enough link.

Spaceman

2009-08-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

Getting things off my chest:

1) I wanted to be a Spaceman.

2)Chuck Norris is not the supreme butt kicker that everyone claims. I'm sick of this wacky crap about him. You want to know who can kick Chuck's butt? Bruce Lee. Probably Al Gore, too.

3)I like Science. I'm sick of inbred morons, shaking their thick fingered mitts about this oh so horrible thing that they can't spell while watching HD tv, playing with their cell phones and demanding a flu shot for H1N1.

4)My license plate renewal is gonna cost me 200 friggin dollars! I drive a hatchback for crying out loud!

Assuming my opinions haven't turned you away, here's some art...

Grinny

The color and brightness of this scan aren't quite accurate but its close enough. I was going to color his head some shade of yellow but thought I'd scan him like this first. Originally, he wasn't going to have any color and his body was to remain unfilled (only an outline), but I kept going and here we are. I had a bit of old MAD magazine and PLOP! comics floating around in my head (and I still do).

Portal

This fellow is among the first few sketches I created as the idea of making a coloring book entered my mind. He hasn't gone any further than this doodle but I hope he will. The exposed brain is quite stylish, yes? In creating images for a coloring book, you have a lot to think about. I did anyway. Do I keep them nice and friendly for kids or do I go nuts with it? Do I do two versions? How much detail? How little? Might I add some grey for shadows or should I not force that on the colorer? Yadda yadda.

Coloring Book continued

So I whipped out the one and only Copic marker I own and began working on lines and how I liked to hold the marker and how much control of the marker I really wanted. Its nice sometimes, to not be sure what kind of line you're about to make. This drawing is obviously a much more tame subject. He won't make the final cut though. I think he needs ...something.

This one is really just to show my initial toying with the marker. Not at all tight or controlled and though I'm not too thrilled with it, I'm also overjoyed. The marks are crazy and I love it. I hope I don't quit playing with my Copic marker. Come to think of it, I need to get some ink out and play with some brushes too.

Home

2009-08-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

It was perhaps Tuesday evening of last week that I thought to myself, "oh boy, do I have a lot of sketches to show off in my next post!" I was sketching up loads of weirdo fun stuff and feeling pretty good about myself.

Imagine my surprise when I go back through the papers and find almost nothing that feels like its worth a second look. I don't know what happened (except for the few drawings that are currently top secret).

In other news, today is my Fiancee's birthday. Happy Birthday Despi!

Due to all of the above information, I'm not going to spend too much time writing this post. Just a wee bit.

Home

As you know, I'm smitten with the Devil's Tower. It has not worn off. It never will but I'm sure I'll have other things to absent mindedly doodle in the future. After all, Halloween is around the corner. For now though, here's a shot of my giant house with a tiny door, crazy tree and the Devil's Tower in my back yard.

Speaking of Absent Minded Doodling

Just when I mention Halloween being around the corner, I go and post some mildly creepy doodles. Some of this thinking of a toy to make and some of it is attempts to reflect some frustrations and emptiness. Its all very random, actually. Sort of a 'let your fingers do the walking' thing. Remember that commercial?

Things to Come

Not sure if I want to share what's going on here. Its all part of a plan... With any luck, I'll be writing more on the subject in the future. In the meantime, enjoy the monsters and cotton candy.

Close Encounters

2009-08-09T05:05:00.000-07:00

A recent visit to Devil's Tower has left me with a great deal to think about. The downside is that I haven't the time to think about it as I'd like (another childhood luxury). I suppose I knew that would be the case when I was still in Wyoming. That's probably one of the reasons I was so unhappy about having to leave the Tower on the last day of our visit.

Something that I wanted to do on my return home, was to re-watch the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I saw the movie when it came out in 77, and I was nine years old. Little have I known, that I haven't seen that version again in over 30 years. Last night, I watched that theatrical version again, on the blu-ray disc release. Why 'they' chose to release re-edited versions of the film on tape and dvd is beyond me, but I've been watching these alterations ever since (I'm a little miffed). All of it is still enjoyable but there are scenes that finally make sense to me now that I've seen the original version again. I hope to soon watch Spielberg's so-called director's cut (also on the blu-ray release) and see how that goes, but I've gotten what I wanted (and more) in watching the theatrical release.

Richard Dreyfuss, Devil's Tower & The Throes of Creation

I can only hope that I might get some inkling of what's currently swimming in my head, onto this virtual page and into your head, without my sounding like an idiot.

Its not important. I just want to write about it.

As I watched Richard Dreyfuss (aka Roy Neary) wondering over the repeated appearance of a basic shape, it dawned on me that this story I had seen at the age of nine, had become my life. His struggles with mashed potatoes, train set scaled mountains, pillows and shaving cream are all experiences that I know all too well. In one scene, Richard Dreyfuss runs into his back yard, completely frustrated because he can't work out what's in his head. He yells at the sky, "What is it?"

Every time I sit down to draw, that's exactly what its like for me. I'm drawn to it. I need to work out this thing in my mind that can't be described and I have nothing to help me get there. On countless occasions I find myself staring blankly at some inanimate object because there's something there I need to realize.

Its just some "thing" and it makes me crazy that I can't reach it. I can't share it, I can't describe it, and when I can't ultimately reach it (create it), its incredibly frustrating and painful. Distractions become infuriating and painful. I sit and think as deeply as I can manage and sometimes I reach it and sometimes I don't. I would say that Roy Neary's realization that the 8 foot sculpture in his living room was, in fact, the Devil's Tower, is exactly what its like for me when I finally reach my goal. Sometimes, its such a relief to have discovered it that I don't go any further. I have so many 'unfinished' drawings because I got what I needed and now I have to get to the next thing as soon as possible. Not getting these things out doesn't mean I'll drop dead but they do mean that I will diminish. With every failure, I feel further diluted and dejected. The above page of sketches, like much of what I post, is an example of my working toward the thing(s) in my head that I can't describe and don't really know. Just moving the pencil over the paper and praying that I'll spot it. That I'll move a little closer to whatever it is. Maybe I get a line that looks right. I try to do it again. I try to see what the line is or of what it is a part. Its all nuts. Maybe then I stare at it. What the hell is it??!! In this case, I began to realize that it was the Devil's Tower but there was something else there. It turned out to be a little 'thought bubble'. So what was the Devil's Tower thinking?

More rummaging in my mind. Looking around me for the answer. Looking in my memories and across the page on which I'd been doodling. Finally, I realized that the Devil's Tower was thinking, "BAM".

Five Tones

In the case of this bit of drawing, I went ahead and continued the idea of the Devil's Tower and its declaration. I very much prefer the original on the previous page/scan but I've got myself a couple of canvases and nothing to put on them so I thought I'd push this image. Forcing it into that vertical format ruins it. Only time will tell if I go forward. That brings me to the five tones. I don't really want to turn the entire movie into an allegory for my creating artwork but as those famous five tones are all about communication, I thought, "what the hell". Plus, as I said before, I'm sometimes of a mind that, after finally getting this or that mystery out of the depths of my head, I'm just ready to move on. I can't say that I'm ever looking to convey these things to other people either. That's not to say that I don't sometimes feel very proud and want someone to see the cool thing I managed to create. Its simply that the driving (and maddening) force inside me doesn't have communication as a goal. ..unless its a communication with myself. Sorry for being so self centered but I swear it isn't a decision I've made.

