Forgotten Sketchbooks

When I got home from work today I rummaged through my unused sketchbooks, watercolor paper and Bristol board looking for a pad of graph paper. I came across a couple of old sketchbooks. I must have started them out with all intentions of filling them up, but obviously my enthusiasm wore off, since neither of them have more than 3 pages drawn in them. Here are a few from those forgotten sketchbooks.

The Buck Stops Here!

I did this dollar bill in ink and watercolor.

Did you know that the average life expectancy of a US dollar bill is only 22 months?

When it comes to money, I am reminded of a Jackie Mason quote, "I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something."

More Schulz

These are some more sketches that I did based on Charles Schulz's Peanuts. They are from the early years of Peanuts when they were much more child-like in appearance. Some great examples of his early work are included in this book,

Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz, which I strongly

recommend to anyone who grew up reading the Charlie Brown comic strips.

One of the greatest joys in grade school was going through the order form magazine from the Scholastic Book Club. I would agonize for hours over which two or three books to order. It seemed like when the box arrived on the teacher's desk, and she passed out my stack of books with the order sheet wrapped around them with a big elastic band, there would always be at least one Charlie Brown book in the pile.

This was around the same time that I remember my parents taking me to the Drive-In to see, "A Boy Named Charlie Brown." I believe it was either 1969 or 1970. That was back when everyone brought their kids to the Drive-In movies decked out in their PJ's. All of us would run up to the grassy area in front of the screen and play on the swings, slide, see-saw or that heavy metal and wood contraption that we would get spinning at a breakneck speed before we would jump on to it. Back then people weren't afraid that their kids would be taken away by some sicko. I really miss the Drive-In!

Today's Post Brought To You By Tlaloc

I thought this drawing that I did of Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain, would be appropriate with all of the rain that we have been getting for the last couple of days. The original I found here http://religion.mrugala.net/Ameriques doing a Google search for Aztec art. I believe the site is in French.

I tried to match the colors as best I could with my cheapo

Winsor & Newton Cotman Sketchers Pocket Box Set. This is a sketch I did of the paint box on the day I bought it. I think I paid a little over $12.00, so you may want to shop around. The link to it that is posted above has a HUGE savings of 99%. I'm a bit surprised by the "List Price" though.

Lunchtime Sketches

Here are a couple of quick sketches that I did at lunch.

I would like everyone to check out

the blog, http://on-my-desk.blogspot.com/ which is a really great site that features photos of the studios and desks of artists from all over the world. You may recognize the desk of someone there...hmmm.

Heat Wave

Since it has been so hot and muggy here in New England, I thought that I would post something today that reminds me of a much cooler time. I drew these last Winter at lunch while sitting in my truck in the parking garage at work. It was so cold that I had to leave the heat on the whole time.

I was reading a lot of Charles Schulz back then. I am really looking forward to this coming out in the Fall, The Complete Peanuts 1967-1970 Box Set . His characters have such great expressions with so few lines. I have also added a link to the Drawing and Comics links section that takes you to the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Be sure to check it out.

1950's Tiki Art

For some strange reason I have always been drawn to Hawaiian and Tiki art of the 1950's. The bright colors and cool designs are quite striking. If you are into that kind of thing, I highly recommend that you check out the artist Shag. There is a link to him on my Drawing and Comics link list. I picked up this Shag's Tiki Drinks Deck: 52 Ways to Shake Your Way to Paradise Edition (Case Bound Card Deck) a while ago. The cards have some great examples of Shag's artwork on them. Today's drawing is a tiki that I did that was inspired by him.

Where The Wild Things Are

Today at work a friend was saying she was trying to find the first book that her daughter ever read, so she could purchase it for her grandchild. It got me to thinking about the first book that I remember actually reading.

Here's a watercolor that I did of one of the characters from, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I think this book is what got me interested in all things monsters at a very young age. Please leave the title of the first book you remember reading in the comments section at the bottom of this post.

A Face Only A Mother Could Love

Here is a drawing that I did on the inside of the birthday card that I sent my Mom. Nothing says love like a smiling monster. I have actually done a couple drawings of this guy that I will eventually get scanned in.

Billy Hazelnuts

This is a sketch that I did of the picture on the chapter headings in Tony Millionaire's really great book, Billy Hazelnuts. He does some incredible pen and ink work and he has a nicely twisted sense of humor! Be sure to check him out.

Couple of Ugly Dolls

Here are a couple of Ugly Dolls designed by David Horuath and Sun-Min Kim that I did with my trusty old Faber-Castell Pitt pens and watercolor.

Forbidden Planet

Here is one of Robby the Robot that I did when I received the 50th Anniversary Edition DVD set. The set came with a little plastic Robby.

I've been busy.

Well I've been busy adding links to friends and sites that I visit often. I hope you find something of interest.

I have also attached some photos of my drawing table. Yeah I know, there's a lot of stuff on it. I keep telling my wife that it is all for inspiration!

Later that very same evening...

Here's another one. It's the classic Sci-Fi movie, "Invasion of the Saucer-Men."

First Post

Patti (my wife...you know, the one that calls me "The Geek") has been telling me for a while now that I should start up a blog and get my drawings out on the web. Well here it is, as crummy as it is. I'll work on it though. I've never set one of these up and of course, "I don't need to read the instructions or the help topics." I'll just fumble through and get aggravated.

I'll try to scan in a bunch of sketches. Here is one in pen and watercolor of an Oak Guy.