river camping

This one is another from my archive of old whitewater toons. I had just completed one half of the run on the Selway River, a very exciting run at regular water levels, and extremely exciting at high runs. The water level came up to flood stage while we were on it, so we aborted the trip. How that story relates to this toon is this: the rafts that were supporting us in the kayaks were laden with EVERY gimic camping item you could think of. The whole kitchen was in a dry box where you screwed in the legs, tipped it up, and opened it up, and voila!!! your dinner was practically already cooked! Every single kitchen utensil was there.
Well, that was wonderful until we had to abort the trip, break down all the rafts and gear, and haul everything up a steep trail to the only landing strip in the canyon, so the forest service could call in an airplane to haul all the stuff out. It took us (I think there were about 12 of us) until mid-afternoon to lug everything up that trail. Back breaking stuff!! It took 4 airplane trips to haul it all out of the canyon! Then, of course, I added insult to injury, and chose to hike out along the river to the take out to get the cars. That was a two day, class 5 hike!!
So, getting back to the toon, after that trip, I found that there are a lot of rafters who love to get the latest river camping stuff. Just check out any raft supply catalog. It is incredible what they have in those things!! I equate that kind of river-camping to motorhome camping!! I mean, these people take EVERYTHING with them; beds, mattresses, multi-room tents, lanterns, dishwashers, laundry facilities, micro-waves...everything!! That is what inspired this toon. I think my tendency is to become a minimalist!!

I got lots of great presents for Christmas!!! Among them were new pens and a new sketch book. Yea...I love sketch books. I also got a book on the art of Gris Grimly. Those of you who don't know who he is, go to

http://www.madcreator.com/

He is an amazing artist, who is also apparently somewhat demented. He is a "horror artist." hmmm, doesn't sound like a place I want to go, but there are aspects of his figures that are very usable.

So, after our annual present-opening orgy, I started to think about how tired Santa MUST be to have delivered soooo many presents to soooo many boys and girls. So, I drew Santa, tired, skinny, and totally haggard. How Gris Grimly can I get????? So, here it is, page one of my new sketch book for 2010!!! I hope to post a lot more from this book, and more finished drawings as well in the coming year.

So, now that Christmas is behind us, Happy New Year!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

warhammer dwarf

Another image from my sketchbook that hasn't been finished. Warhammer has been really great for spurring imagination of epic battles, characters, and scenarios. Of course, since my army is the dwarfs, I am partial towards them. But there are orcs, goblins, ogres, elves, demons, etc. I will have to draw some of the other armies too. The orcs are really fun. Look for a drawing of them in the future.

the Hobbit

This is another pencil rendering from my sketch book, trying to work on the subtle gradations of dark and light. I never finished this one, but had a good time working an image of Smaug, the dragon. This scene is obviously from the Hobbit, when Bilbo puts on the ring, and goes into the lair of Smaug to steal a piece of his treasure. So, technically, this doesn't work because Bilbo is invisible!!! Artistic license!!!! I felt the idea of Bilbo being so close that he could touch Smaug was very cool, and Smaug knowing he is there, but not being able to see him. As I look at this sketch, I see that a lot of detail could be added. Maybe someday I will finish it and post it again...

oh woe is me...

In this final week before Xmas, the anxiety level for many in this world is going off the scale. In the spirit of this stressful week, I thought I would post one of my more distraught toons.

Most of the toons I have drawn have been happy, and light natured. This one goes the other way, and fairly successfully at that. I believe that this was drawn in 1999, as Y2K was lurking around the corner, and everyone thought the world as we knew it was going to end. That is why my computer, which obviously has a mind of its own, is so happy. It won't have to worry about life after Y2K. Meanwhile, work sucked at that point in time, and I believe this was not a high point in my social life either. OOOOOh the despondency as I blankly stare at my drafting table....

Notice how I left the dialog bubbles blank. Fill in your own conversation...

I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!!! Don't let the bastards get ya down!!!!

summer camp

I have said it before...this is great fun!!! I have been digging around the house, looking for sketch books and drawing pads, and have found absolute treasures!!

