Yeah, it's been a while...

So, I have been doing stuff. Most is in preliminary stages. I have like 4 different concepts for illustrations in various stages.

Anyway, here is a job I did recently for a friend from my high school days. He works on a crew at a power plant in Georgia. I am pretty sure they clean and repair the boilers. He said he wanted a new mascot for his crew, a Boiler Flea to be exact. Apparently the named originated from a talented Hispanic welder named Lemonade. He told the boss that he was getting fleas from the boiler. These things get so hot that it takes about 30-days to cool them down, there is no way an insect is living in there. So he was let go, but his legacy will live on.

Dorn asked me draw a flea and this is what I came up with. It has a little bit of hot rod culture influence, not bad. I included the rough sketch below. I inked it and put it in Illustrator to clean it up. [ink + digital]

It crossed my mind that this may have been an X-file. You know, some prehistoric creature that lies dormant in the coal, only to be awakened by the intense heat of the boiler. Possibly...

Here's to you Lemonade.



Pencil rough:

One-Eyed Pink Monster

My niece is turning 4 this year. She wanted a monster themed birthday party. So I drew up a slimy striped tentacled one-eyed pink monster for her bash. [Ink + Digital]



Front of Invite:

The power of Christ compels thee.

A couple of weeks ago, my oldest daughter had a nosebleed in the morning. What unfolds next is no exaggeration nor embellishment on the details. I still can’t get the images of that day out of my head.

WARNING: The following story is graphic and gross.

My usual routine in the morning is shower, make lunches for both Ruby and I, brew coffee, eat breakfast, iron shirt and get my ladies up. Jen is first on my route, with Ruby being the next stop and then finally AVA. This particular morning the wife was slow getting out of bed, so I was already in the bathroom messing up my coif. Usually at some point Ruby saunters in to relieve the morning dew collection. So as I am fiddling with my hair, I hear her say, “Man, why is my nose running?” When I look at her, I notice a bit of blood around the nostril rim and some blood on the back of her hand from doing the no-kleenex-snot-wipe.

Alright, no big deal, just a nosebleed. So I use all the information I have gathered in my years of dealing with nosebleeds, which apparently was all wrong. More on this later. I grab a tissue and proceed to apply pressure to the middle part of her nose.

"This should clear up in few minutes, so don't worry Ruby."

10 minutes later, the nose is still bleeding. Actually, more like gushing. I start to panic a bit, Jen is avoiding the situation due to fainting issues with blood, which in turn makes me a bit short with Ruby. She obviously is scared to have blood stream out of her nose and into her mouth and on her lap. Big scarlet red drops are falling just like the few seconds before a summer downpour. The cries of a frightened 6-year old only heighten the mood.

20 minutes later. I say, "I think it may have stopped." Negative. Bleeding comes back with a vengeance. The bleeding snarls at me with a "Fuck you old man, I am taking this one." A huge, snotty clot shoots out her nose. This causes a chain reaction of gagging and a bit of vomit. I am completely beside myself. SCARED. Jen asks if she should call the doctor from her hunched over position on the floor.

"Hell yeah."

Could this get any worse? Can the doctor save the day on this 30-minute bloodletting? The doctor asks her questions and I answer them. I feel the fear fading a bit...maybe it will be all right. Nope. No way, no how.

What happens now is something I don't even think I can begin to convey in words the sheer horror that I witnessed. Or, how completely scared Ruby was at what was the largest amount of blood, bile and phlegm to come out of her mouth. It ran like a crimson river down her chin and chest into her lap. I know I called for Jesus, God and Calgon in that moment. I know the doctor was trying to reel me back in. I know Jen was close to blacking out. I know that my white shirt had miraculously avoided the bloodshed that was taking place in our very little bathroom. I know that Ruby was still sitting on the toilet from her morning pee.

Finally, after an aeon of 45 minutes, the bleeding subsided. The fear is gone, with only a slight hangover of emotional exhaustion. Ruby seems to be okay, but is understandably worried that it will start bleeding again. Jen is able to walk around. And, Ava? Not sure what she was doing this whole time.

Before the phone call ended with the doctor she gave me some tips: Blow your nose to remove clots, as they will often not stop the bleeding and will in turn cause you to swallow massive amounts of blood. Also, pinch the nose shut at the nasal entrance, while leaning forward. If possible, ball up some tissue and shove it in the nose hole as a plug.

