Broomstick Bee Sketch

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pencil sketch in sketchbook

Recently, we watched the documentary Secrets of the Bees and in it they showed a cool little bee named the broomstick bee, because it collects sticks and branches that resemble broomsticks to build temporary protective covering for themselves and each other. So, of course, I wanted to do up a sketch of a little witch bee riding its broomstick. And they do need a hat, after all. 

 

Elroy

 

colored pencil from sketchbook

We lost our faithful, loyal and best buddy, Elroy on Monday. 

I was looking for this sketch done last December when I was working on ideas for future Christmas cards. This one was done of Elroy wearing a plush reindeer hoodie. He looks a little crazy here, but sometimes that tooth came out. So, instead of an elf lip-locked to a giant candy cane, this is what you can expect for this year's card. 

He was a good boy. 

Ye Olde Quill Pen

My latest newsletter post is up and is about sketching with a goose quill pen. Fun. You can click HERE to read it whenever you get a chance.

 

Sketch Safari At The Detroit Zoo

 In the two sketch groups that I am a part of, there has been talk for about a year now of having a sketch night at the Detroit Zoo. We were finally able to do so, albeit a low turnout for this first time. We started when most people are still at work (peeps can arrive whenever they want as the zoo is open until 8 on Wednesdays) and there was intermittent rain, but that didn't deter us. Plus, there are buildings to duck (pun intended?) into when the rain became heavy. The animals were quite active, so we did a lot of walking around and taking pics. We did sketch, as that was the plan!

Here a some sketches that I did.

The male otter was out and was swimming in the rain. before he became active, I sketched the enclosure, including the water slide.

The top sketch is of the otter zipping by underwater. Sketching movement quickly is an exercise one must work at. The rhinos were out and about, moving around in the rain. 

Belleville Drink N Draw May 2026

 This past Wednesday was the May edition of the Belleville Drink N Draw at Egan's Pub. I worked on a few ideas for some cartoons, a fantasy job and sketched one of our sketchers, although it really doesn't look like her.

colored pencil in sketchbook

The little chickadee is my fantasy idea of attempting to instill some culture in the city where I reside. It'll never happen, but I can dream. I have another idea involving the military museum near my house. I can design a better sign than what they have...

These little catfish are for a cartoon that I will soon do, involving them and a kayak. Hilarious.

Belleville Drink N Draw April 2026

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ink in sketchbook

Last Wednesday was the April edition of the Belleville Drink N Draw at Egan's Pub. I had Bangers & Mash for dinner... Joy struck up a conversation with some motorcycle gang members, then one of them struck up a conversation with us... there was talk of tattoos... then Joy became Bangers & Mash. She was destined to become Bangers & Mash or Internally Vulgar... B&M looked better on the forearms. 

There's always good conversation on sketch night.

 

A Peter Dinklage Sketch

 

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pencil in sketchbook

Back in February, I watched a video of the actor Peter Dinklage, who was reading a poem by Amanda Gorman in Minneapolis at an event to show support for the people there, for obvious reasons. His stance, posture, balance, his long winter coat interested me. It would be fun to sketch him. A couple months later, I did so.

Workplace Cartoons, Part 13

 My latest Substack is the final chapter of my mattress making cartoons. I was there awhile, so there were a lot of them over the years. Click here to suffer miserably.

Belleville Drink N Draw March 2026

 

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pencil in sketchbook

Last week was the March meet-up for the Belleville Drink N Draw at Egan's Pub. It was a smaller group this time, but the night was filled with good conversation, grub and drinks. The talk was so good that I almost forgot to sketch. But, I did get some in, doing a sketch of who has become a favorite subject, Todd. He has a great big bushy beard (that must be said in a Jim Broadbent as Frank Butterman voice. IFYKYK). 

Workplace Cartoons, Part 12

 

I've posted more of my Workplace cartoons over on my Substack. Click Here to be amused. Hopefully.

Belleville Drink N Draw Feb 2026

 

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ink in sketchbook

This past Wednesday was our February meet-up for the Belleville Drink N Draw at Egan's Pub. There was a decent turnout and we had a great time with some good conversations and sketchin.' There was a small blip when a patron (not one of ours) went down hard and luckily an off-duty Detroit paramedic was right there when he went down and the guy received immediate attention. He seemed ok, but they decided to take him to the hospital anyways for safe measure. At that point, I wasn't sure what I wanted to work on, so sketched the scene. The image is a little blurry on the side there because of the sketchbook spine, but you get the idea.

Charles Henry Turner Sketch

 

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colored pencil in sketchbook

So, just in time for Black History Month, I have learned about an entomologist that I had never heard of before after beginning to read Peter Kuper's Insectology. And quite frankly, that shouldn't be, since what this man, Charles Henry Turner (1867-1923) studied and wrote about is right up my alley, so to speak. 

