IF-Captain

This is Crunchy, the pickeled Pirate captain. He has just found the long lost treasure of Pickeled Pete the scourge of the Kosher Seas.



If you color him up and send a pic / jpeg, tiff,png / of him to me, I'll reward you with a pic of a new pickled pirate.

My e-mail is what2wnt@jorsm.com

If you do a really good job I'll mail you the original drawing of your new pirate.

My first real book

This is the first book that I've illustrated that gives me credit on the front cover!
It comes out soon for Christmas '07.

IF-Moon

This was a quick experiment with illustrating with sculpey.
The background is painted (acrylic) illustration board.
The scarecrow and moon are white sculpey that was painted with acrylics also.

IF - Poem

This idea for a poem that has been rattling around in my head for awhile.
I liked the word play of kneaded and needed.
So being an artist old enough to know the joy of stretching those erasers I naturally used it as my subject.
I do still have a few sitting in a drawer waiting to be used.

If you can't read the poem when you click on the image and open it up bigger you can read it here.

The UnKneaded Eraser
A poem for artists who remember

The kneaded eraser sits alone on my shelf,
off to the side, alone, by itself.

wrapped in clear plastic, stamped with green ink,
it sits there unkneaded in it's rectangular shape.

Collecting dust and waiting for use.
the kind it would get from artistic abuse.

Pulled, and stretched, and shaped into forms,
people and animals and shapes I can't mention.

In the past I used them quite a lot, it's true
But, today I have a Mac in my lap, and a desktop too.

So the kneaded eraser sits alone on my shelf,
unkneaded, unused, and unsealed.

But today I have a yearning, a wanting, a burning desire
to make some thing with shape, and volume, and form.

So I take the unkneaded eraser down from it's place,
and spend hours and hours with a smile on my face.

Making monkeys, and lions, and something I still can't mention
Out of this wonderful eraser that's unkneaded no more.

Hide

This topic came up just at the right time for me.
I just finished illustrating my first "Illustrated By" book.
I've illustrated others, just didn't get credit for it.
I did 12 double page spreads and the cover in less than 2 months.
I'm guessing it will be out this Christmas season '07.
They didn't tell me the publishing date.
It will be published by Ideals or Candy Cane Press.
It will be one of those books that play music when you open it.

It fits this weeks topic because there is a little mouse hiding in each spread.
Now this book is for kids between 3 and 9 years old so don't be too proud if you find him real easily.

IF-Red

Here he is "The Red Eye"
And another idea...

A devil may care match.

IF-Super Hero

I knew that it would be hard not to draw a super hero for this weeks topic.
Since I already drew the XMen for the Phoenix topic a couple of weeks back, I decided to draw a super hero character that we created on a recent trip to Virginia.
On nights when we would stay at a hotel I would put the two boys to bed with a story of "Super Baby Emma"
She was of course based on their then 6 month old sister who thought it was great fun to be held up and fly around as I used her to tell the story. She was featured in stories like, "Diaper Delimma", The Binky Burgalar", and "Poo Poo to you."

This image show's her being held up to fly and what she might be imagining.
I believe I'll color it with markers and colored pencils, but I don't know if I'll have time to this week.

IF - The 80's

I know this isn'tt exactly what the subject was supposed to inspire me to draw, but my brain doesn't seem to function like most others.
This image shows what kids here in the Mid West like to do when the tempurature reaches "The 80's". degrees that is.
This rough image was concieved and finished in less than an hour because today is Thursday, and because the paper was cut wrong for a book illustration job that I am just starting.
I just wanted to see if the marker was going to bleed on the paper - it did slightly- and how it would take the colored pencil.

I had originally planned on drawing an 80's band who's members are all in their 80's, or what life would be like when I reach my 80's in the year 2050 or so.

IF - Buzz

Well, I went for the obvious bug theme this time, but I did put a twist on it.
You're looking at Buzzster McBeef and two members of his Buzz Bombers Gang. The Spanish Fly Bros.
They are carrying future members of the gang.
Buzzster is kind of inspired by Paul Sr. from American Choppers.
The Spanish Flys are inspired by ads in those magazines my Dad seemed to lose in the most curious places. I did my best to find them all for him. Though he didn't seem to pleased when I announced to everyone in the room that I had found another one as I returned it to him.

IF - Phoenix

IF-Phoenix.

