The weather has been cold & rainy since I got back from my trip on Wednesday. I’m so close to being done with Grant County Park.

After a minor update to my heart eyes logo, and uploading it to Instagram for Valentine’s Day, I got a few comments suggesting I put the design on a shirt. That was never the plan but I’m up for it. Unfortunately I’m going to be out of town for 3 weeks so it’ll be a month, maybe more, before I could really start production. I’ve started sketching ideas for the label inside the neck that tells you the size and, depending on cost, a small graphic for the back. There’s not much else I can do till I get back besides get pricing, lock down the artwork, keep the momentum going and take some pre orders. We’ll see if people are still interested a month after Valentine’s Day for this lovie-dovie design.

I drew myself as the titular character from the original Donkey Kong video game just for funsies. Fun Fact: Mario made his first appearance as “jumpman” in the Donkey Kong arcade back in 1981.

Here are the three designs my friend liked from the 10 sketches I sent. They’re slightly cleaned up and with a bit of color. I’ve sent her these samples now I’m waiting on feedback before moving forward.

Here’s a sneak peek at some rough sketches for a 2” x 2” label I’m designing for a friend.

Here’s a couple snippets from a design I’m working on. Still in the early phases, and a bit rough, but slowly coming together.

I did this just for fun. When I was a kid I loved Ninja Turtles so much I remember drawing them over & over till they looked sorta like they did in the 80s-90s cartoon.

I made this little sketch when I realized I had to upload two posts today.

I finally inked him. Black ink on white paper but I forgot to take a picture. It’s a Thank-You card going out with a t-shirt order and I already sealed the envelope. I digitally inked the one below and added a little color. I used the photo of the pencil sketch at the bottom.

I went and did a site visit Thursday evening where I, and other local artists, are going to paint on the asphalt. I’ll be doing my USA map below. I did a quick color fill in the bottom pic to get a better idea of what it’ll look like when it’s done. More details to follow.

I didn’t do shit today besides laundry but I did draw this on my iPad tonight.

I went back to Grant County Park today after 10 days of cold, wet & windy weather. I set out hike the .2 miles of Eagle Trail, between the Brush and Cañada de Pala trails, that I missed the last time I was there. After covering that short stretch I headed north-east on Cañada de Pala till it crossed the San Felipe Creek. After a week and a half of rain there was now a flowing stream. I didn’t want to risk falling in or getting my boots soaked so I stopped there. I didn’t go back right away. I stayed a while and drew in my sketchbook. Soon after, a lady came down the trail from the other side of the creek. She sounded surprised to see the water too. I asked if it was her first time on this trail and she said yeah. She then hiked up her pants and crossed the creek by stepping on two rocks sticking out of the water. Like a boss! After she walked away I started drawing out the scene in my little sketchbook.

The sketch is done. As per usual, it was more work than I anticipated.

I sketched 5 more state names tonight as I slowly travel east.

Here’s my sketch for the project I mentioned yesterday. The idea would be to paint the names of all 50 states on concrete and make it as colorful as possible. I’ll wait to see what the organizers think before finishing this in case they have other ideas.

An opportunity came up today to design & paint fun interactive paintings on concrete at housing project in downtown San Jose for kids to play on. Think hopscotch & four square. This opportunity came via the arts nonprofit Local Color. I and a couple other artists are waiting on more information from the organization, and for dry weather, before we can begin. 

In other news, I penciled the this 3 eyed vampire kid as a Thank You card for me to ink later. 

Last night I drew the Extra Super Duper Jumbo Size soda & fries. Tonight I drew the cheeseburger to match. Both sketches are really small at about an inch and a half tall.

I didn’t do much today besides clean and do laundry. I did do a little bit of sketching with a number 2 pencil tho.

I stayed up way past my bed time drawing this. Enjoy the time lapse video below.

Not really. Just a little bit of doodling after a long hiatus.

I did some cleaning, organizing, a few loads of laundry, a bit of online shopping, played some old video games and sketched this on the iPad...

I’ve vectorized the name and added a drop shadow. The background still needs a bit of work.

I started reworking the names and I'm liking them both better.

I sketched some more eyes, mouths & noses tonight.