This is my take on summer camp for tae kwon do, when Maryn and I spent a very soggy weekend at Skamania Cove. This drawing may look like an exageration, but it isn't that far off. We were doing push-ups where I couldn't see my hands cuz they were so deep in the muddy water. When it wasn't raining, it was hot and muggy, so we sweat right through all our clothing and got just about as wet anyway. Then when we finally got to go to sleep, our tent was 20' from the railroad track where large freight trains passed by every 1/2 hour. That evil looking character on the left is my image of Master Preston, who is actually an extremely nice and giving person, but he was on a tirade that weekend!! Of course, that is me doing the push-ups... I haven't gone to summer camp since....

fisherman vs. the fish

I like this one!!! It was drawn to be another graphic for a Knickers t-shirt. It could use some color if it ever goes that far. But I like it because it shows the perspective from both the fisherman, and the fish!!

The fisherman is jazzed because he got a great fish on the line. But underwater, the fish has friends that are either horrified that their friend got caught, or determined to strike back at the fisherman. All they have are his legs to work on. Notice the one fish biting him, and the other fish ramming his knee-cap. They have also procured the assistance from the local crawdad, who is pinching the guys toe!!

Lots going on here, but still a simple graphic that can translate into a nice t-shirt. I also think I came up with a nice detail in showing the water level. When colored, the waves would stand out as the dividing element between air and water. I think it worked well.

I like to draw fish. It is fun to give them facial expressions when real fish don't have any personality per se...

This is one of my drawings that was actually published!!! Paddler magazine was, at one point, a locally published magazine called "River Runner". A guy published it out of Prineville. If you have been there, you would realize how out of context that is. The place is all cowboys!!! How a whitewater publication started there is beyond me...

Anyway, I like this one because it has a sort of Pinnochio-esque quality to it. The sea monster, "Il Monstro", is silently creeping up on the unwary boaters. I have done some paddling in the ocean, even though mostly in protected areas, and my imagination goes wild, and I start looking for giant dorsal fins of that great white shark that I know is lurking just below the surface of the water. I get that feeling even more when I am surfing. If my buddies have all caught waves and are inside paddling out, I tend to suddenly need to pull my feet up on the board, and I start looking nervously in all directions. The ocean can be a very scary place.

little golfer

When Chris had her children's store, Knickers, we printed some clothes with my graphics on them. This is one such graphic. I actually colored this for the t-shirts. They sold, but not well. This composition attempts to hit the fanatical golf phenomemum. There are so many golfers and golf courses in this area. It has been known as the "Palm Springs of the North". So, we tried to capitalize on the market. I probably should have hit the pro-shops as well as Knickers, but it gave the store a little advantage. Very little advantage...

I like the simplicity of this graphic. Easy to understand, but not a lot of busy-work. Just enough shading to see the shapes, but not overdone. And the little guy is just so cute!!!

clients

Chris and I were talking this morning about blogs, and relating blogs to my website. Those blogs would be a bit different from this one, in that they would have to deal with house design issues and architectural highlights and such. So, when I was trying to decide what to post for this blog, I decided on this drawing...kind of a self-portrait, in that the poor schmuck behind the drafting table looks a little bit like me...hmmm, Freudian? Anyway, this drawing shows a lot about working with clients. Think about all the different dynamics that are at work here with the clients looking over my shoulder. (something I would never allow today!!!) So, maybe this will be the first panel of my new blog for Wright Design Studio. I will keep you posted...

going bananas

This is another drawing I did at Berkeley responding to the gag provided by the fellow I was working with ( see post "getting bald lately"). So, obviously, the caption should read, "Going Bananas!" Okay, it's a stretch, but I kind of like the transition from cranky, old suit to a bunch of bananas. I think I pulled it off pretty well. Again, never published.

ancient history

Okay, boys and girls!! Now we are really reaching back to ancient history. I don't know why, or how, but I have a book of my drawings that date back to 1964!! So, this page shows my great artistic prowess when I was in the fourth grade!! I am not sure one could call me a child prodigy.

