Did the caricature thing in Daytona Beach and Tampa Friday and Saturday!

Hard at work on the next Swampy’s Florida Coloring Book and Guide.

Terisa Glover and I crossed pens across the sketchpad while at dinner at Palace Pizza in Downtown Lakeland, Florida. Each adding a piece and passing the pen to the other. Above are the results. i should mention part of this has to do with Terisa’s dog, Sparky, slurping many a spaghetti noodle served to her.

Above is the mysterious Marie who asked me to create the caricature she’s holding. I did the whole thing at Bubbalou’s Bar-B-Que in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Look for a post about it on Swampy’s Florida next week. The restaurant was a great meeting place to get the artwork done and for good food.

  Here I am in the midst of getting the caricature done.

My last Christmas visits had me a bit closer to home and a chance to see lots of Christmas lights. Above are lights in Leesburg at Venetian Gardens and in Downtown Ocala. I just wish I would think more of taking photos when passing along Christmas cards. Something to work on next year!

After nearly 30 years got the opportunity to meet with a classmate in high school, Steve Brewster. He was also a fellow artist at the time. Now he lives in Gainesville. One of his hobbies is showing old horror movies on Blog.TV. You can tune in here on Saturday nights to see Steve in action.

Steve also has a mutual interest in cartoon toys and has his own collection. I did a drawing of him during the meeting.

Below is another classmate, James Holding and his wife, Susan. Though, James was a few years younger than me as we went to through school. I tutored cartooning  with James when he was attending Robert E. Lee Jr. High School.

James still cartoons to compliment a business he is in as a biblical apologist. You can see much, much more on his site by clicking here. Click here to see some of his animated spots on YouTube.

The annual Christmas Eve visit to, my dear friend, Lucile Fair, is always fun. A month before her 104th birthday and she is as full of energy as ever.

Did this illustration of a fishing alligator catching a bass between Friday, December 2nd, and Saturday, December 3rd. Began the illustration at the First Friday event in Downtown Lakeland in front of The General Store. Finished it while at the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village in Dade City the next day. I wasn’t sure what I was going to illustrate at first and then my author friend, Bob Bass, stopped by with his new book about fishing bass and I knew what to draw.

I first sketched out the drawing in pencil on watercolor paper. Then i went over that with ballpoint pen.

Next I added the watercolor. As I painted i was thinking I wish I had slid the gator a bit farther back. The two do look a bit too close.

Finally, I went over the illustration with a dark grey Pitt brush marker. Now it goes off to the printer to make prints of.

Just wrapped the 5th Swampy’s Florida coloring book: A Florida Cracker Christmas. It debuts Friday during First Friday in Downtown Lakeland at The General Store. Rob will be there to sign books from 6pm to 9pm to sign books. Rob will next be at the Christmas celebration at the Florida Pioneer Settlement in Dade City and their Christmas event also signing books.

For those who know The Rest of the Story – Here’s my annual tribute for Jacob’s birthday. Now off to get the annual banana split!

More than 40 years ago political cartoonist for the St. Petersburg Times switched over to draw for The Orlando Sentinel and moved from Pinellas County to Orlando’s Orange County, here in Florida. He brought with him his Cartoon Museum that he had started in St. Petersburg. The Cartoon Museum was an early version of the comic shop you see today. He also had a slew of original comic book and illustrators artwork. He re-established The Cartooon Museum and started Central Florida’s first comic book show, The Orlando Con. Jim brought in the top in the cartooning profession and even motion picture celebrities.

The Con had it’s long time home at The International Inn on International Drive in Orlando. It’s owner at teh time and now, Harris Rosen, had a father who was a caricaturist who had his celebrity caricatures up in the Waldor-Astoria in New York City. Harris, being a cartoon fan, gave Ivey a terrific deal to have the Con at the International Inn and it was a success for all.

When I was young, my family would stay at The International Inn and then attend The Orlando Con each year. It was great fun and I have very fond memories of the Inn, the Con and Jim Ivey. Harris Rosen has been going around and, wisely,  renaming hotels he owns in Central Florida with his name. The International Inn is now The Rosen Inn.  Recently I was near the hotel and wished I had a reason to stayt there for old times sake. While planning on attanding the political convention, Presidency 5, I realized I had a reason to stay there and did this past September 22nd.

When I got there I ran into a fellow, Chuck (above), who has worked at the hotel since about 1980. He told me about his helping Jim setup the Con in it’s later years to it’s end in the late-80s (It is now known as the Mega-Con and held at the Orange County Convention Center.). He showed me around where the Con used to be, now part gift shop and work room. He remembers meeting folks who drew for MAD, Car-Toons, etc. He loved being around the whole cartooning motif.

I had to draw him as my little thanks for his help. He’s holding the drawing above. It’s him opening a closet at the hotel and superheroes and comic books falling out. Thanks, Chuck,for helping bring the joy of comics to Central Florida!

I’ll be at the 2nd Annual Polk Authors & Illustrators Festival in Downtown Lakeland, Florida, this Saturday signing (& doodling in) Swampy’s Florida coloring books from 9am to 3pm. I’ll also be watercoloring a few Florida images there, too! If you’re in the area, stop by and say ‘Hi!’

During our annual National cartoonists Society Florida Chapter meeting, legendary comic book artist, Jose Delbo, and I like to take a sheet of paper and trade it back and forth adding to it. I added Bat Hound to Jose’s Batman above.

Since our theme was circus due to John Ringling’s influence in our meeting location, Sarasota, Florida, I started with a clown and Jose added Batman’s body.

I started with Batman this time and Jose squeezed a horse underneath him.