Doodle of the Day -- 3-30-2006

I thought I would try my watercolor pencils again. This was te result. I am very pleased with the way this came out. The legs were supposed to be a little more orange, but overall, I'm happy.

I still haven't come up with a name for these guys yet. I have a couple ideas, but they just don't seem to fit them perfectly. My leading choice right now is calling them Moffets. I'm still working on the story about them. More to come...

Doodle of the Day -- 3-29-2006

I drew this today while waiting for my work laptop to boot up. When I showed it to my wife, she said that he looked like a serial killer. After I looked at it again, I sort of have to agree with her.

Doodle of the Day -- 3-28-2006

This little guy is sort of a mix of Waldo and Bill Gates. Not really sure where the lollipop and self-help book came from; they just sort of fit his look. I was originally going to do an abacus and a ruler.
I was going to start out with a Dennis the Menace like character but this came out instead. The hand behind the back was going to be "hiding" a sling shot but now its just hiding.

Doodle of the Day -- 3-27-2006

Here are a couple of things I drew today. Nothing exciting. The first one is sort of like how some super heros look in normal clothes. Much larger and buff than a normal person. The second one is a character I used to draw a long time ago. I remember wanting to do an entire comic book with him. He was a police officer who was corrupt.

Crazy Babies

I was sitting here at the kitchen tables when Ozzy's Crazy Babies came on. This is what inspired the following sketch (not my boys -- although some days maybe so :) )

When they were born they were born to be wild
Some say I'm another devil's child
Crazy babies in a world of their own
I am a crazy baby you'd better leave me alone tonight
- Ozzy Osbourne "Crazy Babies" 

Monster, Part II

Drew this guy last night while watching the George Mason/Wichita State basketball game. Colored it this morning, while my son ate breakfast and wife got ready for her conference.

This week's Illustration Friday is right up my alley. I just love drawing monsters.

BTW, for those who do not already know George Mason (a #11 seed) won and will be facing UCONN on Sunday. If UCONN continues to play like they have been (not like the #1 seed that they are), GMU has a standing chance to beat them. Love rooting for the local team! 

Illustration Friday -- Monster

This week's Illustration Friday theme is "monster." I thought this would be a great opportunity to do another one of my little creatures. I haven't decided on a name for these creatures yet, but this one is definitely not as cute as my previous ones. 

Doodle of the Day -- 3-24-2006

As Cathie and I were sitting here watching Godsmack in concert on HDNet, I was inspired to draw this. It's sort of an alien spaceship type of thing. Although at first glance it may look like one ship with a mirror image, however, they are in fact two separate ships.

The one thing I did realize while doing this is that I need a finer tipped pen. The Bic pen I used is too thick for smaller work such as this. I guess its a good thing that we have a 50% coupon. I know where I will be this weekend. :)

Doodle of the Day -- 3-20-2006

Last night Cathie and I watched "Walk the Line." We thought that overall this was a great movie. We also thought that Joaquin Phoenix deserved an award for his representation of Johnny Cash. On the other hand, we were not impressed with Reese Witherspoon's performance.

This movie touched both of us emotionally. However, it touched us in different ways. Cathie thought that the movie was sad and heart-breaking. I thought it was emotional because it made me think of my grandfather. November 7th of this year will be the 10th anniversary of his passing.

I have many great memories of my grandfather. Some of the best ones were at his hunting camp in Ludlow, PA. I remember sitting in his bedroom listening to Johnny Cash 8-tracks. My grandfather loved the "Man in Black."

Seeing that movie last night inspired me to draw a portrait of him. This was based on a photograph I have of him in 1987.
John Zelina (June 11, 1921 - November 7, 1996)

Art of a Different Kind

I recently got a package in the mail from my mother-in-law. It consisted of some watercolor paints and Crayola watercolor paint art tablets as well as a pair of knit socks. The socks were for me. She had knit me these socks. I was quite aware that these were coming, so it was not a complete surprise. The surprise was in how awesome they looked and fit my feet. These beauties are perfect in everyway.

Ironically, this also fits this week's Illustration Friday's theme of "feet." So here are some pictures of my new arrivals.

Socks off...

Socks on...

I hope there are more to follow. Thanks for the cool socks, Mags! 

