"Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear..."

More whimsy in ink.

“Yet nothing did he dread, but euer was ydrad.” - Spencer

As I'd been encouraged to include more flora in my drawings, here is today's bit of whimsy.

"I Have Sung Storms to Sleep."

The Golden Age of American Illustration Show I took in at Pepperdine continues to put a bee into my bonnet. And if the stings are inspiration, then Sting me, by God, Sting ME!  Although arguably, a wasp would be more appropriate. I'd hate to think I make one decent piece and never get another dose.

In any event, the show had several pieces by two of my favorite pen & ink men: Charles Dana Gibson and Joseph Clement Coll. Master draughtsmen both, Gibson had a gift for beauty and elegance with a dose of humor under the veneer, and Coll...criminey...Coll wielded a pen more elegantly than most can wield a brush. In some ways, looking at their work in person could convince you to never fling ink again, but all too often, aiming for the stars helps you to fall in just the right range.

Having said all that, this piece was another inspired by classical mythology, in this case, the death of Orpheus. When the "father of all songs" failed to bring his beloved back from the Underworld, he was said to spurn all affection and was eventually ripped to pieces for it. (Although, as this is the internet, I feel compelled to mention that in some versions of the stories, he only spurned all women and turned to boys.)  His body floated down the Hebrus river with his lyre still playing a mournful tune that bummed all of nature out until he emerged into the sea and washed up on the coast of Lesbos. My drawing enters the scene there, as a bather discovers the musician's remains.

For Me Ma...and Me Gramma...

For Mother's Day, I did a pair of cards for my mother and grandmother. I figured some classic storybook imagery would be splendid.

On a trivial side note: Some of the most iconic story book art of all time would be the Wonderland and Looking Glass illustrations by humorist and political cartoonist John Tenniel, while all but the first of the Oz books were illustrated by one John R. Neill

The Kick is Good

...And the disparate imagery comes to a close for this week.

Piloting the Underground

Of late I've been particularly inspired by the draughtsmanship of the late 19th/early 20th Century illustrators, and have been making an effort to incorporate their since of line into my own work. Funny how some it adds some weight to the silly sh!t I come up with to draw sometimes.

Play Ball

This week's series of sketches feature some of the playful interplay of disparate imagery. Enjoy.

The Fall of Nessus

This piece was just returned to me after having show in two consecutive shows, one in Los Angeles and the next in Seattle, as part of two group shows. 

The Seattle Show was themed around mythology, and the first idea that popped into my head was the abduction of Hercules' wife Dejanira by the centaur, Nessus. The tale has been covered by a number of painters of the past, but I felt there was a dynamism missing from some of these earlier depictions.  So I decided to take a stab at it, and I'm proud to say that this was the result. 

Possibly my best forearm...

A Ride Through the Garden

It's been a longer hiatus from the blog here than I thought. Alas. 

Well, I'm back today with this piece that I finished a short while back. A bit of fun, a trifle. I had never considered really pursuing this watercolor over ink drawings, but after my trainwreck piece became such a hit, I've given it a few more shots. So far, the response has been quite positive. 

I certainly hope you, the viewer, enjoy this one. We'll see what else I can whip up for your eyes soon enough.