What A Day

What a day, what a day!

What an interesting day!

Some things have been changing

And going my way

We had a great class

Heard what our pilots do

Worked with robots and planes

Graduation day, too

But the best thing today

(I’ll be smiling for days!)

Got called in by the boss

And I got a fat raise!!

Then to dinner at Moe’s

That was kind of a pain

‘Cross the road we took there

Someone parked a big train!

There’s one more big change

I’ve been thinking about

But I’m not ready yet

To let that secret out

But suffice it to say

When I’m ready, you’ll hear

All about it if you

Keep on visiting here!

Hammerheads

Tonight I felt like drawing a shark, but I didn't want it to be too cartoony. When I found this reference image, I realized I hadn't done a monochrome picture in a while and it all just fell into place.

Chilly Bear

Thursday will be a big day! It features three major holidays: International Polar Bear Day, National Chili Day AND National Strawberry Day! However, you might not want to combine all three - leave that to the professionals...

Pudu

When you don't know what to do, you
Really ought to draw a pudu!

Granitunica mcfaddeniae

Today I heard some really excellent news. An old friend of mine from way back in my geology days has officially had a fossil named after her. Her last name is McFadden, and this tiny little round, microscopic fossil is called Granitunica mcfaddeniae. 

I wanted to write a poem in honor of this, but unfortunately I don't know the correct pronunciation for this name. Luckily, blazing ignorance hasn't stopped me before, so, with a little help from this excellent reference, I came up with this:

GRAN-ih-TUNE-ih-KUH mic-FAD-in-EE-ee

Which then led to this poem:

Most people merely pass through history-ee

A few, however, pause and really see-ee

With luck, they’ll make a big discovery-ee

Like Granitunica mcfaddeniae

What’s that? You’ve no idea what that could be-ee?

This tiny critter living in the sea-ee

A billion years ago, or two or three-ee

It’s Granitunica mcfaddeniae

And when you study it’s morphology-ee

A thick and double wall is plain to see-ee

Exhibiting a granularity-ee

‘Round Granitunica mcfaddeniae

(Kat, if you ever read this and I've completely messed it up, let me know and I'll try to come up with something better!)

Fencing

Another movement/posture study. This time I did a Google image search for 'fencing' then tried some quick sketches using the photos as a reference.

Little Skunk

Tonight, for no particular reason, a little skunk!

Sword Swallower's Day

If Saturday comes and the world doesn’t end

There’s another adventurous option to spend

The day doing something amazing, my friend

Tomorrow’s Sword Swallower’s Day!

So go get a bayonet, epee or knife

Brush aside hesitation, forget any strife

Just throw back your head as you celebrate life

And enjoy your Sword Swallower’s Day!

You don’t have one? Use mine! But I don’t have a spare

It’s okay. In the spirit of friendship, I’ll share

Go ahead, I’ll be watching from right over there

Safe and sound on Sword Swallower’s Day!

A Classic

Just felt like drawing something fun tonight, so I'm going back to the classics.

Update: I wasn't intending this to be a stereo 3D picture, but after finishing I realized it would be pretty easy to convert, so here it is. Like the others, cross your eyes and let the two pictures merge into a third in the middle.

Ragnarok

Now I'm extra depressed. According to the guys who carry wooden swords and dress up like Vikings, the world will end on Saturday. Oh well, at least there's time for one more limerick!

Say goodbye to all things you hold dear

Cause the end of the world’s almost here

When Saturday calls

Is when Ragnarok falls

And the Norse gods and monsters appear

Doodle Worms

Today was much better for me than yesterday - most of my problems have been resolved (or at least dealt with in some way). One problem that remained, as always, was deciding what to draw. I resorted to the old trick of drawing a random squiggle and then trying to figure out what it looked like. Needless to say, when I started this drawing I was not expecting to end up with two hat-wearing worms hugging a hot pepper at a fiesta, but there you go...

Plus, for extra fun, I recorded it as another time lapse drawing video!

Fluffy Bunny

It's been a rough day, including (but not limited to):
- a semi blocking the road to work
- the wrong class showing up, necessitating a hasty changeover
- miscommunication between my boss, our HR firm, a judge and his secretary, which will probably result in me having to repay the nearly $400 I got when I was unemployed during the government shutdown
- scrambling around getting ready for our yearly site audit, which starts tomorrow, and
- driving home through a blinding snowstorm
(plus more, but I'm getting worn out just thinking about it)

Anyway, after all that I just needed something soft, comforting and friendly, so here's a fluffy bunny.

