OSCAR AND CAPTAIN AMERICA

Here is Oscar with the Captain America I drew for him.  It's a copy of Kirby 11" x 17" Canson comicbook artboard.  Regular 2B pencil, Speedball superblack ink with crowquill pen, coloring done with PITT artist brush pens.

LEARNING WITH BURNE HOGARTH

One of my favorite teachers is the late Burne Hogarth.  All of his books are fantastic and quite instructive http://burnehogarth.com/blog/.  The writing in the books is easy to comprehend and the illustrations are fun to copy.  This one was done with pencil in a Strathmore 400 series sketch book 9" x 12".
The paper is ok but I learned that I do not like spiral sketchbooks because they can't take the abuse of travel the way hard cover sketchbooks can.

FROM SOCIAL GRACES - SKETCHBOOK PROJECT 2014

This appears in my sketchbook submitted to the Sketchbook Project of 2014 http://www.sketchbookproject.com/  I used PITT artist brush pens which are great!  They hold water proof india ink and most importantly they are odorless.

BITING JACK KIRBY

This is a panel by Jack Kirby that I "bit" using ink on bristol board in the old school style size of 15" x 20". I like to practice by studying and copying the masters.  Although I never went to art school I found out that copying is one of the teaching methods that have been used for centuries. It is a great way to learn how to closely see and observe.  Learning how to draw is really all about learning how to see.  Of course I wouldn't try to pass off another's work as my own or sell a forged work, so I remain on solid moral and ethical ground. Copying or "biting" other artists is viewed as paying a compliment to their work. Jack Kirby was nicknamed "The King" because practically is comic book history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby
For some strange reason people regard comic art as lesser than so called fine art.  In my opinion Jack Kirby's art has the power of any top fine artist.    

APRIL FOOLS!

This is one of the JOKER I drew for my grandson Oscar in the Netherlands.  He is very much into Batman and all comics (me too).  This is ink on bristol board.  I used a Winsor Newton Series 7 sable brush and also a croquill pen.  I also like just plain synthetic brushes.  This is Speedball super black ink which is nice and dark.  The standard size for comic board is 11" x 17" but I also like to use the old time size from the 1940-50's era of 15" x 22" which I size myself.  For fun I also draw splash pages 24" x 36" poster size.

SUNFLOWER and IRISES FOR TARA

I painted this using acrylic on canvas for our Tara back in 1994 when she was in college.  She is married now with her husband three children living in the Netherlands.  I am holding onto this painting for her. One day I had it hanging in our garage and a man and woman pulled up in their car and asked how much I wanted for it.  I jokingly said $10,000 and they agreed to the price.  Then I had to tell them it wasn't mine to sell.  Perhaps I should have sold it, split the $ with Tara and painted another one.  These great ideas never occur to me at the time they are needed.

MORE SUNFLOWERS

More sunflowers that I painted using acrylic on paper (24" x 36") which is a standard poster size that I like. Two books that I enjoyed about them were Sunflowers by Debra Mancoff and Sunflowers a collection of inspiring photos and words published by Courage books.