Uglymuffin's Bakery

And the winner is...

2013-04-24T23:44:00.001-07:00

This is a bitter sweet post. I wish it was all good news regarding the Help For Hazel fundraiser, you know, that she receieved the surgery she needed and all went well. Sadly, that wasnt what happened. Hazel went in and had some x-rays taken, her lungs and body cavity were full of tumors. The doctor didn't give her long to live. We made the terrible decision to put her down the next morning. That was last Friday. She was a wonderful rabbit. We miss her a lot. Because she didn't make it, we stopped the fundraiser early. But we still had the drawing for the prize painting. The hat is all the names and tickets of the donors. The second picture is the winning ticket pulled from the hat, thanks Rachel!

Cancer is back at it again.

2013-04-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

Bad news everyone,
Our little rabbit, Hazel, is once again growing tumors on her belly. This time the tumor is over 6cm long. A smaller one can be felt just below the big one. She was jumping and playing around until a few weeks ago when I think the tumors just got to big to be comfortable. The surgery this time is going to be about $650 for x-rays and removal. The vet wants to see if there are more nasty things inside her before exploring around in her chest cavity. So, this time around, I'm going to be putting up the offer of a custom painting by me, as a fundraiser to help with the surgery. I know it seems like a lot of money for a little rabbit, but I really like her, she is our only rabbit that hasn't destroyed any of my expensive electronics. And she's messy like me. And she's really cute. So if you would like to help me keep her around for awhile longer and have a chance to get a painting of whatever you want (a value of $525 mind you) go to my wife's web site here: CLICK ON ME! It will make everyone's day better. Thank you.

A new month is ahead of us.

2013-04-01T14:45:00.001-07:00

Good news everyone! This is the first day of April. I was going to post a picture of me with a shaved head saying I've given up art to become a monk. But then I didn't. So instead of an April fool's prank, I figured I'd continue where my last post left off. Of course now that it's a new month, I'm going to post all my daily drawings from the last month including the ones I've already posted, because I think it would be fun to see them all together. The weird thing is that I started drawing, dare I say it, cute things toward the end of the month. I started with the word "Fresh" and drew a rat monster hanging fresh laundry up to dry. I ended the month with a bunny jumping for joy. Why the transition from monster to cute, I don't really know. It's baffling. Whatever the reason, it's been really fun to challenge myself to do a drawing a day and then share it. It's been enough fun that I am going to use Rhianna Wurman's list again for April. In May, I think I'll do my own list and maybe have a prize for someone who does a drawing EVERY day. We'll see about the prize, if you like the idea or hate it leave me a note in the comments. Without further ado and yammering, here are a months worth of doodles:

Fresh

Light

Nature

Transportation

Favorite Letter, I picked "O"

Treasure

In the Woods

Someone who inspires you

Sign

Time

Hop

What I am listening too

Toy

Brave

Sweet

Door

Green

Kitchen

Calm (you need calm when working with Bloggers new way of layout, grrr)

Outdoors

A Friend

Dream

Vintage

Open

Building

Stars

Present (even Thor had awkward years...)

Heart

Couple

Start

Joy

More daily doodles

2013-03-08T00:09:00.001-08:00

Good news, I'm still hitting every daily doodle. The topics are Nature, Favorite Letter, Treasure, and In the Woods.

Thus this March...

2013-03-02T11:41:00.001-08:00

Good news everyone, I am going to take part in a daily doodle contest of strength. I found a list of words to draw every day on Instagram and thought it would be fun to take the challenge. Then I thought, hey, this would be great to get me blogging more regularly. As you are reading this you might be thinking "But today is the 2nd of March." And you would be right. That's why I am posting not one, but 2 doodles today. The first is "fresh" and today was "light".

Jeffery Catherine Jones update

2013-02-10T16:11:00.001-08:00

I don't know if anyone remembers my painting, "Reaching for the Starman". I painted it and donated it to be part of an art book to help raise funds to get Better Things: the life and choices of Jeffery Catherine Jones, the documentary of his life into production and distributed. I found out very recently that my painting made the cut and will be part of the book! I'm very honored to be among so many fantastic artists helping out with the important movie. Last May I saw a screening of the near completed movie and it was amazing. I still think about it. The impact Jeff Jones had on the fantasy art world and illustration was impressive. His story needs to be told. The link will take you to the Indiegogo fundraiser page. The only way to get a copy of the art book by some very serious talent with new works inspired by Jones is to help with the movie. If all you can do is share the link, please spread all across the interwebs, let's get this movie distributed. Here's the link: www.indiegogo.com/betterthings

Illustration Friday

2013-01-26T01:47:00.001-08:00

This is my submission for this weeks's Illustration Friday topic, wings!"

