Doodles From DeGrand Land

dudes got guts

2011-12-11T11:36:00.001-06:00

Well, if there's anyone that still follows this blog, I sincerely apologize for the lack of posts! Here are three recent drawings. I'm gonna try and update more often, I promise!

Drawing Dump!

2011-09-18T11:50:00.001-05:00

Man I hadn't realized what a neglectful blogger I'd been lately, shame on me! Here's some drawings I've drawed. This one's gross.

This one's weird and gross.

Same here.

And this one is just plain gross. Thanks to anyone that still comes by this dusty old place!

Idiot City

2011-06-26T19:20:00.001-05:00

Fleshtris

2011-06-01T12:32:00.004-05:00

When anthropomorphism goes horribly wrong.

Muscle Man

2011-05-24T16:52:00.004-05:00

Inspired by that really freaky Bodies Exhibit that's been touring the world.

new Heeby Jeeby comic!

2011-05-19T15:16:00.011-05:00

Here's the first page of my latest comic for Heeby Jeeby Comix! Go there to see how this madcap adventure unfolds.

Heeby Jeeby at MoCCA!

2011-04-06T18:10:00.003-05:00

My fellow Heeby Jeeby cohorts Bob Flynn and Dan Moynihan are hitting the Big Apple this weekend (April 9-10) at MoCCA! This will be the official debut of the second issue of Heeby Jeeby Comix, so I don't really know what other reason you need to go!

Well here's one other reason, Bob will be selling some prints as well!

Happy Accident

2011-03-23T14:55:00.002-05:00

Ouch!

Brothers in Meat

2011-02-13T10:00:00.004-06:00

My latest bit of cartoonery. I think I saw this either in a nightmare, or hosting a show on E!.

Temple of Terror

2011-01-31T10:59:00.002-06:00

Horrifying!!

quite an odd critter

2011-01-07T11:07:00.002-06:00

Explanation here. A fun and strange project.

Meat Helmet

2011-01-02T17:13:00.001-06:00

more sketchbook insanity

2010-12-03T11:42:00.004-06:00

More pages from my Nightmare sketchbook, which I just mailed off for The Sketchbook Project. I realized after drawing these pages that pretty much anything I draw in my sketchbook can be seen as nightmare fodder.

Boss Battle

2010-11-24T13:53:00.003-06:00

A recent drawing inspired by playing a bunch of old Sega Genesis games. This would probably have been the worst, if not the weirdest, 16-bit game ever.

MonsterCade!

2010-10-27T10:49:00.009-05:00

I wanted to introduce the world to a silly creation by myself and my good bud and hilarious writer Kit Lively, MonsterCade! This was originally done as an animated series pitch for Nickelodeon, which they passed on, but we ended up having so much fun with these characters that we plan on incorporating them into some comics. So, in a nutshell, here is what MonsterCade is all about:

Introduction

Gilbert-the-Vampire, Barry-the-Werewolf, Clyde-the-Laboratory-Created-Monster and Floyd-the-Mummy are all residents of Professor Moistner’s Halfway House for Monsters. They all want to join the human world, but aren’t sure how to fit in. Gilbert, however, is impatient and has an idea: He dips into his enormous fortune and purchases the halfway house, turning it into an enormous, Chuck E. Cheese type, monster-themed, arcade fun-center, complete with video games, a bowling alley, laser-tag, a complete animatronic monster rock band and a pizza parlor! Instead of going out into society, they can bring society to them!

Characters

GILBERT (vampire) came to the halfway house to give up the monster lifestyle (and blood as well), although he’s now addicted to energy drinks. He is the owner and manager of Monstercade, and while that does make him the boss, he’s a laid back sort of fellow, and more of a friend than an employer to the other monsters. Also, he can fly around somewhat with the bat-wing ears on his head.

CLYDE (lab-created monster) was at the halfway house as a follow-up to his anger management course and has since taken up a pacifist and vegan lifestyle. Although bashful, he is good with kids and therefore works the arcade’s prize counter, where kids turn in their arcade tickets for fun trinkets.

FLOYD (mummy) wasn’t a resident of the halfway house, and, in fact, was simply accidentally unearthed when the construction workers were digging up the property to make way for the laser-tag court. He’s pretty much indifferent to the idea of monsters getting along with humans, but he needs a job and can’t imagine a day without a few games of Ms. Pac-Man and ingesting obscene amounts of cheese-covered pretzels. So, he’s on board.

BARRY (werewolf) is the former best friend of Stu (the brain-in-a-jar). In fact, he is the reason that Stu is in his current predicament! Barry works at the bowling alley, which is nowhere near the snack bar. He is sort of a goofball who doesn’t really think about what he’s doing until after he’s already done it.

PROFESSOR MOISTENER (mad scientist) is the former manager and owner of the halfway house, and despite his odd experiments and peculiar-smelling potions, he is a generally pleasant fellow to be around. His companions are an understandably grumpy brain-in-a-jar (named Stu) and a zombie dog, both of whom assist him in the running of the arcade’s snack bar--regardless of the fact that zombies and brains usually don’t mix well together.

ZOMBIE DOG was adopted by the MonsterCade gang after he began hanging around the vacant lot behind the dumpsters. Nobody is really sure how he became zombiefied, but they do know that the worm that lives inside him (occasionally appearing from his rear, making him look like a tail) has more personality than most of the regular customers.

Although you won't have the chance to see their crazy shenanigans on TV as was originally planned, keep an eye out for these guys to appear in some comic book adventures!

Nightmare time!

2010-10-15T01:05:00.004-05:00

Another page from my Nightmare! sketchbook. Pretty horrifying stuff, ain't it?

The Happy Bullets comic book

2010-09-24T12:47:00.004-05:00

Not too long ago I had the pleasure of working with the awesome comic book writer David Hopkins on this really fun project for the equally awesome local band The Happy Bullets. To promote their latest album, Hydropanic at the Natatorium, we created a very limited edition comic book with comics based on the song lyrics. Only 100 copies were printed, so I can only assume not every person on the planet was able to get a copy. But fear not! Here I have posted the cover art, as well as all the comics. These all make more sense in the context of the music, so go buy the album!

This one was fun, you turn the comic book around to read the panels. Hopkins is great with coming up with this kind of stuff.
This is my favorite song on the album, and the page that was the most fun to draw.

new Heeby Jeeby comic!

2010-09-10T01:54:00.003-05:00

To see what happens in this nail biting adventure, head on over to Heeby Jeeby Comix!

Sketchbook Project!