I suppose I haven't any more to say on this matter. Perhaps, if you've wondered what goes on in an artist's head (or more specifically, mine) then you might now have an idea. Perhaps I'm just cracked and other artists out there don't share these feelings with me.

Nonetheless, if you want to know what I'm going through on a daily basis, have a sit down with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I might add that its a really good movie too.

Shock the Monkey

2009-08-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

I had fully expected to be drawing/blogging/thinking about Devil's Tower for weeks. As it turns out, I'm still drawing/blogging/thinking about Devil's Tower, but not in the way I had thought. This week's post contains no such drawings. I can't say that its at all influenced by my recent trip unless its by six degrees of separation or something. If I had more time, I'd try to link it up in that way.

Instead of Devil's Tower doodles, we've got two drawings which were begun before my trip and finished afterward. The third drawing is an Edward Gorey influence (picked up one of the Amphigory books recently).

Robot Puppet Show

This was begun during the last 3 or more minutes of a lunch hour when I thought to myself, "I should have spent my time drawing!"

So I drew out two of those three elongated heads and gave one of them a whole bunch of eyes. I had no intention of drawing robots, much less a robot puppet show. The very basic layout stayed as it was for weeks as I had thought it would continue to be a lunchtime project but forgot it day after day. Finally, I just brought the thing home and finished it. Its only a fun little drawing. I like the circles. Its like an audience.

Version 2!

Remember her? I had posted this image a few weeks back, thinking that I really had no interest in going further into the drawing. Seems I changed my mind. I really did little more than work some hazy, peculiar background into the image. I fudged around with her hand and did a tiny bit of line darkening and erasing but not too much. I suppose I could have skipped posting it but I think I like it. It reminds me of an album I picked up recently by Esquivel and His Orchestra.

Also, I really like how screwy her legs are. There's really very little going on with this anatomy that is remotely correct.

Gorey In - This Out

As I said, I recently picked up an Edward Gorey book. "Amphigory Again"

I haven't gone through the whole thing yet as I prefer to get little tastes, but so far I like the other books better. I was sitting with sketchbook in lap and, after drawing that pill, began thinking about the style of Gorey. How it feels to be him, drawing. How tightly he holds a pen or pencil and at what angle and what pressure does he use on the paper and so on. Next thing I know, I'm doing a Gorey influenced doodle and incorporating the pill. I added this drawing because it gave me a chance to mention Edward Gorey and because its an example of one thing going into my head and another thing coming out.

Wild West Hero

2009-07-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

I've recently returned from a trip out West, to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. The entire adventure was a birthday present, given to me by my magnificent fiancee, Despi. Thank you Despi!! Just as my photographs of the Tower can't compare to actually being there, my words can't describe how deeply I felt about the experience. I can only say that it was remarkable. Because of the trip, I haven't much drawing to share. Just some sketched out memories of my experiences out to the Wild West plus some plane ride doodling.

The Big Picture

Here are a group of doodles I actually only created a few hours ago. I sat down with my postcard and sticker booty from the trip and couldn't help but think a little about Richard Dreyfuss.

This scan shows all of the doodles together. I really only spent about 15 or 20 minutes on this page. Much of that time was used up in my head, as I remembered the sights, sounds and smells. I can still recall the feel of the wind and air on my skin. The smell of Pine was incredible.

Some details are below but I now realize that I failed to create one from the lower left of this overall page. That one regards the formation of Devil's Tower and my visualizations on the matter. I could see that coming up again in future works.

The Tower

Obviously.

I'm a little confused as to how it was named. I saw that a number of Native American Tribes had names for it which involved a Bear (as there are a number of legends explaining the Tower's origins which include a Bear clawing at its sides) but we know it as the Devil's Tower. On the park's official website, I read that a Colonel Dodge was credited with giving it this name, after hearing that Native Americans were referring to it as the "Bad God's Tower". I haven't searched much further for info but now I wonder what the story is behind that name.

This drawing was created from memory and postcards (50/50).

The Tower, Again

This one was drawn almost entirely with the help of a postcard. My interest here is in that little outcropping you see. You can walk around the base of the Tower when you visit and its easy to get your attention fixed on that, and similar, spots because you begin imagining what it was like when those enormous pieces of rock fell away from the Tower. There are huge chunks of rock around the base. Its really incredible.

Bears!

I never saw a single one. We saw deer, elk, buffalo, prairie dogs, varieties of birds, burros and grasshoppers but no bears. On a similar note, we heard rattlesnakes but never spotted one. It was difficult to keep myself from poking around whenever I heard a rattle, but probably was a good idea in the end. Anyway, because of all of the tales of bears clawing at the sides of the Tower, I thought there was a good chance that I'd spot one somewhere. The only one I saw was in a painting which illustrated one of the Native American legends concerning the Tower. That was on my mind as I drew this guy. He's all memory/imagination as I had no bear references nearby.

On A Plane

This is what happens when I have a few moments while riding a plane to South Dakota. ...or did I doodle these on the way to Chicago? I can't remember. The best this did for me was in further practice of drawing in public. Its a bit difficult for me sometimes, to do some drawing when people can walk by and take a peek. Makes me nervous.

I thought this was pretty good to add in to this post because these are 'before Devil's Tower doodles' while the above are 'after'. My mind was all over and not too focused in subject matter on this page. This sheet of doodles are a blind expedition while the above are focused on a particular subject.

Pink Moon

2009-07-19T06:51:00.000-07:00

I want to be sure and mention that Walter Cronkite kicks ass. Not my most poetic salute but it sums things up.

There will be no book covers this week. This time around, its a taste of a little pleasure of mine. Several years ago, a good friend gave me a little Lisa Frank stationary set. I had never heard of this Lisa Frank stuff before so it only added to the enormously bizarre effect of the stuff. Plus, it was in no small way, very funny. Among the items was this little newsprint pad with a rather embarrassing cover and I carried that thing around with pride. ..until I forgot about it. Now I pick it up when I remember it, and add a drawing or two.

This week's post begins with some excerpts from the Lisa Frank gallery and then I'll cap things off with some Moleskin doodling for contrast.

Figure Drawing.

I was lucky to discover that a specific pen yielded very nice results on this cheap paper. I'm still nuts about the results. Here, you see a little figure drawing (for the prudes out there, please pardon the penis - that's right, I said penis!). I enjoy figure drawing but I really love to distort the figure as I go. I tend to treat them as though they're rag dolls - sometimes as though they've been created from a variety of doll parts with the scale of the parts becoming both meaningless and terribly important to composition. I am only more than happy to drastically alter the human figure for the sake of a drawing.

15 Babies.

Many many years ago, I watched a news broadcast on the poor state of some Soviet hospital and there were shots of newborns, tightly wrapped up in blankets. They looked like..baby pellets? no...not pellets. Baby bombs. Maybe Baby Pods.

The point is that the image stuck with me and I began drawing it over and over. It has changed over the years when I return to it and I do feel that the old drawings were better. Closer to the point of impact, I suppose. The two flowers are only there to fill in space.

Animals!

