Illustration Friday: Capture

Someone's got hold of that peace dove again, and they're not gonna let her go. As usual, the 'collateral' damage in war includes children and senior citizens... on all sides (and there seem to be more than just two sides).

Heard a news report yesterday that said, "Americans will feel the pain of this conflict at the gas pump." Yes, actual words. Bodies are being blown apart or stuffed into bags, and we're suffering (?) at the gas nozzle.

I do not forget the families of those in our military. I pray daily that the soldiers will be coming home soon.

Maybe we can find out who's captured that tired and beaten old dove, and get them to unshackle her. Peace to all of you who read this and to all whose lives are being shattered.

Illustration Friday: Clean

An important duty of the bartender is to run a clean bar. I bartended for a coupla years after college, kicking around with no plan and no direction... Nothing high-class; a beer-and-wine joint, a bowling alley. No fancy drinks; Swiss highballs (otherwise known as wine coolers), whiskey straight up, or whiskey and water.

I spent a lot of time washing glasses and mugs.

So here's a set of glasses, very clean, done in a 3-D program (StrataPro). Yeah, I let the software do most of the work, but, hey, I had to draw the profile of the glass; something for the program to lathe. And I had to compose it, make the shaders, set the lights, and such.

Anyway, if I think of something to actually draw, I'll add it to the blog... I won't put a new entry on IF... I'll just add to this post.

Peace, everyone, and keep it (whatever 'it' you choose) clean.

Illustration Friday: Opposites

Peace, everyone. Stay cool.

Illustration Friday: Sacrifice

When I read the topic, the first thought to come to mind was Papa, who gave up much to make sure his three kids had opportunities he never had. I think he felt trapped in his occupation, and I believe there was unrealized potential in this man.

He died 28 years ago, and a day has not gone by in those years that I haven't thought of him. I have had a blessed life, due in no small part to my Papa.

Peace, everyone. Hug your loved ones.

Illustration Friday: Skyline

Half-completed deal. Was gonna put a panoramic skyline of the neighborhood... six or seven houses, trees, etc. Yeah, 'coulda, woulda, shoulda...' Anyway, another hectic week.

So I must thank all those who've visited this blog... and respectfully ask pardon for not having the time to get my fix of all the reg'lars I visit. Hopefully this coming week will allow some breathing room. I'll get back into the swing of things some day.

Peace to you, and may your skyline be free of exploding missiles. (This has been an upsetting day in parts of the world)

Illustration Friday: Sticky

Yeah, those crazy caramel apples at the Boardwalk can be pretty sticky, you bet.

Hey, it's been crazy at work and around the house... so I didn't get around to visit hardly any IF posts this past week... and here it is Thursday, and I'm barely getting some quick thing on board. Not apologizing and not complaining... It is what it is.

Anyway, peace to all, and hang in there, sticky or slick.

Illustration Friday: Rain

Was listening to this song the other day, written by Gordon Lightfoot, covered by Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, and Peter, Paul, & Mary. For melancholy rainy days. Peace, everyone.

In the early mornin' rain with a dollar in my hand,
With an achin' in my heart, and my pockets full of sand.
I'm a long way from home, and I miss my loved one so;
In the early mornin' rain and no place to go.

Out on runway number nine big seven-o-seven set to go.
Well, I'm stuck here on the ground where the cold winds blow.
The liquor tasted good, and the women all were fast.
There she goes, my friend, she's a rollin' down at last.

Hear the mighty engines roar, see the silver bird on high.
She's away and westward bound; far above the clouds she'll fly,
Where the mornin' rain don't fall, and the sun always shines.
She'll be flyin' over my home in about three hours time.

This old airport's got me down; it's no earthly good to me.
'Cause I'm stuck here on the ground, cold and drunk as I might be.
You can't jump a jet plane like you can a freight train,
So I best be on my way in the early mornin' rain.

Gordon Lightfoot, 1962

Illustration Friday: Dance

Shake a leg. Peace to all.

Illustration Friday: Jungle

It's a
jungle
in there.


Peace to
everyone
and may
there be
peace
in your
jungle.

Illustration Friday: Portrait...

...of Blackie as a young dog...

Back when Blackie was a young dog dandy,
Dressed to the nines, on the town he'd bandy.
High-struttin' and high-falootin' was he
In those doggie days; footloose and carefree.
Taking a break, for this portrait he sat;
Bow-tie and tail(s), sharper than the aver'ge cat.

Peace to all.

Illustration Friday: Cake

Peace.

Illustration Friday: Sorry

This doesn't quite say 'sorry' to me.

Turmoil? Remorse? Anxiety?

Maybe despair.

Took it from a sketch I did a couple of years back...something I did quickly in a dark time...a personal thing. Funny how bringing it back out can remind me of a hurt. But just as quickly I realize that all things, including despair, pass.

Peace and goodness to all.

Illustration Friday: Angels/Devils

I dunno. Had to put sumpthin' up there in my mission not to miss a week of IF. They both look devilish and evil to me.

Didn't start with a sketch (or a plan... does it show?). Just started messing around in Photoshop.

Illustration Friday: Fat

I guess I don't so much mind being old, as I mind being fat and old.
-Benjamin Franklin

Not picking on Ben. As founding fathers go, he's probably one of my favorites. Don't think he owned any slaves. He was an inventor, a printer, a wise-saying sayer.

Didn't know how to illustrate the topic, so I started searching for quotes, and the one above from Ben just struck my fancy.

Many thanks to all who left comments last week. I try to visit as many posts as I can, but time got away from me. I'm sure Poor Richard had a profound saying about time, but I don't want to search through his almanacs.

Peace to all.

