Lonesome Loser

This guy is pretty cool. The entire time I was working on this I had the song 'Lonesome Loser' running through my head. Once I find some blendable color pencils I might try this one again in color.

Still Here

Yes, I am still here. It's been so long since I have posted anything that there is a 3 inch layer of dust on my blog page. I guess the creative juices just haven't been flowing. I get like that from time to time. I'll go for a long time with out the urge to draw anything and if I try to make myself it will turn out looking like I tried to draw it on the back of a run away rhino during an earthquake. Hopefully I will be able to come up with something soon. In the meantime, though, I have 4 of the coolest guest artists that you will ever find ready to jump in and take up my slack. So without any ado here they are:

Our first artist has graced this blog before with wonderful pictures such as Jimmy, Destructo, Moto BMX, Impala, Deadpool, and was the star of "Happy Birthday, Big Man!!!!".

Here he has drawn us his own character creation named War Hawk. He said that he got the idea from DC Comic's Hawk Man. I think he did an excellent job on this. He has actually came up with his own hero universe. I have seen his characters and they are very good. He puts a lot of time and thought into each of them. He gives them their own names, list of powers and weaknesses and whether they are a hero or a villain. He has even started drawing his characters in comic book form where a certain hero has a story line and villain or villains to defeat. I love to see his drawings. I love the fact that we share a passion for comic books and of all things heroic. We can sit a talk about it for hours. He recently informed me that he loves to read my blog. He said that he really enjoyed looking at it and that he spends a lot of time here, so because of that I will try to make at least one new post every month. Just so he will have something new to look at. Thank you, Big Man for letting me unveil your newest hero here. I hope you will always love to create the way you do now. Just so long as you DON'T DO IT DURING SCHOOL!!!

Our next artist has also made his own guest appearances on my blog. He has given us the wonderful, thrilling drawings of Horror, General Grievous, Wolf Man & 2nd Hulk, and was the star of "One Fast Hotrod!!!".

This drawing is of a phoenix bursting into flames and trying to fly away, but it is chained downed. He said he got the idea from a particular video game. I really like it. I like his use of colors here. He has always had an uninhibited imagination. He can take his mind anywhere. From shark invested waters to the depths of outer space if there is an adventure to have, he can do it. I like to watch him as he plays with his little action figures. How he matches them up, not concerned with what people say their powers are, just making it up as he goes along. I think that is so cool. So thank you Hot Rod for letting me show this picture to the world. I'm sure they will love it as much as I do.

The next person on our list is also a repeat guest artist. She has graced us with some of her earlier abstract art seen here on Guest Artist #3 and is the star of "My Little Dumplin". She shows us now her more fashionable side.

She received a fashion designer kit for Christmas and has been putting it to good use. As you can see she has created a wonderful ensemble that will undoubtedly rock the fashion world at the next big show in Paris. Everything is color coordinated and matched just perfectly. I love sitting with her while she creates her next outrageous design. She takes the time to look through all of her patterns and comes up with the best outfit imaginable. Whether she 'Just Woke Up', or is 'Going to the Pool', or even 'Going to the Prom' She is sure to put all the right pieces together to make a one of a kind perfect look. Way to go Dumplin and thank you for letting me walk your master piece down this blog's catwalk.

This will be our next artist's first contribution to the blog although she is the star of 'My Little Squirt".

This picture, which she affectionately named 'Kitty Cats Playing with Me" Was given to me on Saturday afternoon just before a stimulating game of 'Let's See Where We Can Bruise Daddy Next". It is fun to watch her color and draw. She sits there and hums a little tune or sings a little song or even makes up a story about what ever she decided to draw at the time. I also think its important to mention that she is very well rounded in her creativity. Not only is she very good at using colored pencils, which you see here, but she is also a master of crayons and finger paints as well. Well Little Squirt, I hope you like you blog depute, and I thank you for yet another beautiful picture.

My Little Squirt

Well it took forever, but I finally got it done. This is the last one, our little caboose. I have never had a picture so hard to draw before in my life, but it was worth it. I think it turned out pretty good. I will get the final and absolute opinion today when my little ones arrive and Squirt sees her picture. Then and only then will I know if it is worthy of her Highness.

I'm not sure what to say about our little relationship. I know it started out rocky at best. I wasn't allowed to be there when she was born, I was told she wasn't mine, and then she was taken over an hour away from me at the most impressionable time of her life. She never had the chance to know me like her brothers and sister did. That whole coming home at the end of the day and having me scoop her up and get some well deserved tummy sugar. Or having me walk into her class room and pick her up from daycare. I have missed her first words, her first steps, almost all of her 'firsts'.

I suppose we could dwell on that and have what time we do spend together to become uncomfortable and misused, but we don't. We have decided to take each other and hold on tight for every second we have. I love her with every beat of my heart and I make sure she knows it. I will never forget the time she was just sitting outside, playing in the dirt and looked up at me with a big, beautiful smile. I asked her what she was smiling about and she jumped up, ran into my arms and said, " I was thinking about how much I love you, Daddy." then went right back to her dirt moving. I thought my heart was going to explode right out of my chest. My head had filled so much with pride that I thought I wouldn't get it through the door. Yes sir, she has me wrapped, and she knows it. Of course, there was also the time when we were playing and I stopped and said, "I love you, Squirt." to which she simply replied, "I love me too." Ah yes, the witty things she says.

I am so thankful for all 4 of my children. I can't say that I love one more than I love then others. They are all so dear to my heart. But the fact that me and the Little Squirt are so happy together after all of the barriers we had in our way just feels so special.

I love you Squirt. I am so proud to have you as my daughter. I hope that one day I can return the favor and make you as proud to have me as your father.

