Frankenstein Jr.

When I was a kid I loved the cartoon Frankenstein Jr. I had the coloring book and the Big Little book of the show. I received this bank for Christmas which is totally awesome!

This is a drawing from the model sheet that they used as a guide for the animators.

Here is my rendition from my journal pages.

Recent Photos Of My "Work" Area

These are the most recent photos of my "work" area. The bookcase is new, so I finally have the piles of books that were strewn all over the house in one place.

I hope that everyone out there has a wonderful Christmas!

Icy Morning

More Journal Pages

We received a foot of snow from Friday afternoon through Saturday night. It still hasn't stopped snowing and we have received and additional couple of inches. It will make for an interesting Football game today between the Pats and the Cardinals at Foxboro.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

I haven't had much time to draw except in my journal, so here is one I did just around this time last year. It was done with a Faber Castell Pitt pen and my cheap Winsor Newton watercolors. It is framed and hangs behind my drawing table.

More Schulz Journal Pages

A couple more of recent journal pages.

Pig-Pen's Snowman

I have always been a Peanuts fan. Yesterday's snow inspired me to try my hand at one of my favorite Schulz characters, Pig-Pen.

Christmas Lights Journal Page

I've been keeping a weather/sketching journal for the last couple of months. It forces me to draw everyday even if it is only the sun and clouds. This is the entry from yesterday. It was fun putting up the lights for Patti's step mom, but boy there were a lot of lights. I felt like Clark Griswold from "Christmas Vacation."

Oldie But Goodie

A couple of years ago we found this stray kitten under my truck in the driveway. Since we already had two cats I was reluctant to bring it in. My wife won out and we adopted it. Because she had been living outside and eating God knows what for so long she had some...um...intestinal troubles. By that I mean (sorry to be so frank) the worst gas I have ever encountered in my entire life. Not only was it frequent, it was also well beyond foul smelling. Luckily she is now healthy as a horse and no longer has any of her earlier tummy troubles.

We adopted her (and named her Pieces, since her mother's name was Reese's) in August and my wife's birthday is September 2nd, so this is the birthday card I came up with that year. You'll note that one of the cats (Badger) isn't quite as bright as the other (Jewel) so when he has the light bulb idea symbol over his head it is only 65 watts. If you right click and "Open Link in New Window" it will be easier to see.

Tagged?

Today I was tagged by Freebird over at http://freebirddrawing.blogspot.com/ . Due to the fact that this whole blogging thing is quite new to me, I had no idea what being tagged meant. For those of you who also don't know what "tagging" is, here are the rules;

1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Here we go:

I have been playing the guitar for most of my life. I have never played in a band, however a couple of my buddies and I sometimes get together on Friday nights and jam. We can sound pretty good...after a couple of adult beverages. If we ever do become a band I'd like to call ourselves, "Shoes on the Highway." I always see lone shoes on the highway and wonder about the story of how they got there.

I am infatuated with old black and white Sci-Fi and Monster movies from the 30's through the 50's.

I will be married for 12 years on December 14th of this year and I couldn't be happier.

The first car that I ever owned was in 1978 and it was my grandfather's 1974 powder blue with black vinyl roof Dodge Dart. It was a four door and was quite the party mobile...sorry Grandpa.

I really miss going to Drive-in-Movies.

Hockey is and has always been my favorite sport. At one time I was a pretty good goalie. Alas, two years ago in a pickup game on one of the local ponds I busted up my shoulder pretty bad and my skates have been permanently retired to the back of the garage.

These are the six people that I in turn tagged. Sorry folks if you aren't into doing this but you were on my list.

1. Zeke at http://zekeedm.blogspot.com/
2. Stephanie at http://deliberatelycreative.blogspot.com/
3. Sharon at http://kunstrxns.blogspot.com/
4. Starr at http://wistex1129.blogspot.com/
5. Brenda at http://amberridgedesert.blogspot.com/
6. Plo at http://forcryeye.blogspot.com/

Fish and Fowl

A couple of quick ones done at lunch.

