What'd I say

Ray Charles. I loved the movie Ray. Except for the drugs and cheatin on his wife, he was a decent guy. Well his music is great anyway and I like his voice alot! I try to sing like him in my car, but my wife gets mad when I close my eyes and sway back and forth while driving.

911 recruitment poster

This is a poster I made at work for Springfield's 911 Call Center. They were having a career day (yesterday) that I heard was a raging success! They wanted something high tech, CSI-ish/24-ish for males age 25-35 so I had to borrow a season of 24 from my brother's roommate. Jenny won't let me watch those "scary" crime drama shows normally. She even covers her head during the commercials. After watching a disc of season 3, I felt I had the idea. I needed a model for the main image, and I thought to myself, "why don't you do it, goober, you'll never be asked to be a model by anyone else!" So I took off my glasses and put on a headset and had my colleague Chris shoot me in front of his computer. My trick with taking off my glasses worked because even people around the office didn't recognize me in the poster. I think it's a Clark Kent/Superman thing. By day, I'm a simple graphic designer, but by night – Super 911 Telecommunicator Boy! Not very catchy. I used Photoshop to trim a few pounds off my chin and cheeks. I love Photoshop!

Sketch

Here's my sketch of Bono. From U2. Nice guy, though I've never met him. He seems nice though. nice.

Christmas Parade

This is the image I did for a Christmas Parade last Christmas. I had so much fun doing this that I think I will do a lot more in this cartoony funny style. It makes me smile.

2005 Bluesfest poster

This is the poster I painted and designed for last year's Greater Ozarks Blues Festival. Buddy Guy was the main headliner along with Tommy Castro and Rod Piazza. Those three were worth the price of admission for the weekend! (though I got in free for doing the artwork) I am currently working on this year's poster for 2006. Fun stuff!

Eric Clapton

Sketch of Eric Clapton. Guitar god. I don't like much of his smooth pop stuff, but I get all tingly inside when he plays the Blues or the classic stuff when he was in Cream, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Derek and the Dominos, and Blind Faith. The small one is what he looked like around the early 90s.

sketching around

Sketch of Jimi Hendrix. I'm working on caricitures this year. I may clean up and finish some of them just for fun. Who would you like to see? FYI I fixed the comment button so anyone can post a comment and you don't have to sign up for anything.

Friday, good!

I am listening to a CD by Tab Benoit, Fever for the Bayou (2005) that I checked out from the library. He is a Louisiana boy with a deep Louisiana accent, and he sure can rock. He is one white blues player that really sounds black. He does some swampy Cajun waltzs and other traditional smokin' blues. I have Tab's debut CD "Nice and Warm" (1992) on my computer at work and it is a blues classic! Very good!

Well today is Good Friday and it is a good day. Perfect weather, listening to the Blues, flowers blossoming on the trees, and Cashew Chicken in my tummy! I had to treat myself today, Springfield Chinese food was calling my name. Going to KC this weekend to spend time with the fam and hunt for Easter eggs. Jenny always finds a way to weasel out a "head start" so I'm sure this year she'll play the six month pregnancy card. She's got to use it while she's got it I guess. She got to the head of the line on an airplane last month because she was crying and told the stewardess she was pregnant! I wish I could strap a pillow on under my shirt and get special treatment, but probably noone would believe me. Go Jen! Here's the latest specs on Andrew according to a weekly email we get:

At just over a pound and almost a foot long, your baby is long and lean. Curled up, he is about the size of a soccer ball. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon, and his brain is growing rapidly.

Newman/Brando

Maybe I'm crazy. Any resemblance to Baby Andrew's first photo? I don't care what you think, this is my blog.

Baby Andrew

And here's Baby Andrew! Let's give him a round of applause! Isn't he cute! He's a very handsome young lad. This is a 3-d ultrasound that we got with our regularly scheduled ultrasound appointment at the end of March. Jenny hates when I say this, but he's got that pensive, brooding look on his face like a young Marlon Brando or Paul Newman. Those aren't (weren't) bad-looking guys! Or maybe he kinda looks like his Great Grandpa Montgomery (Poppy). Either way, I can't complain – I got those good looks too.

Bluesman

Image I did for Bluesfest T-shirts '05

Wes Wilson sample

Here is a sample of Wes Wilson's 60's rock posters. This one is for the Byrds. The colors on all his posters are much more brilliant that I've ever seen reprinted in books. There are a lot more neon inks used than I expected. Anyway, rock on, Wes!

Wes Wilson

I love rock posters!
Last week I went to an art show opening at the Keyes Gallery in Springfield featuring the work of Wes Wilson. He is the father of the 60s rock poster. Very cool. He pretty much was the first to use all the psychadelic imagery, colors and hard-to-read lettering of the era. I met him and we chatted for about 5.5 seconds before someone else pushed me out of the way, but I did get him to sign my "Art of Rock" book (for which he designed the cover) and a postcard and got my picture taken with him. I am attaching the photo – I'm the goober on the left. I like to take pictures with famous (to me) people! It is my new hobby. Wes is a cool guy, now a farmer in Missouri about 45 minutes Southwest of Springfield. Look him up at wes-wilson.com
Later