Black Friday Memories

Well, they had us. The wife and I looked at the ads in the local paper and we were caught in the dark net called Black Friday!

Yes, the alarm went off at 4 in the AM so that we could make our consumerism trek to the temples of commercialization. I'm a bit embarrassed to tell you that not only did we go shopping at 5 Am, but we went to the black heart of Black Friday. Yes, that's right, we were heading towards... Waaaaal-Mart!

The closest Waaaaal-Mart is in the next town, 30 minutes south of here. You must forgive me for my naiveté. Because heading there I imagined a small conglomerate of people waiting for the man in blue vestment to open the door to Waaaaal-Mart—to let a small, but happy group of holiday shoppers to walk quickly, and freely through the isle while we filled our list of Christmas Ho Ho Ho. After all, how many crazy people like us are out there that would make it to a 5 AM opening of Waaaal-Mart?

Wrooong!! Imagine our surprise to learn that there are HUNDREDS of dummies just like us who would venture out in the ungodly hour of 5 AM. No lie. Imagine a parking lot, maybe 150 yards long, with a line of people, about 4 or 5 wide, standing there in the dark, waiting for the temple priests and priestess to open the doors of the price-reduction temple. Hundreds of people, all there to lay our offerings of the cash and credit cards on the registers altars of debt.

On top of all that, imagine the eerie sound that greeted us when, after one finally does find a parking space, we hear the sound of the rattle hundreds of shopping cart rattling in from all directions while people lay claim to their own little plastic mesh mules—beast of Christmas burdens they were to become.

Surprisingly, the line moved quickly. Apparently Waaaal-Mart was prepared to swallow the entire crowd whole. I'm guessing that the Fire Marshall didn't get a sales flier. Because, if he had, he surely would have been there too. And surely (stop calling me "Shirley") would have shut down the entire operation—having witnessed the massive holiday migration.

Before we even got to the doors there were several people carting out huge television sets. Unbelievable!! Obviously we were in competition with some real operators here. Slick shoppers that lot was.

Into the darkest part of the belly of the beast we went. Yes, right again... We headed straight for the electronics department! May God bless the two souls who piloted the riot that was happening there. We were shoulder to shoulder, cart to cart with dozens of others—each of us hoping, almost praying, that perhaps a remnant of our targeted Christmas cheer had somehow survived the onslaught.

The spirit of Sam Walton smiled upon us because each and every item was located and secured. Thank you Sam. Another bit of fortune that smiled upon us was the fact that the wife and I carried less than 10 items to the checkout, because the the Express Check Out line was significantly shorter than the rest. Our wait there was totally non-insane. Thank you again Sam.

We loaded up our booty and off into the dark towards home we went. At that point my wife pulled up another sales flier and said... "There's a six hour sale at Fred Meyers."

The above doodle is a Copy & Share If You Dare—an inspiration from my holiday shopping experience.

Merry Christmas to all!!

In other news: Previously I shared my appreciation for a young British artist Andrea Joseph. Recently she set up an Esty Shop to sell prints of one of her works for the first time. I like her work so much that for the first time I made a purchase of some else's art.

With her permission I am posting a copy of her art here. Andrea's main medium of choice is the common ballpoint pen. I'm always amazed at what she is able to accomplish with pen in hand. One of the unique aspects of this print is that the pen in the middle is actually drawn in, not printed, on the paper.

Thanks Andrea. I love it.

Sometime I must try and set up an Esty Shop for myself. Be sure to check my blog around the first part of January. I'll be giving away a few prints plus some unfortunate blogger will be chosen to have me lampoon their face with a their own personal caricature.

Cave Art

Shannon contacted me about creating a caricature of her husband, Josh, for his birthday. She said that he is a marathoner, plays poker, is an avid 49er and, Iowa Hawkeye fan.

On top of that she kept saying that this illustration was going to be hung in his "man cave." With that in mind I suggested that I doodle him in a Flintstone-like setting and put him in some kind of skin with a rough 49er's print on it.

She wrote, "In talking about this with a friend, they said they can totally see Josh sitting there like a caveman... (I like her friend) We just cannot forget the frothing beer!"

So... that's what she got—a caveman in his man-cave, with man-cave furnishings, AND with frothing beer in man-mug and all.

