Illustration Friday: Fat

Look at that fat sucker! Mr Lipo? The Liposuctionator? Lipo man? I don't know. It's pretty random, but for some reason this is what I thought of when I read the topic for this week. Just a quick sketch with acrylic washes. Enjoy.

Rosie v2.0

I was invited to participate in the toonclub. This week topic was cartoon crushes. With the right modifications, I think Rosie has got it going on! Quick sketch colored in photoshop.

Illustration Friday: Under the Sea

Illustration Friday: Robot

This mornings warm-up sketch. Why does he have pie? Why not?

Sketch Club Myself

So there are a bunch of great sketch clubs out there in blog land. Artists go out to lunch, find some unsuspecting person who is "unique", memorize every thing about them, then they go back to work and try to draw him/her from memory. My only problem is that all of the clubs are in some big city where artists get together for lunch and draw people. I don't do that much. That is why I started my own sketch club. Members: me. Not much of a club really, but I did draw a guy from memory the other day. Does that count? Mr. mullet guy rode past my car several times. He never stopped smiling. He was just happy to be out in his pink shorts, with his big drink and his janitor keychain on his grandma's bicycle. At least that's how I remember it.


The two old guys are just some studies I did. I did the one profile because profiles are one of the things I think I struggle with the most.

4 girls, 4 colors

While I was working on a job, I did a little wash of blue on a scrap piece of paper. The blue splotch sat there for a while, but before long I had to do a sketch on top of it. Then I added a few detail and this is what I ended up with. Throughout the course of my "real" painting I did the rest of these. Kind of fun I guess.

Illustration Friday: Speed

I'm late getting this done, but I did do it fast. 30 min. start to finish.

Illustration Friday: Spring

Kind of late, but here is a quick sketch for this week. I guess that is better than nothing.

Class demo

Some of my students were asking me about a rub-out technique and I ended up doing a little demo. These were done on a 1 3/4 strip of illustration board that I pulled out of the garbage. I did a very quick sketch, then I covered it with some acrylic gel medium. I tried to leave some strong brush strokes for texture. Once that dried I did a heavy wash of gouache, using warms into cools, over the whole thing. Then, with a wet paintbrush, I would lift out the highlights. I added some color and some darks back into them and did a little more lifting out of paint. Done. It is a very quick process, but it has some neat results. The girl was done in a more traditional way with gouache. See guys, it's not that hard. Now get crackin'!

Illustration Friday: Monster

This topic is so hard because there are just soo many posibilities. You can't just draw one. Here is a page of doodles drawn during a meeting over the weekend. I have a busy week ahead of me so, I don't think I'll have time for much more than this. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: Feet

I ddid this drawing of feet, but I thought they were stupid and so I set it aside. Later, the drawing was just sitting there upside down, so I added dirt. Voila! I thought it was much better this way even though it is still a lame attempt at illustration Friday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

First, here is the painted steam critter. I normally paint with acrylics, but I used gouache for this one and also the other steam guy. It's kinda fun. I'm not sure if I'd use it for a real job yet, but who knows, maybe someday.

Second, Happy St. Patrick's Day! My daughter woke me up with a pinch this morning so, to avoid additional pinches, I went to get dressed in my green. I have no green. Nothing but an old green suit. I grabbed an old t-shirt and decided to remedy the situation by making my own St. Patrick's day shirt. Then my kids all wanted one too. So, I made four of them in the half hour before they had to go to school. Pretty lousy artwork, but the kids loved it.

Third, I thought I'd show you the artwork my two oldest kids made for their schools Art Expo. I thought they turned out pretty great.

Illustration Friday: Tattoo

Here's a little guy that I drew this week. He has a tattoo, so I thought he would fit the topic. I plan on painting him too, but this week has been just far too busy. I'll get around to it soon. Perhaps this weekend. He was inspired by this other little steam powered critter I drew a while back and it was so fun I thought he needed a buddy.
I also did a third one that is a underwater guy. Land, air and sea... hmm...maybe a whole little series. I'll post him later. This is just another sample of the stuff I do between the real work-related sketches. Somehow it keeps me sane.