I'm posting this one because of the style change. It feels good to draw things differently from time to time and I assume it opens up new avenues. In this image, I've gone to the trouble of labeling what you see (as you can see).

In this case, that labeling adds to the style of the image. It all felt very much like I was making a rather entertaining zoological record. I think the bunny and the snake are my favorites.

Now let us see how my Moleskin book effects my drawing.

Arm.

I let my pencil make some marks which turned out to be an arm. Once I knew what it was going to be, I went ahead and let conscious thought take over. Really though, the only decisions were to put those two horizontal lines into the image and to create the narrow, vertical border. That little string at the upper left is from the spine of the book. Couldn't control the little bugger for the scan. All I really want to mention is that, due to the slick look and feel of my moleskin book, I tend to be more careful about drawing in it. The Lisa Frank is such a fun and weird little book that it leaves me open to more free thinking wackiness. That doesn't mean that I feel more free to screw up in the Lisa Frank. Much the opposite. The drawings have been so much fun and so successful (to me) that I'm more fearful of screwing up in that book than I am in the moleskin here.

Profile.

Fairly stylized, made up portrait. I drew this thing off the top of my head but for some reason, I wanted to pretend that I was following some kind of drawing rule. Hence the horizontal lines. I was thinking of rules such as the top of an ear being level with the eye brow while the bottom of the ear is level with the bottom of the nose. Or the human body being so many heads high (how many was it?). I don't tend to follow those rules. Not always anyway. Gets in the way of my fun. One thing I like about this drawing is that it reminds me of P. Craig Russell (a little bit anyway). When I was much much younger, I was very fond of Mr Russell's illustrations and would draw from them, hoping to one day be as talented.

I hope I'm at least a little closer to that dream.

A big thanks to my friend Dan who gave me that Lisa Frank notebook, introduced me to Nick Drake and helped me learn to enjoy myself. I hope you're well.

Morning

2009-07-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

I had earlier thought that this week's post would contain some hidden editorial agendas. However, I have since listened to Grieg's, Peer Gynt, scanned a number of old family photographs and have had a number of old memories move about inside my head. In other words, I doubt that I'll be playing with agendas after all.

Seems wrong that I would look to place more meaning (hidden or blatant) into a blog post than into my artwork. Maybe I'll look to change that.

Meanwhile, its time for more book covers. These are all influenced, almost entire

ly, by music.

DANIEL

I know more than one Daniel and this drawing has nothing to do with any of them. This image actually was first, quickly sketched out without any musical influence. So the title and image have nothing to do with one another. However! I like it. One assumes that the cyclopic monster here is named, Daniel. I would imagine that when you read the book, you find that it is not the Monster's name but a reference to something else. Maybe a bible verse or something. Perhaps an anecdote, told by a minor character, that has some subconscious influence on the Protagonist.

I like this one. Still not crazy about my typeface "talents" though. As you can see, I still haven't figured out how I want that Kings Lettuce thing to work. I think I had it right when I first used it (written in a circle).

PAIN

For the life of me, I can not remember what song I was listening to when I chose this title. It kills me because it's a fairly strong word, right? I'll think of it someday. This cover seems less of a success to me and of course, that sucks. I had wanted to use a sort of gesture drawing for a cover and I had just whipped a nice little one out while watching my lovely fiancee play softball (no, that's not her). Instead of copying from a gesture drawing, I should have simply done a new one. Live and learn.

Still struggling here, with the Kings Lettuce thing. I'm certainly hung up on it.

SO LONG, MARIANNE

This drawing was absolutely not influenced by the Leonard Cohen song. I suppose that makes me a liar in regards to my claims at the start of this blog. However, I was listening to him while drawing and that song was playing when it came time for a title. Good enough, I think. This drawing was actually the result of my considering the desire to escape. I could say its a desire to be missing from view. Its obviously not a desire to be disconnected (note the transistor radio).

Something that came up in this doodling adventure was the price. It comes up every time of course, but the 35 cent price is becoming the regular choice for me. I think I just like the way those two numbers look.

Other Worlds Other Sounds

2009-07-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

I spent about 24 bucks on an Esquivel record this weekend. I do not regret it. Go out and get yourself some.
Another quickie post. Another busy week. I've been looking at some old clip art (from long before computers) and have been thinking of working that into my stuff. Oh how I hope to be showing some of my own things off in the near future. Meanwhile...

This week brings one more book cover. This time, drawn within one of my little moleskins. Without further ado...

Atmospheres

Good stuff, I think, but I have to admit to having lost sight of the original groove of this thing. I've continued to use King's Lettuce as a publishing house name. Maybe I'll start publishing so that I can use it for real.

You might be thinking I've named this book for a Joy Division song but you'd be mistaken. Take note of the author of this book. It's his song for which this one is named. Not only was I listening to it as I drew, but I thought it was a nice name for that image (what with the fish and all).

That dead space at the right was the big issue for this thing. I was enjoying some of the awkward space at the top but for some reason, didn't or couldn't repeat it at the right. By the time I'd doodled out that poor little head of lettuce with a crown on top, it was all over. I'll have to improve the crowned lettuce thing later.

Of markers and cheap "sketchbooks"...

I somehow end up with a number of these little bitty cheap sketchbook things and can't help but use them because there's no pressure. Its a cheap piece of crap so the sky's the limit. Here's a doodle, first loosely sketched with pencil and then gone over in sharpie (black). Its a kid, watching tv. Got a bunny doll. I like it. You?

I considered cleaning up the pencil lines for this digital version but decided against it. Perhaps because I don't feel like wasting time on it but I prefer to think I wanted to show how the drawing began.

Here we have an even quicker little marker drawing.

Wow! What a big head!! I like this guy too. He's like some kind of robot or something with that disease that prematurely ages a person. ..or that Ben Button guy. I even like how unfinished it is. I dig it here but in another drawing, it might make me crazy. Go figure.

These cheap little sketchbook doodles are great for a quick fix when you feel that urge to be drawing. Keep your eyes out for them and devour them.

RipOff

2009-06-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

I wasn't going to post this week's images but frankly, I've got a whole lot of nothing else that I can do. These are sketches/ideas for some shoe customizing that I'm doing for my nephew.

The shoes are a pair of Converse, Chuck Taylor All-Stars. That's why you can see a star on these two side views. These are the first sketches I did in preparation for this project. My nephew had asked for something creepy. The head in the center is just some extra creepy stuff to keep my eyes on the ball, so to speak. A pile of eyeballs is fairly creepy, isn't it? I hope so. How about a pile of crazy heads?

Moving on...

These images go on the non-star sides of the shoes. That's the best side because you don't have to deal with that stupid friggin star symbol in the middle of the already small and odd shaped field on the side of the shoe. I was fairly happy to be coming up with ideas so quickly. Sometimes, I have to cover a number of pages with doodles and scribbles before things form. Again, you got yerself a face in the center. Just cuz.

How about another?

These didn't make the cut. If I think about it too long, I'll regret that but I liked the original drawings and I only have four sides to work with. Well..I also have the back and toes. And maybe the area around the shoelace eyelets. But you get what I mean.

I'm nearly finished with these shoes and I hope he likes them. I'm very critical of the things I create and as this is for my nephew, I want them to be very good.