I had a bunch of fun with this one. I haven't heard what Josh's reaction was, but I put in a lot of little details to keep his cave-mind occupied.

What do you think?

I posted two previous caveman doodles here, and here. Actually, I hadn't realized that I had such a growing collection of cave art.

Thanksgiving Traditions

A little doodle history lesson for you today. Some holiday traditions go way back—probably farther back than one might think.

God bless you my blogging friends. Have a happy holiday and save a piece of pumpkin pie for me.

Copy & Share If You Dare
Be sure to click on the image for the larger view.

Mo On the T'

This is just a quick doodle I did for the nice lady that is in charge of the Children's Bible Quizzing team at our church. She wanted something for the team's t-shirts.

I'm pretty much the resident doodler at our church. I don't mind. For me, it's a way of giving back something that I consider to be a gift from the Lord to me—my doodle-ability.

The children are studying Exodus this year and, as you Bible scholars out there already know, contains the story of Moses.

Haven't read it? Go ahead. It's a great read. I love the part about the frogs.

Copy & Share If You Dare. You might find a reason to use Mo on a t-shirt of your own.

In other news: I got another caricature done last night. Now I'm working on another t-shirt design that shouldn't take me too long. Then it's back to the request list and heading towards Christmas.

Be sure to check things out at the beginning of January. I'll be giving away another caricature and some prints to celebrate two years of blogging.

So stay "tooned!"

I Know This Face

In terms of doing caricatures, Tonya's face has got to be the one that I've illustrated the most. She's a very busy blogging young lady, and this is the forth time that I've recreated her face with pen & color pencil. Not that I've minded (Tonya) it's just a matter of fact. I KNOW this face!!

In addition to her personal and crafting blogs, Tonya has a party organizing blog as well. She also has some very specific taste when it comes to doodles. Which, I must add, I don't mind, because I want to please my customers very much.

So, with some general instructions from her, I went to task on creating a(nother) Tonya doodle. This was what I sent to her first.

Tonya's response was kind, but there were some things about it that didn't quite meet her expectations. She liked the concept, but the colors were a bit too bright for one thing. She said that she was wanting it to look a bit more "classy"—her word. So, that evening I went to "classifying" her doodle up a bit. That's hard for me, because I'm kind of an un-classy guy.

Now, here's the funny part - hee, hee. I spent the evening working on the doodle, and then I get an e-mail from Tonya around mid-night telling me that she had changed her mind and that she liked the one that I had already sent her.

(I'm not complaining Tonya. I just saying...)

By then it was too late. I had "classified" all over her doodle. This then is what I sent her next...
Can you see the differences?

1. I muted the colors a bit.
2. I added greenery to the flowers - always a classy touch.
3. I put a shadow effect behind the lettering.
AND!
4. I put a gray swooshie thing behind the entire header.

VERY classy! Wouldn't you say?

It turns out that Tonya liked it. I think she was just trying to be nice about my first try. I was glad that she was happy. Another satisfied customer, only this was the fourth time for her.

Go and check out her blog and make note of the one attempt she did to "classify" the doodle herself. Tell her that you like it—regardless! It's only nice.

With Apologies to Aesop

I went to the bank the other day and the teller had an assortment of toy turtles sitting around on the counter. I asked her the same question that probably a thousand other customers asked her... "So, you like turtles?" The apparent answer was "yes." She even had one that when you pushed it's tail down, it lites up. Like a lot of people I know.

(Some how that last line sounded a bit salacious.)

I thought, "I should doodle her a turtle." So that got me started. The story of the Tortoise and the Hare came to mind. One thing lead to another, and this is what I came up with.

With apologies to Aesop, my version of the story is not that the Tortoise wins because the Hare was lazy, but because he, the Tortoise, "upgraded!"

It's been a while since I've done some doodling like this just for fun. Most of my earliest post were examples of some of pieces that I created mostly for that reason. I've tried to sell copies—with not much success.

Even though I have a ton of Christmas gifts to get out (one on my drawing table at the moment) I just had to get this one out of my system.

What do you think?

Sorry, but this is NOT a copy and share doodle. But, if you'd like a signed colored copy, very reasonable priced, you can contact me through the e-mail address to the right.

