Orange and Skelly Cat Concept Drawings

An Artist and his Dog

Words and Illustration by David Finley

 Are you a dog person or a cat person?

 After years of being just a "cat" person, I am now the proud parent of a dog. Her name is Mable, and she's probably the best case scenario dog for a cat person like myself. She doesn't bark, she's house-trained, and she is well behaved.

 Of course, my cat hates her.

New Territory

To be honest having a dog is weird for me. As I said, I favor cats. Dogs tend to be high maintenance, and need a good deal more attention. I like the independent nature of cats, and how they also seem innocently evil in a way.

Skelly- by David Finley

My cat Skelly, who died a few months ago, personified my ideal animal companion. He was the perfect blend of attentiveness without being needy or aloof. He was a cat with dog-like qualities, and he is still by far my favorite pet of all time. Skelly was a muse of mine. He has been featured in more of my art, from fine-art to illustration, than anyone, human or animal. I still miss waking up to his purrs as he would sit on my chest staring at my face, patiently waiting for me to rouse.

 So, when he died, I knew I wasn't emotionally ready to get another cat to replace him. Still, we didn't want our other cat, Bea to be alone so my wife seized on the opportunity to suggest a dog, which I had keenly avoided before by saying we had enough pets already. And, that leads me to where I am now.

Life With a Dog

 Although I resisted it, living with a dog has its advantages. Despite her animosity toward Mable, Bea has perked up quite a bit since a dog came into our house. It's been healthy for me, too. While I don't like waking up at six or seven in the morning to take her outside, I think my favorite thing so far is taking Mable on afternoon walks. She just enjoys them so much and I can't help but feel her good mood infects me as well.

 I've met more of my neighbors in the last week than I have in the two months since we have lived here. And, I don't know if it is due to the exercise or the fresh air, but I've been feeling more energized and creative.

That's good for my art.

Today's Featured Illustration: Dog Versus Cat

 As you can see from today's featured illustration, and yesterday's illustration, I've been on a bit of a Japanese print experiment kick. I'm not quite where I want the experiment to go with the images I've made this way so far, but it's fun learning. I like the idea of eventually using a Japanese print- based style that depicts life in modern America. I think that strange blend helps make a commentary of sorts. Today's piece is a bit more cartoony than I originally intended, but it gets close to that old print feel in places.

 What do you guys think? Has anyone else out there opened up their home to a dog after being a cat person for years? I'd love to hear your comments, stories, and feedback.

Thanks for reading!

A Personal Story about Anger- Watching the Wheels

Words and Images by David Finley

My fellow Scofflaws, I am a mellow and peaceful person. Trust me.

 I believe it is better to be slow to anger, and to speak reasonably whenever possible. Conflict should be approached with compromise as the goal. We should 'do unto others as we would have done to us'.

 That's not to say I actually process my anger in a healthy way. My prescried method of dealing with the  things of life that threaten to anger me or steal my peace is to sip on a nice healthy glass of emotional repression followed by emotional eating and panic attacks.

  I have the kind of temper that endures the big things rather well, but the little things tend to accumulate in a kind of anger safety deposit box. Well, that box has a limit, and when the limit is reached and my sense of justice has reared its ugly head... well, it's like an episode of the Jerry Springer Show goes off in my brain. It's not the violent kind where security has to break them up, but it still isn't pleasant, nor is it something I'm proud of.

 I write all of this to say that I regret spending a lot of my time being angry for the last few years. As I wrote before, in What Really Matters in Life, I worked at a job that made me very very unhappy, which led to frustration, anxiety, and then anger.

  Don't get me wrong, there was plenty to be angry about.  So, I justified my anger based on the mistreatment dealt my way. It was a sense of entitlement, or selfishness really, that fueled my rage. I told myself it was the only way to survive, and again, that my anger was justified by the wrong doing of others.

 Fortunately, my home life was the opposite of my professional life. My wife, provided much needed balance and wisdom to my situation, urging me out of my anger cave every evening as we drove home. There was also a little black cat at home, named Skelly, waiting to purr in my lap and tell me all was okay in the world. Although the transition took time every night, sometimes taking several hours, their love would eventually calm me down enough to get a little rest.