Don't you love the salt-flat racer???? Of course, everyone wishes they could drag race a shopping cart! Anyway, hot rods were a big deal in 1964. This was during the Hey Day of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, and Rat Fink. I had a bunch of models of Rat Fink and other monster hod rods that I had built and painted. So, this page shows my rendition of their work.

Also, you have to love the signature of the artist. Who was that guy anyway?????

computer geeks

It is fun to see the evolution of a concept. These two drawings show exactly that, and the final, the drawing below, is not necessarily the better of the two drawings.
The prelim drawing, at left, is from my sketch book, and depicts the essence of computer hackers after spending waaayyyy too much time in front of the screen. The perspective is a flat, two dimensional side view. The final drawing, below, is from a more dynamic perspective, and shows more action than the prelim, but loses some of the "wired"-ness of the first drawing.


And, the hackers look to be having more fun tapping into someone else's account online. The other thing that the final drawing plays with is the light from the computer screen. The black background gives the opportunity to play with the glow of the computer. Shading then becomes really fun, dramatizing that lighting effect.

A fun little study of the progression...

boats? what boats?

This toon was inspired by a float on the lower Klamath River, in Northern California. It was back in the mid-80's, and we floated right through a hydro-plane race. There were SO many boats zipping by us, disturbingly close!!! We dodged them the best we could, and they seemed to take absolutely no notice of us. And it wasn't like it was totally flat water. There were some pretty significant riffles going on there. But these were jet boats, which means they didn't have propellers to hit rocks with. Man, they were fast!!!

Don Quixote

This drawing almost made it to the calendar, but I like it anyway. I was inspired to draw this one as we were driving from Madrid to Granada, via Toledo, home of Don Quixote. As you walk in the old part of town, you see the influence of Don Quixote all over the place. Yet, as we were driving, and nearing the town, the countryside was covered with modern, power-generating windmills. I had never seen such a concentration of windmills. And these are not small unobstructive things. These things stand about 150' high!!! The windmills in this drawing do not do them justice. They were huge!! There is no way Don Quixote would have beaten one of these new windmills, I don't care how good he might have been with a lance!!! By the way, Toledo was a wonderful place to visit.

I hate roll practice

Up here in the cold northwest, during the winter months, kayakers will hone their skills at the indoor pool. Every Sunday evening Parks and Rec opens the pool to roll practice, and for a few bucks, you can bring your kayak in and work on your eskimo roll. They limit the number of boats allowed at 12 boats max. Well, that many boats pretty much fills the indoor pool!!! So, it is always fun to witness the chaos during roll practice. Yes, some people have been known to launch their kayaks off the high-dive.
This drawing pretty much depicts the fun that can be had at roll practice. Everyone comes away feeling water-logged and happy. Everyone, that is, except the life-guards...

mouse in space

I just can't tell you how much fun this is...this blogging!! This entry is like the old 45 records. With the smash hit on side 1 of the record, what does the artist put on side 2??? Well, this drawing is what I found on side 2 (the back side) of the last entry "three amigos".

"Mouse in Space!", tethered to his space capsule, obviously before the shuttle series. The space ship looks like the old Apollo rockets. Then the moon, and some sort of half sketched face all in on the action. It is great, like a christmas present!! What really bakes my noodle is that I have absolutely no memory of drawing this.

So, I just had to share!!!

three amigos

This is a graphic I made for a t-shirt for one of the many Riverhouse Rendezvous slalom races I ran in the 90's. I think this was for the third series. Anyway, I really like this one because it is sooooo happy!! The goal here was to make the three "amigos" be in perfect synch with each other, like a dance step. Take the aspects of dance steps; precision, rhythm, grace, and balance, and apply them to whitewater, and you get something very close to kayak slalom racing.

Now, those of you who know about whitewater kayaking will see something missing from these three...give up? Okay, THEY DON'T HAVE LIFEJACKETS!!! Big no-no in the kayak world. I have no idea why I didn't draw them with pfd's, but there you go. By the time I realized I had left them out, they were done, and at the print shop. Fortunately, I haven't been so forgetful when putting in for a kayak run, though a couple of friends I have boated with have forgotten to wear their pfd......no names...

dancing stegosaurus

Every once in a while, I get delusions of grandeur and think I could actually be an illustrator. Usually reality creeps back in to my mind in time, but occasionally I get some pretty good concepts and drawings out of the process.

