Perfect Holy Good Friday...

It is always a great day when the family gets together for a meal and a good time. Swimming, hiking, steak, chili, cheese cake, ice cream... What ever we find and can throw together in short order.

What I figured is the best part is that it is far more cost effective to do things with our family group then for the individuals. It is kind of like getting beer.... Do you really want to pay $6-$8 for just one? Especially when you can get the whole case for around $30. See what I mean... Get the group, it cost far less.

I hope your Easter break is as good and adventurous as our will be. I even found time to breath a bit for a sktech too. Love my sketches.

~ ! Enjoy all !

Choices ......

It has been pretty sureal at times to think how life unfolded for me.
Everyone will at one time face a choice that will greatly alter their life. You can choose life or you can choose money. Money governs all things except you... Life, you need to live with for the rest of your life.... I know what my choice has been. The balance is hard to navigate and when it is all done, can you look back and say it was a good choice?

For now I'm glad with the way things have rolled out. I still have a mountain of life left to live though. I'm not sure how it will all play out. But for now it seems to work. The best part is the measure people use for themselves. I have to say it is all just splendid for me... I can't help but laugh at what other people use as a measure though.

maybe we all need a moment of reflection.

~ enjoy !

Cirque du Soleil

waiting to hear back from the

Cirque du Soleil

team to see if I get to be part of the action. 

I'm still not sure what to make of this whole thing... I've been told several times to keep an open mind. Can't wait to hear back. 

horror pallete twist...

I loved the original B&W illustration I did so much I decided to try moving away from the cartoon colors and use a selected horror color selection. This one really evoked the mood I was thinking of. It turned out great. The BG is an ink wash done on a separate sheet. The text from a newspaper page that I crumpled up, scanned and then over layered on the ink-wash. The moon was pulled from the internet, blurred, re-sized and softened to fit the illustration. A glow was added and expanded then opacity adjusted to tie everything together. By pulling the ambient BG color into the main illustration, the two began to unite a bit more.... Of course I totally abandoned the light source of the moon. I felt that the contrast in direction led to a strange ambiance. Visually it looks weird but seems to work none the less.

I love this one.... What about you?!

~ Enjoy!

Ever feel like this...

A worn out sack of bones who fell on his own sword. That is how I feel some days. It is as if the harder you push forward the deeper the hole becomes. Yet your still moving forward, just in a downward trajectory.... I need some more positive injections in my life. That would perk me right up.

Anyone!? Anyone!? Anyone!? Anyone!?

Beuller?!

~ Enjoy!

Some Body familiar...

I had a rare chance to join my wife at lunch the other day and saw a person who i thought I knew/recognized. Because I rarely get to "Date" my wife, I did not go over to say hi. I mean it has been about 20 years and the guy put on about 80 pounds so I could not really be sure it was him.

Well I looked the guy up today and turns out it was him. It also turns out I lost a huge chunk of Life as it would have been lived if I did go into debt, went to university and gained a great career. no that was not my path...

Instead I chased the Olympic dream as well as art, then met a great lady, failed at every career I chased and ultimately ended up the stay at home Dad with an understanding Amazing wife who supports us all... to my chagrin. It is hard to explain to people I don't work, I'm a stay at home dad of young children... My wife would argue differently. Still it makes for a very awkward situation since I lack the accolades that others have because they embraced the way of the establishment we live in. Long story short... Nathan Stone, it was a brief recognition and a by pass. Hope life is treating you well.

I however feel like a huge part of life has been missed. I've seen first hand the accolades and longevity of Nathan's career as represented on the internet.The career successes and group of folks he was dinning with. With that said, my family is much better for it all. I would never change a thing. Who cares if I have to collect bottles for a date with the wife. I'll take the struggles and lumps as they show up. One step at a time, one lousy nickle at a time. That's the path I chose to walk. That is what I ended up getting. Some how I know it is for a greater good.

warm up page

I needed to focus on breaking out forms for this page. I found my self struggling a bit. Then I remembered that I might be more successful if I look at things with a character in mind. That is what restored my confidence and my art style really started to shine through today. May be I should be inducted into a small animation studio for some character design or some such work.


- Enjoy !!!!