My favorite and least favorite things about this Thursday, and one kind act (which kinda felt like cheating since it was for my wife, but she’s just as eligible to receive kind acts, so we’re good!)
That drawing in panel #1, by the way, is the doodle for Children’s Day. Thailand is the first country to celebrate:
In case you’re wondering what’s going on in these comics, here’s the premise.
Instead of asking,”How was your day?” when we get home, my wife and I ask three questions:
It’s actually a useful method in early childhood development, but I think it’s good for us adults to practice as well, if not to shake up the mundane a little bit. I mean, why should kids have all the fun, right? To shake things up even more, I’m going to try and answer these three questions in the form of daily cartoons throughout the week, at least until work cuts off my post-it note supply.
It’s been a while since I’ve created one of these Venetian Mask Birdies, but I was recently commissioned to paint a couple of them as Birthday/Christmas presents so here we are. It was like painting old friends. 
Luciano and Girard. Both are 10×10 inches acrylic on canvas.
I have a slight obsession with the western classic, Once Upon a Time in the West. It’s actually the only film I’ve ever rented on iTunes, the only film on my iPad, and I have a DVD copy at home. In the highly unlikely case I ever make the switch to Blue Ray, West will be the first disc I buy. Many story artists make it a goal to do storyboard studies of every shot in Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, but my goal would be to do this one. I mean, the opening sequence alone is a masterpiece.
Anyway, I was doodling (non-dayjob doodling) certain moments and faces from the film when I showed it to Alex a few months ago (she loved it and doesn’t even like westerns… watch it, already).
Judging by the number of times I drew him, Jason Robards has the most drawable face ever. Bronson was fun too, but a little too easy to caricaturize.
When I was a little kid, I’d draw my dad in these epic war scenes. He always had a mustache, a machine gun, and a backpack, and he was fearless. Now, as an adult, I can understand how glad he must be to have that actual chapter of his life far, far behind him. But I’m still proud to honor him and all veterans today - albeit with a slightly quieter drawing.
My wife and I are having a great time being brand new parents, having welcomed our first son, Elliot, into the world back in September. It’s exhausting to say the least, but so much fun too! I hope to share more sketches with you guys soon to describe some of the adventures we’ve already had.
For now, this is Elliot making his “Oo-Yoo Face”. Oo-yoo is how you say milk in Korean. 
Thanks for inspiring us to “live happily and express our happiness”, Mary Blair. I hope you like this drawing I did for your birthday!
While getting ready to post this, I realized I’ve announced the news pretty much everywhere but my own blog. Well, what better way than with a drawing?
For Richard Scarry’s doodle, I had a lot of fun working with the folks at Random House — including one of Scarry’s actual art directors, as well as his son, Huck — in order to create an original pencil and watercolor depicting Busytown. There is so much going on in Busytown that I thought I’d post a larger version here (click to enlarge).
©2011 Google, Inc.
Here are a couple behind the scenes photos of the original as well.
The drawing was done in pencil, then scanned digitally and printed out in solid black on acetate/clear film.
The drawing was also transferred to illustration board in blue pencil so I could work the painting on a separate layer.
Scarry’s technique allowed him to work pretty loosely with his watercolors, and he’d frequently paint off-register, not quite up to (or way beyond) the line drawing. It was a lot of fun working in such a loose manner, and if transferring drawings weren’t truly the most painstakingly slow process, I’d probably do it more often! Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoy Busytown, while having a not-so-busy Sunday. Happy Birthday, Mr. Richard Scarry!
Sketch from a trip out to Montauk, New York last fall. I kept looking for things to paint until, just as I gave up, this happened. The fisherman was trying to make his way through the ocean just so he could cast from that piece of rock further out. With each bit of ground covered, he’d get swept backwards, the same way surfers do when they duck into waves they don’t wanna ride. After about fifteen minutes, he managed to grab hold and clamber up the rock. By this time the crowd on the beach had stopped what they were doing to watch him, so we all clapped when he made it, though I’m sure he was oblivious to our applause, as the sea continued to wail on him in spite of his seemingly lofty perch. He managed to cast twice before a wave took him back to shore.
Later, I asked him what sort of East Coast fishing technique this madness was called. He laughed and said he didn’t know, and that it just looked like a good spot. I suggested ’surf fishing’, and he agreed. “That’s it!”
There’s some kind of lesson here for me, the reluctant painter when it comes to taking risks. Or maybe the scene belongs on one of those cheesy motivational posters equipped with puns like “Cast your fears oceanside.”
I’ll figure it out eventually.
Been working on renovating/decorating my studio, trying to get it juuuust right so that I can be inspired when working in it. Then I find this photo from a NYT article about Irving Harper who, despite the amazing things he has done in the world of industrial design, still rocks a boombox and has artwork on the wall sagging off of push-pins.
Suffice to say, no more procrastinating. That is, as soon as I move my desk back in…
Today marks one year that I’ve been at Google. Here’s a tiny sampling of some fun things I got to work on.
©2011 Google, Inc.
Happy Birthday, Jan Werich!
Here’s Google’s tribute to John Lennon for his 70th birthday on Saturday. (We’re celebrating a day early). I use “amazing honor” quite a bit, but this tops them all. It was truly a life highlight to be able to work on this doodle and create an animated sequence to celebrate one of my musical heroes (animators… please be gentle). Thanks Lennon for everything.
Also, check out Google’s official blog where I have a few more things to say.
