Spider-Man Sketch

Just for fun. :)

I'm really enjoying sketching in this smaller sketchbook my wife got me for Valentine's last year. The size is  3.5" x 5". It's fun to do a quick sketch after work. The small size of the paper makes it less intimidating to create something "amazing" and to just have fun with it.

Meet Me On The Bridge

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2015 to you. :)

Pursue what is True

Probably the best decision I ever made. :)

Dear God,

... please convince my parents to let me have a cat for Christmas this year. I promise I'll take care of it and make sure it will always be fed and feel loved. Thank you. Amen. :)

A King Is Born

Santa Rocking Out

Getting in the spirit with a little Jingle Bell Rock! :)

Family Caricature

Last week I was fortunate to have the opportunity to draw caricatures at my church's block party to celebrate the new school year. It was a great way to meet people in our community and hopefully make us known to those who might be looking for a church home or a place to grow in faith. I drew caricatures professionally at theme parks for about five years before doing design work for embroidery full time. One of the things I loved most about drawing caricatures live was the interaction with a customer and getting a nice hearty hand shake or giant smile from someone who absolutely loved the piece of art you did for them and the experience they had!  :)

The caricature above is a portrait of my wife and I and our cat, Stimpy.

Thank you for stopping by. :)

Sometimes I forget...

...how small we really are.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my art! I really do appreciate it. :)

A Good Night Sleep

I love a good night's rest. Sometimes it doesn't happen but when it does, I do my best to remember to be grateful! :)

Summers at the Lake

Penny: "Hey, wait up!"

Parker: "Cannonball!"

Let's go for a walk!

Inspired by Pascal Campion's daily sketches, I decided to do a (future family) quick sketch of Heidi and I. Pascal's work inspires me to tell stories with art and I love how he focuses a lot of his work around his family. What a great way to also show love and pursue your spouse in the process. Heidi loves it when I make these kind of pictures and I can't wait to do more! :) 

Love/Inspiration Doodles

My wife is awesome! To help me get out the door in the mornings, she packs my lunch and slips a post-it note doodle in the bag with me to find when I get to work. I love them and keep them next to my drawing table for inspiration.

I love being married. :)

Batman Head Sketch

I was really excited to draw this on the way to work this morning. It feels so good to do a drawing for yourself now and then. What an awesome time in history to be alive were we have the technology to immediately share our art with the world, so conveniently and so easily! Thank you for stopping by! :)

Batman Head Sketch
Marker, White Out Pen and Colored Pencil on Cardboard: 4.5" x 6.5"

More X-Men Fan Art

Drawing/designing some more of my favorite childhood heroes! The new characters are Archangel (blue), Colossus (orange) and Storm (purple). Thank you for stopping by and checking out my art. These were super fun to sketch up and a lot of fun to make.

X-Men Pop Art Sketch Cards

More sketch card fan art! These started out as an experiment in style and basically to have fun/do some art for my self. Simplifying and playing with shapes on some of my favorite mutant super heroes was the goal with these drawings. I'm trying not to fall in love with a drawing right away, and so I brought the first couple of cards to my wife for her advice and critique. She's a graphic artist and has a really great eye for design so I always welcome her thoughts. After making some changes and redoing several characters, I was very thankful I had let go of my pride and asked for another artist's insight. These where really fun to make and didn't demand a lot of time. A nice way to get a quick sketch in and have the feeling that you completed a piece of art. :)

The bottom four images are an experiment to see what the cards would look like mirrored in Photoshop and to play with symmetry.

Top Row, Left to Right: Cyclops, Beast, Magneto, Wolverine, Sabrertooth, Psylocke
X-Men Sketch Cards: 3.5"x2.5" Pen, Colored Pencil and Neon Sharpie Markers on Illustration Board

Green Goblin Sketch

Heidi and I just saw the new Amazing Spider-Man movie and loved it! I was inspired to do some drawing after the movie, so here's my take on the Green Goblin.

A couple weeks ago at our wedding, my cousin showed me his sketchbook and asked for a critique. He's about ten years old and really getting good! For advice, I thought about it last week and this came to mind.

1. Have fun with it (drawing)!

• This sounds simple, but it's easy to forget.

2. Seek wisdom.

• Read scripture/books, hang out with good people, serve others, follow God.

Any advice you would give to an aspiring artist or to yourself when you where ten years old? 

Thank you for stopping by. :) 

Honeymoon Cafe' Sketching

Happy to announce, Heidi and I were married last Saturday (4/26/14) in Plymouth, Minnesota. It was a beautiful day and we were fortunate to miss the rain that lasted several days after the wedding. This was a sketch of her from one the cafe's we ate at on our honeymoon.

To the love of my life; thank you for being on this amazing journey with me. :)

Surrendering

There is a contemporary Christian radio station here in the Twin Cities (KTIS) that I'm really into lately. I was inspired by the Chris Tomlin song, "White Flag" on the way to work one morning and sketched this out. Lately, with planning the wedding and getting ready to move into a new apartment with Heidi, there's been a lot going on. I'm learning to let go of what I "think" is best for me by surrendering, applying faith, taking one day at a time and trusting God. With this surrender it feels like life falls into place with ease rather than when I rigidly try to control everything. I guess that's why this song really hit home for me. These last nine months have been amazing but certainly came with their challenges. I know that it wouldn't have worked out as well as it has if I didn't trust in God.

4" x 4.75"
Ink, marker, and colored pencil on card stock

Gambit Sketch Card

Playing the X-Men video games on Sega and SNES growing up, Gambit was one my favorite characters to choose. He had the long range attack with his playing cards and a long reach with his bow for a short range attack. So many great memories. :)

I love drawing these sketch cards. It's super fun to make art for the peer joy of it. I recognize that I need this time (off the clock) to play and make art for myself. Sometimes it's hard to justify if this is worth my time or not. "Should I be exercising? Should I spend more time in prayer and reading scripture? Should I be with and make time for friends and relatives more. Should I be doing something else...? Is this just a hobby?" These are some of the questions I wrestle with. Is any of this familiar to you?

Ninja Cat T-Shirt and Stickers!

He slices! He dices! He... takes frequent naps through out the day. He's the Ninja Cat! :)

New T-shirt and Sticker design added to the RedBubble store.

Hope you guys enjoy, and special thanks to my fiance for helping pick out the color scheme.

Art Inspiration!

Such a great resource for all artists, students and professionals!

The Chris Oatley website and podcast are full of amazing resources! This isn't new news, but if you are an artist and haven't done so yet, please visit this site.

Chris, God bless you. You are an inspiration and hope to us all!