Family Practice - Be A Millionaire

It's been a while since I've posted an edition of Family Practice; my one attempt for cartoon syndication and fame.

Some children are destined for fame and others for fortune...

(Click on the image for the larger view.)

Family finances can be interesting. I can't remember the exact inspiration for this particular strip, but it seems that something similar actually happened in our house. I do remember that the other day we did get some money from our middle daughter for helping to repair her car, and then we turned around and gave a big portion of it right back for her birthday.

Does that make any sense to you?

Mixing It Up In The Garden

How many people do you know that would be brave enough to request a caricature made up of their sister-in-law?

Apparently Carolyn is that brave. She wanted an illustration of her SIL (That's "Sister-in-law for you non-blogger types) sitting in a garden, wearing a garden apron, with a mixed drink in hand. I'm not particularly savvy when it comes to mixed drinks since I don't imbibe. So a martini was practically the only mixed drink I could come up with that I felt was easily recognizable.

You may remember Carolyn from an earlier, let's just say, interesting illustration that I did for her. If you haven't seen it you might enjoy checking it out.

The Flamingo Ballet

Sue contacted me about creating an illustration of her little friend, Lexie. This was meant to be a belated birthday gift for her. Sue and Lexie share a love for flamingos. She suggested a drawing of her dancing with flamingos since she had recently started ballet lessons.

This was the one caricature that I was able to complete while at the children's camp I recently attended. The children at the camp really seemed to like the drawing. I thought that it turned out pretty good. Creating a caricature of a child's face is always more challenging for me. Their faces are so smooth and have fewer distinct features that help identify a particular person.

(As I have said before: Give me an ugly face to draw and I'm a happy person. Some people I've drawn made me ecstatic!)

Sue suggest- ed that I put Lexie's glasses on one of the fla- mingos. Glasses or not, she is obviously an adorable child. I hope that she enjoys her birthday gift.

Thank you Sue for choosing me to help honor this lovely ballerina.

In other news... I'm sitting here at our dinning room table working on my computer as my two oldest daughters fill out wedding invitations. This week will be full of wedding stuff. We're knee deep into it, but it's soooo nice having all my girls home at once.

Mum's 60th

You might re- member Tonya from the cari- cature I posted of her back in April. Tonya, who lives in So. Cal, is an Australian, and she is heading there next month for a visit.

She requested a drawing of her family to give to her mum (Australian for "mom") to celebrate her 60th birthday. The drawing included Tonya's whole herd: husband and kids, her parents, brother, sister with son; plus a whole slew of family dogs. She suggested a picnic scene with some of the guys getting ready to go kayaking. So, that's what I drew.

This was an involved drawing. For some reason, it took me a lot of time to get it done. There are a number of little details in the drawing. A drawing like this provides a number of opportunities to add little things. I wanted to give them something to look at for a while, and have fun making discoveries.

I hope that you will too.

In other news: My two oldest daughters are coming in for a visit beginning this weekend. We've got to drive up to Portland to pick them up - a seven hour drive one way. It's crazy living on the edge of the earth. So, once again, I'll be out of touch beginning tomorrow afternoon for a few days.

Next week the ladies will be working on wedding plans together. I think I've mentioned that the oldest is getting married in Oct. Good Lord! I'm already wedding'ed out! How will I make it for 2 1/2 more months?

Keep those cards and letters coming - or rather those comments coming. They warm my whittle heart.

Chocolate Attack

This is a doodle I threw onto a piece of paper last night. My wife apparently was having a chocolate attack and made some of those No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. I love it when she has one of those attacks because I am often a beneficiary of the results.

So, the concept came to me while I was munching down on my chocolate treat, and I had to draw it really quick. I thought that perhaps some of you, my kind readers of this blog, could identify with it.

One time I asked Marylynn, "What is it about women and chocolate?" To which she replied, "What is it about men and steak?" "Oh!" I said. "I think that I finally understand."

This is another "Copy & Share If You Dare" doodle. In other words, I give you permission to copy it, put it on your blog, print it out, share it with your friends, frame it and hang it on the frig.

Yes, of course, I'm just looking for attention. That's why I do these things. All I ask is that you tell me if you're using it so that I can smile. (My needs are so few.)

