Happy Blogoween!

A happy blogoween to all ye bloggers. For those who visit and for those I visit, I hope yours is a spooky one. (oh,...and p.s., carving this pumpkin was NOT easy! lighting is was even harder!)

Big Shoes Bobby

Every great baseball player has a nickname right? I never played baseball, but never had a nickname either. For football it was "Swann", for volleyball and soccer it was "Jason" or just "J". Better than "that guy" right? How would it have been to run for a 90+ yard touchdown to have the announcer yell "AND THAT GUY SCORES AGAIN!!!" When I was in England the kids called me Sonic (becuase my hair was spikey like Sonic the Hedgehog). That's about it. These days people tend to call me "stinky", but we'll stay away from that one.

Swannitude

Did up a doodle and thought the body language looked a lot like my (near) 2 year old when she's on one. She's got Swannitude! I was going to throw gold chains on the bird and a backwards hat, etc., but no one in the family dresses like that. So 'ere it is.

You Are Here

(Clarification: My wife helps keep me grounded. She also helps me with my "blurting our stuff that makes no sense. For this entry, I had visited a blog a few days back that had 1 entry. There was a single image with a red dot that said "You are here." That was it, nothing else. I laughed and thought, wouldn't it be funny if there was a town called "Here?")

Wouldn't it make your head explode if you went to a mall, looked at the map, saw a dot that said "You Are Here", looked up and there it was? Maybe it's a store with scenic posters or European architecture screen savers on CD. Or if you were at a them park and there next to the map billboard was the largest roller coaster on the west coast "YOU ARE HERE!!!" (not for the faint hearted, women who are pregnant or those who don't want to ride the "Here" ride, here, now, in this very spot, that you're on, this very second.) Ugh,...my head hurts.

Six Gun Brigham

Alright. So I was thumbing through old sketches to turn into something final and came across a bearded dude. I progressed and it ended up looking a bit like B. Young. It was a toss up between "Matrix" Brigham, but that was a bit lame. I picture him being a peacemaker, but in this case he'd be a peacemaker WITH HIS PEACEMAKER, you dig? He's probably got a ninja sword in that cane anyway. I'm seeing the comic book now. "Six Gun Ninja Young." Hmmm....I'll have to work that one out.

Oh Say Can You Scream!

We're going for broke this year. Olivia is going to tie me to a rocket while Mandy takes pictures from afar. Asia will be nestled in our bed with a pair of Princess Leia ear muffs on and her paws holding them on tightly. I plan on screaming "Cake or Death!?" as the rocket explodes. Just kidding. Nice little family affair at the local "rich people's" park for some KFC (Kitchen Fresh, right?) and fireworks. I know there are those out there (S.T. Lewis for one) who believe that nothing will top Disneyland's 50th anniversary show. Everything else pales in comparison. But it's fun nonetheless.(Is that really a word?)

Long Night

I'd like to thank Las Vegas for a wonderful night's sleep. Winds were up around 40 mph until 6am this morning or so. We brought the dog up to sleep with us, 'cuz she's a 100 lb. sissy. When we FINALLY went to sleep, we were both sleeping light because of the wind and also because we were worried about the baby waking up at any minute. I was just waiting for the house to be picked up and dropped somewhere in OZ. If I only had a brain....

Subway, Draw Fresh!

In my ever ongoing attempt at drawing more, I had a sandwich and sketched the local Subway. Chatted about art with a co-worker. His zeal for building an art career outside of work has inspired me. I shall prevail!

10 Minute Sketch

My buddy Ed Frayna commented on how hard it is to find time to draw these days with a child around. She's best thing about me and I love every minute with her, but the drawing has taken a back seat to playing and taking care of. I fit this one in while the baby was sleeping in the car up in Park City, UT. At 7 minutes and 13 seconds into the sketch, she woke up and wanted out. I intend on finding the time, no matter what. It's just a bigger fight, but one that's worth it.

Las Vegas Living

We don't have a pool, so we bought a $10 wading pool from Wal-Mart for Olivia this past Saturday. For the record, one of those wading pools comfortably fit two adults, a toddler and a 100 lb. dog. Not that it's recommended, but just in case one needed to. Three of our four neighbors have pools, so at one point Mandy says "I wonder what our neighbors are thinking about us..." I laughed out loud. As I sat in 4 inches of hose water, I pictured our neighbors casually looking out the window to see us in our blue wading pool, all together, splashing away. We started to joke about getting a mini tiki hut to serve drinks and other items that would make the scene even more rediculous. Someone once said "to live in Las Vegas, you HAVE to have a pool." Done.

Lettering

I've been messing with letters these days. A co-worker handed me "Style Wars" and "Piece By Piece", which are documentaries on graffiti over the years. Purty cool. So I've been tinkering with some of that kind of lettering for fun. It takes some time to adobt any style, so I just mimic until I get used to it and then try to find my own style and flavor. Oh, and if you see someone that looks like me running from the fuzz in the rail yards, ......I was home the whole time watching Lost.