Newest work!

2012-11-20T23:28:00.000-08:00

Good news everyone,

I finished a new painting. I call it "Reaching for the Starman". It's a tribute to an amazing artist named Jeffery Catherine Jones. I copied part of one of my favorite paintings of his, the spaceman on the left, and added my own style on the right. The figure on the right means different things, but mostly it's about me reaching to the stars of the art world for inspiration. I'm donating this for a Kickstarter project to help fund the final editing of a documentary made about Jones. I saw a version of it in Kansas City when I was there for Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! It was a very deep and fascinating movie that really moved me. When I found out about the Kickstarter project, I had to help out. This little painting is a way for me to give back for the inspiration that Jones had on me and my work.

The film is called Better Things: The life and choices of Jeffery Catherine Jones. It's a fantastic look into a very interesting period in the history of illustration and fantasy art, and the life of one of it's giants. I didn't know her work by name, but after seeing the film I realized I've seen her work before and was already a fan. The "Spaceman" (my inspiration for my new work) had been my desktop wallpaper for at least a year. The solitude and the earnestness of the figure spoke to me. The form is fluid and alien. It's reaching for something, but what? It's vaguely American, but it could be another race all together. Sitting on a crescent moon, our figure in the helmet is perched in a surreal seat. It evokes the painting of an old master who I can't remember, where God is crouching with one arm down holding a compass and creating. This painting makes me think when I see it and I hope that my tribute does the same for you.

Bananas

2012-07-12T23:01:00.001-07:00

This is a new thing and I am probably 30 mins late so its not cool anymore, but I still think its funny.

Skintones anyone?

2012-07-10T15:07:00.001-07:00

Good news everyone! I was looking around the Internets and found a really cool thingy (technical term). I quite often have a realllly hard time figuring out the proper skin tone for a given humanoid figure in my work. Skin tones are hard. Lucky, someone with much more time and models on their hands made this little help for skin tones. They reference Pantone colors as the main color the person is. I think it's a really fun way to picture what the skin tone of you subject matter would be. The reason this is helpful, at least it will be to me, is that once you know the "base" color of the skin you are working with, it's only a small matter to darken and lighten as you move across the different planes of the head and body. Please enjoy, link to original article.

We lost Lonely George

2012-06-26T00:14:00.001-07:00

Flipping through my Twitter feed tonight, I came across a sad headline. Lonely George, believed the last of his subspecies was found dead in his enclosure Sunday morning. He was something of a poster "child" for the Galapagos Islands and the threat of human involvement on those islands. His passing hit me more then I thought it would. I remember hearing about him when I was in grade school and seeing photos of him. The unfortunate thing, his DNA was incompatible with the females put into his enclosure from other islands oooor he was sterile. I don't know about that, but all the clutches laid never hatched. So, we have sadly witnessed the passing of a unique species from the earth. George wasn't the last giant tortoise. The tortoises from the other islands have been put under protection since 1974. The good news is that their numbers are up from 3000 in 1974 to around 20,000. In honor of George, the lonely tortoise, I did a little drawing from a photo taken of him in 2008.
Link to article: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/06/24/famed-galapagos-tortoise-dies/?test=latestnews

Spectrum Live

2012-05-19T07:22:00.001-07:00

This week has been really great. The long drive and lack of sleep has been worth it. I have chatted with some of my favorite art heroes, like Mike Mignola, James Gurney, Scott Gustferson, Greg Manchess, Brom, and met a bunch of other artists that are amazing. When I get home, I will be writing more about the workshop that I took from Greg Spelanka. Did I mention I have a Hellboy skull in my sketch book?

New Batman trailer!

2012-05-01T16:12:00.001-07:00

This should be a post with the new trailer to the Dark Knight Rises. I'm working from my phone, so I am not sure if it'll work. If it does, and you you haven't seen it, its pretty cool.

