Throwback Thursday #16 – Carrot & Ruf Tribute to Charles Schultz & Peanuts

Carrot & Ruf Tribute to Charles Schultz & Peanuts, fine liner and marker, 2000

Of all the different influences that led to developing my characters, Carrot and Ruf, Snoopy, from Peanuts, was one of the greatest. Charles Schultz, like most every cartoonist, was one of my greatest role models. The whole world mourned his death in 2000, but I imagine cartoonists everywhere grieved the most. This particular tribute was drawn for and submitted to some entertainment website called Tibby’s Bowl which published all the submissions on their site. This was kind of a big deal in 2000, when I was just 21, way before MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Throwback Thursday #15 – Self Portrait in Tooth & Nail Hat

Self Portrait in Tooth & Nail Hat, pencil, 1999

In 1999 I was 20 and I drew this as an assignment in my Basic Drawing class my first year of college. I remember being complimented by my art teacher in high school my freshman year that I knew to put shading on a one of our first drawing assignments. It seems I didn’t progress a whole lot since then. This drawing is heavy on outlines to define the form and very light on shadows. I think I did well capturing my likeness, but I needed to start experimenting with darker pencils, heavier shading and more confident lines.

Throwback Thursday #14 – Abstract + Hand Drawing

Abstract + Hand Drawing, color pencil, pen and pencil, 1998

In 1998 I was 19 and I honestly can’t remember if this drawing was from the end of high school or the beginning of college. This means I also can’t remember what the assignment was. This is an early attempt by me to marry an abstract “doodle” type pattern with a realistic drawing.

Throwback Thursday #13 – Porsche with Mortal Logo

“Porsche with Mortal Logo”, pencil, 1997

In 1997, I was 18 and continuing in Mr. Peck’s art classes at Moffat County High School in Craig, Colorado. For this weekly sketch assignment, I can’t remember if we were or assigned to draw a car or if I just chose to. I was trying to incorporate something, even slightly, Christian into each of my sketches. For this one, I put the logo of one of my favorite Christian bands on the door. The logo is for the band Mortal, one of the first and best Christian industrial bands.