florida vacation!

here is a picture of nancy at universal studios in front of the hogwarts castle

Nancy and I waiting for the kids in Dr Seuss land

whole familia posing in front to the train

excited to get in and see universal

whole family all dressed up for dinner

guys are...

not lookin' nearly as good as the girls!

lots of sun, food, and snorkeling in cocoa key... we should do this every winter!!

another shot of the kids on their way to dinner...lots of good food!

I would have been more excited to see this if I still had my silver pass...I miss my "get in free pass" it's a small fortune to get a family of six in these days!

We sure had a great time in florida...Orlando is pretty laid back...not exactly what I had pictured in my head. The weather lived up to our expectations...and we loved almost every minute we were there. It was hard to come home to the snow. Spring is just around the corner, right?

it's been a while!

Sorry about the lack of posts...I just got back from Florida. I took my family on a vacation, and we had a good time. Warm weather, warm water and sun, sun sun. "Just what the doctor ordered." These few sketches were in a pile on my desk...so I scanned em in for something to post.

Illustration Friday: Resolution

Happy New Year everyone! Since I have such a hard time making and sticking with the resolutions I make for myself, I've decided to start making new years resolutions for others...mostly my kids. Hopefully they'll stick to my resolution to get along better with each other...I know they love each other, but man...sometimes it's hard to tell. Here are a few line illustrations of some kids having a hard time sharing...but it looks like they worked it out in the end. These were done for a phonics reader (like the similar post from several weeks ago) These were done in illustrator.

Illustration Friday: Winter

We have had way too much snow lately...wet, heavy, slushy snow. This is how I feel after shoveling for an hour or two. We may have the greatest snow on earth here in Utah, but I like it best when it snows in the mountians and NOT down in the valleys!! I'm all for skiing and having fun in the snow, but it's much better to come vacation in it, and then go back home to somewhere warm...I'm excited for an upcomming vacation to florida!! Winter doesn't have to be COLD.

3 blind mice

Here is a new illustration I did last Monday. It's been a long time since I've posted anything here that has taken much effort.

This was also done fairly quickly, but I did put some effort in...and am fairly happy with the results. I might go in a tweak a few little things, but I'm ready to call it "done"

elf with jingle bell

this was a quick doodle from today...wow, a couple of seasonal pieces in a row...that's proof that on some level I'm getting into the Christmas spirit.

Illustration Friday: Phenomenon

Some of you may not think snow fall is much of a phenomenon, but where I grew up in southern CA, it never snowed. I can remember one time when it hailed for quite a while...it was wet and slushy and covered the grass outside my house. All the kids were out running around trying to pack it into snowballs and to throw at each other...seems like another lifetime now. I went from wishing it would snow just once, when I was a kid, and now wishing I was back somewhere warm where it didn't snow. "I guess the grass is always greener" huh? Here is a quick pic I did up for this weeks topic. About an hour in painter and a little photoshop. Hope ya like it.

illustration friday: Prehistoric

It's been a long time since I've done anything for illustration friday...I've missed out on a lot of good IF painting opportunities lately and with winter coming on, I'm starting to feel a little isolated. So, when I saw this weeks topic, I remembered a cave woman piece I did several years ago, but never finished. I put in a few more hours on it and I think it looks a lot better now. This cave woman not only was the fairest in the clan, but she can also hunt. Quit a catch back in the day!! I'd love to hear what ya'll think. Have a great week everyone!

phonics reader.

here are a few black and white illustrations I did this week for a phonics reader. I did these in illustrator and had a lot of fun learning a little more of that program...these are just low res jpgs for the blog post.

I got nothin...

I'm not sure if anyone ever stops by my blog anymore. I've got out of the habit of posting anything new, so I doubt I'm getting much traffic these days.

But, in case there are people that stop by on occasion to see stuff...here are some somewhat weak doodles.

Hey, it's a post! I'll try and start posting again more often. thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment...it helps.

go fly a kite!

havn't posted in a long while...been busy workin on another vw bug. I'll post some pics of that when I get a little closer to the finish line. For now, here is a sketch i did the other day.

banjo pig what?

I was out in the front yard last night when Jed Francis jumped out of a car and came over to me and asked why I haven't posted a pig yet....I've seen a few being posted so I figured out what he was talking about pretty quick. I took him into my back yard and showed him my new project "my excuse"...a '62 bug almost ready for paint. I explained that's where I've been spending all my spare time. Well, he didn't seem to think that was good enough to keep me out of all the fun, sooo, here ya go Jed, this is for you. a quicky in ballpoint pen.

you can see a lot more that others have done here

doodles from the last few days.

that's my version of Rodney Bills up there in the left corner...for those of you who may know him.

