Bird On Duty Continued

I'm still working on finishing up the request for an image to be used on a coin for the Pelican Bay Correctional Officers (Prison Guards). You can check out an earlier version on my May 12th post. This is like the third rendition. I am hoping that their happy with this one. I haven't heard back from my friend, the guard, yet. So, well see.

Tomorrow I'm headed out on my annual three day motorcycle ride. This is a photo from last year's ride.

I'm looking forward to stopping in at the De Poe Bay Candy Shop to collect my "payment" for the Bee Spit Candy drawing that I did. I don't have to even ask what my wife wants. Anything with chocolate and nuts is always top on her list.

There are 10 riders and two young men going with us. Pray that we will have a safe journey.

Bee Spit Candy

I was away from my com- puter for a few days, helping out at a child- ren's camp. While there I reacquainted myself with the owner of a candy shop in De Poe Bay, Oregon—Teri Ann. She told me about a time when a customer was agitate about a bee that was hanging around the caramel corn in her shop. The customer seemed disturbed that she was not as concerned as he was about the bee's presence in her shop. She told him that it was no big deal, after all, she said, we eat their spit. (aka: Honey)

I said she should call her candy shop, Bee Spit Candy, and of course, I got an idea for a doodle and had to put it on paper.

Teri Ann was very excited when I showed her what I was drawing. When I was done she said that she was going to use it to start a whole line of candy made from honey. I told her that I was going to be going through De Poe Bay next Wednesday and asked her if the drawing was worth some free candy to her. She said, "Of course." So, next week I'm going on my annual three day motorcycle ride, and I'm going to make 10 guys on their bikes stop while I settle up with her for some free candy. I asked her if she had anything with chocolate and nuts. She recited off a long list of items I could choose from. I hope she REALLY appreciates the drawing.

She didn't see the color version of this drawing. I colored in my computer after I got home.

Life is Intense

It's easy to get out of rhythm with this blog thing. I didn't realize until yesterday that I should have put a 4th of July doodle together. I tried to put something together quickly, scanned it, but I don't know what happened to it.

Anyways, Happy 4th people.

I did do this little doodle while I was sitting at the table with my wife and daughter the other day. I thought you might like to see it. Copy & Share If You Dare.

Polly's Pal, Pup & Pachyderm.

Polly wanted an illustration of her husband.  He is an avid Alabama fan—the Crimson Tide.  I suggested an illustration of him enjoying a game with a Crimson Tide elephant.  (Someone please tell what a Crimson Tide has to do with elephants.)  She requested that their pup, Brinkley be included in the drawing.  "No problem," I says.  And away I went.

I think this was the longest time I've been away from my blog without a traveling excuse. The loss of my computer really threw me off my game. I will be getting back into regular posting. I will HAVE TO because I have a number of request pending that I need to get done.

I appreciate your patience and the visits to this bit of insanity on the internet.

God speed.

New Computer Arrived

Sorry that I have been absent from this blog for the past several days. My new laptop arrived in the mail yesterday. (yippie!!) I'm going to get some of the files transferred off the old hard drive onto the new comptuer today. I'll be VERY glad when that finally happens. It's been a long time in coming and there's some stuff on there that I've been needing very badly. I'm falling behind on my caricature requests. I'm going to have to remember to backup my files more frequently.

In the meantime, this is an update on my attempt at creating a children's book for publication. The pen work on Sully the skunk and on the background for page one is done. My plan is to do the color work on the computer. My daughter's boyfriend gave me a few tips on Photoshop while he was here. One click of the mouse openned up a whole new world in Photoshop for me.

Thanks for sticking with me during what turned out to be Black June for me. Computers!! Alas!! You can't live with them and you can't live with them. (Is that how that saying goes?)

Computer On Strike

My laptop is having "issues" at the moment and so I'm working with borrowed computers. It may be a bit before I can get another post up. Silly me, I purchased some new RAM in order to try and make the thing work faster, but apparently it didn't like what I was feeding it and decided to go on strike.

I REALLY need to get it working. All my stuff is on there. I have some things backed up, but not enough of it—you know the story.

So stay "tooned" to read the further adventures of Rick and his laptop. (First time I ever had just a straight text post on my blog.)

Elementary My Dear Principle

Mr. Town is the principle of the Pinewood Community School. Kathy, the school's Instructional Assistant, contacted me about creating a caricature of him to be presented as an end of the school year gift.

She wrote me and said, "He does this funny thing on our morning televised news program where he is 'Mr. Town, Defective Detective'. He plays a kazoo and uses a magnifying glass (much like Sherlock Holmes-type guy)."

