He thought he was the only one to know the secret. But little did he know, someone was watching.

No one was more vocal about how happy he was to be riding a bronco!

As he was walking outside, he had to yield to something quite unexpected traveling toward the woods.

Sure, as part of my New Year’s resolutions, I’ve committed to losing weight. That’s nothing new. But, I’ve also committed to stepping outside my comfort zone: I’m trying out a new style. So far, I’m fairly pleased. So stay tuned for more new art this year!

….but busy as ever! Here are a few B/W illos I did for an old buddy who hosts a podcast centered on Mafia Wars. Each personality is represented in “mob” fashion.

Apparently, Grandad had an obsession with his youth that day. He must have ridden that horsey ride for hours!

Offering to clean the house was a kind gesture. However, his “follow-through” needed work.

It’s unfortunate she didn’t stay in bed the night before her party. She couldn’t stay awake to blow out her candles!

Setting up the stunt, she assured her fluffy friends that no harm would come to them. At that, she launched herself in a spectacular feat of fearlessness.

I painted this on a card for my dad last year, for Father’s Day. I thought it appropriate for this week’s topic, not only that the father and son are casting shadows, but that the shadows can be their history as they forge a future together.

I was called upon to help a friend who is earning his masters degree. His final assignment entailed artwork from a spectrum of artists ranging in degrees of age and expertise. We were to illustrate a character based only on a short description. I decided to use a different method and style for this illo, because of the subject matter and the short timing.

Here is the character description:

NAME: Arizemli
Age: 23
Height: 6 ft 1in
Hair color: Copper - semi long often in a partial pony tail style
Eye color: Green

Dragon tattoo on his back; claw-mark scars on his left arm
Very ferocious and fearless warrior; arrogant, volatile and wild
Originates from an ancient far east civilization
superb swordsman - beyond mastery
Weapon of choice: his very large sword - hilt is forged to the blade as is the handle. Decorative wrapping encases the handle. Red symbols on the hilt and red markings on the blade
Also carries with him a smaller sword for emergencies - on his right side
Wears a powerful armor - a battle was won between a dragon named Shadow and Arizemli. The dragon embedded his soul within Arizemli's armor and transformed it into a very powerful accessory. The armor has taken on the appearance of the dragon as well as providing it with immeasurable powers.
Long samurai like pants and boots cast from a very sturdy yet comfortable metal also adorn Arizemli.
He is sometimes known to wear black gloves that look like they were fashioned the same way his armor was.

And here is Arizemli as I see him:

There was no reason to leave his feelings bottled up inside. He raised his arms and took in a deep breath to let out a mighty roar!

The only way to reverse the effects of the body swap was to get the magic doll. Only problem, only one of us wanted to go back!

Chicken Little. A story about the absence of courage and common sense.

They each made resolutions to enter the room, not knowing what they would find.

I was commissioned a family portrait weeks before Christmas. Be it illustration or portraiture, I still love to paint and draw! Pictured first is the initial sketch. The client wanted to utilize a photo taken years ago, but incorporate current hairstyles and the children at their current age.



And here is the final painting:

It's been too long. Sorry I'm recycling old art here, but you do what you gotta do. I think I posted this last year: a simple illustration of youthful role play. Of course, when I was a child, it was a bedsheet for a cape. But the Charmin mummy works too!

It's a classic story that is familiar to most of us: Carved from a piece of pine by a woodcarver, he was created as a wooden puppet, but dreamt of abandoning his artificial state and becoming a real boy.

Wow. So many connotations with this week's topic since I spent SO much time on it and found it challenging in a wonderful way: Double the effort. Double trouble.

My newest piece is truly a labor of love - mixing elements of fantasy and dealing with somewhat macabre themes. The idea comes from my neighbor and friend who is an aspiring children's book author. She wrote a story about a spoiled princess, called "The Princess Who Ate Dragons." The princess treated everyone badly, so, as punishment, her parents exile her to spend time with dangerous dragons. But, fearing nothing, the princess merely jests "I'll eat 'em, You'll see."

I included images of my photo references and the sketches. I spent a lot of time with the dragons as I wanted them to look a specific way.



As I was working on the sketches, I must have reworked the main dragon a dozen times. He kept taking on the look of the dragon from Shrek! After my initial sketches were done, I shot them with my digital camera and started composing them together in Photoshop. The last image is that composition.


This is the final sketch that I transferred to use for the painting. I printed the Photoshop-ed comp out and drew more on it: the stone wall and the ground. Notice that I changed the butcher knife to a spoon in the painting. My 10 year old son casually glanced at my sketch and remarked, "Don't you think that knife is a bit violent?" This is a story of a spoiled princess who eats dragons! But he was right, she had almost a murderous tone with that knife!

Here are some sketches I just finished to prepare for an illustration. I wanted to focus on certain expressions for this character, who is not the nicest little girl in town. :-)

An unlikely friendship blossoms as the boy looks after the giant chihuahua. One of their favorite games is "hide and seek."

This cow has set high ambitions after being inspired by her favorite rhyme. Our familiar satellite looks on with concern. :-)

Inspired by all that was being done by artists on the Ripple blog, my son wanted to do something as well. He had come up with a large composition on 8.5 x 11 paper but I told him that the art needed to be on ATC sized cards: 2.5" x 3.5". So he came up with this. I'm digging his style!

"Save The Animals!"
Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill
-Jacob

Yeah. I redid it. I think I have the creative license to give an idea another go. :-) The first one, I tried to be a little cartoony, but I think this one fits my style best. Again, visit ripplesketches.blogspot.com/ to donate and help the animal victims of the Deep Water Horizon Gulf Oil Spill.