Days of Halloween, 9-14
I usually don't do backgrounds. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I saw a similar background and wanted to try it out. This one has a Halloween feel. You gotta know that person in the middle is gonna get got by something.
We did some alternate Wizard of Oz sketches in 2005. This was the Scarecrow showing that he didn't have a heart. Then I realized it was the Tin Man that didn't have a heart. The Scarecrow didn't have a brain. So this is just an interesting Halloween sketch now.
This was a watercolor I did for Aaron in 2006. It also isn't Halloween related but it is kinda creepy. It is from a poem or something describing some internal conflict as Kafkaesque fight with oneself in an old greasy cardboard box. I think it was called Lute dos Intestinos (Fight of the Guts).
A 2005 sketch of the Mad Hatter from some Alice in Wonderland concepts.
This guy is from a nightmare I had a couple years ago. I sent the original to Aaron but I still had the watercolor and pencil sketch so that I could put it together again for this post. The background was watercolored by Mylie. The pencils were scanned and photoshop colored.
I did this quick sketch of Andi and then decided to add a little Halloween in the background. What a cutie. Andi is pretty darn cute too.
Days of Halloween, 7-8, more heads of Halloween
Here is another sketch page from 2009 of Halloween heads. I think the paisley one would make a nice t-shirt. I can't find my page of many skulls - I had a great time doing skull studies.
This one isn't really Halloween related. It is a sketch of still shots from a video by a band called System of a Down. It is a great song and I have seen the band members in other places and they seem like regular guys, but they freak me out in this video. I thought this sketch had a halloweeny feel to it.
Sorry that some of my sketches from work are on the back of old used paper so that when I scan it, you can see the print from the other side.
Oct. 6 - More heads of Halloween
Scary Pac-Man by Mylie.
I had to have a black and white picture taken for our company website a couple years ago. Since I sometimes feel like a corporate zombie, I thought I would take a stab at looking like one. If you ever see me like this in real life, please don't hesitate to hit me in the head with a shovel, because I'll do likewise if I see you all zombified.
Oct. 4 - 3 more days of Halloween: faces, puppets and gorillas
This was another follow-up sketch I did for Aaron last year.
Another sketch for Aaron in 2009 of Gretchen the Puppet Master. I don't know the story behind this picture.
I am most afraid of gorillas. I don't know if it is because I consider them to be powerful and intelligent or if it is because of that Donald Duck cartoon I saw when I was 5 years old where a gorilla gets loose from the zoo. I remember living in Prescott, AZ, during my kindergarten age and never having the courage to push open the blinds on my window at night for fear that a hulking black gorilla would be millimeters from the other side of the window, staring at me with bloodshot eyes, like the one from the Donald Duck cartoon.
What animal are you most afraid of?Oct. 1 - First Day of Halloween Month
I'm gonna try and post something Halloween related every day for the rest of the month.
This first one is a sketch I did for Aaron last Halloween.
CD Cover - Scurfalicious
Andrew did this picture in school. It is a line contour study he did as a self portrait. I have it on my wall in the office. I thought it looks like he's a DJ so I added some turn tables and decided to turn it into a CD cover. DJ Scurfy Budoo, aka: A. Larry Stones, aka: Scurf Cube, aka: The Scurfmeister, aka: Drew Badoo.
Self Portrait - more light study than shadow
This one isn't the self portrait. I was copying the skull off some album cover that I can't remember now. It came up on Pandora when I was at work and I wanted to see if I could reproduce the same kind of shadow/light effect.
This is the self portrait. I didn't have my wacom on both of these so they are kinda rough. Who am I kidding ... they would look just as rough with the wacom ... it just would have taken half the time. 
Aaron and Shadows
I've been studying shadows lately and did this sketch of Aaron. I did it at work without my wacom so it is a little rough.
Poem of Perseverance
I'm not normally a poetry lover, but because I have been thinking a lot about adversity and because I recently read the Ballad of Yukon Jake and The Cremation of Sam McGee, I ran across this poem and liked it.
The Quitter, by Robert Service
When you're lost in the Wild, and you're scared as a child,
And Death looks you bang in the eye,
And you're sore as a boil, it’s according to Hoyle
To cock your revolver and . . . die.
