Guest Artist #3: Sunflower: Abstract Art

The third in our series of guest artists, this drawing comes to you from Gary's 5-year-old daughter, who we will call Sunflower. She loves to draw, color, and hang up her artwork all around the house. This drawing was created in pencil on plain white paper.

Guest Artist: Wolverine: "Jimmy"

Our second guest artist is Wolverine, Gary's 9-year-old son, who enjoys learning how to draw comic book characters and describes this drawing as "sweet". It is a drawing of Jimmy Neutron.

Guest Artist: Hot Rod: "Horror"

Introducing our first ever guest artist on Gary's Greetings: Hot Rod, Gary's 7-year-old son, who drew this self-described "awesome" monster. Our young artist describes his artwork as a monster who should scare you out of your socks. He hopes that you love it.

Sword Fighters

This is one of my favorite drawings. I drew this when I was 14 years old (pencil on sketchpad paper). I've always enjoyed this style of drawing: no color, simple, pencil and shading. I've learned a few new shading techniques since I drew this, and I like to see how my drawing has progressed. I like to re-draw things I've already drawn, just to see if I can draw them better. Maybe I'll draw this one again.

--Gary

*Note: this drawing was too large to scan, so the image is a photo of the 24" x 18" drawing.

Hobbes and Susie

Gary modified this popular picture from the cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes, which originally has the tiger Hobbes curled up with the little boy, Calvin. Gary changed the child to the little girl, Susie, when he drew this picture for me.

Facelift

As you can see, Gary's Greetings is currently in the midst of a facelift, and not all page elements have been added back in yet. Please check back periodically, as the blog will be updated as soon as possible. Thanks!

T-Rex

Gary drew this T-Rex dinosaur for his youngest son, who loves dinosaurs. This T-Rex was created in pencil on plain white paper (and was a hit with the young critics!)

Jail Brute

This cartoon drawing of a jail brute breaking through a wall on his way back from the showers was drawn by Gary with pencil on plain white paper.

Recycled Teenager Cartoon

This cartoon mocking the aging process was drawn by Gary in pencil on plain white paper.

True Love Hearts and Roses

After drawing a similiar design of roses and hearts on an envelope for a letter to me (his girlfriend), Gary drew this larger design with hearts and roses that can be personalized for a card or even shaped into a tattoo design. It is a pencil drawing on ivory paper.

"Gangsta" Cobra

Gary had an interesting special request to draw a "gangsta" cobra, complete with huge, muscular arms and brass knuckles. After getting past the fact that cobras don't actually have arms, and after we laughed about what exactly a gangsta cobra looks like, Gary created this draft, which seemed to be exactly what the recipient had in mind.

Batman

This drawing of Batman was created for Gary's second oldest son. Gary drew this in pencil on plain white paper.

Memorial Cross

Gary drew this memorial cross to honor his mother, Clemaree.

Skeleton with Sword

Gary created this shrouded skeleton holding two swords in pencil on plain white paper.

The Hulk

Gary drew the Incredible Hulk with pencil on plain white paper.

Hercules

Gary's oldest son asked that this drawing be added to this blog, so without further ado, here it is! This a rendition of Gary's son, as Hercules, that Gary drew at the bottom of a letter to his son. It was drawn in pen on lined notebook paper, hence the lines that run across his body and his sword.

Warrior on Flying Eagle

Here is a drawing Gary created for his oldest son, of a warrior riding on a flying eagle. This drawing was made in pencil on plain white paper.

Sword with Banner #3

The third of a series of design drafts, this sword pierces two hearts that contain the names (instead of all text being on banners, like in Sword #1 and Sword #2). Gary noted that the skull at the top of the sword can be replaced with something else or simply eliminated, if skulls are not your taste!

Sword with Banner #2

This is the second version of the sword with banner. Since the banner is wider on this design, Gary decided to not let the lettering drop from the banner as they did in sword #1.

Sword with Banner #1

As an alternative to styles like the roses with the names and date on a banner, Gary drew this sword with the names and a date on a banner that wraps around the sword. Again, our names were used for this illustration, but this drawing could be personalized with your name and your special date, be it a wedding date, first date, birth date, etc.

This is #1 of 3 sword designs that Gary drew. Numbers 2 and 3 coming soon!

Skull with Fangs

This skull with fangs is a rough draft Gary drew as a starting point for a tattoo design.

Tiger

Gary drew this tiger for his oldest son, in pencil on white paper.

Roses with Name and Date Banners

Gary drew these roses with banners for our names and a date for me (his girlfriend). Attempts to blur out or screen the names or the date ruined the shading within the banners, so I chose to leave them intact. Now seems like a good time, then, to introduce myself! My name is Mary Jo, and I am updating Gary's blog until he is home to work on it himself.

I added the pale pink background during the image editing process, to help the shading stand out better. Gary drew this in pencil on plain white paper.

From the Sketchbook: Faces

This is a page from Gary's sketchbook, rough drafts of some more sinister drawings (just in time for Halloween!) The skull face is a potential tattoo design. The howling, tormented face has some "fans" who say they don't like to look at it!

Father and Son, Fishing

Gary's youngest son requested a drawing of him and his daddy fishing, so Gary drew this humorous picture of a son out-fishing his father just for him.

Skull with Snake

Gary sketched this skull with a snake wrapped around it as a tattoo design. It was created in pencil on white paper.

Wolverine

Gary created this drawing of Wolverine in pencil on plain white paper. One of his sons is a fan of Wolverine, and this (and many other renditions of Wolverine) was designed just for him.

Bloodstrike

Bloodstrike, a Image comics character, is captured here by Gary in pencil on white paper.

Butterfly Tattoo

Gary drew this butterfly as the first draft of a tattoo design for his girlfriend, who loves butterflies. Watch here for updated drafts and the final version, which will of course include color, probably shades of blue and purple. Again, the odd lines on this image are unfortunately from the image being photocopied and scanned.

Monster Truck

This monster truck was also drawn for one of Gary's children, with pencil on plain white paper. The color was added with the image editing software to obscure the personalization on the truck and tailgate, so the coloring oddities are not part of the original drawing!

Cowboy "Saddle Up" Card

Gary drew this card with rope lettering spelling out "Saddle up, Quick Draw" for one of his sons. (This was scanned from a photocopy, so I apologize for the grainy image and the letters being cut off. The original had already been delivered to a special little boy who loves his own cowboy dress-up playset!)

Batwoman Pencil Drawing

Gary created this version of Batwoman with pencil on white paper. He drew this figure with his daughters in mind, wanting to create a strong female character.

Wizard Pencil Drawing

Gary drew this wizard and creature with pencil on plain white paper.

Quick-Draw Cowboy Drawing

This cowboy was drawn with pencil on plain white paper.

Dragon Drawing

This drawing was done in pencil on plain white paper. Gary drew this for one of his children, who are among his biggest fans!

Warrior on Battle Cat Card

Gary drew this card for his oldest son, who is 9 years old and loves tigers. This piece was scanned from a photocopy, so I apologize for the fuzziness and the wayward line down the middle! This drawing is pencil on plain white paper.

Under Construction!

We are pleased to announce the creation of Gary's Greetings, entirely hand-drawn and hand-created greeting cards and other artwork. This site is brand new and will be undergoing a lot of changes, so keep an eye on it for updates and new features!