Heads is Awesome

So I'm thinking about getting a wall mounting. Some people hang up the horns or heads of animals that they have hunted down/bought at a semi reputable pawn shops. I plan to use the heads of characters I have drawn. I could have Gandalf and Smaug on opposite ends of the room with the dorkfish mounted over the fireplace. Oh! Or Goofy as Mr. Wheeler posed like a bear in one corner of the room. That would be awesome!
More work from Jake Parker's Character Design class.

Darkest Shadows

These are silhouettes for Jake Parker's character design class. We were supposed to come up with thirty for each of two characters from either Charlie and the Chocolate factory or The Hobbit. I chose to do Sauron in dark wizard/necromancer mode and Smaug the dragon. Which one do all you inhabitants of the interwebs like best? Leave a comment.

Aye, aye, Captain!

     Meet Captain Bill Wheedle, retired seaman and master of the secret art of Oar-a-gami. Some people will tell you that it's spelled o-r-i-g-a-m-i and that it is the Chinese art of paper folding. They are simply confused by the similar spelling. Very few people are even aware of the existence of this maritime martial art. It's hard to attract new students when all the local brawlers think you want to teach them to master their minds and bodies through artistic paper folding. The Captain here is one of the last true masters of the style.
     He is also the first assignment for my character design class with Jake Parker. It's pretty exciting.

Run tubby, run!

     Some of you may know that I never try to post any sort of actual self portrait. This is honestly as close as I get. So, someone has sort of let himself slip over the past couple of years and now he has to buckle down and endure the pain and humiliation inherent in any weight loss program. Boo.
     The whole exercise thing isn't really a problem. I'm more than happy to walk (no running. I hate running.), lift heavy objects and even, dare I say it, participate in sport-like activities. The real problem is that I have no choice but to engage in that practice celebrated by masochists the world over: dieting.
     As I'm sure most of you know, the root word of "diet" is "die." That is what I would rather do most days instead of denying myself the wondrous bounty of the metaphorical global buffet. But thanks to past transgressions, I have to either substitute pressed sawdust for the foods that make me happy or look like I frequent the regular kind of buffet. So, I suffer.

Halleluia for landlocked states.

We have come, once again to that special time of year in which we all thank whatever higher power we believe in that we were made to walk on land and not swim in the ocean. That's right, it's Discovery Channel's Shark Week.
Sharks are one of the most important reasons that I do not live anywhere near the ocean. Other perfectly logical reasons not to live by the seashore include tsunamis, hurricanes, angry Atlanteans, Godzilla, and this thing:

Also, This:

I won't be getting into any body of water bigger than a bathtub for weeks. And if you watched any of the same sharky fun I did, neither will you.

The Dark Ictus!

     Everyone has those inane little questions that they always use in conversations with new people or when they have no idea what to do/say next. Mine is the ever useful "What is your superpower?" Most people (at least the ones who don't just blink at me and edge away) respond by telling me about the super power they wish they had. That's alright I guess, but I am convinced that everyone has some kind of super power. Sometimes a person can go their whole lives without ever knowing that they can read zebras' minds or sublimate bdellium with their eyes.
     My dad is one of the fortunate few who has discovered his latent superpower. He can kill small animals by touch. And possibly plants, we're not sure about the plants. He has, by his touch alone killed two rabbits and at least one chicken. Heaven help us should he ever turn his power to evil uses.
     The Dark Ictus, pictured above, is the super powered alter ego of a man whom I greatly respect, though I dare not reveal his true identity. That sort of thing gets people in trouble. He has the remarkable ability to nail your soul to the wall with his eyes. This picture is a theoretical scenario of what it might look like should the entire BYU Mens' Chorus become possessed and attack the Dark Ictus.
     If anyone else has discovered their secret super power and has a desire to share, feel free to let us know in the comments.

Holy Cow!

     Those of you who have been watching for a while may be aware that this is the time of year I usually post a rant/emo weep-fest about being rejected again from the art programs at BYU. For years I have deflected that age old college question, "What's your major?" by telling people, "I'm studying art." Notice, no claim of being an art major. I haven't been. For years I have been applying and being rejected from one department and the next.
     You may have noticed that there is no rant yet. And there shall not be one. I don't need to whine about rejection. I'm bigger than that.
     And I was accepted into BYU's Illustration department.
     See above.