A sibling birthday wound around quickly for another year, along with the need for a fresh idea from previous endeavors.  Shauna has participated in the popular Color Run in the past, so that was the theme I chose for this years' card.  The first creature that came to mind was the Cameleon, which I felt fit in perfectly, their bodies changing like camouflage to blend in with their environment, just as the runners become similarly "indistinguishable" as they pass through the gauntlet of colorful powder splatting their bodies and billowing in the air.  The wet on wet technique of watercolor was the perfect medium to get the effect I wanted.  I wrote a poem on the inside to go along with more splashes of color and happy birthday wishes.

A client wanted a caricature of her friends who live in the US now, but are originally from the Ukraine and love their heritage, so included are a country setting, costumes, beer, and their German Shepherd...done in ink and Prismacolor.

The mood hit to draw some non-commissioned caricatures, so I decided to do a parody of some principle actors in the film "The Expendables".  As most have met or exceeded what is considered their "mature" Hollywood years, I thought it would be fun to depict the action stars as having become a bit creaky with affects and toll exacted upon their bodies after long careers of physicality, the title of course a play on the adult diaper brand Depend.  I wanted to show the difference between the b/w line drawing and the color finish which was done in watercolor.  In case you think my likenesses suck and can't tell who they are: Top row l to r ; Chuck Norris, Dolph Lundgren.  Middle row l to r ; Terry Crews, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis.  Bottom; Randy Couture, Jet Li.

Five years ago, a mother I met while helping out at work parties for my first daughter's Grad Nite at TC High School learned that I did caricatures, and she asked me to do one for her daughter, who was graduating and going on to college at San Jose State.  Her son has now graduated as well, is going to Northern Arizona University, and she desired a caricature for him too.  I asked her if she wanted to see a rough sketch before going to final, or would she just trust me, and bless her heart, she let me do my thing without any input!!  This was a lot of fun...hope they like it.

I received both a voicemail and email on Thursday afternoon from a potential client telling me a caricature artist he had hired weeks earlier and payed half up front to draw his parents had totally flaked on him and was desperate to get them drawn and printed on t-shirts by Saturday for a family cruise on the Disney ship "Magic" to Spain.  I agreed to help him in his time of need, but he was at work and didn't get pictures emailed until after midnight.

 A rough drawing was sent Friday mid morning and while waiting for a response,  I decided to go to the gym for a workout, arriving back home around mid afternoon.  I had mistakenly drawn them facing the wrong direction, as he wanted to mimic a Mickey and Minnie Mouse design.  He also had few other suggestions and modifications for the final.  I flipped the drawing in Photoshop and made the decision to do the finish digitally with my Wacom tablet.  What a mistake!!!  First of all, when a drawing is reversed, it doesn't quite translate properly and changes need to be made, the most telling being the redirection of the mother's hairstyle and subtle adjustments to the facial structures.

I had such a hard time controlling what I wanted to accomplish with the digital pen, especially the line quality, direction and flow on the slick surface of the tablet while gazing at the results on the computer monitor.  The eraser tool was easiest for me to command and it was called to service A LOT!!

Since I had promised he would have a completed drawing by Saturday morning, with much aggravation and exhaustion I worked through the night drawing, erasing, redrawing, erasing ad nauseam trying to get it right, and I finally added the final touches bleary eyed around 8 am.  I was tempted to take a break before completion, but I had a gig at two Saturday afternoon, and was afraid I wouldn't have the time or energy to get it done before needing to leave, so I bit the bullet and plowed through till done.  The client said I was a lifesaver, and the final was fantastic, so at least he was happy!

After a short nap I drove to my birthday party gig and made 3 times more money in 2 hours than the approximately 14 total hours toiling on this one drawing.  "Perfectionism" (and bad decisions) can be a mighty curse sometimes.

My mother turns 78 this week.  She has always loved to sing and perform, so I decided to focus on her talent for music, and the thought of a songbird came to mind.  Though I enjoy cartooning, I wanted this time to approach the task in a more painterly, slightly more realistic direction with the bird and surrounding decor.  My desire was to make the lettering represent the look of notes on clef bars.  The bottom painting is a flower added to the inside of the card as a little bonus and having fun with watercolor.  I'm betting the note added inside combined with the artwork will bring a little tear to moms eye.  It doesn't take much now days to get the waterworks flowing. :)

It's hard to believe my friend Kenny and his buddies have been doing this event for 28 years!  Each season they travel to different locations, and a new design is commemorated on t-shirts.  I was commissioned years 5 through 7, cartoony versions of their drunken antics combined with golf.  They went a different direction for the ensuing years until this one when Kenny asked me again.  Though I love to do cartoons, I decided to try a more serious design like approach and practice my pathetic Photoshop/Illustrator skills.  It took me an eternity to accomplish, but after all my plodding, cursing, trial and error, I did learn some new techniques and like how the finish turned out.