What are you going to do with that little critter in your hand?

Here's the newest addition to my ever-growing monster menagerie. If I can come up with enough interesting variations of these "Little Beasties", I hope to turn it into a book. The working title: The Little Beasties of Monster Island: A Sketchbook

Creepy Crab

From the seashore comes a horned cousin of the box crab, the latest in our repugnant parade of Little Beasties. Some will make the cut and be included in the Little Beastie book...and some won't. Should this creepy little creature be included...or not? Let me know if you have any ideas for a beastly creature that you'd like me to sketch. Yours just might find its way into the pages of the Monster Island book.

The next creature to get hitched to the monster wagon is an elephantine little creature. Check back soon for a look at him.

How do I look?

You can see that I did some graphite surgery on the little Beastie above. You can compare the difference between the above drawing and the previous drawing below. I felt that the eyes on stalks were inappropriate for his bulky appearance, so I snipped off the stalks and grafted in some toady eyes. I also did a little fine-tuning here and there.

I plan to keep producing these little Beasties until I have enough to make up a Beastie sketchbook. I hope to have a book completed by the fall. Check back anytime to monitor my progress.

Check back in two or three days for the next Beastie, which appears to be a horned stepchild of the box crab, with ping pong ball eyes. Nasty looking creature.

Teeth, Tusks and Trunk

Here's another Little Beastie for my growing menagerie. I'm collecting beastie drawings with the idea of an upcoming book of Little Beasties and how to draw them. Elementary kids love to draw, and since I visit schools, a Beastie book would be a good fit for what I do. I could also spin off Little Beastie stories.

Beaked Beastie

This nasty little beastie emerged from my sketchbook and pecked a hole in my desk before I could corral him and herd him into my blog where he can do no harm, except to entertain the viewers, though he doesn't look to be in a very entertaining mood at the moment. 


Look at his eyes. He seems to be rather wary of you. You may not want to leave this image on your screen and exit the room for any length of time. You wouldn't want him to peck his way out of your computer screen and get loose in your office.

Book Illustration

This is an illustration that I did for a book called Explorers of the New World Timeline. I've illustrated so many books for this publisher that I've lost count...maybe 40 books. I illustrate 2 or 3 titles for them most every year, some realistic illustration like the above, but most in my zany humorous style.

Swamp Vagabonds

Here's another pair of little beasties to add to the growing menagerie. My drawing materials are simple: an HB or 2B pencil, a section of newspaper, a q-tip, and a kneaded eraser. The most important aspect of creating a tight pencil rendering is how the pencil is held. That makes a huge difference.

My greatest pencil rendering influence is Midge Quenell, the graphite rendering instructor at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, where I attended art school.