"Winter" - for Illustration Friday

"Winter" is this week's topic on Illustration Friday and it reminded me instantly of these two illos from earlier this year.

Both of these little goodies are based on adorable true stories inspired by my sweetie pie, Lauren.

Fascinated by the intricacy of a single snowflake, Lauren took it upon herself to name it. Here's the story.

This time Lauren walked on a frozen lake for the very first time. Here's the story.

Enjoy!

Merry Little (Sis) Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

This is far and away my favorite time of year. Best of all I feel excused to effusively demonstrate my natural childlike exuberance.

My little sister (not so little anymore) has always been a source of creative inspiration for me. Like me, she loves Christmas. She's also quite a fan of snuggly little pandas and this delightful combination of affections inspired this little illustration. Love you, sis!

Also, here's a fun one from the archives...

However you choose to spend this day I hope that you're surrounded with love!

Very Best Wishes,
Nathanael

Free Holiday Desktop - John McClane!

If you joined me yesterday for the free Lethal Weapon desktop download then you're sure to get fired up about today's little diddy. Boys and girls, I give you... Die Hard!

If John McClane doesn't make you think of Christmas then your diet of holiday entertainment is sorely deficient of essential nutrients. No, Twinkie's aren't gonna cut it (yellow dye number five not withstanding).

What you need is a good old fashioned hostage situation taken down single handedly by an NYPD detective who only dropped in for the holiday to patch things up with his wife, see his kids and make fists with his toes.

And should you find yourself on the wrong side of the law this holiday season, keep in mind that there's no way you'll win but you can buy yourself a little time. Just remember to shoot the glass!

How to download (1280x800 pixels.):

1. Click on the image above (a larger version of the image will then open in a new window).

2. Right click on this new, larger image.

3. Scroll down and select "Save Image As" or "Save Link As".

4. Save the jpeg to your computer in a place that's convenient to you.

How to apply as your desktop:

1. Right click on your desktop.

2. Scroll down and select "Properties" and a new window will open.

3. In this new window, select the "Desktop" tab.

4. Click the "Browse" button.

5. Navigate to the location where you saved the image, select it and click "Open".

6. Under "Position" scroll down and select "Center".

7. Click "OK" or "Apply" (to preview it) and then "OK"

8. Pour some egg nogg and gave lovingly at your glorious new desktop.

Enjoy!

Free Holiday Desktop - Riggs and Murtaugh!

Happy Holidays everybody!

If you're anything like me then you've got yourself a mature, refined, cultured and discerning taste for fine holiday entertainment. As such a person of elevated taste I offer to you my humble illustrative contribution to one of cinematic history's grandest holiday films - Lethal Weapon.

That's right, kids. Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh: two of Santa's little helpers. I don't know about you but I feel one heck of a lot more cozy knowing that Mr. Joshua's not out there wreaking havoc. 

So snuggle up with your favorite semi-automatic 9mm Baretta (or six shooter if you're an old timer), and download this festive holiday illustration for use as your computer desktop.

How to download (1280x800 pixels.):

1. Click on the image above (a larger version of the image will then open in a new window).

2. Right click on this new, larger image.

3. Scroll down and select "Save Image As" or "Save Link As".

4. Save the jpeg to your computer in a place that's convenient to you.

How to apply as your desktop:

1. Right click on your desktop.

2. Scroll down and select "Properties" and a new window will open.

3. In this new window, select the "Desktop" tab.

4. Click the "Browse" button.

5. Navigate to the location where you saved the image, select it and click "Open".

6. Under "Position" scroll down and select "Center".

7. Click "OK" or "Apply" (to preview it) and then "OK"

8. Pour some egg nogg and gave lovingly at your glorious new desktop.

Enjoy! Stop by again tomorrow for another 80's action holiday hero!

A closer look at those cuties

On Tuesday I posted some photos of a couple of revived sketches-in-progress. I've got some nice quality scans of them now so you get get a closer look.
Enjoy!

How to revive an old drawing

I don't know about you but the longer I leave an unfinished sketch in my sketchbook the less enthusiasm I have for finishing it. After banishing these sketches to an eight month limbo I decided to kick myself in the pants and take a crack at reviving them.

Here are both original sketches from back in April.

Since the freshness of the idea was gone, I needed something to get me excited about drawing these again. I would love to tell you that I reinvigorated my enthusiasm with a wild inspirational moment. However, it came down to what I call "The 10 minute rule."

I make a pact with myself that I am going to sit down and give it my best effort for ten minutes. After that I'm off the hook and I can walk away if I want to. However, what I often discover is that after ten minutes, I am totally engaged, focused and enjoying it. The excitement is back because I've gotten past the inertia.

Simply getting started is always the hardest part. After that, I get into my groove and wonder how in the world I ever could have resisted doing it. After all, it's so much fun!

Click here to see some nice scans of these sketches.

I'm very pleased with the way these two sketches turned out. The moment I was finished I looked at them and scolded myself a little for letting them sit for so long.

"Nathanael, you can't share beautiful things with the world unless you get off your fanny and finish them."


Insecurity Alert! I was pretty fond of these two sketches when I first knocked them out. The longer they sat in my sketchbook the more afraid I became that if I returned to them I'd completely botch 'em and eviscerate the glorious potential that they once held. It took some guts for me to take a swing at this after building it up in my head like that. I'm glad I did though. It feels great to push past an insecurity when it's got its icy grip on me.

When Monsters Go Viral

As many of you know, I occasionally like to poke around online and discover what nooks and crannies my work is popping up in. I've scoured a lot of nooks, I still don't know what a cranny is but I've found another viral golden nugget. Here she is (the Nahuelito)...

I originally illustrated this for the Sci-Fi channel. I did a series of these illustrations based on mythological creatures which appeared on-screen to support alleged eye witness accounts. The name of the show was Destination Truth (season 1).

It seems someone out there has enjoyed my foray into the world of myths and legends. Here's the site. As always, it's fun to see my work get a little love out there in the digital universe!

A Poem for all you Christmas Cuties

Yep, it's official. The holidays are in full swing and beautiful lasses are abound. So all of you gorgeous bombshells out there shuffling through malls and coffee shops in your hectic blur of holiday shopping remember this...

See you out there!

P.S. this little diddy was inspired by my own personal regular girl so if you catch me out there sketchin'...Autographs: yes. Christmas kisses: not so much.  ;)