Gone Daddy Gone

"Some cause happiness wherever they go;
Others, whenever they go." - Oscar Wilde

Hey lads & lasses..Ol' Blue Eyes is back! Here's a new KennaSketch
for you to enjoy. I'm so amazed at how fast she's growing....
Doesn't she look like a 'tween? (that, by the way, is what
advertisers are calling kids be"tween" the ages of 8 and 12...too old to be an infant-too young to be a teenager...they actually created a demographic to sell shit to....bastards!)
Remember when a kid was just a kid? Jeez Louise!
Anyway, I know I dropped a tease about a month ago about some big
personal news for myself, and now, I can reveal that I gave notice at my job!
I will be working for the new Sears/KMart design studios that just opened
in lower Manhattan! Huzzah!
No more working for the middle man!
No more input from creatively bankrupt salespeople!
I'll be creating artwork directly for the retailer!
I'm so stoked at this wonderful opportunity!
I've had a great run at my job (between a three year hiatus, I've been there
close to 8 years) but I had obviously hit my ceiling both financially and
professionally. They still throw a mean Christmas Party though....sigh!
I'll miss it, and my mates who've become like an extended family to me.
I'll keep you posted on my new adventures in corporate America!
This has been FrogDaddy- You stay classy, Planet Earth!
Ribbit!

Déja Vu

No. You're not seeing things...I posted a picture of sweet Teagan
about two weeks ago, but lacking anything else to draw on the train lately,
I decided to revisit it and include her mischievous older brother Kieran.
Ain't he a stinker? He stood there in the swing with his tongue out waiting for me to take the picture and then when I noticed it on the digital, he gave me the biggest shit-eating grin a four year old can muster.
God- I miss that age!
I should be back on track with more KennaSketches next week.
Enjoy the long weekend!
F-Diddy

Keep Your Friends Close, But Your Communion Wafers Closer

Wow. It's been a week between posts...ain't got much to say,
but then again, neither do you. Here's a rushed gift for my
GodDaughter who made her First Holy Communion last week.
She's on the left next to her sister. She's my daughter's first friend.
She seemed to really appreciate it, which made me feel great
as I felt like I didn't quite capture her playful spirit.
As always, I'm my own worst critic.
Maybe I can stop doing Suduko on the train and dust off the sketchbook soon....

Mother's Little Helper

Happy Mother's Day!
This post shall go to my wife, Michele- the mother of my little muse.
If most of these KennaSketches show our daughter to be a vivacious,
outgoing, confident and happy child, that is in no small part due to you.
She wears your love like a cozy JCrew jersey knit sweater with contrasting coverstitch.
I borrow, crib, and outright steal every parenting trick in the book from
you and somehow end up looking like an alright dad in the process.
You amaze me on a daily basis.
So thank you, and take the day off, ma Belle.
With Love-
FrogDooley

Who Cares?

Drew this on the train ride home while
listening to the album of the year -"St. Elsewhere"
by Gnarls Barkley (a team-up up Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse
who- it seemed, just a year ago was this illegal underground mash-up DJ
and now he's everywhere!)
It's like some sort of forgotten sweet 60's soul throwback record...
It'll put a smile on your face and a shuffle to your step.
When it's playing as I walk to work, I feel like I'm in the movie
"Fame" and everyone'll stop what they're doing and start shimmying
down the street with me in time to the music.
Maybe I should ask my doctor to double my dose.
It's so much better than just about anything you're listening to
at the moment so pick it up, you won't regret it.
Did I mention they're called Gnarls Barkley?

Forgive Me, Father...

"I stopped outside a church house
Where the citizens like to sit
They say they want the kingdom
But they don't want God in it."- U2 (via Johnny Cash)

Since I'm in between sketches, why not something from back in the day?
(which, from what I'm told, was a Wednesday-dunno if you knew that...)
Now before you burn me at the stake, allow me to explain the project.
I had just entered the first year of my Bachelor's degree in Illustration.
Our materials and techniques teacher, Morton Kaish, wanted us to
Take a black and white photograph and render it with graphite pencil so
closely, that you'd have a hard time telling apart the drawing from the photo.
Week Two's lesson had us taking the same photo and redrawing it-
focusing only on the eyes, nose, and mouth of the portrait.
Then for Week Three, we were to take a Xerox of the first photo and
mutilate it however way you wanted to achieve maximum graphic impact. O.K....
Now looking at this piece, there's no way you'd think it was produced
by an Irish American with 8 years of Catholic School and another four
at a Jesuit Military School! Jaysus, Mary, & Joseph!
I still to this day wonder why I picked a picture of a priest. I had
no idea what the end result of this project would be.
And the burnt priest collage with the rosary? Ay Dio Mio!
Please believe me when I say it was all done for dramatic effect
and in no way represents my feelings towards any organized religion.
I'm fairly agnostic myself these days....but that's another blog.....
Anywhoo, Long story longer....this actually hung in the Metropolitan Museum of Art!
(Sure it was for an employee art show, but how many artists can say that about one
of their works?)
Ribbit!

Baby Teagan

Here's a quick sketch of a girl who turned one
this past Saturday. We attended her birthday party and I
pushed her on a rope swing.
She stole my heart with her doe eyes
and easy smile...whatta beauty!
More sketches and maybe some big personal news to come...(whatta tease!)
P.S.- got the new Raconteurs disc....it drinks from the goblet of rawk.