Digital Portrait

A digital portrait I did of my boy Eric and his wife Danica (cartoony style).

The Story Of St. Nicholas

Saint Nicholas was born in 270 AD, a Greek in what is now a part of southern Turkey. His parents were wealthy and very devout Christians who died when Nicholas was a young man. He inherited the wealth of his father but being a pius Christian gave away his money to help the poor. He became a priest and later was named Bishop of Myra and is remembered for his reputation for secret gift giving. In his most famous exploit, a poor man had three daughters but could not afford a dowry for them. This meant they would probably never marry and without employment would have to become prostitutes. Hearing of the poor man’s plight, Nicholas decided to help him secretly, so he went to the man’s house one night and threw three purses of gold coins through the open window.


He is the patron saint of children, sailors, fishermen, merchants, broadcasters, the falsely accused, prostitutes and repentant thieves.

Film Fun Magazine

Film Fun was a magazine that was published from 1915 until 1942 with all the covers illustrated by Enoch Bolles. At the time he was the premier pin up artist as you can see. These covers were considered "racy" for the day. The magazine ran stories about movie stars, the movies they were in and contained lots of pictures for the serious "reader". I imagine it was the "Playboy" of those days. Bolles was another one of those great pin-up artists along with Gil Elvgren. Bolles however didn't sign any of his cover art.

Tax Deal Smack Down

The Democrats rejected the Presidents proposed tax deal so it looks like the fight will continue while the Republicans wait for January.

Vans Triple Crown of Surfing - Pipeline Pro

The Pipeline Pro starts today with live internet feed all day long. There is a big swell hitting the North Shore and this could be the best contest yet. Google Triple Crown of Surfing and follow the links.

Pearl Horbor Day

December 7, 1941, "This day will go down in infamy" - President Franklin D. Roosevelt The Imperial Japanese Navy sent 353 aircraft launched from six aircraft carriers in two waves to attack and destroy as many ships in Pearl Haobor as they could. Luckily, our Navy had sent our own aircraft carriers out on manuvers the day before or they would have been sunk or destroyed too.. This was the 9/11 of the times with 2,402 sailors killed and 1,282 wounded in effect destroying the American 6th fleet and plunging the U.S. into W.W.II.

The Day Superman Died

This from the 1992 DC Comics that killed Superman. Lucky for us he came back to life a few months later to save the world once more. The art on the cover doesn't match the art on the pages inside. The second image is from the next to last page of the comic, after Superman battles Doomsday. This is one of the best selling Superman comics ever but the story isn't that great and the book itself now sells for around $10.

TSA Pat Down Alert

I know the TSA people are all really professionally trained to catch the bad guys before they get on a plane and cause havoc. So why do they have to put old ladies and others, who are obviously not a threat, through these intrusive body scans and pat downs? Because they are afraid to use profiling, so they profile everybody. The police use profiling every time they make a traffic stop. They find out who the driver is and if the car has been stolen, so they can find out who they're dealing with. Why can't the airlines do the same?

Pipeline Popeye

The Triple Crown of Surfing in Hawaii has begun this year with the first contest at Haleiwa, The Reef Hawaiian Pro from Nov. 12th through Nov. 24. The next contest is the O'Niell Cup, held at Sunset Beach and the third and final contest is the Billabong Pipe Masters at the dreaded Pipeline. I say dreaded because I don't have the brass to ride stuff like that but it's amazing to watch these seasoned pros go at it. If you're interested in watching the action Google The Triple Crown of Surfing and watch it live for free.

Happy Birthday Mickey!

 Nov. 18^th, 1928 Steam Boat Willy was released. This was the first sound cartoon with perfectly synchronized music and sound effects. There were two silent Mickey Mouse cartoons produced before this but they were held back pending the outcome of Steam Boat Willy, which became a great success for Walt and Ub Iwerks.

Celebrity Faces

David Schwimmer, Taylor Swift and Piper Parabo
Celebreties seem to have faces that are cartoonlike without having to work too hard at capturing the likeness.

Obama Will Work With Republicans

News Flash!! Obama says he’ll work with the Republicans (as long as he gets what he wants)!


Is this what Charlie Brown feels like when Lucy says she’ll hold the ball? “Come on Chuck, run and kick the ball. Don’t you trust me? Why don’t you trust me?”

The Voters Have Spoken

Side Tracked

This is the view from the East end of the Roseville rail yard. The whole town is cut in half by the largest rail switching yard west of the Rocky Mountains. Freight trains from east, west, north and south come through this huge yard to be distributed to all points.

In 1913, fruit shipping became an important part of the yard and the biggest ice plant in the world was built in Roseville to accommodate. The town is full of history which is fascinating to me. That’s a part of the old town in the background.

French Riot Over Retirement Age

French students continue to riot because the retirement age was raised from 60 to 62. Wow, when I was a student all I could think about was how I was going to get a job in animation and actually make a living at what I loved to do. Retirement was not even in the picture, but, the French government has provided cradle to grave entitlements that the whole society has grown accustomed to and now there is resentment at having these goodies taken away. I think the society as a whole suffers from the gimmies. Unfortunately there are many people in this country that have the same entitlement syndrome. They think the government should take care of them if they have a boo boo or if they can't find a job or if they can't afford to buy a house, and there are plenty of liberal politicians who promise to give them every little thing they ask for. These are what we call the bleeding heart liberals.