So, once again, I went to the internet for artistic direction. This time it was the hunt for images of Sherlock Holmes. (Elementary ain't it?)

Mr. Town, I learned was also a bee keeper, and a Minnesota Twins fan. Thus the bees and the baseball pennant.

This is the finished product. What do you think, my dear Watson?

School's out. I hadn't heard what Mr. Town's response was, but I figure this being summer and all, he's probably a happy little principle either way.

Update: I received an e-mail from Sherlock Mr. Town himself this morning. He said, "Hey Rick, Loved the picture. It will be hanging in a place of honor in my office. My wife thought it looked just like me. I do work in the best elementary in the world. If you are ever out here stop in. Have a great summer! Sincerely, Cris"

Thank you for those kind words Mr. Town. Maybe I should take this opportunity to go back to grade school and do a better job.

The Youngest Graduates

I warned you that there would be photos. But what's a proud Dad to do? I got to share...

The day before the graduation we had a reception to honor Marla's, our youngest daughter, graduation. Her two sisters, plus her brother-in-law, and her sister's-boyfriend-in-law flew in from Oklahoma. This is the whole gang getting things ready in the kitchen. I really like this photo,

We made a display of memorabilia and photos of Marla. That's pretty much her whole life on that display—18 years worth.

Just like her sisters, she got a computer for graduation from her parents. Only this time we went Mac.

Her aunt gave her a cake with 100, one dollar bills individually wrapped in foil baked inside. There was a card with a pair of rubber gloves inside. It wasn't hard to figure out what she had to do with the gloves.

The day of commencement. Here's our little graduate posing by some of the flowers in our yard. They always bloom just in time for H.S. graduation.

Walking in with her BFF, Adrianne.

She and BFF got to introduce the foreign exchange students at the ceremony.

The moment we were waiting for!

Silly String, a high school tradition at graduation.

Sisters

The graduate with her proud parents.

Next year she's off to college in Idaho. Boy, am I ever going to miss teasing that girl. My poor wife, she's going to get all my "special" attention directed towards her. We're going on an extended trip in the fall. I am really looking forward to that.

Outside The Box

Some- times an idea comes to mind and I just have to stop and drawing it—no matter how busy I am.

We've been getting ready for the reception of our daughter's high school graduation today. We were up late getting a display of photos and memorabilia together. Then the other two daughters arrived, plus SIL, PLUS boyfriend! (What can I say?) The commencement is tomorrow. There will probably be photos.

I had a ton of stuff to get done, but this doodle came to mind and I just had to doodle it. It's what I do.

Have you been thinking outside the box lately? Then clean up the mess you left behind and then Copy & Share If You Dare.

Blog For Food

During these tough economic times it's amazing the depths to which some people will go in order to survive. Here's an example of one poor soul. Can you identify?

I've not been able to post as often as I normally do because our days have been filled with preparation for the graduation our of youngest on Saturday, and for the ensuing company that will be arriving.

The Mrs. had me working hard yesterday. I nearly wore my poor little artistic fingers to the bone weed-eating the hill side behind our home. (boo hoo)

I actually have two caricatures waiting in the wings for posting. One I'm still waiting for approval on. Another that I'm waiting on payment for. Stay "tooned" for more.

In them mean time... Copy & Share If You Dare... you poor soul, you.

Dog Fight

Candi contacted me about creating an illustration of her husband for their 34th wedding anniversary on May 31st.


She wrote me and said... "I would like you to do a drawing for me if possible. I know you hate drawing machines, but this one would have to have an airplane in it—a 45 year old Beechcraft Bonanza P-35."

Well, yes, I don't like drawing machines, but I like helping a couple of love birds celebrate their special day. I suggested the idea of sitting her hubby up in a desperate dog fight with the infamous Red Baron. I had fun searching the internet for images of the plane of the famed Germany pilot. There were even a few Snoopy pics that came up in the search.

I found this illustration of a dog fight and I really liked the clouds, so I decided to try and mimic them in my illustration.

Here's what I put together. Candi liked it. She said, " I received the drawing today and it’s perfect. My daughters also think it’s great (I emailed them the copy you sent me), and I’m sure my husband will love it. I’m going to try to get it framed before Sunday, but if I don’t, I’ll give it to him as is and frame it later. You really did a fantastic job. Thank you so much."

That's the kind of report I love to read! Reading things like "Perfect", "fantastic job" help this poor tender ego of mine. Mark Twain once said, "I can live for two months on a good compliment." Unfortunately for me I can only make it to the next day on a good one. I'm constantly needing image support.