I felt like Father Karras after that...well, except for the whole hurling myself out the window bit. I think that may have been a bit of overkill to stop a nosebleed. Yeah, that's right. Fuck you nosebleed, till we meet again.

Nine years...

As I mentioned in my last post, my wife and I just celebrated our 9th anniversary this past weekend. Good food and a delicious big ass beer at Checkers. I always make a card of some sort for my wife for the big three: Christmas, Birthday and Anniversary. I had no idea what I was going to do this year. I then had an idea while in the shower, which seems to be the place where most of my eleventh hour ideas originate.

When I started drawing it, I kind of had the sneaking suspicion that this might make a good sticker for some hippie's rusted out VW. I do not take this as a compliment. No way. This drawing is my technique, but not really my style. Anyway, it was done for love, so that makes it alright in my book. I wanted to watercolor it, but since I procrastinated, I thought I would mess it up in my rush to get it done. I also included my hand written note on the inside in all its embarrassing prose glory. [pencil + ink]

Front:


Inside:

May I probe you?

Not very prepared today, exhausting weekend (Ava's 5th Birthday Party).

Here is an old drawing of a nurse robot. When I am bored, I tend to draw monsters, eyeballs and robots. That is all I really have say this Monday. [ink]

...when pigs fly.

I think I am going to try the Illustration Friday next week. I was little late for this week's topic, which is "Magnify." The goal is to illustrate the given topic for the week, then post it on the site. This is where the flying pig idea came from. I think the H1N1 (Swine Flu) paranoia seems a bit out of hand. I hope that I am not wrong, but my gut is telling me not to fall for this hysteria.

Anyway, the original idea was to have the pig in space, flying away from earth. This was illustrating the magnification of the situation of how fast and far this virus is supposed to spread. In the amount of time I wanted to complete this (one evening), I was not liking how the pig looked in space. I then just focused on the pig solely. It didn't turn out bad. [ink + digital]



The thing that gets me is that normal strains of the flu spread just as fast, and take more lives. Yet the WHO (Haha, not Roger & Crew) does not get involved in those scenarios. I feel like they might not be telling us the whole truth, whether for better or for worse. Maybe I am just not seeing the bigger picture...I am after all, an elitist American.

Partly fishy, with a chance of...

Not sure where this came from. I started with the clouds, then I was like, "What the hell do I put in the clouds?" A fish of course. Ugh. Seemed humorous at the time, like some surreal Python-esque inside joke...not really. I think it came about because of some Magritte visions and a little Edward Lear prose. The latter is enjoyed by my girls immensely. They have this book that my mom gave them filled with animal stories by different authors, mostly predating the 20th century. Most of the stories are complete nonsense and filled with odd, sometimes dark humor. Maybe this is how the fish in the clouds came about... [pencil]

Benny & The Cakes

This is part 2 of the cupcake incident. This was a fun little project. A little slow and frustrating in the beginning as I didn't know what the hell I was going to do. I think it all turned out well in the end. Have fun Ben. [ink + digital]



Here is the front cover of the invitation for Ben's 16th birthday party. For privacy reasons, I am not going to post the inside layout I used the cupcake for:

Retirement Plan

I drew these alpacas (cousin to the llama) for a client logo. The logo was a disaster, but at least I got to do some ink work.

After reading about them and physically seeing them, my wife and I decided we would like a little herd of alpacas to tend after when we retire to our little scenic farm. Grow some vegetables and meditate in the meadow with the alpacas. They have their own version "Om."

A train, a train...would you, could you, on a train?

Start with one train:



Next, add a little portrait of one daughter:



Finally, mix it up in Illustrator, and you have one invitation:



[ink + digital]

Oh nos!

Monday morning production meeting scribble: What if Squidbot was not a bio-mechanical organism, but just 100% robot? What if he had a bad memory from his robot-hood? What would it be about? [pencil]

Prehistoric Beaver?

Another scribble that happened on the same press check as Phonebot 8000b. I just started to draw some strokes with my brush pen, this is what came out. Is is a beaver, jungle rat or a wombat? Is it even from this era? Ink and digital.

Nice grille.

This was a concept that only made it to semi-rough stage before they decided to go with another concept that I did. Both ideas gave me some nice illustrations, but I liked this concept more. The drawing below is on step beyond the thumbnail rough.



