Ben-O-Mite

This is a drawing of my oldest daughter's boyfriend, Ben. He came out to Oregon to visit us just after Christmas. The young man sent a Christmas present with my daughter, Tarah, for me to open on Christmas Day, and I had nothing in hand to give him when he arrived.

I like Ben. He's a nice guy. He's my go-to-guy when it comes to sports information. So, I had to give him something. This is what I came up with.

Thanks again for the OU gear, Ben.

The nickname, "Ben-O-Mite" derived from the fact that my #2 daughter is dating a guy named Ben as well. It can be very confusing at times trying to figure out which Ben we're talking about. I nicknamed that Ben, "Benigan," since he was the second one to come along. I came up with "Ben-O-Mite, because this Ben is such a tough guy - trying to be a fireman, and the testing they have to endure is fairly rigorous. When he told us about all he had to do and how well he did, something akin to "dynamite" popped into my head.

So here's Ben. He's both an OU Sooners fan, and a Duke Blue Devil fan - thus the mascots included in the drawing.

What do you think?

Wake Up Call

Here is a drawing that many people like and seem to identify with. I keep thinking that someday I need to draw a female version. I've drawn many of these cartoons with the idea that people would purchase them as gifts for someone, but I don't think anyone has purchased this one so far. I might have had more success if I had drawn a female instead.

The teddy bear was a last minute addition. The egg-man is pretty easy to spot in this drawing. Hint: Look out the window. That's all I'm going to say.

Did you find him?

What do you think?

My Daughters - Holy Ghost Riders

Here is the photo that I wrote about earlier. These are my three girls again posing in the t-shirts that I gave them for Christmas. This was taken on Christmas Eve of '06.

A few years ago I began a tradition of giving the girls a present that was specifically from me. In the past the gifts have had something to do with sleeping... i.e. pajamas with feet one year, satin pillow cases, blankets, etc. etc. I guess this year it was for a shirt to sleep in. They seemed to like the shirts, so I guess I did alright.

Our youngest, the dark haired one, had figured out what I was getting them. She saw a note on my desk which told her what the gift was. I guess I'll have to do a better job of clearing off my desk top next year.

But now there are a few of us around town who proudly call themselves, "The Holy Ghost Riders." The only requirement for membership is a t-shirt. You don't even have to own a bike - you just have to want to own one.

What do you think?

Couch Potato

While spending time at my daughter's apartment in Oklahoma I laid on her couch a bit more than I should with the remote in my hand. I think I began to look a lot like this cartoon.

I drew it while I was in Oklahoma - finished it at home here in Oregon.

What do you think?

Holy Ghost Rider

This is a drawing that I'm fairly proud of. The inspiration came when my friend, Kevin, and I went to see Superman Returns. There we saw the trailer for Ghost Rider. On the way home we were talking about the trailer and came up with the idea of calling our little group of motorcycle riding buddies, The Holy Ghost Riders. The term, Holy Ghost, comes out of the old King James version of the Bible, where God's Holy Spirit is referred to as the Holy Ghost.

When an idea really intrigues me I really enjoy getting it down on paper, and this idea did that for me. I quickly got to work on a concept and this is the results. Fire is often used in the Bible as symbolic of God's power and it is in the Book of Acts where the Holy Spirit comes to the new church - one of the sign of which is a tongue of fire above the head of each Christian.

After getting the design done, Kevin and I got a few shirts printed up and sold them to a few people that were interested. The shirts were well liked. I gave one to each of my three daughters for Christmas. I'll have to post the photo I took of them wearing their shirts sometime.

Tonight, a group of us road 26 miles south, to Crescent City, CA to see Ghost Rider on its opening night. The ride was dark and foggy - a thrilling experience. I thought the movie was weak in some areas. The plot was thin. The acting was poor, but the special effects were great. The ride down there was more of a thrill.

Anyway, what do you think of the drawing?

First Bite

This particular drawing seems to be very popular with people - especially in an area where there is a lot of fishing. Once again, I followed the "nature gets even" theme, and came up with this idea. I've actually drawn a few different variations on this theme - maybe I'll post some latter.

What do you think?

Join Our Little Party

Today is my 50th birthday! But I'm not sweating it. I've been telling people so long that I am nearly 50 I've grown accustom to the idea.I've had a little bit of teasing - not much, but I told everyone to bring it on. I don't care.

Given it's a party dayt, I thought this piece was appropriate. When I did this one I drew it with no real idea of what I was going to draw. I was just doodling. This is the outcome.

I use this for my profile photo for my photo page in Webshots. I figure, better than my face. The sport coat on the main character remains me of a smilar jacket that I often wore to church while in High School. It didn't have pink lines - I think they were gold - but the rest looks pretty much the same.

What do you think?

For The Record

Some have suggested that my comments about the January 31st cartoon said that I used my daughter, Andrea, as the model for the "beauty queen" in the drawing. For the record, I did not. I did say that she inspired the drawing because of her election to the Valentine court at her school. There is a connection in the hair color.

This photo shows all three of my beautiful daughters. From left to right: Tarah, the oldest, Marla, the youngest, and Andrea, my middle daughter.

What do you think?