Weekly Bow Tie Guy

Flamingo (fləˈmi ng gō):

One of my past students requested a flamingo bow tie guy and since I had recently completed one I thought I would post it today. I had been working on drawing a flamingo for some time, but it wasn’t until I drew the flamingos at the Fairbanks Museum that I finally understood how they work visually. There is something about seeing things in real life that you just can’t mimic from a photo. They are awkward birds. I didn’t know that they hold their bill upside down in the water in order eat.

Summer Sketching

As mentioned in an earlier post, this summer I taught a drawing class. The idea was to capture aspects of Vermont. On one of the days we visited the Simon Pierce store in Quechee. We spent a few hours drawing the process of glass bowing. It was a beautiful, fascinating and mesmerizing morning. It was also a challenge to draw while they were moving. I highly recommend visiting if you have the chance.

Weekly Bow Tie Guy

Bathtub (ˈbaθˌtəb):

I love these types of tubs. They have so much character. As I was looking at one I realized it was something like the Gump from The Marvelous Land of OZ. It’s also an example of how a bow tie works on anything.

Summer Sketching

Over the summer my family and I visited Utah. This sketch is from the Centerville Park’s July 4th celebration. I spent most of the evening dancing with my daughters. While I was walking back to the rest of my family, someone stopped me and said, “Hey you’re the dancing father-you have some cool moves.”

One of my Professors, David Paselaqua, had told us that you can’t draw until can draw everyone as they enter the gates of Disneyland. I am getting closer.

Weekly Bow-Tie Guy

The Short Beaked Echidna (əˈkidnə):

What can I say, I really like odd-looking creatures. I found this one at the Fairbanks Museum in St Johnsbury Vermont, while drawing with my summer illustration class. They are also referred to as the spiny anteater. I see it as a cross between a hedgehog and a duck. They can be found in Australia and New Guinea, and are from the same order as the duck-billed platypus (Monotremata). So they are egg-laying mammals.

I am currently using the “Bow Tie Guys” as part of my brand. They appear on my business cards, letterhead, mailing labels. etc. I have had some success with them helping me get my foot into the children’s picture book market.

I hope to be posting one on a weekly basis. If you have any suggestions on different things you would like to see with glasses, a bow tie and a sweater-vest, please send them my way.