Mall Santa

Most likely tomorrow will be the last day we witness the kiddies sitting on the knee of our local mall Santa. I had this idea in my head a couple of years ago where a kid sitting on Santa's knee is reading out his long list of things he wants for Christmas while Mr. Claus temporarily allows himself to wander of in thought dreaming of being anywhere else then sitting in a mall listening to hundreds of kids reading out their Christmas wish list. This is the sketch of what that idea would look like.

Caricatures of the Beaver's Midget A Coaching Staff

I was asked the other week if I would be interested in doing caricatures of the coaches off my son Jody's hockey team by someone I've known for many years through hockey. She was in a bind and was hoping I would consider the request. I responded to Kathy with, "I'll have a look. Let's talk". This was before she told me she needed it by December 6th. The conversation started on November 24th.

Kathy is one of the most dedicated volunteers, off the ice, on the hockey front I know today. A wonderful person who has given countless hours of her time back to the sport so that many can have the great experiences and memories of their time in hockey.

Thanks for the gig, Kathy.

Rework from a Tony Diterlizzi Original

I have posted a few of my sketches recently of a Tony Diterlizzi original, and here is another that I thought I would share.

Cheech and Chong

Last week, I was again trying to figure out what my subject would be for my morning sketch session. Here is a condensed version of my thought process; What should I draw? I know, this month is Movember, I'll draw a dude with a huge moustache. Hey, Cheech has a big moustache. I'll draw Cheech, and while I'm at it, I might as well draw Chong too.

Rock Star

Not knowing what to sketch the other day, I decided to pull out a Guitar Magazine I had laying about, and while thumbing through the mag, I came upon a photo of Edward Van Halen, and decided his pic would be my subject for the session. Even though this sketch was taken from a picture of Eddie, it could be of any rock star.

Happy Halloween!

Hopefully everyone had a terrific Halloween this year. I know I did. I was able to stay home for the first time in years and watch the kiddies come to the door and yell as load as they can asking for Halloween treats please. In between the kids coming to the door, I was also able to work on a marker rendering from a sketch I did earlier in the week. Here is the finished rendered piece along with the sketch.

Craving Fried Chicken

Where I live there is a KFC about a block away and on occasion when the wind is blowing just right, we all receive that familiar scent which from time to time has been know to create a craving that will not go away unless my family and I give in by purchasing a bucket of the Colonials Fried Chicken and devouring it like a pack of Lions eating a Wilder Beast.

3 Sketches Reworked from Tony Diterlizzi Originals

Occasionally I will take drawings or illustrations from artists I admire and sketch their work for practice. Tony Diterlizzi is one artist that I use as practice quite often. I believe that copying other illustrator's pieces can help strengthen ones own style of drawing. I find that I can practice refining my own work without having to be weighed down mentally by thinking of an original idea. Even though these sketches are copied, my style can still be seen coming through, as subtle as that may be.

October's two great events!

When October arrives it always gets me pumped for two things I look forward to each year; Halloween and hockey. This logo was original created and used for a yearly get-together at my home which included lots of food and drink, plus a form of hockey that was played using your hands on a kitchen table.

Introducing "Toque"

This character may remind some people of another character created by the infamous Vaughn Bode, and I would be lying if I said I was not influenced by him. Unlike Bode's famous character, I am still tossed on whether I want to include arms or not. You can see in the one sketch that I did not include his arms but in the other he is clearly holding what is intended to be a bottle of beer by his upper appendage.

September 22 Sketch Dump

Doug Murray: January 16, 1967 - September 3, 2013

September 3rd 2013 was the day I learned that my longest and dearest friend, Douglas Murray passed away. Over the last week, I've written about my friend I've known all my life, but words were not enough, so here is a sketch I've done in honour of him. He loved many things, but his passion was his hockey. Doug was able to enjoy 15 professionally played years in Germany. He will be forever missed.

Two Cats

A Moose in Cargo Shorts

He's Canadian, Eh!

Guitar Man

Women strikes a pose while sitting on the floor

Digital Watercolour Technique of Beauty in a Black Dress

Commissioned Caricature

Every once in awhile I am asked to do a caricature of a retiree or birthday. This latest one happened to be a birthday gift to a son from a mother that works for the same employer as I do. She said he enjoys kayaking and would like to see him in a kayak. Her only other request was to have a emblem, or crest representing fire placed on his clothing.