But the Code of a Man says: "Fight all you can,"
And self-dissolution is barred.
In hunger and woe, oh, it’s easy to blow . . .
It’s the hell-served-for-breakfast that’s hard.
"You're sick of the game!" Well, now that’s a shame.
You're young and you're brave and you're bright.
"You've had a raw deal!" I know — but don't squeal,
Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight.
It’s the plugging away that will win you the day,
So don't be a piker, old pard!
Just draw on your grit, it’s so easy to quit.
It’s the keeping-your chin-up that’s hard.
It’s easy to cry that you're beaten — and die;
It’s easy to crawfish and crawl;
But to fight and to fight when hope’s out of sight —
Why that’s the best game of them all!
And though you come out of each gruelling bout,
All broken and battered and scarred,
Just have one more try — it’s dead easy to die,
It’s the keeping-on-living that’s hard.
Job - integrity and character
I taught the book of Job in Gospel Doctrine on Sunday and I never appreciated Job's example of kindness to others. It was the Apostle Paul who said to lift up the hands that hang down (Heb. 12:12) and again these words were used in a latter day revelation (D&C 81:5). President Monson asks members to hold up the hands that hang down. But I think the first place this was used was by Job's friend to describe Job's compassion and charity (Job 4:3-4, "...thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.") I also really enjoyed hearing about his service to the poor, the fatherless, him that had no help, the widow, the blind, and the lame (Job 29:12-16).
Here is a depiction of Job by Gustave Doré (1832-1883). He is one of my favorite artists.
Bad Wizard
This is my take on Michael David's antagonist for the book he was writing before his mish. He is an evil wizard. I drew it in 2007 and colored it last week. 
Mission
I got this message from one of my companions from serving a mission in Brazil. He got it from one of the people we taught. I love his testimony. The translation is below:
Spear sou um rapaz de 5 irmãos que voçê e E. Stones batizaram em 1996 na ala de Parque Albano. Lembro muito de voçês e sou grato por voçês terem me ensinado o evangelho. Eu fiz missão de tempo integral aqui no Brasil no ano de 2002-2004. Casei-me no templo em 2005 e tenho uma família muito linda. Hoje eu sirvo no bispado de minha ala e estamos crescendo muito. Espero mais notícias de voçê e sua família. Estou bem feliz em ter lhe enconcontrado. Como voçê está? Quando vem a Fortaleza? Voçê lembra de mim? Obrigado por seu trabalho aqui no Brasil, sei que voçê e Stones foram guiados por Deus para nos encontrarem. Na época de meu Batismo eu tinha 14 anos. Hoje eu tenho 28 anos e sou muito grato por aquela época. Espero que sempre sejamos amigos agora. Cristo vive! E este evangelho é de luz e verdade. Joseph Smith foi realmente um Profeta de Deus.
Translation:
Spear, I am a young man of 5 brothers that you and E. Stones baptized in 1996 in the Parque Albano ward. I remember you two very well and am grateful that you taught me the gospel. I served a fulltime mission here in Brazil from 2002-2004, got married in the temple in 2005 and have a beautiful family. Today I’m serving in the bishopric in my ward and it’s growing a lot. I hope to get more news of you and your family. I am happy to have found you. How are you? When are you coming to Fortaleza? Do you remember me? Thank you for your work in Brazil, I know that you and E. Stones were guided by God to find us. When I was baptized I was 14 years old. Today I am 28 years old and very grateful for that time. I hope that we can always be friends. Christ lives! And this gospel is the light and truth. Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God.
Spear sou um rapaz de 5 irmãos que voçê e E. Stones batizaram em 1996 na ala de Parque Albano. Lembro muito de voçês e sou grato por voçês terem me ensinado o evangelho. Eu fiz missão de tempo integral aqui no Brasil no ano de 2002-2004. Casei-me no templo em 2005 e tenho uma família muito linda. Hoje eu sirvo no bispado de minha ala e estamos crescendo muito. Espero mais notícias de voçê e sua família. Estou bem feliz em ter lhe enconcontrado. Como voçê está? Quando vem a Fortaleza? Voçê lembra de mim? Obrigado por seu trabalho aqui no Brasil, sei que voçê e Stones foram guiados por Deus para nos encontrarem. Na época de meu Batismo eu tinha 14 anos. Hoje eu tenho 28 anos e sou muito grato por aquela época. Espero que sempre sejamos amigos agora. Cristo vive! E este evangelho é de luz e verdade. Joseph Smith foi realmente um Profeta de Deus.