P.S. For my kind readers that enjoy... um... reading... the rest of the bank teller story is that I went back today and told her that she had inspired me to draw a turtle (a.k.a. tortoise). She said, "Really, I use to do some drawing too." I told her that I would give her a copy of my drawing (which she had not seen yet) if she drew something for me.

"Alright, but I can't promise that it will be any good." I told her that I couldn't promise the same.

Then I went next door to the pharmacy, where I get all my copes made. I showed it off to the ladies there, and then I took the copy back to the bank and gave it, signed, to the teller. She seemed impressed. Then said something about the possibility of hers not looking so good. I said that I didn't care, but she owed me! The whole point is to try and get her back to doodling.

Now that I've got that one out of my system I can get back to the "ho, ho, oh."

Hovering Hogs

Here's a quick doodle I scratched down yesterday. You've heard the expression, "That will happen when pigs fly." Well, here's another attempt at illustrating it. (I discovered that there are several versions of it out there.)

A friend thought that the pig should be happy because he's flying—most of the illustrations I saw on the internet did have happy pigs. But my point was that a flying pig represents something, or an event, that would not likely happen. So... this pig is begrudgingly taking flight.

Copy & Share If You Dare when the sow has had lift off in your world.

I just e-mailed this doodle out to several friends. My message there said...

Hey! I just heard that the government is going to offer you a bailout too.

And that will happen when................... (doodle inserted)

Try it. It will make you feel all warm and toasty inside.
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I posted an earlier doodle of an animal taking flight here...

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In other news: The Old Testament collage project continues. (Check my previous post) The original is 11x14. In order to scan the illustration I have to put it on a photocopier and reduce it. The quality of the copy is not that great. There are streaks in this image that the copier creates—I don't know why.

I'll continue to post this pencil creation so that you can check it's progress. The goal is to auction off the piece to raise money for the youth group at the church I attend.

She Hearts NYC

Andi (second from the left) contacted me about creating a doodle to commemorate a trip she took to NYC with friends. If I understood correctly, some or all of the friends are from Europe.

When I looked at her blog I saw that there were a number of sights that they visited in the city while they were there. So, instead of simply recreating the provided photo, I suggested that I doodle a collage of various New Yorkie kind of sights placed behind them. This is the result.

In the process, Andi has become clued in on the addition of our little "friend" to each of the drawings. She asked for a "clue" and I provided her one. That was all it took, and suddenly Andi had a broad new world opened up to her.

She wrote me and said...

"My baby Arielle and I are spending the morning looking through archives and finding Eggy. Fun times with my kid.....since we are both fighting colds and not going to church today. Arielle is having fun. She wants to find them before I do. Sometimes...she does. Thanks for the fun game."

You're welcome Andi and Arielle. My artwork is almost as good as Mom's chicken soup when it comes to treating a cold.

Check out her blog and tell her what your best homemade remedy is for the not so common cold.

In other news: The youth pastor at our church is a fairly good doodler himself. The other day we decided to collaborate on a project together. We're taking turns drawing a collage of illustrations depicting various scenes from the Old Testament. The idea is to auction off the piece when we're finished to raise money for the church's youth group.

This is an 11x14 pencil sketch. I plan to post various copies to show our progress. If you're interested in making a bid you can e-mail me at my address provided in the right column.

Can you tell which parts I drew?

Even Us Wimps Can Be Strong

It is a reoccurring theme of the Bible that when we are weak, then we can be strong.

The challenge for me on this particular passage was to figure out how to illustrate God's power making a weakling strong. How would you do that?

Fire is often used to represent God's power and His presence. So, I decided to doodle a 90lb weakling surrounded by a body of fire on steroids. (Not that God would ever need to use steroids.)

I promise you that the truth of this verse has become real to me many times in my life.

Zechariah 4:6 “'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty."

Copy & Share If You Dare

Super Turkey

You'd better purchase your turkey early this year. With Super Turkey on the job, I understand that the traditional Thanksgiving bird is going to be a lot more difficult to find.

I'm not kidding here!!

Perhaps you should Copy & Share If You Dare the doodle to get the word out to the unsuspecting public out there. I'd hate to see their holidays ruined.

There are certain responsibilities that come with having important information like that.

So, get on it!

Check here for last year's Thanksgiving illustration.

