here's what i think

An old friend reached out to me to ask if he could commission a drawing. He gave me these words:

"A bad mother funkin blues man! 

Thinking of a blues guitar player on a strat. 

What do you think?"

This dude measures 22x15 inches. He was signed and sent to the northeast side of Indy to live on someone else's wall. This was fun. Anyone else want to commission a drawing?

Holla.

groove crews

We at the rockey home are just coming down from our weeklong recuperation from our weeklong vacation from working on ye olde homestead. It's been difficult to get back into the groove, but if we're going to prove our love we're going to have to get up on our feet and step to the beat. Boy, that's what it will be. 

In other news, the sun is shining and the mammoth icicles hanging from our home are melting and falling and making terrifying yet glorious noises. They fall with an unsuspecting rhythm that would make lovers of street dancing hoodlums. It feels enough like spring that miranda is cleaning house whilst i draw and scan images for a secret forthcoming collaboration. The introspective couple that you see illustrated here have nothing to do with any of that. Dig it, you wild and free bohemians.

timeline fotos

happy thanks, y'all

Celebrating with family the Rockey family during the holidays has always been a daylong event brimming with a whole lot of food, a whole lot of people, a whole lot of noise, a whole lot of laughing. This thanksgiving, we sat around an amazing meal with grandparents and great grandparents at the home in which i spent my high school days. We heard my grandfather tell stories that my dad had never even heard before. We added a new moniker to his already long list of nicknames: Grampa Junie. It was such a quiet, joyous affair that eventually turned into creative wonderland. 

Just when it looked as though the evening would be drawing to a close, we were joined by my uncle Conrad, cousin Becca and some new friends who immediately found themselves lending voices to a surprise recording session taking place in the family room. After warming up our guests with a sing-along, i passed the baton to Olivia Jane who passed out paper and crayons to everyone and invited us all to make drawings.

Here's one of Olivia's incredible drawings paired with a lyric sheet that she requested of me.

My contribution to the collection of drawings. Old friends being thankful.

Olivia's great grandfather delighted us all with his masterful rendering of a horse.

Olivia then had everyone who contributed drawings (and vocals, by the way) sign this cover sheet for the collection. We continued to laugh and eat chocolate-covered delicacies while dreaming up nativity-inspired colors for an idea-pitch to Crayola. Possible crayon colors include "soft manger", "star of bethlehem", "donkey grey", "gold", "virgin white" and "becca's favorite".  It's difficult to imagine that this idea won't make millions of somethings.

Holiday traditions have come and gone over the years, but i'm thankful for children who inspire me and invite their family to create colorful memories together.

housewarming

Let's be honest, folks - it's supposed to be chilly in autumn. We're a good week into october and thus far the weather has been unseasonably warm as we've been counting down the days until the new furnace is installed at the rockey home (or as i'm now calling it: The Madness). This week, the climate turned on a dime. After wearing shorts all day sunday whilst installing more ductwork, we all woke up monday morning and immediately pulled on the cosby sweaters and knit caps. While preparing breakfast, Miranda and i even enjoyed a romantic moment by warming our hands over a boiling pot of oatmeal. These are the days.

If i may say so, we're getting pretty good at running ductwork. Our friend mike (whose friendship, skills, and generosity have been invaluable to us in our home renovation endeavors) helped us construct a piece of ductwork to run through a pesky ceiling joist. I've discovered a hidden tin-snip proficiency that has proven very useful in these duct-running days. Peep this collar installation on this near-perfect circle that i fashioned in a scrap piece of sheet metal.

problem child

shine on, you crazy diamonds

Sometimes when sifting through the morning papers over coffee and chicken, i feel compelled to honor those who are now waiting on the other side. Sometimes we're left with memories of them wearing large hats. Other times the paper gets the aspect ratio of their photograph wrong. Here's to you and the lasting impressions you've given us all!

Family = A Big

Nature freestyle

Free market economy

Prelude to an oral exam

Oh, if only this building could speak.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Parables from portland

A few weeks back, me and my crew spent a weeklong holiday in the pacific northwest with my aunt and her family. 'Twas gorgeous and lovely and delightful and all. It was my first time ever on the west coast. It was the doctor's first time ever splashing in the ocean. We hiked a mile up the side of a waterfall. We were given free coffee by locals. One of us had a rock dropped on our foot by some kid messing around the side of a cliff. 

Living on the edge, y'all.

Side note: My aunt makes some fat coin selling antique dolls and such on these here interwebs. Somehow, because of that, these poor ragamuffins ended up in my notebook.

Read all about it

Sometimes, you reach in to the magic cauldron of the morning paper, accompanied by nothing more than a pen and a styrofoam cup of coffee, and you receive a special gift.

Everybody wins.

Giving credit where credit is due.

Mad props.

You know who you are.

Designs for sale

Baby Jane's getting into the family business. There needs to be no explanation when you consider that she's creating work far superior to that of her old man.

This guy is her version of something that i was working on. I know. It's so totally rad and much more interesting to look at than the original. I don't even want to do a side by side comparison. Her drawing is that much better.

This is what happens when you show up two minutes late to give a proposal at a meeting and you realize that you're really about fifteen minutes early. I think it's the logo for a new campaign to promote letting go... 

or grabbing hold... 

or both.

Handmade rainbow spray

These days, as previously mentioned, there has been a bit of drawing going on around here. Meanwhile, i've been excavating the corners of closets and garages to collect piles of scraps of unused fine and not as fine papers that date back to the late twentieth century. I've made it a personal mission to leave no piece of paper unrepurposed. There are even a few armfuls of unclaimed pieces of wood begging to become transformed in some manner. Soon these piles of papers will become piles of drawings calling into question their own destiny. Heavy, bros.

Looking & listening & drawing things

Recreational renditions

Presently, we are making attempts at moving beyond the medium of composition book & ball point pen to a slightly more stately presentation of things and people and such. Unfortunately, i often get a little too precious when using costlier means to produce images. I'm often left longing to recapture something as fantastic as this drawing of the doctor sticking his tongue out at me whilst perched atop a high chair at a local pizza joint.

I've had a variety of ideas for not-so-actual books. Then i drew this book as a tribute to my friends in Pearl and the Beard. This could be the template for something. I shall put a pin in that. Until then, enjoy this collaboration i did with a sprightly young gal named hannah...

Go get 'em, kids.

Poetic justice

Only in it for the money

People of earth, there are a limited number of these t-shirts now available for fifteen bones at my ONLINE SHOPPE. They're both super soft and make mighty bold statements that need to be shared with the people of our common planet. 

Next on the docket: this dude... 

He's coming to a tee shirt near some.

You know who you are.