Surprise Kelly!

I know that you told me the other day that you decided to not have me do another illustration for you (so many other needs that have demands on your finances at the moment), but I decided to go ahead and draw this little doodle for your blog anyway.

This is just my way of saying, "Sorry about all the 'lousy' (I guess that I could call them) things going on in your life. You are not forgotten, and you are loved by me and the Heavenly Father."

(Crazy that a doodle could say all that.)

I know it's not exactly the illustration that you originally wanted, but I like it. I hope that you do too.

Now to all my other kind blog readers out there... Obviously I didn't tell Kelly that I went ahead and drew this little doodle for her. In fact, unless you see some evidence that tells you she has seen it (a comment perhaps?) you're seeing it before she has.

It's not my place to share all that Kelly, and her family, have been going through of late. Some of it she has written about on her blog. But I felt a little sad when she wrote me and told me that this was not the best time to invest in an illustration. So, I went ahead and drew something up just so I would send a little doodle love her way.

This is actually the second time that I've drawn a caricature of Kelly. I created one for an earlier blog which she felt that she need to delete. But since she is a blog-aholic, and because she loves us so much, she just couldn't stay away and create The Righteous Buzz. Go and check her out.

Now one of you, I guess, very well might jump over to her blog and tell her that there's something over here she might want to see. That's fine with me. I'm just trying to imagine what her reaction will be when she sees it. I hope it's a pleasant surprise.

Now back to Kelly... Also, you said that you wanted to use the face off your illustration as a profile photo. I thought that perhaps you might like to use this little doodle for that. I don't know - I thought that maybe you would find it kind of crazy - kind of fun.

My apologies for the quality of these images. They are merely photos of them that I took this morning in the early light. The originals are clearer, and brighter. And, if I do say so myself, I especially like how the first illustration turned out. I tried to keep within the color scheme of your blog.

So, if you like what you see, drop me a note and I'll get them in the mail to you.

God bless you, and God bless America!!!

(Perhaps that last line was a little over the top, but it felt good to write it.)

Plowing the Herd

This is another carica- ture that I did some time ago. Teri, who works at the pharmacy where I get all my copies made, asked me to create a drawing of her brother for his birthday.

This was a bit difficult drawing because she wanted an illustration which included this particular tractor pushing this particular kind of snow plow, AND she wanted lots of animals in the piece.

So, I had to figure out a way to incorporate all that stuff together. I decided to illustration the man plowing through a herd of various kinds of forest animals. Of course, if an animal were to actually go through a snow plow like that they would come out the other side as mince meat. (I hate mince meat.) But this is cartooning and, thankfully, I'm not confined to reality when it comes to my illustrations.

(That's a good thing because I often have a hard telling dealing with the concept of reality as rule in general.)

Like much of my earlier work, when I look back on it, I feel that I could do a much better job now. Either that means I'm getting better, or I was just really lazy back then.

Teri asked me the other day if I had posted this illustration on my blog. I had to say no. Then she asked if I had posted the one I did of her son. Again, I had to confess that I had not. So, there will be another post with includes the caricature of her son in the near future.

My apologies Teri. I didn't mean to exclude you from this very exclusive blog of mine.

Beam In Your Eye

This is another illustration inspired by a biblical passage. So much of the Bible inspires creative illustration. I've never seen an illustration of this particular passage. I thought it was begging to be drawn. It comes from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. I think He was trying to be a bit comical when He shared it, because the idea is comical.

The concept speaks for itself - before trying to help someone with their faults be sure to work on your own. It's hard to do eye surgery when your vision is so impaired. You can't even get close enough when there is an eye-plank getting in the way.

So, this is another Copy & Share If You Dare illustration. I would just love for you to tell me about it if you do.

Humility

This is a little cartoon that I was able to get published in a magazine years ago. I got paid $100 bucks for this doodle! By my standards that's good money even today.

This is a another "Copy & Share If You Dare" doodle. Feel free to pass it along.

What Kind of People Are You?

...and that bit of information should probably worry you.