I thought I'd post some pics of my bug on it's way to CA. Yep, I sold it...ON EBAY! It just seemed like it was time. I bought it on ebay, earned all the money to restore it from ebay sales, and sold it on ebay. It now lives in San Diego, so I think it was happy to get out of the utah winters and see the beach again. It was a fun car, I'll miss it!

friday sketch

here is a little sketch I did today...nothin much, but I kind had fun with the hair. Now that I take another look I wish I would have designed it a little better, started with just one lock of hair and quicklyt turned into one of those things that just evolved without a plan. sometimes its fun to draw that way...without a purpose...hard to mess something up if you don't even have a target ya know?

post for duane

my little bro called me last night from NC and complained about the lack of posts...so, here ya go. sorry to the folks who stop by for a look at something new and see nothing. I hate that too. Thanks for stopping by and all comments you guys leave...it helps.

mo sketches

my tragic ski story has been up way too long, so in an effort to put that whole thing behind me, here are some doodles from the last few weeks. when my hands get back to feeling a little better, I'm going to try and get back to posting regularly....but for now, 'this'll-hafta-do'.

Skiing at Deer Valley

Two weeks ago my brothers and I went skiing for a couple of days at Deer Valley here in Park City Utah. We had a great time until the last run last at about 3:15 Saturday afternoon.

My brothers skied down the hill ahead of me and since I was feeling tired from 2 days of hard skiing, I took my time and tried to make it down in one piece.

I almost made it...I was working my way through some small moguls when I caught an edge that threw me off balance. I shot off the next mogul and landed on my head and neck.

As I skidded to a stop, I was thinking I hope no one saw that...then I went to wipe some snow from my face and realized I couldn't move. I was completely paralyzed from my shoulders down.

I hope none of you ever have to have that feeling...not being able to move is very freaky. I thought I must have broken my neck, and I was suddenly very aware of what a scary situation I was in. About that time some other skiers stopped to ask if I was ok...I told them no and that I thought I was in pretty bad trouble/shape and that I needed the ski patrol. I was pretty close to the bottom of the hill, so it didn't take long for help to arrive. I can't tell you all the thoughts that we running through my head as the ski patrol started to ask me questions...my wife...stuck with a quad for the rest of my life...not being able to use my hands to work or do artwork ever again...

I'm sure you all can imagine that being pretty hard. Well, about a few minutes after the ski patrol guy got there, he asked me to move my foot...I couldn't..then he asked me to wiggle my toe....nothing. He started pressing on my leg working up toward my pelvis...then i twitched my toe. I told him I think I just moved my toe!! He said, that's great, try again...move it up this time. I did it...I was able to lift my toe inside my boot. Within a minute, I was able to move my leg at the knee. Then I started on my my right hand, first just trying to move my fingers...then after they started responding, I was able to move my hand,then arm. The ski patrol was busy loading me up on the backboard and strapping me down...my brothers finally found my about this time...maybe 15 minutes after I fell. With tear filled eyes I was happy to show them I could move my legs and arms. I still wasn't sure the extent of my injuries but I was sure happy I could move again.

From Deer Valley I was rushed by ambulance to Park City Emergency room...there I was poked and examined in almost every way imaginable. I was given a very long MRI where they were able to see that I had not broken my neck, but rather just bruised my spinal cord at C4. (think Christopher Reeves) All the doctors repeatedly told me how lucky I am to be able to move...the odds were better than I could have been a quad or dead. I had two ambulance rides, 2 ER visits a day and a half at the U of U hospital in the ICU and then another day just in a hospital room.

There needed to be a lot of care to make sure the swelling on my spinal cord was watched very carefully....if it would have continued, I might not have been able to breath...and of course that is very important if you want to stay alive.

I feel very blessed. I'm not sure why I'm still here...able to move and other than some major nerve pain in my arms and hands (that has been subsiding quite a bit over the last two weeks)

not have any lasting effects of the crash.

Here is the lesson I'm trying to take away from all this. It might sound a little simple, but it is just to enjoy the here and now. Realize that (I) and you are lucky to have what we have. The job, the life, the wife, the kids, ect. Yes, all those things can add issues that can trouble and complicate your life, BUT, my life is good and I am thankful to still be here and especially since I can still move and work like normal. I am going to try my best to ignore the stupid little things that tended to get to me and upset my life. If I can remember and succeed at this one little thing, my life and the life of those around me will be better for my little accident.

here is a little card that deer valley sent the other day...no complimentary lift tickets...that's ok, just happy to be alive! See it's working!

Dick Wittington and his cat

here are a few of the illustrations I just finished for an early reader published by K12. This was a fun little story, and I had a good time painting up a few illustrations for it...so I thought I'd share a few here.

ya got to wonder...

you gotta wonder what goes on in my head sometimes...here are a bunch of doodles done over the last few weeks...no real ryme or reason, just drawing with no real purpose...

this didn't start out to be a self portrait, but you can't deny that there are some similarities goin on there.

this one started out to be painted and posted for the illustration friday topic CHRUNCH....this was the first thing that came to my mind...could you ever eat a bunch of bugs like those guys on TVs fear factor type shows.

Can't really tell ya where this came from...no idea, but I can tell ya that any guy would need to have a lot of confidence to wade out in the "old briefers"...nothin really looks worse than the old tighty whiteys.

a little surfing always helps on a Monday morning....

nothin too exciting...just postin to post.

here are a few doodles done lately...I started the band to post for the music topic on illustration friday. I was pretty happy with it in sketch stage, but then the week got away from me and I never got back to it...oh well.

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.