2010-08-31T14:43:00.004-05:00

Man, can't believe it's been over a month since my last post, sheesh! Been working on a ton of different projects, including this one! This sketchbook, along with thousands of others, will tour the country to different libraries, where people can check them out in person. Cool, huh? Each sketchbook has it's own theme, I chose "Nightmare" since it sounded like the most fun. A lot of my drawings are nightmare fuel anyway, so it seemed appropriate.
Scary, right?
I saw this guy at Wal-Mart.
Don't even TRY to sleep tonight people.
Ghost vomit, what more can be said really?
For pure nightmare inspiration, look no further than Bosch.
A few of these pages have designs for a project that I hope to reveal more about in the future.
Don't ask.
Nightmares for sure tonight I bet.
And that's JUST the first 10 pages! I plan to post the entire book on this blog, so those of you afraid of libraries can enjoy the horror in the comfort of your own home.

And remember, you have until September 12th to check out Seduction of the Idiots at the Canteen Gallery in Ottawa, so don't delay. Be sure and buy somethin', will ya!

Seduction of the Idiots!

2010-07-23T02:05:00.002-05:00

And now for something really cool! My pal and fellow Heeby Jeeby artist Bob Flynn and myself are curating a cartoon and comic art exhibition at the Canteen Art Shop & Gallery in Ottawa, Ontario. We have an amazing group of cartoonists that will be showing some of their work, everything from comic pages to doodles to paintings will be on display. The show opens on August 27th and runs until September 12th, so buy your plane tickets NOW people! And hopefully this poster that I drew and Bob helped me design doesn't give off too much radiation.

Warriors

2010-07-12T21:04:00.002-05:00

Even though I've been on vacation the past week I still can't seem to find the time to get any doodling done, so just for grins here's a watercolor I did for a gallery show a few years back. I think it was inspired by "Gladiator" or something. Look for a really cool announcement (hopefully) soon :)

The Joy of Toil

2010-06-23T12:47:00.003-05:00

This is my entry to the shirt.woot.com Devo contest. If you like it, and you have a woot.com account, then by all means go vote for it. Duty now for the future!

sketch madness

2010-06-07T17:17:00.004-05:00

Sheesh, has it really been over a month since I posted anything? Well, time to remedy that, here's a truckload of new doodles from my sketchbook. Hurray!

Bonus points to anyone that gets the rather obscure reference on the left.

We just planted a Lincoln tree in the backyard to scare away robbers. You may laugh, but I haven't seen one yet. Or our neighbors either for that matter.
Eighties glasses guy sure is in a good mood.
A bizarre attempt to draw something cute. I felt so sick afterwords I had to make the rest of the page extra disturbing.
In case anyone missed it, the first issue of Heeby Jeeby Comix is on sale here, go buy one!!! Once again, thanks to everyone that looks at my stupid crap!

nonsense

2010-04-28T10:18:00.003-05:00

A drawing for an upcoming art show. This was one of those drawings that I look at when it's finished and really wonder if something might be wrong with me.

Game Boy

2010-04-15T22:27:00.002-05:00

I found an old Nintendo Game Boy system at a flea market awhile back and bought it for $1. Today I found it and decided to create my own "cartoon" screen of my favorite game of all time. This is what happens when I have time off and nothing better to do.

doodles out tha wazzoo!!

2010-04-01T17:58:00.005-05:00

Well after quite the long absence my sketchbook is back! I've been working on more projects than I can even keep track of, but I still find time to doodle. These pages were mostly drawn either at work or waiting at the eye doctor, in case you were wondering.

latest Heeby Jeeby comic

2010-03-04T20:45:00.002-06:00

Here's my latest comic shenanigans for Heeby Jeeby Comix. It's a scathing comment on our modern society's reliance on technology, and the depths man will go to in order to remain in control of his own destiny.

Or you can see it as a silly little comic about an inventor and his robot.

The Happy Bullets

2010-02-23T16:17:00.004-06:00

I was recently asked by the awesome local comic book writer David Hopkins to collaborate with him on a comic book project with the equally awesome local indie band The Happy Bullets. We're creating an "illustrated companion pamphlet" for their upcoming album "Hydropanic at the Natatorium". Above is the wrap-around cover for the book, inside will be 6 pages of comics written by Mr. Hopkins and drawn by yours truly. The comics are all based on the bands song lyrics, so it will be completely different from anything I've done before. The book will be available in April to coincide with the release of the album, which from what I've heard so far is AWESOME! I'm hoping this will allow me a healthy dose of "indie cred", which seemed to be important when I was in college.

Elongated Alice

2010-02-13T21:42:00.003-06:00

I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in a really fun art show called "Two Days Slow: An Alice in Wonderland Group Show" at the Canteen Art Shop and Gallery in Ottawa. My friend and fellow Heeby Jeeby Comix artist Bob Flynn also contributed an incredible piece that must be seen to be believed.

My piece was inspired by a scene from the book where Alice eats a piece of a mushroom that causes her neck to grow really long. It gets so long that a bird in a tree thinks it's a snake. I wanted to incorporate some of the other bizarre characters as well, so I felt they should be spectators to this strange scene.

The show runs from March 4-28, so if you're wondering around Canada and want to check out some fun artwork, stop on in!

weird dudes with thick glasses

2010-02-03T08:43:00.002-06:00

Not sure why, but lately I've been drawing giant glasses on a lot of my characters. I suppose a good reason is really not necessary.

computer desk doodle

2010-01-24T17:45:00.002-06:00

My home computer is brain numbingly slow, so I doodle on a piece of scrap paper while I wait for programs to load. After a few days, it looks like this. I thought it was interesting and decided to post. Also, go check out my latest epic for Heeby Jeeby Comix. I think we all agree it's by far the most disgusting post yet.

latest sketchbook shenanigans

2010-01-11T10:24:00.003-06:00

For Christmas my awesome wife got me this gaming system that lets you play old 8 bit Nintendo games, so the poor sketchbook gets neglected once again, but here's the most recent page. The dude with the big neck likes football, I'm pretty sure.

Morning Commute

2009-12-29T16:37:00.002-06:00

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! Since I've been stuck at home sick all day I figured I would finish coloring this illo and throw it up on the blog. Hope everyone has a great New Year's, see ya in 2010!

another weird tree picture

2009-12-14T23:02:00.003-06:00

A recent watercolor. The sad thing is, I have a shirt just like this.

doodle dump

2009-12-09T10:37:00.002-06:00

Here are a couple of pages from my sketchbook, pages with robots and sweaty people. I like robots.

The weird machine thingy on the left page was inspired by Fletcher Hanks, with the title "In the presence of robot scientists" directly taken from a line of dialogue. Fletcher Hanks is still my current comic obsession, he was just so dang WEIRD!! Happy Holidays to all!

