The Doodle Bug

"the steadfast bobby" (pencil concept sketches) the concept for this is simple... never leaving his post, this bobby is diligent in observing the things that go on from this street corner but for some reason he never acts to intervene or get caught up in the rumblings and squabbling of others. he is quite suspicious of them generally speaking, and he does use that squinty sidewise glare to try to dissuade hooligans from misbehaving but that is pretty much all he does... i loved drawing the wonky buildings for the background, all askew...and of course the cobblestoned streets. can't get enough of those. i could totally hear him walking his beat with those hard leather soled shoes, but since he never leaves his post...well, you get it. there is a moon somewhere, i haven't decided its position in the foggy sky just yet. the scene will also be lit by various old-timey streetlamps. yup, this is in london during a much earlier time, much, much earlier.

"bouncer-bot" (7x5.15", digital) this was a completely digital effort. the sketch to the left was with a brush in photoshop that started the whole digital pencil "thing" for me. the painted image to the right was an attempt to emulate watercolor in digital form. i learned how to use watercolor back in college one summer and i fell in love with the medium. so, after things got all digital around here, i really tried to achieve that watercolor effect when i created this robot... the idea behind him is this: there are things in our minds that we wish not to be there...things like experiences or thoughts that cause us suffering...so, i employed this 20's gangster-bot to kick these unwanted things out of my head. (smirk) anytime any uncalled-for thought manages to sneak its way into my head, a bouncer-bot is there to swiftly grab it by the pants and heave it out of my consciousness. what a handy-bot! he doesn't put up with any such mischief or tomfoolery! (o

art trek logo (3.5x3.5" pencil, digital) this is a logo i designed for an illustration critique group called art trek. it was formed a very long time ago and is, unfortunately, defunct. it was created by a great artist friend of mine and art trek was designed to be a monthly challenge thing where we would all work off a prompt and come up with something and then share this image with each other. it was cool, and now i miss it! maybe we should start it again...that would be grand! cheers to the one who conceived of this most sacred and extinct art trek!  

  "hugging robots" (pen, digital 8.5x10.5") final remember this one? i posted the original sketches back on april 7th of this year. well, here it is...the final, finally! this is a wedding present for my therapist. i got to see him after 2-3 years and actually got to give this to him in person! i hadn't needed to see him in that time as my symptoms had completely disappeared! so it was an amazing session, nothing to say but how fantastic my life has become. it was so good to see him and to be seen by him...and oh, yeah...to finally give him his wedding present! i hope you guys will share a love that stands the test of time, you both deserve nothing less! cheers!

  "fast eddie feslon" (pencil, 5x7") 6-19-2022 (for my dad's father's day gift) this image was from the paul newman movie, "The Hustler" (1961). one of my dad's all-time favorite flics. this is the movie that inspired my dad to teach himself how to play pool, and he's fantastic at straight pool. in the movie, ames is the pool hall where the fated match between minnesota fats and fast eddie felson takes place. my dad actually made a sacred pilgrimage to ames! how cool is that?  the scene i chose for this drawing is where this quote comes in... (minnesota fats) "Shoot pool, Eddie." (fast eddie felson)"I'm shooting pool, Fats. When I miss, you can shoot." this is such a great moment in the film, cause fast eddie is the underdog but knows he's better than fats. the confidence in this moment kills me. classic. if you look at the original still from the movie and then back at my drawing, you can see i changed the position o

"the hydromatic 7.300" (pencil, 5x7") guessing that's its name for the time being! lol this bot was designed specifically for today which is national hydration day! "WHY WE LOVE NATIONAL HYDRATION DAY: It encourages healthy physical activity We all know how great exercise can be for our health but working out while dehydrated is anything but healthy. Water provides your body with the power and fuel it needs to get you through a workout or a busy afternoon outside. When you’re properly hydrated, you’re able to exercise in a happy, healthy way—and that makes your mind and body happy. It inspires people to make other positive choices When you’re properly hydrated, you may find that you feel a lot better than you do when your body is short on water. (After all, dehydration can cause symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and feelings of exhaustion.) Getting into the habit of drinking water more often can feel like a victory, and that may inspire you to build other heal

*(just wanted to let you know that robots are everywhere!) sorry, no art this morning...but i did want to let you in on what i'm working on this week. just getting back into my studio schedule after a long weekend of misbehavior and having a blast in nature. but now i'm back to work! one of my top priorities is chipping away at the old knight robot painting. and getting back to this bot has been a blast for me. my approach (in photoshop layers specifically) has changed dramatically since march. so, working back into this image is...weird. "what in the world? how can anyone work like this?" so many improvements are being made and it's interesting to learn how i've grown as a digital artist. so, i am making progress there... i will be working on a small, hopefully, quick piece today for tomorrow's post (national hydration day, june 23rd, 2022) actually, it has to be quick...it's for tomorrow! i have something wacky planned for this image. i'm not goi

  the professor's ever-smoking machines (pencil sketch, digital background...7x5") this was the father's day card i gave to my amazing brother this year... and the fact that these machines are ever-smoking well, that's just a fact. but the professor never gives up...he keeps tinkering, taking notes on where he thinks it all went ka-pow and tries again. he's a true scientist! the determination in this lil' guy is something i really admire about him. a mad scientist indeed, and usually very quiet...always thinking about his machines and robots. he's got a lot on his mind... i am really loving looking at all my old zot sketches, the characters and the whole world i have been developing for, well...i'm not going to admit to how long i've been working on this book. but it's inspiring to see everything i have created for it...the amount of sketches i have done for this project is crazy...but i love it! and right now i'm breathing new, and better l

