True Story...

Full disclosure:  This week's Tuesday Toonsday is NOT something I have actually seen with my own two eyes.  It IS something one of my co-workers sees at least once a week.  He steps out of his office (which is hidden away in one of the permanent exhibits) and catches them doing this.  ALL.  THE.  TIME.

Seriously.  Riding the damned thing.

Patience is a Virtue...

...but some days it is darned hard to maintain.  This is the next in my Tuesday Toonsday line of museum cartoons:

Creatures I Have Seen

Seriously...they just stomp on stuff that's on the floor.

Tuesday Toonsday! (For now...)

I'm gonna try this to make myself do something that will keep up the interest of YOU, the reader, on at least a weekly basis.  I am going to try to give you a new cartoon every Tuesday.  Hence Tuesday Toonsday. 

There has a been a vigorous (and sometimes anarchic) debate on the Facebook about what it should be called.  I wanted alliterative.  I wanted to let people know it was on Tuesday.  And about 'toons.  Lots of opinions but for now we are going with Tuesday Toonsday.  Although I did hit on "Paintmonkey Toon Sessions" which is about as rock n' roll a thing as ever I've done, so maybe I will re-visit soon.

Much thanks to my buddy Jeff, of Dinner 4 Geeks fame for his tweaking of the name.  (If you like Geek culture, go give the boys a listen.  You won't be disappointed!)

On to the toons!

I have worked in the museum world for over 13 years now.  I love it very much and is quite a rewarding way to make a living but you see...things.  The other day I came across some old sketches that I had done in the wild.  With that in mind, I introduce:

I have many more of these planned.

And as a bonus for my first Tuesday Toonsday, I share a quick thing I did last night.  The Best Western Denver Southwest facebook page.  They are turning their hotel into a dinosaur themed world o'fun.  And it was a fun idea.  Draw a dinosaur as an old timey gentleman (or lady).

I think he's fun.

I hope you've enjoyed your first Tuesday Toonsday and come back for more!  Tell your friends!

Vacation Via Sketchbook: Pt I

So we took a little vacation this week. Nashville! (With a quick stopover in Washington D.C. beforehand.) Normally we take lots of photos but as we get older, we spend less and less time photographing stuff and more and more time enjoying stuff. This does not mean we do not want tangible evidence of our trips however. And after my recent inspirations, I decided I was going to make more of an effort to sketch while we were out and about. Here are the results.

Our stopover in D.C. included a quick run in at the Smithsonian Museums of American History and Natural History. Weird, right? Me going into museums, particularly ones of the natural history variety? Anyways, in the great hall of the Museum of Natural History is a full grown taxidermied bull African elephant. He is a monster. It is also the only place in that joint where you can find a small corner to yourself and sit and work without being trampled. Here is my first effort in pencil.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you. I took along my watercolors for the first time. However, my on-site watercolor skills SUCK. So, when we got to Nashville I found an art supply store and got some gouache. Then I fixed this thing. Still rough but as you will see, I may be getting the hang of it.

So after the museums, we went to eat. "The Flying Fish" restaurant was not first on our list but it was first as to which we came to. (Do NOT listen to people in Alexandria, Va. when they say "It's about a mile away". They have NO idea what a mile is. Especially if you are walking.) So we sat down to enjoy dinner.

This little guy was swimming around by our table as we waited on our server.

Seated at the table next to us were four middle aged folks who were enjoying their conversation. This gentlemen seemed PARTICULARLY fond of the future of electric cars. He was quite animated about it.

Tomorrow: Nashville. More to come...