Also: I'll be out of touch beginning tomorrow, for three days. I am going on my second motorcycle trip to Crater Lake, Oregon.

Check out my pics from last summer's run.

There's no room on the bike for extras like a computer, so I will be off-line for a few days. Say a prayer and leave me a friendly note for my return.

You know I love the attention!!!

Further Update: I just got notice regarding this award from my friend over the pond - Tismess2. A very nice gal, and uses one of my illustrations as her header on her blog. Go and make a friend.

A Matter of Perspective

Falling Down...

Being Sucked In...

Pushed Overboard...

Alien Abduction...

It's all a matter of your perspective.

In other news...

Recently, the aspiring, and inspiring, young artist
Justin made comment on my blog. Today he sent me an illustration that he said he drew for me. And, with his permission, I am posting it here.

Take a gander at Justin's blog and give this young artist and
new blogger some encouragement.

Thanks Justin for the illustration. Good work! I don't do trucks well, so it's with some reluctance that I'm posting it here. (Hee Hee)

P.S. Sorry, an "egg-less" post.

Phil - The Money Making Man

One of my most earliest caricatures that I posted on my blog was a drawing I did of my friend Eti.

Like many of you, who have become my Internet friends, I've never met her, but we struck up a friendship because of a mutual interest in photography. Eti is an accomplished photographer, and in my opinion, her skills have improved greatly even in the little time that I've gotten to know her. Check out her albums in Webshots, and her personal web page. She's good! I'm telling you she's good. Her skills in manipulating digital images are especially impressive.

On my last post Eti dropped in and made a comment. It reminded me that I've never posted the illustration that I did of her husband, Phil. It's been so long since I drew this particular piece that I forget the circumstances. I think it was a birthday present, a gift of some kind anyway. Eti said that Phil enjoyed playing the market, and so anything that connected him with making lots of money would be good.

The above drawing is what I came up with. I think I could do a better job with this illustration today - I've gain so much experience since then. But even now, as I look at it, I think that it ain't bad.

(I'm pretty sure that my "little friend" made it into the drawing - it's been so long. But, I didn't take time to look.)

Also, When it rains, it pours. I was honored to be given two blog awards recently.

One by Mum-me. (Not MY biological Mommy, but I guess the self proclaim Mum-me of us all.) She presented me with the "Arte y Pico" award, which is "dedicated to many who nourish and enrich the spirit and creativity." That sounds too fancy for me, but hey, who am I to refuse such an honor?

Thanks Mommy Mum-me.

Then, My friend The Bean... (That's what I call her. She's a bit more exclusive as to the type of bean she uses as her marker, but I find it more interesting to identify her with beans at large.) ...gave me this award.

She presented it to me because I posted something on my blog for Dystonia Awareness Week. Check out her blog for more information about that. Bean is another Internet friend. She's on my list for another doodle soon. So, be looking for more about her very soon.

Thanks Bean-O Bean. You're too kind and you're a friend.

I'm still drawing all the time. So stay "tooned" for more.

Hot Rodding 101

I drew this maybe three years ago of a friend's brother. It was her Christmas present to him. In fact, I think she ordered four different illustrations from me that year. (Ho, Ho, Ho) I drew this so long ago that I thought it might be "egg-less." I guess you egg hunters will have to figure that out on your own.

The original artwork now hangs inside the entrance of the local pancake house that he runs. Hiway 101 is the main drag that runs through our town. It goes up and down the west coast. Much of it is a drive with fantastic views. I highly recommend it.

BTW: I will be out of touch for a week. I am helping at a summer boys and girls camp - no internet connection there. I hope to get a lot of illustrating done, as my responsibilities at the camp aren't too demanding. I'm behind on my requests and I need to do some catching up.

Leave me a nice note for when I get back - next Saturday.

AND BEHAVE!! (Do I sound like your mother?)

Happy 4th of July!

Two posts in one day! But I didn't want the holiday to past without giving you a chance to see this little doodle.

This is another "Copy & Share If You Dare", doodle. All I ever ask is that you give me a heads up if you do. Be sure to click on the image so that you can get the full size version.

Have a great 4th - even if you're not from the U.S. of A. Go ahead and take the day off. Tell your boss that I said it was okay.

Album Art

I took this photo Tuesday night of Nick, who is the son of some good friends of ours. We were setting off fire works for my youngest daughter's 17th birthday party.