  old knight robot - (digital) this piece was created for one of the online character design challenges (#87). (back in march) the prompt was "knights tournament". i had a lot of fun designing this character and it was the very first time that i inked digitally. well, like a week before the deadline, i injured my right hand (thank god i'm a leftie!) turns out it was carpal tunnel. i use my right hand for keyboard shortcuts while i use my dominant hand for my digital drawing and painting with the stylus. so the first version, the top image, is what i ended up having to submit. but the second one, that's what i had done up to that point! i need to get back to him (and i do actually need to name this robot, so if you have any thoughts or suggestions...have at it!) i worked on this painting for over an hour the other day...and man, did that feel good! i'll keep you posted...cause this really needs to be finished!

  "lumberjack robot" (ballpoint pen, digital) yeah...i'll return to you again, robot whom i adore so greatly! after some time had passed since i first drew the original i was looking at it again...with fresh eyes. i thought to myself..."oh, i can do much better than that!" and so i started resketching the robot in ballpoint pen. then i took the tree stump, and the fallen tree from the original drawing and combined the two. next, i developed the sketch into the drawing you see here. and i'm not done...many other things will be added when my schedule allows me to return again! (btw...that "thing" hanging from his necklace...it's a key to his own heart. aw. we should all be so lucky!)

"blue beard" (digital) so, is this actually considered fan art? (laughing) i always loved the name "blue beard" and thought it would be groovy to depict this pirate with an actual blue beard. i like the way this piece turned out...for many reasons, but one thing my eye keeps dancing over is the leathery, softness of his hat. (yaaaaaar.)  

  boom sequence sketches (pencil) this, i found in the sketchbook i was looking at on sunday night (the one i found taffy's paw prints in...) i'm pulling together all the sketches i can find of my book about zot. i have been focusing on the Professor over the last few days...and man, i have missed that crazy lil' inventor. i have given him a facelift over the weekend and soon i will share that with you guys...just need to tweak it a tad, but he's pretty much the true Professor now! (finally, after all these years.)...

  taffy paw prints (2001?) i found this last night as i started to reorganize the studio. i pulled it out of yet another old sketchbook... i couldn't believe what i was seeing. i mean, i remember finding it in the studio of that apartment one day and then i thought "that's pretty cool." well upon rediscovering it yesterday, i thought, "..........." yeah, there were no thoughts. just stunned amazement and a very warm, comforting feeling. Taffy was my first cat and i got her from one of my mother's friends back when i was a kid (8yrs old?) she was the best. absolute best cat i had up until then. we connected on the deepest of levels and with just a locking of eyes we could communicate in the most awesome manner. she lived a long life and passed quickly. it was crushing at the time.  but right after her passing, i was hiking near that apartment, standing on a high rock face of an old quarry, looking out over the fantastic view. i immediately felt her there.

the new home page for my website! (digital) looking at this when i was making much-needed changes and improvements to the site, i was struck by how much i have always loved this image...previously Zot was Not (ha-ha) on the screen. then the idea was presented to me that he should indeed be on the screen. he is my avatar after all. perfect. done. and so there he sits or is rather being virtually transmitted, as it were. i kinda think this works better as my homepage. its crunchy tech goodness and that's what i'm most known for (i hope) ...so check out the site's improvements. i still have much to do for streamlining its design. i am also quite aware that this will be an ongoing thing...and that's ok! enjoy! Home | maynardjenn (jennmaynard.com)

mother goose - (oil) ya know, if you are looking at the sketches for this idea...i have absolutely no clue as to why i didn't go with the more involved image idea. WHAT...was i thinking? (i can laugh at that now...) another piece i would like to revisit. i still dig the original oil, but i think i could do so much better at this stage of the game...hmmm.

  my 2015 vision board (acrylic and digitally printed text) - ha! i pulled this out from behind all kinds of paintings from college (smile) and what a surprise! i had forgotten about this thing. looking at it, reading everything i had put on it, i realized, "hey! i am doing pretty much all of that stuff right now!" so as John Anderson would say "and isn't that wonderful."

"lizard playing a sitar" (original in pencil, wip digital - reworked 4/22) found this sketch a while back and started reworking it, as i really dug the original. i don't have a back story for yaz, i think it's just cause i love both lizards and sitars. but that's just probably an accurate guess! yes, sitar music will be playing throughout the studio today!

one bug's evolution (pencil Nov. 3rd, 2015) yes, indeed another old sketchbook has been found! this was a fun series to revisit, and i especially found it amusing that i landed on a face design inspired by Wilford Brimley! what? hilarious discovery, and it instantly made me laugh this morning. hope you enjoy this progression...it was fun to create, as i look at these sketches, i can tell i had fun. have a great day guys! love you all, more than you will ever know...

this is a relic for sure, hence the poor condition of this drawing. despite its age, this drawing is still a favorite of mine. it was inspired by this song: The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill? Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill? He went out tiger hunting with his elephant and gun In case of accidents he always took his mum He's the all American bullet-headed Saxon mother's son All the children sing Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill? Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill? Deep in the jungle where the mighty tiger lies Bill and his elephants were taken by surprise So Captain Marvel zapped him right between the eyes, zap! All the children sing Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill? Hey, Bungalow Bill What did you kill, Bungalow Bill? The children asked him if to kill was not a sin "Not when he looked so fierce", his mummy butted in If looks could kill it