Great design!

Thanx

and even further back to the '60s....50s....it's great Tom!!

Whoops, there I go.... But look at your great comment. They WERE good times!!! Thanks, John

I was just jealous. Those were the days!,,,and history and nostalgia are a big part of the site...especially when done as well as you do it!

You are very kind (as usual)..Many thanx

Quite welcome. Nothing wrong with 'kickin' it old school!" I can attest first hand! Thank goodness I have these 'smiley' dudes to help me communicate (can't see crap) (forgot what I was gonna say) :'D (need to trim ear hair) (lost a tooth) (drooling) (fell asleep) (became constantly impertinent) (or pertently incontinent)

you're a great story-teller, John. I wouldn't believe a word from you... You DON'T need help from smileys, your command of words is very impressive and all your comments have been a joy to read. Long may your communications continue

Whatcha mean chief? Always the pure, nearly unvarnished truth. Well...truer than some of the breathless quotes that go by. Words is me main stock & trade - I always had to hire those with real skills (like yourself) to do this art stuff. I'm glad & flattered that you enjoy...I try to be brief... and look what happens.

As always, great to hear from you. But we'd better not get into what "real skills" are. From here it looks like a mutual admiration society. Seems O.K. by me. So lets hope we can continue to enjoy each others work. Always good to hear from you

thnx a lot Tom...very kind of you to say so...and I had something to say about "real skills" and "mutual admiration societies" in "Mr. Natural" panels 1-5 ...I laughed myself silly but it went largely unappreciated!

It's not that it's unappreciated, but I must admit I didn't laugh . You gave me lots of food for thought. And made me feel guilty for feeding my ego through this site. Many thanx, John, you have given me lots to think about.

Well...'shucks' and 'gol darn'....I was going strictly for laughs and meant to cast no aspersions (well, maybe a couple), at any rate you would certainly seem to be one of the last (far behind me) in need of any 'correction' whatsoever.

I hear what you say, John, but it really is a bit of an ego trip, when ALL the comments are so flattering. Sometimes my work certainly doesn't merit the breathless comments , though if I am aware of that then that's one of the great imposters I can handle And I don't think for one moment that we are the only ones to see this Maybe you were the only one who said it ( through Mr. Natural) And long may you continue to say it as you see it

We are all guilty then aren't we? Some will be forever in denial, some will remain convinced of their infallibility, some will always gush mindlessly in hopes of reading the same kind of praise against their own 'masterpieces.' There will be varying degrees of honesty and some few will reach Nirvana and be completely without ego....but those probably won't be posting to 'stars.' I have a pet theory that even the dullest have a sense they can't express of what is right and true and as you say, many, many know exactly what's up! At any rate, we'll be very quick to forgive our on line friends for stretching the truth in our favor, we'll still consider it all good fun and besides, those grand compliments may be deserved...like the man said, "Everything is beautiful. in its own way."

Hi John, Sorry about the delay in replying..I have an excuse!! But loved your latest "words"! I really loved some of your phrases.. "gush mindlessly" was a favourite. But I'm sure you are on the ball when you reckon not many "stars" members will reach Nirvana. So guess you are right that all's well so long as we know it's all just fun. As usual I agree with what you say just can't express it as well As to that excuse , been in hospital for a while, am out none the wiser, still awaiting test results!! All the best for now

Hey Tom, Heartfelt best wishes for a clean bill of health & a small bill from the doc! Here, if it's more than a hangnail, we have to buy them a sailboat! 'May you staaaaay forever young!"

Hi John, many thanks for your good wishes. Still awaiting results!! With our Health Service here, mostly it's free, if you can live long enough. OR you can get the best treatment and speedily, but as you know, it's sailboat time Must say you hit a nerve with forever young.There was a documentary about a choir in your part of the world. All senior citizens. It was 1st Class. I actually saw the programme before I heard Dillon sing. Ithas meant a lot to me (& my wife) I think your mention was more than coincidence :swe at:Thanks for the thought & the words ( I've printed them out) Talk to you again Tom

Hey Tom, When a friend fell ill, I met the chief of surgery at Duke. Light shone out of her eyes and the whole profession advanced mightily in my estimation. It was the first smart doctor I had ever met. Here's hoping again that you get one of the good ones and sail through it all... and you will... you have people pulling for you around the world! Duke fields a pretty good basketball team and there is heavy rivalry among 4 large schools in the area in all sports. So, I did a 30x40" get well card for my friend - they came from all over the hospital to see it - a charging mummy with a 10" caption - "BEAT DUKE!" & she did. Get well soon. Best wishes from one of your stateside buds...John

Hi John, Many, many thanx for this missive, As I have noted before, you have a way with words! These latest ones certainly cheered me up a lot, and do you know the best part? Having a stateside bud. Thanx John

Welcome. Thanks. Good. Yes & likewise I'm sure. There! I CAN be brief. Need better manners tho'. We still depend on the Mother Country for training in civili(s)ation!

