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!!!