 Yet, now that my life has completely changed, I wish that I could go back and remove the anger. I wish that despite my job and its stresses, I could have lived in the joy brought on by the first few years of a wonderful marriage. I wish I could go back and spend time in complete peace with my little cat, who passed away a few months ago. I wish that I had found the courage to stand up for myself at work much sooner, despite the consequences.

 These days, I'm not angry. My life has a much different pace almost as if I can see all of those things in the distance. Daily battles have been replaced by simple pleasures. Chances are, things might not have been that different circumstantially even if I had not let anger affect me. But, I would have been able to enjoy the good I did have in life a lot more.

 So, let others have their conflict and their games. Let's take ourselves out of the mire. It may sound trite or cliche', but walking away from these things and forgiving those that hurt us leaves more time to chase love, peace, and happiness.

 Giving up anger can be like giving up a drug. There is definitely a withdrawal process. Change doesn't come easy, but it is worth it.

 I'd like to leave you all today with these parting words, from my favorite song that speaks about separating yourself from the stresses and common rat-races of life:

People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing,
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin,
When I say that I'm o.k. they look at me kind of strange,
Surely your not happy now you no longer play the game,

People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away,
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me,
When I tell that I'm doing Fine watching shadows on the wall,
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball?

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,
I really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go,

- John Lennon, "Watching the Wheels" 

Thanks so much for reading.

Dave

A Friend Remembered- Skelly the Cat

Journey on the Yoo Hoo Sea

 Journey across the Yoo Hoo Sea with scope in hand, while the unicorns gaze perching atop the chocolate sundae mountains.

Lines in Illustrator with colors in Photoshop.

Thanks for looking!

Run You Fool Version 2

I've often said that I wanted to redo a lot of my old cat and robot pieces. Here, I've finally realized it. This is a completely redone version of an old piece that you can see in this old post by clicking here.

I like the redo, although I'm not completely sold on the dog. I'll try to get a color version of this up soon.

Robots and Cats, Water and Maps

What will Skelly and Bucket do? They have been rowing for hours and it turns out they are looking at the wrong map! You should never let a cat be your navigator.

This sketch is done in ballpoint pen of two characters I love drawing. I still snicker when I draw the underwear on the robot. I'd like to color this one soon, so look for that to be posted here before too long. I hope you enjoy.

Pinkerton-rough

A few weeks ago I posted a digital piece for illustration friday about my character, Pinkerton, and his misadventures. You can see that post by scrolling down, or by clicking here. Now, I'm going to post the ink and oil pastel sketch original that inspired the digital version. I was still trying to figure out the colors at this point and am happier with the digital scheme. However, I like a lot of the mark making and energy of the original.

Here's the piece:

Slither- Or: Pinkerton the Snake Gets Stuck in a Tree

Oh, poor Pinkerton! He somehow slithered up the tree, boot and all and got stuck up there again. I wonder if Skelly will go get help.

 At first, I was a bit stumped for a drawing for this week's Illustration Friday topic, but then I remembered good old germaphobic Pinkerton from my comic strip, "Finnigan" and came up with this picture. This marks the first time Pinkerton has appeared in color as well.

 Thanks for taking the time to look at my entry. Comments and suggestions are always welcomed.

A Story about a Cat

This is my cat Skeletor, or "Skelly" as he's commonly called. As you can see, he is a great lover of literature. I post this picture of him because he's awesome and also because I include him as a recurring character in lots of my stories.

In "Finnigan's Last Resort", Skelly is a companion and friend to the main character. He represents loyalty, friendship, and perseverance in hard times.

 In my stories, I use him as a device to connect the audience with the happenings of the story. He is a somewhat silent witness to it all.

This scene below depicts the main character on his surreal journey out of the grey world of depression and loss toward a more primal and basic land full of strange and almost mythical things. There are unicorns on mocha mountains and oceans of Yoo Hoo chocolate drink.

 But amidst all this, Skelly, the cat is showing a concern for his friend as this journey takes place. He is an observer, and a guardian of sorts.

 

Made in Adobe Illustrator and then colored in Photoshop.