This is the thumbnail rough:



Here is the concept that they went with:

Phonebot 8000b

This scribble happened while on a press check. They were having problems with one of the plates, so I had some down time while they resolved the issue. Ink.

Still using a cell phone? Tired of being burdened with carrying that awkward device around for human-to-human communication? Blackjaw Industries has the solution for you. Introducing the Phonebot 8000. A personal cyberbetic device that will follow you when you are on the go. Say goodbye to that unsightly bulge in you jumpsuit pocket. Did you ever forget to interface with your personal communication device so it could recharge its engineered protein cells? Phonebot 8000 recharges itself, either by docking in its night station or using the fresh gamma rays from our atmosphere.

Bonus for you hipsters out there, the Phonebot 8000b is styled in a retro fashion that emulates believable 1960s fantasy science fiction. What were they thinking back then, actual "robots" made out of steel and rubber? Oh the kitsch. Order now, and we will also give you a second Phonebot for the female species of the house for half the price. Don't delay, act today.

Ummm, what's that behind your back?

Monday morning production meeting is a prime time for scribbles. I often draw on the back of the production summary sheets. I put my pencil tip on the sheet and see where it takes me. I can tell in the first few lines if it will be something worthwhile. Sometimes the lines and strokes go no where. Sometimes they reveal a story. Most times it is just a scribble. This particular day, it was a story.

Eat that brief.

A true scribble today. Change briefs are not safe from my pencil. Usually it gets defiled when I am on the phone. No love for the change brief, no love. Hehe, they get filed away like this in the job bag, then put into storage.

In Seach Of...

...the ever elusive Albatwitch. Logo collaboration with Denny for a record label run by Tim. Ink and digital.

I would have to punch this thing repeatedly if I ever came across it on a picnic, unless it had orangutan strength, then I would be busting it "every which way but loose."

The Albatwitches-Columbia, Pennsylvania

Local legends in the area of Columbia, Pennsylvania speak of a creature called an "albatwitch." The albatwitch is a small (about 4 feet tall), manlike creature which supposedly lived in wooded areas. Their main area of residence seemed to be near Chickies Rock, a heavily wooded area along the banks of the Susquehanna River about a mile or two north of town. Albatwitches were also reported from wooded areas all along the river's shore.

The creatures are named for a habit which they possess. Their bizarre common name is short for "apple-snitch", as they are reputed to have a taste for apples. Legends speak of how the albatwitches would oftentimes steal apples from picnickers, occasionally even throwing them at the startled people. Legends also record that the creatures often sat in trees, coming down only to find food.

Legend also says that the albatwitches either became extinct or were driven nearly into extinction in the later years of the nineteenth century. Chickies Rock, where the creatures supposedly lived, does have a tradition of strange sights and sounds - in the 1950s and 1970s, a manlike figure was seen several times, and local legends also speak of sounds like the crack of a whip heard in the woods at night. One can only wonder if these could be connected with the albatwitch.

Whether these stories are connected or not, several sightings of Bigfoot-types have been recorded from this area. A vague report concerning the sighting of a hairy humanoid came from Lancaster in 1973. Lancaster is a scant 10 miles east of Columbia. Another came from the town of North Annville (about 20 miles to the north) in the same year. In addition, a number of reports have surfaced out of neighboring York County.

Also, some sources say that the Susquehannocks, like many Indian tribes, had a belief in an apelike monster, and sometimes depicted it on their war-shields. The Susquehannocks were a local tribe - coincidentally, major evidences of their civilization (ruins of a village and burial grounds) were found at the base of Chickies Rock.

http://www.bfro.net/legends/iroquoian.htm

Real quick today.

I have to get the wife to an appointment today, so I am posting something I had on my home computer. This was done for a logo for an old chum I used to work with. I will post the logo later, right now I just wanted to get something up. I will also post the original ink drawing as well, so for now, here is the illustrator version.



Here is the inked version:


Thanks to Nate and Project A-Game for the opportunity to collaborate on this.

Zeke, you U-G-L-Y!

Heads are a common doodle with me, especially male heads. The female head without reference is tough for me, I never can seem to do them justice. They are just too beautiful a creature to mess up with my clumsy strokes. Men, who gives a shit. Ugly, creepy, effeminate, they just draw with ease.

Zeke is somewhere between hillbilly and leprechaun. You decide.

Squidbot wants a hug.

A lot of the drawings that I will be posting right now, are things I drew within the past 2 years.