When Pigs Fly...

A couple of weeks ago, Beth and I took a trip to Portland, Maine. It is a great little city. Clean, easy to get around, plenty to do. I highly recommend checking it out*. Being esteemed members of the Holiday Inn Priority Club (jealous?) we received a complementary upgrade to a sixth floor room with a bay view. It was beautiful. The entire harbor was right outside our window. So, too, were countless playful seagulls.

Being an early riser, I would have about an hour to myself every morning before Beth would begin to stir. It often happens, that when I go on vacation, I get an overwhelming urge to draw. Subsequently that urge is quashed by all the excitement that is being on vacation. Portland being a sleepy town in the morning, and my fiance being a sleepy person in general, I was ready to draw. I sat myself at the desk, took out my pad of paper, grabbed the Holiday Inn ballpoint, and gazed earnestly out the windows. It was beautiful. The sun had just come up. There was a milky haze over the city. The waterfront was devoid of tourists. A couple of skiffs made there way out to their lobster traps. A stunningly quiet moment that had to be captured. I took a deep breath, summoning the courage it takes to first mark the pristine white page, and I drew...









...pigs.

I don't know where the idea came from**. Maybe I just wanted to draw a pig (it's happened before). I started playing with the expression, "When pigs fly," and thought it might be fun to put a little different spin on it. Make sure you click on the images to zoom in and catch the punchlines.

I should have written this post about the joys of drawing with ballpoint pen, but I'll save that one for later.

*I have no affiliation with the Maine Board of Tourism.

**I really just wanted to draw pigs.

Q: When do you doodle?

Ring Ring
Hello?
Yo dude! I was gonna run to the store. Do you need me to pick anything up?
Ummm...Nah! I'll get the taco stuff.
Okay. Are you sure? I was gonna go out anyway.
Well I guess you could grab some beers.
Sounds good. What kind should I get?
Have you tried that new Sam Blackberry?
Nope.
Well that's what I'd get.
Alrighty. Will do.
Cool.
Cool.
See you later tonight.
Peace.
Click

A: I doodle when I'm on the phone.

Ride 'm COW-BOY

"He wandered out of the dust of the Mojave with nothing but the clothes on his back. He wasn't too pretty, and he wasn't much of a talker...But that cow-boy sure could ride."

This illustration was created as a t-shirt design for Threadless T's. For those who don't know, Threadless has open submissions for T designs, printing new designs every week. Cool stuff. Check them out.

This design began about 2 years ago in this rather grotesque drawing. Sadly, this was my attempt at a sexy illustration (also conceived as a t-shirt). I often enjoy looking back at old work, but this is the type of thing that makes me want to introduce my head to the oven. Do I really have such trashiness in me? No way! I couldn't possibly! I was raised better than that! OOPS! Jersey Shore is on! Be back later...

...30 minutes later

Even a clear defeat of a drawing such as this is not without its little victories. I think that the horse has a lot of energy and I really love the scratchboard look of the piece. It gives a sense of age, looking a bit like an old block print. All I need to do is erase the young lady with unlikely proportions from my drawing, and I might be on to something.

Here we are, two years later, and out of the ether comes a play on the word cowboy and a bit of a send up of rodeos (and my affection for western cinema).

Thank you photoshop. Goodbye Pam Anderson. Hello Cow-Boy.

***If you like this design, please go to Threadless and give it a high score and leave a few friendly words. You do need to have an account, but it is free and only takes a few seconds to make one. Thanks a million!*** Just click the link below!

Just click the link above!