Usually I have more than one project going on at once, so here’s the scoop-a-loop on the other illustration I’ve got in the works. If people tell me they like my work for whatever reason, a good chunk of the time their favorite is the one with the pigeons looking depressed and drinking away their sorrows at a bar, which is deliciously titled “Stool Pigeons.” Since I live by the ocean for a good chunk of the year, and some people and watering holes have asked for copies of the Stool Pigeons painting to hang up, I decided to do a more appropriate bar painting, with seagulls instead of pigeons. But the main reason I’m doing it is so I can name it “Sand Bar.”

There’s a little more of a story with this one than with the pigeons. The jukebox screeches to a halt when a crab, thinking he’s in for the night of his life, walks into a bar infested with seagulls, who want to eat him. I’m trying to represent every stereotype of a bar crowd in this one: the Sam Malone of seagulls is hitting on a lovely dame; a big fat party animal is drooling over the sight of the crab, even though he has a plate in front of him; the biker gulls are playing pool in the background. And obviously in the shadows there is the gull who is staring into his empty mug, drowning his sorrows in alcohol. Everybody stops to feast their eyes on the entree that just walked in the door (except the depressed gull, who is mesmerized by the pain of his life). That’s pretty much where I’m at with it right now – I do want to make it a lot more detailed than my other bar scene, with a lot of little things to notice.

I promised myself I would stay on focus with this blog, but due to recent events I am left with no choice. On the shore of Boston Harbor, in an olde shipping towne known as Quincy, stands an 80-story powerhouse known to some as a giant metal deer; to others as an enormous, short-necked giraffe; but to the knowledgeable as an AT-AT. Captured by the Rebel Alliance during a historic battle on the ice planet Hoth, the AT-AT was shuttled to Quincy to protect New England from pirates and other boat-savvy terrorists.

This photograph was taken from a whopping nine miles away, showing the enormity of the AT-AT.

For millions of years it has stood guard over the South Shore of Boston, but now its fate (and ours) is in danger. The AT-AT has been sold to Romania, who secretly plans to use it as a prototype for an army of AT-ATs that will probably be used for evil, not good. Not only that, but our shores will be open to pillaging from countless buttheads.

As you can see, the squiggly line on its side shows that the dismantling process has already begun. However, if we band together and chain ourselves to it in protest, I think we could tug at the heartstrings of the Romanians and keep it where it is.

The American flag in the foreground suggests that the AT-AT belongs to the United States of America.

Here’s the latest on the raccoon character – I like this guy.. I think he’s going places.

He looks a little younger than I’d like, but I if I shrink his eyes down a little bit and give him a three inch Adam’s apple I think it could add a solid twelve years to him. I also did a drawing of the coonskin cap coming to life, which is so miserable that I don’t want to waste the 7 bytes it would take up on my computer. That part of it is going to be the trick of the picture, I do believe.

Most of the work I did today was on gifts I’m doing for people, and I can’t put those suckers on here in progress and ruin the surprise. So I did a little more character work on the raccoon, and I got him in a pretty good spot. I forgot to scan it before I left work, though, and when I went back tonight to scan it, I forgot my keys to get in. So here’s a drawing of Professor Slughorn from Harry Potter.

Nothing new as far as drawings go today, but my pet portraits are going to be on display in a few weeks, so I’ve been working on making them pretty for my portfolio. They’re all paintings I have on my other site, but it’s what I’ve been doing today, so deal with it, missy.