Nick plays the bass for his rock band. (Is every kid now days part of a rock band?) I told him that it is the cover art for his next album.

This is not a doodle, it's more like a "fiddle," because I fiddled around with the photo on my computer a while.

Is Your Sky Falling?

This is a quick doodle that I created for a friend that is teaching a class dealing with contemporary issues. The class material relates itself to all the turmoil that is going on in the world right now; which for some people, may seems like the sky is falling. So, the story of Chicken Little relates well. I think it's pretty clever.

I don't know about the sky falling, but gas prices are sky rocketing! Before long everyone will be riding motorcycles. But that would be a good thing. Right?

Potatoes On Parade

I really liked how this carica- ture turned out. This is a birthday present for Sharlyn's husband. He's an Idaho potato farmer. Is there any other kind. Oh yeah! There are sugar beet farmers too, but anyway... Sharlyn wanted me to illustrate hubby on a John Deere tractor harvesting potatoes. His real tractor is one of those big ones that has all the comfort of a Cadillac, but Sharlyn thought that putting him atop an older model would look better. I agreed.

I don't know where I got the idea, but the image of potatoes popping out of the ground and marching along with him seemed like a fun concept. Sharlyn liked it and so away I went.

The challenge for me on this particular drawing is that I couldn't find a photo on the internet taken of a tractor at just the right angle. I wanted the tractor to have a commanding, dominate position in the illustration. To do that I want the perspective on the lines of the machine to be at a dramatic angel. So, instead of taking the usual shortcut and tracing a picture, I had to draw this one out pretty much free hand. As I said, I really liked how this one turned out. The only thing I wish could be different is that I would have liked to have more room to draw a whole bunch of potatoes marching along behind him in formation.

I seem to be in a tractor mode of late, since this is the second one of late that I've been asked to illustrate. I've seem to have been drawing a lot of potatoes as well. I guess it was fate that the two themes should come together in one illustration eventually. (I'm so philosophical when it comes to my cartoon work.)

Check out Sharlyn's blog. There are some very nice quilts displayed there - another art form that impresses me.

Black Sheep Do Over

Last weekend our church hosted a rally for a Christian motorcycle club called The Black Sheep. A few of the people from our church are members and so we gave them the opportunity to have their conference here on the ocean. I am not a member of the organization, but I do enjoy getting together with people who have an appreciation for nice rides.

At one point I counted 60 motorcycles in our church parking lot! On Friday evening I joined them for a "pie run" up the coast for, (what else?), pie. What a sight it was to see Hiway 101 full of motorcycles as far as you could see. I think the neighbors might have thought we had become a Hell's Angel Church. (One kind new neighbor did call about the noise, and asked if she could expect this is be a summer long ordeal. Apparently she values her sleep more than the sound of a chrome covered ride.)

I saw the event as an opportunity to try and sell some of my motorcycle themed artwork. I didn't sell a lot, but I made enough money to cover my cost, and then just a bit more. Oh well - ever the starving artist.

Earlier I have posted this drawing that I created for the Black Sheep in our church. (Actually, our church is ful of "black sheep." They just don't all ride Harleys.) I didn't like how this drawing turned out. Several agreed that the sheep on the cycle looked more like a camel. I should have drawn in some wool on the top of his head.

So, I decided to create another Black Sheep themed illustra- tion. I tried to give him a harder edge by illustrating a ram, with horns - along with wool on the top. I really like how this illustration turned out. I colored the letters to match the colors on the club's patch, which I thought worked out well with the rest of the colors I ended up choosing for the drawing.

Which one do you think sold the best? You guessed it. The "camel" drawing did! In fact, it was the only kind of print that I sold that weekend. Go figure. I guess sheep can't appreciate fine art. Oh maybe it has something to do with the fact that I priced it a few bucks cheap? How do you like that - they're a bunch of cheap sheep!

Here are some photos that I took at the event. The last one is my favorite - just in case you were wondering...

Insanity

At least that's what my Dad use to tell me. I didn't quite understand what he meant. That is... until I had children.

This is another "Copy & Share, If You Dare" doodle. I would just enjoy hearing from you if you do.

