My Little CrockPot of News and Thoughts

I've been reading a lot of design magazines lately, so with that on my mind, I decided to take a more graphic, advertising approach to the Illustration Friday topic this week. This one certainly has it's roots in my last post for song and like "Song", I have to admit, it was a lot of fun to do. Click on the image for a larger view.

"Song" is the topic for Illustration Friday this week. This is an abstract piece that I did this evening while listening to The New Pornographers' Mass Romantic. It's pure audible candy... delicious audible candy... listen for yourself

A sketchbook drawing colored and poked and pushed and pinched and kicked and hit and kneaded and deep fryed in Photoshop. This illustration, like the Sun, should not be looked at directly. If loss of vision occurs, I told you so.

You're truly has just been featured, along with a fantastic group of illustrators, in the latest edition of Creative Latitude! How cool is that? A while back Cat Morely was kind enough to feature this blog on her terrific site, Designers Who Blog. Several days later she contacted me again to ask if I would answer a few questions about my experiences with blogging for the latest issue of her article, Cat's Fancy: Designer Who Blog. So I did and so it was. I owe a bajillion thanks to the SUPER kind Cat! Things have super busy on this end. I'm up to my ear in freelance work, which isn't a bad thing at all. This past weekend, I decided to get rid of the beard (see above "before and after" illustration).

Ward tagged me with the these questions, so here is my take on them. ... Four jobs I’ve had: 1. Sales clerk at a JC Penny catalgoue store. It was my first job. It was actually a lot of fun... except the breaking boxes part. Sometimes I would have to hop into the dumpster and jump up and down on the mountain of boxes that were there, trying to make room for more. There was always a cloud of gnats that would sworm my face when I did that... the dumpster also smelled funny... like rotten stink. 2. File clerk at a clinic. This job really drove home the fact that I was never meant to do any type of clereical work. It was also during this time that I realized that I did not know the alphabet. 3. Artist at a local internet service provider. This job I had for several summers/ Christmas breaks during college. The guys I worked with were fun, but the work I produced makes me feel nautious now. 4. Animator at an educational software company. I'm still doing this one. Four movies I can watch over and over: 1. My Fellow Americans... this movie cracks me up, no matter how many times I watch it. Jack Lemmon and James Garner are the perfect arch rivals. 2. Waiting for Guffman... "... and I'm just going to go home... and bite my pillow!" 3. Monsters, Inc. ... I love everything about this film. The design. The color. The character design. The story. It's the best. 4. Th Patriot... I *heart* history and the older I get the more I love the Revolutionary War. In elementary school, I remember loving the class time that we spent learning how Mel Gibson lead a misfit militia against an army of over confident British troups... and won us our independence. Four places I have lived: 1. Mt. Pleasant, TX. The small town that I grew up in. It's great. We have a Wal-Mart. Jealous? 2. College Station, TX. Home of the Fightin' Texas A&M Aggies. There's also a town there... somewhere. 3. Savannah, GA. I consider Savannah to be my "old stomping grounds". I really enjoyed living there. 4. Austin, TX. The quirkiest place I have ever lived. I like it. Except for my neighbors. They should move. Four television shows I love to watch: 1. The Office 2. Project Runway 3. Monk 4. Grounded for Life Four places I have been on vacation: 1. Destin, Florida 2. Cancun, Mexico 3. Mobile, Alabama 4. Hilton Head, South Carolina Four of my favorite dishes: 1. Any type of Sandwich... except the knuckle kind. 2. grilled shrimp and steak. These two go together... and I mostly only like the kind my Dad makes. 3. My wife's chicken enchaladas. I have a theory that most of the wars throughout history have been founght over these. 4. My wife's grilled cheese. These almost send me into a coma. They are that good. Four websites I visit daily: 1. Drawn.ca... cause it's the best. 2. flickr... i just love this site. 3. allmusic.com... I consider allmusic.com to be one of my best friends. I came close to sending it an invitation to my wedding. 4. emusic.com... I don't do drugs. I do emusic. Four places I would rather be right now: 1. home with my wife making fun of people on TV. 2. back at my parents house fishing. It's the best. 3. getting coffee at a bookstore. 4. laying in bed watching tv shows that will rot my mind. Four bloggers I am tagging: 1. Elisa. Cause you need something to take your mind off the snow. 2. Brandon. Cause between a job, raising a son, being married, and doing your own illustration stuff, you don't have enough to do. 3. Chris. I'm tagging you because you never post to your blog anymore. 4. Anna. Cause I'll need to know this stuff about you when I get old and lose my mind...

This is why I will never go sky diving.

Happy Birthday, My Little Crockpot. You're two years old today! A big, heaping spoonful of thanks to all the kind people who stop by, check out my latest offerings, leave comments, and just overall give me a big pat on the back. The Crockpot and I appreciate it. Here's to another year. Now who wants cake?

Here's a recent illustration I did for a kids magazine. Yes, that is corn in the kid's hand. Corn can be such a temptress. Things have been really busy around here during the past week or so. I've got several plates spinning at once, much like everyone else is the world. There is some super fun excitement coming to this blog soon though... something that will hopefully be an ongoing project with a super talented illustrator and friend... *shakes in excitement* ... STAY TUNED!