Can't say I ever noticed any lack of manners But then again , I've never discussed computer generated artwork with you So perhaps we'll skip that one and keep our correspondence as civilized as possible)

I try to reserve my contempt for the contemptible... like my own fledgling attempts to learn how to do that stuff!

I'm just ole fashioned...Love the mess, water, paint, pencil shavings, Must be from my 1st. childhood

yeah, I love the smell of turpentine in the morning too - I'd love to have a studio that could be splattered to my heart's content and 12' canvasses could be viewed from a distance and clean-up was optional - I keep living my various childhoods with almost all the traditional tools and got inspired by the really accomplished digital practitioners on this site - only a year ago - to try and learn some digital art too

Over the years, I have had many places to produce my "artwork".. But usually the kitchen table) I've just finished a pastel and now that mess has to be cleared before I start any other type of stuff. Lucky though, at present, I have the use of a (very) small bedroom. I really know NOTHING about digital art, BUT, I have seen some stuff on site, that is just a photo scanned, then a button pressed. There are obviously choices of buttons, marked... Make photo look like Pencil or oil or pastel etc., etc. And I do think that is a shame.. But then I know I'm a grumpy old man!!

I love my studio! My girl and I live there so the rest of the house stays clean and when people see it, they accept 'messy' as 'artistic.' For business purposes, I wish I could do saleable digital art. (It's far far from some of the simple stuff we see here) but, I think you have to have a tablet.' Check out my old friend and former co-worker Chuck Primeau on-line. He is a master of everything from oil paint to colored pencils to digital art. He has monthly contracts with Disney, Hasbro, National Geographic (children's) and others. He doesn't have to scan a photo (and would be legally constrained from doing so). He simply chooses the method that gives the best results. In short, for sale in business is one thing, representing yourself as capable of achieving that of which you are INcapable is quite another. I just saw your pastel you're cleaning up after. It's great! Too bad about Peter Falk. He's a classic!

I am definately getting behind with my contacts with you. I wish my typing wasn't such a chore Idid check out Chuck's site What can I say, left me really speechless! Makes me feel like we are not doing the same thing!!Still as we're always learning I console myself. Isn't sad about P.Falk? He was so proud of Columbo

Isn't he good! I hired him as a 'junior' art director and he quickly progressed to a sort of staff illustrator. He did 'pointillist' colored pencil drawings (at first)...they were typically 20' X 30" & looked like Ektachromes! He told me (and I saw) that he began with the lightest yellows and beiges and built up the color until - in the end - black was not needed!! It IS sad about Falk. And that idea (Columbo) was one of the best 'schticks" TV ever had!

What amazes me is that Chuck (who is obviously brilliant) can be so cosistant. In comparison , my work is way down there yet sometimes it's reasonable, and at others it just goes to pot. But I think I'm doing the same thing.. Guess what Mr.Primeau shows is just pure professionalism. If you can't reach the standard every time you cannot be depended on. Glad I do it for pleasure

Well THAT's the difference! At least for me. I bear down considerably when it's a paying job. BUT...I also enjoy dashing out a quick sketch...and, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Chuck's quickies were also beautiful, like little master drawings wasted on a television storyboard. I sometimes would rather see those and think more of them as 'art' than I do of the labored, 8 to 10 to 50 hour (!!) pencil 'masterpiece' which is after all - only a supreme copy of a photo. Yikes!! Heresy!!

I try to avoid commissions, the pressure (self inflicted) usually guarantees inferior work. When it's for pleasure , it usually just flows. Your last comment strikes a chord . I am not really an artist ( don't tell anyone) I have little imagination, but I do a mean copy if the photo is suitable

Commissions practically guarantee inferior work! (The client WILL have input-- or else the drawing will be of his family. I avoid those like the plague! I have often wondered, about many works here, what if we took away rthe reference photo, would there still be drawing? Would it be good? But not about YOURS! I've seen many examples in your work of artistic treatments that made the outcome better, with a life and vitality than no original photo could have achieved.

You are very,very,very kind But honestly, I would be lost without a photo. AND I do like top class photos!!!I once ( God help me) presented a commission of a dog to the owner and I sensed he was not happy with it. I showed him the reference photo for comparison. "yes" he said " It's just like the photo, but that day when we took the photo he just wasn't himself" Footnote: we couldn't get a photo of the dog more himself as he was dead! Must be a moral there about "Don't try to draw dead dogs!"

CONSISTANT,consistant,consistant

Thank you

Thanx Lise

Thanx, jeanette

awesome where did u find these pictures of elvis?

Thanx These were poster designs I did many moons ago. At that time Elvis photos were a dime a dozen How things change...There is now a new King