El Gato

Question: How can a cat reek of pooh, while having no outward evidence of fecal matter on it's person? Answer: The question is irrelevant- all that matters is that it does (reek of pooh). Note: the foreground ear is sized smaller to emphasize Topper's chubbidity.

I want my crayons!

As a parent, I have easy access to some of the world's crappiest art supplies. This was done with a particularly generic restaurant crayon that was within reach. The above image reminds me of the alien at the end of the Star Trek credits (original series). Now I've got that music in my head!

From the Archives

A page I did in the late '90's when I was half-heartedly sniffing around for comic work. If I'd just found a publisher that was interested in sequential art that doesn't make any sense, everything would've turned out roses!
To be honest, I'm crowding my available new sketches, so to buy some breathing room I'll be scratching around the dust bins for old stuff I've probably already posted.

One Draw, One Life

A few weeks ago, my son and I set aside a Sunday afternoon and topped off The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly. A glorious day. I first saw that movie in my parents car at a drive-in. There's a part of me that still wants to hear the Ennio Morricone score through tinny drive-in speakers.

O That It Were Not So!

Homunculus P. Quimby, Ray County's foremost authority on New Potatoes. As you can tell, I had zero interest in rendering shirt collars.

Italian Opera

In February, I caught my son up on Sergio Leone's core westerns. Above, sketching while watching "For a Few Dollars More".

Dude!!

Lingering impressions from a recent Blues game I attended with my son. Blues vs. Minnesota Wild, St. Louis losing in a shoot-out. And, yes, I've got a problem with "Dudes" and "Dude-sayers".

Bend Sinister

Sketching opportunities abound when I accompany my wife as she volunteers at a local mental hospital. By accident, a reasonably tight rendering with a regular 2B pencil.

My Advisor at Miskatonic U.

A drawing I did to help pass the time and entertain my son while we spent a Saturday morning waiting on an oil change.

Possum, Playing

A rejected rough of a mascot for a relatives vintage baseball team. One of the advantages of being trained and educated in the "fine ahts" is that one is always available to provide clip art for friends, relatives and co-workers. This was a tricky assignment; making a possum look cute. Whats a possum known for? Being Ugly. So I tried making this guy cute- in an ugly sorta way. Too ugly. I'm going back to Guns 'n Broads.

I-Man's Hands

From early Feb. Yep, shoulda made his right thumb visible.

Gregory Manchess is out to get me!

Every once in a while, I pick up magazines like ImagineFX, etc., art mags geared toward technique. I always regret it. I recently bought International Artist because it had a showcase of various illustrator's step-by-step methods. I'm usually left baffled and frustrated by methods and terminology I don't understand .... and I went to school for this crap!
I've always leaned heavily on intuition (I'm rationalizing here) and it bothers me when artists have fairly rigid and well-defined working methods. How can you be so sure about what you're doing?
One of the illustrators profiled was the great (I'm not being sarcastic) Gregory Manchess. For someone who has an appealing painterly finish, he sure has a stodgy, joyless, anal method of working. He posed for one of his reference photos and I took the liberty of rendering it in ink with a few costume modifications. Can you guess which ones?

Childs Cough Alarms Cat, Parents

Earlier in Feb. I must say, it looks a little more like a sneeze than a cough, but there's plenty of opportunities for cold and flu based drawings in his future.