Balancing Act

    Life is in constant flux.  We try to seek balance.   But there is no perfect balance.

"The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next."- Ursula K. LeGuin
"Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold."- Helen Keller

Just spent several days purging the studio of 4 to 5 years worth of administrivia and ephemera.  A little lighter.  Found inspiration in many things, one being this illustration sequence for Highlights which was still in single pieces.  These critters said "Could you put us all in line please? Oh... and do something about that white background while you're at it."  Pencil and photoshop color.

Happy New Year!

A piece I did for Your Big Back Yard that I turned into a card.  Pastels and colored pencils.

Santa Claus

 

  Too jolly to read. Merry Everything! See you next year!

Squirrely Whirly

  Just finished this assignment for Ranger Rick for their March issue. I tried to capture that March feeling... those blue-grey skies and patches of melting snow.  I exaggerated their tails to the point that they look a bit like bagels, or maybe cinnamon rolls. (Because that's what you want to eat before you go squirrel-spying.)

 I used traditional media for this one; pastel and colored pencils on Ingres charcoal paper.

...and here's a draft of the page. The kids can check off all the crazy things they see squirrels do.

Mom's Best Friend

A piece I just completed for babytalk magazine. Reasons your baby should have a dog: Clean up, smelly diaper alert, tug of war, and helping baby take those first steps, or maybe learning how to waterski... whichever comes first.

Thanks!

Pumpkin pie for everyone!

STONER RATS?

   No; they're just chillaxin'. It was a point of discussion for this Ranger Rick magazine article about the effect of music on plants and animals.  One scientific experiment seemed to show that lab rats and some other animals become more relaxed when they listen to music.  My first sketch was meant to show the rats relaxed and grooving; but the editors remarked that "they look like they are stoned and have the munchies".

They thought the vapor coming from the test tube looked like smoke. Not my intention at all; but after another look I can see how they made that association!  I sent the sketch to rehab.

The editors were relieved. Then I decided I wasn't happy with the scale of the test tubes in the background and felt like the eye dropper commanded too much attention so I tweaked it once more and returned the cheese to the lower right corner to balance out the color.

The article didn't say what type of music mellowed them out, but I'm guessing it might be "experimental jazz".
  Graphite and charcoal base; photoshop color.