New Art... Tomorrow

This is turning into quite the busy week. Trying to wrap everything off before taking off for a few days sure is harder than it seems. With that said I did try and relax while starting to draw a picture last night. It was a pretty standard Tuesday night. I picked up Scrappy (explained to her that the fish had died... very sad... we'll miss you Brad), made dinner (sadly I didnt take a picture... it was breaded oven baked pork, with pasta and green beans), fed her, sat with her while she made a card for Brad, watched some Hannah Montana and then cleaned her up and got her ready for bed (we read "Welcome to Narnia").

After getting her down I started to work on a piece I had been planning for a while. A really cool Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. I was tired and it was getting late, but I decided to go for it anyway. I started to put Snake Eyes together while chatting with my love who was still at work over IM. I got almost completely done with Snake Eyes and was getting ready to start up on Storm Shadow when my love says "my back really hurts"... so I wondered what I could possibly do for someone who does so much for me. So I offered up "don't worry when you get home I'll give you a massage". Now, I'm not a very good massuese but I once grabbed a book from the ELLE Book Sale titled the Art of Massage, so I quickly turned to the Back chapter and gave it a quick read. By the time I was done reading the chapter my love was home and after she ate and relaxed a bit, I was able to give her a nice little massage.

It wasn't much but I think it helped ease the stress she was feeling and helped her sleep a little easier. I like to think it helped.

I'll finish up Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow tonight and post it tomorrow.

Marvel Arghh....

I kept on reading the rest of my top shelf comics as I try to catch up. Now last week I happily blogged about how good the DC books have been. That for the most part continued as I read a few issues of Detective Comics, The Checkmate/Outsiders Crossover, Catwoman and Robin (very nice Father's Day story). While reading those good DC books I also read a few very good Marvel titles. I read the remainder of Fallen Son, the first issue World War Hulk, the always great Daredevil and Captain America, and the vastly improved Iron Man. This led me to the object of todays complaint. The last two issues of New Avengers.

I must admit to having read a spoiler of the issue online, so I knew Elektra would be revealed to be a Skrull. Which led to all kinds of questions about who we can or cannot trust and who really is a Skrull. All which led me to scratch my head and wonder... didn't Marvel already run this story in the pages of the X-Men. It happened when Wolverine was revealed to be the Horseman Of Apocalypse Death. We learned that a Skrull had been in his place for years on the X-Men. I though the story was BS then, and I think the story is BS now. Are you telling me that Xavier couldn't tell telepathically that one of his pupils was replaced by a Skrull. The same way Wolverine isn't able to tell that Elektra (who he has slept with in the past) or Spider-Woman have been Skrulls right under his nose. Highly unlikely that both Wolverine and Spidey (he of the great spider-sense) both great trackers would be unable to tell they'd been infiltrated by aliens.

The fact that Marvel is trying to blow out this ridiculous story drives me crazy. Are we supposed to forget all of Elektra's appearances over the last few years. Or do we just write them off to being the work of aliens. Marvel has jumped the shark again... I was ready to say how happy I had been with my Marvel reading, then they had to ruin it for me with the last two issues of New Avengers. I expect better of Brian Michael Bendis. He's always been one of Marvels true stars, and to see him recycling old crappy stories is disappointing. Marvel, Marvel, Marvel... it's time to figure it out and be original.

Thursday Night Treats Part 2... Legion

With the other picture I had drawn last night (Black Canary) not being very kid friendly, I decided to draw a piece that I could share with Scrappy and that she'd be able to appreciate. That led me to drawing the Legion of Superheroes in their animated style.

Legion is one of our favorite cartoons to watch on Saturday morning. In fact I altered my picking her up time so that I could time it to be home when the Legion started. I dig that show that much. Its also one of those things I didnt think I would ever truly see, a cartoon on the Legion amazing. As a geeky fanboy my favorite episodes are when they have lots of team members making cameos. The season finale that involved nearly everyone (poor Ferro Lad) was like a geekgasm for me. I loved it.

Anyway, here is the piece. The pencils took me a little longer than I expected. I thought I'd be able to bang out the pencils superfast, but with 7 characters it takes some time. It was probably close to an hour. The inks took equally sa long. Getting the details onto the girls flying along the top was nearly impossible. I should have drawn them slightly larger and more in the foreground. Oh well, I still love this piece. For me, it reminds me of watching Saturday morning cartoons with Scrappy.