Statues and Trees

2009-11-30T09:01:00.003-06:00

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. After regaining consciousness from my pie induced coma I finished coloring this odd fellow above. What's the significance? I dunno, I think it's about the nature of conformity or something.

latest doodles

2009-11-15T14:11:00.002-06:00

More sketchbookery shenanigans. I recently bought the Fletcher Hanks collection "You Shall Die By Your Own Evil Creation" so the weird muscle dude on the right page was inspired by Stardust. That is seriously one twisted and awesome book, highly recommended! I also posted a new cartoon ever on the Heeby Jeeby blog, so go check it out NOW!!!! Thanks folks!

Robot!!

2009-11-09T11:04:00.002-06:00

A silly little painting I did for a recent commision. I haven't painted in quite a while so it was fun to get back into it.

Turkey From Hell

2009-11-01T11:07:00.003-06:00

I found this while going through some old drawings and felt it was appropriate for a post Halloween, pre Thanksgiving post. Apparently this is what happens when I get hold of an old cookbook and given a free afternoon. I also find the caption to be oddly fitting.

Heeby Jeeby Comix

2009-10-29T10:53:00.006-05:00

We interrupt this blog for an important announcement:

Introducing Heeby Jeeby Comix!! A FUN and EXCITING new art and comix blog from the minds of Chris Houghton, Bob Flynn, and myself. We'll be posting weird, funny, and possibly gross comix for all ages, a good time is promised for all! Here's my contribution for the first post:Be sure to check back for new material. Tell your friends, neighbors, and Barack Obama. Now back to your regularly scheduled doodles.

doodley doo!

2009-10-28T10:01:00.002-05:00

Howdy folks! I've been happily swamped with cartooning assignments and commisions the past few weeks, but sadly have let the blog go dormant yet again. But finally got around to scanning more sketchbook pages, huzzah!

The page on the left has character designs for my 24 Hour Comic I posted last, and the page on the right has designs for a character that will soon appear in something I can't discuss just yet. But soon!

The sweaty bearded dude on the left page is partially inspired by a cartoonist friend of mine. If he's reading this blog, he knows who he is. Hopefully everyone has an awesome Halloween, and look for a cool announcement soon!

24 Hour Comic

2009-10-05T20:47:00.005-05:00

This past weekend I participated in the 24 Hour Comic Book Day challenge. The goal is to simply create a 24 page comic book in 24 hours. I finished 12 pages before I thought I was going to either pass out or stab myself with my pigment liners. Keep in mind that the event took place in a comic shop, so a lot of time was eaten up by browsing. The comic I did finish is an homage to the brilliant Fleischer brothers and makes about as much sense as their cartoons. I gave myself 2 restraints just to make it even harder (a bad idea); I didn't plan out ANYTHING until I started drawing it, and I didn't use any dialogue. Against my better judgement, here are the results:
That $2 is a joke. It's worth is immeasurable.

My favorite page. It actually ended up on the local news (no joke).

Only God knows what the next 12 pages will hold, but rest assured if they ever get drawed, they won't make any sense either.

new sketchbook pages

2009-10-01T15:23:00.004-05:00

Well after disappearing for a whole month, my sketchbook returns to the internet (huzzah!). After working a 40-50 hour a week job, getting artwork done for various gallery shows and working on a tv show (more on that later), I've sadly neglected my poor lil' blog. Hopefully I can post more often on October, Halloween always gets me inspired to draw weird ghosts and monsters.

I started doodling with a mechanical pencil again and forgot how much fun it was, I love using the blending stump to add quick shading.

The fellow on the left page is proclaiming one of the things I hate to hear people say the most.

For some reason I scanned these pages in grayscale. Whatever.

The page on the left turned into a drawing I tried to get done for a gallery show but turned into one of those pieces that I couldn't belp but make more complex as I went along. Needless to say the finished drawing will be done by the time Obama leaves office.

Barfing cartoon characters, hilarious during any occasion.

My attempt at drawing some sort of Dick Tracy inspired gangster on the left. And then more weird stuff.

Well if I don't get anything else posted for ANOTHER month, everyone have a fun Halloween and don't forget to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", my absolute favorite holiday cartoon. Thanks for lookin' folks!

doodles & stuff

2009-09-01T09:57:00.005-05:00

Well after ANOTHER long delay I finally managed to fill up my latest sketchbook and start on another, I'm getting a sizeable collection at this point. I've also been busy with completing some drawings for 2 upcoming art shows I'm involved with, as well as a top secret project I can't really talk about just yet. All I'll say is that my obsession with Jim Henson has proved helpful ;0)

After watching the awesome "Inglourious Basterds" I was inspired to draw Hitler, who I think we can all agree already looks like a stupid cartoon character.

Not sure what my latest obsession with ghosts and robots is all about, but hey, I guess I'll just go with it! At least they're sweaty.

I decided to share a couple of pieces that will be featured in the previously mentioned art shows. These pieces were inspired by, well, not really sure to be honest. Let's just say they're bold statements about social class differences in our current economic climate.

I will be sure and post more info about the art shows shortly, both of these pieces are for sale so get the credit card ready! Bye for now, thanks folks!

latest cartoon idiocy

2009-07-22T11:15:00.003-05:00

Well well well, after quite a long break I finally got around to posting more sketchbook pages, sorry about the long hiatus! I bought one of those fancy pocket brush pens that the awesome Bob Flynn blogged about and have had a blast using it. Most of these new pages have drawings using this pen, some better than others as I tried to get used to it.

I guess when you want to yell but don't know what to yell, just yell YELL!

I just noticed that on the rare occasion I draw a happy character, the character looks insane. Whatever.

I seriously have no idea what that monstrosity os on the top left of the page, but it really weirds me out.

Once again, thanks to all the really cool folks that stop by my silly little corner of the internets, I promise to post more frequently! See ya!

ghost arcade

2009-07-01T14:32:00.003-05:00

Since I haven't really doodled much in my sketchbook lately I thought I would post this nonsenical finished drawing. I'll leave it up to you folks to tell me what it's about, since I have no clue.

latest stupidity

2009-06-10T09:30:00.004-05:00

I finally got off my lazy butt and got more doodles scanned in, can't believe it's been so long since I posted some drawings, this annoying thing called "life" keeps me busy. That being said, I'm never too busy to watch old Van Beuren cartoons and gain inspiration from them which is where the majority of these doodles came from.

Ghosts, robots, and Batman. I think we have a new tv series.

I've said it before and I still stand by it, Popeye is really tricky to draw. Segar is one of my favorite cartoonists so I can't help but take a crack at his characters every now and then. I then feel the need to surround them with my typical weirdness.

The guy on the bottom left was inspired by a creepy "To Catch a Predator" lookin' guy I saw at my favorite bookstore. He was of course browsing old comic books like I was.

Here we have an assortment of unpleasant faces. The face on the top left page was inspired by my favorite cartoon short of all time, the Fleischer's "Swing You Sinners".