Art School

I was watching t.v. the other night and just happen to see a commercial for an at home art school. It offered this test to rate your skills. I remember seeing this exact same test when I was a kid. It was in a 'Cartoons' magazine. I took the test then and mailed it in. I received a call about a month and half late and the person on the other end of the line said that I had potential. All I had to do was send him $300.00 for art supplies and the study guides. Being only 11 years old at the time, there was no way for me to do that. My parents would have gladly found a way to get the money for me, but they had to work too hard for the money they earned and I never felt comfortable asking them for it.

I'll send this off and see what they have to say. They say that there is a chance that I could receive a scholarship if it's good enough. I haven't done any research in this company so I have no clue if it's real or not but I have nothing else to do so I'll get it a try. I'm going to mail it off today and I'll let you know how it turns out.

Now I have to get back to the portrait of my youngest child. I'm sure that if I don't get it finished shortly she will give me a sound fist shaking followed by a good finger snapping.

Valentine's Day Cards

I finally finished the V-day cards I was making for the kids. I know they are late, but I had to do the Sponge Bod card twice because I messed up the first one. I hope you like them.

These are just the fronts of the card. I don't want to show the inside of the cards until the kids have seen them. As soon as they have them I will post the insides of the cards. I usually don't color any of my pictures, but I figured, since these were suppose to be cards and this blog is called "Gary's Greetings', I should color something. Hopefully the kids will like them.

Hotrod's New Artwork

Today we have a guest artist. My son 'Hotrod' (who has been previewed here before) has come back to grace us with yet another masterpiece.

He has drawn a character has made up called "2nd Hulk". And his 2nd drawing is of a redefined version of the Wolfman. According to Hotrod, 2nd Hulk is the strongest creature on earth. He is actually half gorilla. Wolfman is the king of the wolves. He is actually "kind of" stronger than the 2nd Hulk. These two are "the baddest enemies ever". Hotrod says that when these two fight they make giant holes in the ground. If one was to body slam the other, it wouldn't be pretty.

I like his interpretation of these two characters. I love his imagination and his originality. I hope he keeps getting better and better with his drawing.

Now I know that there is a little girl out there who is wondering where her picture is. I am going to finish it soon, I promise. I am making Valentine's Day cards for everyone and as soon as I am done with those, I will finish your portrait.

Hero or Zero

Today at the park I ran into a guy I know. I guess you could say we're firends. I know him to be a decent and caring person that will give you the shirt off of his back. I didn't get his permission to use his name in this post so we will call him 'Cheech'. That was his nickname when I first met him. I had ran askew of the law a while back and that's where we met. We worked in the laundry together and I learned very quickly why he was there. You see, Cheech loves to smoke the refer. Weed, Ganja, Maui Wowie, Pot, Marijuana, you know the stuff. He would talk about it all the time. To ANYBODY. He would talk openly about it to the guards, who would confess to him that they smoke it. I always thought that was a little bit weird but I digress.

He sat down and joined the rest of our little group. As we talked, Cheech explained to me that he was getting ready to head back to jail for the 7th time. He violated his probation (AGAIN) when he failed the court ordered drug test. He says that he will not go a day without his bud. In his own words, "I will not NOT smoke it". He believes that it his constitutional right to smoke it and 'To Hell' with anyone that says different. He believes that it should be legalized all around the world and sold in packs of ten in every drug and convenience store in America.

Now I know that Cheech is not the only person in the world that thinks this way. I know that this has been an on going argument for some time now. I am neither for nor against it. I choose not to use drugs. That is my choice and I stand by it, but who am I to pass judgement on someone that does? My only issue is, that right now, marijuana is an illegal substance. There is no getting around that. It's the law. And no matter how many times you get arrested for it, it's still the law.

Cheech says that every time he goes before a judge he tells them how he believes that marijuana should be legalized. He lets the court know that if the U.S. government would just legalize pot it would cure all of our countries ills. New jobs would be opened up and unemployment would go down. The crime rate would drop because of the fact that marijuana would be so accessible that no one would need to commit a crime to get it. Because our government would most definitely levy a tax on the sale of marijuana, money would just come pouring in and The United States would be the richest country in the world.

Maybe he's right, I don't know. But I don't think he is going to get his point across while standing in front of a county judge as a repeat offender. I don't think that some judge is going to look down from his or her bench and say, "You know what Mr. Cheech? You are right. To hell with the law. It should be legalized. WE were wrong all along and now you are free to go". So, my question is: After being arrested 7 times and spending most of your adult life behind bars, when do you stop being an activist and start being an idiot? Cheech is 54 years old, and out of those 54 years he has spent 32 of them either in jail or prison. He has two sons and both of them are in jail right now. One will get out NEXT August, the other is scheduled to start a 5 year prison term on the next bus run. Both of them were arrested for possession of a controlled substance. So, he's passed this on to his children.

When I tried to explain to him that maybe he is going about things the wrong way, he told me that he was in the same league as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and even Abraham Lincoln. He says that they were enemies of the state once too. They were considered to be traitors and criminals, just like him. As far as Cheech is concerned, he is a hero. He then took the time to explain to me that there are some very 'important' and 'famous' people that are proponents of the legalization of marijuana. I did some research and He was right. Here is a link to a list of the 15 Greatest Proponents of Marijuana Legalization. Check it out, you might be surprised who's on this list.

I wanted to talk with him a little more about the fact that the people he mentioned didn't go around getting arrested every few months just to get their point across, but Cheech pulled a 'smoke' from his pocket and fired it up. I decided it was time for me to go. Besides, I promised SC I would vacuum the house today and that seemed to be my cue. As I gathered my things and got ready to leave, I showed him this picture that I had actually done while we were locked up. He said that it was perfect and it fit him to a T. "You should frame it", he said. I shook his hand and wished him the best of luck and left.