New Basement Floor!

My wife and I recently put a much needed new basement floor into our 100 year old house. To celebrate I skated to the tune of the hustle. I don't usually post videos but I think this one may be worth seeing.

What's Wrong, Southwest Ranch?

Yee-haw! This is my latest What's Wrong? to be published by those wonderful folks at Highlights for Children! It can be seen on the back cover of the September issue which should be available now.

This one really had me missing the Southwest. My alter ego, Ranger Kent, can be seen teaching some kids how to lasso, and my wife's alter ego, Cowgirl Pearl, is riding a reindeer. As previously posted, the famous racehorse, Secretariat, is on the lower right.

The first sketch is posted below. You can see some of the major changes that needed to done to complete this one. Most notably the switching of Pearl and the Ostrich which really did improve the composition. The funniest correction I thought was that the sunbathing roadrunner because he looked like he was dead. I couldn't make myself get rid of him entirely so I moved him next to the birds listening to the boom box in the final art.

Click here if you'd like to get your kids a subscription to Highlights for Children. Don't subject them to only seeing Highlights when they are sick or about to get their teeth drilled. That's not very nice, is it? Be a good parent.

Summer sketchbookings.

This summer I have been the busiest I have ever been which is why my sketchbook is fairly empty these days. Sure, there are sketches and thumbnails but 90% of them are work related so I can not post them here (plus they are rough, incoherent, and boring). I rarely find time to sit and sketch leisurely these days but I have had a few chances this summer...

The first three here are from Philadelphia's Penn's Landing on the eve of Independence Day, during the fireworks.

Below are sketches from Delaware while on vacation with Virginia, Daisy, and her family.

For those of you who are not aware, a sunfish is a small sail boat.

I will be back teaching in the city in a few weeks so I should have more time to sit and draw weirdos.

IF: Star Gazing

Earlier this summer my dog and I were treated to a light show each night. Honestly it was hard to tell the difference between the star and the fireflies some nights. It was truly magnificent. I'm not much of a poet but sometimes a drawing needs more than words to explain what I may have been feeling at the time.

Which Art Student Are You? Cover Art

I have finally been able to get this book finished. Special thanks to my wife Daisy, Anni Matsick, and Janelle Saaybe for helping me with the editing. Grammar is not one of my strong points so I am so very grateful for the help. At this point the only thing left to do is make the grammar/spelling corrections and send it off to the printers.

Thankfully I found some extra time to make a new cover instead of using a collage of the existing art (as I had posted in the past). The scene is a typical freshman fine art figure drawing class at Hussian, although this scene is filled with the best of the worst stereotypes studied over the past 10 years. I choose this rear view because we are able to see the artists' work or lack there of. Obviously not every student is present since it was a Wednesday so Comic Book Student was at the comic book store, Whiny Student broke her epidermis, Disappearing Reappearing Student never showed up, Alien Student was at the snack machine, Returning Student was in court for a DUI charge, Mom Student was running a little late, and the Grade Hungry Student stormed out of the room when she received her first critique.

The book will feature 25 student types (a few new student types have been added if you were wondering where the Grade Hungry Student came from) and a 12 page look at each student some 15 years later.

I'll keep you posted on when the book is available.

Coming Soon

Here are some previews from upcoming work I recently did for Highlights for Children and Highlights High Five. The first two are from High Five and should be available in the winter. The first preview is from a "That's Silly!" illustration and the second is part of a surprise that will be included inside the back cover. The rest are from back cover "What's Wrong?" illustrations for Highlights for Children.

The lost mountaineers above are none other than Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first men to climb Mount Everest on May 29,1953.

Pictured above is the dog I grew up with, Tootsie.

The horse in blue is America's favorite horse, Secretariat.

What's Wrong, Street Corner?

This month's Highlights for Children features one of my What's Wrong back covers! I had a lot of fun with this one and hid some pop culture stuff to make it a little more fun for adults who are paying attention. I realize some text/images are so small or so obscure that the only way you'd know is if I told you so here is my answer key below:

Dad.

My Dad taught me to fish like no one's business so don't ask me to teach you because it is none of your business.

Creepy Kid.

My Mother and Father in law own a small mobile home in a trailer park on the Rehoboth Bay in Delaware. While they only use it for vacation purposes there are some that live in the park permanently and I have concluded that those people are from another planet.

Illustration Friday: Trail

In 2002 I hiked alone in Yellowstone National Park which was not recommended in every book I read on the subject. The impression I had going into the park was that at every corner I was going to be beaten by a bear or eaten by a bear. Since I took a lot of precautions I found it to be quite safe. I made this little comic in my sketchbook journal to poke fun at my fear. Sorry about the quality of the scans, I don't have time to rescan the originals.

The following sketches were done while on the trail in Wyoming, Arizona, and Utah. Descriptions are below each sketch.

Taking a nap at the Weaver's Needle. Superstition Mountains, AZ.

Picacho Peak, AZ.

Devil's Tower, WY. The local Indians tie colored ribbons to the trees around Devil's Tower. They also leave unlit cigarettes as offerings (I guess).

Devil's Tower, WY.

Old twisted tree I saw at the base of Devil's Tower.

Grand Tetons, WY.

Bryce Canyon, UT.

Grand Tetons, WY.

Bryce Canyon, UT.