A robot that shoots balls out of his head, still not sure why, but does it REALLY matter?

I must say the sun on the right page may be the closest thing to "cute" I can muster.

Lastly, I wanted to share this photo that was taken after one of the greatest experiences of my life (my wedding day counts slighty above this). I attended a live show called Cinematic Titanic which was performed by the original cast of my favorite tv show of all time, Mystery Science Theater 3000. After the show I got to meet everyone and they were all cool enough to sign my Tom Servo head. The picture is me with Joel Hodgson, the creator and star of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Cinematic Titanic. I really don't geek out over much these days, but I hold MST3K so dear to my heart that getting to meet the creator and star of the show was close to a religious experience for me. It would be like a Trekkie meeting Gene Roddenberry while winning the lottery at the same time. It was a blast and if anyone gets the chance to see them perform live then by all means GO GO GO!!! Thanks for lookin' folks!

my art space

2009-06-02T09:28:00.004-05:00

Well folks, I decided since it's been so long since my lost post I would share why it's taken me so long to unpack. My wife and I recently purchased our first house and so that has taken up all my drawing time. However, I finally have my art room/studio set up so I can start drawing again, and I thought it might be fun (and incredibly self indulgent) to share photos of where I create my stupid doodles and drawings. The first picture above is my framed poster from my favorite movie of all time, Ed Wood. I decided it would make sense to surround it with Batman, Corpse Bride, and Army of Darkness toys. My wife later told me this does not make sense, and she would be right.

Here is an assortment of various horror and cult movie figures, sense a trend yet?

Yes, I am nerdy enough to display all my old Game Boy systems (the best console of all time) with my Super Mario Bros. toy collection (the best video game of all time).

More cult movie stuff. It just doesn't end folks.

Some vintage flea market finds. The Chilly Willy soaky in the background is damn creepy staring out from the darkness.

More from the Mario shelf. On the top are some Dunny's and various other vinyl figures, and in the middle are all my Donatello figures, my favorite Ninja Turtle from childhood.

These have been my most prized possesions since the early 90's, original Ren and Stimpy drawings by Bob Camp who I got to meet when I first started trying to be a cartoonist. He has been a huge influence and inspiration for me ever since.

My framed Joel Hodgson autograph, an original Dave Cooper drawing and some doodles by John K. I have some more original art I want to put up but can't decide where to put it just yet, as you can see wall space is dwindling.

What art room would be complete without a buttload of books? And a My Pet Monster?

My collection of Peanuts toys, another huge influence from childhood.

Lastly, here is my collection of Muppet toys and figures. Words fail me when I try to describe my love for Jim Henson and his brain, so I will let these photos do the talking. More artwork to be posted soon, thanks for indulging me in this useless post!!

beards and bosch

2009-04-28T20:56:00.002-05:00

Sorry about the lack of updates once again, I've been working on some really cool and top secret projects that I hope I can share sometime soon. Until then, enjoy more sketchbook pages. More sweat and stubble, and body hair, yuck.

I really enjoy drawing ugly and weird people (big surprise, right?). The old guy on the top part of the right page was inspired by a particularly unpleasant fellow I saw giving someone hell at a grocery store.

On the left page I was inspired by some Hieronymus Bosch characters. Seriously, that guy had an imagination the likes of which this world has never seen before or since. I was also in the mood to draw weird facial hair on the right page, the handlebar moustache is a fashion trend I feel is far overdue in its return. Thanks for lookin' folks!

and we're back!

2009-04-01T14:14:00.002-05:00

Well, the wife and I are about 75% moved into the new house. Still have a lot to unpack (including the art table and all my drawing supplies), but I finally got the computer hooked up with internet, so I can bring you awesome folks some new stupid doodles!

Another collection of miserable sweating souls. Perhaps I am subconciously doodling the damned?

I was looking through some old book of Renaissance woodcuts and saw these dudes wearing these funky cone shaped hats. I really liked the look of them and started putting them on my weirdos. A new fashion trend will surely begin soon.

You folks just TRY and find another sketchblog with Batman and Gumby on the same spread!

If any artists out there are interested in doing an art trade with me, please e-mail me at mdaviddegrand@gmail.com to set up the details. I recently did one with the awesome Chris Houghton (check out the art we traded on his blog here:
http://chrishoughtonart.blogspot.com/2009/03/art-trade.html). Basically you'll get an original drawing of mine in exchange for one from you, cool huh? Hope to hear from some folks!

silly sketchbookery

2009-03-04T09:18:00.003-06:00

Well folks, this could be the last post for a while as my wife and I will be moving out of our tiny apartment and into our first house here in the next few weeks. I tried to cram as many drawings as possible into these pages so there will be plenty to look at in my absence.

My attempt at drawing donut head Homer on the bottom of the left page was a miserable failure, so I just stuck with the usual ugly sweaty people for the rest of the pages.

I promise that's not a KKK member on the left page, just an idiot in a conical hat. I swear!

I think this started as another exercise in how many different faces I could come up with and evolved into this monstrosity that will surely devour us all. And yes, I believe that is a Devo hat the fellow on the top of the right page is wearing.

And how about a little gore to finish! I really want to say thanks to all the cool people that regularly check out my blog and leave nice comments, you are all really great artists and it's been a pleasure exchanging words. Anyone that requested a sticker start looking in your mailbox as they are on their way! Hope to be back soon, now on to the boxes, ugh.

the sketchbook returns!

2009-02-17T10:48:00.003-06:00

Finally got around to scanning more doodles. Just more random crap from the depths of my brain, a scary place to visit I've been told.

The dude on the far right may be the most disturbing thing I've ever drawn, maybe.

Trees and trunks.

Something about Santa on a page with zombies makes me laugh.

Another Photoshoped drawing I did to experiment with color, I think this one turned out better than the last two.

And don't forget, if you want some free stickers please e-mail me at mdaviddegrand@gmail.com. They're FREE people!! Bye for now!

STUCK on you!

2009-02-05T11:53:00.004-06:00

Howdy folks! In my ongoing quest to plaster my name and idiot images onto every surface I can find, I offer my brand new DeGrandLand.com sticker! They are free for the asking, just drop me a line at mdaviddegrand@gmail.com with your shipping address (don't worry, I'm not a serial killer) and I'll get one out to you. If there are any other artists out there with stickers that want to trade then by all means let me know, I will plaster your image in the highest travelled area in Fort Worth, Texas (or wherever is most convenient at the time). I also have plenty of my old sticker left (below) that I will throw in as well, as long as you promise to stick it in an obnoxious place that will irritate at least one guy that wears a tie to work everyday!

a couple o' drawrings

2009-01-22T15:06:00.003-06:00

Here are a few ink drawings I scanned and threw some Photoshop color onto. I think these could make cool t-shirt designs perhaps. I'll probably tweak the colors more before calling these done, just wanted to post something different than the usual crowded sketchbook pages.

last pages and a new book!!