I might also mention that I had to refrain from using some of my usual style on these in order to get a little more creepiness into the imagery. I think I'll go ahead and worry about that as well.

This final shot is a detail of my drawing table and a very very quickly whipped up sketch that I had hoped I might use for this week's post.

Silly me, it slipped my mind that the mat board on which I was drawing is too big for my little scanner. Photographs, as you may notice, just weren't working out. And just as I final kick in my butt, after taking some shots, I realized how screwy that boy's anatomy is. Ugh.

You may notice how messy my table is right now. Also, a sneak peek at the shoes up there. Another sneaky peek at one of my sketchbooks!

I'll do better next week.

I hope.

Chutes & Ladders

2009-06-21T05:19:00.000-07:00

I will occasionally decide that I want a board game from my childhood. I've gotten my hands on Mouse Trap, Operation and Toss Across. With the exception of Toss Across I quickly realized that these games were better enjoyed when I was young. Somehow, playing Tic Tac Toe with a bean bag, from across the room, is still a hoot but these others have become coma inducers for me. I do still enjoy Battleship but I'm hesitant to get one of these new flashy versions of the game. I'm afraid to get Rock'em Sock'em Robots and Gnip Gnop because I don't want them to let me down.

Moving on.. I was given the request, last week, to enliven the appearance of four playing pieces from the game, Chutes & Ladders. I would think that the reason behind this request is fairly obvious (see first paragraph). Its worth mentioning, however, that the game's history seems a bit interesting if you care to look into it. (Sadly but expected, wikipedia's entry on the subject is suspect, but you can use it as a starting point).

First, here's a look at the original pieces. A happy little group, to be sure.

I'm not about to tear into the original illustrator's work because I think they did a great job. These weren't created for me and they are very appropriate for the game.

However, here are their alter egos...

DEVIL

I'm posting these in order of appearance from that shot of the originals. Thought I'd let you know. However, the original illustrations had no impact on what I did. These are the backsides of those game pieces and I only considered the shape of the piece when I began.

This is a lucky one in that I did not know the origins of this game but, as I understand it, it was originally a Hindu game concerned with learning about right and wrong. He kind of has a guilt ridden look to him, don't you think?

DINO

This is not the first incarnation of this character. I first drew this little fellow (or a version of him) on a box that I gave to my fiancee. Aside from myself, she's has the largest collection of John Ross artwork in the state (..or anywhere).

Perhaps this reptile has some psychic foundations in that this game had an incarnation in Britain (and perhaps elsewhere) as Snakes & Ladders.

Or maybe its just a coincidence. yeah.

THUMBS UP!

This was the first of these four that I created. He's got some issues that I wish I could now change but I keep reminding myself that this cardboard was not easy to draw on and I started with one heck of a crappy marker and some sketchy concentration (no pun intended). But I love that big head. Don't you love that big head? And he's giving the thumbs up sign. He's such a positive little game piece!

You can do it kids!

The CHAIR

Now that I think of it, this one may have been the first I worked on. I can't remember now. I suppose its unimportant but on many occasions, I seem to need to "warm up" on something and since I feel that Mr. Thumbs Up is the weakest link in this foursome, he has to have been the first I created. ..but I guess that's unimportant. This guy is pretty good, right?

I love those little legs and elephant feet. Got a nice smile too. He's for the relaxed and happy player.

Goody Two Shoes

2009-06-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

Perhaps a short entry today. I am [bleepin'] tired. I spent a truckload of dough on 100 feet of plastic pipe and I buried it in the yard. Its like some [bleeped up] suburban act of worship. I got blisters on my palms! [Bleep].

Getting on with it... Last week, I promised another bookcover and here the [bleeper] is.

CHOPHOUSE
Now here's a story I know well as I would be the author if I went to the trouble to write the magnificent thing. The symbolism on this cover is impossible for anyone other than myself to figure out. Of course, I don't have to figure it out. Its also remarkably simple.
But anyway, this book is the bee's knees. Only 75 cents. or is it 7/5ths?
You may notice the publishing company is "King's Lettuce". Named after a chapter from Watership Down (and chosen because it sounds nice).
This drawing is another step back toward my work on woodblocks.

"Chip Chop Chip Chop The last man's dead."

And now its only filler from the past.
Some sketches I did waaaaay back in school. Unearthed from within my old drafting table which I recently cleaned up.
This child's profile was done...I think...back in High School. I could be wrong but I'm fairly sure it was not long before I had to head off to big scary art school.
I think the source must have been from a magazine or some other photograph.
He's no relative of mine anyway. So long ago. I can't remember and I never bothered to write anything down concerning it. It was just practice and entertainment.

Next! something from big scary art school!
This was my studying figure studies by Michelangelo. It was a little difficult to load this one up because I can so easily see every mistake. Shameful. But I remember enjoying myself a good deal. It was a nice big sketchbook I had too. Spiral bound.
Most of it is gone now. Just a handful of pages that I thought to rip out and hide away in that drafting table of mine.

And here's another example of those studies of studies.You might think that I cropped this one down to just the best parts. And I must admit that's exactly what I did. On the other hand, I didn't actually finish any of the rest of it anyway so I think its fair of me to have cut it down. I think I found the drawing from which I took this (online) but I'm not certain. Either I got that nose and the eyebrow wrong, or its a different drawing. Still not too bad is it? I should sit down and do some of this again.

So like I said before, I'm [bleepin] tired. Its late and I want to play.
I hope you'll appreciate all of the censoring I did on myself with all of those [bleeps]. I'm also way too tired to go back and look for spelling and grammer errors. Screw it.

Sweet Loaf

2009-06-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

Although my older brothers may decide that I have no right to it, I have recently liberated an old Schwinn, "Orange Krate" from my mother's basement (it was a 'hand me down' bicycle). For the curious, the serial number tells me that its a December 69 bike but as I understand it, its really a 70 model. Also, its cool as hell and you should absolutely be jealous of me. I asked someone to have a look at it because this someone happens to know a great deal about these things and is a member of the Hoosier Antique and Classic Bicycle Club (an organization I'm going to keep an eye on). But what I want to get to here is that his wife (a coworker of mine) had asked if I had any photos of myself on the bike. It had never crossed my mind and the answer is/was, "No."
There's a regret. A big one. And it leads to others.
On a related note, I came across a small treasure of photographs from the last year or two of my time in art school. Again, regrettable in that there were only a few.
The things I create, are all, entirely, based on my life experiences. It is inescapable. It is the same for you. Its all mixed up in our heads and we apply it to our lives in all manner of ways.
I'm at a point where I want to pull out the original experiences in their pure form. I want the unmixed memories and I regret that I haven't got more photographs to help me accomplish it.
I swear, I have a point! I'll just jump to it and spare you the windy nature of my thoughts.

With the photos I mention above, I have realized an enormous resource of subjects for artwork and regret that I haven't a larger number of photographs or other items (such as the mighty Orange Krate). Sorry I didn't basically write that instead (but I'm not deleting all of that stuff up there because it took a while to get out).
Its book cover time again and these are dedicated to some old friends. You'll know who you are.

