A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Butterfly fish

I thought it was time I throw back in some of my cartoon friends using Flash.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Artic Skua

Wait, can all birds see 20/20?

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Clown Fish

Thanks to Finding Nemo clown fish have been given some recognition, however there's an interesting fact about them that wasn't included in the movie. They are amongst a select group of animals that has the ability to change its sex. All clown fish are born male, but will change sex in order to become a dominant female of a group.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Hyena

Looking similar to dogs, hyenas are more closely related to cats. As the human population continues to grow on Earth, in Africa they come into more contact with them. The Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania actually leave their dead to hyenas.

Another Oldies but Goodie

Here's one of my early successes in digital painting when I was starting out with it. I've learned a lot and have come a long with it, but sometimes it's nice to look back and see what's worked along the way too.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Lop Eared Rabbit

This is one of those image I had to sort of force myself to stop doing, otherwise I would've just kept "picking" at it forever. It brings up the classic question in creating art "When is a piece actually done?" I actually just try and set a time limit when I create my images for this blog. This falls in line with the fact that I think that art that's too ultra detailed becomes very static and stiff.

A.O.T.D. (Animals of the Day) Zoo animals

Made a visit to the Oakland Zoo today, so here's a few sketches from there. It's warm standing out there in that sun. We've been having a bit of a heat wave here. When you're in the moment drawing, you forget that your neck is burning off. Now I'm literally a red neck

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Cockatoo

So, just trying to push realism again with my painting. Cockatoos belong to the family of true parrots. They're most recognized by the crest above their heads that rise when they're alarmed and excited.

I've read, not sure if it's true or not, that the late crocodile hunter Steve Irwin was scared to death of parrots because a cockatoo nearly bite his nose off when he was a child. Just ironic that that's the animal he would fear in life.

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Monarch Butterfly

Well it's Spring and 'tis the season for renewal and rebirth. Of course what better to represent than with this insect beginning its life as a caterpillar and then making its metamorphosis into a beautiful butterfly.

I sort of feel like I'm stuck in a cocoon right now beginning to emerge as a renewed self. It's been quite an interesting past month. I broke and split open my nose in a diabetes related incident. I woke up one night with an incredibly low blood sugar. then proceeded to lose consciousness and have a seizure. Upon having this I fell and hit my face on the door frame and damaged my nose. This is not easy for me to think of or write about, but it isn't something I can just put aside and ignore (which I have done at times in the past). I've been a type 1, insulin dependent diabetic for 23 years now. Having it certainly includes some ups and downs, but regardless it's made me who I am for better and for worse. It was a painful lesson for me to learn not to take my diabetes for granted by any means, and to learn from this to improve my discipline and outlook towards it. I plan to live a long life with this and be as healthy as possible.

Luckily I have a wonderful person in my life to help me when I need it. I am now a married man, and am proud to say feels quite good. My wife and I are a true yin and yang relationship, as she is everything that I am not. This helps us compliment each other quite well. She's taught me to challenge my beliefs and outlook on life constantly and I believe I've grown tremendously from being with her. I am one who truly believes everything happens for a reason, and me meeting Sarah was meant to be.

I feel there's a more spiritual side developing in me as well. I've long been known by some to be a staunch atheist, but I'm beginning to wonder if times are changing. This does not by any means translate as me being a "born-again", in fact I do not and will never have any religious affiliation. Even through my years as an atheist, I held the belief that there was more to life than what we see, and that there was more to life after "death". Now this is what I believe or would like to believe, but ultimately I don't know what will happen at death and if a "god" will be there to greet me, and quite frankly nobody does. To clarify though, I'm not totally sure what I believe yet, but it's developing and more than anything I'm learning the benefits of having a spiritual side. Maybe this whole life as we know it is the caterpillar and cocoon stage, and once we "pass", our spirit is the butterfly?

Oh Bite Me

Well anyone who's followed my work know that I like to throw in a curve ball here and there, and try something different. Well here you go. Vampires!

N.O.T.D. (Nudies Of The Day)

I was going through some of my old files tonight and came across some of my older life drawings. I suppose I could potentially get in trouble for posting nudes, but since it's for art sake, I feel I should get a "get out of jail free" card. In all honesty I haven't been to life drawing in a while, and I miss it. It was always a relaxing thing for me to do, practice my technique, and mingle with other talented artists. I know there's a life drawing group here in Alameda and another in SF on Tuesdays, which I think I'll begin attending again. To the nudie class!!!

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Squirrels

There's two squirrels that live in a huge tree next to my house. They run through the trees in between the houses and often hang out in the one in front of my office window. They bicker and mess around like an old married couple.

Hula Cat

I miss Hawaii :(

A.O.T.D. (Animal of the Day) Ring Tailed Lemurs

Well it seems like an eternity since my last post, but here we go. It's been a roller coaster last few weeks both in my work and personal life, but all is good and I'm getting back on track.

Not sure why I picked lemurs to kick things off again, but I've always been kind of mesmerized by their long, beautiful tails, that like many animals are used in communication. At the SF Zoo they have a huge, open area for all the lemurs to run around, where they're referred to as the 'leaping lemurs'. They're one of those animals that are just fun to watch, as they effortlessly jump from tree to tree high above the ground. Lemurs are on the endangered list and aside from being popular residents at zoos, they are only found on the African island of Madagascar. Now I'm getting nostalgic...I better get back to the zoo this weekend...and hopefully to Madagascar someday :)