This, by the way, is my 200th post. Some bloggers I see celebrate that kind of milestone. I just think it's insane that I've done that much blogging.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Oops! My Bad

Now here's a story for you. Since I started getting these request for caricatures because of this blog I've tried very hard to keep the information coming in, straight and in order. A few weeks ago I realized that maybe I wasn't doing such a great job.

Teresa wanted an illustration of her husband, Nick, and their two daughters. She said that he is a "C-130J Mechanic for the Marines." And that their girls loved to hang all over him. Then I got an e-mail from her (I thought) that said he was a HUGE Auburn fan.

Any of this sound familiar? Maybe, like something from my previous post?

So I drew up this piece and e-mailed her a copy even before I was completely finished. (Note the sky is not entirely colored in.)

When I got Teresa's reply my heart just sunk. She, of course, never wrote and told me her husband was an Auburn fan. That was Jodi from my previous post!

(Note that I actually drew Teresa's illustration first, and Jodi's afterward that. I've just posted Jodi's before this one so that you could better appreciation of my error.)

Can you imagine Teresa opening her e-mail and seeing her youngest daughter holding an toy Auburn tiger, her oldest dressed up as an Auburn cheerleader and the plane pulling an Auburn flag overhead. She must have thought I was nuts!

Teresa politely wrote and said that she didn't understand where I was going with the drawing. She said, "I am assuming AU is a university? What are your thoughts? My thoughts were that I had totally messed up on her drawing and turned her family into something that she had no idea they were - "HUGE Auburn fans!"

Teresa had given me her phone number to call her for clarification. After rechecking my records, I realized what I had done, and so I sheepishly called her up and apologized.

(That was interesting talking to one my clients voice, to voice. I'd like to do that more often. So call me everybody!)

I know, it's not like I had turned them into some kind of hideous creatures, but I felt fairly dumb about my mistake.

So, I started over and "de-Aburned" the family. At Teresa's request I put the downtown ballpark in San Diego in the background, and changed the flag to the flag of his squadron.

(Is "squadron" the right word Teresa?)

It was interesting that the youngest daughter had actually been given a stuff tiger by her daddy. So, the toy tiger stayed. (Maybe she's the huge Auburn fan?)

Teresa wrote me the other day and said, "I just wanted to let you know that my husband LOVES the illustration. Thank you very much for drawing it for me!!"

Your welcome Teresa. I'm glad that we finally got it right. But it sure would have been easier if you had changed yourselves into Auburn fans, instead of making me draw a whole new illustration.

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Also: Cynthia, from my June 15th post, put this photo of her husband holding the caricature I drew of him on her blog. Go and check her blog out and tell Dave what a great looking smile that he has. Tell them that Goofy sent you.

A Clandestine Project

When I do these caricatures there's always a lot of clandestine activity involved. Generally, the one requesting the illustration is trying to surprise a friend or loved one. Surprising a husband or a wife is a bit more tricky since there's always the possibility that the spouse might be looking over the shoulder when an e-mail from me pops up on the screen. As far as I know, no secrets have been discovered when it comes to my drawings.

With Jodi, communication was even more difficult. Apparently she and her husband, Sam, share an e-mail addresses, or for whatever reason I had to be careful to e-mail her only during the day time, or when he was out of town. (This whole post is beginning to sound a bit salacious - you know what I mean?) Jodi ended up giving me her friend's e-mail address so I could to communicate through her without fear of discovery. I was happy to make the accommodations, because I like surprises as much as the next cartoonist.

There are a lot of details in this illustration, all of which are Jodi's ideas. Sam is a chaplain in the USAF. Thus the stole around his neck (Is that what they call it?) He loves to hike. He loves the Bible. He loves the Grand Tetons. He loves his Landrover, which bears the nickname "Lange" that one of their children gave it. And, les I forget... He LOVES the Auburn Tigers. Jodi said that he is a huge fan. (More about that on my next post.) Sam has a lot of different loves in his life, and bringing it all together into one illustration was an interesting challenge for me. This was a gift for his 40th birthday - thus the sign indicating that he's now over the hill.

Jodi, like the drawing very much. Her only request was that I add more hair. It's easy to add hair. Please don't ask me to erase it - not only can I not do it without starting over, but personally, it's a painful process for me.

