Snow

A little late, but here are the follow up snow pictures. We ended up getting much more snow than these pictures reflect. They were taken on December 21, 2008, at that time we had about 7 inches here at Lucia Falls. We ended up getting about 19 inches total. This was the most snowfall in December ever in our area. It was truly beautiful. It's all melting now, which is okay, because it really does put everything at a stand still, since we so rarely get snow accumulation on the valley floor. Out here where I live we're used to snow, but not this much. Everyone is going back to work now, and things are returning to normal.

These pictures were taken with an Canon Powershot A460 which I borrowed from Angela. My apologies for the size of the animated gif, it's 2 meg. I couldn't make the physical size any smaller, as that would have made it impossible to see what was going on. If people are having issues playing it, I'll seperate the frames into 3 different animated gifs, that should help. Let me know. -- Ryan

Snowstorm

These pictures were taken on my birthday December 17th, 2008. It snowed all day, and as snowed every day since. I'll try to get some more pictures taken and posted this weekend. We're supposed to get another big storm tomorrow.

Silverlight Animation

This animated gif is created from the vector art I created for Jeff Paries book on Silverlight2. If you recall, I posted my pencil sketch for this back in July. Here it is again below:


I've already been informed that monkeys do indeed have tails, and I have added a tail in the pencil test, but haven't had time to do so in the vector art version. While this animation is not perfect, Jeff tells me it is the first character animation, and walk cycle done in Silverlight, and that he's already had people asking him about it. To which he replies, "Buy my book! It's all in there."

Silverlight 2 Animation (Foundation) Released

Here's some good news: Silverlight 2 Animation (Foundation) has been released! It is now for sale on Amazon.

I created the vector graphics used in the projects inside the book(No, I did not create the cover image). It was a challenging project, as I don't have as much experience with vector graphics, and hadn't worked in Illustrator that much. But it was also a fun project, and I got to create some cool stuff while learning a whole lot.

Silverlight is a very powerful tool, a useful alternative to Flash for creating digital media for the web.

I don't have cover credit, but my name and url are inside, and I'm hoping it will generate some more freelance work. Especially since I've already spent the money from this job!

Wall Street Lemmings

Wall Street Lemmings have been wreaking havoc again. I had this idea a week or two ago, but didn't sketch it out. I have very little spare time anymore, but I made time to draw this one. They've (WSL) ruined the retirement plans of so many people. Personally, I'm never going to retire. I've known that for years. One of the fringe benefits of being an artist is you never make enough money to retire. 8 )

As for me, I'm going to concentrate on storing up treasures in heaven. Try and lighten up folks, it's only money. Enjoy your life.

Pencil Sketch

This is a cathedral window in Paris, France. No, it is not at Notre Dame. It was a smaller cathederal, on a very narrow side street, and I didn't get the name of it. I had been working on it off and on since my trip in 2000. I don't know that it will ever get finished. I will get back to France, I can guarantee that.

A friend of mine (Kathleen Rietz) recently devoted a whole new blog to sketching in her moleskine book. Kate is at least as busy as I am, if not more so. When I learned of her new blog, this lead to blog posting guilt syndrome, a very real and serious affliction. So I decided to share this sketch with you. Enjoy. Have a great day everyone.

New York City Day 3

Today was a very good day. The Yankees won! Yaaaaay!

We also had a very successful morning trip to Riverside Park. Karen wanted to go see one of the locations from a favorite movie of hers, You've Got Mail. Below is a picture of me in the park, they had a baseball diamond there too.


Then we went to midtown for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in the world, The Blue Smoke:


That's right. Awesome bbq ribs in Manhattan.

Sunset at the Stadium:


Me at the Stadium, the Yanks have won, the night is over. We're saying our goodbyes. I have many fond memories of the Stadium, with friends, and my sister Karen.


I'll post links to the quicktime movies I shot next week, when Karen brings me a cd with the files.

