IF: Backwords

This guy will bend over backwords to get "The Job" done for you.

The Meaning of Christmas

I was prompted to illustrate the meaning of Christmas by a blog community I'm involved with called "Monday Artday." I nearly drew a family get together or some other traditional Christmas icons. Then I had a vision in my mind of what Christmas really means to me. It is really about Emmanuel, God with us, and God bridging the great divide between himself and people. So I drew a graphic yet surrealistic image of that concept.

IF: Little Things

Title: Antibiotics vs. Super Bacteria. Sometimes little things are the difference between life and death. Flu Shot anyone?

This is an experiment and departure from my normal style so please tell me what you think.

IF: Excess

This week's IF word was "excess." Not only does Rudolf have to lead his team on two sleigh rides, but one of the sleighs exceeds the federal weight regulation by quit a bit.

IF: Superstition

My entry for "Superstition" is of the Chupacabra. In the Latin American world the Chupacabra is as infamous as Bigfoot/Yeti, UFOs, and Nessy. The name Chupacabra means "Goat Sucker" and sightings describe the beast as having a ridge of spikes going down it's back, standing like a kangaroo, having the head of a panther or dog, and having scaled or leathery skin.
I wish I had the time to color it in. My next few entries may have to be quick, like this one, and have no color.

Camel Flying on a Rocket

I hope this makes someone laugh.

I didn't get to the "Chades Challenge" therefore I lost this week. I finished this piece because it was related to work.

My Walk to Work

Since it is Fall and very beautiful in North Georgia I thought I would show all of you my walk to work. Follow the semi-transparent line:

First I leave from my garage and walk to the street.

I do this through my next door neighbors yard; they rent and don't care if I do this.

Next, I walk down my other neighbors drive way. I got permission to do this; they were happy to facilitate someone walking to work. At the end of the driveway I go left.

This is the view leaving my neighbors yard and entering a deer path. Here I go right.

Here the path descends down a steep hill which I walk down diagonally. I will note here that it is important for me to wave around a small stick in front of me to avoid spider webs.

At the bottom of the hill I veer left and step down into a stream bed.

This is were I jump the stream and head towards civilization.

I stroll by the 4H Club garden behind the 4H Club building. This is public property so I do not have to worry about being shot.

This is the parking lot of the Watkinsville Court House in downtown Watkinsville.

Standing on the North Western Corner of the Courthouses' side walk I make my way to Water Street.

I proceed down Water Street.

I turn left onto Durham Street.

I arrive at High Performing Systems, Inc. at 8:28 AM.

For those of you who do not know, Watkinsville is a town outside of Athens GA.

IF: Hats

I sometimes feel this way and I'm sure many of you do to. This is the first image that came into my mind about hats, I don't know why but it did. Maybe it is because I felt particularly this way today.

Great Illustrators: Inspiration

I have recently been turned on to some great illustrators, past (Kley) and contemporary, that are very inspiring to me. The range of styles varies but it is all awesome. I challenge anyone who sees an unfamiliar illustrator listed to Google their work; you will be amazed by some great stuff.

Thank you to Illustration Garage members, on the website www.ArtBistro.com, for showing most of these artists.



Pascal Campion

Marshall Arisman

James Jean

James Jean again

Heinrich Kley

Audrey Kawaski

Halloween Mask

This a ceramic mask I finished last week that was bisque fired and painted with water colors. It is about 15 inches tall and weighs between 5 and 10 pounds. I have not made a mask in months, although it was something I used to do quite often. To see more check out my website at:

http://www.intersectiony.com/

I thought this one was appropriate for "Trick or Treat" because it is kind of macabre and could be worn as part of a costume.

Please excuse the mediocre photo; although I think the lighting adds to the mood.

ChaDes: Ferocious Gator

ChaDes has resurfaced as a "ferocious gator." These are my entries. The top was the first idea that came to mind, and the bottom is more of an actual character design.

IF: Extreme

I ussually try to create new images based on the subject of IF, but this is an exception. When I thought about extreme this image came to my head. When I tried to think of another idea, this image came into my head. So, here it is.

Extreme view points bring people and countries to this place. What is more extreme than concluding that your emassary is so wrong that the only sollution is to kill them. In the end, even if you succeed, you have killed a part of your self in the process.

IF: Open

I originally thought I would show an old picture that I titled "A Look Inside: An Open Mind." But I wanted to be open about myself with the art. An Open Book makes sense to me, and is somewhat cliche, but I thought I would do it in a new way. It has large hands and feet because those are my favorite things to draw. You probably can't read the text but it says everything and nothing about myself.

The Office

I must admit I am a fan of the Office. If you saw the season premier you may recall a conversation about gods to be worshiped. Michael mention a Walrus with a Sea lion head, An Egret with a Miercat head, and a Porcupine with the head of a monkey and antlers. This stirred up images in my head that I had to draw. I hope you all enjoy these as much as I do.

