recent doodles

do you ever finish a sketch and get a likeness to someone you know even if you didn't intend to draw that person? This happened to me the other day. The sketch on the upper left reminded me of someone, but I couldn't figure out who. I finally figured it out. He's my high school art teacher. I attended West Torrance High way back in the 80's. I can't remember the guys name, so if anyone stops by my blog from my former life in Torrance. Leave me a comment and tell my my old teachers name. I really learned a lot from him, and obviously he left an impression, 'cuz here he is all these years later in cartoon form.

my color, Rodney's drawing

My Color

Rodney's Sketch

My new friend Rodney Bills sketched out a little doodle of a very exotic tahitian girl the other day while dreaming about his upcomming vacation to Tahiti. He showed it to me and mumbled something about how maybe he should color it...I said you should, that would be fun. Well, then he said, why don't you color it. So I did. I had to edit the original drawing a little in order to post it. I sure don't mind the female form, but I didn't want to offend any of my nephews or neices who occationally look at my blog. I added a skimpy swimsuit top and a lei to cover her up a bit more.

Anyway it was fun to paint someone else's work...ended up looking a lot like mine...I'm not sure Rodney was too happy with that, but it was a fun, leaning experience.

Illustration Friday: Fast

Here is a quick little doodle for illustration Friday...I must remind you that "fast" is all relative.

A vw bug may not seem fast to some, but to this old lady it's grease lightning...compared to the horse drawn buggy of her youth.

On a side note, the fact that I drew this bug without any reference should prove to the world that I've spent WAY to much time working on and dreaming about old vws....it's one of my many personality quirks.

Illustration Friday: Frozen

My son plays soccer. As parents, Nancy and I have spent a lot of time on the sidelines watching and supporting. Being in Utah, we have watched a few games in the COLD. Last night we lucked out. Our son played in the quarter finials of the State Cup...the game started at five o'clock and the temp outside was perfect...but as soon as the game started the temp started dropping. I bet it dropped 20-30 degrees before the game ended. We headed home before the rain fell....our team lost :-(

Anyway, this is a quick sketch as I thought about freezing on the sideline...nothing worse than watching your team lose sitting on the sidelines when the rain and snow is flyin.

finially some color

here is another little spot that I did for the Friend magazine. finially some color! this one is should be in the January issue.

Sorry no color...just more of the same.

I'd like to post more, but all I have is little sketches....so that'll have to do for now.

Nothin much, just some doodles

Just some more doodles from the pile...more an excuse to post something than anything else.

a drawing...what?

here is a little doodle done today...going to try to get this looking like a illustration blog again.

annual Uintah trip

this is me...looking kind of funning with Duane's hat...I brought a much more stylish one but it was wet right then. See the illustation below to see how much better my hat looked.

here is my little brother, still full of energy...look at that background...this is the best picture I took on this trip.

here is a nice group of little brookies that we caught...these became fish tacos...the best I've ever had!

these are my two brothers...not sure why they both still have their hair??

this is our camp on the first day...

Every year my brothers and I go on a backpacking/fishing/camping trip to the Uintahs. I've posted about this trip in the past. I wasn't able to go last year because things were busy at Disney and I couldn't take the time off. This year I didn't have that problem....so, I got to go. My little brother Duane flew in from NC and we all headed up for labor day weekend. I think we all had a good time...except for being way too tired from all the hiking....man it'd be nice to be young and in shape again.....here is a little doodle I did in anticipation of the trip...and some actual photos.

freelance work

Here are some illustrations I just finished for the Friend magazine. I had a lot of fun doing this cartoony look...and hope I'll get to do more.

just some sketches

Here are a few little doodles done recently. I know you'd like to continue to see the bug and bus in the last post, but they have been up long enough...time to move on! enjoy.

Wasatch Classic 11

Time once again for the local VW show. This is an anual event and a lot of fun for us VW nuts. I thought I was going to be able to take two vws this year, but due to my unemployment, the second resoration has been slow going latley. I pulled both my cars out onto the driveway this morning and promised my ugly car that she could go next year after a little more work. She is finially running and drivable now, just needs some body work (after all the welding I've been doing on her), new paint and an interior. Almost there.

I put my new roof rack on my bug...and added a surfboard just to remind me of the old glory years and headed to the show....very fun day again.

