I'm excited to announce that the Banjo Pigs got invited to be in a show! Here's the details:

Put it on your calendar.

My buddy Stacy Curtis is finally selling one of his awesome little paintings. This one is an elephant riding a bicycle. Somebody should buy it before I do. If somebody buys it then maybe he'd be convinced to sell more of them. He really should. They're awesome.

Buy it on ebay.


I've been toying around with the idea of selling some original stuff too. Hmmm... what do you think, should I do it?

A while back, my wife and I went out for sushi. Mmmmmm sushi. The restaurant had paper on the tables so, of corse drawings needed to be drawn. I think I mentioned this on facebook before. Anyway, what I didn't mention was that my wife snuck a video of me drawing the Godzilla sushi. Thought you all might like to see. It is all just silly, but I am drawing it upside down.

Banjo pig in V-neck sweater standing in a boat that is still on a trailer.


Visit the Banjo Pig blog

I never know what to post on this ole blog, or what people like to see. I do know that I haven't posted anything for a long time so, here are some recent random sketches. Oh, and a little animal parade that I posted over at the banjo pigs site. People are still sending banjo pigs to us. It's awesome.

Last week I got a package in the mail. It was full of the advance copies of my newest picture book "A View at the Zoo" by Kathleen Long Bostrom and published by Ideals Children's Books. I was really happy with the quality of the printing. They did a great job. It is scheduled to come out in the spring, probably April. However, a friend of mine saw it on Amazon and ordered it. He had it in his hands the next day. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for it in stores. I'll let you know more about it later.

Banjo pigs blog

It's that time of year.

Okay, The demo night was lots of fun. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to check it out. Hopefully you had as much fun as we did.

Thursday night is Studio Tour night. If you have ever wanted to watch the elusive illustrator in his natural habitat, now is your chance. Kirk Richards and I have opened our studios to you. A kind of studio open house. Feel free to drop by and visit.



www.brotique.org
brotique.blogspot.com

Thanks to everybody who came to our Brotique Week kick off at the Provo Library. We all read a bunch of our stories to the kiddies. Tons of fun.

Wednesday night is our next Bro. event. If you're interested in watching us paint, come to the Bridge Academy in Provo for a free demo.

www.brotique.org
brotique.blogspot.com

Brotique (my writing/illustration critique group for dudes) is gearing up for an exciting week full of fun events. Book readings, demos, studio tours and a big gallery show. If your in the Provo area, check out one or all of the cool stuff.

I couldn't pass up this weeks topic. I did a whole book about a very famous star gazer. Here are a few images that I illustrated from "The Planet Hunter" by Elizabeth Rusch. It is about the astronomer Mike Brown, the guy who made Pluto not a planet anymore. The publisher mixed my illustrations with real photos of space. It was a fun book to work on.

Choose your weapon!


Keep those banjo pigs coming. Visit the Banjopigs blog to see more.

Ya'll can now get your own stuff with Banjo Pigs on it by visiting the Dueling Banjo Pigs General Store.

Here is my newest Banjo Pig. It's a little bit different from the others. I've been building it for several weeks. Mostly on the weekends and here and there when I found a minute between jobs. I love doing stuff like this. It gets the ole creative juices flowing. I really enjoy problem solving when I do my artwork and this little piggie had plenty of it. It is fun to get an idea of what you want it to do, then figure out a way to make it work.

Most of the movements, the strumming, head turning, and banjo movement are controlled by a bunch of cams on the crankshaft. I had some extra room on the crank so I added the little bird. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I think it's popping up and down makes me smile the most. Inside I built a little music box called a Kalimba, or thumb piano. It's not terribly loud or "banjo" sounding, but I did tune it to real notes and everything and it plays. I hope you like it.









Here is a bit of the process:

A few sketchbook doodles from when the idea hit me.


Bits and pieces
12 Comments on Banjo Pig Automaton, last added: 8/14/2010