Thursday Night Treats Part 1... The Black Canary

With my love out having a bowling night with her co-workers and no one wanting to go out for a drink I thought it would be a nice time to go home have a couple of beers and try to do a couple of pieces.

I'm trying to draw all the members of the new Justice League and already have drawn Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern so I decided this week I would do the new chairperson of the JLA. Of course I was a little distracted by the World Series of Pop Culture (love that show) but I sat down and started to put the pencils together on this piece.



I don't know how often anyone ever has to draw fishnet stockings, but let me go on record as staing they are incredibly tedious to draw. I'm sure its similar to having to draw the webbing on Spidey's costume (also a pain). The pencils took close to an hour. Most of that on the hair and fishnets. The inking took well over an hour. Most of that on the fishnets and jacket. I thought the piece came out very well, I think its one of the stronger female faces I've ever drawn. The look is very confident as well, very much in character with where the Canary is right now. I dont think any DC female character has grown as much as she has in the last few years. This being a big booty shot, I dont think I could ever really display it at my place, but I think overall the piece is really great. A nice rebound over the previous two weeks worth of work.

Comic Catch-up

In my ongoing theme of being late reading my comics (again i'm about 6 weeks behind) I've been furiously trying to catch up. I separate the comics into 3 stacks... must reads, middle books, back of pile. So I separated everything last week and started to read the must reads. I currently have read all the Countdowns, and everything Superman and JLA related (notice no Marvel... surprising... not so much). Here are a few thoughts I had.

Countdown
I think it's been pretty strong. Love the characterization of Jimmy Olsen. Love whats happening with the New Gods. Jason Todd has been a revelation. He seemed to be a rudderless ship over in Nightwing, but he's a character I've really enjoyed reading in these pages.

Action Comics 3-D Issue
Um... why did I wait months for this. Obviously its not Geoff Johns and Richard Donner's fault. So I have to blame Kubert. The artwork wasn't great. I thought the 3-D effect for the Phantom Zone was cool, but the art just wasn't strong. I mean, even at my slow pace, I feel like I could hav drawn that issue... and had it on the shelf months ago. The story was ok, not great... but I found it somewhat lacking. Which is sad, because I loved the first two parts to this story, then I had to wait forever for the next two. I'm sure when the story is all said and done it will be great. Its one of those stories that waiting for the monthly issues to come out has been torture, but the collected edition will be great. Oh well.

Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco's Superman
I love this title. I'm never a big fan of magical type stories, but I have enjoyed this. A lot of this is because of Pacheco's amazing artwork. His Superman is unreal. I think it just keeps getting better. Whereas Superman looked a bit Asian in the early issues he looks amazing now. I think Pacheco is the best ever Superman artist. Better than Lee, Bryne, Ries and Mcguiness... at least in my opinion.

Superman Confidential and All-Star Superman
Both great books that are extremely annoying to me. The art and story are great in both books, but the fractured shipping schedule is so annoying. Again this is a story that will be better when its all collected and the readers dont have to wait for monthly books that never show. Everything on these books is of such high quality. The art, story, inking, color, lettering and printing. All top notch.

JLA: The Lightning Saga
I thought this crossover was amazing as well. That it ended with the surprise return of the Flash (in this age of the internet and spoilers, how was his return so surprising... i loved it) and his family was great. Ed Benes is among the new breed of DC artist that is just incredible. Between Benes, Pacheco, Ivan Reis, Renato Guedes and Renato Arlem, it seems to be a golden age of hispanic artist. Brad Meltzer blew me away again. I have yet to be disappointed with anything he writes. Also... when did Karate Kid (no not the Mr. Miyagi trained Danielsan) become so damn cool. It was nice to see the Legion of Superheroes in a mainstream DC book, as badass superheroes... I really dug this.

Justice
The finale to this series is one of the best books I've read all year. The initial draw to this series for me was Alex Ross' art. Surprisingly Jim Kruegger's story was deep and emotional. Every member of the Justice League had their moment in the sun. It was such a wonderful story. Plus Ross' art was top notch as well. This was another book that had high production values. Everything was top notch... loved this story.