Little Spot Illustration

I thought I'd post a little freelance job I did yesterday. This will only print about 2x3 inches, so it's pretty small, but it was fun to paint up. The article was about dealing with upset clients/customers. The article was kind of funny, it gave all this good advice and then at the end, it suggested that if everything else fails, politly inform the costomer that they've signed paperwork, and everything can be worked out in small claims court...that usually does the trick.

Back at it....

here are a few more conceptual pieces done recently...gotta post something! hope ya like em.

"I'm a winner!"

the first sketch is Jeff's ....then the colored pig is what I did

Been a while since I've been able to say that!

I entered a little contest over at http://www.cartoonsinc.blogspot.com/ I've been having a little trouble getting off my lazy butt and getting things done lately, so I almost didn't enter. Then Saturday morning I woke up and thought, ya know, I've got some time this morning, I'm going to paint up that little sketch. Now I'm glad I did. Thanks for helping me get going again.

If you want something to paint...cuz you're having trouble being motivated enough to get going on your own, then maybe this is your answer...Jeff is going to be having more of these weekly contests, so go check it out and give it a try! Maybe you'll be a winner too!?

Illustration Friday: Contagious

We just had our first confermed death last week here in Utah. (from the swine flu) A 20 something year old male in good health. Crazy times we live in...several schools have also closed here for a week or two. These days your only school supplies should be a mask and hand sanitizer! Anyway, this is what I was thinking when I sketched up this little doodle.

I didn't have time to do much for this topic, but I got an hour this afternoon so I sketched out something. This is a real fast one, and I know it shows, because of that, I also made a conceptual piece as well. So ya get two for the "price" of one!

Illustration Friday: Parade

I've been trying to put a little more effort into my stuff that I show...even on my blog....but this week I reverted back to my old ways...simple and quick.

I marched in a few parades when I was a freshman in high school, I remember one time when my shoe didn't fit right...it was horrible. So I guess that's where this image originated...I thought the weird gesture would be fun to try...but I got board with it and just pumped it out so I could have something to post for IF... and keep my little streak going. enjoy.

Illustration Friday: Hierarchy

When I saw this weeks topic, I thought it would be a lot of fun to draw a bunch of different "high school-type" characters. My plan was to do about 10, but I soon realized it would take too long to paint all those. So I cut it down to something manageable... I posted the results

there is nothing like the hierarchy in which we place ourselves and others. It starts in grade school and never really ends. So many different factors...some are heredity, others are monetary, but the list is almost endless. Color of skin, color of hair, how ya talk, where you live, what cloths you wear, how much money your dad makes, who your friends are, then there is always the way you look, how smart you are, how often you choose to bath, and lets not forget how naturally coordinated you are...and there is much much more.

I guess we all need to remember that all men are created equal...not the same, just equal!

Distractions

Here is a picture of a pinewood derby car my son and I made last week. All artwork and nothing else makes me happy, but then who would have won the race? This post is to show my little brother that I can make things out of wood too. We did take first place. This picture was taken after some cousins got to it and stripped off the weights and the paint underneath...oh well I put them back on...minus one that went missing.

Illustration Friday: Theater

When I first saw this topic, my mind went back to the first musical I ever saw. Oklahoma. My high school performed it when I was in the 9th grade. It was amazing, I couldn't believe people so young could sing so well. I have to admit I've liked "most" musicals ever since.

So, I sketched out a quick doodle and painted it up. I like painting these little IF pieces, something fun to distract me from my concept paintings I've been doing. I sure wish I could get paid for painting in this style... I don't know the childrens market at all...at least not yet. If you are an art director or a children's illustrator and you have some good ideas where I might market this style, I'd love to hear from you! I'm currently trying to put together a mailing list and could use any tips you might have. thanks.

Illustration Friday: Impossibility

Here is an illustration I sketched out and started painting last friday...then finished up today. I was really excited about how it was going, but I'm not sure if I like it that much now that it's finished. It was fun to paint. I have to credit Sam Nielson because I "used" a sky he did a while back...I really liked it so I tried to do something similar here. You can see his great work here

Is it possibile to be objective about your own work? Lately I'm starting to think it's an impossibility. Let me know what you think.