2009-01-14T11:54:00.008-06:00

This spread and the page below mark the very last pages of my old Moleskine sketchbook. I've been trying to branch out lately and draw things other than drippy trees and ugly people, but with this page I obviously failed. At least there's a cute cloud, that's a slight departure.

Charlie Brown is really tough to draw correctly, which I why I didn't even try and drew him in my own way. Take THAT Charles Schulz! More ugliness to close out this sketchbook, which leads us directly to....

The custom cover I did for my brand new sketchbook! I know, I know, more sweaty ugly people and the head of a cadaver. I guess I'll just stick to my own niche I've created for myself.

I'm determined to cover every square blank inch of this book, so I started with the front inside cover. The elephant is already disturbed by what is to come, as well he should be.

Here we have quite the assortment of rotund gentlemen. Most of these guys came from me observing people at a shopping mall over the holidays, I tried to remember the most miserable looking men I could and then drew them from memory. It was quite fun until I grew tired of the holiday music and glut of obnoxious shoppers asking if I did caricatures.

With this page I realized that I apparently can't draw a character without making his mouth with either a creepy smile or horrified frown. I'll try and branch out to close mouthed characters in the future.
Barf+sweat+stubble=hilarity. This is why I failed math in school.

I also wanted to use this post to point out several blogs I've been following that I feel are worth sharing, these dudes are awesome artists and are a huge inspiration for me:

http://bobjinx.blogspot.com/
http://bobcampcartoonist.blogspot.com/
http://dankrall.blogspot.com/
http://danbobthompson.blogspot.com/
http://cartooncurio.blogspot.com/
http://www.onsmithcomics.blogspot.com/

Thanks for looking at my doodles, I hope they have made your life better.

The Beginning of the End!!

2008-12-04T13:59:00.002-06:00

Man it's been too long since my last post, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! These pages mark the last few pages remaining in this sketchbook that I started in August of 2007. Since then I have posted almost every single page from the book, for some reason. I sincerely appreciate all the awesome people that have left comments and that still check out this blog, it's really reassuring to know SOMEONE out there digs my art.

I can see now why it takes me so long to finish a sketchbook, I just can't bear to leave a single empty square inch on any page. A sign of insanity I'm sure.

If there's one article of clothing that needs to come back in style, it's the top hat. And the bow tie.

Last but not least, I would like to point everyone to this radio interview I did this past weekend:

http://www.fanboyradio.com/ Although I was on the whole three hours, you can hear me talking a little about my artwork on episode 495.1. A big thanks to Scott Hinze and everyone at Fanboy Radio for inviting me on and letting me ramble. Look for some new pages soon, and maybe a finished piece or two!

tentacles and dripping eyeballs

2008-10-31T18:36:00.002-05:00

On this Halloween eve as I wait for my significant other to get home from her place of employment, I feel the need to share more sketchbook pages. I'm almost to the end of this Moleskine that I started in August of 2007, it usually doesn't take me this long to finish one but this annoying thing called "life" keeps getting in the way. The smaller tree on the left page above was Disney inspired, back when Disney actually inspired artists.

And this page was inspired by a can of Mountain Dew and some old horror & sci-fi movies. Happy Halloween everyone!

?!

2008-10-01T09:27:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I look back through my sketchbook and just start to wonder what's wrong with me. I know my drawings are pretty tame compared to a lot of cartoonists, but the thing is that I don't intentionally sit down to draw weird stuff. It just seems to come out, so I guess what's the use of fighting it. It's more fun to draw weird mutated sweaty people than boring still lifes anyway (did plenty of that in school).
This looks like one of those pages done on an energy drink buzz. I really need to lay off of those, I'm afraid my heart is just going to turn into maple syrup soon.
Lacking inspiration I flipped through a book of nothing but images of devils and started doing my takes on some of them (left side). I really like the one with the trunk and feathery eye thingies at the top of the left page.

Thanks to everyone that came to the art show at Kettle, and especially to those awesome folks that bought my art! I sold about half of my work, so that rocks. I wish I could say that the money will go to good use, but in reality it will be used to feed my insatiable toy and book habit. It's worse than drugs.

Art Show!!

2008-09-20T20:41:00.002-05:00

I'm more than late in posting this, but anyone reading this blog that lives in the Dallas area should come by the Kettle Art Gallery in Deep Ellum and check out this show I'm in: http://www.kettleart.com/page2.htm. Here are a few pieces that I'm showing, some still available for purchase (hint hint).

The other artists in the show are top notch, I feel really priviledged to be in the same gallery with them, check them out:

Ryan Thies http://www.rthies.com/

Miguel Aguilar http://www.aguilarart.com/

Tyson Summers http://www.tysonsummers.com/

The show will be up until the 27th of this month, so make haste!

Gallery hours are Thursday through Saturday, 7:00-10:00 pm and by appointment-214 573-7622. Frank Campagna, the Artistic Director, is a really awesome guy and I would love for as many people that can to go by the gallery. They have a ton of great shows that people should really go check out.
More sketchbook pages coming soon, thanks!

2008-08-20T17:26:00.002-05:00

Well, after an incredibly busy summer I finally managed to get some more crap doodled and posted. The only drawing I like on this first page is the bearded guy in the hat on the far right. I copied him from some Disney book I had laying around.
I'm thinking about actually trademarking sweaty heads so that I'm the only one allowed to draw them. Maybe just trademarking ugly would work as well.
Charlie Brown is covering up probably the stupidest and most embarrasing thing I've ever drawn. Seriously, it was one of those drawings that made me question if I should keep drawing anymore at all. But as long as it's not visible it doesn't exist.
More random ugliness and weirdness, I promise not to take 2 months until my next post. Thanks guys!

faces

2008-06-24T13:44:00.003-05:00

This was an exercise to see how many different faces I could come up with, it turned out to be really difficult. Most of them are either way too happy or horribly miserable, at least I covered the emotional spectrum. See if anyone can spot the Basil Wolverton lookin' dude.

new stuff

2008-05-27T17:57:00.003-05:00

Been super busy lately but got around to doing a few doodles finally. More of the same really, been in kinda a creative rut lately. Can't go wrong with more vomit!
Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, I did indeed use a blue pen on this page. I think this was done after working a 10 hour day and just needed to unwind.
More blue! I must have just gone crazy with the colors here. Comments welcome, thanks folks!!

more doodles and some actual finished art!!

2008-04-08T13:36:00.004-05:00

A couple of fresh pages for you awesome people that check out my stupid scribbles. Started working with a brush in these pages, lots of fun and I hope to get better at inking.
Don't even ask about the man in the bra, I have no answer.