Ben Franklin

I was drawing Ben Franklin for a book cover I'm working on, but this is what came out instead. Sometimes that happens and you just have to go with it.

Illustration Friday: Insect

Just a page of doodles that I did during a meeting this past weekend. No time for much more than this. Needs a bit of color. Oh well, enjoy.

I painted this guy as a demo for the illustration students at Southern Utah University. I was invited to visit their school to meet the students, demo and to do a lecture. Thanks to Ben Sowards, a professor, friend and great illustrator, for inviting me. It was fun to meet the students and to hang out for a while. Hi students.

The first version of this painting was what I did during the demo. I spent another hour on it when I got home.

Cell phone

Just playing around while I should be working. Quick sketch with some quick color.

Illustration Friday: Tea

I thought a viking having a bit of tea would be kind of funny, but after it was drawn I changed my mind. Somehow a tiny umbrella seemed to fit better than a little tea bag. So, there you have it, an illustration of tea with no tea in the illustration. That doesn't mean it isn't Celtic tea time though.

3 girls 1 dog

I was just on my way to teach a class and I had a few minutes so I thought I would post a little sketch. I drew this dog because of a job I was working on. The client gave me a character description that I found quite funny. They describe the kid--brown hair, skinny, smart, comes from a good family, likes to read and doesn't have a dog. Whew, I almost drew him with one. In fact the urge to draw this kid with a dog was so strong that I drew this one ( I just didn't send it to the client). It makes me wonder if they told me not to draw a dog because it is a problem I've had in the past? I don't normally draw random dogs in sketches. Maybe it is a subconscience thing I do? Or is it a problem they have had with other artists and they just didn't want me to fall into the same trap. I'm perplexed. I will definetly take a closer look at the things I'm sending out. Who knows what I might have unknowingly sent? A dog today--tomorrow a giraffe or a golpher..or what about spiders...or unicorns?

Illustration Friday: Song

This is a illustration I did for a little children's song cd. They wanted a rockin' bunny band, this is what they got. Awww, look at the cute widdle bunnies.

Illustration Friday: Simple

I did this quick sketch and thought "hey, he looks like a simple guy". I threw on some simple colors and there you have it. I think I will call him Floyd.

Recent sketches

I've been really busy lately so, not a lot of time to post stuff. Here are a few doodles. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: Chair

I thought I might have time to do something creative, but it looks like all we get this week is a chair.

New Banner

I finally painted the new Cat Tacos banner. The sketch is in an earlier post. My wife has already started telling me what I need to change. Any sugestions/comments?

By the way, a lot of people ask what So, cat tacos?" means or where the heck I got the name. Well, when I was setting up this blog it asked for a title so I typed this. I was going to change it later, but I didn't, so it stuck. It is a palindrome (spelled the same forwards and backwards) that I have always liked. There you have it: the origins of "So, cat tacos?".

Hatched!

My new book, "Shelly", came out today. Wahoo! It should be available all over the place. Look for it in your local bookstores. I hope this doesn't sound like a blatant plug. I mean, I don't necessarily want you to rush out and get one, just send someone you know to rush out and buy YOU one. Heck, maybe two. Okay, so maybe it does sound like a blatant plug. Here is the description of the book from the inside flap:
According to his bossy sisters, Shelly is taking far too long to develop. Adelaide wants Shelly to skate with her. Miranda wants him to be an artist, like she is. Tallulah wants Shelly to dance and twirl. Shelly’s efforts to follow their commands— while still in his shell—make him dizzy. But when he’s left to his own devices, he has no trouble coming up with his own kind of fun. Shelly will emerge when he’s good and ready. When will that be? Only he knows! This lively story is for every kid who does things his or her way, despite pushy relatives.

Hey, wait a minute, after that sweet description, I think you'll want to buy one for everyone you know. Even that brother-in-law with the weird smell. Dallas, you know who I'm talking about...