Game one

As promised here are a couple pictures from the game last night. I yelled my voice out in the first inning, when Jeter broke Lou Gherig's all time hit record of 1269. The crowd gave Jeter a long standing ovation, it was terrific. Giambi hit a solo home run his first time up. Unfortunately, the Yankees lost the game. Still, we had a wonderful night at the grand old stadium.


Sitting in front of us was a family of four, one of the little boys new EVERYTHING about baseball, and was lecturing his little brother about the rules of the game. It was very cute, and they provided many laughs throughout the game.

And finally here is a snap of the 4 train ride home. I'll try to post the qt movie Kari took, it does a better job of showing how packed the train was.

NYC Day 2, surviving Central Park

Here is Karen in Central Park!

Okay so we spent 2 hours this morning after breakfast looking for an Aveda Spa, which, if I'm not mistaken, can be found in each and every major city in the world, including the two cities Karen and I live in. We spent most of this 2 hours walking on Broadway, when we should have been walking on WEST Broadway.

Yes. WEST. BROAD. WAY.

Why they felt the need to name two streets the same, I will never know.

We did however FINALLY get to Aveda Spa, only to find out that it was closed until the afternoon due to training courses.

Right. SO... we Gugenhiemed. 8 )


Then we ate lunch, then we went and stood near the Brooklyn Bridge, but didn't get to go on a cruise to see the waterfalls because... wait for it... waaaaait... the cruise times have been cut in half because of complaints from the neighbors. No kidding. Apparently the hordes of tourists were trampling things(small children, flowers, etc). So, we missed one of the main things we wanted to see.

HOWEVER... tonight we will see history made, when Derek Jeter becomes the all time Yankee hits leader, passing none other than Henry "Lou" Gherig. Pics from the game posted tonight, or tomorrow morning.

P.S. I'll post pix and video from the game tonight tomorrow.

NYC

New York... Newww Yorrrrk!! Dah-dah-dah dah dah...

Greetings from the Big Apple. My sister Karen and I are in New York for our last visit to The House That Ruth Built. Tonight we are watching the game in on tv our luxurious hotel room at the Millenium Hilton, right across the street from the World Trade Center. Tomorrow night, and Wednesday night we'll be at the games, cheering on the Yankees.

Let's go Yankees!!

Mount Saint Helens 2008

Last weekend was the annual climb up Mt. St. Helens for my hiking buddies and I. It's not a technical climb, it's just a long steep hike. The current elevation on the mountain is 8,365 feet. I only made it half way up this year, as I'm still recovering from an injury I sustained last year while training to climb Mt. Adams, which is just to the east of St. Helens. It was a beautiful day for the hike, and I was very happy to be able to hike again, the road to recovery has been a long one, my faith in God and the support of friends and family have gotten me through it.

You can just pick me out amongst the rocks here, Jeff took this one from above as the others continued on to the summit. To my illustration friends: I took my sketch book along and after I hiked back down to my Jeep, I spent the rest of the day working while waiting for the others to come back down. I really did get a lot done that day.

Team Fire Newt

Hi everyone! I've been insanely busy the last few weeks, but in a great way. I've had lots of freelance work, for which I am very grateful. Unfortunately I can't show my work on my blog. I thought I'd share this little side project with you to make up for being absent so long. I scratched it out before work yesterday, and colorized it last night.

Angela and Stan comprise Team Fire Newt, in the Great Chili Cook Off at church this week. I drew up these fire newts for their table placard which each entrant must display so everyone knows who to vote for. Stan is a welder, and Angela is a nurse, hence the costumes for the newts.

Weekend Excursion

My buddy Matt and I went on a long drive up in the woods last weekend. We took the road from Chelatchie Prairie over to the Wind River, going up and over Old Man Pass in the process. It's some of the most beautiful country in the world, in my opinion. Matt is a good guy to have along on such a trip, as he is aces with a camera, and knows every kind of tree there is, and points them out as you go along. He's like a walking talking PBS special.


We saw these twin fawns, and their mother on the way up the pass. They didn't mind us at all, and let us get about 10 feet from them before getting skittish.


