I have this photo of Wyatte with the

most beautiful flowing ear fringe.

My goal is to simplify it and use a limited

but attractive color pallet.

Partial painting of Shay.

I'm working on a composition of three dogs leaping from a small cliff. This is a line tracing that will hopefully tell me whether or not to pursue it as a digital painting. Too late, I've already started.

I fret over color alot, but I'm pleased with the combination in this sketch.

The Saluki Savior is inspired by the devotional tattoos that I've been seeing on inmates. I think it would be a great sentiment gracing the chest of a truly scary dude.

Another Saluki tattoo idea, prison style.

A characiture of a Saluki with no definite spot in the calendar. Sometimes I just draw without purpose and hope that something of value sneaks in.

I'm looking at lot of painters for inspiration. I hope to channel them into my work, but I really end up confirming my own abilities and limitations.

Saluki tattoos, everybody's going to want one.

Some sketches of Shay. I used the reference photo on the postcard that announced the 2011 Saluki calendar. At this time, I don't plan on including any photographs in the finished calendar.

I'm trying for something dream-like.

I have this wonderful picture of Tux taken while he was lure coursing. He spotted me lying low trying to get a good shot, and came to a sudden stop. The intense look in his eyes is my goal for this painting.

This is the photo of Shay that I'm using for the cover. We've been experimenting with Susan fake throwing Shay's favorite frisbee toy this way and that way just to get her to leap and twist about. There are more pictures of these wonderful "poses" on my Saluki tumblr site:

topofthefoodchain.tumblr.com

Another drawing for the cover. I used Illustrator for the line work and Photoshop for a quick stab at color.

I'm starting to work in earnest on my Saluki Calendar for 2011. Normally I'm pretty secretive about my work, sketches, bum ideas that go nowhere and all of that. However, inspired by friends and desiring to cast off my hermit habits I'm going to post lots of stuff that will show the calendar in progress.

I guess I won't worry too openly about being able to pull it off. I'll just press ahead to the finish.

To start, here is an idea for the cover.

No, I'm not posting anything in order.

Just reacquainting myself with old scenes.

That isn't a dog in the box.

I found this picture somewhere on the web. It reminds me of my own youth and it is a perfectly illustrates the viewpoint I want for my book.

I recently took all of the pages that I have been creating for the final graphic novel of noburbs and was blown away to find the page count numbering over 300. I'm pleased and intimidated at the same time. 300 pages and I'm still not finished with my page layouts. They I will need to go back over the entire book and start editing, elaborating and finishing the art.

I hope I don't die before the book is finished!

Earlier in the story, Eliot got drunk, danced wildly until he threw-up on the shoes of a really big teenager.

He is locked into an animal pen.

This page picks up Eliot's story after a long section focusing on Rudy.

This page follows the one from the previous post.  It seems like all

I've been working on is silent comics, lots of pantomime.  It is a real 

pleasure to start filling some word balloons, especially from 

these crazy girls. 

After making themselves comfortable in the clearing,

the girls decide to compose a letter to an object of desire.

Jon suggested that she suck on a strand of hair.

The sudden appearance of two mysterious girls

saves Rudy from a certain beating.

He is to be their Little Mushroom.

The girl is asleep.

The boyfriend is offering her.

Rudy is spellbound.

It is so beautiful. It is so far away, 

but it is moving closer and his hand 

at the end of his lengthening arm 

moves further from his body, 

closer to the object.

Rudy's attention is not his to give. It is taken forcefully from him.

Eliot's terror builds and builds.

No one can hear him.

No one wants to know he is there.

The mass

rages and tumbles

towards Eliot

Always at every party

someone gets on 

someone else's nerves.

That's what has happened 

here.  Accidental bodily 

contact is dealt with 

intentional bodily contact.

Drunk, but he doesn't know it.

Eliot is stunned 

for a moment 

by the revelry 

in front of him.

Unglued

This character's name is Eliot. 

These days I spell it with one L.

In older issues I used two L's.

In later issues I'll sneak in an extra T.

Don't let your readership get too comfortable.

The fire,
the beer,
the drugs,
the mayhem.

Burn!

Eliot gets into the spirit of things. He joins the teenagers who are tearing apart the old shack for kindling. With a roaring charge, he parts the kids who stand hypnotized by the fire and flings a hunk of wood into the fire.

Here's a sketch of that establishes for the first time the party that Eliot has joined. The shack is being torn apart to fuel the fire. The music coming from the tape deck inspires a frenzy of dancing. Eliot is kept from falling into the fire by a teenager.

This poster was made for Crossroads Band in Seattle. After creating a dull poster made up of studied portraits of the members, I was encouraged to stretch a bit further and this is the result. The word bubbles contain the musical influences on the band.

Crossroads info at:
Crossroads Band

Also for Seattle blues news:
Jet City Blues

Rudy takes the lit cigarette from the teenager.

The teen has tucked his shirt into the waistband of his cut-offs.

Eliot watches in horror as Rudy inhales, holds the smoke and exhales. He didn't cough. He's smoked before.

Now he sees that he is the only child here. Children don't smoke. They don't follow teenagers deep into the woods to party.

Back from Seattle.

Listening to Sonny Rollins.

In the studio.

The teenagers are arriving at the hillside park. The only way up the hill is through the hole in the fence. They bring beer, drugs.