Fresh Doodles...

 I'm student teaching right now, very busy. As far as creative stuff goes, in the little free time I have I am working on a new children's book concept. I like to keep that stuff under wraps as I plan to submit it to publishers and don't want anyone stealing my absolutely brilliant ideas. So, since I won't be sharing that kind of stuff on the ol' blog, here are some of the random doodles I blurt out in my rare free moments. Hope you dig 'em!

This guy above looks like someone you might find in the margins of Napolean Dynamite's notebook. I want to do a crazy, fantasy epic totally in Bic pen someday. Look out for it!

Thanks for visiting!

-Tom

Scribblin' in red.... Red Bic pen doodles. Something about Bic pens just works for me.

Hope you dig the drawings...

Thanks for visiting!

-Tom

Doodles... Some true doodles for your enjoyment. This stuff is from the margins of notebook paper, scribbled on envelopes, back covers of pads and notebooks, whatever drawing surface happens to cross my path.

Life's been busy and I haven't had a lot of time for refined, "finished" artwork so what you see here is what I have been doing mostly. I actually prefer this stuff to finished pieces in all honesty. The energy achieved in these scribbles is really what I'm after when it comes to drawing. I enjoy doing these types of drawings the most, they're fun and free. I still want to try and do entire comic stories in a rough, sketchy Bic pen style. I'll get to it.

Anyway, thanks for dropping by, hope you enjoy this stuff...

Thanks for visiting.

-Tom

Spidey and George Bridgman studies... Above is a Spiderman doodle I did for fun in bic pen the other night. Just a quick, fun scribble.

Below are some studies from George Bridgman's books on constructive anatomy. I've been doing these during my downtime while student teaching. I'm studying to be an art educator. I'm currently student teaching where I went to high school under my high school art teacher Mr. Sansone. It's been an awesome experience so far. Mr. Sansone has a wall of instructional books including the George Bridgman books. When there's a free moment and I have nothing else to do, I've been sitting down and studying the books. It's amazing how helpful this stuff is. I can't recommend Bridgman's books enough, buy them all!!

These skulls are not from Bridgman's books. I drew these super quick while looking at a plastic skull Mr. Sansone has in his art room. They're inaccurate junk but thought they were fun.

Thanks for visiting!!

-Tom

Non-(visual)Art Post...

Aside from drawing I also write songs and play guitar. My brother liked a song I wrote and decided to perform his version for the world to see on Youtube. My bro is a great singer and player, I love his rendition.

Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ArKQ66Waio&list=UUtM4V6ddQ9skJ5c7zqqFNYw&index=1&feature=plcp

Thanks for listening, would love to know what people think of the song/performance.

-Tom

Artist Appreciation: Mike Wieringo Mike Wieringo is one of my favorite comic book artists, one of my favorite artists in general for that matter. I've been looking through his Sensational Spiderman work recently and realize how incredible he was and what a blow to the industry his untimely passing really is. I figured I would post a bit about him and his work in hopes that a few straggling passers-by might explore his wonderful stuff if they are unacquainted with it.

Few artists in comics or any other medium achieve the level of draftsmanship Wieringo displayed in his work. Mike clearly understood drawing on a deep level. His work has an incredible "bounce" and "energy" to it. He has a wonderful sense of gesture that could only come from really looking at life and understanding the structure of things, how forms interact with one another and how things move. He was a great storyteller as well. His pages are clean, clear and have an awesome flow.

He was a true professional. It's a real shame we won't be seeing anymore work from this tremendous talent. Thankfully he left behind quite a body of work for us to enjoy and draw inspiration from indefinitely.

I picked a few Wieringo pieces I really dig from around the net, enjoy:

Check out Mike's Deviant Art gallery, good stuff,
http://wieringo.deviantart.com/

If you haven't read any of Mike's comics, check out his Sensational Spiderman work with Todd Dezago and Tellos. Pick up everything he ever did if you know what's good for you but those are some nice places to start.

Thanks for visiting.

-Tom

Jack, The Giant and some other randomness...

The illustration above is a piece I did for my children's book illustration portfolio. This style is a bit different from the stuff I usually post. I am still trying to find a solid style for illustrating kids stuff. I think I am going to try and loosen things up so the work is more true to what I usually try to do with my drawing which is capture as much life, character and energy as possible. One of the things that attracts me to children's illustration is the wide variety of techniques and styles that the industry seems to embrace. Hopefully I can find a niche. We'll see what happens.

These doodles below are totally random, thought they were kind of cool though.

Thanks for visiting.

-Tom