All in all it has been a strong week of comic book reading. I've yet to truly be disappointed with anything I've read (hence these are all books from the must read pile)... I'll update next week when I get into the middle pile... hopefully this streak continues.

No New Art

No new art was drawn last night. My love was home early, so she was able to make dinner. I tried to help as much as possible. I helped with the pasta and the cleanup. It was nice to be able to sit down and eat as a family. It rarely happens during the week, so it was nice.

After dinner (which was a lemon chicken pasta toss... so delicious), then giving Scrappy a bath, then getting her to bed... i really wanted to do nothing more than relax. So it became a night for us to catch up on a lot of the shows we had DVR'd. We saw this weeks Flight of the Concords which was pretty funny, then we saw the World Series of Pop Culture which was great (love this show... I swear I will try out next year). After that was over we went to the YES network to catch the Yankee game and got to see them rally to tie the game in the ninth and then win it in the tenth. After that we saw this weekends Bridezillas. Watching some of these crazy brides makes me appreciate my love a little more.

I then read a few comics (more on that later) and we then went to bed. All in all it was a nice relaxing week night. I'll try and do some drawing tomorrow night. I'd like to try and do a few pieces. Three might be ambitious, but two might be doable. Especially since one of the pieces I want to do is the animated Legion. We'll see...

Next Week

Obviously, anyone who knows me knows that next week (especially the end) is going to be a big week for me. One of the biggest in my life. With that said, I wanted to let everyone know that a very special blog will be posted next week.

For a little more than the last two years I've saved just about every email and important snippet of IM's. I used to keep text messages as well. Then my computer at my last office crapped out on me and I lost a massive word document that conatined lots of interesting text message snippets. I'll have to go from memory on some of these, but some are so memorable that I'll have no problem remembering them.

I'm not a very big emotional (or good) writer. All I'm hoping to do is help people understand us a little more. How amazing I think this girl is and what she has meant to my life. She came along when I was in a very vulnerable, difficult position and truly did save my life. We've had our fare share of ups and downs, difficult and incredibly happy times as well... all I'm trying to say is that I'm looking forward to a lifetime of moments with this girl.

I love you baby... I cant wait for next week.

Coooooobbbbrrrrrrraaaaaaaaa!!!... Desert Scorpion

For my second Cobra figure I wanted to use a really obscure figure that I really liked. Hence the selection of the Desert Scorpion. He was a figure in the 1991 collection of Joe's. The design on the figure is really well done. The boots and gloves have a cool sculpt to them. The Helmet contained a fabric portion that hung down behind the back of the head. The overall sculpt of the figure used the more muscular Joe sculpt. This figure definitely looked like one of the more imposing Cobra characters.

I was also a huge fan of the color scheme of the figure. The brown, orange, black and yellow combo was very strong. While most Joe's were a bit simpler in terms of their color schemes this one was a little more extravagent and well done. The Desert Scorpion also had a great backpack that allowed most of his weapons and accessories to be attached. Unfortunately I dont think I still have the backpack... sad. The figure also came with a ridiculously large black scorpion.

The file card is pretty well written. On it we learn that the Desert Scorpions are unmotivated Vipers who cannot follow directions, so they are basically dumped in the desert and have to learn to survive. I always thought this was a cool obscure late generation Cobra figure.

Simpsons Avatar

I used to be a huge fan of the Simpsons. Saw every episode over the first 4-5 years. For some reason or another (probably when it moved to Sundays, which for me = sports days) I stopped watching it after a while.

I've thought the previews I've seen for the new Simpsons movie look hilarious and do intend to go pay to see that in the theater (although I've read that as much as 70% of the trailer is not in the film). Matt Groening truly is a genius in the animation field. You have to look at his work on The Simpsons and marvel at how it hasn't missed a beat. It's amazing that besides news programs or reality programs (COPS and Americas Most Wanted), The Simpsons is the longest running show on television.

Part of the push for the new film is this amazing website Simpsonsmovie.com. The site is incredibly interactive. One of the best features is that you can create your own avatar. Not only do you then get to download your avatar, but you can interact with other characters on the site. Its like a Sims game for the Simpsons. It truly is great. While we were all working here on Friday, we decided to take a break and make avatars. I thought mine was pretty right on and decided to share.