Also: Laura, my peachy friend, told me about this photo she posted on her blog. It's a door in her home that is "decorated" with some of my doodles that she and her daughter colored. (Hi Martha!)

It just seems bizarre to me to see a photo of a door in Georgia that is covered with my artwork.

You can also see the doodle I did of the both of them for Christmas last year. I think that was the final Christmas doodle I did last year. What a relief to get that in the mail. More strangeness to see my art hanging there as well.

Nice coloring there ladies!

A Classic

There's an interesting story that goes with this one, but first I'll just say that this is Karen's husband Danny. They have three pets that apparently Danny is fond of. She also said that he liked to play pool. So, I suggested doing a new take on a classic theme: Dogs Playing Pool. Karen liked the idea and so I went for it.

After a quick internet search I came to realize that a number of artists have tackled this vital topic. Apparently people in general are quite fascinated with the idea of dogs playing pool, or poker, or any number of human type games.

I worked very hard to get this one just right. Believe it or not, one of the things I'm proud of is the texturing of the walls in the background. I was trying to set a "manly", "earthy" tone (does that make sense?). I kind of like how it turned out. I also like the look of the felt on the table. I think that it turned out well also.

There are a lot of little details in the illustration, including the appearance of you know who—who I hope to have hidden in a spot where he's not so easy to find for some of you world class egg hunters.

Now for those of you interested in reading more, here's the rest of the story...

Karen works at the pharmacy where I get my copies made of my doodles. Before I mail out every caricature I get a color copy made. I have become quite familiar with the ladies that work there and they always want to see what caricature I've done next.

I felt a little pressure to get this one done right. I wanted all the ladies to be pleased with my work. Since Karen is a local I was able to bring in the pencil sketch for her pre-approval. She liked what she saw. Having her face on the poster was my idea that I told her was at no extra charge.

I finished this last Sunday and I took it to the Pharmacy yesterday. Lo and behold, when I walked in the store who do you think I saw standing at the counter? Danny! What are the chances that I would show up, with his surprise gift, while he was there?

It turned out that it was Karen's day off, so I figured that Danny wasn't going to leave until she did. There was no chance of giving her the doodle then. BUT, I wasn't sure what the color of his eyes were. So, with the drawing tucked under a sack, I went over to look deeply into his eyes. Karen, I think, was afraid I wouldn't recognize him and quickly came out from behind the counter to introduce me. In other words: "This is my husband Rick, so don't blow it." But, I had been staring at the gentleman's face for quite some time. I would have recognized him anywhere.

I acted my part. But!... one of the other ladies saw me and figuring that I was there to just copy an illustration said, "What have you got there Rick?" Fortunately I had another unfinished illustration in my hand as well and showed that to them while Danny was standing there.

Today, I went back in to the pharmacy and showed the finished product to her. Now, this is the advantage of drawing for local people. Instead of getting the nice e-mail that I normally get as a response, Karen gave me a great big hug when she saw it. That out ranks a three exclamation marks any day. She LOVED it and began right away showing it off to all the other ladies.

Mission accomplished!!! What do you think?

Stay "tooned" folks. I'm heavy into the holiday illustrating. There will be many more doodles to come.

Family Practice - You Don't Send Me Flowers

It's been a while since I published one of my Family Practice cartoon strips. For those newer guests to my blog, this was an attempt a few years ago to get a strip into syndication. But that was not to be. In order to submit an idea to the cartoon syndicates you must show them at least a month's worth of concepts. I drew more than that, but now I'm running low of examples to post here.

Younger readers probably won't get the punch line. The line "You don't send me flowers" won't resonate with them. But you older bloggers...

If you want, you can see my earlier Family Practice posts by typing that into the search bar above.

Be sure to click on the image to get a larger view.

Christy In Living Color

Christy wanted a blog header that illustrated her life of living with a chronic illness and everything that comes with it. Unfortunately, her health issues are many. She wrote me and said, "I have Cystic Fibrosis, have had a double lung transplant, and am getting ready to have a kidney transplant. So, my life is all about medications, doctor's appointments, surgeries, and balancing that with trying to be a wife and mom to my daughter (13)."

Working off some ideas that she had, I suggested that I doodle an image of her taking a ballet-like leap, from a gray, unhealthy world, to a healthy, colorful one. Christy leapt at the idea.

