Monday, January 31, 2011

01/31/11--THUMBZILLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE FEARSOME POWER OF THE THUMBNAIL SKETCH!!!!
To the uninitiated, tiny thumbnail sketches might not seem like much, but to me, they are where many of the best and most fearsomely awesome ideas come from!!!
I jut got a $3 little 3.5 x 5.75 hardcover sketchbook, and I have high hopes that it will spawn terrible and wonderful illustrative ideas!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't get me wrong, I still appreciate the ability to draw on a larger sketchbook, but this one is a lot easier to carry at all times and get ideas or scribbles down quick...like THUMB-ZIRA!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, January 30, 2011

01/30/11--EPIC MOONDOG?


What if Moondog had some sort of magic pixie dandruff "dust" under his hat that came out of his head and fell out of his ears???

What sort of things would he be able to create?

And would they be remotely anything like what he intended to create????

or perhaps destroy..... inadvertently?

!!!

01/29/11--MOONDOG'S MIND INFERNO??!!

You have now entered the first Level of the Mind of Moondog...
...or something like that....
...Hope optional...
BYOH...(just 'bring your own Hope')

note: in ol' skool manner I did a "non-photo blue" sketch first, and inked over it with a proper cartoonist's ink pen!!! awww yeeeeeaaaaah.....it feels goooooooooooooooooooooooooood...

01/28/11--MANGA MOONDOG???


Somehow, my late-drawing pencil decided to illustrate my feeling of surprise and shock that I got so many days behind into a Japanese animation-ous me...

Please add manga voice something like "Yoieeee??????"...or just some kind of indiscernible shouting noise with lots of cool consonants and vowels...

awww yeeeeeeeeee...ah....

01/27/11--AIR NINJA...







Ancient Wise man once said:
"It is never wise to bet against Michael Jordan or a ninja with two swords in basketball or utter distaste for gravity..."









Ninja quote:
"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."
(but only in his ninja mind)...

01/26/11--PIRATE/NINJA DICHOTOMY

Theoretically, in the Principal's office: "You pirates and ninjas should know better than to be fighting all the time like this! What do you have to say for yourselves???"...

01/25/11--SAVAGE SWORD DUDE SCRIBBLE...

This is what happens when you back a savage sword-wielding barbarian back against Spiral Binding on a page...he is is going to start chopping stuff up yo!!!
[original typo stated..."SHOP-ping stuff up"...which would probably make him seem a bit more domesticated than I would have originally intended]

01/24/11--BACK FOR THE ATTACK WITH COSMIC-ness...

Feeble attempts at catching up have yielded spacealiens, space surfer aliens, and silhouettes...

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

01/23/11--INK PEN..AGAIN...(guess when?)...

OKAY! I admit it!!!
I just got five days behind, so I scanned in some thumbnails I drew in a few short minutes at work today...and am attributing them each to a day that I drew nothing...
...working my way back to catching up...

01/22/11--INK PEN AGAIN...YET AGAIN...!

If this look suspiciously like I used the same pen and sheet of paper as the post I attributed to the previous day, then...
it is probably because...
I used the same pen and sheet of paper as the post I attributed to the previous day...

01/21/11--INK PEN...AGAIN!

Behold my thinly veiled attempt at drawing some things very rapidly on a sheet of typing paper with the pen I used all day on the ambulance so I wouldn't be five days behind anymore!!!!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

01/20/11--INK PEN...WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

When I think about it, since I haven't done much drawing at all in the last seven or eight years, everything seems new again! But certainly I had forgotten how good it feels just to lay down some lines with a black ink pen on white paper...

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

01/19/11--LEFT-HANDED KNIGHT DUDE...

Well...still there is a strange graphite goo that this dude is wading through, but somehow it seems like he is better off with a good shield, sword, and set of armor...
...and why is he left-handed? Perhaps his shield is more important than his sword...
perhaps I am thinking way too much...




And...
I was debating whether to do this or not...
but I might as well add things that are digitally created by me to complement the analog sketches...

Here to the left is the latest LA MOVIDA band gig flyer Photoshop and I put together...

meant to evoke feelings of warmth on what will no doubt be a very cold night outside this Saturday...

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

01/18/11--ANGRY SINKING DUDES...

Is it bad if my pencil left to itself draws three sinking dudes...
...one sunk, one about to sink, and one sinking?
Sinking in what? I don't know.
Liquid #2 graphite pencil?

Monday, January 17, 2011

01/17/11--COFFEE STAIN GREMLINS...IN STUNNING COLOR (sort of)

Take breakfast at Ernie's, a cup of coffee, a spoon to stir the coffee...and a sketchbook...
...and this is what happens...
...if you are not careful they will grow like barnacles!!
This was inspired by the work of Rik Maki...a link to which can be seen on the right side of this page--check it out!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

01/16/11--PARTY, PARTY, WOOHOO!!!