60 Games in 30 Nights... update

So, I was able to catch up last week with a series of triple headers... this week though, I'm sad to announce there has been no PS2 playing. Team Scrub has not been able to continue their season. With work, art, wedding planning... everything, it has been a pretty low priority. Also having Scrappy tomorrow and going to a BBQ on Sunday, I dont have high hopes for catching up. I dont think a series of octuple headers are in the mix for me any time soon. But have no fear... at some point the inaugural season of the Scrubbies will continue. Stay tuned for the continued saga of Melky and the Boys...

The Captain

I fully intended to sit here and write about my love for Derek Jeter and how he plays the game right. How the great Yankee homegrown lineage goes all the way back to Gehrig in the 20's. How he is the great bearer of the Yankee torch. His 11 seasons as the Yankees shortstop have been filled with great success. They have won 11 consecutive division titles and 4 World Series. It's no secret that this team started winning when he started playing for them. Like all the other homegrown Yankees he plays the game right. All of this made me think about this past weekends Yankees old-timers game.

I was going to miss the game as I was taking Scrappy to the library and then to the park to kick the soccer ball around. So I decided to DVR the old-timers portion of the game. I woke up early on Sunday and saw it. Old-timers day at the stadium is great. They truly are the only team that could trot out veterans from every era that the fans know and love (maybe the hated RedSox could do it as well, but who would care). As the players were trotted out it was great to see them get their ovations. Then they came to my favorite Yankee of all time Don Mattingly. As they announced his name the crowd errupted. They gave him a true 2 minute standing ovation and then went into a raucous "Donnie Baseball" chant. It truly did make me nostalgic.

I remember the summer of 1987 when Mattingly had his streak of 8 games in a row with a homer. Although the Mets (I hate them) were the defending champs the baseball world has always revolved around the New York Yankees. Mattingly was in the midst of 6 seasons where he was arguably the best hitter (as well as the best defensive first baseman... sorry Keith) in baseball. A mere two years later he would suffer a back injury that would rob him of his power and derail what was easily a Hall of Fame career. In fact I think he still deserves to be in the Hall. If you look at his stats they are eerily similar to that of the late Kriby Puckett who was a first ballot Hall of Famer. In my eyes he'll always be a Hall of Famer.

As much as I love Captain Derek and his great Hall of Fame career (if he retired today he'd be first ballot), Donnie Baseball (the last Yankee to officially be named Captain) will always be my favorite Yankee.

Not So Super Tuesday... Green Lantern

Yesterdays installment of Tuesday night drawing had me wanting to draw other members of the Justice League or the entire new animated Legion of Superheroes (love that new show, wish they had made more episodes). I bounced the idea around of drawing the entire new Justice League as a team, but decided I wasn't ready for that. So I decided on two members of the new team. I would either draw Green Lantern or Black Canary (saving the other for next week).

Wanting to be able to get Scrappy to bed, help make dinner and actually try and watch the All-Star game (yay American League) had me thinking I'd be very pressed for time. Seeing as how men are always easier for me to draw then women, I decided to draw a simple Green Lantern piece. Scrappy had eaten dinner at her other house so I didn't have to worry about getting ready. I did have to make rice while I waited for my love to treat me with some steak (love steak, can never have enough of it).

So at about 7:30 I found myself sitting on the couch with Scrappy watching the Suite Life when I thought I could start to work on a piece. I broke out the newly sharpened pencils (thanks baby... for some reason it escapes me on how to properly sharpen a pencil) and got to work on Green Lantern. I hit a good stride when it was time for me to start the rice for dinner. Shortly after the rice I had to give Scrappy a bath and get her ready for bed. While she was in the bath I quickly finished the pencils. The pencils probably took me 20-25 minutes total. Everything flowed really well, although I had a pretty crappy day at work my evening was turning out ok.

Got Scrappy to bed and just as we were starting the story my love showed up and we were able to tuck her in together (I love when we get to do that together... it doesn't happen very often during the week, so its special when it does). As my love was starting up the steak I was able to start inking the piece. So I inked a little, sat down for dinner, ate, had some difficult conversation then sat down and finished inking.

