The morning commute

It's the twenty first century already! Where are those wonderful flying air cars that were predicted 60 plus years ago that were supposed to help relieve traffic congestion and the morning gridlock? Oh one can only hope and dream some day.

Treehouse environment

Seriously who hasn't wished they lived in the trees? Or at least off the ground? I figured I'd give a go at designing a small community that would be akin to "birdhouses meet tree forts". I figured the core of the tree itself would be the actual living space and the exteriors would just be for sunlight and exit/entrances.

The joys of a grey marker

Every now and then, just for fun- I find it loads of fun just to sketch with a grey marker. There's something about it that seems less permanent, less precious, and much more liberating than using a solid black line.

The appeal of Dracula

I'm not sure what it is, but there's always something fun about drawing Dracula or vampires for me. Is it their cool suave nature? Is it their swanky outfits? Or is it just the fact that they and I have the same office hours?

It's snowing in Michigan.

It's finally snowing in Michigan! Much to the chagrin of some and much to my delight. I'm not sure why but I've always enjoyed a good dusting of snow. And I couldn't help but draw up with some offbeat contraption to help beat getting around these parts.

The Green Goblin

Not that I could even come close to what John Romita, Sr. could envision for the diabolical Green Goblin but I've always loved this classic Spider-Man villain. The idea that some psychopathic, super strong, drugged up villain riding around Manhattan on a rocket powered Bat Glider (no offense meant to the friendly folks over at DC Comics I hope) was great!

Halloween costumes

Seeing as how Halloween just passed, I thought I'd toy around with the idea of some of the costumes I've seen as of late. Some of which have been genius, some not so much- but it is the one day out of the year where people can dress up in the most ridiculous of outfits and be socially accepted for one night.

Vehicle sketches

I've been on somewhat of a tear with drawing these super utilitarian 4X4 vehicles as of late. I love the non-aerodynamic nature of these sort of moon buggies, safari vehicles, utilitarian transports, and how bit of their carriage is dedicated to a functional use.

Old man sketch

Quick sketch I did for my friend Chris Carden who teaches in the Entertainment Arts department at CCS.

Fear of Bigfoot

I just recently had lunch with my good friend Dennis and found out that he's also somewhat of a Bigfoot enthusiast. He actually takes his kids out camping and tells them all about the phenomenon, research, expeditions, and lore. Me on the other hand (while interested)... I have a fear that Bigfoot would just come and snatch me away. Rational? Probably not but makes for one heckuva a fun drawing.

The love of baseball.

Having just gotten back from a long weekend of watching some pretty entertaining minor league baseball in Grand Rapids and Lansing, I figured I'd indulge myself in some baseball imagery for fun.

Another "sick" drawing

Just had some fun at the expense of another friend, Rosey- who had been ailing this month.

Sick in the summer.

It's never fun to be sick in the summer. My poor friend, Sandra in Chicago got walloped with the flu bug awhile back and it inspired me to crank out this sketch. I can only imagine the ungodly hot weather, feeling miserable and wanting to do things like a normal human being again.

Christmas in July

Usually around Christmas we gather at one of the relatives who has a good sized home and we get the families together for a festive holiday celebration. Since we don't happen to have that kind of square footage we decided upon a Christmas in July party where we could utilize our outdoor yard space. For kicks I decided to do up a bunch of elves, hula girls and snowmen for the gig. Hand colored, mounted onto foamcore and glued onto sticks they made for decent fans in the +90º heat.

Great napkins!

So I'm not a coffee drinker, but I do love the attitude and swagger of Seattle's Best Coffee's napkin copy: "NAPKIN. aka spontaneous genius sketch paper". I couldn't help but hopefully prove them right by adding a sketch of my own on one of their napkins.

And for those students that have had my Storyboard class, they also know darn well that their final assignment is done on bar napkins. I've often considered the lowly bar napkin a wonderful medium to draw on.

Yeti chase

Just for kicks, this was a piece I started out ages ago to play around with the layers in Photoshop. Is it where I want it? Not really but I thought it was a valid attempt to have some fun, tweak some things and blend old school with digital.

#56

Shriners and other offbeat civic organizations. Always an interesting subject to me. So wonderfully kitschy and yet who doesn't want to try on a fez for once in their lives?

#55

Maybe it's the warm weather. Maybe it's just the sun coming out. Not sure what it is but there are definitely some distracted drivers out there on the road at times.

All nighters

Every now and then I have to pull an all-nighter just to beat a client's deadline. My students don't know how I do it and quite frankly I'm not so sure how I do it. It's physically exhausting, mentally draining, and a pressure cooker. But after the job is delivered and the client is satisfied, the euphoria (and the eventual paycheck) is pretty good. A few weeks back after pulling an all nighter, I still had just enough energy to scratch out this little gem that sort of encapsulates the feeling of the morning after.

#54

I finally managed to get a new case of sketchbooks in and I've been filling them up pretty regularly. I'm actually juggling two at the moment and this was just one of the more fun filled images I decided to pull out of one for the blog.

#53

Just messing with the new Utrecht Design Markers here. Kinda liking the flexible nib- almost brush like but with just enough of a snap back to them. Not the world's greatest assortment of colors but dirt cheap, nice tip and great for quick inking so far.

Photoshop inking

Just playing around with Photoshop and the Wacom tablet here. It's something I did freehand just to get more and more familiar with the brush sensitivity when it comes to a traditional inking look.

Midterm grading

A few weeks back it was midterms for a lot of us who teach. My friend and fellow Ask the Professor panelist, Beth Oljar actually had to go into seclusion and take time away from our weekly show taping to handle her grades. This is what she gets for teaching a popular class at the University of Detroit-Mercy!

Rest in peace, Martin.

A few weeks back at the local pet shop where I frequent, one of the regular inhabitants there- Martin the Tortoise passed away. He was anywhere from 18-20 years old, about three feet in length, weighed more than I care to talk about, and had free reign of the store. Martin was by far one of the most gentlest creatures there. He was often the marvel of kids young and old there. We had often joked how he was going to outlive us all. Sadly his demise came far too soon and he will be missed by all.

This is my tribute to the bug lug who would often come to me for food and offer me a less than gentle nudge upon my shins.

#52

Based upon a premise that all car designs should be geared towards an individual personality.

#51

No particular inspiration. No particular purpose other than to see where and what the pen could create. It's like I tell people- "there are certain times when the pen does all the work and all I do is hang on tight"!

#50

G'Lord. It's been awhile since I've posted. It's not like I haven't probably carved through a half dozen sketchbooks since I last posted- it's just that the advertising aspect of my career's gotten busy again (no complaints there). Here's just a sampling of some of the stuff I've been doing.