These two finished pieces are for an art show based on Saturday morning cartoons. I was a complete Ghostbuster nut as a kid so I did this watercolor of the boys chasing an oblivious Casper who thinks he's found some friends. Poor ol' Casper!
I also loved Inspector Gadget so I did this one of him using some rather violent gadgets on a burgler. If these pieces don't sell at the show them look for the on my website at http://www.degrandland.com/, I'll make them available to purchase then. Thanks everyone!

fresh doodles, hoo boy!!

2008-03-10T17:48:00.002-05:00

Finally got around to getting more pages scanned in, been finding it harder and harder to get doodling done these days. Still working on getting better tones with the ballpoint pen, I find it really relaxing for some reason.

Got ahold of some fancy colored drawing pens but like the ballpoint better. Oh well, at least they added some color to the page. The little worm dude coming out of the guys head on the bottom right of the page found his way into a watercolor I'm working on, look for it soon at www.degrandland.com. Hope to get more pages done soon, I have a ton of projects in the works right now. More on those later, bye for now!

heads

2008-02-05T16:24:00.000-06:00

Wow, I haven't realized how much my current job situation has affected my doodling output, but this page is the only thing I've filled up the ole' Moleskine with since the holidays. I drew the page on the left with all the sweaty and miserable heads first and then thought it would be cool to do some happier heads on the right to contrast. These pages were crucial in me keeping my sanity through some really stressful times these past few weeks, funny how art can do that.

And the weiner is....

2008-01-30T13:12:00.000-06:00

This guy! This is my entry into the New Yorker's Eustace Tilley contest, which was chosen as one of the winners. The image will be published on newyorker.com to help celebrate their 80-something year anniversary. Just thought I'd brag a little bit since cartoonists rarely get that luxury!

new year, new doodles

2008-01-07T15:34:00.001-06:00

Hope every had a great Christmas and New Year's! The wife and I rang in 2008 by going to see the awesome Sweeney Todd (Tim Burton's best movie since Ed Wood), and then went to sleep watching the ball drop. Yeah, we live it up. Anyway, I got some more pages scanned in, my job lately has been beyond crazy but I got to get a little drawing in at last.
Man, sometimes my artwork is too bizarre even for me. I frankly have no idea what to say about these pages. I've been so mentally fried lately that I think I'll just let the drawings speak for themselves this time.
I had fun with the page on the left, I just tried to draw as many weird facial expressions as I could come up with. I'll probably do some more of these sometime. The heads on the right page are designs for some T-shirts and buttons I'd like to have done someday.
I was watching a really weird Betty Boop cartoon that had these hillbilly characters with these strange saggy cheeks, so naturally I had to see if I could draw one. He's the one on the left page saying "Hoo Doggies!"
More random characters from the deepest regions of my subconscience. Scary ain't it?

oodles o' doodles!!

2007-12-07T12:14:00.001-06:00

I got a whole slew of new stuff for you fine folks, think of it as an early Christmas present (man that's lame!) As you can see on this page I started to break away from the ball point pen and started practicing with some drawing pens to get better with inking my final pieces. I still can't seem to help drawing sweaty people though.

Here's a not so successful attempt to add tones with the ballpoint to an inked drawing, at least I tried! Santa is sure fun to draw though.

Another take on Santa and some more practicing, I think I'm getting better at it, I dunno.

I meet Angus Oblong, creator of the cartoon show "The Oblongs" at Wizard World Texas a few weeks back. He was a really awesome guy and I had him draw one of his characters in my sketch book, I liked that he's "reacting" to my artwork!

My attempt at drawing a Peter Bagge character as well as a t-shirt design on the right page. If I had that shirt made would any of you guys wear it? Be honest!!
More sweat, more stubble, more ghosts, more barf.

More of the same, the guy saying "bleh" is reflecting my state of mind at the time I drew this page, the holidays get me down sometimes.

I was thinking about a new comic book series about baby versions of famous comic characters and "Baby Magneto" at the top of the page was born. Like many ideas I have I drew the one character and lost interest. Oh well. In case I don't post again until after the holidays I'll just go ahead and say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

November pages

2007-11-13T13:27:00.000-06:00

Allrighty then, I finally got some more pages scanned in. I think I stole the "Splorp" sound effect from Don Martin. I tried to create the creepiest yet cutest teddy bear I could there on the left page.
I think I've decided that a ball point pen is the best doodling tool ever invented. I'm having a blast experimenting with the various tones and values you can get. Thanks for looking at my mad rambling doodles!

Paintin's

2007-10-26T13:12:00.001-05:00

For a change of pace from all the sketchbook pages, I thought I would post a few of my finished pieces. I'm desperately trying to get better at painting with acrylics, it's a lot of fun but incredibly frustrating at times. Please feel free to let me know how I'm doing, good or bad!
Most of these paintings are inspired by sketchbook images. I rarely know what in the hell they "mean" until after the piece is done and I stare at it for a while and come up with some sort of "significance". I think this one is about a weird critter coming out of a tree with a slimy critter.

I really like to work with contrasting images so for this painting I painted a bizarre alien type creature from the future next to a vintage cartoon inspired fellow. SEE the contrast?!?
Ever been in a really bad mood and it seems that everyone tries to cheer you up, and you just want to kick them in the appendix?
I'm just really not sure what the hell this is supposed to be, I just went nuts on a canvas one day.
Another piece inspired by Fleischer cartoons. I love how EVERYTHING in those shorts can come to life at any moment, so why not barf?
This painting is me trying to "say something" about how man intrudes on nature. I'm not a huge environmentalist or anything, I just love animals and trees and hate it when they're destroyed to make room for a new Gap or some crap.

Newest pages o' Wackiness!

2007-10-22T13:08:00.000-05:00

Wow, 2 posts in October?!? How did I find the time?! Anyway, this being Halloween month I've been doodling more monsters and stuff than usual, this page being especially gory. The guy on the bottom left may find his way into a painting some day.
Watching old Fleischer and Van Beuren cartoons never fails to get my doodlin' hands busy. I drew these pages after watching "Somewhere in Dreamland", an awesome Fleischer cartoon where two little kids are starving to death so they dream about going to a fantastic candy and sweets filled fantasy land, only to wake up to discover they're still poor. It was made around the depression and all.
I'm really proud of the Japanese lookin' monster in the middle of the right page, he came out better than I thought he would. Those crazy Japanese and their monsters.

new pages

2007-10-09T16:54:00.001-05:00

Once again, I apologize for the lack of posts. I've been busy with a ton of projects lately, but I finally got around to scanning a few more pages. This first page has some more monster movie characters of which I am extremely fond of.
I was doodling at a Borders Books and Music the other day and the "Dragon Death" guy walked in like he was straight of the eighties. He was so ridiculous looking that I had to draw him.
I was in a particularly bizarre mood when I did this page, I think I had had a little too much caffeine.