Translation:
Spear, I am a young man of 5 brothers that you and E. Stones baptized in 1996 in the Parque Albano ward. I remember you two very well and am grateful that you taught me the gospel. I served a fulltime mission here in Brazil from 2002-2004, got married in the temple in 2005 and have a beautiful family. Today I’m serving in the bishopric in my ward and it’s growing a lot. I hope to get more news of you and your family. I am happy to have found you. How are you? When are you coming to Fortaleza? Do you remember me? Thank you for your work in Brazil, I know that you and E. Stones were guided by God to find us. When I was baptized I was 14 years old. Today I am 28 years old and very grateful for that time. I hope that we can always be friends. Christ lives! And this gospel is the light and truth. Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God.
Ninja Turtles
Two weeks before Aaron died, he and I were working on our ideas of what the ninja turtles would look like now (no longer teenagers but 35-45 year olds). I took the stance that their mutations didn't slow down either. Here are my sketches. I'll find Aaron's and post them later.
Raph
Raph again
Donny
Don again, working on a robo ninja babe.
Raph
Raph again
Donny
Don again, working on a robo ninja babe.
50 things you may not know about me - or care about at all
1. In addition to a cup collection, I also have a monster collection. I have almost 800 images of monsters, ghouls, hags, dragons, demons and zombies. Some are cute and some scare the bejabbers out of me.
2. Me and two other guys in my high school math class told our substitute teacher that we were going to the library to study for another class. We went to the Conoco down the street instead and got caught by our real math teacher who didn’t get us in trouble because she was ditching too.
3. I am afraid of gorillas and I never watch shark week on the Discovery Channel.
4. I have been scuba diving 58 times but never in the ocean.
5. A guy was picking on me and a couple other kids at school. I punched him in the chest, broke his sternum and we were friends after that. He’s the only guy I’ve ever punched.
6. I won first place in the long jump in my fifth grade track and field day.
7. I did over 100 pushups within 5 minutes last year. I can only do 22 now.
8. If my last cell phone ever shows up, I plan on seeing how many times I can skip it across a lake.
9. Regardless of how lame some of the characters and acting were in the new Star Wars movies, all 6 episodes will remain my favorite.
10. In my college writing class at Ricks, my professor asked if my fictional story on a seductive witch that lived next door to us was true.
11. My worst bicycle crash ever was halfway through a 50 mile ride for the bike merit badge. I finished the bike ride.
12. I can’t beat the last level of StarCraft Brood War.
13. I have unlocked every character in Mario Kart Wii (I prefer Peach on the Dolphin Dasher).
14. I can write beautiful HTML code without a GUI but my cursive writing stinks.
15. I am 20% done with my squirrel book, 10% done with my space cowboy book, 9% done with the Return of the Canafantines (which is actually part two of the story), and 100% done with the outline for a book on Charlie Conway (Aaron and I collaborated on this about 2 years ago). I have ideas for 6 other books that I refuse to start until I finish one of these first.
16. The squirrel book was originally intended to be a graphic novel and still might be.
17. When I was 9 years old, Cindy, who lived in our basement took me to a burger shop and bought be 8 $.25 hamburgers, that I ate and then rode my bike home with her.
18. My record stands at 14 pancakes and 9 waffles.
19. For a while on my mission I practiced lucid dreaming and became good at it. I can’t do it anymore.
20. I wrote in my journal almost every day from the time I was 17 to the time I was 22, now only once a month.
21. I am good at Dance Dance revolution, but I would rather drop a bowling ball on my tongue than actually dance in public. Although Andi and I took a short latin dance class a while ago and I liked it.
