Illustration Friday: Clandestine

Here's something I drew for a clothing store company newsletter a couple of years back. The article was written for retail associates during the holiday season and how they were to beware of shoppers with large coats and kids in strollers. Can you see all the hidden articles of clothing?

Illustration Friday: Voices

Here's another sketch from "open mike" at a local coffee shop.

Sketchbook: Wheww

Sometimes you just have to chill! I've always liked this sketch in my sketchbook, so here it is. I like the looseness and confidence of the colors and line work of this watercolor sketch. It want to pursue this spontaneity in my future artwork. Merry Christmas everyone!

Sketchbook: Architectural Sketch

Here's an architectural gem that caught my eye from my sister-in-law's living room in Kensington, CA. I just had to paint it!

Illustration Friday: Rambunctious

Here's "Get Well Soon" graphic I drew for a friend of mine while recovering from a motorcycle spill. His initials are on the belt buckle. I hoped he took it in the right way and found the humor in it . . . which he did. Whewww!

Illustration Friday: Similar

Anybody got the sweet tooth? Here's two people who have "similar" tastes. Check out www.sugarfrostedgoodness.com for some great artwork.

Some artwork to add to my online portfolio

I had a little time so I'm updating my website. The art directors said they wanted bigger images so they could see more detail, so here they are. Click on each image for bigger ones.

Hey, that's me...with my little buddies!


A page I drew that was published in Mad Magazine. My pride and joy!


An ad I did for KPIX-Channel 5, a local tv station.

Each of these illos are linked to my new online portfolio website:
www.vernmercado.com

Let's see if you can find the links. hee hee

Illustration Friday: Balloon

Here's a sketch I drew while vacationing at Disney World in Florida. I remembered I had a balloon in it, so here it is. Good memories. It was a great time on the "happiest place on earth".

Sketchbook: Turkey Day Message

Don't eat so much so that you can't get up early enough on Friday morning to shop! You'll miss all the good deals.

Happy Holidays from vern@vernscartoons.com!

Sketchbook: Open Mike Singer

I sketched this while watching a bluegrass group during an open mike session at a local cafe. I drew it a couple of months back but never posted it. While flipping through my sketchbook, it jumped out at me so here it is. Enjoy!

Illustration Friday: Opinion

C'mon. Who voted in this last election? It was an important one. Did anyone do something like this?

Thanksgiving E-card

Sketchbook: Concord Garage near the Movie Theater

Having a little spare time, I drew this in my sketchbook while waiting for my friend Claudio to watch a movie. It's a parking garage that's across the street from the local theater. It's in the center of my town of Concord, CA. It's in the downtown shopping area and blends in with the surrounding architecture of the area. I believe Concord has the best downtown plaza compared to all the surrounding towns. I'll have to draw more sketches of the plaza to show you. Through these quick sketches, I'm learning to use the economy of line with simplified darks to communicate volume.

Terry Parker High Reunion Drawings

Here's an image I drew for a masthead for our reunion website. I added a bit of color. Click here to see the site.

Illustration Friday: Pretend & my "200th Post"

How many families have this guy in your home? Justin Timberlake he ain't, but it's always fun to "pretend" (especially with such good acoustics in the shower room).

Hey, I just looked at my stats and it says that it's my 200th post to this blog. Cool. I'll keep posting, you keep coming back!

See you next time my 'peeps. Thanks for all the comments and visits through the years. I owe you big time. To each and everyone of you - Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you ... (15,631 times as of this writing). Have a good week everyone.

I think I'll have a cold one!

Illustration Friday: Wise

Good luck to all you kids taking their S.A.T.s soon. May you make all the "wise" decisions.

Terry Parker High Reunion Drawings

Does anyone know "smoke signal"?

More drawings for my 30 year high school reunion. See it colored in another posting.

Sketchbook: APE Experiment

I went to the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco yesterday and it inspired me to put this together. I painted the image on my trip back to "suburbia-land" on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train. I wanted to put my architecture and cartoony stuff together. Wow, there were certainly a lot of good artists there today. A source of great inspiration!

Illustration Friday: Vacant

This illo is an homage to this Halloween weekend.
Q: What could be more "spooky" then an old abandoned cemetery?
A: Being inside a "vacant" building near that cemetery. :)

Bye for now, see you next week.

Sketchbook: Saint James Church

Here's another gem. Sketched across the street from St. James Church on 23rd and Gerrero. Then, Photoshop enhanced when I got home.

Sketchbook: La Boheme Cafe at 24th and Mission

A quick sketch while sipping coffee in a San Francisco coffee shop: La Boheme in the Mission district at 24th Avenue and Mission Street. It's an old cafe that's been there forever. Sketching alongside a new artist friend of mine named Rick King. As an experiment, I took along my old fashioned crow quill pen and bottle of India ink. I seemed to have liked the results. I'll have to do it more often. There's nothing that has more richness then an old San Francisco cafe I came to realize. It's a great stress reliever too which I've been experiencing a lot of lately.

Illustration Friday: Repair

Sitting in a coffee shop, I noticed a couple without coffee and talking about how to "repair" their relationship.

Illustration Friday: Late and Climbing

Where are these guys running to? They must be late!

There's something I really enjoy about this drawing which is why I'm posting it. It was drawn in a truly emotional time in my life. You can add whatever poetic meaning you want to it. Just enjoy it.

Illustration Friday: Strings

Something from my sketchbook drawn while on vacation.

Terry Parker High Reunion Invititation

My thirty year high school class reunion is currently being planned and I was asked to draw up an invite. Whewww, time flies (when you're having fun)! I can't believe all these years have gone by so quickly. It's for Terry Parker High School in Jacksonville, Florida. Ahhh, the good '0l days. Oh yeah, our team mascots were the "Braves" which explains the guy and gal with the megaphones.