I finished another caricature the night before last - waiting on hearing a reply. I hope they like it. I started on another one last night.

I keep whittling away at my list of request, but it keeps growing at the other end.

So many needy people in the world - desperately seeking a doodle to fill the cartoon void in their hearts. What am I to do? I must doodle onwards and upwards!

(Now aren't you worried when I tell you that you're MY kind of people?)

Organized Doodle Fini!

I finished this doodle up a few days ago. Basically I just doodled around in the empty space, or as we artist call it, the "negative space", in an attempt to fill the page. If you're so inclined you can scroll back two post ago and compare the differences.

Every time I look at this piece I will think "Olympics" because this is what I was doing while my wife and I watched the games.

My New Zealand, blogging friend Chris liked the doodle so much that she purchased it from me. That was a surprise and a blessing. (Thank you very much Chris.) So, pretty soon this doodle will be off to it's new overseas home.

Maybe you'd like to know why I call this blog "Organized Doodles."

(If not, then we're pretty much done here and you can moving along to the next blog.)

I named it that because that's what I've called my drawings for a long time. When people have been so kind as to compliment my work, my reply has often been, "Thank you. They're just organized doodles."

It is my contention that most graphic illustrations are just a collection of familiar shapes that everybody uses almost every day of their lives. And all that anyone needs to learn how to is to organize their doodles in a way that makes them look like a familiar object.

I do cartooning demonstrations for school classrooms very often. I try to teach the children how to take a cartoon and brake it down in their mind so that they see letters and number, and punctuation marks, and then use those familiar shapes to draw something - organized doodles.

For example, all that a normal heart shape is, is a couple of "U's" and a "V" holding hands. You can draw that!

The next time you're sitting in a meeting, bored, try looking at an object, or an illustration and try to see it as a collection of familiar shapes and then put it on paper. The proportions might not quite match, but the object will becomes familiar as you put it on paper. Then you're well on your way to becoming a world famous artist like... well... not like me, but like somebody that is world famous.

Hey, remember, especially when it comes to cartooning: It ain't brain surgery. Enjoy the moment and try to learn to express yourself in art.

No need to thank me now. Just remember me when you sell that first piece for a million.

P.S. I past 20,000 hits on this blog - counting from mid-January last. Thank you all for giving this doodler the ego strokes that he so desperately needs and craves.

The Undying Spirit

I'm working on doodles all the time. Right now I'm working on a couple of things that I'm trying to finish up.

This little cartoon is actually something I drew a few years ago and held on to it. It is a "tribute" to the undying spirit of humankind!!

Sometimes I just start drawing something and then add the caption after I'm finished. This is an example of that. I think you have to have a rather dry sense of humor to appreciate how absurd it is.

Is your humor dry enough?

---------------------------


Also: My Nebraska blogging friend Brenda, actually sent me this doodle and even gave me permission to post it when I asked.

I like it Brenda!

I'm serious when I say that I want to see your doodles. I really enjoy trying to get people to express themselves artistically, and doodling is a wonderful, carefree way of doing that.

So, send me your doodles. I want to show it off to the blogging world! And go visit Brenda's blog and tell her how her artwork has changed your life! - or something like that.

An Organized Doodle

Now for some- thing totally differ- ent...

This is a sketch that I've been playing around with while the wife and I have been watching the Olympic games.

Some of you, I think, would consider this an actual doodle. It started because I wanted to try out a new Sharpie pen that I picked up (which I like very much). Also, I was trying to imitate, just a bit, the style of Andrea Joseph - one of the few artist whose blog I visit regularly. I really like her work.

I began by drawing the stylized black heart in the middle. Then I remember that a friend had given me a set of Pilot colored pens for my birthday, and so I started adding stuff to the illustration. My colors were limited to the colors of the pens in that set, and my goal was really nothing more than trying to fill a piece of paper.

It is likely that you'll see this doodle again because I'll probably end up trying to fill in more of the empty spaces. You wouldn't mind a repeat - would you?

