My MacBook: Dead at the Age of Two!

My MacBook went to sleep and never woke up. I dunno why. The Apple Store says it'll need to be sent off for repair, so now I have to make the perpetually annoying technology-related decision to pay a bunch of money to fix an out of production model or just get the newer one. So for the time being, it looks like there won't be any computer generated art to be made or posted.

Happy Holidays

Dog Portrait: Nattie Gann

Did a caricature-ish portrait commission of a dog named Nattie Gann, a funny lil' gal with a lot of energy. The pooch is enjoying her first winter up north here in Cleveland and it sounds like she's adjusting just fine, although I heard her tennis ball froze yesterday while she was trying to play with it. The painting is 5" x 7" watercolor and pencil on illustration board.

Dogs are the greatest invention ever.

Christopher Walken

Christopher Walken! According to IMDB, he always tries to work a jig or dance into his movies. I have noticed he likes to dance...my fav being the Fatboy Slim video for "Weapon of Choice" which this portrait is a reference to. In my opinion one of the most versatile actors out there.   Always plays the convincing creepy guy, unstable guy, funny guy, fatherly guy, etc.  When it comes down to it, isn't that what we all want as artists? Versatility?

"I've got a fever...and the ONLY prescription is more cowbell!"

Secret Santa, Claire, and Bob Ross

Ah, I finally became a Claire Mojher line drawing! My colleague and friend Claire made this for me for a outside-of-work Secret Santa thing here in Cleveland. It is a lil' guy, pen on paper and includes many symbols of my personality. Her work is a combination of elegant linework and charming simplicity so if you're interested, check out her blog by clicking on her name above or in the sidebar of this page.



Since we're on the subject of Claire-related art, I'm posting up this birthday card I made for her back in October at work just for fun. Doing these lil' cards gives me a chance too to experiment with different ways of working, in this case employing a sort-of woodcut print look. But por favor, don't try to understand what is going on in the card, the whole thing is pretty much based on inside jokes and conversations between her and me so I'm quite certain it will seem arbitrary and confusing to most others.


What did I do for the Secret Santa thing? A small caricature of Bob Ross, the well-known, soft-spoken, big-haired painting instructor for Dan Liuzzi, another fellow AG illustrator.   It is executed in watercolor and pencil on watercolor paper.  Click on the pic to see the bigger version of it.  Interested in a little caricature of someone?  

Bush's Iraqi Shoe Incident

So I was watching TV this past Sunday and I saw some great defense in both the NFL...and in Iraq. Hm, never thought I'd use "NFL" and "Iraq" in the same sentence.

Two days ago President Bush had a pair of shoes thrown at him at a press conference. Like everyone else who saw the clip, I was IMPRESSED with Bush's reflexes...wow! He dodged that first shoe like he was boxing on the Wii or something. Iraq's president went on defense though on the second shoe, throwing his hand out in front of Bush to deflect it Obviously he didn't make diving stop as depicted in my drawing but wouldn't that have been much more impressive?

My next thought after watching the clip was, "What was the Secret Service doing???" They didn't show up until well after the second shoe was thrown, and even then they just kinda walked quickly up to the stage looking slightly confused. I think it's safe to say the Secret Service has gotten complacent, which is odd because you'd think they'd be the total opposite of complacent while the Prez is in Iraq during a period of war. But if you can't trust a reporter to not throw his shoe, who can you trust?

The "Ugliest" Survivor Ever

So there I was, working on a sketch of George Bush getting a shoe thrown at him when something else hit me. I usually don't go out of my way to be mean, but watching Corinne on tonight's CBS Survivor finale really irked me.

Yea there's been plenty of mean-spirited comments made at other finalists during the final tribal councils before (the pioneer of such comments being Season One's Sue and her infamous "if you were dying of thirst, I wouldn't give you a drink of water" diatribe) but Corinne's sore loser cheap shot at Sugar's dead pop was way out of the realm of being out of line. EVEN more disturbing was the satisfied look on her face after having having let loose her premeditated spiel as if she had accomplished something. EVEN more disturbing than that was her blase attitude on the live reunion show later when Probst asked if she regretted saying anything. He understands filming is stressful and always gives the contestants on the reunion the chance to apologize, laugh about it, and blame it on the game but she just went on making childish excuses. In fact you could tell Probst himself was appalled even behind those gigantic dimples of his.

People like her use the excuse that "I'm just being myself, I say what's on my mind, that's just how it is" and think that they are coming off as strong, independent minds when in reality they are incredibly insecure pitiful human beings. Even looking at the reference pic to do this sketch really started getting to me.

And that concludes MY diatribe.

Rod Blagojevich Thinks He's An Auctioneer

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich tried to auction off a senate seat to the highest bidder?? Could you imagine the listing and final seller fee if he had listed it on eBay?

When you see this kind of corruption in politics, it makes you think back to "The Dark Knight" and Gotham City and how you wish there really was a Batman to take care of business...

December 14th update - Obviously everyone wants this guy to resign, but he won't. It's like that episode of Seinfeld where George Costanza refuses to leave PlayNow even though everyone there hates him!

NFL Fumbles 150 Employees

Not that there aren't enough indications out there that we are living in tough times, but now the NFL is laying off employees? The NFL is probably the richest sports league in the world!  I understand they're doing this not because they're struggling right now but instead in anticipation for potentially weak sales next year, but it is still just ANOTHER sign of the times.

OJ Simpson and Karma

Looks like OJ will be spending the next nine or so years in prison for something completely unrelated to the double homicide of years ago. Who'da thought? It seems his search for the real killer will be put on hold for the time being. Let's be real though, even though this guy has been "free" for the last thirteen years, he's basically been a social pariah for all of that time and that is no way to live a life.

And for the record, I do believe in karma.

"Australia" King George Sketch

Last night I watched the new Baz Luhrmann movie "Australia" which I thought was very visually stunning. There was this one character, an aboriginal, nicknamed "King George" who just kept popping up everywhere. He was such a unique looking character after the movie I came home and did this quick digital sketch from memory. I hope I got it right.

And if you saw the movie than you probably also noticed how he always stood like this. The movie really gave the illusion of being in a wild, adventurous, colorful world...it was hard to get back outside to mundane snowy Cleveland.

Birthday Illustration for a Friend

Having never received one in her childhood, a friend expressed her desire for an ice cream cake for her birthday, just a slice, with something like a dinosaur on it.

I may have taken that a little too literally in this sketch.

Chen Shui-Bian Arrested Sketch

I know this story is a couple weeks old already, but give a hand to Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-Bian for knowing how to turn a public arrest into an iconic pose for the media.