This carica- ture went fairly easy for me. I had a lot of fun creating it, and I really like the way it turned out. Coloring the letters in a quilt pattern leapt into my mind out of nowhere.

When Christy saw it she said, "I absolutely love it!!!"
(I like getting responses that include three exclamation marks.)

She also said that she liked the quilt pattern because it gave her a lot of latitude when it came to choosing a color scheme for her blog.

I'm glad you liked the doodle Christy. My prayers are for you and with you. Thank you for choosing me to illustrate your choice for health. Hang in there girl!!!

(Note the three exclamation marks. That's a good thing.)

Why don't the rest of you take a flying leap over to Color Me Healthy and read the story about a wife and mother that is dealing with a life-long disease and choosing a healthy colorful world. Be sure tell Christy that you're praying for her.

Fighting Fire

The other day I had someone ask about the possi- bility of me creating a doodle for her husband who is a fire fighter. That reminded me of this caricature that I did a few years ago of a friend's son.

I'm a little reluctant to post this because I've never been too happy with how it turned out. I don't like the way I positioned the guys legs - they're too cramped up underneath him. I think I should have made the fire-bug smaller. That would have made the absurdity of the situation a bit more humorous. And now, I could do a much better job on the face. I've had a bit more experience with this drawing thing since then.

The Christmas requests are flowing in. I think I'll be doodling from here until December late. That's the way it was last year. Ho, Ho, Oh!!!

Also: This is a photo of my friend John and I. His mother took it during the church's Harvest Party last Friday. It's a classic. I just had to share it with you.

Some people at the party didn't recognize me in my full Harley get-up. One dear saint told me she was backing away from me until she figured out who I was.

We're a couple of tough looking characters. So, watch out! We be baaaaaad!!

It's Your Duty

I'm not too proud of this doodle. I threw it together rather quickly. I was ready to post another caricature that I did last week, but decided to delay that a bit. Then I realized that I should post something to commemorate the national elections on Tuesday.

This piece speaks to the idea that I think we've all been chewed up by the abundance of "info-mercialization" of it all. I'm sure that we will all breath a sigh of relief when it's all over - no matter who wins.

It's been years since I've voted in the classic voting booth with the pull curtain and everything. In Oregon we get our ballots in the mail and get to mail them back in, or place in a drop box. The wife and I have already voted. So, you can't call us one of the undecided. We've done been decided for several days nows.

Happy voting! Copy & Share If You Dare. Click on the image for the larger size.

Pumpkin Pickup Line

I wanted to get this out a day early, just in case you might like to use it where you hang out on the net. So... this is yet another "Copy & Share If You Dare" doodle. All I ask is that you give me a pumpkin-heads up if you are using it. I just like to know about these things. They're like children to me.

I colored this one in Photoshop. Do you like how I did the letters? I'm slowly learning!

I'll be at our church, helping out with the carnival, like I have for the past five years. The forecast is rain, and that means more people because parents will be looking for a dry place to take their kids.

So, have a safe and happy Hallowed Eve!

Also: Cathie posted this photo of the doodle I did of her husband, Jason, on her blog. It proudly hangs above his Lord of the Rings collection. I always enjoy seeing photos like these. I'm guessing that he really liked it because it hangs in what is apparently a very hallowed spot in their home. Seriously, I'm amazed that anyone would hang on of my doodles on one of their walls. I don't even hang any of them on MY walls. I guess that's strange isn't it?

Thanks for sharing Cathie. Is your husband dressing up like Gandalf the Gray, or Gandalf the White for Halloween this year? (I say go with Gray—much easier to clean up after.)

Pilot Program

Partner (not her real name) con- tacted me about doodling some art that she could use on her blog: Partner With a Pilot.

Partner's (remember, not her real name) anonymity was important and so she wasn't interested in a caricature. What she wanted was a cartoon which represented the life of someone in an relationship with a airline pilot. Apparently, there is a lot of down time in an accord like that.

As I have said in the past, drawings which involve machines of any kind are a challenge for me. Planes and such can be particularly difficult because it is easy to end up with something that looks like it is flying in two different directions. Plus, finding a photo to reference for the right angles and perspective on a jet like the one Partner (N.H.R.N.) described was not to be found. So, after doodling, and un-doodling, and then re-doodling, this is what I came up with.