Quick Sketch of a Lady Wearing a Top Hat

Beauty in a Black Dress

Ladies: one on the street and two out of this world

DEVO's Alan Myers Passes Away

I learned this past week that Alan Myers, DEVO's drummer had died. The news report he had succumb to brain cancer on June 24th.

The first time I heard DEVO was when I saw the animated movie "Heavy Metal" way back in 1981. They contributed their cover tune of "Working in a Coal Mine" to the Taarna segment. The second tune I remember was played frequently in gymnasiums in the early eighties called "Whip It". My first cassette tape that I bought of theirs was "Oh No It's DEVO". I played that tape until it wore out. Their techno pop sound which included synthesized sounds and silly lyrics had me hooked.

Rest in Peace Alan Myers.

Sketch of Dodge Challenger and Special Guest Artist

Here is a quick one from last week of a Dodge Challenger. I believe this marks the first time that I've posted a sketch of a vehicle.

This Blog has been dedicated over the last year to posting my sketches. I've yet to show a sketch or drawing from another person, until now that is. I have 3 sons, and by my account, they all can draw pretty good. My youngest son is 11 years old, and out of the 3, he likely is the one who draws the most these days . Here is one of his drawings from the other day that I thought I would share.

First full day of Summer!

The Munsters Family Portrait

When I was a kid, I can remember coming home after school to watch old sitcom re-runs on TV such as The Flintstones, Gilligan's Island, The Addams Family and one of my favourites, The Munsters.

There have likely been many debates as to which was the better ghoulish family, the Addams or the Munsters. To me, there was never a comparison, it was the Munsters. How can you go wrong with the classics. The show had Frankenstein's monster, the were-wolf, even though he was just a child, Frankenstein's bride, and of course Dracula.

Two from the Fort and a nod to Maurice Sendak

Well I haven't written about any of my sketches in the last little while, and figured I should or I may become more rusty at it then I already am.

I came across some of my old photos I took while visiting Old Fort William over 20 years ago, and decided to use them as subjects for a couple of my sketch sessions this past week. The sketch of the couple were likely labourers of the fort (engagés). She likely baked breads in the ovens while he may have been the fort's farmer or one of the fort's craftsmen. His attire would not suggest that he was one of the Fort's partners or gentlemen (bourgeois) of the company.

The male aiming his rifle is a voyageur stationed at the camp. He would have been  called upon to help protect the NorthWest Company's assets whenever the fort came under threat.

Finally a nod to Maurice Sendak who died just over a year ago.  This is a quick sketch of one of the Wild Things from his book "Where the Wild Things Are". Mr. Sendak would have been 85 today.

Random sketches for week ending June 1st 2013

Whiskey Jack

Lion

The Duke

One year of posting!

It was Sunday May 13th 2012 that I posted my first Blog. Wow, where does the time go?

Two sketches from this past week

My rendition of Peter De Seve's Illustration from Candide

My work in progress and rendition of one of Peter De Seve's illustrations from Candide.

My Biggest Sketch Dump Yet

 I don't like missing my regular post date. If any of you are frequent viewers to my site, you will have noticed that I prefer to update my blog ever Sunday. Well there have been a few weeks over the last year where I have missed the Sunday post, and last week was one more to add to the list. Again, I would like to say, it has only happened on rare occasions. Nevertheless I still don't like it. To make up for my tardiness, I figured I would post several sketches I've done over the last little while. The sketches below comprise some original ideas as well as reworks of a few artists I admire such as Rod Guen, Art Frahm,  and Heinrich Kley.

Another thing I should point out. You may have noticed that a lot of the sketches have grey corners, or sides. This is due to the fact that I am scanning the drawings from a sketch book on a flatbed scanner where the paper doesn't always lay flat for me. The drawings are in it's most raw form. The only thing I may do is bump up the contrast ever so slightly. 

Oh one last thing. I am fortunate enough that I have been getting several hits here daily, but I can never tell if they are one time views or not. If you find you have a couple of minutes and it's not to much to ask, I would like to hear from some regular viewers. Until Sunday, take care out there.