I was kind of hoping that this sketch might pretty much speak for itself... :)

Saturday, January 15, 2011

01/15/11--CATCHING UP--ROBOT JUSTIN 1.0



Catching up in the blog a bit...

Here is a Version 1.0 attempt at Cyborg-Robot Justin--bass player and RoboT Warrior of the Future... ...and beyond...

This is only version 1.0...
...presumably, by version 7.0 it will be much more ingenious...
...by version 142.3 it will be so fantastic that we will not be able to tolerate its awesomeness!!!

The one edit I really would like to immediately revise is: instead of simply "mouth optional--speaks directly to your mind", I would prefer to have written: "mouth optional--speaks directly to your mind--VIA BLUETOOTH" heh...

01/14/11--SIGNIFICANT DAY--INSIGNIFICANT SKETCHES...


Well, early in the morning of 01/14/10 one year ago, at 2 minutes after midnight, my little Sugarbear was born...and now she has reached her first birthday...!!!
...which is of course a big deal!
..., technically it is now the 15th, and I don't think I can muster a drawing that would be worthy or relevant, so I am going to attempt to alleviate my guilt by posting a couple of things I drew already that are completely insignificant...

...one recent, and one from several weeks ago...

First, (completely against my will--I promise!) I found my pencil drawing a Chewbacca-like figure, ...oddly, it turned out to be a Selfish Chewbacca...
...yes, I have now defiled Star Wars...
...are there no depths to my depravity?!!!!



...And then, for no apparent reason, I thought I would share a little scribble I did a month or so ago of a term that has taken renewed meaning for me in recent weeks...
CONVERGENCE...the concept of convergence has converged upon my mind...
I am not sure I fully know what it means...but I am rather proud of my attempt at Kirby dots
(kudos if you know what those are)...

Friday, January 14, 2011

01/13/11--WHAT TH-?!! WHERE DID THE LAST 2 DAYS GO???!!!!

Here is a little tiger sketch to capture the sentiment of my grief and chagrin that I just got two days behind, before I knew what happened--and thus, drew this cartoon after midnight here at the station on 01/15/11...
Where do the minutes all disappear to???
Or the years?
Or decades?
Snap your fingers and ten years just flew by (especially now, with 3 jobs and 2 little girls at home)

Well, the battleground is day by day, and that is where I hope to continue this 365 sketch (or more journey)...even if I actually have to play catchup and post some things I have drawn AFTER the day in question...

This is the blessing and curse of getting to make my own rules!! HA HA!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

01/12/11--A SKETCH FROM A PORTRAIT...

As a sketch artist, my specialty has always been quick sketches done of the people around me on the street, in bars, etc. Most of them done when I was in Granada, Spain, or here in Columbia at places like the Blue Fugue.

Something I really haven't done much in a long time is a sketch using a photograph as reference material. Somehow, to me it feels much easier sketching live in the moment. Perhaps it is because in the moment I am more willing to make my lines flow with more vitality, with less of a feeling of committal. When the reference is there with as much time to view as I could want, I have to fight the urge to spend too much time with each part, and thus lose my idea of the big picture.

I fired off the above sketch in about 20 minutes from a photograph of an attractive model that I came across. The dimensions are not quite right, and it doesn't do the original picture justice, but I thought I'd share it here despite my reservations in order to compare to future progress I hope to make in doing portraits from photographic reference.

Apologies to the model...

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

01/11/11--1-1-1-1-1 SUPER FUN!!!

11111 MAN--SAVIOUR OF THE UNIVERSE!!!!!
IS THIS A COMMENTARY ON THE OFFICIAL ARRIVAL OF THE IPHONE ON VERIZON?
NOT NECESSARILY.
IS THIS A SYMBOL OF HOPE IN A NEW ERA FOR MANKIND?
NOT PARTICULARLY.
IS THIS THE PRODUCT OF ME QUICKLY DRAWING SOMETHING AGAIN FOR THIS SKETCH BLOG?
ABSOLUTELY!
CHEERS!

Monday, January 10, 2011

01/10/11--GRAMPAW CINDERS...

This quick little chestnut is another thumbnail representing an idea I've been kicking around for quite awhile now...

I have always been a fan of Robert Osborn's work illustrating the "Grampaw Pettibone" character for Naval Aviation News...and the idea is brilliant.

Take critical safety lessons based on tragedy and statistics in a dangerous job, and communicate the point visually in a direct, humorous, and therefore more memorable illustration...

To put it more simply...

Reading sucks! Cartoons rule! ...and we remember and internalize them better...

What if the same idea were applied to the fire service? It might help us all to remember a thing or two that could possibly save a life... or maybe a lot of lives over time...
I am certainly not the first person to come up with this idea, but I might as well step up and do my share to carry this very worthwhile torch...