Doodle of the Day -- 3-19-2006

Cathie's parents got the boys a battery-powered H2 for Christmas. Today was such a nice day that Mac was able to ride it outside. While watching him play, I doodled this of him. Mac saw that I was doodling and brought me the radio that came with it. He wanted me to draw it, too.

Feet -- Second Try

Since I was not entirely happy with my first entry, I thought I would do another one. Not sure what to call these guys or even where they are from. I do think however that they may evolve and get incorporated into more of my work. I sort of like them. 

Illustration Friday -- Feet

I had a few days to take off from work before I lost them, so today I decided to work on my Illustration Friday theme. This week is all about feet. I thought "Baby's Feet in Sand" would be a nice project.

Well, it went like this. I sketched the feet and sand with just a pencil. I didn't like it. I added color to it with my colored pencils. I didn't like it. Then, Cathie reminded me that they were watercolor pencils so maybe I should try wetting it. Finally, this was the outcome. I have mixed feelings about it and may do another design later. But as my first real pseudo-watercolor work, I think its not too bad. Unfortunately, the paper wrinkled slightly when it got wet and the scanner picked it up; hence the shadows in the bottom center of the picture.

Doodle of the Day -- 3-16-2006

My two sons and I were all sitting around the kitchen table drawing and doodling. While my oldest son drew an elaborate scene with red, green and brown, my younger son sat and focused on drawing geometric shapes and spirals and then later, when boredom set in, simple scribbles on the paper.

I, on the other hand, was just trying to fill up my sketch book. Trying new things. Trying old things. Here is today's work.

I wanted to draw an eye and add color. Unfortunately, I don't think it turned out that great. I need to practice with the realism of the iris. I think I did the color of the iris too dark and too solid. Maybe next time, I will use a real photograph to work off and not rely on my memory.

This guy is a character I just drew. Sometimes I still like to draw cartoons. Maybe keep up so I am "in practice" when I convince my wife to write the children's book and I illustrate it. (hint hint, Cathie) :)

Flashback: 1988

It's odd how some memories stick with you. I can actually remember in detail the process of doing this drawing. I remember that I was going to do a cartoon character (isn't that what most 15-16 year olds do). The odd thing was that as I was drawing the back and moving to the tail area, I no longer saw a cartoon, but a realistic bird. I added the shading and finally took a tissue and lightly rubbed it over the entire thing. I finished the drawing by taking my block eraser and cleaning up the outline of the bird. The final outcome was this drawing. 

Hanging Towel

I was watching my younger son this morning while my older son helped my wife cook breakfast. My plan was to just do some doodles in my sketch pad. However, I saw this towel over the railing and thought that I would draw it because the texture and shadows were really cool.

Sorry about the picture quality. It was too large to scan. I had to take a digital photo of it.

Illustration Friday -- Tattoo

I could have used my Blogger avatar since I designed the tattoo on my leg in that picture. However, I wanted to challenge myself and create something new. My problem was that I couldn't think of what to draw.

Then it hit me. Why not do the tattoo that I have always wanted. Here is what has been floating around in my head for the past 10+ years.

Insect 2

While I should be focusing on my work, I decided to take a break and do a quick drawing. I could not resist because my wife just gave me her colored pencils to use that she bought for her scrapbooking and card making projects. The end result was this head of a fly. 

Illustration Friday -- Insect

Since I know that this week is going to be a busy and hectic one, I decided to use something I already had.

I drew this when I was really into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the graphic novels ones, not the cartoon ones you see today). I'm sure I had some long name for this guy, but for now he is simply "Ninja Bee."

Flashback: 1991 Senior Project

Back when I was a Senior in high school, I was considered "alternative." Clothing mostly consisted of black items, attitude was much like Christian Slater's in the movie "Heathers," and basically just trying to "push the envelope" in every way that I could at my high school, Cathedral Prep, which happened to be a private Catholic school.

I decided to do a Grim Reaper. What could be more of the opposite from the holy teachings that I was exposed to on a daily basis. To my surprise, my teacher had no issue with it. In fact, he thought it was a great idea. The picture that I used to draw it from is long gone, but my interpretation of it for this final project is quite real. So real, that my wife surprised me with it being professionally framed for Valentine's Day this year.

She is so good to me and is fully supporting my interest in the "rebirth" of my past talents.

Thanks, Cathie! I love you!