GRIN-9
A novel of Future, near Apocolyptic Sci-Fi-Erotica, Political Intrigue (and phonographic backward messages). Originally written in tightly detailed curves, this highly regarded edition has been translated by none other than J.K. Brown, himself!
I chose my own interpretation, of course, in the cover illustration, based solely on the title as I never read the book. I'm funny that way but I suppose its only sensible as this book doesn't exist. It is, however, a very good read and I recommend it to all. It is a little spicey for the kids though.
I regret that I didn't put more effort in the lettering, but I'm hoping everyone can forgive me for that. In this case, the publishing company, "APP" was born of the fact that I was listening to a copy of "EVE" by the Alan Parsons Project (on vinyl of course). Technically, there are three 9's on this cover, in two ways, which could lead to a third. Pardon my wall-eyed crypticism.
I hope the author is pleased.

KONTAGION KILLFLOOR (333)
A most subtle collection of short stories and recipes which, when read in the correct order may have one of three results: A happy ending. A cliffhanger. Or nonsense. There is a rumor on the web that one person, upon reading haphazardly, grew a third eye and was overcome with giggles and hiccups.
Personally, I found it enlightening, entertaining and my forehead itched.
No person has ever been credited with authorship but all copies have included a note in regards to it being "A Book of S. Ramon".
I'm much more happy with the original drawing here, when compared with this digital version. That's actually true of the above book cover as well. Something is lost in the scanning and I can't pinpoint it. The publishing company for this one, is represented by the symbol for the Sun. Because.
Again, I'm not crazy about my job of lettering but I think I got better at it with this one. I regret that I lost site of the 3's on this one. My original intention was to jam a friggin million of them in there, as though they were reproducing before your eyes.
And as before, I hope the author is pleased.

???
This was supposed to be the third book cover. I didn't get it finished.
So what the hell is this? Its the paper I decorated and inserted into what turned out to be one whopper of a lame travel cup/tumbler, purchased from Starbucks. Thanks for nothing, Starbucks. That thing was crap. It was marvelous as a dribble glass.
Shame on me, however, for not saving my receipt.
Anywho, this is the booby prize, in place of the unfinished 3rd book cover. There's not much to say about this except that it really is pure doodling. I traced the shape that it would need to be and then went at the paper with whatever ran out my fingertips. I had intended to remove it from the tumbler, from time to time, and add a little more here and there. Won't happen now though. I don't know what to do with this crazy thing. I regret buying that tumbler.
Next week, you may look forward to the release of my next book (cover): ChOPHOUSE

And by the way, if you see your mom this weekend, would you be sure and tell her, "SATAN SATAN SATAN"?

Books, Boxes and iPhones

2009-05-31T11:20:00.000-07:00

So I'm peeking at some photographs over at the Electricity Pond and I'm thinking about how much I like them. I'm looking through the interiors, architecture, signs and so on and I realize that I'm not just enjoying the composition, color, atmosphere etc., but also and perhaps more importantly (to me) the absence of people. Lots of evidence of people but no people themselves (or just a few, here and there). Its probably just me but I very much like to see the signs of presence but not the presence itself. The Casa monkeydummy shots (found in the black/white category) are a great relief to me but I can't be sure I could make anyone understand that. Actually, they're all a relief. The comfort of people without the stresses. Time to take a look around and see the things that took time to be what you see (and wonder about them).
And that, is as poetic as I get. Before moving on, I want to be sure and point out that these are my readings or opinions and by no means am I trying to be a voicebox for the photographer.
(and I dearly hope he doesn't mind my talking about them)

So anyway... Why do I always do figures when I'm so obviously turned on by a lack of them? I suppose that the stylized stuff would fit into my desire for some peace. They're unreal. And I suppose that many of the realistic figures I draw are set in an environment that isn't exactly real. A figure on a bench with two alternate realities set before him. A group of huddled men with hunched shoulders stand, unmoving, in a dark room. These are things you don't come across too often. I guess. Its all symbolic.

Surface Symbolism
This drawing was created with something (barely) in mind. I've been reminiscing about my woodblock prints of days gone by and about the process I created for it. The themes I wanted and how to represent them with symbols or icons which weren't widely recognized but no less real.
I also wanted to doodle something that might serve as an iPhone wallpaper.
You may find that version by clicking HERE. I can't tell you how to install it cuz I don't know. Good luck with that and I dearly hope its worthwhile.
So this image isn't the deepest of subjects. Its simply in regards to my desire to return to a more rural setting and how the urge has snuck up on me, dug in and mesmerized me. Its probably more accurate to say that city living is driving me away, rather than country living abducting me. If this were a part of a woodblock, I'd probably use both ideas as bookends around a larger subject. So, you'll notice the vine/plant/tree growing behind the figure, reaching up to the tip of his head where it either taps at his head or drives down into his brain. The hypnotized/intoxicated effect can be seen in those wonderfully spiraled eyes.

The Frankenstein Box
Remember that in progress box thingy from last week? Maybe this image will spark your memory? I've finished the thing so I'm posting some admittedly poor photos of it. The topic of this box is Aging (not surprising for me). On one side, you see the Young Frankentsein's Monster.
Nice empty space. If you ask me.

And on the other side, we have an aging, Old Frankenstein's Monster. I was a little worried that he might look a little...hippy? Its that curly beard. Seemed a little too Yellow Submarine or something. Anyway, as you can see, he's much older and has yet to heal from having a new brain tossed in. Still all charged up too.

For what its worth, there's a little bit at the top of the box as well.
Just a little hourglass. Get it?
I'm too close to be subjective about this but I tried to create the hourglass so that it appeared to be pouring in either direction (up or down) depending on how you look at it. Was I successful? You tell me. There's nothing on the narrow sides of this one. I hate dealing with a seam at the center of the panel. On the bottom is only the title and my name because I'm wonderful and want everyone to see the evidence.
I hope to return to book cover stuff next week. I have three in mind and have been eager about it. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't get sidetracked. I also have a shoe (decoratin') commission to think about.

Toad in the Hole

2009-05-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

This week. Some stuff.

A friend of mine turned me on to a remarkable website featuring cover art from Science Fiction books, published by Penguin. I love it. Sadly, it has interfered with my desire to draw from favorite films. I haven't gone back to that one for a week or two. Also sad is the fact that I didn't put more time into my first cover art for a fake SciFi book.

On Trains
This did not turn out as I had hoped. Its not terrible, I don't feel, but I lost sight of the need for a title and little publishing house symbol or name. Originally, there were to be only black columns at the left and right. I don't know how it all went wrong. I need to start taking these things more seriously so that I don't just go stumbling into them. So you can see the influence from that website I mentioned (assuming you looked at that website and if you did not, you should now). When it came to the title, I was completely stumped. I ended up going with a bit from an Ian Anderson song. I really wanted to work the word "out" into it though. Seems like that word shows up in a lot of sci fi stuff. Outer Limits. Outland. Only time will tell if I do another of these book covers.

Pagoda
This drawing was born from my looking at a print by Katsoshika Hokusai which included some men with these big round hats. I wish I were bright enough to tell you what those hats are called.
But I'm not. So I wanted to draw a little cartoonish guy, wearing one of those hats. He ended up being slightly Ninja-ish so I'm laying waste to Japanese culture and history here. In the background, I've got a pagoda but for whatever reason, it made me nuts. For one thing, my pencil seemed to have a mind of its own and I had to erase my marks about thirty times over. I wanted this to be a night scene but also didn't want to give up the lighter portions of the image. SO, I also did a trick on reality by having a brightly lit landscape in the dead of night.