Here I am standing by the Jeep.


Here's a waterfall we found. I believe that's Puny Creek, but I'm not 100% sure.

We both had a great time, it was a nice escape from our busy lives back home.

August 8th, 2008 Illustration Friday

"Munching Canadians always made Myron's stomach feel poofy, but he just couldn't resist them."

In just under the deadline for this weeks topic "Poof!".

*Gruesome disclaimer:
Let me say up front, I have nothing against our fine neighbors to the north. I think Canadians are terrific, and have a really nice nation.

This piece is the result of a rather gruesome inside joke. A friend asked me about all the feet washing up on the shore of Vancouver. Appalled, I said I'd never heard anything about it. Turns out the story she had read referred to Vancouver B.C. and the Pacific Ocean, not Vancouver, Washington and the Columbia River, the town where I grew up. So, being the wise acre that I am, I drew this cartoon, and said it was probably a chubby shark, eating everything but the low-fat-content feet of Canadians.

August 1, 2008 Illustration Friday

The cops were calling it an industrial accident. But after going over the books at Uncle Maury's Institutional Grade Tuna, I knew that Maury's fishing fleet had recently expanded into new fishing waters. It was a turf, or surf war. I had a feeling a new gang was in town, and that is why Maury had gotten canned.

The topic this week was "canned".

Matman!!

Another one of my pals from work is mild mannered Zach. One day Zach was cleaning all the door mats. Being the terrific friend that I am, I followed along behind him singing "Na-na-na-na nah... MATMAN!" I think they really just keep me around there to keep the morale up.

The Randinator

One of my many friends at my day job at HP is Randy. Today over lunch Scott and I decided that Randy's night job was that of professional wrestler. His nickname is The Randinator. He has a ferocious demeanor, and his trademark move is "The Tape Gun", where by he wraps his opponents up in the ropes, and then launches them across the ring shouting "AIR MAIL!!!!" Yeah. Sometimes we get carried away at lunchtime.

July 25, 2008 Illustration Friday "Enough"

"I'd had enough. They'd killed my partner. They'd kidnapped my girl. But this... this was the last straw, they'd smashed Ma's cookie jar."

The topic this week is "Enough". I thought about having a smashed chair, and kitchen table in the scene, but it just looked too cluttered. Let me know what you think.

July 18, 2008 Illustration Friday

Delwin had a foggy feeling that morning. Aaaaahhh love. Amore. We've all been there before. I don't remember how I got there, but I'm going back again.

The topic for Illustration Friday this week is "Foggy".

Award Winning Blog

Hey Everybody! Well, it seems I have been twice chosen to receive the Brillante Weblog Premio Award! Thanks to Alicia Padron, and May Y.C. for bestowing this honor on me. I came to know these two terrific artists very well during the 21 Day Challenge, but have followed their blogs for a while. Be sure to check out their work.

The rules of accepting are as follows:
1) Put the logo on your blog(link to image is here).
2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on yours.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

My list of nominees is as follows: Andi Butler, Kathleen Rietz, Flora, Candice Trew Camling, Ms. Froggie, and Paola De Gaudio.

I chose these blogs based on the quality of the artwork, and how frequently the artists post. These are the blogs I visit when I want to be amazed. Enjoy thier work, I sure do.

July 11, 2008 Illustration Friday

Translation: "Gee, these grapes are sour."

The topic this week was "Sour".

Click here to see an animated gif version.

Monkey Walking

Here is my monkey. Click on the image to see him walk.

I think I'll draw a jungle scene for the background. What do you think?

** UPDATE ** Jungle background added. I noticed the motion is a little jumpy until it gets all the frames loaded, so please be patient. I think it's because of the increased information in each frame. And, now I'm thinking it really should be in color, I mean, it just makes sense. So, if I get some time this weekend...

July 4th, 2008 Illustration Friday Fierce

They never give up, nor surrender to fatigue
These the boys, of the Babe Ruth Little League
Shorter than his bat
Weighing slightly more than his helmet
There was never a hitter quite as fierce
Standing at the plate, was Little Timmy Pierce
As ball left hand
Tension crackled in the stands
His bat did twitch and with a mighty swing
Lil' Timmy had hit the tar out of that pitch.