I'm back!!

2007-09-17T12:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the lack of posts, I can't seem to get quite as much sketching done as I used to, but finally here are some more pages.
I bought a really cool book full of famous movie monsters and villains so I tried drawing a few of them on the right page. Bullwinkle also.
You can tell Halloween is coming by how many monsters appear in my sketchbook.
Just in case you were wondering, I have no idea where the term "turtle snot" came from, but there it is on the left page.

New Sketchbook! Huzzah!!

2007-08-23T14:09:00.000-05:00

Well, after neglecting the 'ole blog for a few weeks now I finally got around to getting a new Moleskine sketchbook and started filling up the pages like I love to do. I plan on drawing on EVERY SINGLE page in this book, including the front and back inside covers. Hey, I want to get my money's worth! I drew these first few pages after reading some old obscure comic strips and watching some old Fleischer cartoons, a deadly combo.
The left page has my character King Frankenzilla from a comic anthology I'm working on with all the guys from www.stumblebumstudios.com, look for it at conventions soon!
Decapitated heads, dripping goo, zombies, the usual.
Someone mentioned to me that the four heads on the bottom right page showed up in a dream they had the next night. I can't imagine what the dream was like, but I doubt it was pleasant.

last pages!!!

2007-08-07T01:06:00.001-05:00

Well, this post marks the last pages of my Moleskine sketchbook that I started this past January. I believe I've posted almost every single page (there were a few pages of just crappy little doodlings that I didn't want to show anybody). I just started a brand new book yesterday so I'll continue to post pages as they come. This spread has one of my all time favorite cult movie characters, can you spot him?
And here we are with the very last page. I guess I could have done something different to mark the occasion, but I just felt like letting the doodles take over like they like to do. On to the next book!

sketches galore!!

2007-07-31T18:35:00.000-05:00

I'm getting to the end of my Moleskin sketchbook, but don't worry! I have a new one waiting to be filled, so get ready for more sketchbook zaniness! For this page I broke out the colored pencils again.
This page has some Harvey Kurtzman characters from his Hey Look! comic strip, he has provided me with endless inspiration.
I really can't think of what to say about this page other than I like my Godzilla caricature on the bottom right.
I'm thinking "Zombie Tree" (on the left page) will be my next painting.

I think I captured Barney Rubble pretty well, those Ed Benedict characters are harder to draw than they look.
Drawing from some more Gene Deitch drawings, that guy's style makes me drool with envy.
I'm obviously trying to cram in as many drawings as possible in these last few pages, I hate wasting paper.
That goat has a seriously messed up leg, not sure what happened.
Batman makes an appearance.

Confessions of a Toy Junkie

2007-07-19T12:56:00.000-05:00

And now for something completely different. I don't have much new sketchbook stuff but I wanted to post something new, so I decided to post some pictures of my art room/ toy museum. One of my favorite things to do in the world is to go to garage sales, flea markets and thrift stores and hunt for any cartoon character or monster toy I can get my hands on. I have filled my "studio" with many of these finds, and there are tons more that I don't even have the room for to display. These photos are the tragic results of this sick obsession.The vertical stack of books between the two shelves are all of my old sketchbooks since high school. The shelf on the left is chock full o' cartoon and art books that I try and draw inspiration from, but basically just serve to show me how far I have to go in becoming a "real artist".
My Mickey Mouse collection actually lives in our bedroom on top of our entertainment center. My wonderful wife is gracious enough to share her sleeping quarters with Walt Disney's famous rodent.
The Simpsons live here as well, they seem to enjoy each other's company.

Back to my room, my love of giant monsters knows no bounds. Here is a small sampling of my King Kong collection, the red and green monster is a Kong wannabe from the awesome 16-bit game "Primal Rage".
Superman and Batman are my absolute favorite superheroes of all time (Plastic Man is my third favorite since I KNOW you were wanting to know).
My shrine to one of my idols and an absolute creative genius, Jim Henson. He watches over my drawing table and gives words of encouragement and inspiration.
One of my linoleum prints from college lives behind some Ren and Stimpy stuff, the first animated cartoon that made me want to draw.
Another shelf of toys, books, and more toys. This needs to be organized REALLY badly.

My wall of movie monsters and villains. The Crow figure is signed by James O' Barr and the Captain Spaulding figure is signed by Sid Haig.
My grandmother gave me this vintage typewriter, so I naturally had to cover it with more crap. It sits on top of an awesome ceramic camel that my other grandmother gave to me. That's a framed Ed Wood poster behind it, one of my absolute favorite movies of all time.
My small but growing collection of glow-in-the-dark toys. It looks pretty cool to see them all glowing at once, that's my custom Munny on the right behind Herman Munster.
Yet another shelf. The top row has my Looney Tunes and other classic cartoon characters, the middle is my Kid Robot collection, and the bottom stuff is whatever would fit. I'm proud of my Slimers.
Of course the King of the Monsters gets his own shrine as well. When I was little I could never find any Godzilla toys and it killed me, I even went so far as to make a custom Godzilla from an old dinosaur figure I had. As soon as I had my own money to blow I began to compensate for this lack of Godzillas.

I have plenty more but I think that's all any sane person could stand for now, I'll be back soon with more art. Also, everybody go check out the blog of the immensely talented and super cool Justin Winslow:

http://cartooncurio.blogspot.com/

just spank me already

2007-06-26T14:31:00.000-05:00

I almost went through the whole month of June without posting, I'm a horrible person. Here are some more sketchbook pages. Random acts of violence on cartoon characters makes me laugh.
Designs for a painting I'm currently working on.

I've discovered that I really like inking with a brush, the tree and snowman on the right was an experiment to see if I could pull it off. The ballpoint has replaced the pencil as my sketching tool of choice (for the time being anyway).
More painting designs and a really strange dream.
Designs anf character ideas for a comic book story I'm working on, hope it turns out well.
The tree drawing is basically what the finished painting will look like, I changed the designs quite a bit until I was happy with it. Not really sure what's going on on the left page.
More brushwork and Spongebob.

new stuff

2007-05-29T15:04:00.000-05:00

I got bored drawing in pencil so I tried sketching with a ball point pen and really enjoyed it. I think these pages have an antique woodcut or etched look to them. Makes me want to experiment with printmaking again.
Trying to get better with cross-hatching, getting slightly less frustrating.
Just for fun here's my Munny I painted a month or so back. It looks really at home on my toy shelf.