Coming Soon
This is one side of a new box I'm working on. Thought I'd share it with you as it is one reason I don't have more doodles to share. I'm thinking that this box will likely only have three images and three panels of black. This image began with my desire to have some empty space. So far, so good, eh?
The character is, in my mind, at a relaxed state following exertion. Doesn't come across one stinking bit, but to me, that's what I've drawn. Sometimes, I don't particularly care if anyone gets what I'm saying. Sometimes, I'm just not saying anything. This image is as much about composition as anything else. Isn't that enough? Not all the time I suppose, but I really like those marks in the off white of the background and again, the little guy means something to me. With luck, I'll remember to post a shot of the box in the future, when its done.

James Tiberius Kirk

2009-05-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

Digressions in a nutshell.
Star Trek: Thumbs up. Vinyl albums: 13 'new' ones. My external hd: inaccessible at the moment.
Time: short. Lawn: needs mowing. Laundry: needs washing. Drawings: not many.

Down to business.. I don't have ANY new drawings to post. What I do have, however, is all less than a year old. I think. They're lunchtime drawings from work and a couple of them, I suppose, are precursors to the square mat board drawings I've been posting over the last several weeks. Maybe precursor isn't quite the right word. Technically, they just the very first ones. But, they aren't of the same feeling. They weren't done with the others and don't feel a part of them.
But before we get to those, we'll start with the oldest of the doodling.

LEGAL PAD SHEET.
I struggled with whether or not to do details from this sheet. Finally decided to just place it as a whole (as you may have noticed). Click on the image (as always) to see a larger version.
You'll notice at the left is the basis of a figure drawing on which I did not carry through. Next to it, a much more finished, but not complete, figure. It might show you how I do it. ..sort of. I don't always draw things the same way. With some things, I tend to know what it looks like and don't bother with the 'frame'. I don't know if that makes sense or not but I never know that about anything. There was a day in Art School, where I realized that I could draw something much more easily if I stopped worrying about it and just let it happen. I suppose its rudimentarily similar to seeing something within a chunk of marble and releasing it.
I don't see it inside of anything. I just know that it goes this way or that. And that doesn't mean its absolutely correct. I think I'll move on now.

PRECOLUMBIAN MAT BOARD DRAWINGS
Its not my style to sign things. But I signed this. I have no idea why. I also don't remember signing it. I have little to say about this one other than some obvious things that don't need saying. Its rougher than the mat board drawings I've been doing. Looser. Its very much more of a doodle than a sketch. In my opinion, it goes like this: doodle - sketch - drawing. Maybe this is a doodle, bordering on sketch. If you've been keeping up on this web log, you know that I enjoy drawing bulbs on things. The final thing I can say about this guy is simply that he's fun.

SCiFi
I have to admit that there is a chance this is more than a year old. ...but I don't think so. This one is good to share right now because, with my ever racing (meandering) mind, I've moved from wanting to draw movie scenes, to book covers. I have a half finished one with that thought in mind and this one sort of reminds me of that thought. Some kind of sexy scifi book cover. I'm also including a detail shot of this one because, although this is an unfinished piece, there is a lot that I love about it (and I don't mean to be arrogant). The pencil line. The graphite on the surface. I like.

This isn't as close as I would like to have made the detail, but I have to weigh bandwidth and available online storage space into these things. Click on it and take a peek if you will. I should do more figure drawings. It can be verrrrry rewarding. Better than chocolate.

Finally, I just want to say that I really enjoyed that Star Trek movie.
I was surprised to feel, as I left the theater, that I wished there had been a way to squeeze William Shatner in there.

Evolution

2009-05-10T07:21:00.000-07:00

I lost an important strip of paper. It had about seven tiny compositions which were to lead to about seven new drawings. I was going to show the evolution of a specific drawing, which started from that strip, but now...
Luckily, two compositions from that strip did become new drawings and from one of those, yet another was born. AND, what's more, the double evolved drawing just happens to be a scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey! Perfect.
As I mentioned last post, I had a thought to do some scenes from movies I enjoy. Sadly, I did not get a Flash Gordon one done. In fact, I found it a little tasking to come up with a specific scene. I finally realized that in the case of that highly stylized movie, I should be looking to mimic that stylization.
But as always, I digress. Perhaps I'll start adding my digressions to the end of these posts. I Love to read myself think. Follow me?

The Sentinel
This was the first drawing, based on the tiny composition I mentioned above. However, in the tiny version, the Monolith was not there. In fact, there was no background at all. Also, the figure was much lower and a bit more stylized. So what happened?
I was going with the flow, as they say.
But I wasn't exactly satisfied (look like I've inserted Chaka into '2001') and decided to go ahead and look at some stills from the film. Although I still felt very good about the tiny, original composition I had made, I decided that I wanted to give this scene another try, and ended up with the next drawing.

The Dawn of Man
Now we're talkin! Still not 100% satisfied but have to admit that this was more of what I had in mind when I first decided to copy from favorite films. I had toyed with the idea of recreating one of the scenes involving Dave Bowman but it never panned out. I also didn't think to draw HAL.
I suppose I can't lay any claim to the composition here since I took it from the film. Still, I tried to make the subject my own.
So before we move on, here's a quick salute to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

HUSH
Here we have another drawing which came about from those tiny compositions I lost. This is another repeated theme for me so the tiny drawing was more of a reminder to me than a guide. In hindsight, I would like to have handled the ground quite a bit differently here. But it isn't making me crazy (which is why it isn't already changed). This one is somewhat prophetic too as it seems to remind me of the new album by Asobi Seksu, which I just picked up this last week (after or just when I was drawing this one). Perhaps its the peaceful mood of the drawing that reminds me of the music. And of course, I have to mention that I bought the album on beloved, black vinyl.
I've lost interest in further digressions so......

Klytus, I'm Bored. What play thing can you offer me today?

2009-05-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

My lovely girlfriend, Despi, was super fantastic and thoughtful in getting me an unopened copy of the original soundtrack, by Queen, from the 1980 film Flash Gordon! And its on VINYL! BAM!!
Fabulous movie with fabulous music (and just as a side note, I must admit an equal love of the 1979 cartoon). I had been thinking about doing some sketches of scenes from some of my favorite movies and now I'll have to see about adding Flash Gordon to my small list. Sadly, I only just had this thought the other day and so I have no such drawings to share!

In the meantime, here are my tributes to our Lord and Master, Ming!

1) Ming's Little People
I've been wanting to make some toys for a while now but I just haven't gotten it done. Meanwhile, I draw various versions of various ideas and this little fellow is just such a thing.
I'd like to come up with a name for this guy's kingdom, under Ming, but I'm coming up dry. Nubbins? Nubula? Nubdom?
His goat eye pupils are the bee's knees and I won't stand for anyone criticizing them! I enjoyed the vegetation in the background. He's very much in a 2D environment while being so very 3D himself. ..okay, I could have made him more 3D with a bit more shading but I just didn't.

2) Ming's Tea Pot
Ming needs a big tea pot.