Partner (remember...) liked it. That made me happy. She request a drawing which had a lot of orange in it to go along with the color scheme of her blog. That was easy to do. There were plenty of sunset pics on the web.

For this illustration I am very proud of the way the jet turned out, but I also find the work I did on the light reflecting off the water appealing. Don't ask me why. I just like it.

Thanks Partner (Remember, that's not your real name) for choosing me to express the dynamics of a relationship that one has while in partnership with a pilot. Does he bring home some of those little bags of airline pretzels for you to enjoy? You know, kind of as a way of saying, "I'm sorry that I was gone so long"?

Ya'll go ahead and check out her blog, and tell her what your real name really isn't.

In other news: Some of you were harassing me over the fact that I said I was only able to come up with one quirky thing about myself. Ginger is ready to write a "tell all" book about me. (I'm still praying for you Ginger.)

So, OK!!! already!! I thought of something else... I am in the habit of folding my ears when they get cold. Yes, I've done it most of my life. I do it because I like cold things - like cold hands. I love to squeeze a cold hand. So, long ago, I developed a way to fold over my ears because I like the way it feels when they get cold and I squeeze them tight.

THERE!!! Are you happy? Boy, am I ever going to regret clicking on "Publish Post" when this one is over.

"click"

Oh no! Did I really just publish that?

Halloween Humor

Here's a bit of Halloween humor that you might find useful. This one actually got published in our local town paper. I've got a few other doodles I could be posting, but just in case you wanted to "Copy & Share If You Dare" I wanted to be sure to get this to you before the big scare comes upon us.

In other news: Anna did one of those "Meme" challenges to me me on her her blog. I'm I'm never very good at these these things, but I I want to try to comply with the etiquette of the blogging world and respond. Besides that, Anna Anna became one of my my "Followers" not long ago, and I I find her her sense of humor interesting. She's she's the one sporting the mustache over to the right—an unusual profile pic, which prompted me me to scope out her her blog while doing a bit of surfing one day day.

(You you had enough of that that?)

The challenge is to either...

1. "List 7 weird or quirky things about me," or

2. "Post the 5th photo from my 5th album for the whole dang world to see."

The photo in question would be this one. It's not a particularly humorous pic. I think I might actually have posted it before. This is a view about 45 minutes up the coast from where I live—the base of Humbug Mt. It sits right on the Oregon coast. Very beautiful. Come and see it.

So, instead, maybe I can come up with seven things about me that you would find "humorous or quirky."

This is hard since I am such a vanilla kind of guy.

1. I still have in my possesion a stack of Spider-man comic books that I purchased way back when I was a nerdy teen. Nothing there that will make me rich, but someday I will transform it into part of a purchase for a new Harley.

2...
Two...
II...
Duo...
Dos...

Good grief! I can't think of anything. Oh well, I'm just too ordinary to play this game.

(Being a good blogger can be such a challenge sometimes.)

Maybe I'll have to get back to you on the other six. But, I recommend that you check out Anna's list on this post. Especially number four—very strange strange.

Baby Sitter

This is just another nonsense doodle. I don't know if you can find a place to use this one, but you're welcome to try - Copy & Share If You Dare. Erase the label and put another caption on it if you want. I don't care.

I've done a bit of baby sitting in my day. I had one family with four children that use to run me crazy. I made the mistake of introducing them to playing "monster." I was the monster and they'd run to the safety of the "base," or rather, the family room couch. Over and over again they wanted to play that game. To give myself a break, I always wanted to play a game you could call, "See if you can untie this knot." Alas, they usually could.

Poor children, who knows what nightmares they suffered after I left. But they kept on wanting me to come back, so I guess they weren't too traumatized.

Paying It Backwards

Have you seen this woman?

The authorities are interested in discovering the whereabouts of one, generous, Oklahoma suspect named Helen - a.k.a. "The Reddirt Woman!!!"

She is described as being a woman - a woman that is dirty, and the dirt she carries on her person has been described as being red.

She's been known to frequent vegetables gardens - more specifically: tomato vines and okra patches. Other know hang outs are any, and all O.U. Sooners souvenir shops.