Here is one such case. I love the idea of a great big lumbering stegosaurus getting up on his hind legs with a good pair of cheap sunglasses, and dancing something like the jitterbug!! Somehow, this drawing hit everything just right; the amount of detail, the proportions, the attitude, the color, the action, all work together to make a great composition.

From this drawing, the plot expanded to include Caveman Clyde who discovers a ghetto-blaster somewhere in the bushes and becomes lord of the dinosaurs with his music blazing away!!!........until the batteries run out.....

None of the other drawings came out as well as this one....back to the drawing board!!!!

jumble of kayakers

Sometimes, my drawings are from a snapshot image in my brain. This drawing is one such example. The occassion was running Quartzville Creek at flood stage. Normally considered too high to run above 2500 cfs, we had the priviledge of running it at 8000 cfs. Boating at this high level demanded a new technique for me...I call it "brainstem paddling". Basically, you get about 1/4 of a second when you are at the tops of the waves to map out your course. Then you drop in to the trough between waves, and can't see anything. Then you get to the top of the waves again and have that split second to alter your course. Well, this drawing depicts that split second at the top of the wave, looking down into the next hole. I found the hole significantly occupied with multiple kayakers getting tumbled in the hydraulic. Somehow, I didn't run into anybody, and joined the fracas and was tumbled around myself for a couple of seconds, then spat out below, where I rolled up and kept paddling. That was an exciting trip!!!

Bob and Flora

Well, I don''t know about all you folks in internet land, but I am having a great time posting all this stuff!!
This time, I uploaded three pages out of my sketch book. Sometimes, the drawings in the sketch book are more fun than the final drawings that may get published in some fashion. You get to be a bit freer with your composition in a sketch book. They don't really matter. For instance, who is that guy climbing on Flora's right shoulder? Who cares...it is just a sketch book. I am trying here to work up a good "Flora". Her progression is fun to see, going from the first page to the third page. Again, I have to work harder to draw women than men...even middle aged women. So Flora gets
more work than Bob. He was easy...just a skinny, balding old guy!!

These pages show a progression in the development I had for illustrating our travels. It is the Bob and Flora Show!!

The idea is that Bob and Flora can travel around the world, and show illustrations as well as their reactions to different places. For instance, what would be their reaction to seeing the Matterhorn? Well, that would mean that I had better go see the Matterhorn myself to get an idea. Oh darn!! Would I be able to write off all my travels this way??? An interesting idea, eh?






who is this guy shooting himself in the head? Or the dog, and why is that man running across the page? SKETCH BOOK!!!

This is the latest rendition of Bob and Flora. Let me know what you think of this idea. I am still intrigued by the concept....

Chemo-girl

Along the lines of superheroes, here is Chemo-Girl...Baddest Babe on the Planet!! The idea of this drawing was to empower my sister-in-law, who was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer at the time. So, I made her a t-shirt with this graphic. Note; single boob, and bald head...how bad-ass is that!!!?? See the energy field she is shooting off her hand? Well that's radio-active bombardment that her body has absorbed, and can now command at her will. Totally Bad-Ass!!

I had a great time coloring this in photo-shop. One of my early attempts. I thought it came out fairly successfully, and the clean lines work better on t-shirt graphics.

So, if you happen to know someone who needs, and would wear such a shirt, let me know, and I will make a special print for you...in time for Christmas???

roll, kayaker, roll

Back in '94 I did my first calendar. It was all about whitewater. This was one of the toons on that calendar, and it reflects something that ALL whitewater kayakers put up with.

For some reason, everybody wants to see a kayaker do an eskimo roll. And yes, I have actually been offered a beer for doing a roll for the group of onlookers. Naturally, I have no pride, and promptly flipped over, only to set up, and properly flip the paddle in just the right way to come up quickly. In fact, half the group of rafters didn't even see it. They wanted me to do it again, but failed to offer another beer. So, I took my payment for the first roll, and happily paddled away.

