the Doodle Delicatessen

Occupational Hazard

2012-01-28T10:14:00.001-06:00

Being a snowman ain't easy, especially if your creator isn't careful.

LEGO daughter with jewel

2012-01-14T15:37:00.001-06:00

LEGO me with coffee

2012-01-14T15:36:00.001-06:00

Tiny Doodles: LEGO

2012-01-14T11:41:00.001-06:00

My wife and I as LEGO people. Getting the perspective right isn't easy.

Lighthouse Island

2012-01-07T10:50:00.000-06:00

Faces on the floor

2011-12-30T11:07:00.000-06:00

The right side of this looks like a man, profile, eye closed, mouth in a content shape with a dimple, chin, hair tied back like a gentleman from the 1800s. The left side looks like an animal, long snout with a round nose, shares the closed eye with the other face. These are the things I see on the floor while using the facilities. It's a curse.

Frog on the E string

2011-12-17T09:55:00.000-06:00

Inspired during my daughter's violin group class. The "frog" on the violin bow is the end where you hold it. I don't think it has French-Canadian origins.

Bird Brain

2011-12-08T16:40:00.000-06:00

I've had birds on my mind. If all goes well today, I'll be posting some great news tomorrow.

Dashing through the air...

2011-12-02T10:06:00.001-06:00

A sneak peek at this year's family Christmas card. Not super Christmassy, but something I look forward to doing every winter. The girls were given sleds by my brother last year, and due to sickness and schedules and snow, I think we only used them once.

Ideal Workspace

2011-12-01T10:36:00.001-06:00

It's always been a dream, perhaps a nightmare, of mine to have a studio space at the top of a lighthouse. There would be other rooms: bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, but instead of a light there would be my desk and stuff. 360 degrees of windows overlooking the water. This was inspired by GOOD magazine's call for doodle entries for their "What would your ideal work environment look like if you could create it from scratch?" thingie. I might color this and send it on over. So many ideas, so little time.

Tiny Doodles: Exhausted Pig

2011-11-28T17:20:00.001-06:00

Renegade Tweeter 4

2011-11-22T18:17:00.001-06:00

@DirtBag fyi this is gonna hurt like hell

@RenegadeTweeter what the fxddddsesf

Renegade Tweeter 3

2011-11-18T12:44:00.000-06:00

on recon hiding in swamp no 411 on eta mission fubar oh well... got a bath lol

Quick sketch: Renegade Tweeter 2

2011-11-17T13:13:00.000-06:00

See, she's supposed to be simultaneously jumping from a rope, firing on her enemies, and logging on to Twitter, only to find an all-too-familiar sight. Looks more like she's kneeling on the ground.

Quick sketch: Renegade Tweeter

2011-11-16T09:00:00.001-06:00

This was a fast a furious sketch while riding the train, knocking elbows with the dude sitting next to me. Always a fun exercise to see what will develop. The idea that someone who is a "renegade" or a rebel stopping to tweet struck me as funny. "gotta get suplz to base OMG they r going to find me FML"

Contest, schmontest. Who needs 'em??

2011-11-05T12:59:00.000-05:00

I entered a contest that challenged the participants to redo the photo provided. This image of the woman chef was the image they sent out, and the Happy Cat Chef illustration was my interpretation. I didn't win. I really like how the fish turned out, though.

Maybe next year, Cthulhu Pumpkin

2011-11-04T16:20:00.001-05:00

Don't ask me how I was going to do the wings. Ideally they would be pumpkin, too. I might need two pumpkins, one for parts.

Tomcat Barrel & Stephen o' the Steeple

2011-10-29T16:27:00.000-05:00

Characters from my friend's story, "The Society of Pirates," a well spun tale of buccaneers and Jesuits:

"Pirate captain Tomcat Barrel didn't expect to have a hold full of Jesuits instead of treasure, or that the pack of them would include Tomcat's comrade-turned-clergyman Diego. But Father Miguez, their leader, swears he knows of a massive trove of gold and silver somewhere in the Bahamas. Stephen o' the Steeple, the ship's navigator, wants to string up the Black Robes, so Tomcat has to work fast. Now the question is which is the greater threat: the scoundrel rival Black Lips Hetchy or the notorious pirate hunter Don Escrado, Squire Phosper's philosophical monkeys or his enticing daughter, Jesuit poison or Tomcat's own crew? Out of a sea between Patrick O'Brian and Jimmy Buffett sails the Shark's Laugh, daring shot, storm, sweethammer and science in search of the treasure of the mysterious blue-sand cay!"