Please watch out for this woman, and approached with extreme caution. This suspect has been known to carry farm utensils. She is well trained and can use them with deadly accuracy.

Other aliases include: Magenta Mud Matron, Fuchsia Filth Female, and Scarlet Soil Siren.

If you do happen to make contact with her, please don't tell her that her surprise gift mugshot has been posted on this blog, as she is probably not aware of it's display.

Also, certain unnamed sources have discovered this additional image of her buried deep within her own blog.

(Her Schnauzer are the subject to an ongoing investigation as well.)

Your help is needed in apprehending this woman. Comments may be made regarding this suspect's other possible aliases and/or hangouts.

But please!!!, use extreme caution when approaching this individual. Otherwise you might find produce placed in your mailbox.

Thank you. That is all.

A Very Crafty Tonya

You remember Tonya don't you? I certainly do. She is one of my repeat customers. First, I drew a caricature for her personal blog. That was a busy drawing.

And THEN... for her Mum's 60th B-day I doodled her and a whole slew (bunch of) relations. Another very busy drawing.

And THEN!... Tonya came back with yet another request for an illustration for the header of her crafting blog - Currently Crafting.

This was my first attempt, but there were a few things Tonya asked if I could change. One of which was the length of her hair. Fortunately I colored her shirt black and so I was able to give her the hair cut she requested.

Here is the new, shorter-haired Tonya who can currently found crafting at her blog, and a few other places around the internet.

At first I was going to illustrate her with a table full of crafting objects behind her, but I wasn't really happy with that idea. Then I came up with the idea of the "floating" crafting tools around the scarf. I thought it was a better concept for a blog header. Tonya said she liked it, and I believe her.

I think Tonya has set a personal record for me. I have characterized her face more than anybody else, except maybe myself, which I have doodled a number of times, but have rarely published. Every time I draw myself I think I end up looking too old. And you know us guys. We're kind of funny that way.

Drop in on Tonya's blogs. Make sure you use the proper accient when reading her stuff, because, while she lives in the U.S. of A., she'll originally from Australia. Don't they grow them young looking down there?

Thanks Tonya - you're a friend.

Blessings

I have many blessing in life. My wife. My children. My home. My halfway decent looks... to name just a few.

The friendships that I have made through this blog are some other blessings I am enjoying.

I love to draw. I consider my gifts in that area (such as they are) a blessing from God as well. I enjoy sharing that with you, and if you receive a blessing out of it, then I am blessed too.

It's another Copy & Share If You Dare doodle. Just bless me by dropping a note to tell me you're doin' it.

What more can I says, except... God bless you.

(Who sneezed?)

Justin - The Triple Threat

Justin knows piano. He knows guitar. And the big Justin knows accordion!! That's what I call being a big time triple threat!

Anyway, sometime back Justin introduced himself to me by visiting my blog. Smoozing me just a bit, Justin was very complementary of my art. Then he inquired about the possibility of me doing a caricature of him. We talked turkey, just a bit, and came to terms.

For his illustration Justin wanted me to be sure and include a grand pianie, the gee-tar, and his accordion (apparently named Erica - and why not?).

AND!!! Justin wanted me to illustrate him wearing a rainbow colored bow tie. Reportedly, his father is accustom to sporting bow ties. (No report on whether or not he owns a rainbow colored one.) So, I did just that.

(Apologies - I've just learned that Justin's dad does NOT wear bow ties. I'm sorry to have shared false information. I refer you to the comment made by Justin's mom, Deborah, in the comment section of this blog for the full and correct information on that front. But I promise you no ties of any kind were hurt in the creation of this post. Thank you.)

Putting his name at the top of the doodle was my idea. It only seemed right for the illustration.

Thanks Justin for trusting me to bring to your vision to reality. I'm proud to have it as the header of your blog. Thank you too for all your kind comments on mine. What else can I say, but you're cool!!!

The rest of you go check the big Ad-Just-er out! He's from Canada no less!

Christmas Is Coming

Here I go again, being a little cynical when it comes to my artistic expression regarding Christmas. But, the other day I was wondering what Santa's reaction would be if Christmas snuck up on him like it has the rest of us. I think maybe he has the same reaction we do.