The Blues: Part Two

This is the first image of the blues that comes to my mind when I think of the blues. A no name Song writer that wears his sunglasses 24 hours a day. He plays a mean rythmic guitar and howls from the soul. He just lost his job, his old lady, his dog, his car, his house and is on the verge of, or has already sold his soul. He whales on the porch of a considerate friend's house on an uncomfortable chair under a tin roof that clanks with the first drops of hard rain. The heart of the blues is not showmanship or the spotlight, it is the soul of a singer being poured out to God and whoever else will listen to his/her plea.

The Blues: Part One

I love the blues. The soul, the sound, the history. I think of the roots of rock music, the influence on jazz, the jam. The oppression that brought this heart felt music and the further exploitation when it was stolen and commercialized.

This Blues installment is a dedication to John Lee Hooker, one of my favorite Blues players. He best know for "Boom, Boom, Boom," and "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," which are classics. If you listen to his work you can hear the roots of Hendrix, Clapton, and Rock'n'Roll as we know it. I saw him once and he was more entertaining at 75 years old than most other musicians are at 25 years old.

This is my slick installment, done in vector, to show the slick showmanship of hooker. My next installment will be about the roots of the blues, and will be more gritty.

IF: Juggle

I have not got political in my IF art so here it is. I do not envy the president's job. I think most people would agree that someone smarter, with a little backbone, could have done a much better job. That being said, the president has so much to juggle that he/she cannot make everyone happy. Anyone in that position given, the U.S.'s situation, is going to be disliked. Has this president only made the situation worse? Probably, but time will only tell.

Action Plan

I did this illustration for my work a few months ago. We have a thing here called an "Action Plan" that is supposed to get managers/leaders excited to implement what they have learned in classes. What says action and excitement more than swinging on rope like Indiana Jones.

Jones is the coolest action hero of all time: this is one of my observations. What other action hero would not mortally fear grinding off his family jewels while being dragged behind a truck going 30 mph on a rocky road?... What other action hero desecrates ancient holy places just so Nazi's can't do it first? What other cool action hero successfully uses a whip? What other action hero has travelled the world and met Hitler? Trust me.

Momentum and Alphabet

Here is this weeks IF challenge. It is actually the last two weeks of IF, but I was out of town last week and really wanted to post my "Momentum" and "Alphabet," so here they are.

For "Momentum" I got to my Southern California roots and drew a surfer, which is something I have not done in years. Surfing involves momentum but the real reason surfing makes sense, for the subject, is that one of the greatest surf movies ever made was named "Momentum." It was the first of the a new generation of surf movies with punk music and no name surfers who became the biggest names in surfing. My dad is a surfer and so the surfer has grey hair: Old dudes can still kick ass in surfing.

Another T-shirt

No IF entry this week because I had a couple freelance projects that superseded IF efforts. Here is a design for a 5k some friends are hosting at their gigantic property; They have enough land to have a 5k within 3 laps around their property line. This shirt and 5k is to fund our friends' church deacons and to send money to a friend in Indonesia who helps run a medical clinic. I did a shirt for the friend in Indonesia last year and if you look close at the design you can see her behind all the deacons.

The shirt is a natural color, undyed, and the ink color will be Dark Orange; Shirts for charities are usually only one color because that is cheaper to print.

IF: Captain part Two

Here is a second captain picture for IF. Being a pirate is not nearly as glamorous as Johnny Depp makes it appear. With the missing limbs, lack of female companionship, and peg legs sinking in the sand at misopportune moments.

IF: Captain part One

So now I will start posting for IF, Illustration Friday, whenever I can. There is a great community of illustrators there and I want to get into the action. This not a captain but it all about the duty of a captain.

So a rhino, a giraffe, and an elephant go into a bar...

I recently felt inclined to draw a rhino, a giraffe, and an elephant drinking coffee together. I could not explain why I needed to draw them, I just did. Then out of the blue I was requested to do some t-shirt designs for "Iron and Wine," who is a musician I like a lot. His promoter wanted a circus themed design and any other art. The gray shirt is my circus styled design and I got to use my RGE drawing for another design on a natural colored shirt. I thought they turned out pretty cool and I hope "Iron and Wine" thinks they are cool too.

The Return of the "ChaDes"

The Chades Challenge is back. Here are some posts for "Furry Marionettes." I hope you all enjoy and I look foreword to seeing other peoples sketches.

Rad

I'm not one to post non-art related things but for this I had to make an exception. This is the 80's defined: two of the best 80's charactors together in one Rad picture. I guess this could be classified as 80's popart. This would be a great T-shirt.

T-shirt Designs From July

"YouMe" is a non-profit company that is going to be started to bring public awareness of poverty and starvation. The first project is for somewhere in Africa. The proceeds for the shirts will be used for food and aide.

The other three shirts are for a band called "Remeber The Fallen." These are designs for shirts that be printed cheaply, since most musicians are starving.