This drawing had humble beginnings over my lunch hour. I'm sure I must have had a subconscious premonition that I should create such a thing as a tribute. Silly me, I thought I was just remembering an old school assignment to play around with scale.
I'm fairly unhappy with how the buildings turned out. I kept changing my mind about them as I was shading and after you've pressed soft lead into mat board so many times, it ends up smooth as glass and you just can't add any more layers of graphite. So sad.

3) Ming's Metal Men
Were Klytus' men, Metal Men (robots)? I'm really asking. I don't know. Maybe this tribute is for Klytus.
This guy may look freaked out but I assure you he is simply paying close attention. I was indecisive about the multiple headed, shadow creature in the background, at first, but it grew on me. I did the head on the left first, and the one on the right, last. Can you tell? I can.

Before I finish, I'd like to say "Hail Ming" and maybe ask for a kingdom of my own......aw screw it. Our Lord and Master is a prick. Hail FLASH!

Nude Ants

2009-04-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

I've been searching for the album, 'Access', by the Nude Ants (of UK) since about 1984! I'm happy to say that I found it and hope to have it in my hot little hands very very soon. A song in particular that I've been in search of may be heard by following THIS link. Until very recently, I wasn't even certain of what I was looking for. I only bring it up because I can. And its on my mind. I also have to run out in a bit and get a copy of a Dickies album that I mistakenly laid aside when I was album shopping yesterday. I only hope its still there!

Meanwhile, I have only two images for my post. Seems I didn't get much drawing done. Not sure why...but there it is.

WISH
I don't know about this one. I knew that I wanted a close up with only a portion of the face and that there would be something held in hand which would be the weight of the image. By the time I doodled out that three fingered hand, I knew it had to be simple and somehow, the next couple of lines created a wishbone. The things that followed that are the zig zags on the sweater and that pointy tail. The tail fits with that crazy grin on the face. The zig zag is just nice. Charles Shulz knew what he was doing with that business on Charlie Brown's shirt. I need a shirt with a zig zag.

BOC
This drawing began as I was thinking of my little cafepress site and its title, Monkeyplugg. A monkeyplugg, I decided some time ago, is a banana pacifier upon which a baby monkey might enjoy sucking. ..Or an older monkey. Anyway, I had to do some work on the Monkeyplugg site and it left me thinking of the pacifier and so I drew it. After drawing this one, it struck me that it really reminded me of the symbol used by Blue Oyster Cult. In fact, I thought I'd turn the drawing into a very BOC type of album cover art. That didn't quite work out. Instead, I ended up with a parade of monsters and some lightbulbs. In a nutshell, this is just a bunch of stuff I enjoy drawing. Its also, I suppose, a good representation of what I do on my Monkeyplugg site.
I really didn't mean to advertise for myself quite so much. But I had to explain things, yes?
And I don't know why I love drawing bulbs but man, I do!

The Creeps

2009-04-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

I'll go easy on the rambling, eh? I did buy some nice LPs this week but you don't want to know about that. Nor do you want to hear me rant about record prices vs record conditions. ...and how hard it is to find an intact, tri-fold, Three Dog Night album.
Instead, we'll talk about mood and content. I've mentioned before that I like a touch of the creeps in my work. I'd also say that there's an atmosphere I want in my work, but which I can never seem to create. Too bad for me. Let's have a look at what I came up with this time around.

Creeply
What's creepy here? The dark sky. The not so defined landscape. You've got some kite flying at night (possible influence of a Simpson's episode) and some wide open, pupil-less eyes on that kid.
The mood I want here is actually something of a blank, stable, calming, creepy. There's got to be some wind going there but it sure seems still, doesn't it? Doesn't it? No expression on the face, even though he's got that cool as hell kite on his hat. You'd think he'd be looking up at it at least. The more I look into this, the more it does remind me of some experiences in my youth. I liked to find some seclusion so that I could just think and experience my surroundings. I was quiet.

Creepled
I don't really think of this as being so creepy except in the lighting. I like that its a bit washed out and without any background. I might go back and shade in the background nice and dark. But maybe not. I think bright sunlight is overlooked as a nice creepy atmosphere (when used right).
Not the first time I've drawn some tree or other plantlife growing from someone's head. Perhaps that idea was planted in my head when I was young and had walked off for some private contemplations. I do recall envisioning what trees/plants looked like as they grew. Sort of a stop motion thing in my head. I drew the acorns large because I enjoy messing up the scale of things. Plus, who's to say how big a head grown acorn might be? In hindsight, I wish I'd put the acorns in more perspective.

B Side Creeps
With this, I think my desire to create a woodcut is swelling up a bit in my head. In other words, there's a bit of crammed in subject matter here, as you can see. Removable wings with the lady in the lower right corner, being an interchangeable good/bad behavior or character symbol. She, with some artificial object forcefully thrust into the back of her head, ultimately releasing a whirlwind of pressure (and a devil tail). Storms above her and beyond that, some unreachable, quiet and peaceful scene. Three avenues of escape go unnoticed behind her. A kite to help her escape but its only held to her by a single hair. A ladder stretching out and the fingertips of a helping hand. Meanwhile, there are just some blank, unwelcoming buildings around her. (The peach you may or may not have noticed is from the tree.) This one is more about being uncomfortable than creepy.

Dark Creepies
It sucks that my little moth is so hard to make out in this drawing.
So...that's a moth by that light on the right. See it?
I like this one because I've got three big ol lights hanging over this kid but its still dark. Bare bulbs too. I don't know why bare bulbs are creepy but they are. Or can be, I should say. Easily an iconographic representation of creepy. Next time you've got a creepy drawing going but its just not at all creepy, you know you can add a bare light bulb to fix everything.
Anyway, this drawing is a little bit of a failure in that the boy was to be more creepy than his surroundings. The moth was supposed to be a defenseless little creature who was, in fact, in no danger from this creepy kid or the surroundings. Its just worshipping the light bulb (icon). In that regard, my moth is a huge success.
I am, meanwhile, pleased with myself in how I drew that kid. His neck is absurdly long and I drew his shoulders as though they were just a couple of curved and unconnected shapes. In the end it looks like I've intended a robe's collar or something. But I didn't, and I like that I didn't but it looks like I did.

And for no good reason, here's this.

Catch The Wind

2009-04-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

Another week flies past. I lucked into some nice Vinyl LP finds (Ian Hunter, 1000 Homo DJs, Psychadelic Furs) (with special thanks to the lovely Despi for her skills as an album scout!). It actually wasn't that great of a week though. I got angry a few too many times. Obsessed a little too much.
However, I did work in some enjoyable drawing time and much of it was mixed with music that I haven't heard for quite some time. It was enjoyable but my head was filled with the desire to go back some 27 years. Back then, I believe my number one wish was to fly. Now its time travel.
I might as well try to catch the wind (but I'm not giving up).

OVERWHELMED
This was the first drawing for the week. I had/have been exposing myself to way too much extremist propaganda from the people who do it best: Fox News. Most specifically, Glenn Beck. I won't rant about it here but the point is that the remarkable amount of fear mongering and unpatriotic bullplop was becoming overwhelming. With little or no outlet, these feelings were naturally expressed in this drawing. Those branches aren't representative of the things that overwhelmed me so much as my allowing it to happen. In other words, my inability to stop myself from obsessing and worrying and so on.
But seriously people, Fox News does NOT understand what the United States, our Constitution, Bill of Rights, Flag or Democracy are about. Please don't fall for their propaganda. Go here instead.

