Happy Birthday Dad and Jack

Dad, Chester, would have been 95 today and Jack Kirby would have been 94. To both, I think, work and family were the most important driving forces in their lives.

Happy Birthday!



Fantastic Four #25, 1964

A Full Figured Hulk

A fellow artist over at Digital Art Tutorials' forum suggested that I do a full Hulk figure. I thought I would give it a try.

I added a body to the existing head. This digital painting isn't completely successful and I may have time in the future to rework some of the wonky bits. The lumpy, twisted forms are intentional but I think a little more proper structure of the form would help.

Hulk Portrait

I haven't just played with drawing something in Photoshop for awhile. Here is a Hulk portrait done this evening.

It began as a pencil sketch I scanned into Photoshop CS2 and then colored and restructured a bit as I worked on it.

The Hulk, issue #1 was cover dated May 1962, always reminds me of Maurice Sendak's 1963 Where the Wild Things Are. Wouldn't it be great to be able to just release the beast from within? Both Max and Bruce Banner find out there are consequences when that happens.

There is something Uncle Ernie likes about green skin and finds very familiar!

Uncle Ernie's Pumpkin Patch

I was checking out Google one day. Like most folks have done at some time, I typed in my address. The picture I found was a shot from space of my 2009 pumpkin patch. Yes, those little orange dots in the lower right are pumpkins as seen from an orbiting satellite.

If there are any aliens from another solar system wondering about orange squash, just give me a beam by. We can discuss the fine points of a backyard pumpkin patch over a spiced chai latte at my neighborhood donut shop.

Human and Animal

Kemono (ケモノ^?) is a genre of Japanese art and character design that prominently features anthropomorphic animal characters.

Kemono-Taiheiki, a work of Japanese art from the Muromachi period.

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Cute Barbarian Sketch 13

Another fast 8B sketch

Cute Barbarian Sketch 12

Here is a true quick sketch. When I got home this evening, I found a large envelope wedged between my screen and front doors. It was a surprise from my friends who are living in Japan. Two of the things inside were an 8B graphite pencil and a soft graphite stick, maybe a bit harder than the 8B, with a leather sheath - to keep my delicate digits from getting dirty. This degree of soft lead is difficult to find and I wanted to try out these early birthday gifts.

I like this under five minute sketch. The fresh look and spontaneous lines of the drawing are things I wish I could achieve more often. The ultra-soft lead forced me to work fast and to forget about fussing too much.

Thank you Butch and Keiko!! The best pencils come from Japan!