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!!!