Toppens for the birds

2012-03-14T01:10:00.001-07:00

Anti-Occupy Protest Takes on Bird Killing Wind Turbines | The Weekly Standard

Ok, I usually keep things pretty much focused on helping Hazel, promoting my work, or other artistic endeavors. In a round about way, this is about art. The linked article (hope it works) is about the "Occupy occupy DC" group protesting the OWS people coming back out of the wood work now that the weather is warming up. The anti-ows folks were protesting wind turbines. As a very minor bird and bat watcher, I had no idea that the environmently "safe" turbines slaughtered so many flying animals. Due to an increase of predators, song bird populations are already on the decline. Now birds have to worry about giant blades of death. My wife paints lots of birds for a living. Could she be documenting a declining and disappearing group of animals? Something I don't know the answer to, but wonder after reading this article; how much research goes into finding out the impact of these turbines? Are they placed in migratory highways? Remember, it's toppens for the birds, not chopp'n the birds.

Help for Hazel

2012-03-05T22:27:00.004-08:00

Mediocre news everyone. Our little rabbit Hazel is sick, she has a tumor on her belly. Its a mammary tumor. One that needs to be removed. Sadly, this particular operation is expensive. It's not enough to make your head explode, but it is enough to make our check book and debit card cower in fear. To raise the funds for the healing of our little rabbit, Bregelle has setup a drawing for one of her awesome paintings. To enter the drawing, please visit Bregelle's website for all the details. It's a really cool chance to get a painting of your pet or favorite animal, like a muskrat, yeti, or panda bear. She'll even paint an octopus if you win and want her too. Please take a chance to win your painting and tell your friends. I might even do my own fundraiser, any requests?

Rabbits

2012-02-22T12:29:00.001-08:00

Good news everyone, I'm still technically alive! And drawing. The other day or month or so, I was watching my rabbit run around and jump. She inspired these little sketches. Rabbits make little hops for joy when they are feeling good. This might only be a domestic rabbit trait, but it's a lot of fun to watch.

Yeah! Sundance!

2012-01-20T21:25:00.001-08:00

Tonight we are once again in Park City. It is the first weekend of Sundance, but don't let that scare you if you were thinking of coming up here. We found FREE parking in under 20 minutes. Three of my favorite artists, Frank Gonzalas, Anthony Granato, and Richard Salicido are having a show. It's called Pin-Ups and Pussycats. It's a very feminine show. With some edgeness thrown in there to keep things spicy. It's worth a trip up the hill to Park City to see.

A picture from tonight

2012-01-14T01:20:00.000-08:00

How about an awesome picture too? This is my awesome artist friend Amy Ringholz at her show tonight. She is very hip and the showcased artist this year for the Jackson Hole art festival.

2012-01-14T00:47:00.001-08:00

Mobile blog away! Can this really work?

Testing the Blogger app

2012-01-12T13:46:00.001-08:00

If this app works well, I might be posting a lot more. Maybe more stuff like this dancing gorilla.

Don't panic, this is only the first chapter

2011-09-28T10:37:00.001-07:00

Good news everyone, I'm starting a new project that I think will be really fun for the whole family. Over at Tor.com they have a lot of re-reads of popular and classic sff (sci-fi and fantasy) books. I think they are doing a "Wheel of Time" re-read right now. This seems like a great way to take a look back at the books that have touched our lives and made our imaginations sing like a rhino would if it had vocal cords. Taking a tip from Tor, I thought it would be fun to re-read the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. I'll be reading and reviewing a chapter or so a week from this classic and illustrating the scene that I think really sums up the chapter or chapters read. My goal is to have one post a week on this topic. Feel free to raze me if I start slacking off. Now to the first chapter.

"Yellow". This is the first thought that runs and winds it's way through our hero, Arthur Dent's mind when he wakes up. It's the word that begins the cataylst which drives our reluctant hero to the far reaches of the galaxy and beyond time itself. But I think I am jumping ahead of myself here.
The first chapter does what a good first chapter should do. It draws the reader in, it establishes the voice and tone of the book and lets the reader say "Hello" to some of the main characters. The characters that Adams invents are marvelous. What's ingenuous about this book, is that it is not a guide to the galaxy, it's a story about the guide to the galaxy and the people (term used loosely, because of the high volume of non-human sentient beings portrayed within the book) that use it. The Guide as the actors on page call it, is a fascinating work of near truth itself. Adams describes it as:

"...the...Guide has already supplanted the great Encyclopedia Galactica as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom, for though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, more pedestrian work in two important respects.
First, it is slightly cheaper; and second, it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on it's cover."-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams.

