Go Gators!!

Jennifer has a surprise for her son come Christmas. He's been drafted!

Jennifer and family are turning their son's room into a Florida Gator's temple of sorts. She wanted something to hang on those hallowed walls and so who ya gonna call?

Yup. Me!

She wrote, "My son is a MAJOR Florida Gators fan (as we all are) and for Christmas we are turning his room into a Florida Gators room. His hero is Tim Tebow, #15. I thought it might be fun to have a caricature drawn of him wearing jersey #15 running for a touchdown."

Football doodles are always a challenge for me. On the surface they don't seem too complicated, but there are always so many little details to try and figure out. Like the uniforms for example. The stripes, the numbers, the stuff. A doodler has to look at a lot of pictures on the web to be sure to get it right.

Also, stadiums are never fun. I'm still trying to figure out how to draw a stadium full of people so that it looks like a stadium full of people.

You will note the Heisman Trophy pose that Mr. Young Gator takes in the illustration. He's got the right stuff.

In addition, you Buckeye fans might also have noticed the fact that the player being blocked is one of yours. Apparently there is no love loss between the two. Can't we all just get along?

It's another late night. Another doodle almost done.

Thanks Jennifer. You MUST send photos. I want to see what a Gator room looks like.

Brenda's Brave

Brenda, (Who seems to be in the habit of calling me "Ricky"), came to me with a request for an illustration of her husband, Chris.

She said that Chris is a big Iowa Hawkeyes fan, as well as a Kansas City, Chief's fan. I got to choose which team to use in the illustration and so I decided on the Chiefs. Some how it seemed like the logical choice to me - don't ask me why. As you can tell from their photo, Brenda and Chris are a good looking couple, and you know how I hate to illustrate good looking people. But I suffered through and we "got ur done."

The addition of their Pomeranian pup was Brenda's idea. I thought it added a lot of fun to the drawing.

Brenda is planning ahead because she said that this drawing is intended to be a Father's Day gift. (Which, if you're thinking about an illustration for Father's Day, I highly recommend because I fear that I could be getting really busy around then. So, get your orders in early boys and girls.)

Brenda said that she is not letting Chris see my blog. So it was safe to post this illustration. I don't know how I should feel about that. I mean, denying him the joy of taking in all the fine, high art on my blog? I guess that it's ok. After all, we're talking about an expression of her love here. (Oh gawsh!)

Thank you Brenda for allowing me to create this gift for you. I appreciate all your comments on the old blog, and you're welcomed to call me "Ricky" anytime. After all, it's what my mother first called, and she's a pretty terrific lady.

And if you haven't gotten the hint yet, go check out Brenda's blog NOW!!!

A Sooner Fan in Kentucky

Now back to posting more cartoons. I think that this just might be the last of the caricatures that I had to draw that people wanted to use as Christmas gift.

These are the three men in Reagan's life. She tells me that she not much of a Sooner fan, but that her husband is a life long fan. I am guessing that the boys have followed along in their father's foot steps.

This illustration is similar to one that I drew for a friend and posted back on October 26. Reagan saw that one and asked me to create an illustration incorporating an OU theme. At first I was trying to avoid drawing the Sooner Schooner (a covered wagon that they roll out on the field everytime there is an OU touch down) but the concept is just too good to ignore just because I want to do something different. So, I thought that I could change it up a bit by adding the tiny Long Horn in the mix. If you're from Oklahoma or Texas you have no doubt what the Long Horn respresents. If there are any Texas fans out there, feel free to commission me to illustrate the reverse concept. I can be bought.


Check out Reagan's blog at Livin' in Kentucky.

Family Practice - Watch Football 2

This is the follow-up strip to yesterday's post. Yesterday Heidi left a comment asking me, "Did this really work for you." Honestly, I never tried to bribe any of my three daughters into watching a football game with me. Believe me it would have taken more than $5 to get them to do it - I'm sure.

My oldest daughter is "seriously" dating a young man (see my Feb. 28th post) and he REALLY likes football. He's introducing me to the world an Fantasy Sports. (If had I to explain it you still wouldn't understand). But, maybe, if this relationship works out, I'll have someone to watch a game or two with me during the holiday seasons.

It's kind of scary trusting your daughter to pick out your first son for you. So far, so good.

Family Practice - Watch Football 1

I know that there are a lot of "Football Widows" out there. My wife is not one of them. I enjoy watching a good game, but I gave up on being any kind of "intense" fan a long time ago. BUT... what does the lone member of the male gender do in a household full of women when he wants to have a little companionship during a big game?

The answer is below...
Either buy a pair of reading glasses OR click on the image to get the full size.

The Mighty Bruins

Our local high school mascot is the Bruins. I drew this back in '05 hoping to sell it to the family of a football player. No one was buying. The biggest mistake I made was to put the year on the uniform of the bear - thus making the cartoon applicable for that season alone. Oh well, it's a popular drawing to the kids I show it to. Can you find the egg-man?

BHHS, yes! Go Bruins!!!