BTW, it must be Barack Obama's reunion year too. I keep hearing on the newscasts that he's the same age as me. I know I'm getting up there in the years when a candidate for president is the same age. Sheesh.

Creekside Artists: First Plein Air Outing

For the first time, my hometown artist group (Creekside Artists in Clayton, CA) had a Plein Air outing. We set up our chairs and easels near the flower stand at the weekly farmer's market down a bustling downtown street. The wind was brisk, but the coffee and friendships warmed the heart. It's nice to see our little town getting more involved with the art scene. A special thanks to Arlene and Alice for putting this all together. Hopefully this is the first of many. Happy painting everyone.

Illustration Friday: Sugary

Here's my contrib for this week's word "sugary". How appropriate, tomorrow's my birthday. Have a good week everyone.

Illustration Friday: Packed

Reach for the sky, pot'ner! This sketch came to mind for this week's IF word: "Packed".

Illustration Friday: Clique

Here's a quick sketch for this week's word "Clique". I'm playing around a bit with my dipping pen and ink again as I was inspired by the work at the Charles Schultz Museum by the master himself. I tried to draw kings and queens in their typical poses of "drama".

Drawing my dog Angel with the same pen and ink from above. I really liked the quality of the line, so I'm posting it. The lines really seem to speak to me, like a symphony of various sounds only it's in lines. I've noticed that when I draw a quick line and I'm confident with the stroke, I get the best results.

Have a good week everyone.

Illustration Friday: Island (No. 2)

Here's another image for this week's word. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Actually, I drew it during a vacation on the back of a postcard for my office. Ahhhh, paradise! I could use another vacation right about now. :)

Illustration Friday: Island

For this week, I was going to draw what everyone else would think about for the word "island" but then I always want something a little bit different. Listening to my Ipod and sipping some coffee as I drew, I thought of this image. I looked at my phone just sitting on the table. Let's just say it's a modern day "desert island" with the new electronic gizmos that we just can't live without. We totally shut ourselves out just like we were on a desert island or something. :)

Sketchbook: The Redwood Empire Ice Arena

I painted this while at "The Redwood Empire Ice Arena" next to the Charles Schultz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA. It was built by Mr. & Mrs. Schultz in the late 60's, built for their love of ice skating being from their home state of Minnesota. Here's the link.

Sketchbook: Saratoga Archway

Experimenting with watercolors, lineart, and Photoshop. I painted this outside of a Starbuck's coffee shop admiring an architectural archway across the street.

A special thanks to Alina this weekend for inspiring me with her wonderful sketchbook.

Illustration Friday: Clutter

Here's an image I drew for a spot newspaper illustration. The article mentioned Cheetos, a receipt, and Twinkies.

Right now, we're headed to the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, CA to meet up with some very special friends. Yippeee! See you next week.

Sighting of my book on display

Doug Lipp, the author of the book that I illustrated: Stuck in the Middle Seat: Why Traveling Can Really Suck! sent me this photo from a Sacramento book store. Wow! That yellow really stands out. Looks great!

Sketchbook: Top Floor of the San Francisco Center

This Labor Day weekend, my family and I went to the San Francisco Center to do a bit of shopping. This is a fourth floor view looking onto an existing Beaus Arts dome below. I like the result of the drawing since I didn't use a pencil to sketch everything out prior to inking. My pen just followed the lines as I saw them. The drawing seemed to have taken on a life of it's own.

Illustration Friday: Memories

Here's my entry for this week's word: "Memories". This image that can be shared by both grand-parents and grand-kids alike. Have a great Labor Day Weekend. See you next week!

Illustration Friday: Routine

Here's my interpretation for this week's word. I probably thought of a dentist because I have a "routine" dental appointment tomorrow morning. How could Harry possibly answer when he's got those darned calipers around his tongue?

Illustration Friday: Detach

Here's my entry for this week's word "detach".

Illustration Friday: Sail

Here's something I painted while observing the San Francisco Bay. Not quite my usual image style, but it's fun to try other things sometimes! The scenery just inspired me at the time, so I painted it. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: Poof No. 2

I just couldn't resist. Here's a second entry to this week's word. A little "green" humor here. Have a good week everyone.

Illustration Friday: Poof

Here's something I did a while back that matches this week's word. This is dedicated to all you stock market junkies out there. Who remembers the stock crash of the 20's? If you do, you'd be in your 80s or 90s. More power to ya, it's great that you use the internet! For us 40 somethings, we surely remember the crash of the 80's. That was certainly something to remember, wasn't it?

Illustration Friday: Canned

Hearing this week's word "canned" made me think of this image. Who remembers doing this as a kid? Of course, these were used most in the pre-cell phone days. Hee hee. They really worked! Have a good week everyone. To all of you at ComiCon this week, wish I was there!

Sketchbook Entry: Eye on the Ball

A little something I found in my files. I drew this several years ago but thought it would be fun to share with you.

Illustration Friday: Enough

Just how much is "enough"? If any of you have been to a Casino, you know how great it is to get payback after dumping all those quarters into the slot. For the very few times that I've been, one thing I've learned is knowing when to stop and get those theater tickets before everything is gone again ... but I always get greedy and want more.

Drawn on some napkins at a local Coffee Shop, then scanned and colored in Photoshop when I got home. Notice the patina from the napkin that I tried to keep. Also, I scanned the recycled cup holder and used it as a background element.

Illustration Friday: Foggy

Here's my take on "Foggy". It was inspired by my college days.