Hand Lettering

For work I've been practicing and learning about typography and so this weekend I worked on several hand lettered pieces for fun. I was also playing with my new black tile paper and art markers that my wife got me for Christmas. 

Winter Woodland Fox

This was a fun sketch I started earlier in the year but never quite got around to finishing until this weekend. For me, foxes are really fun to draw! I'm looking forward to doing more woodland animals in a similar style.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Winter Woodland Fox
Markers, Pen and Ink on Toned Illustration Board - 4" x 4.75" 
(Original for sale!)

Yoda at the Mall

While doing some last minute Christmas shopping at the mall, Yoda decided to try his first Orange Julius. His life was forever changed.

Inktober Head Sketches

 A couple of head sketches from last month (Inktober). I'm looking forward to doing more of these in the future possibly as commissions and just for fun.

About six weeks ago, my wife and l became parents for the first time. It's been both exciting and challenging for us. It's made me think about priorities and what's really important in life and how being an artist fits into all of that. As I'm thinking about this I can say that I'm looking forward to making things (school t-shirts, lunch notes, birthday cards, etc.) for my son and my wife to show them I love them.

Personalized Greeting Card

This is a fun way I like to pass on my art to other people.

My long time buddy from high school and college had a birthday recently and I got this idea to draw him a personalized sketch card. He's a father of two boys and we both grew up loving the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.


The cards I draw on are blank, 5"x7" bristol paper that come pre folded. I found a pack of 50 cards for ten dollars at my local craft store, Michael's. They're perfect for pen and ink drawings with colored pencils or markers.

I like making these individualized cards for others because it's a fun way to show someone you really care. They also help keep my creative juices flowing between client projects.

Animals Dancing: Drawings and my Design Process

I thought it would be fun to share my sketching and design process from a recent series of characters I created for work. The theme was "Dance Party" and my assignment was to come up with six cartoon animals that each referenced a style of dance.

At work, I draw everything digitally. It saves a lot of time and makes corrections simple and easy. The tablet I use is a Wacom Intuos 3 (medium size). It took me awhile to get used to drawing digitally with one of these. My lines still don't come out the way I want them to and sometimes I have to redraw a line several times to get what I'm looking for. These are meant to be rough drawings at this stage. The drawing program I use Sketchbook Pro.

For the poses, I tried to stay loose and be gestural. I tend to exaggerate the pose slightly in the beginning, so that when I add more details the pose won't look stiff (ideally).

Here's a link to the final product. This set of animals was designed for machine embroidery and are for sale at Embroidery Library.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my work. I hope this was helpful and inspiring. Please leave a comment or send an e-mail if you have any questions.

Super Cat

Some more after work sketching for fun. I used to draw more of these types sketches for my wife when we were dating. It's sort of my way of saying, I'm thinking about you and I love you.

Following Jesus

"Following Jesus never ends with "what's in it for me?"

I heard this quote was from a sermon by Andy Stanly a couple of weeks ago. For me, coming back to faith was about "what's in it for me." I was in a rough place in life and needed help. After recommitting my life to God things began to get better. My attitude, health, relationships, etc. Life hasn't gotten easier but it has gotten much better.

I went from being a consumer to being an advocate.

Paint Your Little Village

"Paint your little village and you paint the world."

I love this quote because it feels so empowering to know that we don't have to buy a plane ticket and travel to another country to do a mission trip to help change the world. We can do it right here! At home, work, the grocery store, etc. A smile to a stranger, a kind word to the cashier, a phone call to an old friend.

We are all connected.

Inspirational Chalkboard Art

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
- Psalm 118:24

Lately I've been learning a lot about hand drawn fonts, typography and layout. It has been a fun challenge and I like how it adds another skill set to my "artistic tool belt." I feel grateful to be able to make art that coincides with my beliefs.

Thank you Erin for the free chalkboard background!

Wolverine Eats a Bratwurst

This drawing felt appropriate to share on Memorial Day. A good weekend to be outside, fire up the grill and hang out. I'm also remembering to be grateful for the men and women, past and present, that have given their lives to preserve our country's freedom.

Cats Riding a Scooter

Today is my one year anniversary with Heidi! It's been a great first year together. So thankful to be on this journey of life with such an amazing person and my best friend.

Priorities: What's Important in Life

Inspired by the professional golfer, Bubba Watson, this is a short list of my priorities in life.

1. God
2. My wife
3. My kids
4. Helping others
5. Art

Five years ago the list would have looked more like this...

1. Art
2. Health
3. Family

I've learned that by shifting my focus on God and other people, rather than myself, life seems to have more meaning, purpose and fulfillment. Getting back to church and making that a priority in the last several years is turning out to be one of the better decisions I've made.

Superhero Sketches

Here are a couple of light hearted sketches of the Hulk and Batman from last week. I'm working on some chalkboard style quotes at work and learning a lot about typography and hand lettering. It's been challenging in a good way. I had the itch to do a little cartooning though and so these two superhero drawings were a fun way to relax in the evenings and get back to the sketchbook.

Happy Easter everyone!

Wolf Sketch

After work, usually around 4:30, I like to treat myself to a quick sketch before going home. It's a nice way to wind down and have some fun. Lately, I've been drawing all my roughs (for work) on the computer using a program called Sketchbook Pro. It saves time and if there's a revision, it's easier to make an edit on the computer rather than redraw something from scratch. So getting back to the real sketchbook and holding an actual pen or paint brush feels really good!

This drawing took about 30 minutes. I really enjoy the spontaneity that comes from working fast.When I give myself a time limit I'm usually trying to put down as much information as I can and so the analytical part of the brain shuts down giving unexpected results. It's fun!

Wolf Portrait
Ink Brush, Colored Pencil and White Out on Toned Cardstock

Hipster Fox

I had a blast designing a series of hipster animals at work last month. Here's the link to the rest of the animals as Embroidery Designs.

http://www.emblibrary.com/EL/Products.aspx?Catalog=Emblibrary&ProductID=x11348

On the side, I've been working on a personal project with my wife. The goal is to create a theme of art prints to potentially sell on Etsy. Heidi's been so great at giving feedback about what works, what doesn't work and how to make it all go together as a set. This fox design on top was test in Adobe Illustrator to play with textures. Basically it's all grain filters and gradients. I'm liking the results and plan to apply it to the personal project.

It's been fun learning about Etsy and how it can empower creative entrepreneurs. The hardest part for me is being okay with the return rate vs. time invested in creating the art possibly being minimal. It's really about the journey though and learning more about the business side of being an artist. :)

Baby Super Heroes

This blog post is the follow up to the first Chibi Super Heroes post I did back in July, 2013. There are 6 new characters including Deadpool, Hulk, Wonder Woman, Spawn, Venom and Dr. Octopus. I finished these about a year ago. Between moving and planning a wedding these cards stayed in my portfolio and never got scanned in until a couple weeks ago. I do my best to finish projects and other commitments... even if it doesn't happen right away.

Each super hero character/card is 3.5" x 2.5" on bristle board using colored pencils, markers and pens. They're a lot of fun to work on and a fun challenge to redesign characters to make them look like they go together. I think these would look super cool if brought into Adobe Illustrator, cleaned up and made into a poster or print of some sort. Maybe some day... :)