Illustration Friday: Fleeting

I needed a change of pace after all this concept stuff I've been doing lately. I turned to illustration friday for a topic....Fleeting. The first thing that came to mind was my bank account, but then I realized there is nothing more fleeting for me than a personal goal to excersize. Sometimes my goal doesn't even last one day! Now that's fleeting!

Look what I found!

I knew I still had this somewhere...just couldn't find it. This is what the Koreans call a ToeJang. It is kind of a personal stamp they use like a signature. I had this one made for me while I lived in Korea...it has my korean name Han Dae Sun...which kind of sounds like Henderson when ya say it fast. Who knows, it may start showing up on some blog posts as a kind of signature/watermark or something....we'll see.

More Conceptual Stuff

this could be just about any of the countless companies getting government money these days
this is my take on the economy....I'm the guy riding the arrow on the left
rebuilding the 401(k)...isn't it on everyone's mind?
this one hits a little too close to home for me...I hope all of you employed folks appreciate what you've got.
...and of course another take on time is money....

I know this might not be what you expect when ya come by to see my stuff, but this is about all I've been doing lately.  I just sent off another 20 of these concept pieces.  These are a few of the ones I finished last week. enjoy?....

finially some progress.

well, it took a while, but I finially have some progress to report.

Firstly, and probably most important, I finailly got my first freelance job...well, first in the last couple of months since I've become a full-time freelancer.

Secondly, I've got a little website up and going...www.laelhenderson.com...so I can show work to people out there.

And Lastly, I've got a massive emailer ready to go out in a couple of days. I've deceided to market both styles and see if I get any work from either...I'm sure one style or the other will eventually take over, but for now, I'm going to be marketing both. Wish me luck

Didn't I say I wasn't going to post more of this stuff? Well, I guess I lied. I feel like I've found a groove with these little concept pieces, so I keep pumping them out...not sure when I'll move on, but I'm almost at 50 now, so maybe I'll give this look a rest pretty soon. This is one I did today and I kind of like the "patterny" look that it has. I could title this "an artist in the sea of programers". I thought about makin the artist dark...then I could have called it Mel in Utah!

Time for a facelift!

I've been thinking a lot this week about the direction I want to go with illustration. I'm in the process of making a website and at the moment it is all over the place style-wise. I'm continueing to crank out the little business guy concept pieces, but that is not my focus, so I probably won't post those anymore. I hope that from now on, I'll post things that will fit together stylistically and hopefully improve my portfolio in a new "fun" direction.

For now, here is an older piece that I hope I can load into a blog header...not too good with that kind of thing...we'll see.

they keep commin

I've painted about 40 of these little "stock concept pieces" this month. That is about double my goal, so I'm pretty happy about that. I hope among other things I can paint about 40 more this month. This week was a little less productive because I spent 2 days skiing. Hard to pass up free midweek skiing at Park City. Here is what I did this last week, I know these aren't too exciting to look at, but hey, it is what it is!

More of the same....'cept different.

Here are a few of what I finished this week...getting faster, now I just need to get better too.

Productive Weekend!

I had a fairly productive weekend, so to treat myself, I played around in painter a bit. This is still a work in progress, because it has a long ways to go. There are some things that are still very ugly...but that said, there are also things I'm liking about it, and hope it'll finish up well. enjoy.

What? More?....

I know what some of you must be thinking, "Lael, what are you doing this crapp for?" "These look like you paint them with your foot!" Well, all I can say is, I know...it's true, BUT...even though I'd rather not paint in this style, I don't mind it. For me this is a known comodity...I know this stuff will sell. Believe it or not. My goal is to get "my collection" to about double the size of what it is now. That is a lot of painting, but it can easily be done it time. Since my studio phone isn't ringing off the hook, I'll market myself with my painter stuff and in the down time...paint as many of these little suckers as I can! Here is what I've finished this week...better results and much faster....this is good!

What the...?

this is probably the last thing you expected to see when you came to visit my blog, but for those who don't know, I used to be a "conceptual illustrator" This is actually what I did before I got into games. This week I decieded to see if I could still paint in that old style...not so much. These actually look better in person than they do scanned, but it's plain to see I need to work a few issues out.

Anyway, this is how far I got this week...and I'm just hoping Mel is right when he says, "it's all about the numbers"...you'll have to ask him to explain his theory.

