Miss Fancy Pants

This is the second time that Cynthia requested a doodle from me. Back in the summer of 2008 she had me draw an illustration of her husband riding his antique tractor. That was a challenging caricature because of the unusual shape of the tractor. Apparently they liked the illustration enough to order a second one from me.

This time Cynthia wanted a drawing of their daughter, Melanie, for her 16th birthday. She wanted her dancing in her "fancy pants"—an unusual looking pair of shorts that I have the feeling are an original creation of mother or daughter. She also requested Melanie's dog, Lexi, to be in the illustration as well.

Cynthia gave me this report and photo...

Hi Rick, Melanie LOVED your picture. She opened it and said - "Wait . . . Mom . . . How did you do this? Where did you get this? How does anyone know about my fancy pants? . . . oh and Lexi is in it too !! I LOVE IT !!  THANK YOU !!" 

I knew we would all love it! Thanks again, Cynthia

You're welcome Cynthia. I'm so glad Melanie liked it. I really appreciate the photo. Those are always a joy to get to see. It was a fun doodle. I had a good time putting it together for you.

Check out Cynthia's blog, and Melanie's blog as well. You could wish her a happy belated birthday, and then ask her where she got those pants.

Ninja Complete

I finally mailed off the Ninja Family project yesterday. This was a gift that De'Etta wanted for her hubby, who is serving with our troops in Afghanistan. She has already e-mailed him a digital copy and it now hangs on his bulletin board over there. I was very proud to see a photo of one of my doodles hanging in Afghanistan. Ain't that something!?! (Click here to check it out.) Ain't the size of the family something!?!

I wasn't really sure how this project was going to turn out. Large group drawings are a challenge to make interesting, but since the rest of the family is living over in Japan at the moment, and there are a number of photos of the family dresses up in oriental attire, then I figured that the ninja theme would be appropriate. I was so glad that De'Etta went for it. I think that it makes for an interesting piece. I spent a lot of time looking for ninja illustrations and ninja weapons on the internet. If you haven't seen the previous post about this illustration, then scroll down to see some shots of the work in progress.

I'm still doodling all the time. I'm almost finished with another caricature that is laying on my drawing table right now. Then I have a list of three other illustrations a friend wants me to do. Next week I go on my annual three day motorcycle run. I think we have 15 bikes going this year—as compared to nine last year. Then it's off to Oklahoma to get some wedding prep done for daughter #2, who is getting hitched in November. I'm starting to feel the humidity.

Almost Thereeeee...

This is an involved project.  It looks simple, but with all the faces and filling in the background has taken a lot of time. But the end is in sight. A finished copy coming soon. Scroll down to see the earlier post of the piece.

Also, today is our youngest's birthday. She is 19. Happy birthday Marla. You are a mess!!