...one major discouragement to drawing that I've carried with me through the years is the anxiety that I should perhaps never share an idea, drawing, or design with others until it is ready...

well, ready or not, here they come!

As the years have passed, I've found myself prioritizing virtually everything before drawing. Since I have declared in my mind THIS YEAR to be an important year in my journey as a cartoonist/illustrator/animator, I am erring on the side of just at least using this blog as a tool to force myself to draw at least something every day, or as close to it as possible...

It is better to have scribbled AT LEAST one small thing in between emergency calls on the job(s), thrilling yet exhausting music gigs, and the chasing of little munchkins around the house,
than to forget to draw a single thing for....like...A YEAR (again)!!!

Why is THIS the year for a change????

Well, who asked you???!!!

Well, okay.... this has to be the year because I am getting the distinct impression that if I don't work to make something happen now, then another ten years are going to go by in an instant like they pretty much just did...and I will never develop a part of me that has always come somewhat naturally as a gift, and that I have thus far in my life squandered...despite my belief that I have a larger purpose for it...

And who knows if any of us have ten years to throw around and waste as we see fit? Every day is a gift...
...if no other thing, my chosen profession has taught me that...

...so gaze upon these humble little baby steps in my journey toward becoming a brilliant creative genious...

...or something...

cheers!

p.s. what will we all be doing tomorrow at 11:11 hours on 1/11/11???
(a good rehearsal for 11:11 on 11/11/11...later this year)...

01/09/11--...When All Else Fails...

When all else fails and I can't figure out what to draw...
...tigers and barbarian babes are the old standbys...
...and I guess I wasn't in the tiger-ing sort of mood...

...so, you think she is just a timid, delicate flower in a burka-like cloak? SURPRISE!! She's got swords and knives and stuff and is going to whoop your...(etc.)...

01/08/11--A BIT OF AN EXAGGERATION...BUT...

Fortunately, this scene has not happened...
...but, though exaggerated, it expresses 95% of what occupies my mind while spending any given day with my adventurous little almost-one year old...
...the specific elements of the sketch, an (a.) 11-month old baby girl gleefully running toward (b.) a downward flight of stairs while holding (c.) massive scissors in one hand and (d.) a clorox bleach spray bottle in the other have not ever simultaneously occured in our home...
...the only really accurate parts of the sketch are, #1. the cute little pair of teeth on the bottom half of her wide-open smile, and #2. the look of sheer and utter terror on the face of the parent, a look that I typically have a few times a day (this cartoon of my terror look is exactly correct--my face actually does that--eyes drawn to scale)...
...if the drawing seems poorly executed, it is because I have no more energy after chasing around my little sugarbear and her older sis all day...

Friday, January 7, 2011

01/07/11--ODD DAY AT WORK...SURREAL-ITY ON THE PAGE...

Odd day on the job...
...and the mind barf on paper results in:
Flying fleas...
Multidimensional running dudes...
And fish that want to eat a worm in a floating, dripping, sea...

01/06/11--ATTACK OF THE CHINA MARKER!!!

...Haven't picked up a china marker in awhile...just messing around a bit getting used to it again...some of the value changes that are possible by pressing down more or less...
...and as usual....I am up to absolutely no good with it...

01/05/11--MY GIRLS...

(posted a bit late...nevertheless...)
This is the scene at the house looking after my girls...
...they are in bed facing a nasty stomach flu...
...yet all of their hair remains very stylish...

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

01/04/11--Go Teach English in Asia...And You Too Can Return Like This...

...some believe Stevie to have been mild-mannered before he left...

...and became a human weapon of mass martial destruction....

...ultra-super-powered KI energy emitting from your pores could be a good asset for a drummer when you think about it....

...yeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh.....

Monday, January 3, 2011

01/03/11--A Vision of the Mayan 2012 Prophecy!!!!

Imagine the Terrible Destruction that Awaits us all....

AAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaahhhHHHhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

01/02/11--I Never Claimed I Would Try to Do Quality Sketches Each Day

I guess you could say this kind of captures my current mood...

...need more money to pay tons of bills...

...and cars and fire trucks in my life have been beset lately by seeming gremlin attacks... (vicious buggers)...

Sunday, January 2, 2011

01/01/11--LET THE RENDING OF THE DAILY SKETCHES NOW BEGIN!!!


so.........................

Sketch page a day New Year resolution...

Here we go...

Day 1....

check!

Note Desterrado viz dev-iation...


Moondog, Tripi, and Memphis as cartoons....ready to rumble...

Moondog--with a sort-of-a-sorceror's hat with magic underneath flaking off like dandriff...and a ninja sword...

Tripi--with smoking dreds like legendary Blackbeard had...and an axe...

And last but not least...Memphis is standing there with his shirt on fire a little bit like he just barfed out dragon fire all over the place...
...not saying he did...just...
...maybe he could have.....

...just sayin'....