22. While messing around on top of Mount Audubon, I was chucking rocks at the ptarmigans that ran from us about 50 feet away and actually hit one and broke its neck. I feel bad about that.
23. I’ve never smoked, drank alcohol or coffee but enjoy the occasional diet coke.
24. I’ve tried to be open minded and listened to country music with hopes that it would grow on me, but it hasn’t. I like every other kind of music.
25. I think Andi has the most beautiful hands of anyone I have ever met. She could be a hand model.
26. I knew I wanted to marry her on our third date and we started talking about marriage after dating for two weeks.
27. If I could be any nationality, I would be a tall bald black man or a large Samoan. Those guys have some serious biceps but they always seem so gentle.
28. If I could design the scariest monster for a pet, it would be a smart gorilla with a shark head and bat wings. Man that would scare the pants off any burglar.
29. One of my guilty confessions is that I like reading Dilbert comics and haven’t missed a comic in 7 years. I also maintain my geekhood by reading Slashdot.com and I’ve installed and maintained multiple Linux operating systems for fun.
30. I’ve never had a tattoo. I just can’t think of anything worthy of the canvas.
31. I’ve never had a piercing unless you count the lawn chair that went through my waist while camping at Lake McConaughy or the rock that went through my shin while mountain biking.
32. I have a deep distrust for pharmaceutical companies, but a lack of faith in homeopathic (placebo) meds.
33. The Kindle E-reader, Amazon.com and I-tunes were my ideas. I told one of my old bosses about them 17 years ago and he thought I should do it and would make millions. He was wrong. I would have made billions.
34. I don’t mind that I’m getting some grey hair on the sides, going bald or getting wrinkles around my eyes. I think the wrinkles make me look cool.
35. I’ve had the same picture on my drivers license since I was 18.
36. I’ve shared a home with my son Andrew just as long as I shared a home with my brother Michael David.
37. I have 5 thriving plants in my office that were all cut-offs from dead or dying plants.
38. After working with Grandpa Baker for multiple summers at the nursery and working construction jobs the other summers, I decided at a young age that I was going to get a college education to avoid manual labor jobs. Now I want to go out and dig ditches, plant bushes and prune trees. I don’t miss piecing together sprinkler systems though.
39. I drove a big red dump truck when I was on a construction crew because all the other workers had DUIs.
40. I’ve always had a hard time getting interested in college or professional sports.
41. I rode my bike over 1000 miles during the last year. In 2005 I rode over 3000 miles.
42. I eat oatmeal mixed with low fat cottage cheese, peanut butter and Splenda almost every morning for breakfast.
43. I never took a single art or music class in college.
44. I like olives now. There really isn’t a food I don’t like.
45. I fall asleep really easily at night and I frequently have dreams that I’m flying or happily breathing under water.
46. I consider myself a fast food hamburger connoisseur. Here is how I rate them: Carl’s Jr., In N’ Out, Burger King, 5 Guys, Wendy’s, Fat Burger, McDonalds. I don’t have any experience with Jack in the Box. I also really like the Peppercorn burger at Chili’s, but they don’t serve it anymore.
47. I still draw pictures and color with my kids during sacrament meeting. It actually helps me listen.
48. I’ve had three speeding tickets, but none within the last 8 years.
49. I use hand gestures when talking to people on the phone.
50. I show no mercy to people when playing nerf. I’ll walk right up to my own daughter and pop her in the head with a nerf dart. Oh, your eye hurts now? Well boo hoo! Then I shoot them again in the forehead. But I’m a huge pacifist outside of nerf.
2. Me and two other guys in my high school math class told our substitute teacher that we were going to the library to study for another class. We went to the Conoco down the street instead and got caught by our real math teacher who didn’t get us in trouble because she was ditching too.
3. I am afraid of gorillas and I never watch shark week on the Discovery Channel.
4. I have been scuba diving 58 times but never in the ocean.
5. A guy was picking on me and a couple other kids at school. I punched him in the chest, broke his sternum and we were friends after that. He’s the only guy I’ve ever punched.
