Alaska

I didn't post anything last week because my wife and I were on an Alaskian cruise. Beautiful scenery, whales, sea kayaking, wildlife, train rides, tasty food. It was a great trip. I'd reccomend it to anyone. I even took along my sketchbook and some watercolors. Didn't even use them. Okay, I sketched a few things, but very little. At least nothing I would want to post. I think there was just too much to take in or else I was a little seasick. It was a relaxing break from work, but unfortunatly, now it's time to get back to it. Maybe I will feel inspired from the trip and post something Alaska-ish later.



And, so this post has at least some artwork, here is a little sketch painting that I did the day before we left.

Doohicky

This is a little doodle that turned out kinda fun. Ink with some sepia washes. I had a small frame that it fit perfectly so, I framed it up and gave it to an old friend of mine named Birk Peterson. He is an amazing old man who builds miniature steam engines--actually, he can build anything. When he saw this little drawing he said he wanted to build it. I believe him. And it will probably work too. If anyone could do it Birk can.

Illustration Friday: Discovery

Prof. Sheman W. Dimpleshire pauses for tea before embarking on a new world of discovery.

Monster and girls

Some doodles from the sketchbook.

Sketch paintings 09

I haven't done a sketchy doodle for a while. Nothing much, but it's something.

The Planet Hunter

I just saw this on Amazon. "The Planet Hunter: The Story Behind What Happened to Pluto" (Rising Moon Books) written by Elizabeth Rusch and illustrated by me is my newest picture book. It will be out in November. If you want to know what happened to Pluto, this might be the book for you. It was a very fun book to work on. They combined my artwork with actual photos. I haven't seen the final version yet, but I'm really looking forward to it. Watch for it.

Sub-Level 2 progress report 8

My desks are done! At least for now. One of my hold-ups was that I couldn't find the trim I wanted for the edges of the desk. I really wanted that 50's chrome look, but that stuff is hard to find. I ended up making my own out of the trim used to hold down carpet. It is actually one 1 1/5 strip with a 2 inch strip overlapping it. It took a lot of work, but I was really happy with the way it turned out. Once I had the trim in place I put 2-3 coats of clear epoxy on the top. Very glossy and juicy. It brought back that shiny bowling alley look. Once the fumes were gone and the epoxy cured I was able to move in my computers. Ahhhh. That feels better. I still have one more desktop to put in, but it needs cabinets under it first and I still need to build some closet doors. It's a never ending process.

Sidewalk Art

I'm one of several artists doing some sidewalk art at the Terra Nova gallery in Provo. 41 West 300 North, Provo, Utah. It is part of the Downtown Provo Gallery Stroll. Friday, July 6, 6-9pm. I'm still working on my piece now. Here is a little preview. All of you Utah folks come down and check it out. I'll post the final tomorrow.

4th of July!

For the 4th of July I drew this used sparkler for your veiwing pleasure. I think it turned out okay. Happy 4th and be careful with those fireworks. Pen & ink

Illustration Friday: Camouflage

This was supposed to be a funny illo of a soldier in flower camo hiding in some garden, but this came out of my pen instead. Oh well. I also planned on painting it, but all of my acrylics were dry so, I used some ink that was sitting around. Things don't always work out the way you plan. Sometimes you gotta go with the flow and see what happens.

Dove

I found a little wounded dove in my garden today. I think that he may have been introduced to our cat Chubbs. He let me walk right up to him and pick him up and he didn't seem to mind my kids handling him. They thought it was great. I did this little sketch while we were sitting around watching him. Hopefully we can get him back on his feet...or wings... or whatever.

Sketch paintings 08

A couple more sketchy doodle gals. I'm not sure where these little sketches come from, but somehow they seem to put me in the mood for real work. I guess it is putting pencil to paper every day to keep the creative juices flowing. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: Rejection

This is a recent character design job I did that got rejected. No big deal though, that kind of thing happens a lot in this buisness. It was a very fun job to work on and it is a great client, they just chose to go a different direction. Hopefully we can work together again sometime. It's all good.

sketch paintings 07

I just finished up a week of teaching at the Writing and Illustrating for Young Children conference at Brigham Young University. It was a wonderful week. Great students, great faculty and lots of fun. Thanks to everybody who participated. Here is a chap for the weekend.

Sketch paintings 06

Here are a few to enjoy for the weekend. We are headed to a family reunion right now. Should be loads of fun. That is, of course, if family reunions ARE fun. Maybe I can get a little sketching in.

Sketch paintings 05

I haven't posted anything all week so I thought I'd throw up something. Not much, but I have been spending my free time fixing sprinklers. Wife's orders.

Illustration Friday: Signs

This is a older illustration, infact I think I might have posted it before, but it just seems to fit the topic so well.

Illustration Friday: Citrus

The Citric Acid Five

Lemon Meringua
&
Lime Ricky
(and their orange bot)

Oh, they look sweet, but they are SOUR!





Dr. Le Mon Squeoux

A stuffy French guy whose super squeezer powers make all things taste of Skittles and Starbursts that nobody likes.


Lime Wedgie

Dealing out wedgies with a splash of lime.








Grapefruit Greg

With his "stache" of intimidation and his spoons of doom he squirts grapefruit juice into the eyes of the unexepecting.


More to come...

Sketch paintings 04

More warm-ups to keep the juices flowing. Geez, I'm starting to get a bunch of the little paintings sitting around the studio. Maybe I should sell them on ebay or something? Anyway. thanks to everybody who takes time to visit me here. I apreciate your comments.

Funny Farm

I just got my copies of Funny Farm, a new book from Inovative Kids. It is available in stores now. I had a lot of fun working on this one. It's the first activity book I've worked on. It has a bunch of magnetic animal pieces that you can mix and match and a little story to go along with it. My younger kids are having tons of fun with it. I was happy with the way it turned out and now I can make cow/pigs, dog/chickens, frog/horses...forses? The possibilities are endless!