Illustration Friday: Cats 2

Maybe it is time for a new banner. Here's my idea. I think I will paint it up and throw in some type. I'll keep you posted.

(I accidently posted this on Illustration Friday twice. Big time sorry.)

Illustration Friday: Cats

Weird. I did this quick study of a cat skull that I have sitting in my studio just yesterday, and I find out today that the topic is cats. Lucky me. I did it in gouache. About an hour. My dad found this skull in a pasture and thought I should have it. I must say it is in perfect condition, picked clean and bleached white. It looks better in real life.

Illustration Friday: E is for...

E is for eanimals (the e is silent). I was trying to come up with something for this weeks topic and all I got was this page of animals that start with E. It'll have to do.

Bajio Amigo

I just finished painting or, more correctly, re-painting this piece. I originally did this for a friend back in 2001. I never painted it to the level I wanted it. It's what I would now consider an underpainting. My friend recently started a restaurant called Bajio. It is fantastic! Best food around. Ohhh, the Chicken Green Chile Quesadilla...mmmmmm to die for. I digress. Anyway, long story short, he asked me to make some changes to reflect the resturant. It gave me the chance to do it the way it should have been done in the first place. I think it is a big improvement. There is so much junk jammed in there that it is hard to control the values and to make everything read correctly. So, what do you think? Any crits?

If you ever see a Bajio restaurant go try it out. You won't be sorry.

Free Toaster and Oven Mitt!

So, cat tacos has reached a huge milestone today. 20,000 visitors!! And, to celebrate and to thank you all for visiting, I'm giving away a shiny new toaster and a swell oven mitt. Okay, so it is just a crummy, poorly drawn picture of a shiny new toaster and a swell oven mitt, but who cares? Who can complain on such a joyous occasion? Thank you all for all of your great comments and your encouragement. I never imagined so many people would visit here. I put a Stat Counter on my blog ang I was blown away by what I found. I have had visitors from 69 countries (that I know of). Amazing! Look at this list.

Antigua and Barbuda
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Burmuda
Canada
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Panama
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Romania
Russian Federation
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Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Tailand
Taiwan
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uraguay
Venezuela
Vietnam

Let me know where you are coming from or tell me if I missed your country. I'm glad blogging has brought us together.

Anyway, enjoy your shiny new toaster and your swell oven mitt. May you always have warm toast and cool hands.

You keep visiting. I'll keep bloging. Thanks again,

Guy

Illustration Friday: Sea

Swimmin' wit da fishes.

Painted Steam Guy

I threw some paint on and this was the result. I used gouache. I can't even remember the last time I used gouache. I not really happy with it, but it was good practice. The background is all scumbley and I'm not crazy bout the colors. Oh well, better luck next time.

Waiting for a Call

Here is a little sketch I did while waiting for a phone call. Who knows where this little guy came from. I like him though. I think I may have to paint him some day.

I was asked to teach a illustration class at Brigham Young University. This morning was our first class. Hello new students. I think it will be a fun class. I'll be teaching painting techniques and processes, using gouache. Wish me luck. Better yet, wish the students luck.

Illustration Friday: Flavor

This is the first thing that came to mind. I don't think I'll have time to add color--maybe later. What you see is what you get.

Illustration Friday: Holiday

Well we made it through another Christmas. Happy kids, worn-out parents, gifts, too much food--the works. I thought for this topic I would pick the painting we used for this years Christmas card. I thought it was nice and Christmasy, and because today is also the start of Kwanzaa, I figured this is a nice added bonus. It is an image from Santa's Kwanzaa, a children's book I did last year. See, two holidays with one stone. We don't celebrate Kwanzaa, but I did enough research on it while illustrating the book that I think we could. Here are a few other pictures form the book. My wife actually painted this last one. She sat next to me and I told what to do. I think it turned out pretty good.


I hope everybody is having a wonderful holiday season. Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting my blog. I've been able to meet a lot of great people here and I hope it will continue into the new year.