The Importance of Being

Though incredibly well stocked, Austin Books and Comics didn't have what I was looking for--a couple of obscure indie and French comics. The clerk tried hard to find them, however, leading me through several hunts in the store. As we quested through the shelves, he provided a running commentary of the books I was looking for--where they might be, when they had had them, and why they didn't now. "This," I thought, rushing to keep up with him, "Is something Amazon will never provide and why brick and mortar stores are so important (especially local ones). It can't compare to a flesh and blood search engine, passionate about his craft." Humans rule.

Photo source. Excellent review of the store, too.

Epilogue: And while we did not find what I was looking for--again, obscure--he did show me a great book I took home with me.

Christmas Card 2012

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The rough. Ditched the duds for the final.
(An odd choice as I am known for putting scarves on things.)

And then dad sends this shot to say thanks for the card.
Sigh. Yellow would have made it better.

Cottonwood

 

When I was 8, I often climbed to the top of the cottonwood in our back yard. From that place I could see to the outskirts of the small west Texas town in which we lived. There, I and the mockingbirds perched, each blown by the breeze, surrounded by the rattle of the leaves. The blue sky our home.

Space Santa : Sketchbookin'

Sometimes an idea grabs me, and for no rational reason, I become obsessed with it. It's the nature of the artist, I guess, to be drawn into an idea and explore it--even if the subject at hand or task is of questionable value.

And so it has become with Space Santa. Meant only to be a sketch study, the idea's pulled me in. I don't anticipate having the time to flesh it out completely, so there may not be a final. We'll see.

Space Santa is not the soft old man he's sometimes portrayed to be, but a guy who lives in the raw pioneer scrabble of space. He's strong. Capable. Someone you want on your side. Therefore, some of these Santas look mean. (As was pointed out on Facebook.) The goal is to make him fit the description above.

They are presented in the order they were drawn, so here's some of my journey as I explore this idea.

(click to embiggen)

Turkey Day Draw Time with Uncle Christopher

My nieces and nephews range in age from 2 to 13 (and a half, she would like you to know). Every holiday we are together we gather around the table, pull out the drawing supplies at hand, and draw together. It's always a lot of fun. I am related to some very talented artists. Here are my efforts from that day.

Crayon, which I rarely work in. Rose Art's black will draw on top of the other colors, but tends to get on your hands.

A bear. A baseball bear. (Drawn with my markers.)

The family pets.

Sketchbook : Winter Bird

From Rough to Final : Anatomy of an Election Editorial Illustration

 

Here's a shot of an illustration I did for the Fort Worth Star Telegram. the article was about how to host a bi-partisan election night watch party.  (I don't live in Fort Worth, but a friend was nice enough to take the photo and send it to me.)  

As always, click the illustrations to see them bigger.

 

Here's the final. 

(They cropped off the right side, which was what I wanted.)

The original rough sent to the client. They liked it, but needed it to be more tall than wide. In the final I changed all of the character drawings but the male donkey.

With the female elephant coming in from the right, and her donkey pal across the illustration from her, they needed a relationship, some reason to interact. "He's got her flag," was my solution. Note also, the switch from the elephant grabbing the Tasty Snack with his hand, to a more natural for elephants with-his-trunk action.

On my way from the elephant above to the elephant used in the final, there was brief stop here. This was from photo reference, so the elephant is more representational than my style.
(Though I still really like him.)

Here's Mr. Final Elephant.