So, I felt this drawing properly characterized all the participants. The rafters are all rowdy, drunk juveniles, except the guide that is rowing them. He is too cool to perform such antics, and just knowingly smiles at the kayaker. Meanwhile, the kayaker is just disgusted at the loud-mouthed yahoos.

widowmaker

This is an image from one of my many river trips. This was a long time ago, on the Owyhee River in eastern oregon. We were scouting a notorious rapid appropriately called "Widowmaker". Ron was bringing his raft closer to the rapid so it would be easier to portage. He hit a small ledge class 2 rapid sideways, and dumped his passenger, all loose gear, and one of his oars out as his boat was tipped on its side.

Ron stayed in the raft, but now had no way to maneuver it with only one oar left, and was drifting right in to the meat of the rapid. There were other parties on the side of the river scouting the rapid, and they all ran to their throw ropes as soon as they saw what had happened. Every rope thrown fell short of the raft. That is the moment I have immortalized in this drawing. The total look of helplessness and despair. Then Jim (the guy with the beard) grabbed the only remaining throw rope, jumped into the nearest tied up raft and threw it to Ron. The rope hit Ron in the chest. He grabbed it and jumped into the bottom of the raft, while Jim did the same thing. The raft pendulumed to the side, overhanging the first drop of Widowmaker Rapid by a few feet. RON WAS SAVED!!!! As he got out of the raft, he wobbly walked off, down the trail, and sat by himself and recovered. Very exciting...

warhammer

So, this is a re-creation of a composition I saw in a Warhammer magazine. The dark, ominous tones of the original were what drew me to it. I felt like I achieved some pretty good pencil work making this drawing. It was a fun exercise.

Those of you who do not know what Warhammer is, it is a game pitting different armies of "Middle Earth" against each other. The figures are small, highly detailed models that you paint, then use the painted figures in battle against an enemy army. My army is the dwarfs. Joel likes the Orcs and Goblins!! I mostly like to paint them. Joel is much better at the game than I am. The rules of the game are WAY too complicated for my feeble brain.

So this drawing is obviously not my typical character, but still a lot of fun.

nano carbon technology

So, this is another toon that I haven't really published. It was part of my group's final submittal for a sustainable building advisor class. This hi-tech nerd presented our group with a whole new technology, "nano-carbon" technology. His concept was that you would be able to create complete vacuumes inside nano carbon tubes, thereby eliminating all friction, and create ultra fast mobility. He claimed that top speeds could be as high as 4000 mph. So, you could be in Tokyo in a couple of hours!!! Now, I am not a great scientist, or engineer, but that seemed like a really difficult goal to achieve in a perfect environment, much less achieve in the real world. He call himself a progressive thinker. I guess so!!! Well, my group was working on a sustainable development here in Bend, and we get this presentation. The irony of the whole concept here in Bend was too much. So I had to draw it. I love the juxtaposition of the hi-tech tube with the farmer plowing his field. The thought of going from 0-4000 mph is pretty scary, so I had to show that with the first commuter in the line. Total Terror!! Then, of course, when I think of wierd contraptions (which is what I thought of this nano carbon tube), I have to think of Dr. Suess. So, the tube, stantions, and platform are modelled in that spirit. Meanwhile, everything is normal, and the guy is reading his morning newspaper waiting for the next car, and the lady is trying desparately to control her kid. How could something like that be normal????

drawers

A request from my fan club!!! (thanks, Joel) This is another "off color" drawing. This one never made it out of the sketch book, but I always liked it. When I just uncovered it, I found that a lot of paint had been splattered on it, so I cleaned it up in Photoshop as best as I could...

The humor is pretty basic, really, but the play on words was too obvious. I had to draw it. I remember showing it to my mom afterwards, and her only comment was,"Criminy!! That's as old as the hills!" Well, maybe some of the older gags never get too old.

I have to say, I like the girl's attitude!! She has everything under control, especially the guy!! He is so excited to be just going through her drawers. His salivary glands (among others) are flowing overtime!! And yet she is soooo calm, checking out her fingernails and chatting on the phone... The poor chump doesn't have a chance!!

