Category: Random Doodles

Merry Christmas 2015

This past year all my work came as freelance. Sometimes this can be a scary thing because you don’t know when the next job will be, but God has been good in keeping me quite busy. Unfortunately, as the holidays rolled around, I found myself unable to find the time to make a Christmas card as is my usual practice. So for those of you who have come to enjoy that tradition of mine, please know that you have not been moved to my “naughty list” to use Santa’s vernacular.

So, in an attempt to have a Christmas post of some kind, I thought I would share with you a little Christmassy doodle I did on the back of an envelope for a friend.

A gift that someone could really sink their teeth into.
A gift that someone could really sink their teeth into.

 

So, a very Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Categories
Animals Art: Inking Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is all fun and games for everyone, except for those being eaten.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

It's all fun and games until someone gets eaten.
We’d be all eating roast eagle if Ben Franklin had his way in making the turkey our national bird.
Categories
Animals Art: Photoshop Cartoons Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook

Sketch Challenge 5 – Nevermore

Well, here it is. The grand finale of the week long Sketch Challenge between me and my friend Andy Heckathorne. Since tomorrow is Halloween, and this being the last day of the challenge, it seemed appropriate to break out the ink in grand style with a caricature portrait of the master of the scary short story – Edgar Allan Poe.

I always found it interesting that those tales of gothic woe came flowing from the mind of a man who looked like he could be the subject of his own stories. Perhaps when he wrote in the first person, he really was the subject of his own stories. Hmm, something to ponder.

Well, here he is with the title character of his most well-known story, The Raven, in ink and white gouache on a dark gray shade of Canson paper.

 

Is there another day in this sketch challenge? Quote the raven, "Nevermore."
Is there another day in this Sketch Challenge? Quoth the raven, “Nevermore.”

 

Thanks for tap, tap, tapping on your keyboards and mobile devices to come see my sketchy efforts. I hope you have enjoyed this week of sketch posts! And thanks to Andy for putting me up to the five day challenge. I hope I met your expectations, my friend.

Categories
Animals Art: Drawings Art: Inking Caricature Character Designs Monsters Random Doodles Sketchbook

Sketch Challenge 4 – Cat Zap

Day four in this week’s Sketch Challenge brings with it the wrath and menace of a crazed cat behind the controls of a mouse zapping spaceship, enough to send a chill through the spine of Buck Rogers himself!

 

So THIS answers the question, “What does my cat do while I’m at work?”

 

Hopefully you are also following the sketch posts this week by my challenger Andy Heckathorne, a fantastic illustrator and designer. If not, pop on over to his Twitter account to see what my competition is up to!

Categories
Animals Art: Colored Pencil Art: Drawings Art: Watercolor Cartoons Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook

Sketch Challenge 3 – The Weinie Roast

Day three has arrived of the sketch duel between me and my good friend Andy Heckathorne. My friendship with Andy goes back to my days in college where we took many art classes together by day, and worked on the school newspaper together by night. It is because of this close friendship that I won’t claim ownership of this contest quite yet. All bets are off on Friday, though.

For those of you who have frequented my blog in years past, I usually post a monster each weekday during the month of October in what I call Monster Month. Unfortunately, real work schedules have kept me from doing those personal pieces this year, but seeing that we are still in October, there is no way I can let a week of sketches go by without adding a monster to the mix.

I present to you this orange beast master of flame, a fire breathing dragon complete with a hot dog accessory!

 

This guy would be really handy on a camping trip.
This guy would be really handy on a camping trip.

 

Another sketch comes to you tomorrow in the great 2015 Sketch Challenge!

Categories
Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Painting Monsters Random Doodles Sketchbook

Sketch Challenge 2 – The Bear Necessity

Okay, okay. So yesterday we started off with a bang (so to speak) with some cowboys in this week’s Sketch Challenge between me and my buddy, Andy Heckathorne. Andy drew me getting punched out complete with a black eye (which you can see by clicking here). Today, I return the favor by sending him a bear that will maul Andy, if the bear doesn’t tickle him to death first.

I love drawing bears. There are lots of them on my blog. It is almost like it is a necessity for me to draw them now and again. There’s something about being able to put a goofy grin on them, and they have that lumbering, plump exterior that you can twist and turn any which way you’d like. I drew this guy on some brown Canson paper with ink, with added drybrush touches of white gouache.

 

Never trust a grinning bear.
Never trust a grinning bear.

 

Come back tomorrow to see what Day 3 in this Sketch Challenge will bring!

Categories
Animals Art: Drawings Art: Inking Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook

Sketch Challenge 1 – Big Belt Buckles

My pal, Andy Heckathorne, challenged me to draw. Yes, I draw every day, but specifically he challenged me to a sketch-off. At first, he wanted it to be every day until we die. Thinking that perhaps the sketching and posting daily is what would kill me, I said, “no.” So, he compromised and suggested we do it for five days. I agreed.

The rules of the game are that each sketch can take only a maximum of 30 minutes. I did not specifically time these, but am pretty sure I am close to that deadline each day this week. No stipulation was made as to drawing materials, so let the games begin.

Since Andy’s challenge reminded me of an old western duel, my first thought immediately went to cowboys. However, instead of dueling with guns, their duel is between who has the biggest belt buckle. Enjoy!

 

The belt buckle makes the man.
The bigger the buckle, the bigger the man – well, in stature anyway.

 

You can see whatever Andy has sketched this week by following him on Twitter! (Click on this sentence.)

Come to think of it, did you know that I was on Twitter, too?! Click here to follow me!

Categories
Art: Colored Pencil Art: Watercolor Cartoons Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook

Shark Attack!

It seems that it has been awhile since I have posted some art here on the ol’ blog. I would apologize, except for the fact that I have been insanely busy working on a new children’s book! I can’t say anything about it for now, but it does involve a good 20 or so illustrations, and I am doing them all traditionally in watercolor and colored pencil. So there hasn’t been much time for anything else.

That being said, last night I experienced a little insomnia. Went to bed, then two hours later I was wide awake. Not good. So, I channeled my energy into doing a sketch in my sketchbook, which escalated into giving it a quickie coloring job on the computer.

With all the media talk of sharks and shark attacks this summer, I decided to doodle my own fierce shark with a baby seal to add a touch of desperation. Enjoy, and swim safely out there in the big oceans!

 

Seal it with a kiss.
Seal it with a kiss.
Categories
Animals Art: Photoshop Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook