L Train

Recently, a gentleman I know from work, was browsing through some of my doodles and asked if I would do something for him.  Apparently, his brother is getting married this week, and has an infatuation with the mass transit system in Chicago, particularly, the L Train.  He asked if I would do something on an envelope so that he can put his gift inside of it for his brother.  I don't normally get many requests, and frankly, shy away from them somewhat.  However, I was intrigued with the chance to do something a little more industrial, a little more linear, than what I normally play with.  Here is how it came out.  I put in some foliage to try to balance the mechanized with nature.  This is done in pen and ink, watercolor and some prismacolor to accentuate some of the colors.

I hope he likes it....

Envelopes

A few weeks ago I sent a letter to a fellow in New Zealand who was kindly sending illustrated envelopes to others.  I thought it would be fun to send him one so he could be a receiver, as well as a giver.  He was kind to thank me.  I posted a picture of it, and then had a few more requests for "designer envelopes" for other friends and family. So, with a desire to brighten one's day, and armed with an excuse to doodle, I knocked out a few more envelope doodles. Here's a few of the fronts and backs of the envelopes.

 

 

Fatty Potter Revisited

Last Saturday, I posted a quick pen and ink sketch of a 1930's mugshot...but as I kept looking at it off and on this past week, it just wasn't sitting right, seemed too flat and bland...so, this morning, I decided to antique the paper in the oven with tea bags and chicory brew to give it a little more color.  Then I went in with a faint watercolor and gouache to put in some more tone here and there.  To finish, a little white prisms color highlight here and there.  Hopefully, Mr. Fatty Potter, the now notorious thief, would be more approving...wherever he is.  

Playing with my Food

Tonight, after being inspired by just how beautiful a good sardine is, I decided to try drawing my food.  I've seen more and more people starting to sketch what they eat, or don't eat, if they're using their doodles as propoganda...but I haven't really dabbled much into sketching edibles.  So, tonight I gave it a whirl.  There's nothing better than a well prepared sardine, or any fish, for that matter. When I bust any of them open in my house, however, I'm promptly excused to the back of the house, or banned from using the kitchen till everyone is gone since the Mrs. doesn't care for the smell.  Her loss, my gain. Here's pre and post the addition of color to the drawing:

   

   

A Little Butterfly for my Spouse

The other day, Cheristy said, "when are you going to do something that I like?"  So, hoping to avoid the walk of shame, I asked her what she wanted.  She said a yellow butterfly on a pink or red flower.  So, I knocked this out this weekend.  However, it looks like I'll be going back to the drawing board, because as I showed her the finished product she said, "that's nice, but I'm not so sure about the purple, we don't have any purple in the house to match it with."  So, I have a few options.  1. I can tell her I used purple to convey how calm and peaceful she makes me feel when she's around, (and hear her ask me what I've been drinking.) or 2. Crank up the photoshop. 3. Head over to Sherwin Williams to repaint the den as colorful as a bad Prince movie from the 80's. Oh well, it was a good attempt.

Lesma

I spent a little time today painting these little snails.  I love snails, they are such an interesting thing to watch, and the colors on the shells are always intriguing.  This is done in gouache and pen and ink.

Dr. Who

When I was a kid, I remember seeing the cheesy, old Dr. Who episodes and thinking, "who in their right mind would watch this excrement?"  However, a few years ago when they rebooted the series, I was up on a Saturday night and started watching the first episode with Christopher Eccleston, and have been hooked since.  I've also convinced my youngest son to be a Dr. Who junkie.
Strange things are afoot, however, with the newest incarnation of the Doctor..... I did this below a little while ago to capture my concerns:

Herbarium - Oleander

Recently, I spoke again to a dear friend after somewhat of a lengthy period of time in which circumstance prevented us from communicating much.  It was an insightful conversation, and I was reminded how time really cannot tarnish deep and sincere friendships.  Amongst other things, he spoke of his desire to begin journaling about the various types of vegetation in his surroundings.  We spoke about the different possibilities of layout and format.  Listening to his excitement about such an endeavor, and after doing a little research about the formats and history of herbariums, I decided to do an entry in my sketchbook of some plants that are very common in my part of the country.

The great chicken dilemma....

I've recently been trying to convince my wife of my genius surrounding my chicken dreams. You can read about my attempts on my writing site. I did this painting tonight after being thwarted.

Enjoying diversity...

I found this delightful photograph of a Hindu man and decided to do a little doodle. I loved the colorful turban. When painting the happy man, I thought a lot about religion, diversity, culture. Isn't it a sad commentary that we attack the things that we see as different...or even define our own beliefs based on what we see wrong in the beliefs of others...

I think Mohandas K. Gandhi deftly explained it best when he uttered:
"It is the duty of every cultured man or woman to read sympathetically the scriptures of the world. If we are to respect others' religions as we would have them respect our own, a friendly study of the world's religions is a sacred duty."