Been Getting Bald Lately?

Okay, so we are pushing an R-rating. I found this one DEEP in the archives, dating back to the days at Berkeley. Sometime around '75. Back in those days, I was totally in to R. Crumb (oh, wait, I still am...) and ZAP Comix (I have almost every ZAP published). There was a great store on Telegraph Ave called Comix & Comics. I spent a lot of time there. I remember reading an ad in the local paper for a guy who wanted someone to draw his concepts. He claimed to have great ideas, but couldn't draw, and so, when I met him, we decided we could take all the magazines that accept cartoons by storm!!

So, this was one of the few ditties before we gave up. We sent cartoons to Playboy, of course. But also New Yorker, and a couple of others. Nothing published, but I got a couple of fun new drawings for my portfolio...

I like this toon for a number of reasons. First, it shows the style of the times. Note the angled wood panelling, deep red plush carpet, macra-may hanging plant, and of course the Farrah Fawcett hair style!!

I have never been very good at drawing gorgeous babes. Sounds sexist, but there ya go. Anyway, this was one of my better attempts, and the poor guy...he looks exactly the way I feel when in the presence of a gorgeous woman...kerflumexed!!!

Cute punch line too, don't you think?!

Boat or Die Ya Wimp!!!

I have always liked the Marvel Superheroes. I have liked Marvel artwork too. I was first introduced to Spiderman back in 1964 when I was at Camp Longhorn in Burnett, Texas. When I was at Cal, Captain Marvel moved up with Spiderman as my favorite superhero. Man, he saved the cosmos sooooo many times!!! So, this drawing was a T-shirt graphic for the second annual Riverhouse Rendezvous 1996, a local kayak slalom race I was organizing for about 7 years. My favorite part of that was designing the T-shirts. (more T-shirt graphics to come) So, this guy here was modelled after one of the supervillains from a Marvel Comic. I think it was Juggernaut, but I can't be sure. Anyway, his face, and arm position were perfect to mimic a kayaker. Leg position didn't matter, because I poured him into this tiny kayak. So far out of proportion that it is obvious that the kayak is a part of his own body. He is also a ferocious competitor. You can tell by his expression!! I call him "Kaptain Kollosus Kayaker"!!!

maytagged

I have a lot of drawings from kayaking experiences. Some have even been published!! Not this one. This was an idea for a T-shirt design. I like it because it portrays the feeling of "getting maytagged". A funny "double entendre"...

For those of you who are not familiar w/ "getting maytagged", it is what can happen to you on a river, if you get sideways in a hole, or where the water pours over a rock vertically, and actually makes the water downstream of that rock flow upstream, meaning...you are stuck!!! Then the water coming over the rock pounds on your upstream edge of your kayak, and causes you to flip REALLY fast. Of course, your desire is to then roll back up so you can breathe again. You then find yourself still sideways in the same hole, and suddenly, the water hits your upstream edge, knocking you over again, setting yourself up to do this whole process over, again and again and again. Sometimes you get a rhythm going of flipping and rolling back up really fast. I have actually gotten dizzy from getting maytagged!! Sooner or later, you have to break the cycle, and either stay upside down and hope the deeper water moves you downstream, or pull the spray skirt and swim out.

Or, you could get the same sensation by jumping in your washing machine and turning it on spin cycle...

sirens of wildcat rapid

Sometimes I really like the drawings because of the tales they tell. This is one such case. Fortunately for us, Chris and I are in the background in this picture, having already made it through the rapid, and are trying to warn our friends of the impending doom that awaits them. Those folks in the foreground with looks of desparation on their faces are our river-running friends. The two buxom beauties sitting on the rocks are obviously sirens, luring our hapless companions to the rocks. And no, dear readers, our friends did not make it around the rocks. They broached their canoe royally plastering it against the rocks!! We ended up spending 2-3 hours trying to get the canoe off, finally giving up before it got dark. We salvaged the gear off , and left the canoe behind. The boys then paddled the remaining overloaded canoe to Black Bar Lodge, while the girls hiked to the lodge. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the adventure. As we had dinner in the lodge that night, pondering what to do, one of the other guests came up to us and asked, "Are you the guys that lost that canoe?" Ah yes, infamy!!! We ate humble pie that night for dinner, and drove out from the lodge the next day to the coast, where we ate fresh cracked crab, and drank lots of white wine. It was a good weekend!!

