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.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Playing around with some ideas for Halloween fake tattoos.. they'll probably be ready by next year!

 

More Halloween imagery can be seen on my dribbble pages!

CHAOS IN THE CAFETERIA

Mice. Screaming, crying kids. Food fights. Just your typical day at school. A few pages from a reader I illustrated for Random House a couple of years ago.  You can purchase it here.  A 48-pager with illustrations on every page.  It was so much fun drawing crazed children.... I must do some more.

 

DEAD MAN'S FINGERS

... and other seasonal treats. Autumn. My favorite time of year; it's beautiful and silly AND frightening. It took a bit of tweaking here and there, but I was able to mold some of the recent assignments into postcard dimensions. And speaking of mold, the girl in the background of this one is examining a fungus called Xylaria polymorpha, better known as "Dead Man's Fingers." These were all originally created for Ranger Rick magazine.   I should get the cards this week! Then  the mailing begins. And speaking of dead, I hope the post office isn't yet.

dead man's fingers are gonna grab your pant leg!

Original piece posted here.

Original piece posted here.

CORNUCROWPIA

 art created 7-19-11

   Everyone knows crows are the cleverest of birds. So here I am to encourage all you kids to be just like them. You too can look smart by wearing specs and snappy clothes and be popular by hanging in a group. The group is called a "murder" of crows. Isn't that cool?  Crows can live anywhere. You don't need a home...just plop down on the roadside or in a field. Eat a variety of foods, including worms and insects, and get one of your friends to watch out for the authorities and caw out a warning if they see anyone coming. That way you can focus on the job of eating and reading. If you go into town, drop a nut in front of a car tire when the traffic light turns red. When the light turns green, the car runs over the nut, cracking it open. At the next red light, run out and get your snack. Very tasty, and you'll be a big hit with your friends.

 Eat a pear; read Shakespeare.

    For one of Ranger Rick's regular features: "Be Out There". You can also get other ideas for activities on their site to get you out of the house and out of your mother's hair, so to speak.

  And speaking of crows, there's a great Simpson's episode. To spare the family of having to eat genetically modified vegetables, Marge decides to grow her own corn, but her crop is attacked by crows.  So she erects a scarecrow which Homer thinks is a prowler in the dark and he beats it up and... oh... just go to this blog and you'll get the whole story.

SNUG in a SNAG

   I thought I was a nature lover; but the only kind of snag I was familiar with was the kind I get in my sweaters (darn those hangnails), until I worked on this piece.  Snags being, of course, dead trees that serve as hosts to all kinds of animals, fungi and new plants that grow in the rich soil they provide from their decay. This accompanied a page in Ranger Rick that encourages kids to see how much wildlife they can find in and around a snag.  So naturally, this snag is fully occupied.

art created 8-12-11

 

   Mr. Squirrel is a memory portrait of one cutie that destroyed our sunflowers. The one that came right up to my window ledge and gave me that very cute look.  Just checking to see if I was home.

  This is a technique I've used a few times before. The pencil drawing is completed first, then scanned and tinted; then colored in photoshop on a layer in the multiply setting so that the color is behind the drawing. The main drawback in working this way is not having a completed work of original art in color.  But I'm fairly pleased with it, so I'm turning this one into a promo piece.

detail

BIKINI MOM

A recent illustration for Babytalk magazine. I call it "va-va-voom vs. va-va-womb." The concept was body confidence for new moms. This accompanied a tongue-in-cheek quiz for moms to assess their own ideas of perfection and body image. It was good to do some editorial illustration for a change, even with a fast turnaround.

art created 8-22-11

  And oddly, I kept saying I wanted to go to the beach, and then I got this assignment.  I guess this is in the department of "Be Careful What You Wish For."  Now I'm REALLY going to the beach... but don't tell anyone!