test fish

okay - just a little experiment with photoshop. the top fish is a sketch done on paper with a red pencil and micron pen. the bottom fish is a digital painting that i did on top of the sketch. obviously i have a lot to learn about photoshop but i'm pretty pleased with my first attempt.

rockin' the saltwater

a guy i know who fishes the big pacific blue told me about rockfish and afterwards, i couldn't resist taking a stab at one just for fun. as with most of my drawings, this one started off as a pencil sketch and i finished it off with prismacolor markers and micron pens. saltwater fish have a kind of scary otherworldly character about them and this made-up rocky is no different. of course, after making it, i just had to give it to the guy.

not if i see you first

it's been a long year on the fishbone but it ain't over, yet. ol' man winter still hasn't shown his beard and a few of the birches are hanging on to a few yellow-brownish leaves. somewhere out there in the deep duff of rotting leaves and pine needles, maybe under the low bow of a spruce, a ruffed grouse settles in for the evening. invisible and sacred. alone and at one.

red pike

i'm thinking about changing fishbone lake to red pike ©. been thinking about for a while but haven't pulled the trigger. maybe red pike will become a sub-brand of fishbone. yeah, that's it. all i had to do was talk about and the solution presents itself.

what came before, i see

just not feeling the fishbone vibe this grey sputtering sunday so i'm sitting around looking for inspiration and, typical of me, i spend some time looking backwards to old photos and classical illustration. then i took a snap of myself to see what i look like in this state of mind and in the background i see the past - an old sharpie drawing (actually a photocopy of an old sharpie drawing) - that i've always liked. i wish i could remember drawing it, what it felt like, because it's a freehand sketch that just happened. an emotional response to an idea that seemed to compose itself on the page. the original is gone now. lost in the shuffle. but i do remember giving it a name. i called it 'tears of joy'

60's fish badge

couldn't sleep last night so i got up, cleaned the kitchen (someone has to), made some delicious vanilla yogurt coffee cake, and while that was baking, watched the movie, Pirate Radio. about halfway through i picked up the ipad and started goofing around. this is what i came up with. i think i like it but i also think i need to get some sleep.

young mike plies the depths

mighty mike as a youngster. he looks like a toothy puppy here. maybe a little too friendly. i'm trying out some new pencils and i've been looking at a lot of animation artist sketches. working on my perspective and scale. obviously i have a long ways to go.