If ya like this style at all...you can see more that I did way back in the day by clicking here

I'm a full-time freelancer once agian

my illustration has been deleted by me...
It was brought to my attention that it could be taken the wrong way.
It was meant to be funny and get out some of the emotion and frustration that came with loosing a dream job. So if anyone got upset seeing Mickey portrayed in that way, please except my apologies.
Again, meant to be funny not offensive. Thanks for opening my eyes to the posiblilty that not everyone would think it a great illustration.

That's right, Mikey gave me the ol "corporate axe" yesterday, so as of today...I'm going to start freelancing full time. This illustration is a little dark for me...but yesterday's experience wasn't so fun. Anyway, I've got time on my hands....should be more frequent posts!! One art director already promised a job is on it's way, so a little progress.

another bug project??

I'm not sure why I started this...I really don't have the time. But I ran across this poor old bug a while back and it was only $450, so I thought I'd bring it back to life. It is a '62, and bugs that have been around that long in Utah are usually fairly rusty. This one is no exception. I've never welded before, so the first step was to buy a welder. I found a very nice used welder, and have now started it...learning as I go.

here is a shot of the poor little beast

and here is some of the rust...

this finial shot is some of the progress...still a lot of grinding left, but with a little body work this section is solid, and should look ok when I'm done!!

now hopefully you can understand why I haven't posted much art lately...been doin' "garage stuff"

A LITTLE FUN

I've been looking at a few of the blogs that I follow and it seems no one is posting anything anymore...it's been a long while for me too! I'm wondering why this is?? Is everyone just really busy? Or...maybe it's all this gloom and doom on the news that's got us all in a funk. Who knows...but one thing I'm sure of is it doesn't help surfing around for inspiration and fun, nice things to look at and finding nothing. So, in an effort to put a smile on someones face, I dug around in the pile of doodles on my desk and found a few silly little things that seem to fit together...these are not typical Lael, but I had fun with them all the same.

just more sketches

I've been making an effort to post a little more often lately...trying to mix it up between sketches and colored stuff. Can't always post as much as I'd like...life seems to get in the way of drawing and painting without much purpose. I thought I'd post a few on a Caspian theme from the pile of paper in my desk drawer. Hope ya like em.

Book Cover

I did this book cover illustration last week for a local publisher and thought it turned out pretty good.

illustration friday: Island

I did this little sketch on Monday...thinking I would paint it up and post it for I.F. It doesn't look like I'll have time, so this is all ya get this week. I've been thinking a lot about getting away to someplace warm and tropical lately. Sun and surf really goes a long way to fixing all that troubles me. Since there is no color, here are a couple more little doodles from the sketch pile.

quick color

my work started a blog for the employees...our first topic was horror. This was a quick effort so I could post something. Horror is really not my "cup of tea" so this was a little bit of a stretch

people

Since I've been working in Salt Lake, I've been riding the bus. I usually don't mind the bus, but some times it gets old. One of the good things about the bus is it's a great place to watch people. There are some real "personalities", and sometimes they come out in my doodles.

illustration friday: Detach

Here is a little doodle for illustration friday. I started painting while I was watching the olympics and ended up spending a little more time than I usually do. This one was 3-4 hours in painter. My original idea was going to be someone detaching their head...but that mitght have turned out pretty gross, so with this I left a lot more to your imagination. what do you think?...does this guy really know this trick?

Obama

one of the things I like about having a blog, is occationally you get people that stop by and comment. Lately a couple caricature artists have stopped by and left comments. Caricatre illustration is something I've always liked to look at, but never really tried myself. So I thought I'd give it a try...here is the first effort. I know there are issues with this, and I now realize there is a lot more to this than just exagerating a feature or two...maybe my next try will bring better results. Oh, don't assume that since I picked obama to paint, that I'm some kind of supporter...I'm not impressed with him at all! (wait, I take that back, I am very impressed with how easily he can get people to donate money...) So, now ya know.

Illustration friday: SAIL

Well, here is another for illustration friday, it's nice to have a topic every week... keeps me doing at least a little something. For this topic, I started thinking about sailboats, then ships with sails and pirates, always fun to sneak a pirate in...anyway, this is what I came up with. Hey, there is sails in it, so I didn't completely get off topic.

illustration friday: Poof!

when I read the topic for this week, I thought of magic and somthing disappearing...so I sketched this magician and painted it up in painter. This was a pretty quick effort and I know it could use a little more time, but I got bored with it...so there ya go.

feckle-face

remember in grade school when anyone that was different was teased. I remember a few freckle faced kids who were teased a lot. As adults, freckles sure don't get the attention they used to...I can't even remember the last time I noticed someone because of their freckles. Wierd.

more color?