Maybe I'm a little early with this doodle, but then maybe not. I've been seeing the Christmas displays in stores for a couple of weeks now. Plus I wanted to get this posted early enough for you to Copy & Share If You Dare on your own blog - that is, if you wanted to.

Someone said that I should have put "November" on the calendar, but I think "oh crap" begins now for Old St. Nick, and for me when I saw the displays out already.

("Oh Crap" is about as potty mouth as I generally get - especially with the prospects of my dear mother reading this post. Hi Mom! Love ya!!)

I doodled this out a number of weeks ago, and have been hanging on to it for a while - waiting for the right time to post it. I'm still not as educated on the Photoshop program as I should be. All the black lines on this doodle is my pen work. Then I colored it in on my computer. For those of you who know what I'm talking about... I still don't quite know how to work with layers. To color this one I just went in an filled all the little spots on his suit with red - instead of just coloring in a background. If you zoom in on the piece you see that there are HUNDREDS of little places that I had to zoom in and fill in. In fact, some are not all done, but I think it made the illustration look more interesting with just a few white specks showing through.

Well, a very early, very merry Christmas to you all. If you decide to use this doodle - you know the rules - drop me a note so that I came come and check things out.

Fish Ain't Bite'n

We're stilling cleaning up after the wedding. It just goes on, and on, and on...

This is another doodle I did for my friend, Teri, that works at the Pharmacy where I get my copies made.

I posted one earlier that I drew of her brother. This is her son. There was some kind of story about a pumpkin sprouting up in an old boat of his - thus the pumpkin in his mighty vessel.

I get a lot of opportunities to do fishing drawings where I live (here, and here for examples.) It's Salmon season and the port is full of boaters looking for a bite.

So You Wanted Pictures?

The rehearsal Friday evening.

The decorations for the reception.

My wife, other family members, and friends spent hours getting this room together. The whole church was very impressed with what we had accomplished in that room.

The cake

Wedding Wall

I painted this wall myself as a backdrop for the reception dinner - and to cover up a bunch of doors and stuff behind. I spent a lot of time putting it all together. I was kind of proud of the way it turned out.

The decorations in the sanctuary.

We had a metal pail with hydrangeas decoration theme going - thus all the hydrangeas drying out in our laundry room all summer. This was something that my daughter (the bride) dreamed up, and my wife, mother-in-law, youngest daughter, and a friend spent a long time putting together. I think that they were proud of the way things turned out.

A close up of the pew decorations

The video screen slide that my youngest daughter put together for display during the wedding ceremony.

I am proud of her computer artistic abilities. She's passed me up, and now I'm asking her questions about how to get stuff done. (Lot's of pride in these photos.)

Banner #1

Banner #2

My middle daughter's boyfriend put together these banners to cover up some bulletin boards in the church foyer. The photo of the hydrangeas was taken by my middle daughter this summer on our front porch in anticipation of getting these banners made. This was something she wanted to do for the big event.

The wedding party.

The flower girl - Alison.

Isn't she cute!?! My daughter had a close friend from college that died in a car accident named Alison. This Alison carried a Gurber Daisie, the favorite flower of the friend, in the wedding. The parents of Alison (the friend), came all the way from Michigan to attend the wedding.

The family - with the new SIL

The ladies bustling the dress before the reception - quite a task.

At the head table at the reception.

Cutting the cake.

Eating the cake.

Tossing the bridal bouquet.

Guess who caught it! My youngest daughter! I understand that her boyfriend ran and hid when he saw her catch it. He'd better! I'm not ready to even think about my youngest getting married.

First dance as husband and wife.

Dance with my daughter - the new Mrs. Warren.

A quick exit surrounded with the sparklers we bought back at the 4th of July. (The wife thinking ahead)

The Warrens

There you go! You wanted photos? Now you have them. But, seriously, thank you all for your kinds words, thoughts, and prayers for the big day. It all came together well, and I was very proud of my family and church friends, the way they all pitched in. You wouldn't believe the crew of people that stayed around to help tear down and clean up after the wedding. I was amazed.

Now life gets back to "normal" (whatever that is) for a while. I've been trying to get some doodling in all along. You should be seeing more very soon.

This is posted with love to my blogging family out there on the internet. Get away from the computer screen and go hug someone.

Now! put the butter on the bread, because this boy is toast!