When Life Hands You Lemons

Well, you know...

I'm making the best of my current situation. I'm excited about my new job in Florida and about visiting some of my favorite places. So, I made this drawing about keeping positive. I have lost 44 pounds since July!
Click on the drawing to see a bigger version



Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me! Please keep it up. I see it working in my life and have a peace that transcends my situation. Thank You.

Rothko Inspired Abstraction, or: This Is How I Feel

I don't want to over explain this one, but I will say that I find it beautiful. Very rarely can I express how I feel this specifically. I was inspired by the works of Mark Rothko, so I don't claim this as something ingenious or original. Interpret it however you would like, but it's not a negative piece just in case anyone thinks so.
Click to see a larger version

The Octopus hates the glue, but no one knows why.- or A Post For Andy

Hey all. Some of you know I've been having a tough time, but for some reason, I'm in a really good mood right now. Call me crazy if you want, but I feel a little energized right now.

I'm posting a picture of an octopus- what's not to like? But wha?!?!

There's glue too! Nasty glue!

These are oil pastel on rag paper.... unless maybe they're real! ~spooky~

Click to see it bigger- the picture I mean

Feel the Power of the Octopus!


Now Behold the drabness of glue!

Sleeping With the Fishes p1

This is a sketch I am using as a color study for an illustration project I'm working on for school. It utilizes the old phrase "sleeping with the fishes" as a starting point and I'm trying to convey a hidden meaning of the dangers of making the wrong friends. I used brush pen and colored pencils to lay it out.

Of course it's still in it's rough phase. I'm ironing out all the enormous wrinkles in acting and composition. I'll post the final here, when it comes together, but for now I'm still struggling to make it work. For now, lighting and value contrast need the most work, but I'm also going to adjust the staging and figure placement, by spotting some darks and creating focus on the cave. (which doesn't read as a cave here at all :) )
Click the picture to see a larger version.



That about does it for this one. I don't have much else to say, except that drawing a mustache on a shark is something everyone should get to do at least once. Oh yeah, and I wanted to point out an awesome site that I came across from school. It's the site of a Herron artist who was actually at the Eiteljorg working on some artwork in the same group I was in. His work is amazing and he's got some really insane ideas. I used to read some of the comics he had pinned up to the wall of the illustration classroom before I met him. Go to Nedroid.com and check him out if you will. There's some super funny stuff there. I know he's had some misfortune lately with his car, so maybe buy a print from him or purchase one of his ebay auctions if you aren't poor like me!

Animal Madness

More animal pics today, but these are all fairly new. First up is a bizarre continuation of the saga of Killer Punk'en fighting off the masses of robots that threaten the safety of our universe. These images and textures were painted on bristol with acrylic, then scanned and collaged together digitally. While Punk'en is truly loving toward you and me, she is a fierce fighter that will stop at nothing to protect humanity from the encroaching threats of technology.
Click on any picture in this blog to see a larger version



I've actually provided photographic evidence of her battle prowess for you nay-sayers. Here she lays on a smoldering heap of rubble, which is all that is left of the carcass of her latest robotic victim.




Next up is a Chronicle of observation based on the actions of my other cat, Skelly. His is a truly profound existence. It's a world of elegant complexity. I drew this with blue pencil, but altered it in Photoshop so you could better see it. The lines were really light before.



The third pic shows that sometimes my pets turn their amazing powers on one another. Although they seem much in love, like most couples they are not above sitting on the head of one another when they are angry. Pen on notebook paper.



Now it's time for bonus pictures, friends! The first is a more traditional study of Skelly, done with good old ebony pencil. I drew this back in 2002 so that's why it's a bonus pic instead of a new post. Next bonus pic actually is newer, but it has just been sitting for a while. I should have posted it with the pil bar collage about global warming since this is a concept study for that piece: better known as the penguin picture. The study was drawn with oil pastels back when I still wanted to throw vibrant colors on the thing.





Well, it looks like that's all for today. I'll try to get some more stuff up here soon as I finish some of my newer assignments.

Pictures of Animals

Today I'm posting some animal drawings, both from observation and imagination.

The first picture is actually several pictures I put together of various animal (and even a person) studies I did while visiting the Indianapolis zoo. Most of these are fairly recent. I used conte, charcoal, pastel, and oil pastel on these. There was a nifty rhino butt I had to go with the bear head, but my scanner was giving me difficulties. I'll scan it in another time.
click a picture to see a larger version



Next up are some bonus pics of Skelly and Punk'en that are a few years old. I may have posted this Skelly one before. If so, my apologies.



Thanks for looking!

A Watercolor Baddie plus Classic Bad Day Man

I wanted to post some of my new art here, but I'm still working on so much of it right now that, while I have several pieces that are near finished now, I have very little that actually is finished. One of the pieces I just finished is rather large and difficult to scan in so I decided against posting that, but I do have one little piece from my watercolor class that is no more than a week old. I'm giddy to share. We were given some time to experiment with our materials so most people took the time to paint tree branches like the teacher showed us. I thought a scooby villian inpspired robot would be better and doodled this little thing.
click to see a larger version


Now on to the Bonus portion of this post. Yes, I'm posting multiples today folks! This Bad Day Man pastel drawing is about two and a half years old now, but this is the first anybody has seen it. It's been sitting in my artwork filespace for a while and I came across it recently when I moved. This one is themed: having a bad computer day. I drew this when I still worked at the office. I meant to give it to a friend as a thank you for gifting me with a scanner, but some events at the time caused that not to happen.



The next pic is truly a bonus. It is a rare gem that I normally would not unearth, a drawing over eleven years old that I drew back in 1996. It is one of the oldest Bad Day Man pics that I still have in my possession. There might very well be none older still in existence. Back then he was called the Booty Man. I have no idea why. Please enjoy this historical piece. I added the colors so it wouldn't look butt ugly next to the previous posts.



Thanks for looking today, friends.