Thank you Candi for your kind words, and for trusting me to help celebrate your anniversary. Congratulations on 34 years of marriage. Call me again when you make 68, and in the mean time, keep an eye on the sky!

I Love a Parade

No doodle today. I'm waiting on payment for one and approval on another. Then I'll be right back at it drawing another one that has a deadline coming up quick. Then I still have several other requests to get done. So, instead of a doodle, here are a few photos from last weekend.

The Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend is always the Azalea Festival in our town. The last three years our church has hostess a motorcycle show & shine. We sell grilled chicken dinners to raise money to send children to summer camp. I don't know how much money we make, but we have a lot of fun.

Some of the guys in the church, plus a few others that joined us, rode our bikes in the town parade. We advertise the show & shine with a sign on a vehicle while we ride.

Several friends have been kind enough to send me some photos they took of the riders and I in the parade. My friend Chuck took this one. Wouldn't you hate to meet him in a dark alley?

After the parade, we rush back to the church and let the fun begin. We had live music going while the people ate their dinners.


We had around 60 bikes there. We severed approximately 180 dinners. Lots of fun.

One gentleman had this Harley for sell—a sweet bike. Just $20,000 and this ride could be mine.

In other news: Thandi, my new South African friend, honored me with this "Kreativ Blog" award. Thank you very much Thandi. I guess it sounds a bit brag-ish to say that I've been given this award before. Still, I'm honored and appreciative that anyone calls me "Kreativ." Is that better than being "creative?"

Thanks Thandi for honoring me. I've never had a friend in South Africa before. Ain't that something?

Pomp and Circumstance

This doodle is probably a little late for many of you that might have wanted to use it. I've seen a number of post which included photos and stories about graduating relatives.

We have one tossing the tassel very soon. Our youngest is graduating high school in a couple of weeks.

This is Miss Pomp & Circumstance modeling her prom dress. Ain't she purtty? She plans to head off to college in the fall.

So, maybe you're finally walking across the stage, or someone you love has has completed their egg-u-ca-sun. If so, go ahead and Copy & Share If You Dare.

Hippo-tize

I'm not sure where this one came from, or what it could be used for, but it came to mind and I had to get it down on paper.

Now I'm sharing it with you. You got a place to use this one? Go ahead then, Copy & Share If You Dare.

Let the doodle love roll!!

Sully

I finally did some work the other day on the first page of the children's book that I have a dream of someday publishing.

I may be getting the "cart before the horse." Perhaps I should write the story before illustrating it, but I've actually told the story so many times to groups of children that I have it pretty well figured out in my head.

The story is about Sully, a skunk, that is not happy being a skunk (Would you be?). Instead, Sully wants to be a rabbit, and the rabbits help him do it.

I've drawn this little fellow a hundred different ways. I am pretty pleased with this version. What do you think?

(Not a Copy & Share illustration)

We Have Lift Off!!

This is the follow-up attempt at creating a caricature for Katrina's parents. I am pleased to report that this version met with their approval.

Please scroll down to May 8th to make a comparison between the two caricatures. I think that you can see that I took a more "comedic" approach with this one. I feel much better knowing that Mom was pleased with the results.

Each doodle ends up being just a bit different. I never know how they will turn out. I think I like my sunset better in this one.

I really don't know if this is suppose to be a surprise gift for Dad, or if they just wanted a doodle. Either way, I can now rest easy knowing that I have another happy customer.

I'm trying really hard to keep my reputation in tack. (No comments please about the possibility of that happening.)

I'm now on to yet another doodle. Stay "tooned" to see what these little fingers of mine conjure up.

Bird On Duty

This request was for something different. The California Pelican Bay State prison is not far from where I live. So, I know a number of the people that work there. One of the guards asked me about helping creating an image for them to be used on a commemorative coin that they wanted to create—something they could use to award personnel for a job well done.

(Considering my proximity to the prison, I am hoping that includes keeping the residents within their facilities.)

This is the first version. They liked it, but made a few request for changes. Hopefully I can make the changes and get paid.

This is the Photoshopped colored version of the artwork. Stay tooned for an update.

I Still Choose You

Happy Mother's Day to you all.

This is a little doodle I threw together the other night while watching a little bit of television. I kind of like how it turned out.

I'm dedicating this to the mother of my girls—my wife, Marylynn. After almost 30 years of marriage (June 9th) I would still choose her, if I had to do it all over again.

So, perhaps this little gentleman is me in another 30 years or so. I'll be saying the same thing, I choose you; plus... "Have you seen my hearing aids?"