House On The Hill

We were in Southern Ca. a few weeks ago visiting relatives and one morning I got my paints out and painted the view from the back yard of my brother in laws house. This is one of the many houses that dot the hills around the area in Orange County. Hope you like it.
5"x7" oil on canvas panel    SOLD

Dreams Of My Fathers Son

Weird Science Comics

I love these old comics. The art is fantastic, drawn by some of the greatest comic book artists and illustrators of the time. My brother and I used to have boxes of comics we collected. Somehow they disappeared one of the times we moved. Hmmm... (MOM!)
Weird Science Comics were published in the early 1950's by William F. Gaines and edited by artist Al Feldstein. Wally Wood did the cover art and Al Feldstein drew the stories.
 The other Weird Science interior artists were Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson, Joe Orlando, George Evans, Harvey Kurtzman, George Roussos, Harrison, Will Elder, Jack Kamen, Sid Check and Jack Olesen. Writers in the early issues included Feldstein, Gaines, Kurtzman, Harrison and Gardner Fox. Gaines and Feldstein wrote nearly all stories from 1951 to 1953.
(wikipedia)

Figure Drawing

The Blue Line Gallery in Roseville has been having figure drawing on the last Wednesday of the month for $10 and a three hour session. Since everyone who considers him or herself an artist needs to draw the live model, I jumped at the chance. I haven't drawn from a model since art school and Lord knows I need the practice after drawing cartoons for all these years. This was a twenty minute pose, which doesn't give much time to spend on details.

Vintage Air Poster

I took this photo at the Space and Aeronautics Museum in D.C. and thought I'd post it because I like it.
It looks like something from before World War One with the biplane in the back ground. Very cool.

Pelosi Gets Muddy

Obama's New Childrens Book

President Obama has written a childrens book that is due out in November. I have no idea as to what it could be about but, I just had to have some fun with it anyway.
If anyone has an idea for a caption or Obama's dialogue, let me know and I'll re-post the drawing with the funniest idea, and the winner will get full credit and world wide attention, admiration and love and will become instantly famous. I can't promise any of those but you will get my thanks and praise for sure.
Thanks to my boy Matt for the idea.

Ronald Searle Cartoons

I love Ronald Searle drawings so thought I'd post a few.

New York, N.Y.

I really got into the painting this week. Here's another 5"x7" pallette knife painting I did from a photo I took in New York City this summer. New York City is a facinating place to visit with lots to see and do.
We really had a great time. That's the Empire State Building in the background with a fantastic view at the top.  SOLD

Mountain Stream

5"x7"palette knife oil
I saw this as a photo and thought it would make a nice painting. I used the palette knife so I could get more of an impressionist look. If you squint your eyes it comes together better.
SOLD

Clint (Make my day!) Eastwood

                                                     GET OFF A MY LAWN!

Clint Eastwood has been one of my favorite actors of all time. Starting with his starring role in Raw Hide as Rowdy Yates from 1959 to 1965 through the spaghetti westerns of the 60’s to the Dirty Harry movies of the 70’s and 80’s, he has come to be the iconic “off the wall” grouch that everybody loves to watch get even. He’s always played a tough guy with a nervous trigger finger and a short temper, but in the end he shows his humanity. Gran Torino (2008) is one of his best efforts and a picture to remember with a face that begs to be cartooned.

Obama Approval Ratings

BAGHDAD OR BUST

I'll never understand why our government would tip its hand to the enemy and tell them when and what our army is doing.....and give dates. Should'nt we keep this stuff secret?
To me it's no different than telling the crooks when I'm going on vacation.
Holy cow! I need a nap.

Taliban Dreams (The New Twin Towers)

Obama Likes Turtles

Great answer! Check out YouTube "I Like Turtles"

Maui Sail

I haven't picked up a real brush in a while so I had some fun with this one. It's not a "knock your socks off" type of painting but it was a relaxing trip down memory lane of our trip to Maui.
8"x10" water color

Obama Off The Cliff

Charlie's dilemma

Congressman Charley Rangel has charges brought against him for tax fraud? How can it be?

Hiroshima 1945

I didn't see this in the news anywhere today but, this is the day in 1945 the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. Nazi Germany and Japan both had their own atomic programs under way but the U.S was the first to use it. Called "Little Boy" it was an approx. 13 to 18 kt explosion vaporizing 50,000 people instantly and killing over 130,000.
Robert Oppenheimer who designed it was horrified by the results and became a life long pacifist.

Al Franken, politician or comedian?

Since posting this a few people have asked me; so who the hell is Al Franken?
He was a writer and comedian on Saturday Night Live, had his own radio show on Air America and is now the junior senator from Minnisota.
I never thought he was funny until he got into politics.

Happy Birthday Bugs

Yesterday was Bugs Bunny's birthday and I forgot. Sorry Bugs. So here's an old drawing I cleaned up for Amby Palowoda back in the seventies when I worked for Filmation. I think this was for an advertisement for Warners.
Bugs's first appearance was in "A Wild Hare" released June 27, 1940. It wass also the first time we saw Elmer Fudd. It was also the first time Mel Blanc used his recognizable version of Bugs' voice that soon became the standard "What's up Doc?"

Obama at work

Last post until I get a new computer...arrggh!

I'm gettin' a new computer today. I've been using this old HP for 8 years and it's really getting sssllooooowww. Gotta get some speed.



15 min sketch at the airport

Trump

Another digital painting. These are fun without the mess and clean up.

Uncle Obama

My apologies to J.M. Flagg (the original artist), who designed the poster in 1917, but I couldn't resist.
I scanned in my original pencil drawing and painted this with my Corel Painter.
Digital painting

Simple Simon

Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
Let me taste your ware.

Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
Show me first your penny;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
Indeed I have not any.

Simple Simon went a-fishing,
For to catch a whale;
All the water he had got,
Was in his mother's pail.

Simple Simon went to look
If plums grew on a thistle;
He pricked his fingers very much,
Which made poor Simon whistle
Water color