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.

diving deep

i couldn't resist the moleskin notebook at the bookstore the other day. of course i sat down right away and drew in mighty mike diving deep in the cold waters of fishbone lake. i imagine that he saw an opening in the ice and curiosity pulled him up out his winter languor to stare at the sky for a few moments. soon it will be spring.

the flying dishrag

that's how my dad referred to the mighty woodcock. it was because of the haphazard way the bird seemed to fly. this is a tiny bird so secretive and skittish that you probably won't see one until the sun has set and the last glow of the sky is bleeding into the shadows of the pines. then the woodcock pops off the duff like it's been shot out of a small canon, quickly reaching minimal altitude, and flies like a ball of maniac feathers only to disappear into the darkness of the night. this drawing is based on sketches made by one of my favorite wildlife artists, David Maas.

lightbulb

ever notice how some folks can easily and continually entertain themselves?

zombie fish

mosquito

it's winter and the bugs are gone but i can't help thinking about the little blood suckers that annoy me so much during warm summer nights. maybe it is the plethora of vampire movies and books and graphic novels and merchandise that inundate the periphery of my world. maybe it is all the miniaturized electronics humming and buzzing their signals through the ether. i don't know. i have a niece who studies the little bastards way down in louisiana - which is very interesting - and so it seems appropriate to give mosquitos the fishbone treatment...serves them right.

ol' vector the injector

mz. bludschnozzle

pre-history

if there is such a thing.

a sketch from the sketchbook of early fish, when fishbone had a definite emphasis on "bone"and the murky past of evolution seemed to dictate that every living thing was heavily armored and voracious. this guy, drawn from my own psycho-memory, patrols the primordial river during the day and slithers up the muddy banks at night and howls at the moon.

the far end of fishbone lake

at the far end of fishbone lake there's an inlet that is magical to see on warm fall days when the sun is shining and sky is full of white clouds. it is also an odd place to visit because the forest seems to crowd against the calm water like a gigantic dragon crouching for a drink and the changing colors of the trees last unusually long before the winter. it is a place that holds you close to the beating heart of the northern woods.

at the far end, there is only one way out, the way you came in. for if you enter the forest here, you are swallowed up and forgotten. never to return.

how it works

to be honest, i don't know how it starts and i'm always surprised how it turns out. there are times i wish it made perfect sense but most of the time i'm glad it doesn't. what i do know is that fishbone lake is a part of who i am, a place that my imagination takes me, the place that i really want to get back to when i'm away. i can't explain it but i guess you know what i'm talking about.

hiding in plain site

it is way into the fall on the fishbone but that doesn't mean that small fry can take it easy. a little shade. a little camouflage. and always check your six. that's the way you survive into the next season.  you can feel change in air, see it on the trees, and smell the crisp, earthy crumble of leaves piling on the forest floor. in no time at all autumn will be nothing but a memory.

monster

as if the world isn't scary enough, we celebrate those things that go bump in the night - or in this case, kersplash in the dark.

distant recall

for whatever reason it felt good to post some old work so i thought i'd show just a few more and be done with it.

myth of religion

in a way, these images represent some aspect of my life, or at least what i was thinking about during that time, but it's almost like looking at some one else's work.

low note

...and yet, i'm part of it. like looking at a old photo and reminding myself that i was there and then, trying to recall the moment.

death

i think i was trying to make sense of the world and in the process create my own mythology.

garden god

whew! i feel better already.

way back when

coming home

i haven't posted in a while...no excuse except that i've been preoccupied with other matters and have not been dedicating the necessary time to visiting fishbone lake. this morning, with coffee in hand and a quiet day unfolding, i started going through some old work - i mean really old work that i can't even remember drawing. here's a taste....

dialog

kind of weird stuff, huh?

bad batch

i think i drew these with a pilot razor point...

me & lucky no. 13

and yes, i used sign my drawings with the name, armou. but that's a whole 'nother story.

spell checker

one more for the road...

way finder

beneath the surface they lie

a while back i made this little drawing because i was thinking about how some people behave like sharks in the sense that their humanity and predatory instincts are mashed together into a smiling, self-serving, mystical creature.

lately i've been thinking that these same people are completely aware that their behavior is destructive and ruthless; they just don't have a problem with it.