School kids K-12 are now being tracked in Georgia to maintain education standards. Welcome to Big Government, y'all.

This is my entry for this week's theme over at Illustration Friday, "BRIGADE".

Ambrose Bierce did not write a book called "The Lost Brigade", but he sure could have.

This is the January cover for Automotive Report. The cover article is a collection of quotes that summarizes the automotive industry in 2011.

This is a 9"x7" composition in which 'shopped two graphite drawings I've done recently. I'd like to turn this into a large oil painting at some point.

This is my entry for this week's theme over at Illustration Friday "Separated".

My good friend Sean Minton has created a 5 minute piece that examines Occupy Wall Street and how it has been represented in my satirical artwork.

It's quick, makes thought provoking points and will serve an important function: A grade in his Rhetorical Studies over at Georgia State.

It's titled "THE ART OF WAR BY OTHER MEANS".ENJOY.

I was commissioned to do this particular "and now a word from..." (8" x 5" on watercolor paper) by my good friend Doug Johnson who has a been a fan of the site for a while. He thought this would make a unique gift for his wife who happens to love a nice glass of wine.

Let me remind you that I'm available for customized versions of ANAWF. The possibilities are endless.

A little spooky for this time of year, but I tend to leap on illustration ideas whether it fits the season or not. Actually, this time of year has an inspirational vibe that comes out in weird ways.

This is for K-Nine, a Civil War re-enactor, whom I had the pleasure of seeing at Eric's Hysteric's last October. Upon seeing the video that featured my work in Sean Minton's college project, he thought it might be fun to have a "fancy monkey with a magic pen" render his caricature as a present for the Holidays.

I must point out that the photograph of K-Nine was shot by the talented Erica Sherman. You can read more about her work on her Flicka site

Go and check out more neat entries over at Illustration Friday.

All I want for Christmas is Victor Borge's sense of humor. Check out some of his classic bits on Youtube.

These are three stages of a cover illustration I recently did for the magazine, Scout & Engineer. It's a publication dedicated to the discussion of current events via the ideological and philosophical underpinnings of the story.

The cover article is about the view that knowledge is not sinful, but a value that should be highly persued. Pretty obvious, right? No so fast...

The pencil stage is to determine the layout and the overall theme and composition for the cover. This stage has always been the most fun and yet taxing. On one hand I have a perfectly blank space to fill up with no apparent hindrances, yet the responsibility of zeroing in on a given subject matter is the whole point. Here, the direction of the piece is agreed upon by the illustrator and the art director.

The art director doesn't see the next midway stage. But it's here where I make final decisions on placement and emphasis of theme elements. Generally, I prefer doing the tedious (and important) details first because it takes advantage of my initial adrenaline burst. I like to leave the "dessert" for last; the part of the illustration that really drives home my style and approach to the idea.

And, of course, the final. If you look carefully, you can see all the minute changes I made from the midway stage. I put all the lighting effects into play and try to finish with a certain bravado of technique and precision.

And there you have it; the illustration process in three easy steps.

MERRY, MERRY, Y'ALL!

Doc Al has a thing for pears. Don't ask...

Have fun, y'all, and, of course, look after yourselves. May your 2012 be full of inspiration and glad tidings!