Zoo Hidden Pictures.

I did these for the Philadelphia Zoo several years ago (2002?) for the kid's section of their website. I don't think there is anything I love to draw more than otters. Capybaras can be a lot of fun too being as they are such strange little animals.

The objects are listed below each image. Have fun!

Find the following: slice of pie, fish, penguin, toothbrush, heart, spatula, ladle, wishbone, glove, needle, umbrella, hawk, sailboat, candy corn, and a crown.

Find the following: pineapple, 8 fish, snake, paintbrush, glove, and a crown.

Find the following: candle, octopus, cat, apple, fish, flash light, ostrich, dinosaur, acorn, rat, duck, paintbrush, peach and a cup.

Sketching in Delaware.

I didn't draw much while on vacation in Delaware. I always have the intention to (I bring a lot of art supplies with me) but I find that I do more reading especially when I am at the beach. Honestly, I don't really like the beach. I am a mountain and trees person simply because there's something to look at other than a horizontal line all day (aka, the ocean). We did see several large pods (10 or more in each) of dolphins this year which was quite exciting and something I have never seen in the wild before.

Anyway on the 3rd day there Daisy needed to pick up some maternity shirts at the outlets (she is now 20 weeks pregnant) so I tagged along with sketchbook in hand since I usually do a lot of waiting around. However, I was surprised to discover that there was a new park behind the outlets with a long hiking trail so I went off while she went shopping.

I was entertained by a songbird for a few minutes before he flew off (above) and on the way back I discovered a snake skeleton on the side of the trail (below).

Vacation.

I'm going on vacation.

Meanwhile, you should read, The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It is depressingly good. I read it some time last year. I found it very difficult to read on the train since I would often well up with tears (Dad/son issues, you know). Usually as I read a book I draw several images from it in my sketchbook, but this is the only one that I was able to since it had hit me so hard.

I will be reading Epileptic and probably drawing heavy set people in their swim suits on the beach.

Illustration Friday: Drifting

I illustrated this in 2005 for the Philadelphia Zoo. It is now in the Zoo's Treehouse covering an pretty large old leaky Aquarium. I still have yet to see it up. It measures 6 x 3 feet. Done in pen and ink with Digital coloring.

I miss doing work for the zoo. It was a lot of fun to research and learn about all of God's amazing creations.

The rest of my blog can be read by clicking on the masthead above.

Sketchbook Stories.

This is an 8 year old sketchbook story but it still makes me laugh. I'll try to dig up some more if I can find them. Here it is for you- spelling mistakes and all...

Which Student are You?

The Which Art Student Are You? book is now available for $10 US dollars. Please see the side bar to the right for the over-the-top book trailer. The art has been re-lettered, colored, and 5 new students have been added making the total 25. Not to be missed! Thank you in advance for your support.

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I know 10 years is not a long time, but by this time in my teaching career (at the Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia) I think I have had just about every type of student. Earlier this year to relieve my stress I started categorizingand sketching out each student type. Comic artist Daniel Clowes already touched on this categorization in his great comic, Art School Confidential. Plus, I want to give credit to Dave Valeza for his Draw Yourself as a Teen, make sure to check that out! (I apologize for not posting this sooner, I wasn't entirely sure where it originated from- thanks to Charley from linesandcolors.com for the info). What I wound up with are these 21 types. Over time, I may discover that there are more types or new names for them (ie:goth is now something called emo). Originally I had excluded the average/good students because average/good is not very funny but with much pleading and begging I added it in.

Listen, I know some people will become fairly ticked off by this. Prior to making these public I ran them by a lot of my students and they seemed to think they were funny and fine to post. Please practice your sense of humor when looking at them.

Anyway, enjoy them and let me know which one you think you are or were...

The rest of my blog can be seen here.

Please do not repost more than one of these without my permission. Links to this blog are more than welcome.

Philadelphia Zoo Annual Report Comic Strip

I honestly can't remember when I did these strips (2000?). I do remember that they were done for the Zoo's annual report. The idea was that one strip would be at the bottom of each page of the report telling the story of a typical family visiting the zoo. For the most part I was directed as to what to place in each panel, but some of the humor was left up to me. Well, as you can see the strip never went to a finish because some bureaucrat down the line decided it was "inappropriate for the zoo." Thankfully, I was still paid but I was saddened to hear that no one would see this since I had spent so much time on it.

So here it is, in all of its rough-unfinished-misspelled-sloppily-lettered-splendor...