There's a Donkey in the Tree!

An illustration I just finished for a book that my agent is hocking. It's based on a story that my father loves to tell us (and his father told it to him and his siblings) about the Jewish holiday Tu B'Shevat. The holiday is the new year for the trees and as the story goes, all trees, bushes and plants bow down to God at midnight on Tu B'Shevat. Well, it's at this time that a traveler ties his donkey to a tree and goes to sleep at an Inn. He wakes to find his donkey is now at the top of the tree...

Pizza in 4 parts

Last night I decided to make some interesting pizzas for dinner. I can make pizza in my sleep (it's a fall-back meal when I've got no other ideas) so sometimes I like to be creative.

-On the first I put oil on the dough, some basil, sliced tomatoes, salt and fresh mozzarella.
-On the second I put chopped tomatoes over sauce, with shredded mozzarella and cheddar and Romano and Parmesan. After it was almost done baking I added baby spinach and fresh roasted pepper (which finished cooking JUST in time for me to use).
-On the third I did a simple (turkey) pepperoni pizza with Romano and Parmesan because that's the one the wife likes best.
-The fourth was a regular pizza with part of it folded over to create a stuffed-pizza for my son who was so hungry he wouldn't wait for me to photograph his section.

Yum.

Quick Sketches

I was in Austin with the fam to meet my new niece but the three of us got sick and couldn't hang around her too much (there were moments when I would run to another room mid-sentence so I could sneeze). These were just a few of the sketches I did while Leo was napping- I didn't have much attention span to do anything more interesting or more involved... 'Scuse me, I have to go sneeze.

Math Map

Here's an interesting map I illustrated for a math book. In order to find the proper route from Start to End, you have to finish 10 math problems correctly and match the answers with the streets. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Sketch to finish

Here's an illustration I'm working on for a book. I thought I'd show the before (sketch) and after (finish) to give an idea of how a spot illustration starts.


As I worked on the finish, I decided that the boy's head needs to be larger to help balance him (then again- who wouldn't fall over with a head so big?). It also helps to keep him looking young (it's like an illustrator's beauty secret!).

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY 2009!

I've been creating these cards for years and years, took a break and now I'm restarting it. Here's a compilation of parts of past favorites:


You can check out a bunch more Groundhog Day illustrations on this blog by clicking HERE.

Map illustration

This is an illustration I was working on yesterday. It's for a very large 4th grade math book. I have a couple of other maps in this book which I may post another time...

Crocodile and Goldfish finished illustration

Here's the finished version of the sketch I uploaded a few days ago. I realize now that I have to change the name of this illustration since I colored the fish in a non-goldfishy way.

Crocodile and Goldfish

A quick sketch for a promo book illustration. I was really trying to show the care with which the crocodile is carrying the fishbowl.

And here's a picture I took in Tanzania of a decidedly less friendly crocodile trying to take a bite out of a wildebeest it had sneaked up on. Somehow, the wildebeest got away unscathed, but probably had a heart attack an hour later.

On the cell phone. Or is she...

Y'know, it's getting to the point where cell phones are just too small. I mean, I'm trying to sketch someone talking on the phone and the phone just doesn't even show. Instead, the person comes across looking like someone who has Crazy Glued her hand to her ear. Which was not the case here. Unless she was trying to throw me off by pretending to talk to someone on her teeny tiny phone while looking for some turpentine and pliers.

Bird fountain

I was in Jerusalem and I found this bird sitting on top of a large sculpture topped with a bird spitting water. From time to time the real bird would reach down and drink some of the water coming out of the fake bird's mouth. There was another photographer at the fountain but I don't think he noticed what was happening at the top of the fountain. Perhaps he is writing in his own blog that the other photographer near the fountain did not notice the two-headed yak with a tattoo of Isaac Mizrahi on his neck that had just jumped over the walls of the Old City, but I still think I got a cooler shot.

Graphic Artists Guild Meeting

A collage of sketches of attendees of the Graphic Artists Guild Annual Meeting in Carefree, Arizona. And no, the guy in the middle isn't actually evil despite his cool eyebrows and deadly stare...

Boys and their cars

Peeling sign in Vermont

I found this sign while traveling through Vermont. Although it is in a state of disrepair and conveys a message that is not very enticing (dirty, old, out of date- probably like the kitchen used to make breakfast) it is still employed by the restaurant to attract (!) customers. Buyer beware!

Spider-man

I was doodling next to my son when he asked me to draw Spider-man, so I did a really quick sketch (which means it was messy and sketchy) that he loved (and then he went on to ask for Batman). Later, I looked at the messy sketch and thought: I'd like to finish this one. So I scanned it in and drew what you see: My first color Spider-man illustration. (I've got about 1/4 billion ballpoint pen drawings in my notebooks from high school through college and a few 'formal' pen and ink illustrations somewhere in my studio)

This is an unfinished work: I'm planning on doing a city background but I just don't have the time just yet to do it.

My t-shirt design on Threadless.com

My t-shirt design just got accepted at Threadless.com to be voted on and hopefully printed.

If I get enough high scores the shirt will be printed and sold from the site and I will win some prizes. Take a look at it and if you like it, sign up and give it a score.

URL: http://www.threadless.com/submission/184384/When_Cheese_Goes_Bad

Thanks!

P.S. I'm sure Threadless would be happy if you bought a tee too!

Cool Girl

An old sketch I tumbled upon recently with gray tones dropped in.

On the 'T'

Riding on the 'T' (or train) in Boston, I got a seat for a couple of stops so I pulled out my sketchbook and drew the guy across from me and the woman in the cool glasses next to me (we were facing the window and it was dark outside so it acted like a mirror).

The guy was with a woman who could have been either his young mom, or his older girlfriend. I don't know if the woman next to me knew I was drawing her as my stop came up fast and I had to jump off the train.

Cartoonona

Faces2

More faces. And one of them somehow ended up looking a lot like Owen Wilson...

Faces

A mash-up of faces.

Grandma's Scooter

Crouch

At top is a quick one-line sketch before I planned to begin the more detailed one under it. Well, as soon as I was done my wife decided to move and that's why the lower drawing is a slightly different pose.

And that's a lamp growing out of her knee...

Waitress

Waitress sketch I did for a story idea I had. Some people should never wear tight clothes, much less clothes with leopard print.

Sketch at breakfast

Sketches of a couple eating breakfast at the table across from ours. The moment I started to draw him he changed his position and was almost completely obscured by his girlfriend (no, he didn't know I was drawing him- it's just Murphy's Law). It took a little while until I could see him enough to put the sketch together.

Bionic arm and test tube

Some sketches I did a little while ago of characters for a book. The publisher made changes to the manuscript so these got the kibosh, but I've been meaning to finish them just for myself...

Zebra 1-liner

Here's a sketch I did without lifting my pen from the paper. 1-liner.