Illustration Friday: Under the Sea

The Pacific gray whales pass through Monterey Bay twice a year; once on their way to Baja for the winter, and again as they head back to the Alaskan waters for the summer. Whale watching trips are a great way to see these cetaceans up close. I'll limit my watching experience to the deck of the boat... not from under the sea, thank you very much.

Peace, all.

Illustration Friday: Robot

Don't know where the heck this idea came from (somewhere out in left field?), but it sprang to mind almost immediately upon reading the topic, and it wouldn't shake loose til I put it down on paper... and then into Photoshop to finish. Peace to all, humanoid and android alike.

Illustration Friday: Spotted

Okay, I want everyone to know I really, really, really intended on not getting all heavy and PC with this week's topic. Just like last week when I really hadn't meant to get up on any soapbox. Believe me, it's really atypical of me to get all outspoken and preachy. I'm a pretty laid-back person. Really I am. (So how many 'really's' in this paragraph, and what does that say about one's writing ability?)

So, I see the topic for this week is 'spotted.' "Oh, great," say I, "I used up the perfect spotted topic with that dead cheetah last week." So, I'm thinking abstract ... maybe a super close-up of a leopard's spots. But I think on it throughout the day at work, and I think 'spotted owl.'

"Whoa," you say, "let's not get all Sierra Club again." Believe me, not my intention. I did an image search on Google and found this cool shot of a spotted owl by Jared Hobbs (on which this illustration is loosely based), and that was going to be that.

But then (and here's where I get into trouble), I look for a quote to go with the pic, and I find this:


"Read this Article if You Want to Hunt the Spotted Owl By Lance Winslow

"Recently I was in a coffee shop and I was discussing with a friend the abusive lawsuits and junk court filings of the spotted owl. He asked me if I knew what those spots were for?

"I told him know (sic), that I assumed it was like a Zebra or any other species which had such markings, it may have had some evolutionary reason for attracting a mate or possibly to blend into the scenery like camouflage to aid in hunting or to keep from being hunted. He said no silly. The real reason that those owls have spots is so you line up your rifle sights on them. They are like targets he explained.

"Well we both had a laugh, but then he said well we are going to have to kill them anyway. I asked why? He said they are very prone to be carriers of Bird Flu. Not sure if that is true but it kind of makes sense. Think on it."

I won't comment on this, except to say if someone wants to hunt a spotted owl, please print out this illustration and shoot it full of holes. Print as many as you like... or just shoot your computer monitor.

Peace to all.

Illustration Friday: Speed

"Yeah, the cheetah's pretty fast, but not faster than a bullet."

How fast can man prove his dominance over Mother Nature by utterly destroying her?

PLEASE NOTE: Lengthy comment on the next post below, if you're so inclined to read it.

Otherwise, peace to our planet and everything on it.

Comment on 'Speed' illustration

When I started searching for 'speed' resource photos through Google Images, I hadn't intended the above Illustration Friday post to be any more than a nice action shot of a cheetah running. I found some beautiful pictures, any one of which I could sketch and be done with the topic for the week. But one photograph on the fourth page of the search grabbed me and wouldn't let go of me. It showed two dudes kneeling behind their trophy of the day. The image linked back to an African safari company; one that promises to give you a "complete African experience." The company shall remain nameless here; I'm not out to persecute anyone for how they make their living. I just want us to take some time to think this hunting thing through.

Now I realize that if you've come to this blog, you probably got here through Illustration Friday. This being the case, I'm probably preaching to the choir. We artsy-fartsy folks tend to be on the socially conscious side of things. But lest you think that I'm striving toward the politically correct angle, please know that I'm not totally against hunting. I was raised on a ranch, the fourth generation of a family that hunted the hills and fields of central California (though I shelved my shotgun some 30 years ago).

That said, however, we never hunted anything that didn't end up on the dinner table. We plucked, cleaned, and ate every duck, pheasant, or quail we hunted. Hunting purely for the sport of letting blood, though, is something with which I'm hard-pressed to identify. What is it about our species that makes us the only animal to kill purely for the sake of killing?

When the news hit recently about our Vice President's unfortunate hunting accident what shocked me wasn't the reckless hunting practice that put stray pellets in his friend's face and torso. No, it was a related story that disclosed on another day he had single-handedly killed 70 pheasants! How does one man pluck and clean and eat that many birds? How much lust for killing is healthy in one red-blooded American male?

Let's assume he has people who do the plucking and cleaning. Because, yeah, he's a busy guy. He's got a country to run... uh, I mean, help run. But how much room can he have in his freezer? Let's say he takes ten... no, let's give him the benefit of the doubt and say he takes 20 birds back to Lynn to cook (or to have the help cook). That still leaves 50 dead birds back at the "we-raise-'em, you-shoot-'em" compound. We can only hope that they went to a food bank or a soup kitchen and weren't tossed in a landfill.

Let's leave the VP alone and get back to the big-game hunter. Who eats cheetah? Or zebra? Or giraffe? These are all animals on the price list for that particular safari site. I suggest that if someone wants "the complete African experience," they work on getting potable water to the millions on that continent who don't have it.

The aforementioned hunting company has a code of ethics, mind you:

The company holds to the belief that the primary Ethic of the Professional Hunter is to ensure that each hunt is concluded with minimal suffering and distress to the hunted animal.

Hmm... since when is death considered "minimal distress?"

Illustration Friday: Spring

California may have its faults (no pun intended... or maybe it was), but one of the beautiful things about Spring in Central California is the appearance of the wildflowers on the green hillsides.

This Spring the poppies have started to show, now only in small groupings. If the weather conditions are right, some magic combination of wet and sunny days, the hills and pastures veritably explode in carpets of golden poppies and velvety blue sky lupine.

It was a very wet March, colder than usual, and we will probably have to settle for spots of color here and there. We'll take what we can get.

Peace to all.