Being an artist who read X-Men comics during the whole Phoenix/Dark Phoenix saga I naturally thought of her when I checked to see what this weeks word was.
Of course I couldn't just draw the character Phoenix, that would be too easy.
I started thinking about her and the mythological creature that inspired her name/powers and the part that stuck with me was the "rebirth from the ashes" thing.
So that got me to thinking about birth, what do people do to celebrate birth? They throw a party. Well what would happen if this was the umpteenth time you were reborn? What would the atmosphere be like in the School for Gifted Youngsters if this was Phoenix's umpteenth "first" birthday? Would they be happy? I don't believe they were when she was reborn in the comic. They called her Dark Phoenix for a reason.
So the image above is the result of that thinking. The only one happy seems to be Kurt and thats because he likes cake.

IF - Peace

It's winter and there's no snow in the Mid West, Indiana to be specific, so of course my mind is on how a coating of fresh fallen snow makes the world around you seem so peaceful.
When I think of snow I think of snowmen. So I usually draw a lot of them during this tiime of year.
For this image I decided at the beginning that I wanted a banner that said "PEACE" and a snowman. Other than that I had no idea what the image would contain.
As I was sketching out the pole and snowman I had to put down my sketchbook and take a candy cane away from my 11 month old daughter so she wouldn't choke on the wrapper or the candy cane for that matter.
When I sat back down and started sketching I found myself drawing the snow man holding candy canes. Go figure.
Well he had to have the canes for a reason so I started adding animals who were holding candy canes that they had gotten, and those that were still waiting to get one.
So the snowman is spreading peace by sharing.

IF -Help

This weeks IF topic - Help.
Like most people my first thought was to draw someone in a situation where they needed help. No too easy.
My next thought was a situation where someone is helping another person. Still too easy
My next thought was a sitation where someone is getting help they don't want. Better, I'll start there.
Then I got hungry and went to Mc Burger King where they seem to employ people who could care less if you're there or not.
That's when the idea for this drawing was born.

IF - Might

I'm posting these because they are for an authors concept for a graphic novel that "might" go somewhere.
All I can tell you is that the main character is a snake.
The art is just in rough form to give the author an idea of what I would do with his story.

IF - Wind

Someday I'll be able to catch up and do these once a week again.
This IF word was Wind.
Most of the people who posted read it as if it were "blowing in the wind"
I read it as "Could you wind us up please?"

Jungle

This is a workbook cover that I did for a client. It's in stores like K-mart, Walmart, and Office Depot now,
I also did one of a girl snorkling under water.
I'm also including my submissions for "sorry" , "cake", and "portrait" from the few weeks.
I never got to post them in time.

The little kiities are having cake and tea.

This one is a portrait of me in mmy studio working. It was taken for a local paper.

Never get a haircut from the new girl.

IF - Angels and Demons

Angels and Demons.....
Kids are often thought of as little angels or little demons...
Nah, too easy.
Competeing sports teams?....
Nah, too much research, I'm not into sports.
They're on opposite sides. One's from all the way up there.
The other's from all the way down there.
So where would they meet?
Oh, I got it. In the lobby waiting for their elevator to take them up or down to their office.
So then what do they do while they wait for the elevator to arrive?
battle- no, they're civilized. After all each one is just doing his job after all.
So while they wait they chat a bit.
What do they chat about? I don't know. that's why the balloons are empty.
Why don't you help me out and suggest what they might be saying.
Keep it clean, they are civilized after all.

IF - Under the Sea

Carl was an adventurous Cucumber who one New Years Eve made a resolution to do, eat, drink, or buy everything he could think of that started or sounded like the letter C.
That's why we find him in his current situation.
Deep Sea diving with a carp while looking for coral, crabs, and other crustaecians.
Little does he know that he's run into a Carnivorous Crappie who made just the same resolution 2 years earlier.
And is now about to clean his pallet with a nice crunchie cucumber and carp snack.

IF - Spotted

I originally started this illustration for an SCBWI contest that required showing what a boy who ducked into a cave on his way home from school might see.
I'm posting it here because it fits the theme.
Like this.... "On his way home from school Bobby spotted, out of the corner of his eye, a cave he had never seen befor. Even though he had been walking this path to school, both ways, for so many years that he had worn the grass down to little green nubs. Hesitantly he broke from his regular path, picked up a stick that was nearby, and approached the mysterious new cave. As he got closer, Spot, his dog stopped wagging his tail and drew closer to Bobby's leg for comfort. As they entered the cave, and their eyes adjusted to the half light, they were quite confused and surprised to spot...a bug, reading the paper and enjoying his morning tea and toast. "

IF-Speed

Sometimes your speed has to be brought down to 0mph.