Coffee Break

I don't drink coffee. I have tried, but I just don't care for the taste of it. Love the aroma, cringe at the flavor. So when I opened a box of biscotti and found a free sample of instant java, I decided to put it to good use. I mixed it up in less than a quarter cup of water so it would be more concentrated, and did the following pieces:

This was actually the last one that I did. I painted him without an underdrawing or photo reference. Just let my imagination take the brush where it wanted. I just mailed it to my sister.

This image of Gandalf was fun. He is more of the stature of a Hobbit. So he's a wizard/Hobbit....a Wobbit. Oh, and I also used a drop or two of Port to add some ruddiness to his face.

After I did the previous Gandalf, I tried another attempt in a slightly different style.

I like drawing gorillas. And I like drawing cowboys. There you go.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I like Thanksgiving. I like the fact that it hasn't been commercialized. I like the fact that though it is religious in nature, it doesn't belong to a particular belief system. Everyone can celebrate. I like that it isn't a political holiday - although it was officially started as an U.S. holiday in Lincoln's presidency, it celebrates a time of piece between British expatriates and the indigenous people of Massachusetts. Yup. everyone can celebrate.

(And, yes, popcorn is historically a Thanksgiving food. It was the first recorded time that Europeans ever had it.)

I hope you have a special weekend.

Elephant Crap

I recently ordered some paper made from pachyderm poop. I am not kidding. There are companies that take elephant dung and recycle it into paper and sell it. The proceeds go to elephant conservation.

It's not a great surface for artwork. Too porous for my taste. But I'm getting used to it. Mostly because I like the idea of sending art to friends and let them know that it before it passed through the postal system, it passed through a sphincter.

The tiger is for a friend that regular sends me Starbucks gift cards, knowing my penchant for Chai. Yup, I barter art for tea.

(Original images are about 4x6")

What is going on here?

Sometimes I put an image on paper and wonder what's going on with the characters. 

This image started out as just the lion with an odd expression. Then I figured he should be looking at something, so I followed his line of sight and realized it had to be something small. So I added the chameleon. But the lizard had to be doing something that the lion was reacting to, so I threw in a couple of props.

Maybe the chameleon is the lion's agent, I don't know.

At any rate, it looks like we caught them at an odd moment.

Happy 25th to us!

My wife and I celebrated 25 years of marriage not long ago. A store-bought card just would not do.