Science Fair Fun

(Can you guess what I was helping with this afternoon?)

It’s Science Fair time, with all that that brings

Electrical gizmos and bright, shiny things

To probe and to poke and to get to the facts

To add this to that and see how it reacts

To find the pH of a lemon, and then

Plug in some electrodes and measure again

Then see what the amps and the voltages read

Did I get any power? I did, yes indeed!

Or maybe I’ll make a volcano instead

With vinegar lava all foamy and red

Perhaps grow some crystals, all colors and shapes

Or maybe I’ll just burn a hole in the drapes

But the key to it all, when things start to go bad

Is to act all confused and just leave it to Dad

World Pangolin Day

Today, the third Saturday of February, is World Pangolin Day! You can celebrate, support our little scaly friends or just curl up into a ball - it's all okay!

Love Walruses

Tonight, by request from my youngest daughter, a pair of pink love walruses, giving each other Valentine's hearts while sitting on a heart-shaped iceberg.

As an added bonus, I tried something new with this picture. Instead of drawing it on the Samsung tablet like normal, I used the same app on my iPad from work. This version has some different features. On the down side, it doesn't offer stylus support, so I had to draw with my finger which is far less precise. But on the upside, it has another feature where you can record a time lapse video of your drawing in progress. Here's the video:

Hippo of Love

Shhh! Don't tell! This is the picture for the front of my wife's Valentine's card. I hope she doesn't see this before I can give it to her! (And yes, I colored the final version.)

Darwin Day, Take 2

Can you believe it's already been an entire year since Charles Darwin's last birthday? Last year to celebrate I drew a pencil sketch of him. Unfortunately, I hated the way it turned out. To me, it looks more like a bald, grumpy Will Ferrell than Charles Darwin. However, in the spirit of constant evolution and improvement (at least in drawing), tonight I re-attempted the same picture, this time as a digital painting. It's still nowhere near perfect (or even good), but it might be getting a little closer.

Taking Out The Trash On A Snowy Evening

The moon and the stars were so bright

When I took out the garbage tonight

As I slogged through the snow

‘Neath the silvery glow

My shoes filled with ice - what a plight!

Paper Desert

A Week of Sleep

The postings this week might be light

Cause I’m going to bed every night

At ten and not two

To see how I do

When I wake up all chipper and bright

RoboLove

In this Valentine's season, even robots need a little romance!

Spiders

Tonight I got caught up watching TV and before I knew it, it was 11:30. Here are some quick spider sketches just so I have something to post today.

Jellyfish

Once again, a night where I didn't know what to draw and was running out of time. So here are some jellyfish! (This one took about 40 minutes.)

Sochi Eve

Tomorrow brings the first event

The prep is done, the money’s spent

And now the world will get to see

The glory of the town Sochi!

What’s that you say? We’re not done yet?

You say the concrete hasn’t set?

And hotel roofs are not yet on?

Where has the time and money gone?

Just calm yourself, it’s getting late

I’m sure you just exaggerate

I know that things are going fine

I’m listening to every line!

The tracks are safe, or mostly so

We probably will get some snow

So please enjoy this lovely day

The terrorists are far away

Because tomorrow it begins

Two weeks of losses and of wins

Of splendor and of tragedy

When all the world beholds Sochi

Valentine's Insta-Card

Long time readers might recognize this poem from around Valentine's day last year. However, it fit so well with the Valentine's Day Art Exchange that I had to make up a fancy border and post it again.

Dino Love

Over at DeviantArt, they're hosting a Valentine's Day Art Exchange where people can submit pictures to be used as digital cards. Here's my first goofy attempt - more will probably be coming.

Not So Super

This evening, we went to a Super Bowl party with a lot of other families from our church. The company was great, the food was plentiful, but the game itself - well, I think this sums it up...

It was Peyton’s inglorious fate

To play the Big Game on this date

While Seattle, with glee

Scored a huge 43

The poor Broncos could only get 8

Spring Is Almost Here!

This afternoon, despite all the slushy, mushy, rainy, snowy awfulness, I got my first hint that the end of winter is coming. As I was looking out my window, you can imagine my surprise when I saw the first robin of Spring hopping around in my backyard!