The Bane of My Back

Well, I went to see the doctor Thursday and as I expected he told me I have another herniated (bulging) disk. As Charlie Brown so eloquently put it, "Drats!"

I will keep my fingers crossed that the muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory medicine the good doctor prescribed will work wonders and I won't need another surgery. Of course most people would be more concerned about the injury, but my OCD side is more concerned with all of the leaves in the yard that I still haven't got around to raking.

Arrg My Back!

How does that Robert Burns saying go? I believe it is, "The best-laid plans of mice and men oft go awry." Rings much too true! Sunday I awoke with a burst of energy and was going to get many of my Fall chores completed. There was raking to do, bushes to trim, items to be brought into the garage for the winter and a trip to the dump to get rid of the leaves that would have been raked. Well....since oil prices have been dropping I figured I would check the level in our oil tank. Due to the fact that our house is well over 100 years old, we have trapdoor that leads to the cellar. When I moved the chair (much too quickly and awkwardly) that sits on the trapdoor my back went out on me. You would think someone who has already had two back surgeries would be a bit more careful when lifting/moving things?! What an idiot I am!!!! So here it is Tuesday and I am just starting to be able to move without grabbing my back and screaming out like a little girlie.

A Sad Mr. Potato Head

I was rummaging through some notebooks and I came across this one I did a couple of years ago. I also added a Dart game over on the right hand column. I know the music Playlist has been acting funky for a few days, but their people say that it should be resolved soon.

More Journal Pages

Here are some more pages from journal. They are pretty much self explanatory. Don't forget that you can right click on them and "open link in a new window" to see them at full size.

Journal Page

I've been slacking with my drawing lately. The only real drawing I have been doing is in my journal. This is the page I did on the day Patti and I were heading home from our stay up in Maine. It is done with my trusty Faber Castell and colored pencil in a Moleskine squared notebook. The colored pencil that I have been using for my journal is really nifty. It holds eight different colors.


If you want one for yourself, you can get it here,

https://www.pentelstore.com/catalog/index.php?grp=708

Make sure you order extra lead.

The Fat Lady Has Sung

Well, the better team won. My beloved Red Sox lost game 7 to the Tampa Bay Rays. The better team did win. Good luck Tampa! So in honor of the fat lady singing, I have changed my playlist. I still have the other one and will switch between the two every few weeks. Once again I have tried to give you a mix of my strange musical taste. Please leave a comment and let me know if you approve of it or not. I'll add more as I can.

Celtic Knot

I have always been fascinated with old illuminated manuscripts. Here is a basic Celtic knot I did in pen and watercolor.

Famous Monsters of Filmland

Here is part of a Famous Monster of Filmland magazine cover that I drew. If you have any interest in Classic Monster Movie artwork check this book out,

A Few More Quick Sketches

Just some random sketches quickly done at lunch.

The Trailside Museum

If you go the Trailside Museum in Milton, MA and pull into the parking lot it will look like this. I used to go here a lot as a kid. They had a pair of otters and a red fox that passed away a little while back. They still have a Snowy Owl and a pair of one eyed Red Tail Hawks. With only one eye the hawks are unable to survive on their own. My wife and I went a couple of times when they had presentations that included a porcupine and a Great Horned Owl. It's a great place for kids. Check their site for hours and calendar of events http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Blue_Hills/index.php .

Here Fishy, Fishy

Cartoon Faces

Just playing with some cartoon faces of basically the same shape. It's funny how adding a few changes such as the hair, makes it look like a completely different character. The last one kind of looks like me.

Forget The Politics, Just Support Them!

No drawings today, just a link to a video that I would like you to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ervaMPt4Ha0

Nothing else needs to be said.

Elmo

A quick one of Elmo. The Sesame Street characters are are quite fun to draw.

3D Ant

I picked up this book, Drawing in 3-D quite some time ago. It is really geared towards kids, but it has some great ideas and tips on making drawings look three dimensional. This ant I did in pencil was one of the first examples that the book shows.

Another Character

Just another character I was messing around with. Done in pen and purple highlighter.