I went to a Rodeo this past weekend and got a chance to really work on my ability to draw horses. Above are a few sketches from more than 20 pages of sketches.

This makes 13 books so far this year. All were good. The Taylor Caldwell was an excellent story, maybe a bit over written. Sugar and the Everglades was a puff piece written by US Sugar to get reaers to complain to Washington DC about giving Cuba and South America the ability to take over the US sugar market. A well written puff piece, though.

Here’s Stephanie, who I drew at a fund raiser, 10th Annual Horses for Hospice Trail Ride, for Hospice of Marion County this past Sunday. Click here to learn more about Hospice of Marion County.

This the pencil drawing I did for the forecoming painting - ‘Florida Ride’.

Back in December I got a call from a fellow named Cory from ABC’s Extreme MAkeover: Home Edition’. The request was for artwork, of course. The big part of it was that they neeeded two wall murals in 48 hours. So I skipped a nights sleep and got it done. The program aired Sunday and, as I was to keep all this a secret, I can now show a bit of the artwork above.

Click here and the episode can be seen from their website.

Here’s my newest Genuine Florida painting that I made while filming on UStream. Prints are available and please contact me to get yours.

Click below to see the UStream video.

Click here to see me make the next one tomorrow, February 23rd.

Sorry to post this so late! I’ll just dash off the goings  on:

Took off to join fellow cartoonists to entertain soldiers in San Antonio, Texas, on January 20th. One picture above is a sketch I drew of a lady on the plane.

I met with my cousin Jan and she took me and her children to The Bharmacy. Pharmacy and soda fountain at night. Bar at night.

The USO picked us up at the hotel early the next morning and got us to the Center for the Intrepid and the Brook Army Medical Center. The artists included Jeff Bacon, Jeff Keane, Milburn Taylor, David Mowder, Rick Kirkman, Rob Harrell, Bill Hinds and me. Above are photos of some of our great soldiers that were drawn by me.  All 8 of us artists also signed large cards to be presented later. Above are photos of the artists drawing away. We wrapped up with dinner.

The next morning, Jan picked me up and I got to tour the architecture of Downtown San Antonio. Above are photos of that.

Here’s the first books of the year! I kicked the year off with a Vince Flynn thriller. Then I moved on to reading of the 2nd Seminole War. That lead me to read of the life of Thomas S. Jesup. I went back to Flynn’s third book. I wandered into the Everglades and back to war with ‘Discovering the Civil War in Florida’.

Here’s a tiger adrift!

It’s Illustration Friday’s word of the week: Adrift. During my UStream broadcast I called out for another word. Thanks to Jared Sloger and Chris Bjors who piped up ‘Tiger’ and ‘Ribbon’. So I added both. You see the tiger and if you don’t recognize the ribbon, it is not just something you tie in your hair, it is also a type of flag.

My newest painting.

Click here to see the pencils and prep for painting.

Click here to see the painting done.