in my office

I like this self portrait because of its setting, my office. It gets the general idea of what my office is like, old brick, funky exposed rafters, kind of messy. (actually, at the present time, it is REALLY messy) It is a very comfortable space, and I am very comfortable in it. I think this drawing portrays that. Heaven knows, I spend enough time in this space. I had better be comfortable there!!!

golfer

this drawing goes back to my sports theme. Golf is HUGE in central oregon. Many consider us the palm springs of the north. That seems kinda dumb...but anyway, I had to address it. I love this golfer because he was modelled after my father-in-law. Tony had a pair of pants that he always played in. They were the greatest combo of plaid, yellow, and lime green!! Almost every golfer I draw wears pants like that! Then, to really reflect my abilities at golf, I added the two guys in the background. They are about as good at this as I am. In fact, that one guy is using a pool cue! I am not a golfer!

skydiver

This is one of my favorites on a number of different levels. First, it shows complete, abject TERROR!! What kind of an idiot purposefully jumps out of a perfectly good airplane 10,000 feet above the ground?? (oh, wait, I did!) Then, of course, the cool, suave demeanor of the instructor counters all the terror. Oh, he is soooooo cool.

Yep, I did jump out of a perfectly good airplane. But it was my daughter's idea!! She had set up the whole thing. All I had to do was show up. 30 seconds of FALLING. When we finally pulled the chord and released the parachute, the harness yanked so hard that I had a high voice for the next 45 minutes. Then, of course, my cool, suave instructor, who was attached to me, decided to spin us around in circles. I replied under no uncertain circumstances that was not acceptable behavior!! So, the final 5 minutes of my float were a wonderful sight-seeing experience on a beautiful day outside Eugene, while recovering from motion sickness. We could see the coastal mountains to the west, and the Cascades to the east. By the time we reach "terra firma", I was exhausted!!

This was drawn with pencil, which afforded a wider variety of tones. Rather than working with simple lines, I could create shades. This is really fun to create shadows, wrinkles, and more depth of field. The difficult thing about pencil drawings is that they are hard to copy. So, when we did this calendar, we had to print every page directly from the scanned image because the printer was all that could get the nuances of pencil. I will be posting more from this calendar later as I really liked the effect.

mountain biker

So, this one is from my "sports" collection. And I have a lot of them! But I like this one because it shows a reckless abandon that is an attitude of many mountain bikers. This guy is peddling right at you without a care in the world, happy as a clam at high tide! Meanwhile, the poor mouse, and anything else in the way better watch out. I have had that experience when I have dared to get on the bike. However, I have also found that things like trees, and rocks don't move fast enough... maybe I need to draw what happens next.

the first entry!!

So, here is my first REAL entry to my new blogspot! The purpose here is to share some of my old drawings, and some of my new drawings with you all. This also gives me an opportunity to explain myself and what I was thinking with some of the drawings. Many of these will be recognized from my annual calendar. I can't believe I have been drawing the family calendar for over 15 years. Wow!

So, I thought it would be appropriate to have the first drawing be a self portrait. I really like this drawing as it hits a lot of what I had been into at the time. Notice all the fun gear, including a tae kwon do outfit, including headgear (cushion those blows to the head), a bow staff (another tae kwon do implement),a snowboard, kayak, and dartboard. The two drawings on the wall represent house designs, and some 'toons I did for a running magazine for a while. The little figurines at my feet are Warhammer miniatures, which I have spent a lot of time and $$ painting. More about that another time...then, of course, the chord to my computer screen is always attached to me, so work is never far away. Obviously, I am happy about the whole situation here, oh, and also have my favorite tunes playing at all times. Life is good!!!