T.G. Studios :: Sketchblog

Tuesday, January 24, 2012
"Truman" or "Teardrop Restoration"
Cartoon My partner and I just bought a 1947 teardrop to restore. (We named it Truman, after Harry S.)

Thursday, January 19, 2012
"Book of Mormon" or "In the Future..."
Cartoon I'm going to start doing this...

Tuesday, September 6, 2011
"The Boxman Lecture" or "Learning to Draw"
Cartoon I have a lecture/demo I have done for everyone from my mother to the random waitress who brings me my cheeseburger. This demo is usually done in response to someone looking over my shoulder, seeing me doodling in my sketchbook and saying, "Oh, I WISH I had your talent!" (Like I was smacked on the head by the talent fairy.)

I have come to believe that the only thing "talent" is, is such a love for the thing itself that you want to spend all your waking time on that thing...to the point you eventually get better at it than anyone else. I've been drawing a LOT...every day... since I was six years old. Of course I'm going to be a pretty decent artist.

We all start OUT as artists. Give a 4 year old a pack of crayons and step back. We scribble, we draw, we experiment, and eventually we really start trying to draw things that actually look like THINGS...and most people by the time the are 11 or 12, get frustrated and simply quit drawing. Their things do not look like the things they want them to look like. Of course they quit!

But again, I think *everyone* can learn how to draw! We just don't know how to really properly teach ourselves. Some kids make a natural intuitive leap...some of us just stick it out and eventually things start to click. Most people just haven't been taught how to learn to HOW TO LEARN to draw.

Does that mean I think everybody should be a profession artist? Heck no! We NEED accountants and firemen and roofers and politicians. Well, maybe not the last one... but we need people to be things other than artists.

I think though, that learning to tap into one's creative side will help balance out a person's life and with that said, I think there are some things people can do... children and adults alike that will help them draw things that look like THINGS...and maybe they won't get so frustrated and simply stop.

Hence, my little demo/lecture. I tell people after they have wished for my ability to draw that I can make them a better artist in two minutes. I tell them to watch what I do, and if they start doing it, they won't be able to HELP becoming a better artist.

I call it BOXMAN and I've done it literally hundreds of times. When I got an email from a friend of mine asking for a copy of it, I started drawing and then stopped. I have always done this demo LIVE.

To send it off to a friend, to make it "idiot proof" so that *anybody* could read it and understand, it would take a bit longer than the average 2 minutes it takes to do the demo.

I started drawing it tonight and figure an hour a night and I should have it done in a week or so...and then hopefully I won't have to keep drawing and drawing and drawing it. I hope that it will spread and hopefully somebody, somewhere sees it...and it helps them make it over that 13 year old hump!

Friday, September 2, 2011
"March Quilters" or "Before & After"
Illustration Plugging away on the school calendar. Many, many times I actually prefer the quick sketch to the final product but overall I am rather pleased with how each month is shaping up.

TLG's school does a massive fundraiser in March selling, among other things, quilts the kids have made. I used that as a springboard idea for that month.

Monday, August 29, 2011
"Calendar Wolves" or "February"
Cartoon I have been working on a fun calendar as a fundraiser for TLG's school. The mascot is the timberwolf.

I'm having a great time working on this...when I was on the yearbook staff in Junior High I was tasked with drawing dozens of little huskies doing various activities all through the book so this is bringing back some fun memories.

I have 7 months done and just put February done. I may make a few revisions to it, but overall I'm fairly pleased.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011
"Date Night" or "Card Giving"
Cartoon My partner and I had a terrific night last night with another couple. I woke up this morning and whipped out this "thank you" card/cartoon for them. One of the advantages of being a cartoonist is you never have to buy a card and more often than not the recipient is as delighted as if you had gifted them a moon rock.