Too Much Candy

This is how I feel these days after Easter. I try to eat the amount of candy that I once did as a young lad and end up feeling like this. Poor bunny......he never knew what hit him.

Little Livie Loo Who

'Ere's a little doodle it did around lunchtime. My 'lil gal has some big beautiful blue eyes and curls that she gets from her dad (yeah, yeah,...I was a pretty little girl,....ha, ha). She stretches and also walks with her hands up like so. It's kinda like "touchdown",....all the time. Fun.

Bitey Lives!

A favorite artist/animator of mine is Adam Phillips. He's got some seriously cool artwork, stories and such. I was in a "fairy-type" shop when I happened upon this statue. Bitey's cousin? Maybe not, but it certainly shows that I see Bitey everywhere.

Check him out at Bitey Castle

Fightin' Grizzly (pup)

Here's my OAC submission for this week. Topic was mascots. This was my immediate mental picture. Entry went like this:

So, our mascot in high school was the grizzly bear. As a freshman, I thought it evoked a sense of fear in our rivals. By the time I was a senior, this is how I pictured him. Lazy and clueless. I think he was tagged, tracked, broke into a rich San Ramon soccer mom's car who became irrate that her leather seats were damage so she had it shot and rolled off a cliff somewhere in the redwoods. Yup, that's about what my four years there felt like.

Viva Las Freezing Vegas!

Sup yo! How's things? So far, 2007's been a blast with me, my wife, my daughter and I think my dog all getting sick the first week of Jan. Picture all of us (well, not the dog) in our jammies this past Sat., Sun., and most of Mon. Watching cartoons, piles of tissues in the corner. I think we hit all the infomercials, twice (I'm not sure about the Body by Jake, but the Charlton Heston Video Bible Collection looks like a winner!) Things are starting to look up, now that we're all getting better. It's been freezing here in Vegas. Well more cold than it's been in awhile for THIS location (thanks you northern folks!). This is how we've been feeling as of late. Welcome to Vegas! Leave your shorts at home.

Happy B-Day Blog!!!

So here it is. The end of year one for this blog. It began with the birth of my daughter and seems to have retained its momentum. There was a short time of many visitors, but nowadays if you put your ear to the blog you can hear the ocean. But it seems that there are so many to visit, commenting on each is near impossible (even though I'm trying to "do unto others". So happy birthday blog, make a wish (more interaction with other artists, I know!) and blow out your candles. Maybe you'll get some legs and go somewhere in the next year.

Duck-Billed Batypus

Another OAC entry.

At dusk, on the surface of our local lakes you can spot the indigenous duck-billed batypus trying to get a meal. Known for their perfected sonar, their only flaw is the sonar affecting "quacking" that tends to cause these small aviarodents to occasionally land in the water and attempt to swim.

Reservoir Mice

Latest Outsider Art Club Assignment

Coming this spring! Known only as Mr. Cheddar, Mr. Mozzarella and Mr. Gouda, these three dangerous mice knock over a local store. The take.....cheese. The cost.....nothing. The risk.....worth it. Hold on as Rodent Tarantino takes you on the ride of your life in this rhyme gone ruckus in, "Three Blind Mice". -Rated SM for smelly rodents, smelly cheese and an overall smelly script. Doctor recommended shots suggested.

Cupid Claus

You better watch out, you bette not cry. Better not date I'm telling you why. Cupid Claus is coming, to town! Mandy suggested this one for this week's Outsider Art Club. The idea made me laugh pretty hard. Well done Mimi.

Ghetto Star Wars.

Here we have last weeks OAC assignment. I kept thinking Yoda the thug, Leiah the hoochie, Luke the pimp, etc. I did get to sit down with a co-worker and discuss ways to improve my character and life drawing skills. Now if I can just find time to work on my nun-chuck skills, bow-hunting skills and computer-hacking skills. Then I'd be set.

Happy Halloween!

Boo y'all! Happy Halloween to all ye who may dare to visit this blog. May your night be full of scares, tricks and a few treats. Heh, heh, heh.....

Kiddie Kage Fight

This one was fun. One of the artist on OAC suggested a sport for kids,.....KIDDIE KAGE FIGHT. The rules are simple,...there are no rules. Many kids enter, one kid leaves. I put all the bully types into this one character. I feel such therapy with this kind of stuff!

Crocodile Tears

This is they way I felt when I learned of Steve Irwin's death. We loved that guy. We're going to miss him so much.

Mad Jason Magazine

Outsider art project "I love the 80's". I loved reading the issues that Justin (older bro) would buy. The various artistic styles mixed with the humor made it SUCH a fun mag to read. In fact, I would look them over and over again. Good times!!!

Walt Diz Kid

Outsider art project "Famous people before they were famous." I admire Walt for all he was and is. We're frequenters of Disneyland. This was a poke at him getting his ideas from an odd place. It worked out a bit better in my head, but translated decently. Dave pointed out that he has no actual reflection in the window. Disney-dracula!