I think the piece suffered a bit from the fragmented inking (the total inking time was probably 45 minutes). It's by no means an awful piece, I just wish it was better. I don't feel like I captured the perspective of the piece properly. The lower half seems so small while the upper half seems so large. I tried to save it a bit by adding in greys for the musculature. It could also be that I'll always lump this piece in with everything else that was going on, so I'll have a hard time looking at it objectively. Not an awful piece by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely not something that I truly love either. It was my first ever Green Lantern piece so it becomes my best Green Lantern by default. Maybe I'll try and redeem myself and draw something else this week.

Coooooobbbbrrrrrrraaaaaaaaa!!!

So I've been reviewing and posting lots of G.I. Joe figures lately, but no mention of Cobra figures. We all know that a hero is only as good as his villains. Luckily the Joe's had a great villain in Cobra Commander. Yeah he was portrayed as wacky and over the top in animated series, but anyone who read the comics knows he was really a badass. He was a trained ninja just slightly below th elevel of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Yeah his plots for world domination were usually absurd and over the top, but he was still a pretty fierce villain.



While most people tend to gravitate towards the Cobra Commander figures that have the blue and gold (or silver) color scheme I've always thought that this version (the 6th version of CC from 1993) with the black and silver color scheme was better. It made Cobra Commander seem serious and more like a threat. This was one of the later series of Joe's that didn't have a very detailed file card, but described all the weapons that CC carried. This figure came with a ridiculous red Cobra cannon. That seemed to be the downfall of the later Joes, as they all had to have ridiculously large missle firing weapons. I guess America was over the ridiculous kids who shot themselves in the eye with the Boba Fett with the rocket-firing jet pack. None of these weapons were very interesting. What I really like about this figure was the color scheme and how different it was. Most people are such purists and can only see CC in blue and gold... I think this figure in black worked a lot better.

Family Cookies

One of my favorite things to do (or just watch) with my Love and Scrappy is making cookies. I was never involved in cooking growing up. So the fact that we make an effort to get Scrappy involved is really important to me. She gets a little annoying (which kid doesn't) because she wants to be involved in everything, but it's still fun. It's truly one of my favorite things to do.

I remember getting the note last year when Megan was in kindergarten asking to send cookies in for the bake sale. I was all set to just go to the store and buy a box of Entenman's cookies when my love suggested we actually bake them. I had no idea she baked. No girl I was ever around had ever baked, so this was completely foreign to me. I also obviously had no baking materials so I had to go out and buy everything. Mixing bowls, cookie sheets, wax paper, flour... everything. So we decided it would be a fun family project. The day came to bake the cookies and Meg fell asleep and I sat there amazed, but it was basically my love baking the cookies (she's always such a good sport)... and they were amazing. It quickly became one of those things we did on weekends. We baked (most of the time it was a pretty solo project with very little involvement from Scrappy or myself).

My love baked everything... strawberry cookies, chocolate chip, oreos, oatmeal scotchies, sugar cookies, gingerbread men, chocolate chips with nuts, chocolate cherry pistachi pinwheels, oatmeal toffee coconut... all were ridiculously delicious (all greatly photographed here http://happiestpuppies.blogspot.com/search/label/cookies).


I think I love cookies and the process because cookies to me feel like home. I've never been around anyone who loves making cookies so much. I'm sure it's not always the easiest thing to deal with... with me being a novice and scrappy being overly eager... but my love always finds a way to make these cookies spectacular. She has no idea the joy I get from not only eating these, but over the sheer fact that we've made them a family project.

The Sad First Half

I'm sure if you polled any Yankee fan they would say they were disappointed by the first half of the season. I'd be among them. Although, deep down, I know there is a second half surge left in them and they will challenge not only for the wild card but for the American LEague East title. A brief look at the first half...

Has there been a more consistent performer in all of baseball than ARod. He hasn't really cooled off from his torrid start to the year. He very well might be the MVP of the American League. ARod is joined on the Yankee standout offensive list by Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada (the most important player for them in the first half). Also, very quietly Hideki Matsui is over 50 RBI's in the first half. It seems like he'll drive in 100 even though he missed a month with a broken wrist. I've always loved the way he plays the game. Cano and Cabrera (the youth of the squad) are both starting to turn it on both offensively and defensively. I'm sure everyone around is hoping for a rebound from Abreu and Damon in the second half. Both have been very disappointing. First base has also been a huge problem. Little to no offense there all year.