Here is the sketch I posted a week or so ago...now with a quick color. This is my son Sam. He makes a pretty good character to draw because he is such a "character" in real life.

illustration friday: Canned

have you ever talked to someone who had obviously been in sales all their adult life, then, when it's time for them to close the deal they give you their "look"? The other day I was in a car dealership and saw a few of the older car salesman and wondered at what point does that canned look stop working...at some point doesn't it stop working for most of us? Anyway, here is my attempt to show an ageing sales guy flashing the canned look that always used to "work" for him.

FAST ENOUGH

Here is some color on the sketch from a few posts back...as promised. He may be slow, but he's just fast enough when it really counts.

WASATCH CLASSIC X

Yesterday was a really fun day. It was time again for our utah county vw car show. I entered my 1961 ragtop bug. This is a car I've restored over the last several years. I have entered it in the show before, but I was always up against some very nice show cars. My car is not a true show car...I restored it all myself, painted it in my garage ect. It has some flaws. So this year I entered it into the daily driver catagory...and...I won. I won two tropheys yesterday. One for best daily driver and also a people's choice award. Add in winning a nice prize in the raffle at the end of the show, overall, I'd say yesterday was a very fun day!

super soaker and more!!

I posted a little sketch of my son with his camo shorts and a squirt gun last summer...well he's a year older has another pair of camo shorts (this time blue camo) and he's moved up to much bigger squirt guns! I thought another drawing was in order. The other two doodles were just laying on my desk, so I thought I'd post them too.

Slow draw McGraw

I sure haven't had (made) much time to draw lately. I got to work early and found a little time this week so I sat down to doodle...out came this turtle. I didn't realize it when I first drew him, but I think I must have been very influenced watching Kung Fu Panda...anyway, I started to paint this up, cuz I kind of liked the way it was headed. Stay tuned for a color version.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE!

I almost forgot how to use this blog...it's been so long. You'd think I'd have a massive post, but no. I've started some projects at home that have got me pretty distracted. For now, just a little doodle. Hope to post more soon.

grumpy pirate

Nothing can cheer you up like sketching grumpy faces...there is just something fun about drawing grumpy....especially grumpy pirates! Just a couple sketches so we can stop looking at that ugly green thing down there.....should have never posted that....sorry.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone.

Nothin' too special...just a quick doodle from this morning. I got board with it before I got too far, but decided to post it anyway....happy st. patty's everyone.

Just some more from the desk drawer

seems time goes too fast these days...is it really March '08 already? Here are some more pencil doodles from the desk drawer. No real ryme or reason for these...I was going to post the "choose" sketch for an illustration friday topic a few weeks back, but didn't really like it enough to paint up...so it never got finished.

Wow time flies!!

I can't believe it's Feb '08 already...where does the time go? I didn't post once in Jan...I guess I assumed people have stopped comming by for a look...thanks for the wake up call Jamie. Here are a few from the office drawer...nothing special, but he at least it's something to post...enjoy.

"Party Pooper"

thought I'd try to end the year on a positive note...with something that I gave a little more effort. Lately I just haven't had enough time to spend painting anything...so this will have to do.

Happy New year everyone...I hope you don't have any "poopers" at your new years parties!

Hope all our dreams come true in 2008!!

Illustration Friday: Little Things

here is a quick pencil sketch with a little color thrown on in the computer...these quick little things are all I seem to have time for these days.

When I was young I lived in Alabama for a year when my dad was stationed there for some schooling. I remember catching fireflies for the first time...I would imagine they were little faries flying all around at night. Anyway when I saw this weeks IF topic my mind wondered back to those days of catching little fireflies...

