S is for Spider

It's been a long time since I have done a drawing for my alphabet series. This is based off of the idea of organic gardening. We visited Ravenswood winery a few years ago and they told us that instead of using pesticides they introduce bugs, birds and other animals to assist in protecting the harvest. Spiders are just one of the beneficial residents of a vineyard.

If I take this to color I plan on rendering the body as a dusty looking black grape.

L is for Luna Bird

Graphite on hot pressed watercolor paper. If I take this to final color I would make the orb glow and look all misty. But for now it's just a sketch.

B is for Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

This is part of my alphabet series. An ode to "The Office".

D is for Dunce

D is for Dunce. It started as another idea involving a lightbulb...then into a girl with a beehive hairdo....then a girl with a dunce hat.....then a ramped up dunce hat.

O is for Octopus...Sleepy Octopus

The alphabet series is back! I started this last year and went on a serious hiatus with it. I figure I can get a few more in before the craziness that is Autumn hits.

This is a sketch I was working on before I vacationed. It's a sleepy octopus. And it has 9 tentacles so it was born abnormal. So be it.

U is for Underdog

Graphite on Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

As a child one of my favorite cartoon characters was Underdog. He is a canine caped superhero who has a girlfriend named Polly Purebred. This is a drawing of my trusty sidekick Roscoe...attitude and all.

Q is for Q-bert

Graphite on Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

He's tentacley. He's cute. He has duck feet. What else could you possibly want from a baby monster?

This was inspired by tor.com's month of Lovecraft which celebrated sci-fi/fantasy author H.P. Lovecraft's novels. Irene Gallo, art director from Tor, hosted a blog challenge for artists' renditions featuring some of Lovecrafts characters.

I wanted to name him Henry....but H was already used in my alphabet. So I named him Q-bert after one of my favorite Atari games. Ah, Atari. How I miss the simple one orange button.

The next alphabet entry will feature the infamous Roscoe P Coltrain as a model. Stay tuned.

Sketch #6 - P is for Parasite

Graphite on Hot Pressed Water Color Paper

This was created for an online group I participate in. One of the members recommended "parasite" for the theme. I researched online and found a close up of a hookworm that was pretty creepy. Teeth and indents as eyes. Jordu Schell mentioned that nothing looks more alien than insects and if your creatively stuck with ideas just look through at some scary insects. Although a parasite is not an insect it most definitely looked alien.

As I was drawing this it evolved into a story in my head. I pictured him as a poor guy who can't get dates. I kept thinking of what he would put in a personal ad if he posted one. Funny where the mind goes when drawing!

M is for Mummy

Graphite on Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

Here is a sketch in honor of the Halloween season. I wanted to do something familiar but put a little bit of a twist on it. A screaming cat should do the trick. I used reference of a yawning hairless cat. Very frightening. I also put an eye on the left arm....a little homage to Mark Ryden. Happy Halloween!

H is for Hygieia

Okay....so....I think I'm going to challenge myself and create a "Visual Alphabet". Hopefully every week I'll get a letter up. I'd like to say I'm going to stick with mythology and fantasy characters but I might stray into another genre once in a while. So "H" is the first and I'll randomly pick letters here and there.

This is a child portrait of the goddess Hygieia. She was a healer and prevented the spread of disease. She was often depicted as a young woman with one snake and a bowl. The snake represents the delivery of medicine as well as a courier of spirits from the underworld.

Gustav Klimt has a spectacular rendition of Hygieia that I used for inspiration. Go ahead and google that! You know you want to.