SUBLIMINAL
This drawing came out of no where, or so I thought. In hindsight, it makes sense to me. In addition to my Glenn Beck woes, I also have worried over North Korea's recent missile launch over Japan.
For those of you who aren't aware, North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, is a friggin lunatic!
So anywayz, I could be wrong but the bomb in the water and the reminiscence of the 'Rising Sun' strike me as being way too much of a coincidence. As for the drawing itself, I had a heck of a time with the water. I didn't bother with reference material but for a peak at the cover art for Jethro Tull's 'The Broadsword and The Beast'. As I said in last weeks(?) post, these little matboard squares are sometimes frustrating for me in that I still consider them sketches or doodles for which I don't bother doing study sketches. These things ARE the study sketches. ...but then again, they obviously are not.

FREE ADVERTISING (on a Whim)
Something new is on the net. Its called Art Babble and I just happen to know the people who came up with and created it (I'm even dating one of them). It went public this week and I felt that, even with an article in the NY Times, it didn't seem like enough attention was given to it. Not locally anyway. 'Locally' being within my personal line of sight or hearing range. Plus, I just felt like doodling this. They made some stickers with the 'Play Art Loud' thing on them and I have nothing to stick it to (has to be super special to end up on my car - like the Bad Badtz Maru sticker my nephew gave me). So instead, I drew it on something.

WISHES
Another step away from those matboard squares. This one, I drew as I listened to the likes of Donovan and the Electric Light Orchestra (on my turntable of course). The music led to distinct memories that were fulfilling but also made me ache to go back. This image refers to these feelings and memories. No specific memory here though. But some hints. Those giant elementary school windows and the lessons I knew were coming (some of which remained a mystery at that time). The warmth of the sunlight that fell on me then. I don't know why but I swear it was different back then (and that's no political commentary on global warming). The memories weren't just of school of course, but I couldn't draw all of the scenes and environments that swam through my head. But with this drawing, I do recall those moments at my little desk with the lift top, wondering about the world around me and wishing for recess. I miss recess so much, I can't possibly tell you.

The Ballad of T.V. Violence

2009-04-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

I have no encompassing theme this week. Given the time, I'd type up a monster rant about politics, my left hand, North Korean missiles and maybe KMFDM's latest album (which I find more than a little disappointing).
I can't allow that rant because of the time it would consume. Just for the sake of sharing though, I'll mention that I was happy to purchase some good LP's this week. Among them, ELP's "Tarkus" and if I had the time, I could probably work that into the rant I mention above.
Instead, here's a random Cheap Trick link and let's get started.

Ichi:
Yes, its more of those little matboard squares! With this one, I'm starting to think a little bit more. Just a little though. This was largely fun in playing with that old optical illusion with the two profiles/vase. I just wanted to draw the real things together and try to remove the illusion. As you can see, I used some rather cartoonish profiles. Them some big stinkin heads, eh? I could have gone a bit further in the action of drawing but ...didn't. I got rights.

Ni:
This one is fun. I was getting a bit blocked for ideas before I drew this guy. For a moment, I thought I'd draw a train on a bridge but suddenly, this crazy serpent came to be. It was only after I was done that I realized there really should be something for its tail to be coiled around there at the bottom. The downside of these squares is that I'm not doing any preparatory sketching, and so, hindsight can be a real pain in the butt.

San:
I can't decide if this is an ad for Robo-Coffee or for a Robo Brand, Percolator. Let's say its both. I know I just said that I do no prep-sketching for these but in fact, this one was born of a smaller doodle. Still, I wouldn't call it preparatory.
I'm fond of the flattened robot portrait on the presumably rounded percolator. I'm also fond of percolators. I miss hearing that sound, early in the morning when my mom was making coffee. I attempted to find that sound online but of course, found nothing.
Back to the matter at hand... I am also fond of the little puff at the spout of the percolator. Its all electric and puffy!

Shi:
This thing was a reject until recently. Until a few hours ago, in fact. I'm still a little uneasy about him but I no longer feel the need to destroy him. He's not at all what I had wanted when I began drawing and much about the shading makes me very angry. ..so why don't I throw it away? I have no idea. I think this one falls into a category of works which I sometimes find are very popular with anyone other than myself. Sometimes, it turns out that I was right all along and should have destroyed the worthless things immediately. Originally, this was to represent a very large and lumbering figure (but a cute one). Instead, I end up with some kind of Easter Island/Bauhaus guy. oh well.

The End.

Suo Gan

2009-03-29T07:00:00.002-07:00

I sometimes feel the need to refill some portion of my psyche. Stress, anger or maybe too much coffee will at times, drain me of some feelings that I need in order to maintain my character (the one I like anyway). Just as I'll sometimes feel the need to have some orange juice or take a nap on the couch, I will also find myself drawn to some specific music, a movie, or some artwork. Most recently, I was drawn to watch Steven Spielberg's adaptation of J.G. Ballard's adaptation of J.G. Ballard's own experiences as a child, at the onset of WWII (aka 'Empire of the Sun'). As a side note, I find conflicting statements on the misinformation superhighway in regards to whether or not Mr Bale actually did any of the singing in this movie. I can say that it appears as though he did not.
One reward for keeping my psyche all juiced up, is an active imagination. When that thing dries up, making art becomes a chore. When its all fat and satiated, I go nuts with it because I know a dry spell is somewhere in my future (and because I can't help myself). If I get stuck in a dry spell, I try to either practice, or I go back and review my past work and see if I can't build on it.
Or I sulk.
Right now, I'm enjoying a good run of creativity with these squares of matboard that I introduced last week (knock on wood). ..or I like them anyway.

Arts and Crafts
In this little guy, I wanted to draw something fun and amuse myself. So its a drawing of some arts and crafts project, brought to horrible life. Lucky for us all, he's easily stopped with a match or well placed kick.
Aside from the fact that he's just fun looking, I enjoyed this because I was looking to make him appear a bit rickity. He's all 'weekend project made from scraps, driftwood and a coat hanger'.

Chompers
How about this one!? Huh?!!
I'm cheating with this guy. He's not actually a finished drawing. But, I wanted to post him now because I'm impatient and happy (so far) with how he's going. What I'm seeing here is my big mouth forehead boy here, emerging from some menacing fog.
He's coming to get you.
Really.
You should stand back and stuff.

Home in a Tube
I wasn't too sure about this one when I started it. Thought for sure I was about to hit a brick wall in coming up with fun things to create. I think its a good one though. Its different though because there are no characters. Just the bird house and the tube. Not much here but for the desire to create one's own reality, while showing the limitations.
Needs an escape hatch, I suppose. But doesn't everything need an escape hatch?

Uncorked
Just to have something different from the matboard squares and to show an attempt of mine to uncork my otherwise jammed up thinking, here's a page from one of my moleskins. Its just a mess of me trying like hell to "allow" some thought to come together in my head (and flow out my hand). I should probably try to make one of these things into a fully completed work of art. ...one of these days.

...is it just me or does my blog layout absolutely suck? I apologize for that. I can't figure out how to change it because I'm an idiot.