Illustration Friday: Superstition

People are funny. I think most people are a little superstitous...nothing works better for me than the old "triple-cross". Feel kind of silly whippin the trible out in a public situation, but hey, whatever works right?

sketch dump for a friday.

been a long time since I posted a bunch of doodles...these are just random things that have come out over this week. They are made for (and maybe good for) nothing and would otherwise never see the light of day...but here ya go

Illustration Friday: Hats

here is a quick little sketch that says a lot more about me than one might guess. As I thought about this weeks I.F. topic this morning, I started thinking about all the "hats" we wear at different times throughout our lives. This little doodle shows just some of the hats I've worn (and enjoyed wearing) thus far. Can anyone identify that strange hat second fromt he top?

this year's costumes

This year Nancy outdid herself yet again. This first costume is a brown hoodie with painted golf T's hot glued all over the back and hood. Sam made a fantastic porcupine, and got a LOT of positive comments as he wore his original costume around tonight This is Mitch in a very fine traditional Korean han bok doing his version of kung fu master.
Blake was pretty as always...Nancy made most of this costume too!
This last costume was really easy for Nancy...but it was exactly what Julia wanted. We bought it at Disneyland using my employee discount....nice;-)

More trick or treaters....get the candy bowl!

I've been having fun lately drawing "kid mosters". Here are a few more.

stuck on a theme?

been having a good time doodling little trick or treaters the last few days. Didn't have a ton of things to do on this Saturday morning, (rainy outside today) so I thought I'd paint this one up too. I tried to leave this one and not overpaint it to death like the last on. Wish I didn't have that natural tendency to overwork things...oh well, let me know what you think....have a good one!

FINIALLY....some color!

halloween theme...fun fun fun!

other little doodle from yesterday.

gotta love the halloween season!!

last year around halloween I got in a creative mood and had a great time drawing and painting halloween themed stuff. The creativity lasted past halloween and carried over for several months...all the way 'till Feb! I'd love to catch another wave of energy that size. I got to work this morning and looked over at my clipboard and all of the sudden...there it was agian...the urge to draw halloween stuff. This one may even get some color!! been a long time, but I think the color is comming...check back soon.

Disneyland

My family and I just got back from Disneyland. It was a quick trip but we all had fun. I had a lot of fun watching my kids have fun. This little sketch isn't my kid, but it does capture the look of a lot of the kids I saw experiencing disneyland for the first time. wide eyes and big smiles!

PS, On a side note, as an adult I had a great time this trip...being a new disney employee made the whole trip better....gotta love that discount!

been a while!

it's sure been a while! Truthfully I've tried several times over the past few weeks to log into blogger, but never could figure out my password...got way too many user names and passwords floating around in my brain these days. Must mean my life is over complicated. Anyway, today I stuck with it until I figured out the right combo...felt like I was hacking into my own blog...

here are a few recent doodles...not sure why that second one looks a little like me...wierd!

Friday Dump

thought I'd dump some of the doodles from the last couple of weeks...hopefully quanity will make up for the quality...

Illustration Friday: discovery

here is a very simple one this week...sometimes you don't have to look too far to see something new. ..and here is another little doodle from earlier this week.

Illustration Friday: Geeky

I thought this would be a fun topic...so here is what I came up with.

I struggled a little with this one, but thought I'd post it anyway.

Friday Already?

Here are a couple of doodles from the past week...I threw some color on one just for fun.

Illustration Friday: Camouflage

it's been quite a while without a post. Been busy and feeling a little uninspired. So I turned to illustration friday for a topic to paint up. This was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this weeks topic. My eight year old son got a new pair of shorts at the begining of the summer....and has rarely had them off since!

ah, longboards

I've been thinkin of getting myself a longboard lately. don't really need one...whenever I get the urge to ride, I just grab my son's... I've almost got myself convinced that it would be fun to ride to and from the bus stop on a nice longboard. Anyway, this little doodle was the result of that line of daydreaming. Happy monday eveyone

"Dreaming of Disneyland"

it's been a while since I've posted anything...this morning on the bus my budy Joe suggested I do something about that. I flipped through his sketchbook and was amazed at the quanity and quality of his work...if you've been to his blog, just know he doesn't even post the best stuff! You can look at his blog here

Happy Friday.

Here is a happy little drawing for this friday post...have a great weekend everyone!

something new...

wow, it's been a while without a post....sorry. I've been busy with a new job and trying to figure out how the buses work ect...gotta say though, it's been worth it. My new job is really great! Here are a couple doodles from the other day.

grumpy kid

Here is a little sketch. I know everyone must be tired of good ol abe by now. Not sure why this little doodle came out today, it's mood is kinda opposite of how I've been feeling lately. The big news is I've accepted a new job in Salt Lake at Fall Line. I'm really excited to be moving on and getting a chance to work again with a team of great people. (many of whom I've known and worked with in the past). Good times ahead!!

