Congratulations Dr. S!!

This weekend it was my honor to attend my good friend's veterinary school graduation and hooding ceremony.  How else to to congratulate a newly minted veterinarian but with Snoopy and School House Rock (the four-legged zoo of course).  Congratulations Dr. S, you earned it!!   

                  Tombow Dual Brush markers on 140 lbs watercolor paper 6x8

Black and white version

                                                        Test Snoopy

I was not sure how the Tombow brush pens would react to the watercolor paper, so I needed to do a crash test Snoopy.  The "tie-dye" effect was kinda cool.

More Envelope Art with School House Rock

With the passing of Bob Dorough, the musical director of School House Rock, last week, several radio stations asked their listeners to describe their favorite song.  I did not remember "Unpack Your Adjectives" until I looked up video on youtube.  My favorite verse is:

We hiked along without care.

Then we ran into a bear.

He was a hairy bear,

He was a scary bear,

We beat a hasty retreat from his lair.

And described him with adjectives!

What is your favorite School House Rock song?

             Pen, brush & ink plus Tombow Dual Brush Markers on 80 lbs no 6 envelope

Ink only version

Envelopes and Letters

Even though I had not posted anything until late March, I was still doing stuff, just not blog stuff.  Mostly, I was working on my calligraphy by writing letters to friends, trying to stay in touch using a more tactile medium.  And then decorating the envelopes with an illustration or cartoon. The cartoons would be Calvin & Hobbes, Winnie the Pooh, or the Peanuts gang.  Depending on the illustration, I would use either be pen and ink, or some type of watwercolor-esque medium like below. 

Below is a Calvin and Hobbes before I write the name and address on the envelope (I scanned the envelope before I added a few more branches for detail).  These guys are a big, big favorite of mine.

                      Pen & ink and watercolor on 70lbs Sundance envelope

Just the pen and ink.