Illustration Friday: SCARY

2011-10-28T10:30:00.003-05:00

Here are two scary illustrations that are long overdue to be posted here on the Doodle Deli. These were submitted to last year's "Hellos from the Crypt" contest over at The Hello Project, sponsored by Sharpie. The contest was judged by none other than the Daily Monster Man himself, Stefan Bucher, who had some great things to say about these two creatures from the orange post-its. I scored some super-cool, colorful Sharpie swag.

Tiny Doodles 3: Skeptical Skeleton

2011-10-26T16:41:00.000-05:00

Can you tell I'm excited about Halloween? It'll be great when my kids are old enough that scary things won't 1) make them cry, 2) run to mom, 3) cause them to seek therapy later in life. Can't wait!

Tiny Doodles 2

2011-10-26T08:42:00.000-05:00

Bat with a giant harvest penny moon.

Devilish Grin

2011-10-25T10:45:00.000-05:00

Tiny Doodles: Cheap Sunglasses

2011-10-21T10:28:00.000-05:00

A new series! Oh boy!

I find myself doodling in small nooks and crannies and corners of papers, so I thought I would start documenting them. I'll also try to get something else in the shot for scale.

Here is a typical tiny doodle. It starts as a set of furrowed, eyebrow-arching eyes and develops from there. This fellow was lucky enough to be in close proximity to my favorite orange highlighter.

2 new brew faces

2011-10-20T15:24:00.000-05:00

Drawings of 2 brothers that are, no doubt, going to be quite famous in the world of Chicago microbreweries. Stay tuned...

Self-deprecating self-portrait

2011-10-13T17:09:00.000-05:00

Charmer's Cafe

2011-10-07T17:38:00.001-05:00

Illustration Friday: CONTRAPTION

2011-10-07T12:21:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when you let your hand draw whatever your brain has sketched on the inside of your skull. Submitted for Illustration Friday.

Aw, yeah... Big Cheese

2011-09-26T21:09:00.001-05:00

My 6-year-old daughter plays this rhythm game in her Musicianship class called "Big Cheese," so I doodled this during her class. I drew the cheese and the boy, she drew the girl later. The girl is saying, "I like partys!" [her spelling].]

Characters on the train

2011-09-06T17:38:00.001-05:00

I-Wonder-How-High-I-Can-Make-My-Hair Girl

1950s Train Traveler

2011-08-26T15:52:00.001-05:00

This woman was rockin' the big, thick geek glasses. As she did the church nod, they would slide off her face and fall into her lap. She would then look around sheepishly and examine them like she meant for that to happen.

Jumping poodle

2011-08-17T18:03:00.001-05:00

Restaurant table fish

2011-08-16T15:50:00.003-05:00

Doodle prepared with crayons on craft paper at Bonefish Grill in Skokie.

Easy going pig with belly button

2011-07-25T22:36:00.004-05:00

Much nicer, and less disturbing, than Angry Swine! I'm on a pig mission.

Angry Swine!

2011-07-18T13:50:00.001-05:00

There is something very freakish about mad pigs, especially drooling ones.

Octopus and Stork with Socks #13

2011-07-15T21:58:00.002-05:00

Just went to the dentist

2011-06-29T18:26:00.001-05:00

Don Quixote

2011-06-20T19:16:00.002-05:00

A long time ago I did some nice illustrations for "Don Quixote." I think the time has come to do a new one.

Bilbo Baggins, I presume?

2011-06-17T13:33:00.001-05:00

Caught a little "Fellowship" on the telly the other night. In HD it is amazing. Looking forward to seeing "The Hobbit" when it's complete.

Alert! Elephant doodle!

2011-06-15T14:33:00.001-05:00

This doodle was brought to you by Apple. I took a pic with my phone and posted it directly to ye olde blog. It's sideways, but oh-so spontaneous.

iPhone, MyPhone, AllAboutMePhone

2011-06-15T14:26:00.003-05:00

I thought this would be a great idea. Eh. Bumpy train.

"You have a Brain Cloud"

2011-06-07T16:18:00.003-05:00

Somedays you just feel like this... Like Joe.

How the west was won…by elephants

2011-06-02T12:25:00.005-05:00

For some reason, an elephant dressed as a cowboy riding a donkey (that's wearing an eye patch) trying to lasso a little pig seemed really funny to me.

