Garbage, Garbage, Garbage!

• Losing faith in yourself...garbage.

• Throwing in the towel...garbage.

• Believing anyone who tells you that you can't make it...garbage.

• Failing to recognize your strengths (even in the face of your faults)...garbage.

• Ignoring your faults when fixing them could improve your life...garbage.

• Settling for a life smaller than the one you've imagined for yourself...garbage.

• Putting your life's passion on the sidelines for any reason whatsoever...garbage.

• Allowing fear to be your guiding principle...garbage.

• Believing that your value as a person is defined by the balance of your bank account...garbage.

• Cashing in your happiness for someone else's...garbage.

• Throwing out the baby with the bathwater...garbage.

• Looking in the mirror and seeing someone who "could have" but never did...garbage.

• Believing that it's too late...garbage.

• Believing that you're not fast enough, tall enough, rich enough, fit enough, good enough (whatever)...garbage.

• Believing that a negative attitude is "realistic" and that a positive one is "irresponsible"...garbage.

• Living a life of quiet desperation...garbage.

• Suffering in silence...garbage.

• Shutting your mouth when you are dying inside...garbage.

• Changing your opinion because it's unpopular...garbage.

• Judging your own life by comparing it to others...garbage.

• Judging someone else's life by comparing it to others or your own...garbage.

• Judging...garbage.

• Forgetting for even the slightest instant that you are the single most magnificent version of you that could ever be and that your very existence entitles you to your own growth, love and passions in whatever time you see fit...garbage.

Stand tall my dear friend and love yourself enough to prove it.


And that's my truth.

Spooky Story

Remember staying up past your bedtime with a flashlight and a book?
Well this little guy is doing exactly that and reading a rather spooky tale. The only trouble is that this time the danger is real...
I drew this by hand and colored it in Adobe Illustrator.

Enjoy!

And that's my truth.

Bumble Bee

Here's a fun little illustration inspired by real life.
My sweetie (Lauren) and I went to visit her family in Indiana for thanksgiving last year. While we were there her older brother showed us a very cute picture of his 2 year old son dressed up like a bumble bee. It was a perfect idea for an illustration so I filed that idea away and now I've finally gotten around to it!
I drew this by hand and colored it in Adobe Illustrator.

Enjoy!

And that's my truth.

Pirate Parade!

Here's the latest!
I had great fun working on this one. I'm a big fan of pirates (since before those popular movies) and pirate illustration. N.C. Wyeth's series of illustrations for Treasure Island are among the all time greatest illustrations of the genre in my opinion. Howard Pyle and Dean Cornwell also contributed some timeless treasures to pirate illustration.
I certainly don't pretend to join those ranks with this cute little effort but I was certainly inspired by a love of pirates and the giants of American Illustration.

And that's my truth.

Jury Duty Sketches day 3 & DEAN CORNWELL!!!

Well, unless you're a die-hard student of figure drawing or illustration you may never have heard of Dean Cornwell. A contemporary of Norman Rockwell's, Dean was also known as "The Dean of Illustrators". Now that's quite a title in a time before television when illustration was king and illustrators were literally treated like today's movie stars.

But Dean was more than just an illustrator, he was also an extraordinary mural artist. He completed a series of murals for the Los Angeles Public Library's central branch in downtown Los Angeles in 1933. Today for the very first time I saw those murals. I was astonished and absolutely in awe. I went to see the murals on my lunch break from jury duty (the library is just 3 blocks away). I took my sketchbook and very humbly sketched a study of one of the figures in the murals. I had a mere 15 minutes before I had to head back so I will certainly be making a return visit.

So, that drawing is included here, along with 2 other little sketches from around the courthouse today. Please enjoy.

And that's my truth.

Jury Duty Sketches day 2

Here are my sketches from day 2 of my jury duty.
I didn't have time for quite as much today as the court proceedings got much busier and I was more actively involved (today I was officially chosen as a juror on the trial).
Instead of people, I focused more on composition and environment today. Nope, you're eyes aren't deceiving you, I actually sketched that old fashioned porcelain water fountain (also known as a "Bubbler" if you're from the Midwest like me)!

And that's my truth.

Jury Duty Sketches day 1

Well today I served my very first day of jury duty. I know most people hate it but I actually kind of enjoyed it. Of course it helps that I can soak up the experience in my sketchbook.
So here's a page that I filled up today at the courthouse. Keep in mind that this is scanned right from my sketchbook so some of it stinks and some of it's decent. So it goes with my sketchbooks...some good, some bad, all practice.


And that's my truth.

First Flight

What fun!
Raise your hand if you ever daydreamed of tying your favorite blanket around your neck like a cape and soaring through the air. C'mon now, think all the way back to childhood...there you go!
That was the theme of this little illustration. I really tried to capture the complete exhilaration and bliss that the little boy is feeling. He can't believe this is really happening!

Now look closely at the color of his hair, his blanket, his shirt. Is that a farm in the background? Hmm, I wonder who this could be...

Enjoy!


And that's my truth.