Copy & Share If You Dare.

(My Mother's Day doodle is posted below on May 4th.)

Another Reject

It is very important to me that my customers are satisfied with the art that I create for them. I want them to be able to look at it and enjoy their doodle always.

As I have shared in the past, occasionally I do get a less than favorable response regarding a piece. Here is another example of that.

Earlier I created a cari- cature of Katrina and her husband. That one "passed the mustard." After showing this attempt to Katrina and her mom, this one "died in the ketchup."

The concept is a road trip with their camper trailer to Hawaii—a fairly impossible scenario that Katrina's parents would love to play out.

I am now working on a second attempt. I have prior approval on the pen work from mom and daughter. So, stay "tooned" to see how I redeem myself and pull this one off.

Bob the Principal

Here's the final results on the illustration of Bob the Principal that I've been giving you a sneak peek of.

(Take a look at some of the previous post to see this doodle in progress.)

Now you can also see Bob himself and make comparison to my version of the man. He looks to be a nice enough fellow. I think that I would trust him with my kids.

As I stated before, at one time Bob was going to retire this year, and this was going to be a retirement gift. But, apparently he's had a change of heart and decided to stick around a while.

I think that when it comes for my time to retire (when I can actually afford the life of luxury that I've now come to expect) I'll be happy to do so. How about you?

This doodle is now destined to be a birthday gift for Bob come May 26th. In the mean time you can check out some of Terri's excellent looking recipes on a blog that would make a man trying to lose weight cry. (snif, snif) She's a principal too, so no running in the hallways over there.

Thanks Terri for choosing (use to be) little 'o me to help celebrate your husband's (now not) retirement. I'll look forward to hearing about his response. Please send photos.

Happy Mother's Day

I'm still waiting for approval on the Sneak Peek illustra- tion that I've been posting. I'll post the final version after I receive payment.

In the mean time, here is a doodle that some of you might want to Copy & Share If You Dare. I wanted to get it out early enough because I know that some of you like to plan ahead.

God bless you mothers. My Mom and Dad brought six of us into the world. While I thought that perhaps they should have stopped at three (my sister reads this blog), I never felt ignored or unloved. So this little doodle is dedicated to my mom.

I love you Mom, and... um... sorry about that window.

Sneak Peek 4

Here is a look at more of the color work that I've com- pleted on the illustra- tion of Bob the Principle. I've actually finished it, but I need to make a decent copy of the finished product to send to Terri for her approval. If you've followed the comments on the previous sneak peek post you've perhaps saw that Terri was pleased with what she's seen so far. That's good—really good.

I was surprised to learn that this is no longer a retirement gift. Apparently Bob has decided to not retire. So, I guess this is almost retirement gift.

Stay tooned for more.

Sneak Peek 3

I started on the coloring last night (Thurs- day night). I always have to start in the top left corner and work my way across and down. That way I don't smear the ink and pencil marks as I work on it.

The face, of course, is the most important part and takes the greatest amount of time. I think I've gotten better at these faces since I've really got into doing these caricatures these past two years. My opinion is that this one is coming out pretty good.

This is a photograph of the illustration and so, after fiddling with it in my computer, the colors are still not quite right. It will look better when I actually get a scan done.

Sneak Peek 2

Here's the pen work on the afore men- tioned retiring prin- ciple's illustra- tion. I need to do a little more work on it, but for the most part this stage of the drawing is done.

I always feel better when I get this part completed and I'm happy with it. The color makes it come to life, but if I think the caricature looks good at this point then I'm happy.

Of course the final test comes when I hear back from the client after they see the final product. I'm learning more and more that there are no guarantees in the world of cartooning.

Stay "tooned" for more.

A Sneak Peek

I decided to do some- thing different and give you a sneak peek of a carica- ture that I am working on. This is for Terri's husband Bob who will be retiring from being a school principle after 15 years of service.

We decided on a concept which depicts Bob as an old time principle sitting at a roll top desk. This is the pencil sketch. The next step is the pen work. After that the color pencil.

So stay "tooned" to see how it will turn out.

And here is a photo of my youngest laying on the couch while using her itouch to explore the internet. She's too cool for school. I just thought I would throw this in for fun.

Snail Mail

I was in yet another meeting last Friday (a meeting I just as soon forget about - but that's another story) and so I was presented with yet another opportunity to get some doodling done.

Sometime during the meeting somebody said something about "snail mail" and I figured I would put it done in pen. Yesterday I "Googled" "snail mail" and saw I wasn't the first person to illustrate the concept, but of all the illustrations I saw I was the only one who ended up creating a sad looking character. All the other ideas were ones of happy little snails, gladly carrying out their postal duty. I think they got it all wrong. The problem with snail mail is that it moves at a snail's pace.

