Bloomsburg

We had a great time in Bloomsburg. Good short show, good people, great little town (the only town in PA to be precise).

Rich & Amy in Rich's Jeep. Yaaay!

Yes, I draw from photos. Yes, I draw dogs.

I also draw men in tutus.

Sometimes I draw kids who don't smile playing rock band.

I draw people drinking beer after a 4-wheeler ride through coal fields.
I draw kids on go-carts.
I even draw key ninjas. Yes, this kid really really loved locks and keys. So this is what I came up with.

Last but not least, I draw this guy too. This guy reenacts civil war battles and was interesting to talk to, even if we was just listening to Rush on his headphones at a fair. This sketch makes good evidence for the argument that I draw portraits.
I DRAW!

Some more photos, this time from THE GREAT NEW YORK STATE FAIR....
This kid liked to cook. I asked him what he liked to cook and he said: "I dunno." Note the mouse.

Our first sketch of the day was usually a mentally/physically challenged person with a helper wheeling them around. It just became routine - the people were always nice.
This girl really really really loved pigs. Her and her mom really really really loved the sketch.
When asked what body they would like their kids in their parents said: "They like to go swimming." The multiple swimming sketch can be a baffler to caricaturists. I was proud of how well this one came out - and quick!
Even though it's blurry this was one of my favorite body/situations, they wanted tennis and basketball. They loved it and bought a mat, their friends were rolling because it looked just like them.
These guys own a farm and so naturally I drew them tractor racing each other. The woman always wins.
This kid wanted to be drawn "in baseball" as a pitcher, specifically. When prodded, he neither played, watched, or cared anything about baseball and it's a mystery why he wanted it, but he and his parents loved it, bought a mat and gave a tip.
This was a demo drawing of a kid I couldnm't resist drawing when he walked by.
I colored the sketch when he left and later in the day his parents came back and bought it.
I like this likeness.

Parents, please, please, please do not ask your caricature artist to put names on the sketch. I hate doing this but this parent was insistent so I caved. (And got paid.)

Caricature Circuit

So, pictures from the road. I'm posting for two purposes: to begin charting my progress in caricatures and to let you know what I'm doing. This will also be a test of how many pictures I'm able to upload in one post.....along these lines, feel free to post feedback, especially if you think your criticism might be helpful. Click on any image to make it larger. I'm working on the file size so it might be awkward the first time...








I hate the golf sketch......

Ain't Lion

here's a photo of a painting (and a closeup of the painting) I did for my nephew - back when he had his first birthday last September (he's almost 2 now!). You may be asking: nice painting, but why in the world did you paint a painting for your nephew's first birthday - not your typical gift. You're right. The backstory goes something like this...
In 2005 I had the chance to go to Kenya with my brother and his wife, her parents (medical missionaries) and about 15 other people I hadn't met before. Most were nurses or missionaries, etc, and then there was me, this random guy with a camera and a keen interest in helping people. I don't have time to tell the whole story, but I got to go on safari and around sunset we happened to crawl up on this young male lion resting in the middle of a savanna. I clicked several sweaty-fingered pictures on my Nikon FM-10, capturing some decent slides.
FF to September of 2006, when this little miracle boy known as Christopher Didyk comes bursting out of the womb in Lexington, KY.
This story is getting too long.
Ok, my sister-in-law, then--my brother's wife Rachel (Christopher's mom) wanted me to do a mural of an African scene for the baby's room. And, well, in the middle of a kajillion other projects I just didn't get it done on time, and Christopher was early--like scary early. Also, once this little kid was healthy the parents decide to up and move to Johnson City! Hey it was a good move, and means they're all a lot closer for me to visit, but then I didn't know how big of a wall I would be dealing with/what size canvas I needed to prepare, etc. So by the time his first birthday rolled around, I spent an evening, about four hours, creating this acrylic painting from my photograph. I really liked the process of doing a painting of my own slide--would be fun to do more of these--and I think it will be a cool thing for Christopher to dig up when he's a little older.

Some Recent Play

So....it's been a while.
I thought I'd make at least a stab at updating my sketchblog, in hopes that that I might do this more regularly and be encouraged to continue to play and practice at making artwork. Also, a really good friend is about to head back to China with his wife and newborn daughter, and he was wondering if I still posted things. Chad, this one's for you....
OK so about the work itself I will make no apologies! I will however say that I'm very sloppy with the camera I have. It is a point-and-shoot digital graciously given to me by friends. I really hope to get a Nikon D40 to add to me lonely 24x120 Nikkor lens, but for now, this is.....enough. And I am thankful. At least taking these photos is a gentle step in the right direction, away from one of the real regrets of the past few years: not taking enough photos of stuff I've done/been involved in doing.
So I've been playing...the first two pieces done only with leftover paint from around-the-house type color matching jobs. Thus the odd palette.

Here's a sort of ode to the American flag (with a really unintentional biker face). I had, well...red, white, and two shades of blue for a tile repair touch-up. This was fun, complete with toothbrush-spatterings, abstract ripped flag-like effects and faux gunshot wound. I completed it in less than an hour so let's really play up the fact that I'm an amateur with some nice comments......

COOL blood-spatter EFFECTS!

SWEET bloody drip effect. YES.
AWESOME gunshot wound. Isn't this ironic? A GUNSHOT wound on the FLAG? ARTISTIC CHAOS!!!
Hey at least I didn't waste any paint....


Self-portrait done with leftover paint from a colormatch on a damaged wooden frame in our bathroom. I had 30 minutes to do this sketch in-between patching said frame and suiting up and heading out to Starbucks for a shift. I'd like to do more of these, it's good practice.
Last but not least, a shot of my addition to a sibling project for my mom last Christmas. She wanted an image depicting the sun from each of us - no other direction was given. This is what I came up with. (pardon the annoying flashbulb). The size is about 3x5 inches.
There you have it, an update. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! Hope you enjoy, leave a comment if you feel so led. Thanks!

Lady Lizerdy

Here's a ceiling tile I spray-painted for I love NY Pizza, a great little place in town. In the words of a friend it's a little 'melodramatic,' but I love that face and wanted to finish this thing and get it out of the house. The original surface was too shabby to paint on so I just cut a piece of sheet rock to size and used vellum to mask the different areas of the painting. It was fun, overall I really liked masking and painting and hope to do more of this kind of stuff.
Close up of tattoo. Of course I had a better idea after I finished it. Oh well.

Banksi

Banksi--what a brilliant artist! Thanks for the intro Ruben.