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!?

Mad Science

The poor Doctor has been mad for years, but he still must do his "work"! Had to add one more before Halloween...here is the mad docor. Happy Halloween everyone, be safe.

My wife's "artwork"

I thought I'd show off some of my wife's handywork. We all went to a halloween party last night and our costumes were a big hit! My wife always does a great job makin costumes for us and the kids.


This is my wife and I...wow, is she really that short?


This is my youngest son Sam as you-know-who


and this is my oldest son Mitch who agreed to go along with Sam's costume idea...he's already ditched his mustache...but it did look good!

Here comes trouble!

Never had a kid with this much hair of course...kids with hair are FREAKY. Mine didn't get much 'til they were like 3-4! oh well. Hair is not that important....that's what I keep telling myself anyway.

sketches from my work clipboard

nothing much to share this week. here is a scrap of paper from my work clipboard.

the wolfman

here is a quick wolfman...I know there are a few issues, but I post a lot of the bad ones too. hope ya like him.

It's not halloween yet...still time for more!

I've been having a great time in painter lately...I feel like I'm making headway in my effort to find a "new style" Painting on the computer isn't such a mystery anymore, and I'm able to see results in my mind before I lay it down in the computer...so that's progress! I'll keep at it...

pumkin witch

isn't this a great time of year? Gotta love all the fall color. Here is another halloween piece. Done in painter, this started as a tiny little sketch on a piece of paper at work. Then I took it into painter and started having fun...

some times ya just gotta go with it.

I have no idea where this came from or why, but here it is. I tried to play with color a little more than I usually do...don't ask why he has what looks like golf t's stuck in his earlobs...

Illustration Friday: Phobia

this is an example of my old stylized "stuff" thought this one worked good for this weeks topic.

Franky

Here is a quick sketch of Frankenstein. Taken of course from that old movie still.
Have a great weekend everyone!

sketchin on the back to school theme...

here are a few sketches on the back to school theme...why is this time of year always soooo stressful? Summer is over here...I think that's part of it.

Well, we got a few hours of good weather

if you were at all jelouse of me going fishing...it was more work than play! The weather turned real bad just as the weatherman said...crazy! We hiked in, camped then hiked out the very next day just ahead of a real nasty storm. It rained or snowed on us most of the time. I'm still just about dead...17 miles with a pack is too much for this old guy in 2 days...this is me on the way up. I think we all still had fun.

gone fishin....

the weather is turning, but we're going anyway. My little brother is home visiting from N.C. and wants to head up into the mountians for a little camping and fishing. The weatherman says things are going to get ugly up there but we're going anyway...should be an adventure! Maybe we'll get lucky and have a few good days at least.

you know it'll be a long school year when....

when...this is how ya look on the second day...yes, this is my kid, starting the second grade with a ...attitude...

DONE!!!!!!!!!...well almost.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I know I've commented about this kitchen remodel project I'm doing before, but I thought I'd post some pics of the "almost" finished project. This all started because this lady in my neighborhood decided to remodel her kitchen and when I asked what she was doing with her old cabnets, she said I could have em...for free. Her old kitchen was real nice, so I took her custom made maple cabnets and retro fit them into a house that I rent out. Here are the results of almost 2 months of work...(at night after work)

this was the old kithen...very 50's huh?


This was half way through the demolition...I knew I was in too deep.


Here is how it all turned out pretty satisfying!

just more painter experiments...

I'm starting to figure things out a little...20-30 more of these little doodles and I might find a few comfort zones. Always nice to paint in your comport zone!

even though it's not art, it was still fun!

My son, who is a hard core soccer player and fan, and I went to the Real Madrid vs Real Salt Lake game last Sat night. Even though our seats were WAY up there it was still fun! kind of like watching the game from a plane!


for those of you that can't tell...I know it's hard...that's the man himself, David Beckhem!

It's almost Friday, and I AM ready!

another little painter doodle.

quick painter sketch.

here is a little painter sketch I painted yesterday morning just to get back into it on a Monday

I'm still here...and almost done with all the destractions

Here is a fun little drawing I did of my wife while we were sitting in church today...I think she actually liked it!

It's never too early!!

As hot as it is right now it sure seems a little wierd to be painting Santa, but I thought I'd get a jump on it this year. Last year a neighbor asked if I could do a Christmas card for a charity thing she was doing and I wanted to but didn't make the time to get started...Soooo, here is a w.i.p that should get done by Dec!! Merry Christmas!

Wasatch Classic XIII

Well, I did one of those things I've always wanted to do yesterday. I put my VW bug in a local VW aircooled only show. That's right I put the car I restored all myself in a carshow. It was fun! A lot of people had nice things to say and a few even voted for my car! I didn't take home the trophey, but it was fun just the same. Here are few pics of the event.


This is my 1961 ragtop




There were a LOT of really nice cars there...like this '64 bus and this '56 bug with a roof rack and tons of excessories...it even had an old period correct Judson supercharger. You don't see those very often! There was even a fantastic '59 Porche that showed up. It wasn't officially in the show, but they let him stay because he is like a "vw aircooled cousin"... and because it was almost flawless and really impressive!!

mood swings!

life sure has been all over the place lately! I'm workin way to hard on my apt. kitchen remodel...and spending too much money. So here is a little editorial sketch in my old conceptual style...see it's me!? I really do like drawing like this. Sorry Miles, not much I know. I'll start posting again when...or if life calms down a little.

mobster

sat down this morning and doodled out this guy.

ever start something ya wish ya wouldn't have?

I've got this "little project" I started...wow, when and how did I ever become so optimistic. This is how I feel every night just before I go home take a shower and crawl into bed. Still a long way to go.

exercise

well, I'm back at work after nearly a week off. Sorry no posts for a while. I'm half way through a total kitchen remodel and haven't had much extra time. My older sister called yesterday and demanded something new to look at. When the older sister asks, I jump! sometimes....well here ya go. This illustration shows that exercise can only take ya sooo far. Aint nothin makin up for too many years of hard livin!

dragonflyer

I sketched this out yesterday and really had fun with it. I know it isn't anything that exceptional, but I thought it turned out. I used to live in Korea, and saw kids there flying live dragonflys on the end of strings...kinda like a kite.

here is a little sketch from this morning.

this is nothing special, just a little doodle to get that cake thing outta sight. Monday...it's an unusual Monday payday...makes it much easier.



and another...just goofy pencil sketches...who knows where this stuff comes from.

illustration friday: cake

thought I'd do something for illustration friday since I haven't had any time to post anything else this week. Cake....a little boring. How do you make cake fun? Well, guys seem to always put a cute girl wearing something skimpy in cakes...I've never seen this in person, but this is what I came up with...it kind of turned into a big mess!
Happy friday everyone.