My wife teaches biology at MIT, but in her spare time knows her way around a set of colored pencils. I always say she’s a much better artist than I am a scientist, and the proof is in this X-mas card she made for me.
This drawing commemorates the time my cat Zoidberg was working on a painting of Macho Man Randy Savage, and I came along and stepped all over it, then ran around the house yelling and making a mess like the greased-up def guy on Family Guy. It is based on a true story.
Here is the X-mas card I made for my wife this year:
As usual, my card to my wife needed to include a primate. It is becoming difficult to figure out news ways to include them, but I like this one. I like the idea that instead of elves, Santa just has a team of monkeys slaving in his workshop. There are details I would have liked to include but just ran out of time before X-mas. Next December, this will be the card I print and make available for the public to purchase, and around that time, I’ll go back in and finish it. In case it isn’t obvious, this is a digital painting. I hope ‘all like it.
After a year and a half of doing nothing but digital paintings, I thought it was finally time to once again pick up a real paint brush and get my hands dirty. Here’s a painting I did for my friend Jeff. It’ a portrait of Macho Man Randy Savage.
I can’t take all the credit for this. My cat Zoidberg made a contribution with some paw prints, and it was my wife who suggested that Macho Man should be holding something. I figured a Teddy Bear was a perfect fit. I didn’t know Macho Man in person, but I doubt he hated Teddy Bears.
I have awesome musician friends in a band called Underwoman and the believers. Currently, they are climbing up the rankings in a contest that could land them recording studio time with a Grammy Award-winning producer. Basically, this stage of the competition involves straight-up social media hits on pretty much all the major outlets, and even some older ones you may not realize exist. Anyway, check out this beautiful song. Then, go to as many of the following links and like or follow or whatever the specifics call for. Thanks, y’all! We artists have to stick together.
LIKE:
1. Underwoman and the Believers on Facebook
FOLLOW:
3. https://twitter.com/
4. https://soundcloud.com/
5. https://vimeo.com/
FRIEND:
6. http://www.myspace.com/
You guys are awesome, thanks in advance for voting n’ stuff!
I’d like to introduce two new Holiday Cards which are now available at Donkeyshines- Scary Monkey and Devil Kitten:
The cards are sold in packs of 10, along with 10 envelopes for the low, low price of $12.99. Even better, you can get a FREE 10-pack of randomly assorted holiday cards with all Donkeyshines orders over $30! The assortment will be made from all 4 of the Donkeyshines holiday cards: Monkey Snowman, Santa Witch, Scary Monkey, and Devil Kitten. There is no coupon code necessary, and no additional steps or special notification needs to be provided at the time of purchase. Just place your order, and the cards will be included for free with the rest of your swag. You’ll still be able to use any other coupon codes you might have for the order itself, however, the order total still needs to exceed $30 after the coupon is applied in order to qualify for the free stuff. This offer is good through 12/24/12, while supplies last. The cards are also for sale on their own, and if I run out, I won’t print more until next year. Happy Holidays from Donkeyshines!
In 2003, my good childhood friend Jeremy passed away at the age of 25 due to complications with a brain tumor. He was one of the nicest, most selfless people we knew. Recently, his brother Jim contacted me and asked if I would help him with a project. He had found an old drawing Jeremy had done, and was wondering if I could arrange to have t-shirts made from the design.
He wanted to donate all profits to the New York State Chapter of the Advocacy Resource Center, where Jeremy used to work. The Arc has been helping individuals with disabilities since 1950. I told Jim that I would be delighted help remember Jeremy, as well as raise money for such a good cause. I decided to set up merchandise in my Donkeyshines Jr. store, where I could sell the design on many different products, including apparel for men, women and children, as well as accessories, such as canvas bags and iphone cases. If you have a moment, check out the site:
Here is this year’s b-day card to my wife. As usual, it features a primate. He is running a marathon on rollerskates, sporting the same number that my wife will be wearing this November when she runs the New York Marathon.
