how to swim in rapids

Swimming downstream after ejecting from your kayak or canoe is a pretty important skill to know. My daughter, Maryn was writing about it at school, and needed a couple of illustrations to drive home the technique. So I put together this quick toon to get the point across. "face downstream, hold on to your paddle, keep your feet near the surface, lean back. The challenge is to show what goes on above the surface, and what goes on below the surface. So, I created a stylized water line, which shows some dynamic motion as well as defines above vs. below the surface. The fish helps that too.

Then Maryn wanted a drawing to show how to swim through "holes". So I penned up this little ditty below. It has a more dynamic water's edge as the hydraulic is also more dynamic!! For those who don't know, you are supposed to curl up in a tight ball to protect against impact with rocks, be patient, and hope the water sends you downstream. I really like drawing kayaking toons....

Fishing in Canada

It has been a long time since I have posted, but I have done some more sketching, and I obviously hope to do even more. This summer has had its share of fun trips. One of them was to Canada and Alaska. While in Canada, with our friends, the Shaseks, we went out into the ocean on a chartered boat to catch our weight in salmon and halibut. I am afraid my sea-legs aren't what they used to be, so, in this depiction of our epic adventure, that is me with my tongue over the side!! We did get our limit of both salmon and halibut, but I was glad when we got back into the calm of Ucluelet bay!!

This drawing shows some pretty good action to it, which makes it a lot of fun. It represents the first draft. It will most likely be similar to the final draft, which will be in the upcoming calendar. Look for it at Christmas time.

another greatest hit!!

This toon was first shown in my 2007 calendar. I had torn my miniscus (knee cartilege). It was a simple orthoscopic operation, and they didn't think I would need to be put out all the way. However, the doctors had me all hooked up just to be on the safe side. So, as the operation started, I was sooooo fascinated by the TV monitor, that I started asking them a lot of questions. That was about when the club came down. I saw the surgeon glance at the anesthesiologist and give a quick nod. That was the last thing I remember until I woke up in the recovery room!!

Greatest hits again and again

Back in '07, my uncle, who had lived in Europe forever, died. My dad wasn't feeling great at the time, so he couldn't go to attend the funeral, so I volunteered to visit Paris to represent the family. I decided that taking my youngest daughter would make the voyage much more fun, and provide her with an opportunity to meet her cousins. We spent 9 days in Paris alone, seeing family, seeing the sites, and mourning the loss of my uncle. Needless to say, we had a really great time together. We did the Louvre, Notre Dame, La Rive Gauche, Tuileries Gardens, Arc de Triomphe, etc. The perfect tourists.

During our visit to Notre Dame, I couldn't help but have images from the old movie, "the Hunchback of Notre Dame". I believe it was Charles Laughton who swung out of the rafters of the cathedral to rescue the damsel in distress from being burned at the stake, and hid her out in the highest perches. So, this toon is the combination of the movie, and our visit to the site. It was also really fun to try to draw the facade of the cathedral. There is an INCREDIBLE amount of detail to that place. It certainly made me appreciate the masons of the middle ages.

La Ventana

So, I just got back from Baja. La Ventana, precisely, also known as Hood River, South. It is a kite boarding, windsurfing mecca!! Very beautiful, with generally calm seas, though our first day there was pretty rough!!! But the water is relatively warm, and the sun was always shining. I figured with my surfing background and sailing background that kite boarding would be a breeze...just stand up and go!! Boy, was I wrong!!!! After doing countless body-drags, or chumming for sharks, I tried to stand up on the board. I ended up sailing through the air, going the wrong way, flat out horizontal, looking up at the sky, thinking, "Wow, this is REALLY going to hurt!" And after landing flat on my back, I decided that I was right...it did really hurt!

My son-in-law, Tyler, made it look soooooo easy!! He was Mr. Nonchalant!! Casually walking just enough into the water to put on his board, drop the kite, and GO! He had an incredibly relaxed attitude to the whole thing. He could catch HUGE air, 20' high, and travelling about 100' through the air, and casually land and go. It was beautiful to watch. So, this drawing is out of my sketch book, and I think it really captures the casualness with which Tyler kite boards. He is a joy to watch!! And I may try this again, but I have to let my bones forget what I did to them!!

tae kwon do-do

I have been training in Tae Kwon Do for almost a decade now. Recently, my instructor went out on his own, and started High Desert Martial Arts. So, he is in the process of developing his own look; logo, color scheme, etc. He has always been a great supporter of my cartoons, from pages in my calendars, to a book of proverbs I illustrated for him. I even made a poster showing the different pressure points. At his former do jang, the little kids (ages 4-6) were the "L'il Dragons". So, I came up with something new...the high desert "Tae Kwon Do-Do's". The character is pictured here. I hope to get this stenciled, or silk screened on the backs of all the little uniforms. This character is exciting for me because he has a lot of potential to be in different scenarios. Hopefully he will become the subject of many coloring projects by the students, including fire-safety, dealing with strangers, courtesy, and a whole host of others. I think I can also draw this guy kicking the butt of some opponent. I will keep you posted as things develope on this new look!!

link to design blog

Here is a link to my new blog site within my website. Let me know if you can make the jump. It is very exciting for me.

http://wrightdesignstudio.com/site/blog/natural-or-realistic/