Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Sidney Lumet 1924-2011


Betty Ford 1918-2011


(I had a magazine with year-end notable people who died next to me at my drawing table. I really don't have any personal connection to either of them)

Friday, December 2, 2011

No Neck

This is a future version of a fellow my friend Tim grew up with who had no neck. I can't stop drawing him. Maybe I'll post the dozen other versions I've done later-

Friday, November 11, 2011

Band Stuff!



Inspired by a cool band logo from our fantastic drummer Matt, I started playing around with some imagery for our band's (Them Damn Hamiltons ) bandcamp website, and got carried away. Man, where did the evening get to? Anyway, happy 11/11/11! Point of singularity!

And here's the other band's logo:


Saturday, October 8, 2011

Saint Jude

I don't normally post published things, but this one is a little different. I just finished this piece for Go Places, a monthly literary/art publication and the theme is "lost causes". Saint Jude is the patron saint of... lost causes! And (no lie) his head is always on fire. How could I resist? Thanks to Hannah for putting this together, it was super fun.


I like the rough, so here's that too:


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

This guy here likes the simple life. Probably works on his single (!) photon accelerator in his little thatched cottage by candle light after a hard day out in the field collecting cyclotron parts with his trusty donkey, Sweetie

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

For no good reason, I've been drawing mad scientists lately. I like to think this guy fell into some kind of dimensional hole he ripped with an invention. Whoopsie Daisies!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Saturday, July 9, 2011




Throwback flyer for the nephew's 2nd birthday party. Fun!

Here's something I was working on. The cover for a murder mystery set in a pottery studio. A tough nut to crack, thematically. Plus, a little Saul Bass thrown in there for fun--

Tuesday, June 7, 2011



Actual pocket scraps!? No way!

I know, I know, I've been putting the fancier stuff up here lately, but I didnt' forget the name of the blog. These have been in my pocket for a few days, getting wrinkly and damp and whatever else goes on in summer in pockets

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Dip Pens!

So I finally started using a dip pen after many years of meaning to, and, of course, I love it. The old crow quill nib is so comfortable and perfect. Plus, it's got more energy and character than my brush lines lately and I think suits my style much, much better. Just sloppier and livelier. Anyway, here's a sketchbook page, for fun.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

James Baldwin






I was watching this historic Civil Rights discussion which was produced the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech and, of course, I was struck by how weird James Baldwin looks. I've been drawing him for years so it's more of a reminder, like Steve Buscemi's unusual, distinct face. And I'm by no means a caricaturist, I just like weird faces.



Friday, May 20, 2011



James Randi says he just needs a bath. Gross.
Warming up for a project this morning, I did this guy above. Then I took off one of the layers I had created in Photoshop, and got this amazing zombie gem! Happy accidents! Nice.

Monday, May 16, 2011

I've been helping my little buddy Max (he's 9) make comics lately and he's made some cool, cool characters which inspired me to make a few of my own like I did when I was his age.

Here's my favorite:





Thanks Max!


Mark S. posted this video of a band called Slam Bamboo to Liz and I made the mistake of watching it and getting it stuck in my head for the past few days. The weirdness of it just washes over me in waves every time I watch it. Bolo ties, side-fros, electric drums played by a dude with an epic mullet, headless slap bass, and the lead singer looks like Andy Samberg! It doesn't help that the song is so cheesy-catchy either. Maybe the weirdest thing of all (and undoubtedly the reason it's on Youtube in the first place) is the keyboard player. Trent Reznor!? I guess everyone has skeletons in their closets like this. Even industrial rock King of Pain types. What a crazy world we live in...

Anyway, I had to draw the dude:


Now, if I could only get the song out of my head. Like Amy C. said, "watching you sleep while I'm fixing my hair-- TO BE WITH YOU!"

Dammit.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Here's a painting that was supposed to be part of an upcoming project I'm working on but I abandoned in favor of a very different direction. As much as I hate to see something I worked a few days on orphaned, at least it's here, for some kind of posterity. Whatever that means.

Monday, May 9, 2011

More Fun With Zipatone and Stanley

I can't help it! I love the effect the old toning art supply Zip-A-Tone/Letratone/Chartpak/Letraset gives and always have. Just that old, 50's clipart look.
When I worked at an art supply store many years ago, I went on an epic hunt for the stuff and emailed and called about a dozen art supply distributors who all told me I was out of luck. No one made the stuff anymore, since Photoshop did such a better job of toning and printing technology had advanced a great deal since it was popular. It was only when I spoke with a youngish silk screener who knew that in some areas of Japan they still make the wonderful tool that the trail grew hotter. Well, as luck would have it, after a few months, I finally got my hand on some (and some great Japanese self-inking brush pens that I still use a lot!) and have just about run out, almost ten years later. I'll admit, I was conserving it, but to be honest, what for? Since then, I've learned how to simulate it in (guess what) Photoshop and can print my own sheets of it whenever I want. It's fun breaking out the x-acto knife and playing around with it. I guess I've always had an abiding respect for the old ways and always will.

Cool stuff.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Self Portraits


Self portraits are the worst! Not only is it next-to-impossible to capture your own likeness, it feels kind of cheap and vain, in a way. After deciding I needed a new author picture for this here blog, I did the left one which makes me look like someone just slipped me some roofies and told me my dog died. So the one on the right happened instead and seems to be reacting to the same news but having had a huge amount of coffee instead of roofies. So there's that.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Richard Brautigan

(I've been reading Trout Fishing in America lately)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Monday, March 28, 2011

Ted Berrigan




Part of why I'm using this blog is an effort to develop a new style I can apply to my paid work. I've painted myself into corners (no pun intended) sometimes with the dense linework and am trying to experiment to find a looser style that would be a little more fun and a little less headache. The last few posts have been me reverting back to the dense stuff which is still fun from time to time. On this one, I must've tried about 5 different styles before I ended up back where I began. Maybe it's true about tigers and stripes. And I put the colored and uncolored together because I think I like the non-colored more. Ha! What can you do?

Anyway, my good friend Hannah kindly loaned me a book of Ted Berrigan's poetry which I enjoyed a great deal and this is my way of saying thanks. Thanks!