Big hips sink ships

2011-05-25T20:58:00.003-05:00

I will not confirm, nor will I deny, the fact that I may, or may not, have seen this a person of this persuasion on my commute home on the train. But if I did, I think I would be scared.

This doodle brought to you by…

2011-05-20T14:36:00.001-05:00

…Palmer Printing. These were doodled during a conference call with the powers-that-be. Free pads of paper with months and lines printed on them are way underrated.

SOAKED

2011-05-20T14:30:00.003-05:00

Doodle for Illustration Friday.

Froggy on an iPad

2011-05-19T21:39:00.003-05:00

Hello. I picked up an iPad (no I didn't buy it) and proceeded to doodle this frog using an app called "Zen Brush". I took a photo of the screen with my Verizon iPhone. I have to admit, I would love to own one of these things. Is it necessary? No. Are there a million things you can do with it? Hell, yeah.

Avast, mateys! Thar be sharks ahead!

2011-05-18T13:27:00.003-05:00

At a park near our house, there is a play structure that looks like a boat. On this particular day, the girls were pretending to be attacked by sharks, and I think I heard a few good piratey "ARRRRRRRR"s in the process.

Dude, nice socks

2011-05-18T12:39:00.008-05:00

You see all kinds of characters while waiting for the train. He was rocking the knee-high gym socks/shorts combo like he invented it. I don't think this man had eyes.

E.T., with a sandwich

2011-05-18T12:39:00.006-05:00

Sometimes even "Reese's Pieces" get old and you need a good ham and cheese on rye.

Alien monster creepy things

2011-05-12T13:06:00.003-05:00

Sophia and I were drawing aliens on the train. The one above is mine and the one below is Sophia's. Mine all tend to have eyes on long, wiggly stalks, whereas Sophia's aliens have strange headgear and one leg.

The Audience

2011-05-09T22:08:00.003-05:00

I drew this for my wife, a music teacher, to use when a student is having a mock performance. She places this on the side of the room where the audience would be sitting so the student knows which way to look and bow as they come out on stage. This drawing, tattered and not-so-well laminated, is probably 8 or 9 years old. It's showing its wrinkles.

Running Boy & Dog

2011-05-03T21:50:00.005-05:00

Self-portrait? Train-ride-induced hallucination? How I feel everyday, just, without the dog?

Not a doodle, per se, but…

2011-05-01T15:23:00.005-05:00

I downloaded some coloring pages from National Geographic for the kids, but I couldn't resist this one. I get sick of coloring with crayons and colored pencils, but I could noodle all day with a set of 50 Crayola markers, especially if a few of them are scented.

Mountain Face

2011-05-01T15:22:00.001-05:00

Error occurred; reboot

2011-04-24T15:35:00.011-05:00

This was a great idea when it started: Doodle something and post it every day. It went pretty smoothly for a while. Then I'd miss a couple days, then a week, then months would go by without a single pen scratch uploaded. Don't get me wrong, I have been doodling... like this one, when we went to Florida and stayed at the Liki Tiki Village:

But getting it scanned and uploaded was a little prohibitive. Then I got busy with actual freelance work.

Blah blah blah. I'm going to try and make another go of it. I took a photo of the tikis with my phone, emailed it to myself, corrected it a little, and uploaded it. Bingo. This one I drew on my phone using an app called SketchBook and required no correction:

I still don't see it being everyday, but it will be more often than it has been! Thanks to all of you for following. I won't let you down.

SPOOKY Red Beard Guy

2010-10-15T16:23:00.004-05:00

Just a scarecrow... or is it?

2010-10-15T09:47:00.006-05:00

SPOOKY.
For ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY.

2010-07-18T18:34:00.005-05:00

Post-It™ Man

2010-06-14T21:45:00.003-05:00

What could possibly happen?

2010-06-13T16:02:00.006-05:00

...if I stick a fork in a socket?

When in doubt, draw a CUTE TURTLE!

2010-06-04T21:58:00.002-05:00

What the HELL?!

2010-06-02T22:19:00.003-05:00

Dogs... and lots of 'em

2010-06-02T22:01:00.003-05:00

Who ... burned... the TOAST?

2010-04-16T21:10:00.004-05:00

Sorry, let me just dust this off a bit... whew... nobody has cleaned up in here for a while.