I was really bummed that I didn’t get as much time as I would have liked to work on this. I wanted there to be spectators with signs, as well as other runners in the composition. Also, I think the monkey could be cuter. Anyway, I was busy drawing caricatures of all the personal trainers at my gym. It was a fun project, but I wish I had more time for other stuff. Anyway, this b-day card was done quickly, so I guess that means I am getting a bit faster. I suppose I better get started on the X-mas card now if I want it to be any good, though. I can probably only dedicate 5-10 hours per week to art these days, now that I’m starting to get more personal trainer clients.
Thanks to Kickstarter, and some wonderful backers who supported the project, I am pleased to announce that the Poison Dart Frog T-Shirts have been printed and are now available at Donkeyshines at the rock-bottom price of $16.99!
Hurray for new t-shirts!
It took me all summer, but I finally finished my latest digital painting:
I know that Wimpy doesn’t sound like Edward G. Robinson, but that’s the voice I imagine him to have when I look at this painting. “Those burgers are mine, see! Let go of ’em, or else it’s curtains for ya!” And if Wimpy is Edward G. Robinson, then it’s fun to imagine Peter Lorre as The Hamburglar. “You stupid fat man! I may have brought a knife to a gun fight, but I doubt you even know how to use that thing!” Whoever wins this dual, I think it’s safe to say that sometimes crime DOES pay.
I’m pretty happy with how the gun came out. Drawing mechanical objects and props isn’t my specialty, but I think I pulled it off OK this time.
Cool Hand Luke is one of those movies that everyone is supposed to have seen, with quotable dialogue and memorable scenes. Isn’t it? I was under the impression it was in the same league as On the Waterfront or The Godfather, or at least other Paul Newman movies such as Butch Cascade and the Sunshine Boy. I saw it for the first time last night, and I have to say I just don’t get it.
Spoiler alert: In Cool Hand Luke, nothing happens. At all. Paul Newman barely even talks, it’s basically just him mugging for the camera. In fact, at the end of the movie, there’s actually a Paul Newman smile montage in which they string together moments from earlier in the film where Newman is smiling. It would have made a good commercial for Newman’s Own salad dressing. I kept waiting for some kind of story to develop, but instead, it’s just scene after scene of sweaty, sun-burned convicts toiling out on the road. The monotony is finally broken when Newman brags about his ability to eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in an hour, then proceeds to do so. The back of the Netflix sleeve mentions that Newman is trapped in a hellish prison, but to me, it seemed no worse than summer camp. The prisoners got three squares a day, plenty of exercise, and were allowed to hang out on the weekends playing banjo and singing songs on the porch. This prison also seemed to be conveniently free of anal rape. It’s obvious from the singing-in-the-shower scene that any sex between inmates would have been consensual, and that dropping the soap would be a flirtation, not a dangerous mistake. You could tell how fond of each other these boys were by the manner in which they settled their differences. Instead of just shanking each other in the back, one inmate would challenge the other to a boxing match. The next day, the two fellas would square off out in the yard and smack each other around until one of them gave up or said “uncle” or what have you. Did I mention they would wear boxing gloves? This is because the slightest bit of bruising was too much for these hardened criminals to bear. Once the gentlemanly bought had concluded, the conflict would be completely resolved and the two men could go back to spooning. Note: In this context, “spooning” meant helping out your fellow inmate by spooning up some of his excess rice and eating it for him so he wouldn’t get in trouble for not cleaning his plate. You see, one of the punishments for trying to escape was that you were forced to eat twice as much rice as everyone else was eating. Another punishment for trying to escape was they made you dig a hole, then fill it back in. Of course on your third attempt to escape, they just shot you in the neck, which is what happens to Paul Newman. I said “spoiler alert” before, right? Yeah, Paul Newman gets shot in the neck. Soon after this is when they role that smile montage I mentioned, as the other prisoners reflect on what a swell guy Paul was. If anything happened after the montage, I can’t even remember. I think it was just the credits, though, and they came not a moment too soon. Cool Hand Luke feels like an extremely long movie. It takes 2 hours of your life to sit through it from beginning to end. Eating 100 hard-boiled eggs would be a better use of your time.