Turner studied the intelligence of arthropods, that bees talked to one another and can recognize colors, that ants are not just robotic, reactionary creatures, but have individual personalities, that spiders are smart... I could go on. I've been doing some internet dives and seeking anything I can about the man and hoping to find some books that he wrote, but there isn't much out there, sadly. I did find a small book and it's on its way and there is a children's book at my local library, so I'll check that out the next time I go. I will have to do a deeper dive into his published research papers. That stuff sounds fascinating.

And, of course, since he was a black man living in the times that he lived in, it was hard for him to overcome the usual obstacles. 

I'd like to add that if you are familiar with Peter Kuper's work (Mad magazine, The New Yorker, etc), check out Insectology. It's a large graphic novel that is wonderfully drawn and written. My reading list has grown from just what I've read so far.  

Rainy Day Sketch Night Feb 2026

 This past Saturday the Rainy Day Art Supply and Framing Store had its sketch night at the Grosse Pointe Congregational Church, with our model Darian Wolfe dressed as Elsa from the movie Frozen. The models always do a great job and Darian was no exception. 

I broke out an old pad of Kraft paper to give that a go after some time.

A blind contour sketch.

... and another.

A couple of quick sketches of some fellow artists.

And a colored pencil sketch.

There was a very good turnout for Saturday night, with a lot of familiar faces and some new ones, as well. It was a good night.

Workplace Cartoons, Part 11

 

My latest installment of those zany Workplace cartoons is now up on my Substack. Click here to check them out.

Belleville Drink N Draw January 2026

 Last night was the freezing offing cold version of the Belleville Drink N Draw at Egan's Pub. The temps were cold, but it was a fun night out with like-minded people. I worked on some cartoon ideas and also sketch some bar patrons. 

Almost no one was facing my way... 

Pillsbury Daliboy

 So, last night as I was falling asleep, I had this...vision, an image that became stuck in my head. I giggled at the absurdity of it and promised myself that I would sketch it up today. Then, I thought of that Seinfeld episode where he had that idea for a funny bit after watching a tv show. "Flaming piles of Magma" or some such thing. My image was of Salvador Dali as the Pillsbury Doughboy. Why? I have no friggin' idea. But, it made me chuckle. So, in the dark I sketched my idea, so I wouldn't forget.

It looks like a face with glasses. But no! Those 'glasses' are actually that Catalan mustache, with one side much bigger than the other. If fact, what looks to be the top of a head, is actually a swooping mustache. What appears to be a chin, is in fact, my loose, very loose interpretation of the doughboy's body. Wow. It's a good thing that I remembered, because if I had not, this sketch would not have helped me at all.

Here's more of what I had in mind. I replaced the chef's hat of the doughboy with the loaf of bread that Dali famously adorned for a photo op. 

Hilarious.

A Christmas Card Design Idea...

 So, there is a bit of a discussion going on around these parts as to what next years Christmas card could look like. Now, over the past 18 years of doing these, I've focused on Santa, elves, reindeer, a mouse, Christmas trees and even a North Pole. What else is there? Well, I've never done one involving a candy cane. A candy cane just isn't funny on its own, so I added an elf. Elves like candy canes right?

This made me laugh. This made my wife laugh. She, however, said that this will not in any way, shape, or form, be our Christmas card next year. I think that the discussion should continue. 

Texas Cichlid Sketch

 

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ink in sketchbook

I haven't done a #SundayFishSketch in some time and in coordination with #25DaysOfFishmas, the theme this time was a quiz. there were four clues to try to figure out the fish in question. I was coming up with everything but the fish that I needed, so I cheated and consulted the aquarists at the Belle Isle Aquarium. They gave me the answer yesterday, but I found myself down at the aquarium today to do a little volunteer work and lo and behold, they have that fish, the Texas Cichlid on display. Well, a bunch of them, actually.

They were being very uncooperative and wouldn't stay still. This is probably the best pic that I could muster. Speedy, they are.

Belleville Drink N Draw December 2025

 This past Wednesday was the first of two Drink N Draw sketch night's for this month at Egan's Pub. I worked on this sketch of Todd, who is always fun to sketch.

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And then I worked on some sketches for a couple of books that I have in development. This one is for a story called The May Pole, which has one of the first appearances of the Nain Rouge. In those early stories, he first showed up as a red faced dwarf, or imp, as he was called by Cadillac.

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                I'm trying to channel an illustration from Arthur Rackham, without copying directly. 

Todd brought a Lego-ish advent Christmas tree and we all took a stab at putting together a piece. I had Santa Claus. It's now hanging on our tree. 

Workplace Cartoons, Part 10

Here's more workplace cartoon sketches to kick off your holiday merriment! My latest Substack is up and is about just those workplace type of things. Check it out here.