Jodi wrote me and said, "Rick, THANK YOU!!!!! Sam absolutely LOVED the picture. It was one of the favorite parts of the night. He saw and noticed every single detail. His mom had a copy made at a bakery and it was also displayed on the cake in frosting. Has anyone ever eaten your artwork before?:)

I don't think anyone has ever eaten my atwork before, but a few have thrown-up over it. I guess that's not the same thing.

And then Jodi added. His parents loved it too, but the only thing his mom said she would change? "more hair." :)

Who is this guy? Big Foot?

Anyway, I'm glad you liked it Jodi, and Sam. Thanks for using me. Take care of that beautiful family of yours. And.... for goodness sakes, go get a hair cut Sam, before you start shedding all over my drawing.

Plowing Asphalt

When Cynthia wrote me and said that she wanted an illustration of her husband driving his tractor I imagined an idyllic rural scene with a farmer plowing his field - tending to his crop. But when I saw the photos she sent I realized we were talking about something entirely different.

Cynthia's husband is the proud owner of this antique piece of machinery, and the only field it ever sees is the one made of asphalt, running up and down the city of Phoenix, Arizona. She said he liked to take it to the hardware store, and uses it to pull floats in parades.

Look at that thing! What a challenge to try and illustrate! (This is not actually the one he owns, but a good photo of one almost entirely like his.)

Cynthia said that his tractor has a literal top speed of 8 miles an hour. She thought it would be fun to hop it up and make it look like it was zooming down a city street. So I took one of the photos she sent me, traced the complicated piece of metal work onto the paper, added tractor style racing tires, and put him at the helm. What do you think?

This was meant to be a Father's Day gift for today, and so I haven't gotten an update on his response to the drawing. I hope he liked it and I hope to have an update to share with you later.

In the meantime: Since it's Father Day, here are the young ladies that call me Father. Actually, they call me Daddy, or Dad. The oldest came up with the name "Chard" for me. It's a take on RiCHARD. I always tell them my name is Daddy to them, and that's what they should call me. But it hasn't seem to stop them. Now days, I think they can call me anything. Just call me.

This photo is from Christmas. I give them a gift just from me each year, and it normally has a sleep theme. That time I gave them silk PJ's. From left to right: Marla, Andrea, and Tarah (...getting married in October)

I love you girls. I'm proud to be your Father, or Chard, or whatever you may give me as a title.

Super Mullet

I can hear you asking from here: "Why mullets?" I'm not sure that I can fully express my reasoning. I tried to address that on my May 18th post, but even I can't fully understand the muse that moves within me. I guess you could say I'm driven by a "Mullet Muse."

I will say that I think this particular piece is the pinnacle of my artistic expression concerning mullets. What do you think?

I don't know where my artistic whims will take me next. Perhaps a more momentous matters like, perhaps... belly button lint, or ingrown toe nails. I think these too are items which really haven't been fully expressed, or appreciated, artistically. I just might have to be the artist that champions that cause.

What do you think? What areas of doodle exploration should I venture into next? Maybe you could be my muse? So, amuse me, why don't you?

P.S. Feel free to copy and share.

Your Parisian Artist

Holly wrote me and said...

"I found your blog-Organized Doodles and was interested in having you do a custom caricature for me. My husband, myself, our daughter, and son-in-law recently went on a trip to Europe. The kids are stationed at Lakenheath/Mildenhall Air Force base in UK-so after visiting them, we went on a whirlwind tour."

"To make a long story short, we ended up in Paris, France and my daughter desperately wanted an artist to do a sketch of the family while we were there...but there were no street artists to be found in Paris (can you even believe it-the city of art & artists and none to be found!) She was sorely disappointed."

"But when I found your blog and discovered that you did caricatures, I started to get excited. Maybe YOU could be our Parisian artist."

"The kids are visiting us in June. Do you suppose you could crank something out by then? Um. Maybe the Eiffel tower largely in the background with the Arc de Triomphe off to the side?"

I said..."Oui."

Apparently Starbucks has invaded Europe and was a reoccurring theme on their trip. Holly wanted to make sure I added it to the illustration. I threw in the FRENCE fries for fun.



Thanks Holly for choosing me to be your little "Parisian Artist". God Speed.

And in the words of Pepé Le Pew...

"Au revoir, pidgeon. Sweeting is such part sorrow."