The pitching staff is slowly (too slowly sometimes) starting to wind into shape. Pettite (minus his last two starts) has been consistent all year. He should probably have 5 more victories that the bullpen or the offense blew for him. Clemens is really heating up and has been great lately. Mussina is starting to come around. His loss of velocity concerns me every now and then, but whatever he lacks in arm strength, he more than makes up for in intelligence. The ace of the staff has easily been Wang. He's been money. He is 6-0 in his last 8 starts with a sub 3.00 ERA. I expect a huge second half from him an another attempt at a Cy Young. The fifth starter spot has been a mess all year. Kei Igawa has started the last few and been shelled. Phil Hughes is apparently rehabbing well, and it seems like he'll be ready by late July. I think he'll really help solidify the starting rotation.

The biggest problem area has been the bullpen. All season. There are some guys in Double A that I think will get a look by the end of the season. They have so many power arms in the pen, but they all try to come in throwing 100mph. Way to many walks from this overworked pen. They must be better if the Yanks have any chance of catching the Sox.

It should be an intersting second half. I'm sure the Yanks will make a move and shore up the bullpen and first base by the trading deadline. Even if they don't, I think they can make the playoffs with the squad they currently. It all boils down to the bullpen being better. They have easily blown a dozen games for them this season. With better bullpen performances will come more victories. Simple as that.

Pork w/Corn Salsa

This past Friday was a Scrappy night. So I left work a little early and it had been decided earlier in the day that I would make dinner. My love sent me a few recipes from WomansDay.com. The first I wasn't so keen on (the chicken corn enchiladas looked a little complicated), so we decided on a pork chop with corn salsa. Very simple and easy to make (only 3 steps... i love it).

I decided after looking over the recipe that I would make rice with it as well. We had corn already, so all I had to do was slice up an onion (red) and slice up some grape tomatoes (so yummy). To get Scrappy involved, I had her stir the whole thing together. Although she had already eaten dinner at her other house she loved helping.

I thought the natural flavor of the pork really shined through. The corn salsa was pretty mild and not very flavorful, so the flavor of the pork was really the hero of this meal. It was quick and easy to make as well as very tasty.

My Niece

In trying to post all the art I've drawn in the last year or so I realized I hadn't posted this piece I drew for my brother and his wife for christmas. It's a piece I drew and inked of their daughter (my goddaughter).

I've always struggled a bit when I try and draw real people, but I was pleasantly surprised with how this turned out. The original image I drew from had her leaning against a screen. I decided to straighten her out and draw a little strip of park and a city skyline behind her. I think that helps set this up as a very New York piece (that and the fact that shes wearing a Yankee dress... yup, we brainwash the kids early). She is a great little girl who is incredibly to my little scrappy. I always enjoy watching them play together... even though she did hate me for most of her life because I told her not to put her foot in her jack o'lantern... I didn't take it personally, and still love her.

60 Games in 30 Nights

Thats been my motto for July. I was going to try and play a double-header of 2007 The Show every night. The purpose of this was to finish a baseball season before the new Madden comes out (which really is like a national holiday for me).

I was able to follow that the first 3 days of July. Then on the 4th I went to a co-workers house party and ended up getting home way late... no games played. Last night was to have been the first ever quadruple-header. It was a little ambitious but I was up to the task... even though we got home late from watching the Transformers (very cheesy dialouge and script, amazing action scenes and incredibly realistic transforming cars... so much so, that my love was expecting cars to transform when we got out of the theater... the effects were that good).

I pop the game in and sit down to play. Breeze right through the first game, a 4-3 win, very nicely played. Big homerun by Wily Mo Pena. Start the second game and am losing. Give up 3 runs in the first (damn you Pavano). We then breeze scorelessly till the 8th, when Wily Mo hits a homerun to make it 3-1. Go on to the 9th, when Craig Wilson hits a 2 run homer to tie the game. The Scrubbies are going wild. I thought for sure I'll wrap this one up in the 10th. No problem... not so much. 12 innings later (thats makes it a 22 inning game) Aaron Boone hits a homer to end the game. It was easily the longest game I've ever played, and because it was already past 1am meant I had to go to sleep.

Oh well... maybe I can try for the quadruple-header tonight.
*Please note that the ridiculously blurry picture above was taken by me (thats the manual for the game as well as my draft sheet), not by the normally brilliant photographer who generally takes the shots on my site. Love you baby.

