The Ice Cream Man still comes around in our neighborhood. I love that because it reminds me of my childhood and how excited my brothers and I were when we heard the Ice Cream Man music on the next block. Now I get to see that same excitement on our kids' faces.
Here's a sketch for a series I am excited about working on - based loosely on that idea. The entire batch of work will be completed in early 2012.
Funny how one sentence can launch so many ships. Our son, Cam, said that to me more than a year ago. I agreed right away but it took months before we actually started to build it.
Cam (age 12) did most of the work. He measured. He drilled. He cut. I was the guy who held the boards that he cut and then counted his fingers afterwards. Our initial plans called for a much bigger raft but as our plan got more detailed we realized we would need to build a raft small enough so that we could carry it on top of our van. A four person raft became a two person raft. Two things we insisted on: we wanted to use recyclable, plastic bottles to help float the raft and that her maiden voyage be on a river. One more thing - our raft needed a name. Cam named her "The Moist Sandwich".
We completed the raft a few weeks ago and finally put her in the river this weekend. It was good to get far away from the studio and get muddy and wet.
"If you build it you will get wet"
Cam and I add the recyclable, plastic bottles in the compartments we made under the raft.
While my wife was out of town the kids and I scouted near and far for a place to float our raft. The Salt River seemed perfect. In a couple of weeks we'll be on the water.
It floats! We picked an overcast day to float the raft but it all turned out the same - a wet, muddy success.
Good-bye civilization. From now on we live off our mountain man wits! In other words, we'll be back soon.
Everybody gets a turn. Rosie, Lisa and old man river.
In 373 B.C., all animals - including rats, snakes and weasels - began deserting Helice, Greece. Five days later a massive earthquake destroyed the city.
In 1975, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake devastated Hiacheng, China. One million people had already been evacuated because of the animals' strange behavior.
In 1989, after making a sandwich, Jim Paillot is tripped by his black lab puppy and both the puppy and the dalmatian he lives with alertly grab parts of the sandwich Jim drops and greedily devours the lunch he had just made. Jim slept fitfully that night.
Coincidences? Not likely. Some scientists think that electromagnetic field changes and low-frequency sounds alert animals to oncoming natural disasters. Birds try to carry eggs from their nests, cats hide and jump out of windows, dogs whine, bark and howl and zoo animals rush into shelters and refuse to leave. Bats fly frantically, rats act disoriented, catfish move violently and monkeys hit children with long sticks. I just made that up about the monkeys. But since they are unpredictable by nature I would recommend you keep long sticks away from monkeys as a general rule.
This artwork was created for Boy's Life Magazine to accompany an article' "Quaking With Fear" by Bill Vossler.
Here's the initial sketch for the article. The art director and I agreed to emphasize the toga pug for the final art.
You want to know who gets along with everyone? Mr. Rogers. He's got on a sweater, comfortable shoes and a snappy haircut. Mr. Rogers did his best to teach us how to be nice to each other. I miss Mr. Rogers.
There has been a disturbing trend in the last few years to organize neighborhood fights. The fights usually happen at a predetermined park or backyard. Bring some beer, chips, the in-laws and the kids and if it all goes down as planned then it gets posted on YouTube. It's just like the movie, Fight Club, but without the payroll, insurance, clever dialogue or pesky rehearsal time. This is real stuff.
I have been working on a series of personal pieces and this piece, "Backyard Bar-B-Q" explores that topic.
Here are three color sketches I did before the final. My original plan was to go mondo color on this one but I changed my mind and went with a more limited palette.