In case anyone is interested, here's the link to my appearance on Fanboy TV:

http://www.fanboy.tv/

Look for my name (David DeGrand) under previous episodes and you'll see my interview. If you watch the rest of the segments you'll see me occasionally working on a drawing that they will give away in a future show, you can see the finished piece in the Artist Results section. I'm in the Sub or Flub section as well giving my opinion on various topics. If it's not up on the main page still check out Episode 15 on May 21, 2007 in the archive here:

http://www.fanboy.tv/archives.html

Thanks guys!

more stupid sketchbook senselessness, and a sticker

2007-05-08T00:45:00.000-05:00

A robot, a ghost, a chicken, and a maggot. Seems like I just drew four random things out of a hat and drew them, huh?
There's something about the look on the guy's face that's saying "diggin'" that I find kinda disturbing. But in a good way.
That elephant sure is happy to be dripping snot on that poor whatever-he-is.
A guy with man boobs and a retarded tree stump walked into a bar...
Just on the off chance anyone is interested, this is a sticker that I just got printed up to help promote my little portfolio website thingy. I'll be more than happy to mail one to anybody that requests one on the condition that you display it somewhere where people are sure to ask "Where'd you get that awesome sticker?!?!" E-mail me at mdaviddegrand@gmail.com with your address and I'll get one sent to you ASAP.

Enough with the trees!!

2007-04-24T17:06:00.000-05:00

I don't know what my fascination is with drawing trees and wooden people, could be some sort of deep hidden psychological something or other.
See what I mean?!?! Anyway, these pages contain character designs for a comic story I'm working on with a friend of mine. More on this in future posts. I think the guy on the top of the right page with a cylinder head and stuff dripping out of it needs to be turned into a vinyl toy, anyone agree?

latest stupidity

2007-04-13T13:32:00.000-05:00

More snowmen, more globby stuff, more of the same weird critters. Being from Texas the cowboy in the top page was fun to draw, I copied him from an old children's book.

sorry about the delay

2007-03-30T12:01:00.000-05:00

I haven't been doing as much sketching lately, I've been sorely lacking inspiration but hopefully I'll come out of it soon. Anyway, all I can remember about this page is that the guy on the bottom left was my attempt at doing some type of Garbage Pail Kids looking guy. I think.
I found this awesome book of old carnival illustrations and so tried to draw a few of the woodcuts and lithographs from it. Like usual, I gave up and let my mind wander and came up with the rest of what's on the page.
For some reason I was in the mood to draw people in period costumes, so there ya go.
The critters on the bottom part of the right page were designs for a Munny I finally completed. If I can ever find my digital camera I'll post pictures of it.

the little sketchbook that could

2007-03-06T14:32:00.000-06:00

I'm thinking about turning "The What Bus" image into a large painting, but chances are I won't.
After getting the awesome "Terr'ble Thompson" book by Gene Deitch, I tried drawing some of the characters and realized he is a cartooning god among mere mortals.

More melting snowmen and dripping snot. What's wrong with me?
I bought a vintage Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters figure on ebay and the blue guy on the left was born.
Lots of happy people on these pages despite the guy on the right side of the left page wanting to die.
Trying to draw more Gene Deitch characters and, of course, more dripping stuff.
Vomit! And Lard Nuggets! Seriously, what's wrong with me?!?!

after a painfully long wait....more sketches

2007-02-24T00:36:00.000-06:00

After messing around with the colored pencils some more, I've discovered that I really like the terra cotta color. It makes the drawings have that old photo look, check out the guy with the bow tie on the right page to see what I mean.
I'm thinking about making the little guy on the bottom left a painting, not really sure what he is but it could be interesting. The devil guys and the monsters on the right page were from a Taschen book about devils, those Renaissance fellers came up with some disturbing imagery!
Copying some old advertising characters and trying out some designs for some figurines I want to make. I bought a bunch of old Fisher Price little kid toys with the big round heads and cylindrical bodies and decided to repaint them with my own characters. If I ever get some done I'll post pictures.

more sketches...wow!!

2007-02-07T23:55:00.000-06:00

The page on the left is me trying to draw Popeye (again!) as well as some awesome Joost Swarte characters. I'm still working with the colored pencils, I really have to be in the mood for them otherwise they're quite a chore.
I think I drew these pages after watching some Fleischer cartoons, which I've discovered to be a healthy alternative to illegal narcotics.
Not really sure what this idiot is saying "Whoa" about, but apparently the other characters don't give a crap.

I really want to thank everyone that's left me positive feedback on these stupid sketchbook pages. Nice to know there's a few cool people out there that don't mind a little random weirdness every now and then.

hey look, more sketches!!!

2007-01-31T15:42:00.000-06:00

Colored pencils: just like regular pencils, but colored.
Must have been a late night, I can't remember drawing this page.
Trying to copy some Mary Blair drawings, but gave up and let the weirdness take over.
Snowmen just have to sing I guess.
Popeye is a damn hard bastard to draw.

2007-01-23T15:25:00.000-06:00

This is how I spend my hours at work, doodling in the front inside cover of my sketchbook.

Finally! I got a DRAWN! mention!!

2007-01-13T00:43:00.000-06:00

I got a mention on one of the best artist blogs ever to exist in the universe:

http://drawn.ca/2007/01/11/david-degrand/ I've loved this website forever and to get a mention on it is a pretty big deal to me, so I'm excited. To celebrate, how about some more sketchbook crap?!?!

2007-01-10T15:39:00.000-06:00

2007-01-03T14:55:00.000-06:00

2006-12-27T15:04:00.000-06:00

2006-10-25T14:10:00.000-05:00

More stuff from my little sketchbook.

Cool toys

2006-10-19T13:56:00.000-05:00

After reading John K's amazing post about why older toys are amazing and toys today are pieces of crap, I dug out this old book I had about toys from the 50's and 60's and decided to scan and post some of my favorites. I think everyone will agree that they don't make 'em like they used to.

new sketches

2006-10-12T01:02:00.000-05:00

More random sketches from the little ol' sketchbook. They're all just chock full of hidden meaning and significance.

2006-09-13T11:31:00.000-05:00

new blog format

2006-09-12T15:43:00.000-05:00

I've decided to turn this blog into a place strictly for images from my sketchbook. I recently bought one of those pretentious Moleskine notebook journal things so the small format is perfect for easy scanning. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think.

2006-08-18T15:24:00.000-05:00

After neglecting the ol' blog for a while now, I decided to post this drawing/painting/watercolor I did about a year and a half ago. My love for vintage cartoons overtakes me sometimes and I'm forced to make lousy attempts at trying to capture the brilliance of them.

More Random Weirdness

2006-07-14T16:15:00.000-05:00

Here are three more small sized paintings that have absolutely nothing to do with each other, and to be honest, I really don't have a clue what they mean.

Zombie Ghosts

2006-06-30T16:32:00.000-05:00

A painting to honor two of my favorite horror movie staples, zombies and ghosts. I have ingeniusly titled this painting "Zombie Ghosts".