Day 1 of 31 Day Challenge #RottyHalloween

I've challenged myself to draw something for Halloween every day in October, and The Rots' Facebook followers are holding me to it (I hope).

Here's Day 1.

Today was just a sketch but, depending on how things work out, I'm hoping other days can be something more finished.

That, and I'm hoping I can come up with 31 subjects for Halloween.

Hutch's Tap Room

My place mat @ Hutch's Tap Room, 1099 University Dr, Dunbar PA.

Dino's Sports Lounge

My place mat @ Dino's Sports Lounge, 214 Rt 30 E, Latrobe PA.

ArtBox Project for @PghCityPaper (part 3)

I was selected to paint (decorate? enhance? art?) one of ten Pittsburgh City Paper street boxes. This is Part 3 of my progress reports.

The next thing I did was the underpainting on the other four sides of the box. Kinda boring, sorry.

But if you think the underpainting was boring, imagine what painting "Pittsburgh City Paper" eight times down two sides was like. Yeah. A little tedious.

But finished.

Let's move on.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Patrick #sketchbookproject

This is Patrick. He is part of my Sketchbook Project Special Edition sketchbook. I also painted him on wood for your amusement.

ArtBox Project for @PghCityPaper (part 2)

I was selected to paint (decorate? enhance? art?) one of ten Pittsburgh City Paper street boxes. This is Part 2 of my progress reports.

The first thing I had to do to the CP box was prime it, then transfer the sketches and then get the underpainting going. (Sorry, kinda boring.)

The sketch on the front.

The underpainting on the front.

Here's how the front turned out.

ArtBox Project for @PghCityPaper

A friend (I suppose I can still call her that) from work told me that the Pittsburgh City Paper ArtBox Project just "screamed" for me to paint some Rots.

So I sketched, and I entered.

And then they went and picked me to paint one of their boxes.

I guess now I have to paint it.

Here's the sketch I did for what might be considered the "back" of the box. It's the side opposite where you open the door to take out a paper. It's also the side that will be facing the street.

The box will be Andy Warhol themed (in case you didn't know, he was a native Pittsburgher) with his mylar cloud balloons on the top and front and the City Paper logo painted repeatedly down the sides.

Working hard on my 15 minutes...

Sharky's Café

My napkin @ Sharky's Café, 3960 Rt 30, Latrobe PA.

The Wicked Googly

My napkin @ The Wicked Googly, 209 W Main St, Ligonier PA.

Thirsty Whale Tavern (part 2)

My napkin @ the Thisty Whale Tavern, 40 Cottage St, Bar Harbor, Maine.

And not only that, here's the one from the day before yesterday, hung up (thank you, Kirsten!).

And not only that, here's the one I just did with the first one, hung up before we even had a chance to leave!

Thirsty Whale Tavern

My napkin @ the Thirsty Whale Tavern, 40 Cottage St, Bar Harbor Maine.

April Fool Square Kat

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I've failed to post the finished version of my April Fool Square Kat, and there's a perfectly good reason for that.

While I was in the middle of painting the little tyke, I stopped to check my email and found I had gotten one from a representative of the Toonseum in Pittsburgh. He told me about this thing they've been doing for a couple of years now in conjunction with East End Brewing, also in Pittsburgh. The brewery creates a limited edition beer (Belgian-style, dark ale) called Illustration Ale, and they ask six illustrators to create the labels to make a "six-pack." Then—and here's the best part—he asked me to be one of the illustrators for this year's batch!

Pretty cool, I thought.

And then I thought, oh crap. Now I have to come up with an idea.

Right about then I went back to painting, and as I thought about what I could come up with, the little guy on the board in front of me showed me how cool he would look with a stein in his little paw.

He's such a boozer.

I'm obligated to hold out on posting the complete final painting until after the unveiling (which should be within a couple of weeks; the beer's still brewing), but here's his little stein paw while you wait.

Will reveal the rest at a later date.

D's Six Pax & Dogz

A paper towel @ D's Six Pax & Dogz, 1118 S Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh PA.

Pepperwood Grille

My napkin @ Pepperwood Grille, 5290 E Pittsburgh St, Greensburg PA.

Falls City Restaurant & Pub

My bar napkin @ Falls City Restaurant & Pub, 112 Garrett St, Ohiopyle PA.

Oliver's Pourhouse

The back of my placemat @ Oliver's Pourhouse, 8 N Pennsylvania Ave, Greensburg PA.

Sketchbook Project Special Edition 2012—Buster #sketchbookproject

I think I've been slacking a little getting these things posted.

Here's another image from my Sketchbook Project Special Edition sketchbook. It's of Buster, who my mom used to call our "Halloween Kitty."

According to legend, he was as evil as he looks here.

New Square Kat painting: April Fool

I've been working on a new painting (as the title implies), and it's of a Square Kat (also, as in above). He started out as a page in my Sketchbook Project Special Edition, but I'm thinking a lot of those little guys deserve better. So this one's getting himself a portrait done.

First off, here's the original sketch:

And here he is on his Sketchbook Project page:

These last three photos are in-progress shots. I think the background is pretty much finished, but everything else (his fur and clothes and stick boy) is just blocked in.

Patent & Trademark Agency LLC: Not a government agency

Got a letter from a business calling themselves the Patent & Trademark Agency LLC telling me my trademark was about to expire.

Be warned: These people are NOT affiliated with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (uspto.gov).

Their only work is to renew your trademark for you and charge you a whole lot more than if you did it yourself. According to the current fee schedule for trademarks through uspto.gov (the official government agency that handles patents and trademarks), an application for renewal should cost $400 (as of the date of this posting). The letter I received from the Patent & Trademark Agency LLC shows they will renew my trademark for $985, so they're pocketing $585.

Their address is 477 Madison Avenue, 6th Floor, New York City, NY 10022. Keep an eye out.

Here's a link I found while researching these people:

EMP&A

My notification letter looked identical to the one in the link above (but with my own information, of course).

Patrick Square Kat

My Square Kat painting for St. Patrick's Day is finished, and here he is:

Of course his name is Patrick.