6. I won first place in the long jump in my fifth grade track and field day.
7. I did over 100 pushups within 5 minutes last year. I can only do 22 now.
8. If my last cell phone ever shows up, I plan on seeing how many times I can skip it across a lake.
9. Regardless of how lame some of the characters and acting were in the new Star Wars movies, all 6 episodes will remain my favorite.
10. In my college writing class at Ricks, my professor asked if my fictional story on a seductive witch that lived next door to us was true.
11. My worst bicycle crash ever was halfway through a 50 mile ride for the bike merit badge. I finished the bike ride.
12. I can’t beat the last level of StarCraft Brood War.
13. I have unlocked every character in Mario Kart Wii (I prefer Peach on the Dolphin Dasher).
14. I can write beautiful HTML code without a GUI but my cursive writing stinks.
15. I am 20% done with my squirrel book, 10% done with my space cowboy book, 9% done with the Return of the Canafantines (which is actually part two of the story), and 100% done with the outline for a book on Charlie Conway (Aaron and I collaborated on this about 2 years ago). I have ideas for 6 other books that I refuse to start until I finish one of these first.
16. The squirrel book was originally intended to be a graphic novel and still might be.
17. When I was 9 years old, Cindy, who lived in our basement took me to a burger shop and bought be 8 $.25 hamburgers, that I ate and then rode my bike home with her.
18. My record stands at 14 pancakes and 9 waffles.
19. For a while on my mission I practiced lucid dreaming and became good at it. I can’t do it anymore.
20. I wrote in my journal almost every day from the time I was 17 to the time I was 22, now only once a month.
21. I am good at Dance Dance revolution, but I would rather drop a bowling ball on my tongue than actually dance in public. Although Andi and I took a short latin dance class a while ago and I liked it.
22. While messing around on top of Mount Audubon, I was chucking rocks at the ptarmigans that ran from us about 50 feet away and actually hit one and broke its neck. I feel bad about that.
23. I’ve never smoked, drank alcohol or coffee but enjoy the occasional diet coke.
24. I’ve tried to be open minded and listened to country music with hopes that it would grow on me, but it hasn’t. I like every other kind of music.
25. I think Andi has the most beautiful hands of anyone I have ever met. She could be a hand model.
26. I knew I wanted to marry her on our third date and we started talking about marriage after dating for two weeks.
27. If I could be any nationality, I would be a tall bald black man or a large Samoan. Those guys have some serious biceps but they always seem so gentle.
28. If I could design the scariest monster for a pet, it would be a smart gorilla with a shark head and bat wings. Man that would scare the pants off any burglar.
29. One of my guilty confessions is that I like reading Dilbert comics and haven’t missed a comic in 7 years. I also maintain my geekhood by reading Slashdot.com and I’ve installed and maintained multiple Linux operating systems for fun.
30. I’ve never had a tattoo. I just can’t think of anything worthy of the canvas.
31. I’ve never had a piercing unless you count the lawn chair that went through my waist while camping at Lake McConaughy or the rock that went through my shin while mountain biking.
32. I have a deep distrust for pharmaceutical companies, but a lack of faith in homeopathic (placebo) meds.
33. The Kindle E-reader, Amazon.com and I-tunes were my ideas. I told one of my old bosses about them 17 years ago and he thought I should do it and would make millions. He was wrong. I would have made billions.
34. I don’t mind that I’m getting some grey hair on the sides, going bald or getting wrinkles around my eyes. I think the wrinkles make me look cool.
35. I’ve had the same picture on my drivers license since I was 18.
36. I’ve shared a home with my son Andrew just as long as I shared a home with my brother Michael David.
37. I have 5 thriving plants in my office that were all cut-offs from dead or dying plants.
38. After working with Grandpa Baker for multiple summers at the nursery and working construction jobs the other summers, I decided at a young age that I was going to get a college education to avoid manual labor jobs. Now I want to go out and dig ditches, plant bushes and prune trees. I don’t miss piecing together sprinkler systems though.