This guy is probably carrying that check you've been expecting to get in the mail. Isn't that the way it always goes? The bills come at lightning speed. Whereas checks take an eeeeeteeeerniiityyyy to arrive!!!!

Copy & Share If You Dare, but get it done quickly. These kinds of opportunities don't come around very often you know.

Blue Sky

I've been in Portland for the last few days for a meeting. I dug back into an old file to find this little doodle that I drew for our local paper a few years ago.

If you've ever lived in the NW you can appreciate this one. I have seen it rain for two weeks straight here before. That's the price you pay for all the lush, green views that surround us. I just keep telling myself that if it didn't rain, and was always sunny, we would look like the California desert - UGLY!!

Maybe you've had a string of bad weather lately and the sun has finally broken through. If so, break out the sun glasses and... Copy & Share If You Dare.

Do You Believe In Magic

This is a doodle that I'm not too proud of. I drew it sometime ago and have been hanging on to it. I'm running low on material to post at the moment and so I found myself forced to post this one. I call it "Magic." The little fire ball is suppose to represent magic of some sort. Got it?

To tell you the truth, I don't even know if Eggy made it into this illustration. So maybe you want to save yourself the trouble of looking.

One of the reasons I'm short on doodles is that I had another rejection on a caricature. I almost posted the rejected drawing with the idea of doing a follow up on my second attempt. But I decided that I would wait.

Also...

I got this photo from Andi the other day. It is of her daughter, Arielle, holding her copy of Doodlenormous. Doesn't she look happy? Andi said that she "loved seeing the Doodle of Eggy's," but they could only find 7 of the 13 hidden in the illustration. So, I sent her a cheat sheet to help.

If you've considered purchasing a copy of Doodlenormous now is the time to buy, because, well, my youngest is graduating from High School soon and I'm trying to save up to purchase her a laptop as a gift. Isn't that reason enough?

The instructions are on the right side bar. Go ahead. Make my day.

Your Insult For The Day

I just started doodling Sunday evening and this is what came out. I decided to use it to warm your heart with a little insult. I figured you were due. I could have said, "I think HES got a charle horse on the brain, but I wanted to make it a little more personal.

Maybe you know of someone that could use a good insult (or two) today. Go ahead. Be my guest. Spread the love around. Copy & Share If You Dare.

And have a nice day.

Earth Day

I admit, I'm always looking for a way to get my blog's name out there. I noticed that Earth Day is coming up soon, and I thought that some of you might want to have a little doodle to commemorate it on your blog.

So, here's a Copy & Share If You Dare doodle for your blogging pleasure. All I ask for is a heads up if you do. (I don't even require a link back, as so many of you are kind to do.)

I like the earth. It's the only planet I've ever lived on. You too perhaps? So, we should celebrate it. How about all of us going out on April 22 and kissing a patch of dirt. Be sure to brush your teeth. I figure mother earth wouldn't appreciate being loved up with a halitoses breath.

Exploring Makayla

Leighann's daughter, Makayla is having a birthday soon. Her mommy and daddy wanted something for a party invitation. Makayla wanted a "Dora the Explorer" birthday. Leighann asked me to draw an illustration that had the both of them exploring together. She was a bit worried about copy right issues. I figured that (and hoped) that Dora wouldn't come exploring for me with her legal representation.

Leighann sent me this photo of her daughter. She's an adorable child and I wanted to get it right for her. This is want I came up with. (Sorry - eggless)

Unfortunately, this was the response I got from Leighann...

"Rick, I have to be honest, I like the drawing itself, but I don't think the face looks anything like Makayla."

I hate to admit it, but I feared that could be her response. I worked very hard to try and capture her face, but I wasn't sure that I had actually captured it. So, I wasn't totally surprised by her reaction.

I asked her if I could get some different photos for a second attempt. Sometimes getting just the right photo helps a lot. She kindly sent me several and this shot was among them.



Despite the fact that I had prac- tically "Dora" myself silly with the first one, I went back to work on a second caricature.

This is my second attempt. Leighann's response was totally different (thank the Lord)...

"LOVE IT! You picked a good photo to go by. I love the bracelet you put on her! We are having the kids make thier own "Dora bracelet" at the party... so that is really cool!"

That was the response I was looking for. Another happy customer.

Thanks Leighann for choosing me to help celebrate your daughter. She looks like a precious child. Give my birthday wishes to her. I hope that she likes it.