The topic today, was "Fierce." I drew this whilst listening to a game yesterday. I was working on it when Jim Thome hit a big two run homer in the 8th to seal the win for the White Sox. Big Jim is a fierce hitter indeed, so I wrote my little verse, and decided to use it for Illustration Friday.

Yoyo hoard

Double post!! This was my other idea for Illustration Friday this week. I owe this concept, a hoard of yoyo-putians, to Kate. I really wanted to finish the color on this one, but haven't had time this week.

Illustration Friday

Howard happily herded hoards of heifers, hour after hour.

The topic this week was "Hoard", which I stretched to include "Hoards".

Hopskotch

Here is another entry in my "draw verbs not nouns" project. Today's verb is "jumping".

June 20, 2008 Illustration Friday

The Illustration Friday topic this week is "Punchline"


Get it? Get it?! See, the kids they're all in a line... and he punched them!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Well, I thought it was funny.

Learning

Hi everyone! Today's verb topic is "Learning":


Okay, the kid on the top is coloring, instead of learning. That sketch probably a little autobiographical. Just about every paper I ever turned in had doodles in the margin. Something about that little strip of paper to the left, broken up by the 3 holes, it was a creative wonderland that constantly beckoned to me. I really enjoyed taking notes in class, doodle-doodle... scribble some notes on the lecture... doodle doodle... this probably explains why I had trouble concentrating in meetings as an adult.

June 6, 2008 Illustration Friday

The Illustration Friday theme for this week is "Baby":



"All Roger knew, was that his little brother was going to get it, when they got home. The big baby."

Orphan Works Act

For those of you who know already, here is a link to current information on the battle against the Orphan Works Act. And for those of you who don't know, go, and FIND OUT! This must be stopped. These are some of the guys working to stop it:
owoh.org

June 1, 2008

Welcome to June everyone. June. I can't believe how quickly time passes these days, and yet there's never enough time to get everything done. Strange. Here are a couple animated gifs for you:


I used a dip pen and ink to create these. I hope you enjoy them. They are externally linked, because for some reason animated gifs don't work on Blogger.com.

May 30, 2008

This drawing was done whilst I spent some time with my friends' kid. He would suggest subject matter, and I would draw it for him. It went something like this:
"What if... there was a alligator."
"Okay... an alligator."
"Yeah."
* scribble-scribble *
"Yeah. I like that. Giant alligator."
"Okay, let's make him a giant. How bout if he's eating a car?"
"Yeah, I like that. Rar. RAAAAAR!!!"
5 minutes later...
" ...RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!!!"
"Okay, what else?"
"Pummah mounans."
"What?"
"PUM-MAH MOU-NANS." Said with emphasis, to aid my stupidity.
"Huh."
"Purple Mountains." Translation provided by parent. It seems purple mountains majesty was in some song the kiddies were singing in pre-school. Anywho, it went on like that. We drew a screaming family inside the car, but then decided they looked to scared, so we wished them out of the car to Candy Cane Island...

May 29th, 2008

Here's another illustrated verb for you folks:

The verb of the day on the 28th was Eating. This happy lil' gator has himself a sammich. I'm thinking... ham and cheese.

May 27, 2008

I've continued with my theme from the 21 Days Creative Challenge, of illustrating verbs. I drew this on the 27th of May, my verb was "Diving. This little guy is doing a cannonball:


SPLOOSH!!

May 30, 2008 Illustration Friday

The topic this week is Worry.


Meet Mr. and Mrs. Worrywart. Frank has heavy bags under his eyes because he gets very little sleep, due to excessive worry. He wears high-water pants in case there is a flood; and he's working on an ulcer. Vera is almost housebound, venturing out only for groceries and the mail. Today we see them cautiously making their way from the bedroom to the kitchen for breakfast. Anything could happen you know, anything at all.