I won't be posting for a few days... I'm off to Mexico for a much needed siesta. Check back after my return on Monday.

Do you ever get the feeling like you are being tested... and everyone is just waiting to see how long it takes you to crack... Man I need a vacation!.

A.D.D. Smoothie
Imagine work as apples, politics as bananas, relationships as strawberries, philosophy as yogurt, art as wheat grass, morality as sorbet, and mortality as ice. Now put them all in a blender and press purée. That's pretty much what it's like in my head at any given moment. It's not such a bad little blend... the problem comes when my boss asks me for a glass of apple juice.

It started out as a drawing about how work was wearing me out, but I think it might work as an illustration about internet security or something. I like the way it came out though, however you interpret it.

Just an apple, no symbolism here. I like drawing apples because they have so many different colors in them. I wanted to give the new colored pens Jon got me a real test drive.

I've been sick for 3 days... it's given me time to think about good verses evil and the fine line between friend and foe.

P.S. Thanks to Jon for the colored pens!

On May 1, 2003 the President declared "the end of major combat in Iraq"... and yet...

We'll leave no stone unturned until we find those weapons.

Here is a related link. Thanks Bel.

follow these instructions:
1) go to www.google.com
2) enter 'weapons of mass destruction'
3) click on 'I'm feeling lucky'
4) read everything.

All she wanted to do was take a little walk. Due to the threat of terrorism, additional security was assigned. Unfortunately they were so focused on protecting her they didn't realize they were impeding her movement. The results were disastrous.

A professional cartoonist once told me to keep my drawings simple. As an illustrator you can't always spend a lot of time on your drawings if you want to stay topical. I've decided to try making caricatures of all my friends so I can learn to recognize facial features and draw them quickly. Jen has been asking me for a caricature of her... this came out a little more detailed than I originally intended. Oh well I guess with some people you can't help but spend a little extra time. ;-)

Whether you think he is a straight talker or simply lacks panache. Whether you think he is focused on national security or simply dismissive of criticism. Whether you think his policies will revitalize the economy or just pad the pocketbooks of the rich... It is my job to point out that he really does look like a monkey.

Portrait of Ken (My best friend from college). Drawn from a photo. I've decided to make caricatures of all my friends. I'm hoping to develop a feeling for facial features.

OK... so it's another self-portrait... but I'm the cheapest and most convenient model at my disposal. This one came out pretty good but I had trouble recreating the face at different angles without using a photo... well mirror actually... OK... it was an overly elaborate setup involving my digicam and a 12" TV set up on my dinning room table. It allows me to view pictures and video stored on the memory card plus I can use the TV as the view screen for the camera if I want to ... oh say... point it at myself and make faces into it... Anyway... I want to figure out what are the distinguishing features that really make individuals look different from each other…

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!
It's a metaphor... or something... you figure it out!
I thought about shrinking this one down like a comic strip in the newspaper. It helps to hide the mistakes but I kinda like the roughness of the pen strokes. Plus I figure you guys can scroll.

I was listening to a program on the radio about children who are forced to become soldiers. It reminded me of a short story I read in grade school. It involved two men arguing about nuclear weapons. Whether they should be developed or used or something like that... One man argued that the world wasn't ready for that kind of power and illustrated his point by secretly leaving a loaded handgun with the other man's child. When the other man went to kiss his son goodnight he discovered the weapon and exclaimed, "Who would leave a loaded gun in the hands of a child!" Ok, so it's kind of an obvious metaphor but it got me thinking about our tendency to resort to overwhelming force without really thinking about the consequences. I can't remember who wrote it or what it was called, but for some reason that story always stuck with me.

Old guy at a coffee shop. He was just sitting with his wife and watching some kids play. He had such a great face I had to draw him.
Plus I wanted to test out my pen. Ooooh... 50% grey... Ahhhhhh...