Now go pick up a pen and try some doodling yourself. Don't tell me that you can't do at least that. There's an artist within you - for some of you he's really deep down inside you, but he's there. So give it a try - and e-mail me a copy. I'm going to steal your work.

A Dark Knight

Here's another caricature request where I had to bring together a number of different varied themes into one drawing.

Catherine requested an illustration of her husband for his birthday in September. She said, "My husband is a member of the Australian Defence Force. He is an army musician, and his instrument (and the first love of his life) is the trombone."

(I seem to be very big "Down Under." Maybe as big as David Hasselhoff is in Germany. Maybe not that much, but I'm know around a few Aussie circles.)

Catherine said that his second love is his Kawasaki. His 3rd and 4th loves are computers and photography.

Forgive me for mentioning it Catherine, but does that make you #5?

Anyway, the challenge for me was to figure out a way to bring all these varied interest together. In fact, I held on to Catherine's request for some time. Finally I decided to illustrate him riding his motorcycle up a mountain of computer screens and stuff while carrying his trombone as if it were some kind of jousting spear - camera in tow.

It all came together to make him look like some kind of "dark knight." What do you think?

Thanks Catherine for using me to help celebrate your knight's big day. I figure that after he sees it you'll probably be bumped up his list a couple of notches - ya think?

In other news: I'm not getting these illustrations out fast enough for my part. I hope that everyone on my list will continue to be patient with me. I received an inquiry about a doing a possible Christmas gift this week. It reminded me that Christmas, in artist years, is not very far away. So, if you're thinking about ordering an illustration for a Christmas gift I would encourage you to get your request in early.

Stay "tooned"!,

Rick

Bubbles

I had a close en- counter with some- one else's scanner and so I plopped this one over into my computer. It's just another one of those quick doodles that I had laying around. I'm calling it "Bubbles" for both the floating bubbles and the eyes.

And yes, to those of you who understand what I am saying... I AM just toying with you.

Also: A couple of post back some of you yea-hoos were asking whether or not my girls looked like their mother or their father. What do you think?

I get credit for the freckles on the youngest one.

Don't Mess With Angles

Sorry that it's been a bit since I've added a post. My scanner got mad at me and wouldn't talk to my computer any more. Today it just up and died on me. Looks like I'll be looking for new scanner soon.

So, this is another illustration that I ended up just photographing and then fiddled with it in Photoshop. I've got much to learn about that program, but I think I'm getting a bit better at it.

I think it's no secret that I am a person of faith. Much of the Bible creates interesting visual images for me, and since I am a visual thinker I enjoy putting the images of Bible passages down on paper.

Angels, in the classical sense, are visually interesting creations to me. Often people depict them as gentle creatures, but if you read much of the Bible you quickly discover that they're actually pretty tough dudes. Especially Michael. You don't want to mess with him.

I'm glad that angels are on my side. Can I get an "Amen"?

In other news... I was doing a little blog suffering the other day and ended up over at ournameisblog blog, and entered a contest. Today I received notice that I won this watch.

I think it suits me well. Can I get another "Amen"?

The Girls

No doodles to upload at the moment. I'm in Portland taking two of my daughters to the airport. The oldest is at the airport at this moment waiting for her flight out to Oklahoma City. The other one is flying out tomorrow.

This is a photo that I took before they, and the Mrs., headed over to the church for a wedding shower (or bath, or whatever). Ain't they lovely?

We've had a great time having all of them home. The ladies got a ton of wedding plans done, most of which I was able to avoid.

When I get home I'll be finishing up another illustration and should have a few doodles to post.

Thanks for checking in.

That Happy Time of Year

(Click on the image to zoom in.)

This isn't a new joke, but one that perhaps you can relate to. The quality is not the best because my scanner isn't cooperating. so I just took a photo of it and then spent too much time working with it in Photoshop.

This is another "Copy & Share If You Dare" illustration. You have my permission to steal use it as you wish. Just drop me a note if you post it some place where I can get a peek. I live for the attention that it gives me - my ego is so weak.

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...