Illustration Friday: Green

Nothin says "green" like money!? would have rather painted grant...but...a five was all I had. I messed around with texture again just for fun.

Illustration Friday: Snap

Thought I'd post another one for Illustration Friday. Don't worry, he's just pinned in there...he'll be ok if one of his friends can help him out...

Illustration Friday: I Spy

Here is a little doodle for illustration friday. It's been months since I've posted anything for I.F, so I took a look at this weeks topic and thought I'd give it a try. Hope ya like the results of my quick effort.

"why do I always have to kill dinner?"

ken's comment on my last post got me thinking what caveman grug's wife might look like...

when it came to picking a wife, grug went with the best hunter in the village. now that's practical!

didn't spend much time on this one.....but thought it was fun enough to post.

caveman grug

When grug was a boy, all the village people use to tease him...he was always playing with fire and daydreaming. They stopped the teasing when he grew so big...but they never really liked him until one day when he invented the "strike anywhere match"...life became easier for everyone after that!

Allergy season already??

We have had some very nice weather lately...but with warmer weather comes the watery eyes and runny nose. the pollen is outta control already this year. I was thinking about all this when I started sketching this morning...here is what came out.

Happy St Patrick's day!

don't forget to wear green everyone. Only a couple of days early on this one.

little early, but oh well.

I was thinkin about the easter bunny the other day...does anyone know where he lives and does all his magic? It's been so long since I've done anything much past a sketch...not sure why I got into this...but here is what I did today. I may come back and do a little more, but I'm done for now. You can double click on the image to see it a little larger...

mr cool.

nothin worse than trying to look cool when someone has drawn your sun glasses all whacked out!

more snow....sheeez I'm ready to go fishing

Just a little doodle cuz it's friday!

it's been a while!

here is a little painting doodle from today...didn't spend much time with it and it shows, but it's been so long since I've posted anything, I thought I should put up something...don't ask where this came from.

baby steps...

I actually did an illustration last week. It was for a very nice art director who was willing to give the "new look" a try. I've been trying to find a different look to my illustration and this is my first published effort down this new road. This was for an article to warn doctors buying into a practice...I guess when selling, there are a few doctors out there that "cook the books" to make the practice look more profitable.....the article talked a lot about what to look for when looking at the records. Thank you Kim, I hope you like it.

Happy Friday Everyone.

Had to take one more "shot" at this little deer. I thought I could improve it...must be my asian influence, but this simple line stuff is fun!

keepin it simple...

I have been playing around with line a little lately...trying to make it simple and yet appealing and interesting...fairly good challange! Here is my latest effort.

only a few like it this COLD!

I was messing around with ink yesterday...this was the results.

not mine, just thought I'd share this

I found this in one of my VW books...the artist wasn't credited. Wow, this guy knew his stuff, all these pieces look like real vw stuff...CRAZY!

"happy"cell phone guy.

here is another doodle from this morning. I might paint a little on this one some day...but for now, he's just a slick car salesman-type in pencil.

Girls!

I was looking at my blog and realized I haven't been drawing nearly enough girls. I like drawing girls, so here is one from this morning...happy new year everyone! Hope all your artistic dreams come true this year!

love the season, hate the weather!

I was thinking today how much I love this time of year...but hate the cold. I thought I'd try and draw that idea...warm and happy on the inside miserable on the outside. Not sure if I nailed it...but I liked the thing just enought to play with it in painter for a minute or two. Now I look at his expression, and wonder what's in the mug...maybe he's not feelin the cold!?

just a quickie...

I've been neglecting my blog as of late...I'm sorry. Here is a little doodle, just to get something new to look at. I'll try to post something better soon.

my life is complete!

Guess what I got asked to do this year?? Being the last...well one of two last artists at Saffire, I was asked to do a Christmas card!! My life is complete! During my 8 years at Saffire I've seen a few Christmas cards be created...most everyone at Avalanche has had a turn, and now, by default, Lael joins the ranks of the Christmas card creators!! Anyway, I've got a rough version to show...may work on it a little more, I'd love some feedback if anyone wants to help me out a little.


Alex asked me to make this slightly altered version...he got a real kick out of it!?