Age is a Number

This is an illustration I did for a book publisher years ago. No matter how old I am, I hope I can always find the joy in spitballs, frisbees and running around with no shoes.

Potato Face Wilson

A sketch from 1994, as I sat in a diner in Kentucky... The guy who inspired this looked no where near this bad...

God is Taking a Nap

Portrait of The Creator on The Seventh Day, 3:15 PM. I think when God does sleep, He sleeps sitting up. And I'm sure he's much better looking in person.

God's Rough Draft #1

I did a series of these, with body parts in various orders, sizes and places. I'll try and dig up the others. I did this on a crowded plane. The 9-year old boy across the aisle loved it, while all the uptight grown-ups around me didn't quite know what to think.

The Funk Period #1: "There's a Fine Line Between a Laugh and a Scream"

These next four sketches were drawn over a decade ago, when I was in a deep funk over the state of my music career. I had just lost a record deal due to the label's mismanagement and subsequent lack of funds. I can now honestly say it was the best thing that ever happened to me as a singer/songwriter. But at the time, I was very depressed.

When I'd pick up a pen or pencil to draw, all I could come up with were these shadowy, dark figures, as if an unrecognized part of my personality was ripping itself out into the light from the cover of my usual pleasant, optimistic demeanor. Jekyll and Hyde indeed. So, anyway, here's a little departure from the usual tongue-in-cheek stuff, for what it's worth...

The Funk Period #2: "A Pauper in Prayer"

The Funk Period #3: "The Soul Collector"

The Funk Period #4: "The Crush"

Pretty self explanatory, I guess. Drawn while waiting in a doctor's office.

Boundaries. They're a Good Thing.

We're dog lovers at our house. If you're a dog lover, you get this drawing. People shake hands. Dogs, well, they greet each other differently. We were laughing around the dinner table one night pondering what the world would be like if people greeted each other the way dogs do. We decided that for people, it's good to have such boundaries.

Insecurity

This is an adult version of the dream I had as a child that I'm sitting in class in my underwear. (You've had those dreams, right? Tell me you had those dreams.) Our insecurities come out in such dreams. In this drawing, I wanted to imply nudity rather than show it, and the look on the truck driver's face says it all.

My Dinner with Death

This accompanied a poem I wrote a long time ago about the Angel of Death visiting a guy who takes the news rather well, and actually invites Death in for dinner, coffee and conversation. Death enjoys the man's company so much that he grants him a reprieve.

The Real Tooth Fairy

I drew this to get a laugh out of my kids, who were tooth fairy believers at the time. My son looked puzzled, stared at the drawing for a long time and asked, "Really, Dad?"

The Jingle Writers

Any art form, when done solely for commercial purposes, is immediately looked upon by the purists of that field as a "sell out." Jingles are to music what illustration is to the art world. My take on all that? Relax. It's a rainbow. Take your color and chill out. Make art that satisfies you, and if you're lucky enough to have it also feed your family, then it's all good.

The Crack of Don

"The Crack of Don" was one of the first songs I wrote for my band The Trailer Park Troubadours to play and record. This is the sketch that sort of accompanies the song.

Portrait of the Songwriter as An Old Man

There was a restaurant on 16th Avenue in Nashville where I used to eat lunch, just to sit and gawk, see famous people, see noteworthy songwriters, etc. This guy was a regular there. I sketched him quickly one day while waiting on a club sandwich.