Now, let's circle back to "Yellow". This word in and of itself, though small and unassuming, is an agent of foreshadowing as we will see in a the next chapter. Arthur Dent, who we meet early in the morning trying to figure out why "Yellow" is important is, as described, a descendant of apes, or in other words, a human being who still thinks that digital watches are pretty nifty. Once Arthur comes to gripes with what and why "Yellow" is important, the fun really begins.
Arthur runs out and starts a little protest of his own to save his house only he could love, from the yellow bulldozer aiming to destroy it. The foreman, Mr. L. Prosser, for the construction crew building the bypass that will drive itself through Arthur's house is a funny little man. As a direct descendant of Ghengis Khan he is plagued with visions of hairy men, blood, and battles. You must read the argument between the foreman, Arthur, and Ford Prefect, it's one of the best parts of this book.
Did I casually slip Ford Prefect into that last sentance? That's just how he would like to be slipped into a sentance, casually, not formally. Ford Prefect is from another world. He's cool under pressure and has a sweet job. He is a roving field researcher for the Guide. He dropped in on Earth and accidently got stranded on this planet. The poor guy spent the 15 years prior to the first chapter looking for flying saucers to take him to more exciting and drunken parts of the galaxy. We'll talk more of him in later chapters as he shows up a lot in the book.
Arthur, our main character, is less impressive at first glance. He isn't particularly bright, funny, or quick on his feet. What he does have is the ability to not go insane when the whole world goes bonkers around him. Is this because of his lower intelligence (compared to some of the aliens around him)? I think it's due to an enduring quality of being human, being blindly stubborn. The scene with him in the mud, laying against a huge machine that would suffer no damage all if it rolled right over him, is a portrait of pure stubbornness. Stubbornness humans show when things aren't like they think they should be. Stubbornness that lead man to make cars so we wouldn't have to walk or chaff on saddles anymore. Artur against the bulldozer is beginning of Arthur against the Universe. He is slow, stubborn, but ultimately the man to survive it all and still ask for a cup of tea.

I hope this will be fun, I've never done this sort of thing before and if you, my dear reader have any tips, thoughts, or critiques about how my first re-read went, let me know in the comments. Until next time, Don't Panic.

Arthur Against the Bulldozer, gouache and ink in my Moleskine sketchbook

Some good things to remember

2011-09-11T00:26:00.000-07:00

I found this on twitter and I think I am guilty of all of them pretty much all the time. No offense to family. Just click on the blurry image and see what I am talking about.

Crazy masks

2011-09-08T09:21:00.001-07:00

Steampunk Leather Masks | HOW TO BE A RETRONAUT

So I was perusing around on the tor.com website, minding my own business following links, when I came across this link. It kind of blew my mind. Steampunk has a classy, classic, Jules Vern feel to it. These Steampunk masks are somewhat different. Most of them are what the German Nazi zombie guy with the clock work heart in the first Hellboy movie would have hanging in his closet. This site has to be were the villains of the steampunk worlds but their costumes.

I think you will find them interesting at the least. A few pf them are not so subtle nods to pop geek culture like Star Wars and Watchmen. The mask that looks like Nightowl is one of my favorites. I hope this link helps spark your steam engines, get your gears grinding, and polishes your brass thinking caps and flying goggles. I think I might just have to make some steamy art.

Better picture soon (100th post, go me)

2011-08-04T01:43:00.001-07:00

Good news everyone! I'm almost done with this crow painting I've been working on. Its been an experiment using a new kind of board to paint on. The paint is supposed to react just like it would on watercolor paper. So that's what I thought I would try. It's all painted with watercolor. Not like my usual mix of acrylic and gouache. There will be a better picture when its done. I used my phone instead of a scanner.
Ok, here is the revised version, all done. I think it looks just a little bit better.

Freaky deaky clouds

2011-08-03T11:40:00.001-07:00

Good news everyone! Cloud giants are going to eat us all. Though, if they are clouds we are more likely going to just get really damp and clammy. Yuck. Why do I know this? Because my friend from work, Camille Manetta took this picture from her front yard! That's how. Just look at the sloping forehead, the beady eyes, the ominous background. This cloud giant is up to no good. He's going to dampen all humanity with his misty teeth. Good bye everyone. At least until the wind disintegrates him and we are safe again.