Ablutophobia

The Fear of Washing or Bathing

A co-worker of mine told me that her kid wouldn't wash his hair last night. He was freaking out about having shampoo on his head. I quote Adam Sandler in Big Daddy, "My kid's the stinky kid!?". Hope my 'lil gal never goes through that. Pee-yew!

Jambo

Post for "Outsider Art Club" (http://outsiderartclub.blogspot.com/)

"So I was torn as a child. Between being a break dancer and Rambo. Both would gain me fame and notoriety, and both could get me killed. So it was a toss up and now I'm an artist. My mother once said, "I'm so glad you never went into the military". Tell that to our troops when the war could have been over years ago with 2nd Battalion "Pop and Lock Killers". We'd have our own patches. (I'll repost a color version soon)"

The Smokehouse

Here's a sketch reproduction of "The Cat House" formerly known as "The Smokehouse". I got the image from the Farmgirl blog (http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/). Check it out. There are some pretty cool images. I love old wood structures like this. Drawing old wood planks was my first love in drawing. Weird, but true.

Surf's Up and So Is My Hair

A doodle goes color. Or shall I say, "A Doodle: In Technoramafied Colorization Mode III!". That's more like it. Getting geared up for a Hawaii trip in early December. Gonna catch a surf competition on the north shore. Should be cool.

Phone Doodles

My mother always, ALWAYS, doodles when she's on the phone. The apple never falls that far from the tree. In this case the Swann didn't land too far from the pond. Here's some doodles while on a conference call. Random, sketchy, meaningless.

Ready,...Aim....

Don'tcha feel like this sometimes? Whether while driving, at work or whatever, it sometimes feels this way. It certaily gives the kids in my Sunday School class somethin' to aim for! (hee, hee...)

...Old Watercolors Continued

...and the rest of 'em.

Old Watercolors

Stumbled across these and thought I'd put 'em out there. They date mostly at '03. I wish I did more landscapes. They seem to help me with all aspects of detail and such. The last one is of my honey sleeping. Ahhhh, so peaceful when they sleep, eh?

Wacom Fun

Fun with Wacom. It's taken some time for me to get used to the tablet. But I'm getting there. As I get better with it, it really is a much better way to work. It's a much more natural way of drawing and such. So I got a doodle going and tried coloring him a bit. I see what others can do with their tablets and try to get in as much practice as I can. Good stuff!

Dragon Shrink

Just another doodle gone color. I messed with the scales a bit. Simple but effective. The rest was more of the same. Some doodles seem so flat and lifeless. Some almost look like they'll start talking. I picture this guy having a lower but soothing voice. He'd ask how your day was and then actually be interested in your ansewer. That's it, he's my dragon shrink.

Bellagio II

It's always nice to put icing on a cake. This was fun to play with lighting and some Illustrator tools. Night time at the 'Laggio (as me and my honey call it), watching the fountain show to some Sinatra or Bocelli. That's nice....

Little House on the Hill

Just a doodle of our place. We're at the bottom of a little hill. It's finally a place we can call home. We moved four (that's 4, IV, quatro) times during 2004. Utah to Cali, Cali to Matt's place in Vegas, his place to a condo, and the condo to our current home. Phew! I'm done for awhile. I think this 'lil diddy does it justice as a comfy place to kick back and throw on Peter Pan, Iron Giant, Icredibles, The Secret of Nimh and the like.

I See Myself

It's always a wonder how people see themselves. I don't really wear my red hat all that much, but this is mostly how I see me. Red cap pulled down, bearded wonder with my arms folded and my pants a little too baggy. Will that be how my daughter sees me? Will she grow up and tell me that I got no style? Will she mock me for liking Green Day or Mudvayne? Hmmm......

Belly Wars!

This is my nephew on our way to go snow skiing. Cool dude. He had a HUGE belly as a kid and after dinner we'd pull our shirts up over our bellies and shout, "BELLY WARS!!!" Then we'd run at each other full speed and try to knock the other down ( I was on my knees to play fair). He's a cuddle bug and has the frame to make a great football player one day. Rock on my good man,....and "Belly Wars!!!"

Bellagio

I dig the Bellagio. Yeh can't beat that fountain show. I did a little doodle of the hotel and would love to get it finished into some sort of pretty little scene. I thought an artist was just someone who drew cool things for the longest time. Then I heard some of my favorites say a good artist is a good draftsman, architect, characaturist, biologist, etc. Kind of like the inventors of old. You know, the guys who invented, drew, gardened, were involved in politics and so on. I seem so one dimensional these days. Time to get moving, eh?

People

People. People are cool. People are even more cool at a distance where you can appreciate the mystery. Who is that? What are they like? That guy looks interesting. It's amazing that humans can have the same features but look so different. So many noses, so many eyebrows. It's a wonder.

1000 Yard Stare

Fun with prismacolor greys and highlighters. I was looking past a shelf of shoes and saw this guy looking back. Yeah, it was me. Is that really what I look like? That seems to be the questions every once in awhile when I'm doing a self portrait and stare long enough.
Second, there's something about a still life that grabs you. I'm not huge on still lifes but they certainly keep the tools sharp! (grind, grind...)