"Popoo", cats, two-headed self-portraits

2010-02-21T10:07:00.002-06:00

Faces & Presidents

2010-01-16T09:38:00.005-06:00

I'm wearing leather pants

2010-01-08T21:50:00.005-06:00

I saw this guy on the train... derby, heavy, weird black gloves, tiny dark sunglasses, long black trench, flavor-savor, dark wine-colored shirt, black tie, and leather pants. Oh, big black boots and a heavy-looking, somewhat beat-up metal briefcase. And he had this look on his face, like "Go ahead and look... It takes hours to get this just right."

The other doodles were attempts at a self-portrait, but as a young kid, but with some adult attributes (i.e., bald).

New year, new attempt

2010-01-03T20:27:00.004-06:00

In an attempt to upload SOMETHING instead of going dormant for 2 months, I think I'm going to trying sketching and drawing for a week and upload the results. Maybe it's one, maybe it's a whole page, I gotta jump start this thing again.

This guy is based on elves as seen in the animated, holiday short "Prep & Landing." It has Disney's stamp on it but was Executively produced by John Lasseter, it has Pixar all over it. Surprisingly funny and clever, we watched is SEVERAL times over the holidays and it didn't get too old.

Hi-Ho Popcorn! AWAY!

2009-10-23T21:27:00.003-05:00

PUMPKINS!

2009-10-20T21:03:00.002-05:00

Are they singing? Is one floating in mid-air? Are they taking a stand against "the Man"? Are they talking about pumpkin rights on Larry King? Oh, what is the story here???

Two sides to every story

2009-10-14T22:24:00.003-05:00

Take out food with a side of AAARRRRRR!!!

2009-10-13T22:12:00.006-05:00

Local place, Gulliver's, sends you home with partitions for your take-away. They have these eight-inch round cardboard pieces that separate the containers of food, and one side is white. I got inspired. I love pirates. This is a mixed media piece of marker and crayon.

What a lovely Derby!

2009-10-09T21:34:00.001-05:00

Escargot, anyone?

2009-10-07T22:15:00.004-05:00

A bona fide certified doodle; sketched at work while on the phone talking to a coworker. The fact that it is a snail has nothing to do with my judgment of the speed at which duties were being executed; it just grew out of a single swirl. Swirls seem to be the theme this week...

LOOK! It's a broom! It's a hero! It's...

2009-10-06T21:14:00.005-05:00

..."The Sweeper", maybe? Or the Swirling Dervish? Somehow this guy ended up being a superhero with cleaning powers you can't possibly comprehend. Weird? Eh, maybe. He was going to be wearing some sort of super-charged vacuum cleaner apparatus on his back, but I didn't get that far.

Who's THIS guy?

2009-09-16T22:32:00.003-05:00

This was inspired by something I think I saw. It was behind the newsperson this morning, in the background, and I was standing about 8 feet away from our small kitchen TV, and it looked like a weird superhero-type. So this is what came out when I got on the train. I may just continue to develop it over the next few days, see where it goes.

Maid Marion meets–OH! Nice work!

2009-09-15T21:10:00.001-05:00

She's a wily one, that Maid Marion.

Robin Hood meets his demise

2009-09-09T22:25:00.002-05:00

Little John meets his demise

2009-09-08T22:41:00.002-05:00

Crazy mad doctor

2009-08-28T21:36:00.004-05:00

I had to go in for surgery on my leg today, so I actually drew this yesterday on the way home from work as i was thinking about it. It couldn't be further from the truth; Dr. Elaraj, my doctor, has been great throughout the whole ordeal and did a fantastic job, nice bedside manner. The whole Northwestern crew was awesome, and I came out of the sedation feeling pretty good, not loopy or sick, and walked out the car. Leg is going to smart for a week or so, but it should be pretty well healed in about 2 or 3 weeks. If you ever find yourself needing medical attention in Chicago, go to Northwestern. We also had both of our kids there!

Sad cry fan boy

2009-08-27T22:07:00.003-05:00

Yes, son, there is no Yoshimi. Weird sentence, but after careful consideration, pursuing the Yoshimi pipedream was going nowhere. Gone, but not forgotten. And she may turn up again someday…

Kid Neon™

2009-08-23T21:20:00.002-05:00

Special Today: Sophia's Doodle

2009-08-16T15:27:00.001-05:00

Sophia did this all by herself. Makes her Daddy proud.

