Sketchbook dump 2

Here is another collection of drawings from various sketchbooks.


A grumpy beaver. I think that I did this while my kids were at swimming class and I was sitting on the deck waiting.




A drawing of a little man experiencing some angst. I quite liked this one and had thought about making him more of a finished piece but for now he is just a funny little guy in my sketchbook.


This is a page from one of my sketchbooks. I like the Frankenstein looking guy and I had thought about making him a Halloween promo but I couldn’t think of what else to do with him, what else to include. I like him and think that I might do something with him in the future.

I also like the little guys drawn in green. I could see doing something with them too.



This is another full page. I had been playing with the idea of making an all-animal band, a jazz band with sheep…called “The Black Sheep”. I really like those black and white photos of early jazz guys, playing in the small clubs, lottsa’ cigarette smoke in the air and the idea of sheep, black sheep, outsiders, bad boys etc, seemed kind of cool.

Again this is one of those things that I could see becoming something more but right now it isn’t going anywhere.

And then there is the drawing of one of my sons lying on the floor watching TV.

This one has a lot of emotional significance for me, as it was part of homecoming present for my wife and kids. They had gone to Florida to stay with her parents and had a horrible time on the way back with messed up flights and hours waiting in airports.

So when they finally made it home I made a picture sentence for them that said “Welcome Back”. I drew a well, a comb and a person’s back to make the sentence. The one of the well is the one that I think turned out the best.

But don’t ask me to come over to your house and build that brick wall that you always wanted. As you can see from the drawing, I have a thing or two to learn about being a brick layer.

And finally, here is one from our last staff meeting. As you can see I probably wasn't paying as close attention to what was being said as I should have been doing. But , my God, are they dull!

Sketchbook Dump Part I

I was going through some of my old drawings and I thought that I would post some of them here and let you have a look at them. The first group is more traditionally figurative in nature.

This is a drawing that is based on a figure from a Haddon Sundblom painting. (See below) Sundblom was an American illustrator who worked from the 40’s to the 60’s for a wide range of advertising and editorial clients but is perhaps best known for his iconic interpretation of Santa Claus for Coca Cola.

A wonderfully talented draughtsman whose work is as relevant today as it was when it was done.


This drawing was done from a photograph of a woman that I had hired as a model to pose for me. It is one of my most favourite drawings of all time. I really like the hand and the foot.



This drawing is based on a figure that appears in a painting by Lawrence Alma Tadema. He was a Dutch painter who became quite famous in Britain in the late 1800’s early 1900’s. An example of the esteem in which he was held was the he was knighted and moved easily within the upper class of English society.

Perhaps because he was so closely connected with Victorian England that his work fell out of favour so quickly in the 20th century. He fell so far out of favour that by the 1950’s an original painting of his could have been purchased for approximately $250. Now, however his work is getting the recognition, and in my opinion the respect, that it deserves and you now see his work when, and if, one comes up for public sale commanding prices of close to 1 million.

I spent quite a bit of time on the arm that is extended trying to make it look flesh like and round and I was really pleased with the way that it turned out.

I kind of cheaped out and didn't finish the hand though. In the painting she is tossing flowers.

Illustration Friday- Trouble

This was intended to accompany the song/ poem The Universal Soldier by Buff Sainte Marie. I don't attempt to make a statement beyond what is in the song, but my personal feelings are that I have the utmost respect for the men and women that WE send to fight. I however disagree with the pretexts or resons for sending them to fight in the first place.

He's five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17
He's been a soldier for a thousand years

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada,
he's fighting for France,
he's fighting for the USA,
and he's fighting for the Russians
and he's fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
who's to live and who's to die
and he never sees the writing on the walls

But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing can't go on

He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war.

Illustration Friday..Quiet.

This was intended as a cover for a collection of quiet and relaxing music. Can't you just feel the quiet!