After a recent visit to my dentist, I came up with this sketch of a “zombie tooth.” The pain I was experiencing was from one of my teeth’s nerves dying - rendering it a “dead” or non-vital tooth. So I thought, “Wow, a zombie tooth was living in my mouth, and to ensure my survival, the dentist had to extract its dead ‘brains.’”
:-)

There was never much of a spark between the two brothers.

In the bathroom mirror’s reflection, Dad could see that Alex did not want to brush his teeth. He let out a sigh.

As soon as Molly reached the refrain of the song, she had to refrain from playing too loudly or too quickly as it was her favorite part of the song.

Energy to create. Energy to bring to life!

Coming soon, to an Amazon near you: my first illustrated children’s book, written by the talented C.D. Watson. It was a wonderful experience working with her and I learned a LOT about the Lagotto Romagnolo breed of truffle dogs. Check back and I will have details on how you can purchase the book!

Investing in our future. :-)

This is my tribute to Tenacious D singing...Tribute.

This is not The Greatest Song in the World, no.
This is just a tribute.
Couldn't remember The Greatest Song in the World, no, no.
This is a tribute, oh, to The Greatest Song in the World,
All right! It was The Greatest Song in the World...

As you may recall, I was offered a very unique project a few weeks ago. A friend of my wife has a baby who will have to wear a DOC band to reshape his skull and she wondered if I would use my talents to decorate it. Her husband and I worked together briefly at the elementary school where I teach art, and where he was assistant principal. We hit it off immediately since we are both huge Star Wars fans. Naturally, their request for the DOC band was to give it a Star Wars theme. To say the least, I was more than happy to help them out. A brief brainstorming session went from decorating the helmet with small Jedi frogs to an idea that only seemed natural: R2-D2.

And as you may remember from my last post, part of the decoration included a special Jedi character. Since their baby's theme in his nursery is frogs, I came up with an amphibian Jedi at their request. He's located on the back. I shall name him Obi-Frog Kenobi.

I was offered a very unique project this weekend. A friend of my wife has a baby who will have to wear a DOC band to reshape his skull and she wondered if I would use my talents to decorate it. Her husband and I worked together briefly at the elementary school where I teach art, and where he was assistant principal. We hit it off immediately since we are both huge Star Wars fans. Naturally, their request for the DOC band was to give it a Star Wars theme. To say the least, I was more than happy to help them out. In the next few days I will post pics of the final helmet. But part of the decoration included a special Jedi character. Since their baby's theme in his nursery is frogs, I came up with an amphibian Jedi at their request. Here are preliminary sketches I did in Paper. More to come later!

Another iPhone Sketchbook sketch. Stay tuned as I turn some of these sketches into finished illustrations.

As I begin working on new projects, sometimes I have to get a feel for how characters will look. This new project involves a family. So I did a quick sketch in Paper of the family as if they were at a department store getting a family portrait done.

I would typically be working on a digital piece for Illustration Friday by right about now. But sometimes, Life takes over. However, I did manage to eek out a little sketch in Paper on my iPad. The IF topic is "wool."

When you're raised a Catholic, you tend to be surrounded by art. And perhaps, Catholicism was another artistic influence for me. It worked for Michelangelo and DaVinci. Anyway, as I was planning a lesson on Leonardo DaVinci, I came across one of his angel paintings where he studied bird wings. And it inspired me to paint this angel. OK, granted, it's more along the lines of "Precious Moments" than "The Annunciation." But then again, I'm no DaVinci. :-)

They come from Tolkein’s mind, but his characters are the stuff of myth and legend.

Judging from the glow on his face, the race wasn’t about winning.

Trippin’ the snow fantastic with a little white man’s overbite.

He hadn’t set out to explore the grove of trees behind his house until today. That is where he met his first friend since moving.

All along, she thought he wanted to haunt her. But he just wanted a friend.

Not only am I an illustrator and designer, I am an elementary art teacher. I created these illustrations for my classroom to engage the kids in the works of these artists — some of whom were also teachers — and other artists and cultures.

As the boys loomed over him — dodge balls in hand — Neville thought it ironic that it was HE who aired them up to bounce not 2 minutes ago.

It was much easier when I could carry Spot around. Now that he’s grown, things are a little more difficult…

(click to embiggen)

This is a somewhat personal piece for me. And I thought, how tragic a feeling it is when a child is physically lost. However, this is a child who thought he knew who he was, until some event stripped away all of his “masks” and left him really lost.

Commend, Suspend, Upend.

There’s more than one way to refresh yourself on a hot summer day.