More Yoshimi, slightly less caucasian

2009-08-14T22:45:00.004-05:00

Ok, maybe she's still not looking very Japanese, or even a little Asian for that matter. Do I know what I am doing? Not really. I watched an online drawing tutorial on drawing Asian facial features, which helped a bit. Although I try to incorporate those features and I don't like how it turns out. You can just barley see all of the erase marks around her head. I also stare at anyone looking the part on the train. Yes, I'm the creepy drawing guy gawking at Asian girls on public transportation. So sue me.

Pink Robots, volume 1

2009-08-13T22:41:00.002-05:00

Ok, so it has been a while and THIS is all I have to show for it. I wanted to model my super smooth pink robots from the art on the Flaming Lips' album cover "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots." But now that I am thinking about it, this is starting to look and sound like some sort of fetish comic. Hot, karate-chopping girl fights smooth, big, pink robots. Do I need therapy? I'll try some different designs.

"…so she's taking lots of vitamins…"

2009-08-08T22:23:00.003-05:00

I'm really enjoying this, is it obvious? What I've come to realize, though, it that I know NOTHING about Karate. I would need to know moves, punches, kicks, how to tie the belt, how to wear the, uh, white shirt/pants. Guess I gotta do some research. Perhaps a trip to the library is at hand.

Week of Yoshimi

2009-08-07T16:17:00.003-05:00

Here is a week's worth of tooling around with Yoshimi. Not sure if I wanna go realistic (comic book-look) or more styled, more animated. I'll work that out eventually...

Yoshimi, take 4: Face

2009-08-06T23:31:00.000-05:00

The more complete is is kind based on the previous doodle, but I kinda like the second one... It has more style. I think I will explore this.

Yoshimi, take 3: The Pencil Test

2009-08-05T21:45:00.003-05:00

With better planning, you get better results. I like some of the things going on here, the face, the pose, although her foot looks broken. I need to look into some clothing options. I have some ideas, like the stripey leggings, but not sure what she'd wear otherwise. And I need to research the staff length, style (for Karate). I guess it's called a Bo Staff.

Yoshimi, take 2

2009-08-04T22:42:00.005-05:00

Still not happy with this version of Yoshimi, but I like the direction it is going more than the initial attempt. I like the funky trendy hip stripey-leggings Japanese-girl look over the Japanese school-girl look, and I incorporated her "black belt in karate." Needs more work…

Rain travelers

2009-07-30T22:23:00.003-05:00

You'll have to take my word for it that this was worked on over the course of several days... but it did not take me a week. Where does the time go?

Dapper Dog & Tottles Tabby

2009-07-23T23:00:00.002-05:00

Ink girl face 4: Final

2009-07-22T21:50:00.003-05:00

Not too bad. A dramatic improvement or the initial horsey faced girl. I just have never had the knack to draw woman. Again, I guess you draw what you know, and I don't know jack about women. I've heard they're kind of soft and pretty...

Pencil girl faces 2 & 3: Slight improvements

2009-07-21T22:28:00.002-05:00

I'm not trying to make excuses for myself, but working on this on the train while people peer over your shoulder is not easy. That being said, here is tracing 1 (left) where I tried to shorten the nose and bring up the chin. Looks like Kate Moss and Angela Jolie's love child. Tracing 2 (right) has a huge, somewhat googily left eye but more nose shortening (ew)... why do I draw such long noses, you ask? Draw what you know, I guess. Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion, after I transfer tracing 2 back to my sketchbook (so it will be inverted, facing right) and try to finish creating a pleasing girl face.

Ink girl face 1: Horse face

2009-07-20T21:11:00.002-05:00

I am going to attempt to improve on this through a series of tracings and alterations, because WOW this is a weird, creepy girl face. Very horsey.

Obnoxious, cell-phone woman

2009-07-14T22:25:00.000-05:00

Elephants Through History™: Birth of Rock and Roll?

2009-07-09T21:18:00.004-05:00

Ok, I know Elvis wore this kind of outfit during the fat years, toward the end of his career/life, but it seemed appropo to dress and elephant like Elvis in this manner, don't you think? I don't have a flippin' clue who the bear is…

Platypus Barbecue

2009-07-08T22:58:00.001-05:00

Airport Gordo

2009-07-07T22:08:00.003-05:00

This was the sign I used when I met a friend at the airport. Anyone can write somebody's NAME...

Excuses, excuses...

2009-06-30T22:04:00.002-05:00

I am preparing for 4 weekend guests, who start to arrive around noon on Thursday, and I have some other issues going on that have been occupying my times and thoughts. Therefore, I haven't been posting much, and may not doodle much at all this week. We'll see... have a great July 4th if I don't "see" you before then.