39. I drove a big red dump truck when I was on a construction crew because all the other workers had DUIs.
40. I’ve always had a hard time getting interested in college or professional sports.
41. I rode my bike over 1000 miles during the last year. In 2005 I rode over 3000 miles.
42. I eat oatmeal mixed with low fat cottage cheese, peanut butter and Splenda almost every morning for breakfast.
43. I never took a single art or music class in college.
44. I like olives now. There really isn’t a food I don’t like.
45. I fall asleep really easily at night and I frequently have dreams that I’m flying or happily breathing under water.
46. I consider myself a fast food hamburger connoisseur. Here is how I rate them: Carl’s Jr., In N’ Out, Burger King, 5 Guys, Wendy’s, Fat Burger, McDonalds. I don’t have any experience with Jack in the Box. I also really like the Peppercorn burger at Chili’s, but they don’t serve it anymore.
47. I still draw pictures and color with my kids during sacrament meeting. It actually helps me listen.
48. I’ve had three speeding tickets, but none within the last 8 years.
49. I use hand gestures when talking to people on the phone.
50. I show no mercy to people when playing nerf. I’ll walk right up to my own daughter and pop her in the head with a nerf dart. Oh, your eye hurts now? Well boo hoo! Then I shoot them again in the forehead. But I’m a huge pacifist outside of nerf.
Wacom - Bamboo
I got a Bamboo Wacom pad for my birthday yesterday. Here are the sketches for the first 45 minutes of me getting a feel for it.
Friday - Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey is following Andy Warhol as the next big pop culture artist. I used one of his prints as inspiration for the one's below. I was trying to create a repeatable pattern. This is done in Gimp. I learned a lot by doing this. I'm not a big Warhol fan, but I like Shepard's work. 
Ambigram - Reck
Reck, well if you don't already know her, she is a good friend. Here is her ambigram.
Philo Thursday - Ambigram refined
Tyler's ambigram refined to a logo. He is turning 15 and I thought it would be cool to give him his own skateboard company. It doesn't cost anything to create an LLC in CO and I got him a free website. Don't tell him.
Wednesday Drawing - Tyler Ambigram Sticker
I just love making ambigrams. I'm sure my nephew Tyler doesn't follow my blog, so I think it is safe to post this. I'm going to print a sticker of it for his skateboard as a birthday present.
Monday - Logo
Just a temporary new logo above. Yellowbus is a hard ambigram. I'd love to see anyone elses suggestions on how to make it better.
Weekend update: nightmare, sleep paralysis, pansy
So for anyone who hasn't already poked fun at me for screaming like a little girl the other night, here is the story. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't move. I looked up and I saw a guy standing over me. 
I knew he wanted to kill me but I couldn't do anything. This is when Andi woke me up because she said I was "screaming like a little girl."
At the same time, Mylie woke up in the middle of the night and happened to walk in on me screaming like her. When I finally moved and saw her black silhoette standing by my bed, I almost punched her through the wall if not for Andi holding me back.
The next day I got to work at read my usual geek news and here is one of the articles that I read about Sleep Paralysis. Here is a pic from the article.
It says that I'm not the only one who screams like a little girl ... or at least I'm not the only one who has terrorizing dreams of someone standing on me in my sleep.
Let me know if you have ever had a similar experience.
I knew he wanted to kill me but I couldn't do anything. This is when Andi woke me up because she said I was "screaming like a little girl."
At the same time, Mylie woke up in the middle of the night and happened to walk in on me screaming like her. When I finally moved and saw her black silhoette standing by my bed, I almost punched her through the wall if not for Andi holding me back.
The next day I got to work at read my usual geek news and here is one of the articles that I read about Sleep Paralysis. Here is a pic from the article.
It says that I'm not the only one who screams like a little girl ... or at least I'm not the only one who has terrorizing dreams of someone standing on me in my sleep. Let me know if you have ever had a similar experience.
Writing Friday - Ambigrams again
Here is an ambigram for Andrew's blog, Scurfy Budoo. Don't flip your monitor upside down. Just trust me it is the same both ways.
Philosophy Thursday - Ambigrams
I read Angels and Demons a while back and loved the idea of ambigrams. The title of the new movie in the promo posters is an ambigram. Ambigrams read the same updside down. I thought it would be fun to try it out. Here are my first two attempts and the one from Angles and Demons and then one more just for fun.
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