Cake, The Magic Bunny... girl

I've been posting everything I've drawn lately, so this should be no exception. Was inspired by The brilliant Charlie & Lola on The Disney Channel, and while watching an episode on July 4th I drew this bunny. Scrappy was sitting right next to me so I asked her what the bunny's name should be.

"Cake" she replied "Cake the Magic Bunny". Cake it was. About a full two minutes later she says "Cake, The Magic Bunny (small hesitation) girl".

I then went into a whole story about Cake was a bunny that was pulled out of a magic hat by a magician and decided to live in our world instead of disappearing back into the hat. Whenever the magician is not using his hat and wand then the bunny uses it to perform magic. I think I want the "Adventures of Cake" to be a regular feature on this site. Stay tuned.

Also, as you can see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. After watching my favorite movie of the summer so far (Spider-man 3 was awful, and the Transformers was a solid B+), Scrappy came home and drew a picture of it. I thought it was a lot of fun and wanted to share.



Notice the detail on Linguini's hair. He had curly hair that flapped out from his chef's hat... perfectly illustrated by Scrappy... that's my girl.

Laugh It Up Fuzzball

For this Tuesdays drawing session I wanted to continue drawing the pieces I will be giving away to the people in the wedding. Last week, I posted the Captain America I will be giving my brother who is the officiant in the wedding. This week I wanted to draw something for my best man JP. In thinking about what piece I would do, I had it narrowed down to two genres. I knew I either wanted to draw a G.I. Joe piece or a Star Wars piece.

Although G.I. Joe is a great team story, they don't really have two guys who are best of friends. I thought about doing a Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes piece but changed my mind. Those two have been enemies nearly as many time as they have been friends. With that thinking, it helped me narrow it down to Star Wars.

I believe JP's favorite Star Wars character is Obi-Wan Kenobi. The two people Obi-Wan is closest to in the Star Wars movies either die (Qui-Gon) or fight him nearly to the death (Anakin). So I wrote him off as well. That led me to choose the ultimate team in Star Wars... Han and Chewie. Han did nothing without his trusty companion. They are nearly inseparable throughtout the original trilogy. They truly are each others right-hands. I thought it was perfect.

I had a hard time finding a piece to draw. I thought it would be simple to find a Han and Chewie piece. Not so much. I finally found this one in the new postage stamp series. I found it nearly impossible to recreate. There is such a difference from the a fully painted piece with all the different color tones and strokes to the a flat pencil and ink piece.

The pencils took quite a bit of time. Chewie is such a pain to draw. The inking was even harder. The subtle strokes to try and create the illusion of Chewies fur was also a daunting task. After inking the piece I went back in and added some grey details. This definitely helped enhance the fur on Chewie. This was a very different and difficult piece for me, but something I'm really proud of.

Yummy Pork

We had Scrappy on the eve of her last day of First Grade. I typically make dinner when we have her on Tuesday nights. We had pork in the fridge, so I wanted to do something different than my typical breaded and oven baked pork.

Right after lunch I started thinking about dinner (for a food lover like me, thats a regular thing). I went to allrecipes.com (which I love) and started typing up a search for Pork Chops. I found a pretty simple recipe (for me, simple is key because I'm not a very good cook) which really just required pork, Italian dressing, pepper and soy sauce. I saw that and thought hmmm, I have all of that. Then in looking over the recipe some more I saw one of the comments that said she sliced up an onion, laid it on the bottom of a glass tray and after browning the chops placed them in the oven for 35 minutes (of course pouring the sauce over them).

I also made some simple white rice and green beans. Rice and vegetables are pretty constant, so they were a bit simple to make. The trick for me is to always have something for Scrappy to do so that she doesn't get bored waiting for dinner and so that she feels she was a part of making the meal. So I had to start up the chops, get them in the over, and then wait a few minutes before starting up the rice and vegetables.

When all was said and done Scrappy and I sat down and ate. I thought the chops turned out ok. I poured some of the sauce and onions over the pork chops. Scrappy said they were a little spicy (she says everything is spicy, even her toothpaste from time to time), but she ate the whole meal. Next time I try this meal I will use less Italian dressing. I think that will help with the overall taste. For much better food check out the mmm... delicious link off to the right.